Cat Mad Crochet

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

I tried my very best to avoid the doom scrolling this week, and I managed to finish the second side panel for my mother’s wrap. The row counts and the shell counts across the top match in both panels, so I am super happy with myself! Math is hard. Counting is the worst. 

Over the weekend, I sat down with a bunch of books and a vision in my head of what I wanted the back panel to look like. I wanted to start with several rows of linked double crochets, so I promptly started with regular double crochets. I left them and decided to charge ahead with the next bit of my plan, a little open stitch area above the doubles. I managed that and the stitch counts even worked. I was so proud of myself. I then proceeded to work another row of doubles, linked only in spirit, and plunged into the textured portion. 

Why do I plague myself with textured, dare I say nearly cabled, stitches? The textured portion was not good. I frogged it back to the beginning and started with a different stitch count and a different textured stitch in mind. 

Did I remember to start with linked doubles this time? Of course not. But I plowed ahead anyway. Try number two was not better. I had it in my head that I wanted to use only stitch patterns based on double crochets because that would be easier to attach to the side panels. I still hold that it would have been, but things were already off in the weeds, so I ditched that plan and tried a textured stitch pattern that just made me happy: little Marguerite stitches. They looked quite sharp and all was going well until I held it up and looked at those non-linked doubles. Between those and the less-open-than-I wanted-it-to-be open section at the beginning, it was a nope.

I frogged it all back and set it aside to go torture myself with exercise instead. 

When I returned, I started the back panel again with a row of foundation double crochets carefully tailored to the repeats of the stitches I wanted to use. Then I managed to work two more rows of real linked double crochets. See, I can remember things! Then I added another row to the open section so it looks more open now. I capped that with a row of linked doubles, and I remembered to link them. I was on a roll! Things were going great.

And then the dark, looming textured section looked at me and laughed. I meant to do Marguerite stitch. I really did. But it just wasn’t right when I got there, so I went with single crochet v-stitches instead.

And it’s awesome! The stitch count worked by some sordid sort of miracle that likely means I miscounted somewhere, but I’m not going to go looking because I think the entire panel will just dissolve into fairy dust and mocking laughter. It doesn’t matter anyway, the center panel is working. It looks good. It will look better blocked, but most crochet does. 

So now I just have to finish the center panel, wash and block all the panels to size, get Hannah to sew them together for me, add a cute border (that I firmly believe will materialize in my mind when I am ready to start stitching it), and weave the stupid ends. I am sooooo close! It’s going to be done soon and then I can get back to more interesting things.