Well, not literally as I have numerous craft projects in hibernation, but this was where most of my recent efforts have been focused lately.

The other night this:

Became this…

*SIGH*

Several weeks ago I started what I thought was going to be a fairly straightforward crochet project using a therapeutic mind-numbingly repetitive pattern that would give me hours of creative pleasure. A crocheted dress, what could be better? Although it lived exactly up to expectations, it was also a little frustrating. I find that crochet is notoriously difficult to tension/gauge exactly and inevitably with me there is always a bit of prior experimentation involved with the hook size to get it just right, usually with a couple of false starts. This was about my fourth attempt where each time beforehand I had worked a good few rows of big shells in the border before measuring across and finding it was completely out of gauge and I had to rip the whole thing apart. Understandably I was getting a little sick of the lower border and eventually hit the wall where I would have gladly given away my internal organs just to get beyond this part and onto the main pattern.

On this occasion’s attempt I worked three rows of the border shells and found that my tension was perfect. BUT as my handywork grew in length, it somehow managed to LOSE WIDTH. It was only when I had got to the main body of the dress (OMG such joy) and happened to have it resting across my knees that I noticed that it seemed rather on the small side and when I measured across I found that it had lost A WHOLE TWO INCHES across.

Huh??!!

So all those hours and hours of work are now wound back up into a ball of yarn. I’m determined to persevere with it as I *will* make a crocheted dress So Help Me God, but for the moment it’s hibernating whilst I get over the feeling that I would rather gouge my eyes out with hot pokers rather than have to work the border pattern all over again for about the umpteenth time.