Skylark: 100 Days (73)

Tying Up Loose Ends

Day 73:

To a Skylark
by Percy Bysshe Shelley
(stanzas 1-2 of 21)

Hail to thee, blithe Spirit!
Bird thou never wert,
That from Heaven, or near it,
Pourest thy full heart
In profuse strains of unpremeditated art.

Higher still and higher
From the earth thou springest
Like a cloud of fire;
The blue deep thou wingest,
And singing still dost soar, and soaring ever singest.

This evening I walked to the top of High Point, where I met a twittering horned lark. We regarded each other for a bit, and then it took off and climbed the sky, higher and higher. And then it sang. Just like the lark in the fields outside Bolanderhof so many years ago.

You might want to go read all of Shelley’s poem. You might want to walk up High Point just before dusk and watch for larks, smelling the green of the meadows, and greeting a carpenter bee buzzing around your car like a tiny flying puppy. There is joy to be found.

I steamed two more stacks of squares today. One more stack to go tomorrow, and them I’ll lay them out to see if I am ready to construct the sweater.

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Blocking: 100 Days (72)

Tying Up Loose Ends

Day 72: 

Focusing on completing these projects has definitely matured me as a crocheter and knitter. I have a new willingness to unravel something I’m not satisfied with, as I did with the Covid sweater. I have discovered that I need to keep re-making and prototyping pieces until I am satisfied, as I did with the eyes. And, impatient as I am for final results, I am blocking my squares.

I seriously resist buying stuff for blocking however (my house needs less stuff, not more), so I looked up some ideas online, and found this plan for using knitting needles stuck through cardboard to make a blocking frame. I have plenty of knitting needles for the project, and I found this lovely little box in the garage that stabilizes the base really nicely. Jon was saving the box, as you do, because it’s a REALLY nice box, but he was gracious about letting me have it.

You can see the difference in the blocked (left) and unblocked (right) squares, so I suppose I am a convert, especially since it’s so easy to make my own little blocking rack, and I can steam them in batches of 15 or so. Patience, Beth, patience.

I’m ready to take your suggestions, crocheter friends, for what method you prefer for putting the squares together. I am inclined to crochet rather than whip stitch them, and I don’t think I want to do anything too fancy. I guess I’ll research that while my blocked squares are drying.

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