Friday, July 20, 2012

Hurricane Fabio

What an unusual afternoon. It’s raining here. Rain in July isn’t odd for lots of places, but in Southern California it’s a record breaker. It isn’t raining hard and won’t last long. It’s the remnant of Hurricane Fabio. But I’m enjoying it while it lasts.

I have started writing the first scene of the next crochet book. For now I’m calling it The Worsted That Could Happen, but who knows what the title will end up being. It’s a complicated scene to write because a lot happens and it’s at a wedding reception with 200 guests, along with a staff of servers, a dead groom, a mother in law sitting in the wedding cake, holding a bloody knife and a bride whose been a wife for an hour and is now a widow.

And of course, I have to explain who everyone is. It is the classic example of being able to see it in your head, but getting it on paper is a different story.

I also want to throw in finger crochet. It is what it sounds like - crocheting with your fingers. At least the way I’ve tried it, my pointer finger becomes a hook. So far I have only tried it with boucle yarn which is bumpy and hard to work with. I chose it because it was the closest to my foot in the room I keep my yarn. I think it would be far easier with a worsted weight yarn that doesn’t have the issue of bumps.

I’d be the first to admit it isn’t the most attractive way to crochet. But it is interesting and if you had some yarn or even string readily available anywhere. And it you were nervous - for example at the wedding with the dead groom, it might be a way to calm yourself while you’re waiting to be questioned.

As my friend Linda Hopkins says, it makes you appreciate the ease of using a hook.

I still feel a little scattered because while I’m starting to write about crochet, I am still knitting a scarf. I’m using this yarn called Changes and the claim on the wrapper is that it is like having six kinds of yarn. Translated that means that it is a bunch of different textures of yarn spliced together into one skein. But here’s the problem - the first section is kind of a nubby yarn, but then it’s followed by something closer to cord. Well, the knitted section in the cord looks like it’s wearing a girdle compared to the first section of the nubby yarn. And stuck in the middle is a length of sparkly stuff.

It is a classic example of how you can’t tell what something is going to look like knitted or crocheted by looking at the skein. In this case, even a swatch wouldn’t help. I am going to keep going with it but I’m preparing for major ugly. Either way, I’ll post a picture when it’s done.

8 comments:

Linda O. Johnston said...

I didn't realize those sprinkles were the result of Hurricane Fabio--but I definitely took notice of the name they used this time! Love your versatile creativity, Betty.

Joanna Campbell Slan said...

Betty, I think it's so hard to work with nubby yarn. I can't tell the nubs from my stitches!

Betty Hechtman said...

Linda, those drops were probably closer to sprinkles than rain. My patio got wet, but dried up in a few minutes. The weather guys made a big deal out us getting the remnants of Fabio.

Betty Hechtman said...

Joanna, that is so true!

Planner said...

That opening scene would hook me in right away (pun intended). (I love your working title.)

So, uh, does the bride keep the wedding gifts?? I can just picture the grieving and stunned bride in full bridal attire with her entourage at a funeral parlor. Oh my!

This had better not be Molly's wedding you're describing! Yikes!

Betty Hechtman said...

Planner, I was wondering what the ettiquette would be regarding the wedding gifts. I doubt it is covered in what of those wedding planning books.

Monica Ferris said...

I agree with Joanna; I've tried knitting with nubbly yarn and it's hard to see what I'm doing - it's even worse with really hairy yarn!

Betty, I love your opening scene, but I agree it would be hard to write.

Betty Hechtman said...

Monica, it's even harder to crochet with the hairy yarn. At least with knitting you can see the core of it on the needle.

I will need to tweak the opening scene, but at least I have the basic thing down.