Too many ideas...

Q: Is it possible to have too many ideas?
A: Only if you don't have enough time to carry them out.

I don't have enough time for a quarter of the ideas floating around in my head this week.
Ergo I have too many ideas.

But which to shed and which to go with?

Last week's Eskimimi Knitting and Crochet Blog Week proved to be an almost bottomless well of inspiration. Ideas for crochet and knitting makes have tumbled about pell mell in my head ever since; some directly triggered by things I saw or read about last week, some that have been lurking there for a while. Have got to shelve some, contain others, and plunge in on the remainder. But as I say, how to decide? Work has had to take first place this week but on the back-burner a busy pot has been bubbling away. Want to have a peep at what's bubbling? I'll fish out some of the contents and let's see whether they are ready to see the light of day or should be put back in the pot and have the lid firmly clapped in place!

You'll see that as well as the ideas there's been a sort of internal conversation going on at the same time - as it were between Mrs Tittlemouse and Mr Jackson. If you don't know, or can't immediately recall the story, Mr Jackson is the toad in Beatrix Potter's "The Tale of Mrs Tittlemouse" who visits Mrs Tittlemouse, uninvited, in the hope of a free meal and who is pressed into evicting the unwanted bees who have taken up residence in her storerooms. In what follows here, as you will see, Mrs T has the pros for each idea and Mr Jackson has the cons. As in the original Beatrix Potter story, Mrs Tittlemouse and Mr Jackson do Not Always See Eye To Eye!

So here, in no particular order, are seven of the ideas in my bubbling pot:

Idea 1 - Crocheted Face Flannels

Mrs T:  "In outrageously bright and jolly colours as I've sketched out in my notebook."

Mrs T: "Making these would be small projects so easily finishable within a small time frame. They would be a good way of expanding my repertoire of crochet stitches and experimenting with different colour combinations. And they would make nice little presents wrapped around a bar of handmade soap."

Mr Jackson: "To make these you need cotton yarn in a range of colours of a type that can survive a hot 60℃ or 90℃ wash which you don't currently have any of in that stash of yours."

Mrs T: "Not yet! But I've had a look On-Line and you can get it quite cheaply."

Mr Jackson: "As these things go. But not as cheap as not buying any."

Mrs T: "And I wouldn't need that many colours."

Mr Jackson: "So you say but I've counted up 14 different colours in those drawings you've done."

Idea 2 - A Knitted Blanket
Mrs T: "Rather unexpectedly I seem to have been bitten by the knitting bug and I am very taken with the idea of knitting blocks in different stitches and colours to make not just a cushion but a blanket. I've seen some beautiful examples this last week especially in Laura's lovely blog, My House in Africa, here. As well as posting pics of this beautiful blanket in pinks and whites Laura has also posted a very helpful guide for the would-be blanket knitter, in this case, me!, with some other pics and hints here. And, as Laura so sapiently remarks, "This would be great practice for a newbie knitter"! It would indeed!"

Pic by Laura of My House In Africa

Pic by Laura of My House In Africa

Pic by Laura of My House In Africa

Mrs T: "The seed was sown a while back when I saw Life In Mud Spattered Boots Anne's fantastic multicoloured version here. Something as sophisticated as this, I suspect, may be beyond me but a simplified version, for beginners, might be a flier.

Pic by Anne of Life In Mud Spattered Boots

Mrs T: "This would build on my somewhat tentative skills acquired from the "Dappled things" cushion project and knitting individual blocks seems a containable idea - each one being discrete and portable."

Mr Jackson: "Blankets are Big Projects. This means A Lot of Yarn - which is Expensive. It also means A Lot of Commitment - which is Ambitious. Also have you forgotten the stress of "Dropping Stitches" last week and I have to say the week before? People got very hungry several evenings running while you retrieved a dropped stitch situation because you wouldn't cook any supper until you'd fixed it."

Idea 3 - Sampler Granny Square Afghan
Mrs T: "I have fallen in love with Leslie's current WIP on her extraordinarily inspirational blog, Crochetbug, here. It's a Granny Square afghan being made out of all sorts of different kinds of Granny Squares crocheted together. I love the idea of perhaps crocheting a different block every day to make a wonderful hotch-potch afghan of all sorts of colours and patterns."

Pic by Leslie of Crochetbug 

Pic by Leslie of Crochetbug 

Pic by Leslie of Crochetbug 

Pic by Leslie of Crochetbug 

Pic by Leslie of Crochetbug 

Mrs T: "Again this idea is a skill expander. Although a big project, a daily measurable target might be a good way of managing that. And I could probably use yarn already in "the stash" so for once it might be a more economical blanket than some."

Mr Jackson: "Or not, as the case might be, knowing you. Do you really have the time to crochet one block every day? And if you don't, bearing in mind the small matter of Work and Domestic Routines, will you become dispirited and lose interest? A risk, methinks."

Idea 4 - Crochet Bag
Mrs T: "Something that's been on my list of "to makes" for a while. I Need one as opposed to Want one as the baskets that currently contain my yarn keep catching and snagging on the contents because they are not lined."

Catchy snaggy basket # 1

Catchy snaggy basket # 2

Catchy snaggy basket # 3

Mrs T: "In fact really I ought to make several, looking at these baskets, because one won't be big enough. Tee hee! These will be Really Useful as well as decorative and I probably have enough yarn to make at least one without additional purchases."

Mr Jackson: "Ha ha, I've heard the "got enough yarn in stock" thing before! And just for info, Mrs T, do you really need another bag? You could just line the baskets with some of that fabric in those overflowing boxes under your bed."

Mrs T: "Yes, I do need another bag! I've told you I do. I need three! And anyway you ought to know by now, "a girl tittlemouse can Never Have Too Many Bags, Blankets Or Shoes!""

Idea 5 - Stripy Snake
Mrs T: "A snake like Attic 24 Lucy's here. I just love it - all stripy and squishy and Completely Delightful!"

Pic by Lucy of Attic 24

Mrs T: "He looks such fun to make and I can probably complete him with yarn in stock. Also, I already have Lois Daykin's book "Baby Crochet" which has the pattern in it.

Mr Jackson: "Do you really need a snake?!"

Mrs T: "Yes, of course I do! Stop going on about "Do you really need...?"- it's getting on my nerves!"

Idea 6 - Simple Knitted Scarf
Mrs T: "The "deep sea" scarf that hopefully will turn the yarn from my unravelled Japanese flowers into something nice."

Mrs T: "I've already started this and am making quite good progress, I think (for an unconfident tricoteuse!) Slightly concerned the pattern is making too sharply pointed a triangle shape but if you think I am going to unravel it all for a second time, you can think again! So far no desperate disasters with keeping on track with the pattern instructions either so probably finishable without tearing my hair out."

Mr Jackson: "No cons that I can think of immediately."

Mrs T: "Well, thank goodness for that! Just as well, as I've already started it!"

Idea 7 - Crochet Cushion Cover
Mrs T: "The patchwork cushion cover I made for my dressing table chair over twenty years ago has sadly faded over the years in many places and is coming to pieces in others. I shall be sad to say goodbye to it but it really has had its day. The apparently random choice of fabrics interspersing the blue silk hexagons was dictated by consistency not of colour or pattern but source, coming from scraps of dresses and blouses my mother made for me when I was a child."

That pink raspberry fabric on the right was my favourite summer dress of all time
- I loved it so much , my mother even added an "allonge" of plain pink fabric
to extend its life for another year when it was really too short for me.

Mrs T: "Anyway, all good things come to an end and I would like to make Attic 24 Lucy's enchantingly exuberant flower cushion pattern here to replace it."

Pic by Lucy of Attic 24

Pic by Lucy of Attic 24

Mrs T: "Again this is something useful and needed. And I've already picked up some cheap-as-chips jumpers in a charity shop to cut up to make backings for some cushions. This would be containable as a project and could again probably be managed with existing yarn supplies."

Mr Jackson: "You keep telling yourself that, Mrs T!"

Mrs T: "I am!"

Mr Jackson: "Also that flower cushion is beautiful but it's not a sensible or practical choice for a cushion that you need to sit on. Make one with a flat surface."

Mrs T: "But I like the three dimensional flower effect."

Mr Jackson: "You're impossible, Mrs T!"

Any thoughts anyone? Let me know what you'd go for and what you'd shelve. (And don't listen to Mr Jackson who not only "never wipes his feet" but is something of a kill-joy!)

A huge thank you to Anne, Lucy, Laura and Leslie for responding so kindly to my emails asking for permission to use pics from their wonderful and inspirational blogs. xx E