Circles Throw

 

The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel. 

Jeremiah 18:1-6

Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

Romans 9:20-21

I picked up the pattern leaflet for the Circles Throw at a Len's Mill store on my last visit to Ontario. The pattern called for 14 circles each of 3 different colourways of Bernat Handicrafter Cotton, for a total of 42 circles. However, I decided to try and see if I could do each circle in a different colourway. And I was able to do more than that. Not only did I make each circle in a different colourway, but completed each round of the border in a different colourway, for a total of 45 different variegated colourways, plus the solid white. 

However, that's not the only change I made. Some time back, while sorting through clutter, I came across a crochet pattern for the Flat Braid Join. It was several years old and the pages had gotten mildewed, but when it came time to assemble this afghan, I wanted to try something other than sewing the motifs together. Trying to avoid using the mildewed pages, I googled and not only found the original pattern, but a new variation that allowed the crocheter to complete all of the joining without breaking the yarn. That was even better!

The joins at the corners were a little complicated, and they didn't all turn out as well as I would have liked, but I'm still quite pleased with it overall. 

As I was working on the joining, I was considering what was going to work for the edging. With this type of join, I was doing a half flat join on the edges of all the blocks, including the outside edges. This wouldn't necessarily work with the edging from the original pattern. Besides, the orignal pattern had the final round done in reverse crochet, which I really don't find very attractive. The website that has the new variation also has a link to a pattern that not only uses the flat braid join, but has an edging that works with it as well. (The afghan pattern is quite pretty, too). So I purchased the pattern and proceeded with the edging. 

In the pattern, the edging is all done in white. I felt that my afghan already had enough white and chose to do each of the three rounds in a different colourway. 

The circle motifs are done in the following colourways: Azalea, Beach Ball Blue, Blended Navy Lemon, Blue Camo, By the Sea, Candy Sprinkles, Chocolate, Coral Seas, Country Sage, Country Stripes, Creamsicle, Crown Jewels, Damask, Emerald Energy, Emerald Isle, Faded Denim, Fleur do Lavande, Floral Prints, Freshly Pressed, Fruit Punch, Garden Party, Granite Pink, Hippi, June Bug, Lemon Swirl, Lotus Blossom, Love, Marble Print, Mod, Moondance, Patio Pinks, Pepper, Pretty Pastels, Psychedelic, Purple Perk, Quiet Sea, Rick Rack, Stoneware, Summer Breeze, Summer Print, Sunkissed, and Swimming Pool. The border was done in Playtime, Salt and Pepper, and Lively. By the way, Lively looks very similar to Psychedelic, maybe slightly less loud. 

And so, it's finished. And, in my opinion, it's much prettier than the original pattern. 

And that's how life can be. Sometimes we plan our lives, like the original pattern. But the Artist recognizes that that pattern is not what's going to work best for our lives. And it can be uncomfortable, even painful sometimes, as the Master Artist works with the yarn. And, like the Bible text from Romans I quoted above, we want to ask Him, "What on earth are You doing?, Why are You doing it this way? I had my own plans and that's not the way I wanted my life to go..." And we often can't see how what looks like a mess of failed and aborted plans can possibly turn into something beautiful. But it can. And it will, if we trust it all in the hands of the Master. Because he promised in Romans 8:28:
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Dishcloths and Health Care Aide Day

October 18 was Health Care Aide Day in Alberta. It's a time to recognize health care aides (personal support workers, home support aides, nurses aides or whatever name they go by) and the important work they do. It's not an easy job - they do most of the "grunt" work in health care, and are often unrecognized and unappreciated. Last year, when I was working as a director of care in a long term care, I gave each of my health care aides a bath scrubby and some home made soap. I personally did not make the soap, as that is not one of my hobbies, but it was made by one of my retired nursing colleagues. This year, back in home care, I gave each of our health care aides a home made dishcloth.

That was somewhere in the neighbourhood of 26 dishcloths! It gave me an excuse to try a new Bernat yarn: Scrub Off. This yarn has regular cotton yarn interspersed with a scrubby-textured yarn, sort of like terrycloth. I decided it's not my favourite yarn. Like Bernat Bundle, the transitions between yarn types are not smooth - there are often loose ends that you have to figure out what to do with. I also don't really like working with the scrubby texture - a little rougher on the hands. 

While in Ontario on vacation, I picked up this book: 

and decided to start trying some of the patterns.

Orange Slice  -  Sunny Day

Cornflower  -  Wild Rose

So, the health care aides got quite a variety of dishcloths.

I took a Big Ball of Bernat Handicrafter Cotton in the lava lamp colourway (the green/pink/blue/white ones in the photo above) with me on the plane. When I finished that up, I bought one in Garden Party (the purple/pink ones). 

 I was using patterns from yarn labels and the internet. Above is another new yarn I purchased in Ontario. The purple/blue one is Bernat Handicrafter Stripey. It comes in a "cake," rather than the usual skein, with about double the amount of yarn, and I find it softer and finer than the usual Handicrafter cotton.

Summer Shells (which really isn't the pattern in the book)  -  Summer Rose

Rose Granny  -  Sunflower in Circle

At home I continued with the "Year of Dishcloths."

I then made these Pretty Posies dishcloths for a neighbour who had lost her husband. This is a free Mary Maxim pattern that I've used numerous times. It's pretty and it works up quickly. I use Red Heart Scrubby cotton for the edging.

Passion Flower  -  Fancy Heart

Before the Pie  -  Grandmother's Flower Garden

October 18 was drawing nearer, so I finished off with these four, plus some other dishcloths I had left in my stash. On the afternoon of October 17, I stuffed one in each of the health care aides mail boxes at work.

Now I'm down to just three in my stash, so it's time to get started on some new ones. I decided to try a pattern I got on a leaflet in Len's Mill, Bernat Holiday Dishcloths. I couldn't find the pattern online so I can't link to it. It's a Handicrafter Holidays pattern.

Because of the stitches used (front post double crochet, alternating with back post double crochet), it really ends up being too bulky for a dishcloth, so I put it in my drawer with my hot pot holders and trivets. 

Better get moving. I've got a quilt on the longarm that needs to be finished before I can get my niece's bag done, plus laundry and cooking to do, so I'm ready to go back to work tomorrow.