UFOs

When is it time to give up and call it a day? How many times do you pull out stitches and start over again? When it enough, enough?

I've been mad at my newest project for about a week now, and since I can't brag about my brilliant and wonderful new creation, I haven't felt like blogging. Funny how that works. When something is going well, I can't wait to tell the whole world about it, but as soon as it gets messy, I'm quiet.

After finishing off my socks, I've now moved onto a new project: a sweater. Well, a bolero, to be exact. This is the most difficult thing I have ever attempted. It's made from granny squares which are attached to one another as the work progresses. I've done granny squares before, so it should be no problem.

A week later, I have two and a half squares almost finished...and I'm seriously thinking about calling it quits. Or at least declaring a formal period of separation. The stitches are very exact and if you are off by just the tiniest bit, everything goes awry. I like to crochet for fun and for stress relief. None of my stress is being relieved, and quite honestly, it's not fun. So now I'm stuck.

I haven't moved on to anything new just yet, because I'm not sure if I've given up all hope on the bolero or if I just need to wait until I'm in a better frame of mind. See, I've been out of sorts for a few days now, and I know it's affecting my judgement. When things don't go as planned in "real life," it is nice to have reliable crafts to fall back on. But when life and crafts both mess up...well, that's where I'm at right now.

At book club the other night, one lady made reference to her stash of "UFOs", i.e. Unfinished Objects, and I thought the term was appropriate. So maybe I'll be adding to my own UFO pile with the 2.5 granny squares that are laying in a forgotten heap, or maybe I'll push through. I really haven't decided yet.

There are other things in my life that are unfinished, but unlike a troublesome sweater, they can't be shut in a bin for all eternity. And even though they are no fun and cause stress, I have to deal with them. I suppose sooner is better than later in this case.

Flowers help.

Dinner

No, I didn't eat yarn for dinner. In fact, this post is rather unrelated to yarn and crafts of that sort. I just wanted to share with someone how wonderful my dinner is. Call it bragging if you wish, since I'm pretty sure that's what it is.

While most of the folks I know are buckling down for a massive snow storm, all we have here is torrential rains. I know, that's what I get for living in the Southern half of the country, but I really love snow and we have had lots this year. That being said, it was the perfect night for soup.

I love soup. It's probably one of my most favorite foods...or at least my favorite food group. What, you don't remember seeing soup on the pyramid? Then your food group pyramid is flawed. Soup definitely belongs near the bottom. Actually, I have had soup for three out of the last four meals. (I wonder what that does to my digestive system?) Anytime it gets cold or rainy or I get sickish or tired, soup is a answer.

Tonight's soup was an experiment. M doesn't like very many veggies, but I know that they are very good for us. (The veggie group is right above the soup group on the pyramid.) So I have been trying to figure out ways to cook with veggies and make it taste good. Thus, soup is crucial. This particular soup was a tortellini minestrone with carrots, onions, zucchini, tomatoes, sausage, and, of course, tortellini. Yum. I think M ended up picking out the zucchini and dodging the tomatoes, but over all the soup was a success, which is a truly wonderful thing, since there is a rather large pot of leftovers sitting on the stove.

Anyways, I know this was off topic and non-crafty, but my soup was so good I just had to share.