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Now is that an ambiguous title or what?!
Why am I not surprised?
Which part of crocheting do you hate the most
Choosing a pattern 1 (5%)
Frogging 3 (15%)
Changing colour 0 (0%)
Adding a new ball of yarn/thread 1 (5%)
Weaving in ends 10 (52%)
“Picking up” stitches on sides 2 (10%)
Sewing seams 2 (10%)
Blocking/Pinning 0 (0%)
Trying to convince people to accept your crocheted gifts 0 (0%)
Total votes: 19
So many of us hate weaving in ends. And some of us hate frogging the most. But how come no one is with me on failing to find takers for crocheted gifts, hmm?
Anyhow, Sheila wanted to know at which stage people prefer to weave in ends, so that will be my next poll. Be sure to look out for it.
Bloopy is now oval after an encounter with the frog. Since the original pattern was a rectangle, I’m on my own on this one…I like the stitch, though, which gives me loops without the Loopy stitch, which I’m scared to try!
And yes, those are my new stitchmarkers, put to work speedily.
I do have FOs, I do! 
Scrubbie with GUM, made using the magic square pattern. The hook is to show the size.
I’m calling this “Bloopy” in honour of Loopy-the-Sheep, but it will be turning into a bathmat. Regular readers will remember the G.U.M. (Green Unholy Mess) from some time ago. The pattern is from here.
I’m disappointed, however, to report that my new Q hook isn’t being used for this….The yarn isn’t thick enough. 
And just to be upfront, it hasn’t baa-ed yet.
I’m lovin’ it!
A Christmas Elf dropped off a Christmas in July package for me today and I was jumping up and down because it had:
Susan Bates Q hook in Luxite
which should be perfect for that bathmat I want to make. Then
Beaded stitch markers…my first-ever!
Now I don’t have an excuse to be monochromatic any more in the things I make! And
Crochet World magazine June 2005-fresh off the press!!!
Call me sick, but I’m getting almost as much pleasure out of sniffing it as out of reading it 
Thank you, Cordelia!
I finished testing the pattern for the doily that I bragged blogged about a few posts ago. But no pictures yet. I’ve sent off my report to the designer and when she finally approves, I shall duly put up images.
The other doily is what I’m hoping to send my partner in the Crochetville Doily Swap. So for obvious reasons, I don’t want to post it here…
On an exciting note (for me) I’ve made contact with a lady in Bangalore who crochets and also uses the net for crochet-related activity. She says she has actually sold stuff, so I’m eager to find out more, including how she prices things, what materials she uses and so on. She does it in a personal circle, I think, not on the net. I found her thanks to a friend on Crochetlist CAT which I wrote about at the weekend. Thanks so much, Glenna!
Yes, I do crochet. **vigorous nod** In fact on my hook(s) right now I have two doilies. One is for my Crochetville Doily swap, and the other is a pattern I’m testing. Being as they are both confidential, I cannot reveal either one either by name or author….But be patient, and you will see pictures of at least one before the week is out…
Today was my second CAT at Crochetlist, and it was fun again!. Some different people and some same ones, but I won a PAC again! YAY!!!
For those who don’t know, Crochetlist is a mailing list for crocheters from all over the world and every month from February to October they have a 24-hr chat. Today was this month’s chat (Crochet-A-Thon). Every hour there is a draw for those who’ve been there the whole hour, and the winner gets a PAC!!! I won a PAC last time, too, just haven’t received it yet. You know where you can see pictures when it arrives!
Better yet, one of the hosts couldn’t make it at the last minute, so I jumped in with both feet and hosted for an hour. It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be, and quite fun, actually. I might actually volunteer, next time…So today I was totally distracted. In fact at the time of posting this, the CAT is still going on, but I felt I’d lingered long enough….So I tore myself away.
There are some members there from Crochetville, too so it it was good getting to know them a little better. Courtney, for one. Anyone else? There are some blogless…
I gaze longingly at the Secret Pal swaps at Crochetville. They sound very interesting. But I’m restrained by a couple of things….
-> Just to mail a package from here to the US (for example) requires at least $11 (if it is to arrive in my lifetime). And that is just for envelopes. I haven’t enquired yet about boxes. So even if I sent just empty boxes twice, I’d be at the spending limit (if I understand it correctly). A lot of the supplies I buy costs much less than that…unless it is in bulk, then I shudder to think what the postage would be…You might remember the green unholy mess that I bought back in June:
-> Most (if not all) SP packages seem to include yarn and/or other crochet accessories. I can’t think that what we get here will actually be worth sending out to anyone…Not yarn or hooks, definitely. That only leaves endless amounts of my own handmade stuff, which would get boring after a time, I should think! Has anyone been in a Secret Pal swap which didn’t involve yarn/hook items?
-> Given Crochetville has about 3 and a half participants from India, how “secret” a Secret Pal would I be, anyway?
If you are still reading this and haven’t rushed off to to strike me from your blogroll subscriptions, maybe you could tell me what you think….I should stick to RAOKs and Christmas in July and the occasional doily swap, I think.
Update:
I’m hugely gratified by the number of comments I’ve got on this post. So many of you have taken the time to write in, and with so much thought behind your comments, I love reading all of them.
Most people seem to agree that swaps are great fun, and I think so, too. To reply to one point raised by Veronica, although I needn’t give my return address on the packages, I’d still have to stick Indian stamps on my stuff and that would be a dead give-away! It would be fun to play the guessing game, but only if there was more choice in the guessees (new word alert!!!)
Hmm.
I think for now I’ll stick to RAOKing and swapping things I could actually use (NOT afghan squares!) RAOKs and wishlists seem to be a bit more flexible for my purposes at this time. I should have great fun building up stacks of bookmarks, doilies (now I have an excuse to make more. YAY!) scrubbies, dishcloths (maybe not, they seem to use cotton yarn….How about socks? I know exactly who can tell me more about these…)
**goes off mumbling**
After much peer pressure, I succumbed and made something(s) from the booklets Cordelia sent me. But, they are for my Elfin duties on Crochetville, and as such, they will be invisible on this space until at least the end of the month, I should think.
I’m just offering up this information as proof that I can finish things! So there!
swakrta.com 