rostitchery

great things

 "no great thing is created suddenly."

epictetus, greek philosopher

attention gayle: i crocheted

my sister sabrina introduced our family to sushi.  when she was still a teenager, she got a job at a japanese restaurant, where to the best of my knowledge her job was to wear pretty kimonos and charm all the patrons with her beauty and wit.

for christmas this year, i made her a scarf, but not just any scarf.  unrolled and ready for wearing it is a mild-mannered length of yarnful goodness:

but rolled up and served in a take-out box, it is a yarnful bit of maki-sushi:

this is the very first crochet project that i have successfully completed, and it is all thanks to one bit of advice i got from an online friend: 

"the chain two at the beginning of the row counts as the first double crochet". 

WHY DIDN'T SOMEONE TELL ME THIS BEFORE?!?!?  no wonder all my things were always out of shape and wonky--i was only counting the double crochets that i actually made, not the turning loops at the beginning of the row.  this one little tip converted what started out as a hopelessly out-of-whack crochet craftastrophe into a delightfully in-whack pun of a scarf.  i am so proud of myself.

edited 24 december to add:  another friend gave me a link that has a very clear demonstration on what to do at the end of the row, it is even better and simpler than what i was doing which was trying to crochet into the turning chain:  bella dia's vintage vertical stripe crocheted blanket pattern

and now i know why people like to crochet--it is really fast, compared to knitting anyway.  and this scarf is very cozy, ella and i both want one.  mostly so we can be hip like gayle.