Another quick project.

I don't normally do well with large projects because I want instant gratification. Luckily, I have daughters, and they provide me with many opportunities for just that. I can make them clothes or I can make them toys, or I can get really creative and make clothes for their toys. I started this last night and finished it up this morning:
Not the snazziest dress, I admit, but it was meant to be fast and easy for my 3.5-year-old to get on & off. It's vaguely styled as a cheongsam, but doesn't have the requisite stand-up collar or wrap front. Mainly because I couldn't figure out, on the spur of the moment, how to crochet either one. I am certain I could have done it with a little more thought & preplanning, but that would have sort of defeated the purpose.

I like the HDC stitch. It's stretchy and yet it's not so big it presents you with holes. It's about the fastest stitch I can do. I downloaded the directions for a chain-free HDC base, but I can't quite figure them out.

I'm in the midst of a very long prodromal labor. As in, I am in my third day of irregular but very strong & painful contractions. Makes it kind of hard to concentrate on anything, but oddly enough I'm more interested in crocheting, not less. I really want to master that chainless HDC technique, because I've made one baby shirt that's very stretchy except at the hem where the foundation chain is. In theory, the chainless HDC would solve that problem. I'll try again later today; it's kind of hard to concentrate through contractions. Bleah. At least, in theory, all this means the baby will be here soon. I'm being constantly reassured that long prodromal labor means that when the "real" thing hits, it will go quickly. One can only hope.

I'm still working on the sampler afghan. I'm not doing it 100% the way the book tells me to, of course. I don't want any gaping holes in the afghan (I have decided to give it to Smoochie to adorn her new bed once I'm done), so a lot of the stitches in the book aren't appropriate. So I'm utilizing all of my various stitch books to come up with the requisite number of squares...which are coming out decidedly rectangular. Ah well, a sampler afghan is a sampler afghan; I'm doing it more for the experience than anything else. I've got 11 squares done so far, so it's coming along slowly but steadily. If I can just quit getting distracted by other things, I may even get it finished some time this year.