Countdown to state fair project 2016

There are just ten full work days left between now and the deadline for my  North Carolina State Fair project 2016, and while it I am reasonably confident  I will get it done, the technique I am using for the center panel is not something I have done before, so it is with some trepidation that I am entering this last stretch.

To that end, in an effort to generate some finishing mojo for my larger project, I started work on a baby sweater that works up fairly quickly.

Using one of my favorite variegated yarns, Red Heart Super Saver cherry cola, yesterday I finished work on the yoke/bodice of the sweater:

crochet baby sweater with the yoke added
I finish the yoke of the Eloise sweater

Which left me with more than a few ends to weave in and trim:

crochet sweater with ends to be woven in
Some ends to be woven in and trimmed

Once the ends were dealt with, it was time to move onto the sleeves, and I made one mistake after another, but after crocheting each sleeve twice, the sweater was just about done:

crochet sweater with the sleeves done
A nearly finished Eloise sweater

Using some of what remained of the partial skein of the cherry cola that is the foundation of the sweater, I read briefly about color pooling, and then applying just a small bit of what I learned, I crocheted this square for the center panel:

single crochet square
I experiment a little with pooling

Pleased with the way it had come out, I crocheted two more pieces using two of the variegated colorways that I had incorporated into they crochet representations of my grandmother’s glass tumblers:

three crazy quilt crochet pieces made with variegated yarn
Three variegated pieces for the crochet crazy quilt panel

Then, to get a better sense of just what it is I need to work on this weekend, I laid out all of the pieces I have made so far and got this overview of my work:

overview of crazy quilt crochet pieces
An overview of the pieces so far

and this detail:

detail of crazy quilt crochet pieces
Detail of the crochet crazy quilt pieces

October will be here before I know it. The days will no doubt run together, disappearing one into the other at a rapid pace.

October 10 will arrive, and I will need to make my way to the State Fair Fairgrounds projects in hand and ready to be turned in, and then I will be able to start thinking about what next year will bring.