I almost let myself get side tracked.

After finishing the eight scrap cats, I was feeling an odd combination of fancy free and bereft.

Fancy free because they are done; bereft because, “what now?”

In my overall plan the “what now” is to crochet myself an iconic ripple afghan using medium (and some longer) yarn scraps.

I had actually worked out a number or the details as seen here:

I had wanted something that utilized the single crochet through the back loop only design that is the mainstay of the ripple afghans so often seen on the backs of chairs and sofas in television shows, and after getting an approximate idea of how wide it should be (wide enough to cover the top of a double bed), and how many points it should have (17 because it is a prime number and should result in an afghan that is about the width I want), I did the rest of the math for the foundation chain and came up with 233 chains.

But as is my wont, I started to think about things I could do differently, and it took me more than an hour to talk myself out of the nonsensical thoughts I was having about how I could improve on what is essentially crochet perfection.

So as the early afternoon began to turn into mid-afternoon, I got out my hook, assembled my scraps, and got to work.

I counted carefully, using small scraps of yarn to mark every twenty-fifth chain.

When I was done, I counted them again.

Then I began to crochet the all important and sometimes frustrating foundation row.

It is the basis from which everything else proceeds, and since this project is being worked in one piece, it must be correct, and to all appearances, it was, but the first time I got the end of the first row, I had one extra chain.

Since I had counted twice and marked stitches as I went along, I was pretty sure the error was in my crocheting, and after looking it over carefully, I found the mistake, frogged my way back to where it had occurred, and then moved forward.

By the time I got it done without any visible errors:

my dog was looking at me expectantly waiting for a walk. So I took one last photo and headed out:

The possibilities of crochet are endless. Even through you can only ever work one stitch at a time, the combinations and various ways you can work that one stitch make for a craft that can keep you busy all day and all night, and it is up to the crafter to figure out when to call it a day.

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