Quaran-crafts

Well, unless you're under a rock - and that might be the safest place for you at this point - you are aware that we're a week or two into COVID-19 pandemic social distancing and home isolation. I work from home most days, so my life has been disrupted less than most. Still, I am not used to quite so much time at home with my crafts, so I have been very productive.

First up is the Golden Fans Shawl, which I've been working on for about four months; I saw it at the Stitches Midwest 2019 fashion show and had to have it. The show sample was in gold, but the shawl kit (Rozetti Yarns Cotton) was so popular that they were out and I bought silver instead.

Golden Fans Shawl

It turned out great! Four balls would have been enough for the recommended number of pattern repeats, but I went a little farther (about halfway into my fifth ball) and I was just about getting point to the point where I sort of had the pattern memorized when it was over. 

I have also been yarn bombing! I was in the process of doing this one - a scrap sleeve with some big, bright flowers - when the COVID-19 stuff really started hitting the United States, so I installed it to cheer up the neighborhood. 

Big Bright Flower Yarn Bomb

Right before everything hit, I also installed this one in Evanston next to the post office. I had a big amount of scrap orange and gray, so I did a tribute to the people who love that combo. It's right near my old NU offices, so hopefully they enjoy it (when they get back to the office, ha ha).

I didn't see it, but when I was installing the Evanston one, my husband said some people walked by and were pointing excitedly. That's Evanston for you - crunchy Mayberry. I knew that no one would mind me yarn bombing something there because half the trees on Davis and Sherman streets are covered already.

I also had some random bits of scraps that weren't enough to make anything bigger, so I worked them up in an improvised shell pattern and installed on a bike rack in the Federal Plaza downtown, right next to the main USPS building. It's kinda teeny but cute.

Small bike rack cozy on Federal Plaza

I'm working on a handful of more projects right now, including a scarf kit I bought at Yarn Con 2019, another couple of yarn bombs with fingering weight yarn, etc.

Crafting corner

One I'm really excited is a set of rainbow bike racks I'm going to install near the library to show solidarity and love. The Chicago Public Library was (controversially) one of the last things to close for the pandemic, and I know it had to close, but I miss it so dearly.

Rainbow yarns

Other things I've done around the house is clean, unpack the last boxes from the move, organize and post my Guatemala photos, and bake marbled banana bread. I know I'm fairly productive even during busy times, but I have to say, I have found a new way to get me to finish something I don't want to do - lock me inside with it for an indeterminate period of time.

Stay safe, Chicago (and America and world).