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Art Deco Mysteryghan, Etc.

I got a slow start on the past week's Mysteryghan clue.
(Warning: I'm verbose on the subject...)

Once given my full attention, the continuation of the "medallion" went pretty smoothly.  All those fpdc (and chains along the back) make for an extremely cushy fabric.  It would make a nice pillow cover (or seat cushion, as one participant has pointed out), though I'm not in the mood to make it again, at the moment...  (The increase, where you have to crochet into the top of a stitch that already has a fpdc around it?  That's the culprit.  Don't care for that particular maneuver at all.) 

I also hesitated over this week's squares, because they were intended to be worked all in the color I've assigned to be "harvest gold".  Two problems with that.  One, I don't have a ton of that (long-ago-discontinued, vintage) yarn, and I want to be sure I have enough to spread around the whole afghan.  Two (and this was the bigger issue), I still think it'll look best if the gold and peach never touch.  (And peach is my "main color"-- or, technically, just the color that requires the most yardage, since there is no "main color".)

The best solution I could come up with-- not knowing how the pieces will be arranged, but feeling fairly confident that two strips will touch the "main color" somewhere-- was to put the gold in the center of the squares, then work the last round of each in its "partner color", dark orange.  (And then just hope that it doesn't draw undue attention to those strips of squares...)  Since I'm running perilously low on "pumpkin", with no way of knowing how much more I'll need, I decided to introduce another orange yarn (which coincidentally also has a veggie-themed name, "carrot").

The two oranges are similar, but not identical, of course.  I hope that my symmetrical placement of the slightly different shades will look intentional and not just odd...  I've seen other Ravelers use the same style of arranging different colors of yarn in the strips of squares, and theirs all looked fine, but their colors were usually more obviously different, so it was clearly intentional...

It's a little bit stressful (of the mild type of stress one feels regarding inconsequential hobby-related issues) to work a Mysteryghan from yarn you don't have in plentiful supply.  There's simply no way of knowing how best to divvy up your limited stash of one color, for instance.  I'm beginning to long for a non-mysterious project, to tell the truth.  Well, the solution would be either to stop working mystery afghans from (mostly) stash, and just buy plenty of yarn specifically for the MCAL-- or to loosen up a little and stop worrying, because it's just an afghan, for goodness' sake!  ;o)

Here's a photo of my completed Clue #4:


The next clue has us making a strip of peach to match one from an earlier clue-- only I don't have enough of that yarn to make a matching strip... I'm sure they're meant to balance one another out, because we've been told that this is a symmetrical design.  I'll have to hope that the new peach is a close enough match to fool the eye (over a distance, if not side-by-side).  I think it is:


If it looks a little strange, there's no-one to blame but myself.  (If I ever do another MCAL, I think I'll be more particular about having enough yardage from the start!)

In the meantime, I'm sure it'll be fine, in the end.  It is, after all, Only A Blanket.  Lives don't hang in the balance.  ;o)  (And the crocheting is fun!  And I do like textural stitches!)

- - - - - - -

 I don't think I ever posted a photo of these finished cushion covers:

Crocheted Pillow Covers

Crocheted Pillow Covers

I was happy with how they turned out.  :o)
(They were for my paternal grandmother's birthday, earlier this month.)