Verb: pootle
poo-t(u)l To move in a leisurely unhurried way,
with no real purpose


Monday 5 October 2015

Random .... to be or not to be ?


So, here's the thing ... 
whilst I am eternally grateful to my Mum and Dad for
 giving me 'the neat and tidy gene' and enabling me to be super organised
 and super tidy wherever I go, when it comes to crochet it seems, 
quite unexpectedly, that this poses a bit of a problem.

Now it's nothing too earth shatteringly awful and life can continue 
without it being too much of an issue ...... 
but, oh, how I would love to be able to do random !

But I can't.

I simply cannot make myself sit down and do a completely unplanned, 
spontaneous  and what's the word .... organic, piece of crochet.
It's literally quite impossible for me to put two colours together that might clash a bit 
or that don't maybe sit right together. 
It's almost bringing me out in a cold sweat just thinking about it. 
And then, just imagine if someone made me sit down with a whole basket of odds and ends , 
in all the colours of the rainbow ,
 and asked me to just go with the flow .... definitely in a cold sweat now !

So why bother I hear you cry - well, because as I have traveled on my crochet 
journey I have discovered that whilst I may not actually be able to do it,
 I have become rather partial to a bit of a random patterned blanket or two.

I have even attempted to have a go with this blanket that I made a couple of years ago,


but if you look closely you'll see that I literally got not further than a quarter
 of the way through before I had reverted to type and a lovely,
 neat and tidy pattern happened.


Don't get me wrong, I still love this blanket very much but since finishing it, 
always at the back of my mind there's been that little voice
 saying 'go on, go on, do random, do random. '
I've even had all the yarn ready and waiting in a bag in my cupboard, 
just tucked away quietly waiting for that moment.


And then, one day, one very normal every day kind of day ...... 
JOY OH JOY , 
the lovely Heather over at Pink Milk very quietly posted a post all about 
this most miraculous of inventions called, wait for it ....

THE RANDOM STRIPE GENERATOR !!!!

My heart is beating faster just thinking about it.


LOOK !!!! 
It actually works out the random for you ! 

You just put in a few details like your colour choices,
 number of rows etc and off it goes, again and again and again !

 Endless randomness, 
it even allows you to choose which random you like the most !

Bloomin' fantastic !
Heather - I owe you big time .


Well, before you could say 'what colour next' I had hot footed it upstairs,
 got the hidden bag of yarn out from the back of the cupboard, printed off 
'The Golden Chart of Randomness'


and the blanket had been started.

And, oh, oh, oh, big happy sigh of relief ....


I can do it !
I can TOTALLY do it.


My Pootling bag is packed and wherever I go, it comes too.


And, boy .... is it addictive !



I can't stop.
I love it.
Hook, line and sinker - I AM IN.


So, here I am, one very happy and satisfied crocheter sitting in a lovely tidy house doing random crochet to my hearts content - who says you can't have the best of both worlds :-) 


Probably just worth stating at this point that the irony hasn't been lost on me that I have still had to stick my charts very neatly and tidily in a brand new note book, that all my colours are neatly noted down next to the stripes, in very neat handwriting and that all of my yarns are also very neatly recorded on a little tag that is tied very neatly in to my very neat and tidy notebook.  

Hey - ho, not quite fully off-piste just yet but one step at a time eh !


                 ( Further post to follow with pattern details ....  
            but for now just click here to be transported to 
                                The Wonderful World of Randomness ....                   

26 comments:

  1. Just out of interest were you good at maths at school Kate? You see I can't do random either, in my head everything has to fit a pattern and I think if you're a number orientated person you can struggle with this. Off-piste is a problem for me too.
    Your blanket is amazing! :)
    V x

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    1. Hello Vivienne - no ! I was completely rubbish at maths ! Still am infact ! K xx

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    2. Haha, oh well that's that theory knocked on the head then!!! ;)

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  2. Oh Kate, I enjoyed this post immensely and I completely get can't do random. I think everything I make has a sequence and either a limited colour palette or it's all one colour. My one attempt at random was a ripple blanket and I did well for the first half of it, but then wimped out and worked the second half as a mirror image of the first! Your blanket looks fabulous and I really like the colours, well done for coming out of your comfort zone - maybe I'll have a little dip into the Random Stripe Generator and see what comes out. Have a lovely week. Jane xx

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    1. That's so funny Jane - I so get having to do the mirror image thing :) Definately give the generator a try - its really very satisfying K xx

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  3. Love, love, love this blanket, my favourite one yet, the colours are stunning. I just can't do random, it makes me panic, the uncertainty of it! Wonder if your right greenrabbitdesigns, being an accountant I just have to have order! I'm off now to have a play on the random stripe generator x

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    1. Thank you so much xxx I'm a bit in love with it too. You're absolutely right when you describe it as a panic - thats exactly what it is !! K xx

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  4. The colours look so beautiful together and the 'random' is definitely working xx

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  5. Haha Kate! You are a funny bunny! Random suits you my love, your blanket looks gorgeous! xx

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  6. It's gorgeous, really gorgeous. I'm completely the same when it comes to being random. I'm making a grey blanket with a few (maybe seven or eight) thin random stripes in it. Oh how I've agonised over them. Even now, halfway through I'm just not sure. I'd be happier if they were all the same, or one blue, then one green the one blue... Yes, I understand you completely, right down to the neatly stuck in chart. You are my kind of crocheter. CJ xx

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    1. Hello CJ - that all just sounds so familiar ! So glad its not just me, K xx

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  7. I struggle with random so I totally get your issue. There is also a random granny square generator too which I have found useful in the past to help me with my random. Other than that I have to put the granny squares in a bag and just pull the required number of squares out in order to make a row I occasionally very occasionally have to swap them around a bit if I end up with two squares the same next to each other that is a random too far for me.

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    1. Ooh , I might have to give that a try next Mitzi ! I like your idea of a random pick and mix though :) K xx

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  8. LOL - yes, I vary between a love of order and tidiness, and other times I love spontenaety!

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  9. Me too!!!!! I've tried and tried but I just can't do random either. I have beautiful tiles in my kitchen BUT the tiler put the on in random fashion (which I did agree with) I love them but often stand at the cooker stirring something and mentally rearranging them into some kind of ordered pattern.
    Your blanket is beautiful, I might just have to creep out of my comfort zone and give the random stripe generator a go.

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    Replies
    1. That's so funny - I'd be exactly the same with the tiles ! You'd think we had better things to do with our time really, wouldn't you !! K xx

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  10. This is definitely an issue I have. I am (still) working on the attic24 cozy blanket CAL from last year, i'm loving the random stripes but mostly loving the fact that someone else selected the random for me!

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  11. Random generator!!! I lost my link to one (and couldn't print off the colour anyway) so I put the letters a-z on a small square each (three of each). Now if I need a random stripe, I just get the number of colours I need, and shuffle the cards before picking them out a few at a time.

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  12. Such a beautiful blanket, loving the colours, loving them lots. Thanks for the info about the random generator I too cant do random, so much so that my WIP king size blanket has just been frogged back 6 granny square rows as I saw a square that wasn't rightly placed!
    Also must say I like your non random blanket too.

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  13. I've been using the random stripe generator for years but you know what? I still can't make myself do random, even with their directives! I've been known to change the order they show me just because I don't like the way colors look next to each other. It's just hopeless for me. :)

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  14. I haven't ever really managed to be random! I did one blanket where I worked the colours out to make sure that no two would be the same next to each other, so while it was kind of random it was calculated random! I am making something at the moment and thought of trying to be random with that, but I couldn't do it! So I totally understand your lack of randomness. The stripe generator is definitely a way to go, but I love how organised you still are! xx

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  15. Thank you for sharing. I look forward to discovering some randomness in my ordered world 😀

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  16. Oh I love this, I'm terrible at random but love the look of blankets when other people make them! Will try out that random stripe generator!
    Zoe | floral and feather

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