Or, better stated, I THOUGHT I could see!
I always considered the typical granny square a walk in the park. It is easy enough to do the double crochet, cluster that sucker into three at a time, and make my rounds as I go, right? Well, a few months ago I had Lasik done on my eyes. My vision has always been pretty bad, so once I started healing from the surgery, I literally had to learn how to use my eyes again! Sounds crazy, I know, but for decades I had prescription eye glasses, around 15 years ago I got the bifocal, 6 years after that, the dreaded trifocal, so I went from almost blind to 20/20 practically over night! And, yes, it certainly does take getting used to. The way I used to have to focus on things and the way I focus on things now has changed a lot. The way, I suppose, I had to learn to use my eye muscles, has changed. Things people typically never thing about, like breathing or hearing, it is just something we “do”, right? Anyhow, since I was on a trifocal prescription lens, apparently, while I can see details I had never even realized were there all my life at almost every range, when it comes to close up detailed work with dark colors, I struggle. I simply cannot get my eyes to focus properly when I have the small detail work to do. Now I struggle to “connect the dots”, as one might put it.
A few months ago my Aunt Barbara asked me if I would make her a granny square afghan. I told her, sure I would! Piece of cake, I said! I set out to pick a wide array of colors to piece together and got started on those clean easy squares. I have already made a few dozen…but, when I started to piece these suckers together, I realized that the struggle is real! I had chosen a dark color to finish my rounds with, and as I was trying to piece these dark purple stitches together, I realized I could not see the detail I needed to line them up properly. What, in the past, would take me a few weeks to complete has now run into two months. At the onset of creating this piece, I was going to do single color squares, then two color squares moving out, then three and so on. Now I hope to be able to keep my sanity in the one set of sewing I will need to do. Fortunately, I have another 3 months to get this afghan put together, but, it sure is tempting to just start doing the rounds on this medium size square I have managed to piece together.
To my dear Aunt Barbara, these stitches will be made with love…and with struggle…and with victory over my obstacles! See you in September~
