Not being much of a soccer fan, I don’t know what the actual WC results were. I can tell you mine, however.

I didn’t finish, but I couldn’t finish, and I’m happy with that. In the last 3-ish weeks I’ve managed to knit 12+ balls of Patons Classic Wool Merino in BLACK ALL FREAKING BLACK, through the heat waves and rainy days, into a bag of my own design. I included an innovative feature to the bag, something I wanted for myself in existing bags that just wasn’t offered out there, and that feature came out perfectly. I felted the giant bag, and as of this morning it is still blocking on huge pile of towels and plastic bags, stuffed with the large knife/wood block set we got for my bridal shower. So it’s not done. It still needs to be pulled and tugged and coaxed into the picture I have in my head. There are still handles or straps to knit, still a patch to knit for a cool touch on something. Still linings and zippers to buy, and sew, and insert. Still straps or handles to attach, nylon to sew, thimbles to use.

But I’m really ok with that.

I am designing this bag from scratch. No other pattern is my springboard. As such, I am finding things out that I didn’t think of at first…like how a pocket would need gussets if I wanted it to achieve a certain goal. And that I had to rip out the existing pocket to redo it with said gussets. Or how I didn’t want to knit the straps to whatever length I guessed would be correct, but would rather felt the bag, then see what length worked with the finished size.

So only once the bag is dry and shaped can I work on the straps. Only once its dry can I work on the interior.

So I wasn’t able to complete the entire bag, ready to wear and use, by the World Cup deadline.

But on my kitchen counter is a bag that only exists because I thought of it.

I think I did win, after all.