More glorious crochet

Decided to make my own blog post so I can go back to checking out other crochet and knitting blogs.



At left you see the two light teal dishcloths that I took my time crocheting using a half double crochet + single crochet stitch pattern. A simple pattern that gives a nice texture. I used Red Heart Soft and that yarn feels glorious. My idea is to sell the washcloths with a bar of soap for added value.



I have been reading a lot as usual. I have three books in rotation that I'm reading hands-on and one of the fiction novels is Hooked on Murder: A Crochet Mystery by Betty Hechtman. The man character is 48-year-old Molly Pink who initially gets detained by the police after literally stepping on the body of the woman who led the book's crochet group. It's funnier than I thought it would be. I do wish I could have gotten it on audiobook through the library so I can crochet while listening to it.

http://www.amazon.com/Hooked-Murder-Crochet-Betty-Hechtman/dp/0425221253

My current audiobook is Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris.

I've been wondering what crocheters and knitters in Canada have been making to survive the cold. I have been delaying getting out of bed these days just to postpone being cold for a little longer.



Yesterday I finished the grey slippers that I started months ago when I was on a slipper binge. They are quadruple-stranded; two strands of acrylic and two strands of wool. My feet have been freezing so badly that I have to warm them up several times a day so I thought the wool would help insulate them. I'll show you the slippers in progress and in action in my next post.






This is the teal & white double crochet blanket that I've been working on. The one pound skeins have been going a long way. So glad that I won't have so many ends to weave in after the crocheting is done.

I have more crochet news, but I'll save it for my next post.

Maintaining comfort with lots & lots of yarn

It was asked on Rockford Crochet where we keep our stash. Decided that it would be easier to show pics. What you see is some of my yarn, not all of it because some of it is sorted into homemade kits. Most of it is in the meditation room in the tall bookcases you see below. They used to have doors on them, but I took them off so I can more easily stare at my yarn. It is very much like having a mini yarn shop in my home and it is so fun to go in there to shop! A very cheery room.

The white and off-white yarns in the hanging organizers live in the office now. I had to bring in my yarn from the enclosed porch because of the cold meaning that I don't want to go out there when I want to make a selection.

That's my Sierra Leone, Africa orphanage box on the desk next to my covered sewing machine. Accumulating and making items to send will be an ongoing project. I bought a box of 60 Band-Aids. Will remember to take some out and put them in that box since even basic medical supplies are greatly in need in such places. I happened to have some unopened hair beads that I don't think I'll use along with some non-crochet baby clothes that had been for my current stuffed animals and childhood dolls.

The first yarn I'd bought after purchasing the four trash bags full (as seen in a previous post) was 3 skeins of Red Heart Spring Green which is the same shade as Caron Simply Soft Brites Limelight. I got it from Walmart. I got really hungry for green last winter so I'm glad that they had it in stock. They only had 4 skeins of it. I did buy a pound of black yarn too.

Right now around here it even looks like "a lot" of yarn to me, but I'd still be willing to take more yarn in if anyone needs to rehome some. Has to do with maintaining my psychological comfort level so having a lot of yarn around me as much as possible is terribly important. Oh, and course it will be used too.

I usually work on crochet projects in my bedroom, the living room, porch, and office. I usually take a project with me when I go out. Takes the anger out of having to wait.

I have taken projects with me to the bathroom and worked on them there . . . Don't worry, I launder/sanitize the items that I donate to charity. Washing helps soften acrylic fabric and removes manufacturing oils, body oils, and whatever other substances may have collected on in-progress projects.

I think I've crocheted in the basement while waiting for my laundry to finish it's business. Yes, I'm pretty sure I've done it there. I'm sure I will have done it all over the house someday.

I like to write a lot so I tend to alternate between writing in a notebook or on the computer and crocheting. Recently cleared the pile of yarn and papers that accumulated on my desk.

My current project which I started the day before yesterday: Cherry Chip dishcloths. Popped into my head to make sets of them for people who have to rebuild their lives due to fires or other unexpected circumstances. Whoever needs 'em, basically. I'm on my fourth and last one for this set.

I'm probably going to switch over to making a navy blue scarf that will go with a navy blue hat that I've already made with the intention of donating it. Need something that doesn't require a lot of concentration while I watch movies on the computer.

I've also been working on a teal & white blanket. It's so nice. I'm leaning toward selling it because I'm sure someone would love it and give me money for it, but we'll see what I do when I do it.

Will be posting again soon!

First Blogger post. It's photo-riffic!

It's Saturday afternoon already. I spent a good chunk of time this morning learning more about how to use the tools available for this blog and taking pics of the many crochet & knitted items that I've made. It's unbelieveable how fast those projects add up. I'll share many pictures of finished and in-progress works.

I made the Ginger Sesame Sweet & Sour Chicken last night. I just dumped some ingredients together to make the sauce to flavor it to my liking. I crocheted the Fiesta Ombre cotton potholder in Ripple Stitch months ago when I was in need of a potholder for retrieving dishes hot from the microwave.

I do way more crocheting than knitting, but I enjoy being able to do both and they can go together. Not too long ago, I crocheted adjustable ties for the soft novelty yarn headband that I knit last year. I went on a scarf binge last month using very soft yarns and made one using the same yarn with complimentary Caron Simply Soft yarn in Soft Pink and Orchid.

In progess: yellow wool potholders. They are currently rather large because they still need to undergo the felting process which I've never intentionally done to wool. Also, I just need to add loops for hanging them up. These I plan to sell. My taste in colors is rather bold for home décor and is primarily in the red family.

Green & yellow blanket posed with its coordinating sweater can. Surely a John Deere or Green Bay Packers football team will find them irresistible.

This is the baby blanket that I'm currently working on using two strands of yarn held together using a shade of Wintuk "Lullaby" which I bought a bunch of a couple weeks ago at a thrift store.

That's my hand you see holding up the aluminum hook while I take a pic with my right. I was wearing black and pink beaded bracelets that I made a couple years ago. I'm going to sell two black bracelets which would fit a person with a larger hand or wrist since I custom-made them for myself and I have wide, capable hands.

I wasn't sure how that variegated yarn would look worked up so first I did my version of a swatch which happens to be an entire baby blanket. I did a simple picot edging with white baby yarn with a rayon thread running through it which adds sparkle. The ends aren't woven it yet, but you can't see them because I hid them from you!

I made17 preemie/micro-preemie hats out of scrap yarn during my last vacation while hoping psychic energy can't be absorbed into the hats since I spent most of that crocheting time watching horror movies about serial killers and thinking about how sad it is about premature babies . . . Well, I was planning on a yard/porch sale last month and thought about which small crochet items I could make quickly. I dove into the freezer bag full of hats and, with the addition of ribbon and tulle, transformned several of them into the mini gift bags and French Vanilla sachets that you see above.

She's so lovely. This Cream & Glazed Dawn scarf is so light, airy, and soft. It'd make a luxuriously soft gift for someone. If it were my personal fashion taste, I'd keep it. In the meantime I'm just happy to look at it and touch it.

Weather permitting, the next Rita's Really Great Stuff yard/porch sale will be held on Saturday, September 27th. I will turn 32-years-old the day before, on the 26th. I hope that I have many, many craftastic years ahead of me.