Days 62 to 66: preparing for a weekend FULL of crafting with family and friends, with some fantastic causes to support!

stretchy bracelets for a great cause!
I have a great friend who teaches at the Crouse Hospital School of Nursing.  They regularly make trips to Guatemala through their Global Health Initiative program.  She came up with the idea of collecting the stretchy band bracelets to bring with her the next trip there.  This is her post from her brilliant Facebook event:

"While I was visiting my niece, she was working on these loom bracelets made out of stretchy bands. She had a ton of them made. I asked her what she was going to do with all of those and she said “I don’t know I just keep making them”. Then I had an idea, why don’t you give them to me and I can give them to the kids that come to our clinics in Guatemala. She was super excited about this and started making more. She asked a lot of questions about the kids we going to help. It made me so happy to see her energized by something, learning about the work that we are doing and thinking about others that have so little. I know you are saying stretchy bands how will this help the kids. The medication we give to the children to treat parasitic infections tastes awful, it’s very bitter! The bracelets will be used as reward for taking the medications, I know it’s a bribe but I am willing to bribe and beg so that these kids get the much needed medications in there sick tummies! 
As part of a team of faculty and students at Crouse Hospital College of Nursing each year we take a team to Guatemala to host six free medical clinics in rural villages. During these clinics we focus on primary health care, treatment of parasitic intestinal infections and vitamin replacement. The villages and places that we work in are very remote and the villages lack cleaning drinking water and sanitation. During our time in the country we treat over 1200 people. This year our team will be traveling June 3rd – June 13th and hosting six clinics. To learn more about our initiatives please visit Crouse Hospital College of Nursing Web site.
If you are interested in having us come teach or speak to your class or youth group we would love to! Just let me know.
We are also in need of pencils, flip flops and Over The Counter Medications. If you would like to donate to our mission information can be found on the Crouse Health Foundation Website, under global health initiatives.
Bracelets can be dropped off at 115 West Oneida St. Oswego NY 13126. A bin will be placed in the enclosed front porch! Or we can pick them up, message me and someone from the team will gladly come and get all donations. I will need to gather up the bracelets by at least May 19th so we can pack them! If you want to include a "made by" tag on your bracelets that would be great the kids are going to love to see that kids in the US are thinking of them and took time to make them something from there heart!
Peace and Love and much thanks – Carrie Kangah"

I have amazing friends, who recognize the power of giving, and that it comes in all kinds of shapes and sizes.

Starting tomorrow, my 10 year old niece and her 6 year old twin sisters will stay with me through Sunday evening.  Saturday we are having friends over (kids & adults) for a making jewelry party.  I have SO much stuff, it's insane! We will be making jewelry for ourselves, and the younger ones will have fun making stretchy bracelets for kids who don't have the luxury of making funky jewelry in their spare time.

There are more happy causes on the immediate horizion, but I think this post is good for now.  I have family & friends to prepare for!!!  Happy crafting!

Day 42: still crafting.

Not much to report other than lots more snow and low temps.

that's the view from my office window.  There is so much snow the banks at the next property over are about 10 feet tall.  I've seen more than one pond with kids ice skating on it, which is really cool.  Old school hockey is alive and well in Central New York.

I'm still working on the diagonal blanket.  Haven't done much with it tonight but I've knitted a few rows.  It's damn cold here.  12 degrees on my drive home tonight.  Cold enough this morning that my car needed a jump start.

I'm very happy that I've maintained my goal thus far of crafting something every day this year.  Even if it's only 10 minutes, I'm still making time in my day to create something tangible.  My Gram would be happy, which makes me happy.

Day 41: oh yeah, substitutions are not only allowed, but encouraged.

wannabe granny square blanket on the left

So, with this yarn I thought I'd make a baby blanket.  The resulting granny square blanket on the left of this picture is not that appealing.  To the point that I wanted to try something else...hell anything else, to make this fun yarn look nice as a baby blanket.

It took some searching and some input from the boyfriend, but we both have the opinion that this yarn is happier being knitted rather than crocheted.

I tested a new pattern with this yarn.  Diagonal baby blanket pattern by Red Heart yarn.  I'm not a huge fan of the garter stitich, but for this yarn this looks much better.  This yarn isn't as bulky so I downsized to size 11 circular needles.  I plan on going until the one side is 36" and then start the decrease.  This is what I'm at for this evening, having spent some time on hold at work today knitting:

it's a fun yarn.  I've never knitted anything on the diagonal like this before.  I'm excited to see the final result.  It's already much more pleasant than the granny square version.  

I'm glad that I have something to work on: this is the view outside my office window today.

Winter in Central New York

That's the snow bank outside my window, which has been plowed from the parking lot of the building next to mine.  I'm not surprised; I've grown up here in Central New York.  Bring on the snow.  I have yarn to work with!!!

Day 40: substitutions allowed.

Anyone who is following this blog knows that I'm participating in my 1st ever crochet along MooglyBlog afghan CAL.  The 1st two block patterns released were great.  The third....not so much.  Tamara, who owns the blog, released block #3 which is called Hugs & Kisses.  On the CAL blog, Tamara says she thinks there's a mistake in the pattern, and at least half the people who started this square thought the same thing.  I would NOT release something (esp. if it's not my own) if I thought there was a problem with the pattern.

In good faith, I did try to work up the pattern Friday evening, and after restarting it five times gave up.  I am pretty sure I can make it work, but as I didn't really like the pattern to begin with, decided to substitute it with a different one.

Pippin simply HAS to investigate anything I put on the floor and attempt to photograph.  This is the pattern source: Frostbloom 12" afghan square by designer Shan Sevcik.  I'm VERY pleased with how it turned out.  I started it yesterday and finished it today.

One concern however.......

blocks one, two, and three

No only are none the same size, block #1 doesn't come close to matching up with block #2.  *sigh*

We will see what the rest of the year holds in store.  The point of me starting this CAL is to use up what I've got already on hand for yarn.  Fingers crossed!

Day 34: how many times have I re-crocheted this cowl?

The answer is......as many times as it takes to get it right.  I made the entire thing last night and this morning realized my VERY FIRST ROW was too tight.  The thing was 10" long.  So, first thing this morning I unraveled the entire thing and started over again.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this yarn!  This isn't a great representation because it's not such neon glow colors, but I LOVE the colors.  I had a request from a friend at church to make her a cowl; she would buy the yarn and pay me for my labor.  I have a counter offer: I love this yarn so much and she bought two gigantic skeins, if she agrees to let me keep the remainder of the yarn I will gladly give her the cowl for free.

Rainbow Classic Multi Fun Bright

The picture on the right is a better representation of the actual color.  Now all I need to do (after I finish the cowl which won't take more than two hours) is to find the perfect baby blanket pattern.

On to the re-crocheting: I'm using a K hook, which is pretty damn big.  I don't have one any larger.  I tend to cast on in a larger hook than what the pattern calls for so I don't have the problem like I did with this.  I don't have a larger one, so I decided to use a wooden crochet hook of my mom's.  I don't know what size it would relate to, maybe an N size.

So, for my 2nd attempt I casted on & crocheted the 1st round with the Nish hook, switched to the K hook and worked a few rounds.  The base round was TOO loose.  Sheesh.

3rd attempt: casted on again with the Nish hook, this time not so large.  Also, less stitches.  Crocheted 1st round with Nish, and switched to the K hook.  Base row is still too loose and looks awkward.  Also, the entire thing is too large around.

4th attempt: went back to the K hook, casted on and proceeded as normal.  Made the initial chains too big this time, so it still looks awkward.  Also, it's too large around.

5th attempt: started again, decreased base row by 6 or 7 stitches (I'm not actually counting).  Tried to find a happy medium for my beginning chains.  They need to be uniform size, and loose enough to allow stretch but not be so large as to be completely gappy.  So far, things are going well.  I'm 8 or 9 rows in.  I've decided to crochet in the round and not worry about joining rows, so it's a lot smoother.  Also, as a bonus, the WIP in the bigger picture shows how funky it's working up!  The colors are just right so that they are spiraling up like a corkscrew.

I'm indulging Baxter because I want to be the popular aunt!

And to end this blog post on a happy note, this is why Baxter loves me the best at work: I secretly let him lick my empty bowl of Spaghettios.  Turns out Baxter's mom wasn't so thrilled with that.  Neither was he when I tried to clean the evidence off his face.

Update: days 21 - 25. A.K.A. what to do when life tries to hijack your resolution.

First, let me say that I have not lost any resolve.

Second, let me say that my body is arguing with me on this point.

I haven't been very kind to my hands this year.  I've made a habit of playing games on Rich's iPad, which has left me with some repetitive motion inflammation in both hands/wrists.  I haven't played on the iPad since Tuesday.  It's Saturday, and they are still fricking hurting like heck!!!

This is my plan.  I downloaded block #2 of MooglyBlog's CAL for 2014.  I have my yarn at the ready.  I am taking NSAIDs twice a day along with avoiding anything which might prolong the irritation due to overuse or improper use.  I am organizing all of my craft supplies as best I can, in preparation for the first inaugural "Let's Get Together & Make Jewelry" party, hosted by me.  I'm planning three baby quilts.

Today I happened to wonder if I need to think about having a baby shower for my baby brother, who is FINALLY pregnant with a boy after ten years and three girls, the youngest being six year old twins.

I will not waiver from 365 in 2014.  I may make adjustments and accept that I may need to alter my plans depending on the circumstance, but I will not give up on my quest.

I plan to work on the 1st crochet afghan square later today if I can do it without aggravating my wrists.  I will continue to post updates.  Wish me luck!!!

Day 15 through 17 recap: 1st ever CAL! (Crochet A Long) :D

Tamara with MooglyBlog has decided to host an afghan Crochet A-Long.  I appreciate the fact that she's giving the entire year to make the afghan.  Only one new square to crochet every two weeks.  This gives me the chance to participate in a group thingy and still have time to work on other projects.  It's a very realistic goal for me, and I get to use some of the yarn I bought for a blanket that I never used.

MooglyBlog Crochet A-Long

I started this yesterday, and have worked on it today at work (this explains the blotter & keyboard in the picture).  I've made it to round 10 and have unraveled round 10 twice.

Friday, Janaury 17: going the wrong direction!

I kept re-working round ten, and with my third try just now (at my desk at work, during lunch) it occurs to me that there must be a mistake somewhere.  Not the pattern, but what I've done in the previous rounds because the count isn't coming out right.

Sure enough, it looks like I screwed up WAYYYYY back in round five or six!  Oh well, I will unravel and rework it until it's right.

Did I mention I'm glad I have two weeks to make one square?!?

HUGE recap: days eleven through fourteen!!!

Prepare for LOTS of photos, because I've been busy!

Day eleven: traveled from Liverpool to Utica for Rich's official pinning ceremony.  He's received his promotion, so he's now a sergeant and a NCO.  The drive is just over an hour, and since Rich is driving, I have plenty of time to work on crafts.

Trek bracelets

Working on Trek bracelets

Before you question, NO, I was not driving while crocheting.  Rich had some down time at the armory, so I took the opportunity to work on some gifts.  These two bracelets crocheted with cotton yarn are in a pale turquoise color, my niece's favorite color.  She's almost 10, and on 1/11/14 the family celebrated her birthday since my parents are leaving for Florida before her actual birthday.  This is the Trek bracelet pattern link.

crochet cotton bracelet & earrings

Sergeant Walters!

I kept going with the crochet cotton, and after much hemming and hawing, came up with this set for her.  I was unsure about the size vs. the clasp, and reworked the bracelet more than once to come up with something that met my satisfaction.  I made matching earrings as well.  This is the crochet flower bracelet pattern.


After such a productive day, we went to my parents' house for the birthday celebration.  As it was also my oldest niece's mom's birthday celebration, I made her a matching bracelet also.  She didn't care for the huge clasp, so I made her one with the smaller heart clasp while the cake and ice cream was consumed.  My 10 year old niece has twin 6 year old sisters, who both at different times silently sidled up to me while I was crocheting the bracelet.  Neither would say anything, but I knew what they wanted.  30 minutes and a smaller crochet hook later, we ALL had matching bracelets (I kept the big clasp bracelet for myself).

bracelet power unite!

Day twelve: Sunday.  VERY tired this day.  Worked on the cowl for about 10 minutes.  Well, more like five.  I kept my commitment, and that's what matters.  No pictures, no need.

Day thirteen: Monday.  I am cat sitting for friends.  They have two cats, one of which is in remission from intestinal cancer.  I brought the cowl with me, and spent about 45 minutes at their house.  The cat in remission still needs medication twice a day, and both cats are on wet food only.  After giving meds, feeding both cats, scooping the litter box, I sat for long enough to remind both cats that humans still exist, and I finished the cowl.  This is the cowl pattern.
I didn't take a picture of it.  It's a bit big around, but that's because I added extra stitches, thinking I have a fat neck.  Turns out I really don't.

Also on day thirteen, discovered a realistic CAL, a Crochet ALong hosted by mooglyblog.com.  Tamara is taking the full year to construct this afghan, which for me is realistic since I have so much else going on.  MooglyBlogCAL link  I have a good amount of yarn on hand from when I had planned a blanket with 13 or so colors, so I see no problem working up this afghan.

Day Fourteen:  BLOGGING!  I found my yarn for the 1st afghan block.  I don't think I will get very far with the block, but blogging and planning is enough to satisfy me.  Happy crafting!

Day 7-10 recap: reclaiming yarn and cowling

    It's official; the shawl is no more.  The tangle on the right is what I spent day eight working on.  Unraveling the shawl was problematic.  I've managed to reclaim the 3rd skein of yarn and have used that to start a cowl, which turns out is essentially a really large sweater for an anaconda.  The pattern can be found here: Ravensprings cowl  I've worked on this since Wednesday evening.  I've made a lot of progress.  My goal is to have something long enough that I can pull it over my head when needed, in lieu of a hat or wrapping myself up in a scarf so I look like the Randy from the movie A Christmas Story.  That's about it, a somewhat dull few days of crocheting.  Still, I enjoy it and I'm looking forward to seeing the final product.  If I don't like it.....well I'll simply unravel (again) and find a different pattern to try.

Day seven: earrings = mission accomplished!

Day seven!  Made earrings to match the bracelet I made yesterday.  Just for scale, the left picture shows the project against a ruler in millimeters.  Yep, it's that small.  I may need a magnifying glass and/or reading glasses to keep this up.  The bracelet was well received.  Looking at the earrings, the middle isn't the same.  Snap, I may make a 3rd earring to try to match one of the already made ones!

Day six: working on some new projects

Day six is a day of new projects.  The crochet thread I bought goes well with a bracelet pattern from PetalsToPicots: flower bracelet.  This one is for a co-worker who could use a bit of happiness in her life.

I'm going to make earrings to match.

This bracelet is for another co-worker.  This is for her daughter.  The picture is pretty crappy.  The yarn is a dark denim blue.  The pattern is from Felted Button:
Trek Bracelet pattern.Crocheted with cotton yarn, it has the flexibility to enlarge or shrink depending on the situation.  All together, it's been a productive evening, and I can say day six has been a success.  If I can keep from freezing on my way to work tomorrow, I have two items to give away which makes me smile.

Day five recap: I tried to knit.......

Day Four recap: shopping with intent to craft

Day four: Saturday, January 4, 2014.  My mom's retirement party!!!  This is great because it means she has more time to devote to crafting!!!  On our way to the party, I stopped at JoAnn Fabrics.  Rich and I had discussed me crocheting a basket to keep our winter scarves/hats/gloves in, instead of them being thrown on the shelf inside the door.  I showed him a pattern from MooglyBlog: Birch Bark basket, and we went yarn shopping.

the crate of holding

size 10 crochet thread

Well, we opted to buy a pre-made basket (50% off and already made), and I bought a basket to hold my current crafts......and I bought two different yarns.  I couldn't help myself!  I don't even have anything planned for the crochet thread but I loved the color combination!

crochet cotton for coasters

The sales were just too good to avoid.  And did I mention I had a $25 gift card that I got for Christmas?  Yep, I didn't use it all up.

I didn't actually create anything Saturday, but I did repair my niece Harmonee's necklace.  Sometimes planning to craft is as enjoyable as crafting.  Actually, sometimes it's moreso, because during the planning phase you can pretend you will finish your craft on time!

Day 3: day 2 recap, and a day of regret

airborne snowflake!

 

quick knitted snowflake

 Day 2: 1/2/14.  I still have Christmas patterns on my mind, so I decided to try to whip up a knitted snowflake with a Red Heart yarn pattern.  It calls for regular yarn but all I could find in white was cotton.  It doesn't look as fluffy as I'd like, and I did it in 10 minutes so it's not perfect, but at least it took care of day 2.

As a bonus, I gave it to my coworker who LOVES snow and she liked it so much she hung it up at work.

Day 3: What a bummer.  I've been avoiding it for weeks now, but I have to admit that I don't have enough yarn to make a shawl big enough to be enjoyable.


Almost 3 skeins!

I'm quite sad.  I REALLY like this pattern: Kristen shawl, Fiberflux blog.  It's beautiful, and it's a simple pattern.  As I said yesterday, I've already purchased a 3rd skein of this yarn to try to finish it, and it's not going to be enough.  So, what to do, what to do?

Ah hell, I'm going to tear the whole thing out and make an infinity scarf: Gelato infinity scarf. This is also from the Fiber Flux blog.  It's a great blog, and I've made a few items from her site.

I think the pattern is at least very similar, if not the same.  I know I'll have enough yarn for this.  I did crochet a few stitches before I made up my mind today.  I'm bummed.  At least I have an idea of how this will look when it's worked up.

Now to figure out how to wind the yarn without a swift or a winder.  They're really expensive and I don't buy enough high end yarn to even come close to warrant purchasing either one.  So now I know what day 4 will have in store.....stay tuned!

Day one recap

Top: I must organize:
Bottom: eyelash scarf

So, 2014 begins.  Rich & I spent the last night of 2013 at home watching movies.  I chose Tombstone with Kurt Russell & Val Kilmer.  Rich chose Pathfinder with Karl Urban.  It was a nice quiet night at home.  We stayed up until well after midnight.

The Christmas tree didn't come down until 1/1/14.  After that process, I had room to reorganize the projects & yarn I want to keep at hand, because I find that I am much more productive when it's literally right next to me.  This picture is only a small sample of what I have for goods.



Malabrigo yarn in Rios

After making some sense out of chaos, I settled in & worked on two things.  I finished weaving in the ends of an eyelash scarf I had finished a month ago (duh), and when that was done, I worked on the crocheted shawl I'm making with Malabrigo washable wool.  My parents bought me two skeins while on vacation in New Orleans, but I quickly realized I needed at least one more so I placed a call to The Quarter Stitch in New Orleans and ordered one more.  It wasn't the exact same lot number as my original two, but the yarn is so heavily varigated that it looks fine.  Here's the pattern I'm using:

Kristen shawl pattern as seen on Fiberflux.blogspot.com

So, this is how I ended 1/1/14.  I'm one for one with my resolution!  Yay for consistent crafting!

inaugural post! 2014 will be the year I craft EVERY SINGLE DAY come hell, high water, or Hitler!

OK, so Hitler may be a bit drastic, but you get the point.


My cat has laser beam eyes

I spent much of 2013 knitting & crocheting & beading.  There were several reasons behind this. 

The most obvious is lack of finances.  I can spend my free time and less money crafting with raw materials than I can buy the finished product.

The second most obvious is that I'm vain.  Let's face it, I'm a great crocheter.  I'm a great knitter.  I'm an AWESOME beader.  I'm terrible with humility.

2013 has been a trying year for me.  I've tried a bunch of stuff, but not everything has stuck.  I've tried balancing work and home with iffy success.  I've tried new crochet & knit patterns with better success.  I've tried to maintain my sanity with a crazy home life (unsuccessful fertility treatments) and a crazier work life.

Through all the insanity, all the joy, all the madness, the one thing I kept coming back to with the expectation of some normalcy has been crafting.  The click of the needles is comforting.  The feel of the yarn between my fingers is better than the feel of the silky of a blankie woven between my fingers at bedtime. 

I have many reasons for appreciating the crafting arts.  One of my goals in 2014 is to share my love and where it comes from.  It's only 7:30 p.m.; I think I have time to work on my shawl.  Stay tuned; I will post every day!