Where the heck have I been?!? I'll start summarizing for you (mostly in pictures with LOTS of words).

I've been busy, and creative!

I've not managed to craft in the traditional sense of the word on a daily basis for a while now, but I'll try to recap.

Work, stress, arthritis have all managed to creep in and rob me of my crafting time.  Some are under my control, some have not been.  Let's start with the two tone hair:

My St. Baldrick's Foundation fundraising page  I am still collecting donations, BTW and would LOVE to hit $1,100!

For those who aren't familiar, St. Baldrick's Foundation is a non-profit whose goal is to raise money to help cure childhood cancer and improve the lives of those dealing with childhood cancer.

Right around  Feb. 25, 2014 my friend's 9 year old son joined up to donate his hair by having it shaved, and committed to raise $1,000 during the process.  How can you not be touched and motivated by that?  I was moved enough to also commit to raise $1,000 and have my hair shaved.  I had 34 days to do it.  And by golly, I did, and so did he!  (when I figured out I was shaving my hair which = I can do whatever I want, my boyfriend and I two-toned it!!)

For a few days after (before it started to grow back), I asked the girls at work to decorate my head for me.  Wearable art!

So, that was March 30th.  Spring didn't get here to Central New York until mid-May, so I made LOTS of hats:

:

The center & right pictures are the same pattern.

Link for the blue had w/ grey accent band

Pattern for the fall colored brim hat in the photo on the left

There's another one from the fuzzy multicolored yarn, but I can't find a picture of that.  I split between knit & crochet.

I also made what' called a diagonal baby blanket.  No, the picture isn't blurry, it's how the yarn made the blanket turn out.  It's the 1st thing I've ever knitted on the bias, and other than the fact that I don't like how the finished corner turned out, it's an ok pattern: diagonal baby blanket by Red Heart yarns

This was for a friend who was having her 2nd baby but didn't want to know the sex ahead of time.  I traded the time I spent making a cowl for a church friend for the extra yarn (she WAY overbought) in lieu of taking any money for my time.  I love bartering!

front

backing fabric: flannel print

My brother's also pregnant for his 4th child and his 1st & only son.  I told my mom I wanted to make the quilt, which I did and I am thrilled with not only how it turned out but how well received it was at the baby shower last Sunday.  I don't have a photo of the absolutely finished quilt, but basically I found a super cute flannel for the back and built the front with colors to match.

I also gave them a layette set I made about 15 years ago, with the thought that I may have another child which never did pan out so it was time to pass it along.

So, with all of this it does seem like I've been busy nearly every day, correct?  Well, I've also taken my shotgun out target shooting, which I consider crafting.  I am having an issue with some pretty pissy arthritis in my right (non-dominant) hand which has been significantly painful and has kept me from doing a ton of stuff that I would like to do, but I'm blogging through the pain.  Later this week I'll post what I did for Mother's Day.  My hand is literally almost bringing me to tears, but it's kept me from enough, and I will ice it shortly & brace it for the night.

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 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!!!