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 47: right yarn, wrong pattern.

right yarn, wrong pattern

Sometimes we have yarn and we start a project that realistically looks like shit.  At this point we have some options.  Cut (the yarn) and run.  Unravel and try again.  Use the same yarn for a different pattern.  With this yarn I have, I ended up with the third option.  This yarn was not meant for a granny square pattern (on the right).  It looks much better with a knitted option.

The happy news is the cowl I crocheted in this yarn was the perfect fit for the lady who asked me to make it for her.  We got to the part about paying for my time and I asked if she had any plans for the leftover yarn.  She didn't so I told her if she's fine with letting me have the rest of the yarn, she gets the cowl with my thanks.  It was a mutual success.

This is my 1st shot at a diagonally knitted blanket (on the left).  first attempt.  The pattern is made with a bulky boucle but I downsized the needles enough to accommodate a garter stitch blanket.  I don't care much for the garter stitch but I'm looking forward to the final result.

I can proudly say (although it's a sin) that I've so far been 47 for 47 days of my resolution to craft something every day this year.  It's a luxurious goal to have.  I'm sorry, I have to go knit something.  Crap, that should be a t-shirt!

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 37: recap of days 35 through 37. A.K.A. my 1st CAL has it's 1st hiccup

1st & 2nd blocks for CAL

I have been BUSY!  Today was the release of block #3 for the first MooglyBlock Crochet A-Long afghan.  Last night I finished weaving in what seemed like a hundred yarn ends for blocks one and two.

As each block is supposed to be the same size, I added another round to block #2 on the right this evening.  I'm not sure how I will make these all make one happy afghan when they are all done since these first two are so different, but time will show.  Hell, I've got all year to find out.

I'm still working on finishing the cowl.  I'm disappointed that the yarn itself became "bulky" after I had crocheted several rows.  You can see in the picture on the right just where the change happened.  The skinnier part of the skein was making a really cool spiral pattern.  When the yarn got fat, it skeeved up the pattern.

The 3rd block pattern has been released: Hugs & Kisses square by Aurora Suominen.  It's a single color block.  I have to be honest; I'm not feeling the love.  It's ok as a single color block, but I expect my afghan to be multicolored squares and when this block is turned into a multicolor block, it loses the detail in the bobbles & stitches.  I'm searching for a replacement block.  I will still work this one just to see what it looks like, but I don't know if it will make the final cut.

My crafting is somewhat restricted these days.  My right thumb isn't nearly as painful as it has been, but the tendon on the outer aspect of my left hand remains ouchy.  Even if I'm not crocheting, it's still hampering my day.  Have you ever leafed through 300 pages of paper one at a time using your left hand?  Yeah, that doesn't help.  Ah well, that's life.

blanket & cowl

As for the other projects, I'm still not completely feeling the baby blanket on the left.  It's a simple granny square blanket, and quite unisex so appropriate for an unknown sex newborn, but I'm not sure if it's too busy.  I do like how you can see the quadrants when you look at the big picture.  I'll probably keep going.  I don't simply thing Penelope kept reworking her burial shroud for Odysseus exclusively because she didn't want to get married again.  There's something calming about the craft: the repetitive hypnotic sights and sounds and movements, the occasionally dreamy feel of working the same stitch over and over again...the surprising tenacity of yarn which has been worked multiple times.  Although I don't prefer crafting with aluminum knitting needles (they slip too much), the sound of the clicking & clacking will ALWAYS remind me of my mom and my Gram, which brings my head and my heart right around back to center.  Always.

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.

Day 31: update on days 26 through 31!!!! (get ready for the pictures!)

My sleepy cat

awaiting new puppy

It's been a busy week!  After a cortisone shot in my carpals, a visit to my PCP and a thumb spica splint, the week has been challenging for crafting.  My right thumb has mostly felt like it's being constantly stabbed with a red hot poker.  Still, it's only a thumb and three out of 206ish bones, so I'm not about to let this sideline my life.  Unless I have an audience, in which case I whine LOUDLY about the pain.  I don't have much room for whining amongst my co-workers, being third down on the whine list behind a fractured humerus and a torn ACL.  But I make it work.

Moogly Blog CAL

I'm house sitting for my parents.  They are currently being tortured by Florida weather.  It made it above freezing today in Central New York; I still haven't heard from my parents if they survived the heat wave or not.  I imagine they are safe; air conditioning is standard south of the Mason Dixon line.



This week has been fairly mild.  I've worked on my 2nd block of my 1st ever crochet along via Moogly Blog.  I don't know what the final size of the blocks will be, so I am glad these blocks have directions for adding rows if necessary.

Pippin passed out under the blanket

I've been crafting on the soft sided waterbed I have affectionately named the chrysalis.  It's so warm and comfy!  Do NOT interrupt my chrysalis time!

Baxter!

I made a blanket for the unofficial mascot of my office, a morkie of a co-worker.  He finally has a name, and it's Baxter.  This is a picture of him sitting on the blanket I made, on my desk.  He's a whopping 2 lbs, 15 ounces.  He's growing out, not up.  He's SOOOOO cute!  I love that he likes his blankie!

This reminds me that I haven't crafted anything tonight.  Time to get crafting!  Yay for remaining resolute!!!

Update: Days 18 - 20; an undo and a redo, and better cat proofing through macrame

My 1st block for the afghan CAL

 

First: an update on the Crochet A-Long I'm working on.  We're still on the 1st block; block #2 won't come until this Thursday.  If you're interested in checking out the blog hosting the CAL the link is here: Crochet A-Long hosted by MooglyBlog

I kept going backwards with this block.  I must have re-worked round nine three times before I decided I would tear out and count previous rounds.  I made a mistake so far back I ended up starting the block all over again.  One of the downsides to being cocky is I haven't been counting stitches at the end of each round--even though the pattern does give this.  I'm on round 16, and there are only three rounds left.  I will finish this today, with a bit of breathing room before Thursday and the introduction of block #2.




My cat, Pippin.  He LOVES yarn!

Now, some of you may be wondering about what I may need to cat proof.  It turns out my lovely cat Pippin lives to chew on ear bud cords whenever he's given the opportunity.  I have problems with insomnia, so I have tried falling asleep with ambient noise and binaural beats programs via my iPod.  After I lost the second set of ear buds to chewing during the night, I decided I needed to take action, as I don't intend for ear buds to be single use only.



 

I've discovered that if I crochet around ear bud wires, this prevents Pippin from getting at them.  My first set was covered with chenille yarn, but the ear buds themselves weren't very comfortable to wear to sleep.  I did buy a new set (above) and decided in lieu of crocheting with yarn, I would macrame with c-lon cord.  It will be lighter, and the ear buds themselves are very comfortable for sleeping.

 

 

 

So, that's about it.  Saturday I re-worked the CAL square, yesterday & today I've been macrameing my ear buds.  When both are finished, I will post updated pictures.

 

Happy crafting!!

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!