Tag: crochet

crochet:: give, then give some more

 

I’ve been trying really hard to help the homeless in my community.  I hooked hats & scarves & gloves to distribute in a park that is a place many homeless people spend their days. We have brutal winters & I realized I don’t do enough with my craft to help. I had several items that had not sold from my (long closed) Etsy store that were packed in a box when they could be keeping someone warm instead.

For a while there, I was on a hat binge. I made the grey & black ones for my niece & nephew, then made more just like them to give away…it felt great!

Then I realized that I had blankets galore made for ‘just in case’ I needed at quick gift, and others that were gently used but lived in the linen closet for years because I had moved on to the next afghan.

I also had store bought cold weather gear taking up real estate in my home that would be better served to those that had so little…I was on a roll!

There were samples & prototype pieces that were culled & cleaned, ends woven & snipped, last rows completed.

Recently, I was able to hand some out directly to very lovely people in need of warm gear. I hugged them and told them that I cared; it was an experience I will never forget.  I need to do more of this with my fiber art.

 

Thanks for stopping by ❤

 

crochet:: yeah, yeah, yeah…I took some time off

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unicorn

 

And just what exactly have I been up to?  Things…stuff…sometimes nothing.  Lots of other social media & deleting a bunch of apps I don’t like.  Taking classes & learning to *gasp* knit.  More about the dark arts later though.

 

Today is for saying

Hello Again Lovelies!

 

Today is for easing back into the focus it requires

so I can write again.  It’s been too long.

 

Today is for showing you some yarnporn

of my experiments in wool dyeing since we last spoke.

 

 

Enjoy & thanks for stopping by

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super girlie

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martha’s beach

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capturing summer

 

 

 

crochet:: occasionally, i make stuff

I’m going to go out on a limb here & suggest that we ALL have been making stuff. 


Did you perhaps notice the dyeing of wool?? Why yes, yes I am dipping my toes into a new endeavor.  It’s frigging wonderful too!! 

That was my first try…I’ll update you when I finish the next batch😘

🎄Happy Holidays All You Fabulous Hookers🎄

crochet:: the chunk

I promised you the pattern for The Chunk a few weeks ago, and I am here to deliver.

I have finally finished it, and we love, LOVE, LURVE this blanket.

I’ve been working on this idea for a couple of years, just letting it percolate because I wasn’t really sure of the details.  I knew I wanted a bed-sized blanket in white or cream.  I knew I wanted it to be thick & squishy.  I knew NOT what pattern to use.  I knew NOT what super bulky yarn to use. Did I try several?  Oh heck yeah, I tried and frogged lots.  And then lots more.  And then ignored the urge for some months.  But it kept nagging at me.  I wanted a fisherman’s sweater for my bed.  The inspiration pieces from designers on Pinterest I could find were great, but they were all knitted.

When I gave up on the fisherman’s sweater look with complicated cables in a super bulky yarn, it finally clicked for me.  If I wanted a simple and classic monochromatic afghan, I needed a simple stitch pattern. Instead of reinventing the wheel, I looked back at my favorite patterns from the past.  Lo and behold, I realized the Dreamy Layers Afghan from back in 2011 could rock a single color with a nice pebbley, nubby texture. At that time, I had only bought 8 of the massive Bernat Blanket Yarn skeins I thought I needed.  Little did I know it would take double that!  In the end, you can make it whatever size that works for you, but I’m not gonna lie ~ it’s really awesome to have it basically end up king-sized on a queen-sized bed.

Expensive? Yes. 

Also. Totally. Worth. It.


the chunk afghan pattern can be found here::

https://www.ravelry.com/designers/lisa-victoria–yarnchick40

Please click on my pattern store to purchase.

 

I’m completely smitten with The Chunk paired with my Amazing Technicolor Dreamghan. And now, with these 2 in the done column, my bed is complete and we can handle whatever cold this winter has to offer.  I say, bring it on old man winter!

Thanks so much for stopping by & if you should decide to make The Chunk, please do come back to share your FO!

crochet:: outdoor cushions & the best adirondak chairs on the planet

Many years ago, I found a pattern in a magazine for some DIY Adirondack chairs and it was true love.  I was pining for a pair of them and my Dad was looking for a project to fill his non-golfing hours during the winter days of his retirement.  So it was decided that after Christmas that year, he would begin the project for me, his favorite daughter. (Nevermind that I am his ONLY daughter. I prefer to go down in history as his favorite.)  

Then life happened, as it often does.

I got diagnosed with cancer.  He got diagnosed with cancer.  We commiserated and spent our time trying to live normal lives while battling the big C.  The chairs dropped completely off of our radar.

Fast forward to this year, and my lovely friend Martha knew I still wanted those chairs.  She also knew that Frankie was not the woodworking type of guy.  She enlisted the help of her retired husband Don to bring my chairs to life.

Currently, I’m in the process of making cushions with scrap yarn.

One down, one to go 🙂

My Dad would be so happy to know that they are now part of my world.

crochet:: afghan envy

You know what they say about men & their vehicles when it comes to size, right?  What I need to know is what it means when it comes to hookers & afghan size…

I’ve taken on another king-size afghan project that is  currently running my life, and I’m not sure what my obsession is with massive blankets.  A couple of years ago, you may remember the Amazing Technicolor Dreamghan that was my afghan to beat all mother of afghans…

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well, take a peek at The Chunk.

And no, I’m not talking about Frankie (lucky dog is already down to his goal weight loss & that shot of his bicep it pretty hot…hmmm, where was I?…).

Oh, right…I’m about 3/4 of the way done with the chenille super bulky weight blanket he is reveling under.  Our love for it is rivaling the wooly counterpart.

I’ll be sharing the details when it’s complete 🙂

Happy hooking!

crochet:: did you forget something?

Yes, you.

Y’all were supposed to remind me about the whole complicated amigurumi thing that drives me insane. After the AT-AT debacle, you promised to stop me before I accepted any special orders for complicated toys that pay me about 30 cents per hour.  Ok fine, you didn’t promise…but dammit I wish you would have reminded me.  We’ll just leave it at that.

Frigging adorable hedgehog with a very well written pattern, that you can find here.

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While working on said adorable hedgehog, I became quite stabby…

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If this were a gift for someone I love, well that would be a different story….

I am only charging a reasonable fee for the order and yet it took over 10 HOURS TO MAKE.

Not my idea of a winning business model…so once again I implore you to remind me that toys are not my thing.  Thank you, that is all.

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crochet:: on the topic of taking a break…


You may or may not have noticed that I’ve been taking a little breakity break from blogging.  There were lots of reasons, lots of things to do, lots of changes to be made in my life.

The long story has way too many layers to bore y’all to tears with, so the short story it will be…

My father’s death 1 1/2 years ago was very difficult and I have been in a funk ever since.  You can even see it in my blogging, or lack thereof.  I was in a miserable place both personally and professionally.  I changed jobs last summer and got my professional life in order to the point it no longer weighed down my personal life where I was attempting to deal with loss and sadness.  (I’m apparently still queen-of-the-run-on-sentence) 

This spring I decided I needed to *ahem* grow a pair and work on my personal life.  I made a list, as one does when one is as OCD as I tend to be.  I realized I needed to fix SO MUCH CRAP in my own head that the only way through it was to sprinkle in some rewards to myself or I would be overwhelmed.  I didn’t want to get to a point that I’d give up, my Daddy would not approve…

I began my Personal Reboot Challenge with simple things each week building on the success of the previous week.  Some things were easy, like ditching soda.  Others were very flipping difficult, like working out every day and quitting smoking.  I’m 3 months in and happy to report that I have completed the list, kept all the good habits and not reverted to the old bad ones!  There were small rewards along the way…a Runza hamburger, fries & a Dr. Pepper (OMG ~ hated it after eating healthy for so long), and with the money I’d saved by not purchasing cigarettes I got fancy & expensive hand-dyed yarn, and a new set of crochet hooks.  But the pièce de résistance was to finally make myself a studio space in my itty bitty house.   It took a ton of work, and even organizing an 8-family garage sale, but I did it!

I have emptied out the basement living room, and I’m in the process of making myself at home in my very own studio.

Here are a couple of pics with my progress so far.

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I still need to move 2 more of the white cabinets into my space, hang some art on the walls, and to find the right office chair…but I’m on my way.

Thanks for stopping by

&

Have a lovely day!

crochet:: the girlfriend afghan

It started in October-ish…maybe.  I’m not sure when really, but Alex’s girlfriend Hannah asked me this past fall to make her an afghan.  She wanted sharp chevrons, all greys & blues & white, in totally random order, and about ‘this big’ gestures completed the order.  I showed her a varied lot with every color of blue & grey that I had in the magical craft closet.  Then I sent her off packing to the yarn store with her chosen scrap samples to pick up the loot necessary to approximately get her ‘this big’ blankie done.  Of course my ball-park guess was wrong and we made 2 more trips for yarn…that’s my S.O.P. ~ guessing is not my forte.

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I finally finished 3+ months later…fast afghans are not my forte either apparently.

The basics on the “Girlfriend Afghan”

 “H” hook

Red Hart SS in white, grey heather, charcoal, and light blue

 Vanna’s Choice in aqua

Chain 229

Dc 3 tog, dc 10, 5 dc, dc 10, dc 5 tog across to end, dc 3 tog, ch 2 turn

17 color stripes of 4 rows, with 2 rows of white in between each

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Also, don’t mess with Hannah. Alex was given the evil eye for the minor infraction of not wanting his picture taken.

crochet:: stuff on & off the hooks

I’m usually pretty good about finishing what I start and keeping WiPs to a minimum.  Not so much right now. I seem to have let things get out of control through the holidays, and my WiP basket overfloweth…

It’s due in part to an afghan. Yeah, let’s blame it on that.  Alex’s girlfriend requested a chevron blanket and picked some great colors.

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In the middle of working on the afghan, sometimes my yarny ADD kicks in and I have Oh squirrel moments.  That results in things like a Minecraft hat for my nephew in Tunisian, some Christmas ornaments, American Girl doll clothes for my niece, a BB-8 hat to commemorate the opening of the new Star Wars movie.

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…and those are just the projects I actually finished…I have 4 more in my WiP basket that are not fit to show you yet…and a list of 40+ items that I really want to do next…but I really need to finish this afghan first!!!