Thrifty Crochet

I thrifted three oversize t-shirts to wear as pajama tops, which are much cheaper and softer than new pajama tops, which are currently ten bucks each at Wal-Mart. One of them (the blue with the lemon print) was brand-new. Yellow tags were 50% off on that day, so I got all three for $5.35, and donated 65 cents to Goodwill, making my bill six bucks total. If I'd bought them retail it would have cost me over thirty dollars. I also finally cleaned out my thread catcher last night, and the strata indicates I'm doing quite a bit of work with yarn these days. I might use this pretty fluff to stuff some lavender and lace sachets.

The second half of my Premier order has arrived, let's see what happiness it delivers. Here is the rest of everything I ordered. I got a second box of the pale rainbow colored Anti-pilling Everyday DK mini skeins so I'd have enough for a charity project. Four skeins of Farmstand, two in the colorway pumkin, one in Carrot and one in Cucumber, and three skeins of Anti-Pilling Everyday DK in Cream. I ordered a second mystery box because I needed the joy, and Premier always delivers that. Let's take it out and admire the mysteries. :) Twelve beautiful skeins of yarn, two more spools of thread and a pair of gorgeous knitting needles. I could not be happier.

I've put together my latest batch of donations for our local church thrift store. I'll be taking over seven blankets and throws for them to sell. Earlier this year I did the same, only to discover back in June that whoever purchased two of them was selling both as vintage in an antique mall (I made them in February.) It was a strange situation that made me rather uncomfortable; I was happy that the thrift store made some money off my work, but not too happy to see the purchaser profiting as well by hoodwinking antique buyers. I meditated on the matter for a long time before I decided I would keep donating my crochet work to the thrift store. It does help raise money for the church's missions, which benefit the poor and hungry in our local community. What happens to them after that is, like much of the creative work I put out in the world, beyond my control. In other news I finally got caught up on my housework yesterday, cooked a decent dinner from scratch, pra...

We all fall in love with certain yarns for many reasons. I think color, stitching ease and how it works up are my main criteria. Sometimes I fall for a yarn I'd never thought would appeal to me. Other times I dislike yarns everyone seems to love (but we're not focusing on the negative today.) Yarn is like everything in crochet, up to the preferences of the maker. I just thought I'd recommend the brands that make me a very happy hooker. :) My current #1 favorite is Premier Puzzle in the colorway Marbles. This is a 100% acrylic #5 bulky weight variegated yarn in colors that never before greatly appealed to me. Yet something about it makes me so happy -- maybe because I think of summer everytime I look at it. The yarn stitches and works up beautifully. No troubles, no problems, just pure delight. Lion Brand Mandala Ombre in the colorway Serene is a 100% acrylic self-striping #4 worsted weight (on the lighter side) yarn with bright and beautiful colors that gli...

Part of the new yarn I've ordered from Premier arrived today. I made a huge order of what I needed to finish some projects, plus not one but two surprise boxes because why the heck not? Let's dive in part one. Lots of Premier Puzzle in the colorways Marbles and Backgammon, plus two bags of the value bulky acrylic in Lapis. This will help me finish all those hexagon blankets I've started. I'm already seeing a lot of neat yarn plus extra delights in the surprise box. Sorry this pic is a bit fuzzy -- I was so excited! Eight skeins of beautiful yarn -- I love that I got three of the Hipster Cotton, which is new to me -- plus two huge spools of sewing and embroidery thread in colors I will absolutely use, and a set of gorgeous knitting needles that will be passed along to a friend who knits. :) The other half of my order is scheduled for delivery tomorrow, so stay tuned to the blog for another unboxing.

I've been the caregiver in my family for the last forty odd years. I've never been asked; it was simply expected because of my medical knowledge, and passed along to me because I never refused to help someone in trouble. For the most part it's not a problem; I've never had difficulty setting aside my feelings to deal with the injured and sick. I've nursed my guy through three surgeries and one devastating accident before this latest one, and I expect I'll keep doing that as long as I'm able for the rest of my life. No one understands how incredibly stressful caregiving is unless they've done it, especially when it involves one's partner. For me this time it's been especially difficult, given the lack of help, my increasing limitations and my patient's anger and impatience over his own condition. I meditate every day, sometimes twice a day, to manage my stress. I do the best I can. That's all I can do. This situation is also w...

There are 98 days left until Christmas (or 99 until December 26th, my favorite day of the year.) You want to crochet gifts for family, friends, co-workers or others in your life, but you aren't sure of what to make, if you have enough time, if they'll like it, etc. I'll weigh in first with your recipients. Some will love your crocheted gifts, and use them, and show them off to their family and friends. Some will not appreciate your efforts, and some of those people may say things that will hurt your feelings. You may want to surprise them, but since that may backlash on you, find out ahead of time if your recipient would like a crocheted gift. Look, just ask, straight up, for a yes or no on the gift. There might be a discussion, which is good, or even a request for something, which is better. Only if they refuse, accept that and buy them something. Not everyone can value your time, talents and crocheted gifts, which in the end are better given to the more app...

I've decided to make some crocheted pumpkins for fall using thrifted yarn of various weights and new-to-me free patterns I find online. The first is Yarnspirations Three Little Pumpkins pattern . I would also like to make these one-skein projects, as pumpkins are a good way to use up oddball skeins. For this one I chose a skein of Loops & Threads Soft Classic acrylic in the color #8630, as I got three of those in one of my recently thrifted lots. This yarn is basically the same as Red Heart Super Saver, just a bit thinner. It has very good stitch definition and it feels sturdy enough for a decor project. I did decide to use a 4.5 mm hook, but only because I don't own a 4.25 mm hook the pattern recommends. The pattern is very beginner friendly; you make a panel of single and double crochet stitches, sew that into a cylinder, gather the bottom, stuff, and gather and sew the top. I passed on making the face elements because I want pumpkins, not Jack-o-lanterns. I ...

I've just heard about the trendy Crochet Chaos Blanket, which actually is not a new thing at all. Even when I was a teen crocheters made blankets out of rows or blocks made with random stitches; we called them samplers. I love that the youngsters have picked up the idea and run with it, especially as they're often using dice to decide what yarn/stitches/blocks to make. Will I jump on that bandwagon? Nope. I like to use dice occasionally to decide what pattern/project to do next from a selection I'm interested in (the dragon egg dice bag was a marvelous project I chose by dice roll), but that's about all I'm willing to let it decide for me. I crochet for calm as well as the physical therapy aspects, and that's important to me. So are color and stitch choices. Allowing everything to be randomly decided by the dice usually results in something that, well, looks random. I have too much respect for the amount of effort I put into my projects to let the ...

Since I'm done for the moment with my experimental Tradewinds Lap blanket, I decided to test the yarn I want to make into the charity donation blanket by making some hexagons with that. This is DK weight yarn, so obviously the hexagons turn out smaller. I was able to get 2 made and most of a third from one skein. I went ahead and frogged the third partial hexagon, but at least now I know I can only get two out of the yarn. There may not be enough yarn in the box to make a blanket in the smallest size of the donation requirements. I might have to add more (fortunately I do have some DK weight skeins that would work.) I'm also wondering if I should do one row of single crochet around the hexagons in a white or neutral color to I can sew them together without the stitches being visible. Lots to think about now. In the meantime, I may work up one or two skeins every night into hexagons so I can make some progress.

I've been crocheting quite a number of hexagons over the last week while testing out the Tradewinds Lap Blanket pattern, and thought I would report on how that's going. First, I love this pattern. It turns out blocks that are beautiful and unusual, and showcases the variegated yarn beautifully. From the dark skein of Premier Puzzle that I thrifted I was able to make nine hexagons with a little ball of yarn leftover. These are a bit too dark to use with the lighter blue version, so I'm going to set them aside and wait for more of the dark yarn, which I ordered. I was able to crochet a total of 29-3/4 hexagons from the four skeins of the bargain chunky acrylic that looks like Premier Puzzle. The colorway for this is called Lapis, by the way. I want my blanket bigger so I ordered two more bags. While I'm waiting on my yarn order I'm going to try crocheting hexagons out of these DK weight skeins, and see how they look. Stay tuned to the blog to s...

Yesterday for me started at 5:30 am and didn't end until 12:30 am, when I finally, totally passed out next to my guy. It was a very fine day for him, considering, and a horrible day for me personally, but I got through it with the same spine I've always had -- the titanium one I haul out when things get truly challenging. Here he is waiting to go into surgery. He's completely self-absorbed, telling me this and that and joking about the whole thing because that's what he does when he's really scared. I am trying to keep it together. They're going to put the love of my life under general anesthesia, cut into him and repair the damage he's inflicted on himself by trying to be thirty years old again, but I just have to get through the day and put my faith in people I don't know and can't hear when they talk to me and only get about every third word by reading lips. They're also running an hour and a half late. Yes, totally relaxing. Her...

I'm taking off today (9/4) to be with my guy for his surgery. Talk to you tomorrow.