Caregiver Relief

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 why I need some happiness right now, so my next project is going to be something that makes me happy: a Tradewinds Lap Blanket out of Premier Puzzle yarn in the colorway Marbles.

Making hexagons has become super fun for me, and while I'm waiting on the rest of the yarn for my other blankets to arrive I thought I'd use yarn from my stash to make a lap blanket just for me. I have a lot of this colorway already and I need to buy more, really, because it makes me so happy. I have no idea why, it just does.

Last night after I finished a quilting project I crocheted for a little bit, just to do something that gave me pleasure, and it really helped me a lot. Here are the first two hexes I made. This colorway is going to look fabulous in this project.

Tonight I got eight more hexes out of that first skein with only 24" of yarn leftover. I have four more skeins of Puzzle in this colorway, so I'll keep going until I use it all up, and then assemble the hexes into the lap blanket.

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On the Beach

Last week my guy and I went to walk Daytona Beach, which was mostly (and eerily) deserted. This is what our beaches used to look like when I was a kid. It was a beautiful day, cold and breezy but calm. It feels like 2026 is getting off to the right start.

Eight Plus Numbers

When I was looking up the retail on the small lot of yarn plus a tapestry kit I got a lot of surprises. This Red Heart Roll with It Sparkle skein in "Diamonds" was actually a cake that sells $10.99 on Yarnspirations. The lot included two Red Heart Super Saver Jumbo skeins, which retail for $8.99 each, and stuck in the center of the buff color I found a 5.5 mm crochet hook. This is a skein of 100% Icelandic wool, which can be really expensive. It's marked with a price tag of $7.00, and I found it selling for $8.00 online. The needlepoint kit is the biggest surprise of all. It makes a pillow, and hails from the UK, where it sells for £45.00 ($60.76 US). Since it's flamingos I definitely have to finish it if I can. Altogether my eight plus lot retails for $125.04; I paid $21.30 total for the lot with the buy-it-now option and one penny shipping. I indeed got a very nice bargain.

Halfway Month Blues

Last week I realized on the 14th that two weeks of 2026 flew right by me, and right now I'm writing during the third week. I wanted to be finished with more projects by now, but life and work have to come first. I think this might be when most crocheters start a new shiny project to boost their spirits. Not me. I kept working away at my first project for the year, and here's why: I don't like being surrounded by unfinished things. I also tend to get fatigued and abandon projects more easily if I've left them by the wayside to do something else. Finally, the payoff of the finished project gives me a much better spirit boost than messing around with several projects at the same time. I have a couple of strategies for sticking to working on one project at a time, which I can use to keep myself focused on reaching the finish line. Planning my next project is probably what I do most often by pulling the yarn from my stash, getting out the printed pattern for the...

Thrifty Crochet

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