Working on my PhD... LOL

Time flies... the older I get, the faster time flies.  And for the last ten weeks, I HAVE been working on my PhD.  I have finished some projects, but I have started many that aren't quite finished... yet.  Oh they will be done, I just don't know when.  

I showed you the following two shawls in states of being made in my last post. They are both finished now.  The pattern has become a favorite of mine. 

 I also finished this baby blanket a few days ago.  

The following are in the process of being finished in the somewhat near future:

 Mermaid's tears bag - need to be lined and handles made.  

I was given 10 skeins of pink Homespun yarn to make blankets for Project Linus. Another PhD. 

 

Need to complete the border on this small blanket:

It's just too darn hot to hold blankets on my lap at this time of year. So I am trying to think of a small project that will finish quickly and not cause me heat distress. 

Thanks for stopping by. I will take more picture soon.

Distribution of my treasures

Sometimes it is really hard for me to let go of projects I have become attached to.  These last two weeks I have had to make decisions about what stays and what goes. The bottom line is that these items have been sitting around my house when they should have been given to those who really can use them.  

“SHOWERS ON WHEELS” (a Sacramento organization celebrating mothers and babies) is having a huge baby shower at the Immaculate Conception Parish on Saturday, June 1 . Any handmade baby items would be appreciated: blankets, booties, hats, bibs, sweaters, etc…  For this charity, I donated these two blankets and some infant hats.  I am hoping to get a couple more baby things done to donate. 

Project Linus gives all kinds of blankets to homeless/shelter children. I was so torn about giving my quilt-like crochet blanket that I designed.  However, in over a year, I have never used it. Someone else certainly could use it.  So I put my ego in check and donated it and 2 premee memory squares to Project Linus.  

 The last baby blanket went to Handmade Especially for You. This is a charity in Southern California that makes, collects and distributes comfort scarves to women in shelters.  "Handmade Especially for You is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt non-profit charity that organizes knitters and crocheters to make handmade comfort scarves for abused women. Most who receive our scarves have never before received a personal gift, much less a handmade gift. The directors of the 60 shelters through which we distribute our scarves tell us that the women who receive them are amazed that anyone has thought to give them anything. They are thrilled with our scarves and take them with them even when they leave the shelter. Receiving the scarf helps break the cycle of low self-esteem which allows them to accept abuse. It is amazing what one scarf can do."  Many women have babies that they must bring with them, so HEFY has been also asking for donations of baby blankets.  This blanket went to HEFY.  

So each blanket got a hug and was sent on its way to help comfort someone in need.  I am happy to do it... even though it may take me a while to actually "git 'er done."

Thanks for stopping by... have a wonderful day :D

MY PACKAGE ARRIVED

AND I am all smiles....

The yarn: 

The reds (bright and not so bright), whites, blue and varigated are for my grandson's afghan.  I already had the navy blue.  After working many color combinations and patterns, I have decided on the following pattern and color combinations:

The navy works better in this pattern and there is not so much that my eyes will rebel.  I may or may not add the varigated around the outside edge. The squares are 12", so I may only need to make 20 of them. That will make the afghan 4' x 5'.  Now to get it finished before October. 

In my "box of Joy," I also found two prize possessions (for a crocheter, that is).  

These are lighted crochet hooks. I bought them for working on darker colors -- like that darn navy blue and, of course, black. 

The rest of the yarn will go into making squares for Charity Crochet Exchange.  I know I promised more information about that organization... perhaps tomorrow.  

I also got a bit daring in April and tried some new  patterns.  The one I like most is a shawlette.  One finished and one in process... 

I have no idea what I will do with them, but I always have a stash of finished projects.  

That's it for today... thanks for stopping by 

THE WAIT IS PAINFUL...

This is so appropriate as I sit waiting for the mail-person to deliver a package of yarn and a couple new crochet hooks (lighted ones, at that). There is also yarn for my grandson Jacob's blanket.  I was going to make an American flag until a friend mentioned that it would remind her of the flag on her father's coffin at his funeral. That was enough to make me change my mind as Jacob is in the National Guard. When he graduates from high school, he will be in the Army.  Then I wanted to make him an "easy" wave blanket.

Isn't that pretty?  Well, I just could not get the "hang" of the  pattern.  So now it will either be striped OR I am thinking of making 12" squares in a log cabin pattern.  And, of course, I have several different shades of red, blue and white.  Did you ever notice how many different shades of white there are?

Oh... I am experiencing a problem leaving comments on other blogs. I have tried everything I can think of to rectify this with no success. Can anyone think of a reason this would happen?

So I am waiting for my box of goodies.  And I am experiencing a wee bit discomfort in my right hip and leg. Perhaps a flare-up of my sciatica? And that is why the wait for my package is so painful. I did take one of my pain pills which is having that calming, light-headed affect on me. So I guess it is time to sign off for now and thank you for stopping by.

I HELPED... LOL

Remember one of the early commercials for Shake and Bake chicken coating? The young girl with an obvious Southern accent? Sadly, I could only find the commercial with the two kids who exclaimed: And WE helped!    

Howerver, today I feel like that young girl in the commercial. Please follow the link to my friend's blog... With Hook In Hand 


I had my annual eye exam today and am a bit blurry-sighted at the moment. Maybe a nap will help.

How I help out CCE...

Yesterday I thought of many pathways to follow in my crochet travels. My friend, L.J., has also started a crochet blog -  With Hook in Hand - to share with "hookers" also.  And there are many more blogs out in the blog-sphere also. Of course, today I am hard-pressed to remember most of them. So I thought I would tell about one the the charities that makes my crochet hooks happy (and keeps me sane).

One of the charities for which I crochet is Charity Crochet Exchange. With member suggestions, the directors chose 8-10 charities per year to create afghans for.  The afghans require six inch or twelve inch squares be created by members. They are sent to one of the directors for assembly and then presented to the charity for sale or use.  There are 100 members signed up on facebook for this group. We all try to help contribute to the postage costs incurred by the assemblers. I have met some dear, sweet people who give to this charity.

The JANUARY project was a member appreciation afghan. For each project you participate in, you get one entry for this honor. If your name is chosen, you select the color scheme for your afghan; and the group members create it.  This year's member chose the colors pink and grey.  I made these squares for the project:

And they went into creating this:

In FEBRUARY, we made afghans for victims of Hurricane Sandy. We made tons of squares and were able to sent off four completed afghans.  I made the following squares for this project:

Any squares left over from one project (notice the pink and grey from member appreciation) are used in future projects.  Some of the members are super productive, as was evident in our March project for Gibbs Nursing Home in Missour.

TO BE CONTINUED....

Thanks for stopping by...

The Stitch Looks like a Waffle - to me

I don't fancy myself much of a writer. In fact, as I age, I find myself less capable (in my own eyes) of focusing on my thoughts. Continuing this blog is perhaps my best therapy.

In my crochet life, I have the most wonderful go-to pattern. I found it in a copy of either "Woman's Day" or "Good Housekeeping" from back in the 1980's.  Some friends, with whom I shared the original pattern, found it a bit confusing. So I wrote it in my own words. It is for a striped baby blanket, but I have also used it for making scarves.

For me it is a simple pattern, and it goes like this:

WAFFLE-LIKE STITCH BABY BLANKET (my version)  Corner-to-corner

In this pattern, INCREASES are done at the beginning and end of each row. In the first stitch, it is HDC, SC. In the last stitch, it is SC, HDC. 

Other than that, you will HDC in the SC from the previous row; and you will SC in the HDC from the previous row.  (working row starts on right)

(HDC/SC)   HDC   SC   HDC    SC              HDC   SC   HDC   SC   (SC/HDC)  << working row

   /|\              |          |         |          |                |          |         |         |         /|\

Hdc               sc      hdc     sc      hdc             sc       hdc     sc     hdc       sc        (prev. row)

It sounds complicated at first, but is really very easy once you catch the rhythm of the pattern (hdc, sc), hdc, sc, hdc, ….  (sc, hdc). 

Ch 2

Row 1:  in 1^st ch st:  hdc, sc, hdc; ch 1, turn – 3 sts

Row 2: in 1^st st (this will be a hdc from prev. row)  : hdc, sc (inc made);

            hdc in next (this will be in a sc st from prev. row);

            sc, hdc in last st (inc made) -             - - - -   5 st

Row 3:  in 1^st st (hdc, sc); hc; sc; hdc; (sc, hdc) in last st - - - - -  7st

Continue until the edge of the blanket is the desired length.

You should now realize that the st you SC in (from the prev. row) is not as deep as the st you HDC in.

The SC st is narrow; the HDC st goes into a st that is larger. Hard for me to describe, but should make sense by now.

DECREASING:   done at beg and end of each row; working row starts on right. 

 (SC TOG)    SC     HDC    SC       HDC        SC    HDC   SC    HDC    SC     (SC TOG)  << working row

    /     \           |          |          |            |            |         |         |          |          |        /      \                          

hdc    sc         hdc       sc      hdc         sc          hdc     sc      hdc      sc       hdc    sc     hdc      (prev. row)

So you will SC the first 2 sts tog at the beg and end of each row until you have 3 sts left. 

Then SC all 3 sts tog.  

I am loving my crochet life.  It makes me feel like I am really accomplishing something. 

Thanks for stopping by today. 

A Little Bragging About My Mom

When my mom's younger sister passed away(1994, I think), Mom inherited a Cedar Trunk full of craft stuff. One of the projects in it was a half-done afghan my Grandmother had started out of a beautiful crochet cotton. Mom thought long and hard about what to do with the squares and finally decided that she could make a few more and find some 12" pillows to cover. Then she gave the finished pillows to her sisters and nieces, my sister and me.

She was about 80 y.o. when she accomplished this. How I miss her!! She was an awesome person.

Current Happenings in the life of a Crochet-aholic

I am currently filling my life with charity work. I have found that keeping yarn and a crochet hook in my hands, keeps my hands out of the "cookie Jar". 

I crochet with a purpose - usually LOL.  So far I have been contributing to Project Linus (Sacramento); Handmade With Love Especially for You (a non-profit in Southern California that distributes comfort scarves and baby blankets to Women's Shelters); CCE (Charity Crochet Exchange) for whom I crochet afghan squares that go into making blankets for different charities - usually one a month.  CCE just finished a 2 month project providing 50 lapghans to a nursing home in Missouri.  I also make chemo caps and newborn hats for local hospitals.

So I am reinventing my blog to "brag" about what I am doing when I'm not here... or on Facebook.  I also want a place where my family and friend can see why I really am doing something creative while helping others. 

Now I must get ready for my Friday mornning Knitwits circle at the local library branch.  It's only take me 8 years to find a social outlet here...

Tuesday Thinkin'...

The garden is just over-flowing... ugh!!!  so sick of squash.... HOWEVER... the tomatoes are starting to produce :D

Thanks for stopping by... eventually, I need to write again. For now, cartoons, crochet and bingo will have to fill my voids.

Have a great Tuesday :D

just a-thinkin'

I'm still here... just a-thinkin' about what the next endeavor will be.

Plus... it's getting really hot again.

HOOKOPOTOMUS 2

I stopped crocheting for a while after the hat business died down.  During this time, I dug into my creative crafty muse to see if I could come up with something else original. I decided on a case for reading glasses with an elastic band that you could attach to a book. 

My hubby always “remarks”  about my obsession with bags (shoulder bags, overnight bags, shopping bags… you get the idea).  My first response was: at least it’s not shoes. My next response was to make these:

They have pockets on both sides: one for a cell phone, one (with a button) for whatever. My cell phone kept slipping out so I added a very small piece of velcro to the back of my phone.

The next project was a pillow.

As you can see, I still have to add the logo. Then hubby wants one for the San Francisco Giants – orange & black (maybe for Halloween… maybe Christmas). 

I also crochet 6”x 9” rectangles for HAP (Handmade Afghan Project to thank our wounded troops).
And I got involved in Share-A-Square. This involved crocheting 6” squares that made afghans for kids with cancer.

S-A-S has disbanded; and H.A.P. will disband next spring.

I got carried away with the afghan-thing last fall. After I made squares for S-A-S, I  designed and made this one:

And crocheted these two:

And… there is MORE to come in Hookopotomus 3

Thanks for stopping by.... :D

just saying...

One week ago today, Tuesday, July 10th, 2012, at this same time of day, the temp was around 85* and eventually the day's high temp was 103*.

It is 10:45 a.m. on Tuesday, July 17th, 2012. The temperature is 62*.

Garden Update

On Saturday we blanched and froze some zucchini and yellow summer squash. We also shredded and froze more zucchini. We picked cucumbers and our spaghetti squash is growing (my sister turned me onto to this squash the last time I was back East).  Once the tomatoes start to ripen, we will have to start canning; there are soooo many.  Since June 23, our garden has grown!!! 

June 23, 2012

July 15, 2012

Thanks for stopping by...



OUR National Anthem

The following is a partial reprint of an article I read on Yahoo Sports. Bryan Luke sang like a true amateur. And, although he was very apologetic, practice makes improvement. However, this just adds to a long list of MY complaints about the way the National Anthem is sung. I call most of these personalized renditions or our beloved “Star Spangled Banner” warbling. In my opinion, our National Anthem should be sung AS WRITTEN. If you can’t sing it without warbling, do NOT do me the favor of singing it! Can you even begin to imagine “God Save the Queen” or “O Canada” improvised in the manner many singers use on our glorious anthem.

LUKE BRYAN:  SORRY FOR ALL-STAR NATIONAL ANTHEM
By David Brown
Big League Stew – Wed, Jul 11, 2012 4:33 PM EDT

"The Star-Spangled Banner," it has been said, is one of the more difficult songs to perform well under any circumstance. When you add degrees of difficulty such as a big venue, an important event and a vast TV audience watching at home, it only compounds the challenge.

And, boy, country music star Luke Bryan was not up to it Tuesday night at Major League Baseball's All-Star game in Kansas City. Not only was Bryan's singing flat and uninspired, but cameras caught him checking his hand for lyrical reminders, along with his watch for the time, as he plodded along for two excruciating minutes.

Bryan's performance was so bad, he apologized by making a series of statements via Twitter on Wednesday:

• Morning everyone. I really wanna explain the national anthem performance from last night.
• I had a few keys words written down to insure myself that I wouldn't mess up. I just wanted to do my best. I promise it was from the heart.
• If I offended anyone with my approach I sincerely apologize. Anytime I sing the anthem it is an honor and my heart beats out of my chest.
• I did check my watch because I knew the stealth bomber would fly over 2 minutes in and I knew a started a little late.
• Being a part of the all star game was amazing and I look forward to the next time I can perform the anthem. Thanks y'all. Love ya

The next time. The next time? No way. In the name of Enrico Pallazzo, no more singing at baseball games for you, buddy. …
It was a three-person race to find who had the worst outing at Kauffman Stadium: Robinson Cano in the Home Run Derby on Monday, Justin Verlander in the first inning of the game, or Bryan just before the first pitch. Even professionals can have a bad day. At least we can assume Cano and Verlander came prepared. …

It's for the best — safer, more humane — if we just ban good ol' Luke from ever singing the anthem at a sporting event ever again. Even NASCAR. And let's be real, here: Hank Williams and Johnny Cash already are spinning in their graves over how bankrupt country music is. Guys like Luke Bryan can't even hold Merle Haggard's beer. ...

The upside: Someone ought to be able to write a pretty good country tune about how sorry Luke Bryan was at (and about) his woeful All-Star anthem.

Off my soap box now… just had to get this off my chest…
Thanks for stopping by…