Slow Progress 4/52

I would like to say that I made pretty good progress on projects this week especially since I had a large amount of down time on Tuesday. But it didn't work out that way. I have manages a couple of hats for charity, an almost finished Etsy order and a couple of rows on one sleeve of my cardigan. 

On Tuesday we had an appointment with a specialist and we did get some news that day that they didn't see an signs of cancer on Abbigail's liver as my vet was sure they would see, or any where else that they could tell. We did another blood test and they think she has IBD, irritable bowel  disease. This Would fit all of her symptoms, old and new.I'm looking forward to helping her feel better with a new diet and medication. I appreciate everyone's well wishes and I know they were heard.

So on to the non-progress of the week..

Here's the three hat added to the charity list. I dug out a couple of skeins of yarn that I had laying around, I Should be able to get a few more out of this skein and another that I had in this weight that I can only seem to find one of so it's a good project for them. I'm loving how the stripes are working out, so this was a great pattern for that yarn.

After much internal debate I think I'd decided on a shorter sleeve for my cardigan. That's not me trying to finish it up it's actually that I'm not a fan of long sleeves. So at the least I would have made them 3/4 length but for more use I'm going with a shortish sleeve. I've measure it out as 11 inches and once I get the first one done I'll see how that works. I think I should go ahead and seam it up so that I can also check the fit. So with each row being about 1/2 and inch I think I'm about 11 rows until this sleeve is ready for testing. This still isn't the right color by the way, which is really interesting that it looks so different in different lighting.

I swear it's really a nice heather blue..lol

I've got a veggie set to finish up, work in ends and add a few leaves and this one will be shipping out on Monday! 

I'm hoping to have a bit more progress to show and talk about next week, Thanks again for all of your kind words and thoughts, they mean so much to us.

If you are enjoying these updates be sure to stop by Ravelry, and check out the Year of Projects forums for more talented yarn artists! If you are having issues with the new format please be sure to switch to classic to keep the original community while they work out the bugs.

Have a Crafty Week!

Cold Sheet Progress 4/52 

Prior Weeks Balance 3269 yards out

This weeks yarn used 408 yards

This weeks yarn In 0

Updated Total Used 3677

 

Cardigan and Charity Progress YOP 3/52

After last week's post I kept my promise to myself and I went back into the cave of doom Craft Room and dug out my Silver Bells Cardigan, the pattern was in the 2014 version of the Holiday Crochet magazine. I have been working on it off and on since 2016 and it's my goal to actually get to wear it this fall. It has a longer bell type sleeve but I'm going to modify it to at least a 3/4 sleeve. Somehow I've managed to keep the pattern, yarn and hook together with the pieces, which is a good thing because I'm pretty sure I'd never find the yarn again. I had the back and one side finished back in 2017, then it was put away or forgotten for other projects, but I've been working on it this week and its going so easily I don't know why I put it down. It's just shells so it's a good project for while watching tv. I finished up the second panel for the front and have just moved on to the sleeves. not too bad I guess.

The colors are way off, it's actually a blue, but I kinda wish it was this color..lol

I had a goal to do 30 projects for a Charity that gave items to babies in the NICU to celebrate my premie's 30th birthday. Their big request right now is for hats of all sizes, I have a skein of some really soft mint colored yarn and I whipped up 7 small hats and I managed another pink hat in a larger size that I will add to the pile. This was off of a small ball I had on hand, i think I can get one more out of it too. I thought I would complete my personal challenge before sending, if I can go ahead and get the rest done I'll try that but if it starts to drag I think I'll send these on so they have them. And just keep an box for the remainders as they come along. 

I have a hard appointment this coming week for Abbigail, my lab mix and best friend. She's had all kinds of health problems over the years and she's no spring chicken but I'm still holding out hope.  We're going to a specialist to have an ultrasound and other some tests run. She's not doing well and it's even worse that with everything going on I have to leave her at the vet and wait outside. It could be an hour or hours, depending on what they think is best. It's going to be rough on both of us and I need to bring a project that's portable and also interesting so I can fill the time and not worry myself sick too. Maybe it will be a great time for Charity projects, simple and quick. We can use any kind thoughts you can send our way. 

Princess Abbigail aka Abbey dooby doo

 I'm hoping to be back next week with a big finish and hopefully some small ones, and more progress to show on old projects.

Be sure to check out the Year of Projects groups on Ravelry for inspiration and it's never to late to join.

Have a very creative week!

Cold Sheep Tally 2020-21

Prior weeks total out 2550 yards

Week 3 out 719 (hats, veggie set, sweater work)    

Week 3 in 0

Total Change 3269. yards.

One Pillow, Two Pillow and a set of Booties. Year of Projects Week 2

So as soon  I decide to buckle down on my list I find myself suddenly diverting  onto other things. I've been trying to organize my craft room, putting yarn up and putting yarn together with patterns for a while. And as I move one more box and I then realize I've got a nice selection of pillow forms just hanging around. SO instead of working on a project that needed to be completed I started another. In my defense it was quick and I've added a spot of color to my living room/office space and utilized a pillow form. And did I mention that I used two skeins of yarn that I had in hand? Win/Win/Win in my book!

Its a pattern from the crochet crowd, Crochet Textured Flower Pillow, Here's the pattern I didn't have a bulky yarn I liked so I went with two strands of Red Heart that I had on hand. And I'm really happy with how it turned out. I'll be making another one in a different color soon, well as soon as I find two skeins of a color I think will work in that area. The stash hunt is officially on !

Then as luck would have it I got a message from a person who follows my daughters Instagram and she asked about a pillow I had done for My daughter a year or so ago. We struck up a conversation and soon she was placing an order for an Acorn Pillow, yes you read that right, Acorn. So that was pillow two of the week and I can't say how much fun those large stuffies are. In case you wondered the one for my daughter was a beet! My daughter is vegan and she loved the small version so well I thought a big one would be fun and a conversation piece too. I actually ended up making a few beet pillows and a couple of other veggie pillows last year for a friend of hers that had a vegan store on the coast. You just never know where the world of yarn will take you!

Then it was on to a special order of Booties. Dad is a baseball fan and with a new baby on the way and hope for the season opener, Mom ordered these Chicago Cubs inspired booties, These are fun and easy, toe of my favorite things, and I get it add a check mark to the finish column even if it's not on the list!

I'm hoping to dive into my project bags this week and drag out my long suffering cardigan, I might have it finished by the time it gets cold. I'm really glad I bought so much yarn for it since i"m pretty sure they don't make it any more.

So having said that It's time to track my Cold Sheep/ Clean out the Disaster  Craft Room

Yarn

OUT 2550 yards (rounded) 

IN 0

Other Craft Supplies

1 Pillow Form

So that wraps up another week of Projects for me, Please be sure to check out all of the other blogs in the group and  remember it's always a good time to join. Check it out here.

Have a Wonderful Crafty Week!

Week 2 Year 8

Computer is still refusing to cooperate, so this post was delayed.

I managed to get a few things done this week. Worked on one project off of the list and another that was an order for a friends store. 

I'll start with the order, these don't take that long to do but my crochet time was cut a bit short this week due to some travel and pumpkin seed planting.

These Diva Dishcloths will be sent out this week to Up Beet Market in Wilmington. It's a vegan speciality store but she is also buying from local crafters, mainly kids items and other household things that support the lifestyle. She's been open just over a month and sales have been great. I'm always excited when someone can follow their dreams! So 12 dishcloths can be added to my list for July.

I had made a set of play veggies for her and they've flown out the door. I knew they had been popular but I didn't realize she was almost out. I had worked on Mushroom this week.

Three of the four that I sent. I guess I should have done a few more.

This is the display after the four mushrooms were added! I'll be working on veggies the next few days I guess..

 I did manage to work on one of the items on my list. The Unicorn Ripple. These colors are so much brighter than the actual colors. It's really pastel in person. And why in the world did I think single crochet ripples would be fun? I'll be happy to see the last row on this project.

While I didn't make much progress on the list I did make some progress on the cold sheep this week

Intake 0

12 Dishcloths -1440 yards

Mushrooms- 10 yards total (guestimate)

=1450 yards out for week 1

I'm not counting the progress on the ripple, I guess I could if I weighed the skeins but since I had the yarn in my stash I'll just count the total once it's finished. Easier that way and it keeps me moving items out!

Thanks for stopping by! I'm hoping for more progress next week!

Week 1 Year 8 of a Year of Projects

So it looks like a new laptop will be in my future, it's conked out on my again this weekend. No warning, just poof, it turns off. I bought a battery the last time and it seemed to be fixed but no luck. So I'm a bit late again this week but I had to get the list up for year 8 week 1 of the Year of Projects.

I've had some finishes but I've had a lot of startitis too. So I've decided the best way to clear some of those bags that are hanging on my craft room door and to bust some of the stash too, I'm going to concentrate on working on some of the old outstanding projects I have literally hanging around.

I think this is a fairly good representation of the items. I did manage to finish up two last year and I'm hoping to see all of these this year. If I run across some others I'll add them to the list.

While I need to see the end of these, I know I have a hard time NOT starting something else. So I'm going to limit the new starts to one at a time and only if a project gets marked off of the list first. Hopefully I'll have some special orders or requests too.

Also I know me and I'll never be able to work on one project until it's done so I'll try to do a bit on each each week, or at least a few.. Thankfully it will help the cold sheep process too, since I have a majority of the yarn bought already for these projects!

Ya'll have to keep me on track, I am already thinking about what the new projects should be!

Sigh that quilt down there, yes the "jar quilt" the top is done and it was supposed to be a going to college gift, well she graduated in 2008.. The top is almost complete, she even brings it up every now and then, her birthday has passed for the year but maybe I should shoot for 2020, she'll be 30..lol

Year of Projects Year 8 July 2018-2019

This is the year of finally finishing projects...and I'm still working the cold sheep plan.

Current WIP- Crochet
Peach Blossom Blanket from this spring 2018
Bee Hive Blanket- Spring 2018
Unicorn Ripple- May 2018
Pom Pom Rug- April 2018
Wood Land Animal hats- November 2017
Whale Shark- Gift for E- from only a year ago
Carrot Snuggle sack- 75% done- Spring 2017
Flower Garden Blanket- Started 2016
Cardigan for Me -Started 2016
Sidewalk Blanket- started 2015

Current WIP in Cross Stitch
Moose Welcome Cross Stitch
Lizzy Kate- Be who you are
Log cabin Quilts
Lizzy Kate- Dog Lessons
Lizzy Kate- Cat Lessons

Sewing Projects WIP
Soot Pillows for E
Project bags
Animal applique pillows

Quilt Projects WIP
Jar Quilt for E-2005
Wolf Panel- quilt 2008
Log cabin panel- quilt 2006

Old Wool Projects -
Bags of Fleece- Wash/Process/Dye
Spin roving bought from Heelside Farms
Get the wheel out and do some spinning

Thanks for stopping by! We're just starting a new year so it's a great time to join the Year of Projects! You can find us here on Ravelry!

Year of Project week 52

Goodness this year has flown, I mean both the calendar and the year of projects too!
I'm struggling to keep up, is it really going to be July this weekend?!

I'm a bit late, did I mention I'm a bit behind, this post was supposed to be a Sunday post but Sunday ended up being berry picking/ jam canning day and I was just too out of it afterwards to get a post together. But I had to make sure that I had a end of the year post on the books. I checked back and I did manage to post for the first week of this year and a few in between so I had to make sure that I had one for the ending too!

I've managed a bunch of starts, and a few finishes this year.
Here's a couple that I managed to take pictures of before they were sent off.

Some of these have been around a while some started and finished in relatively quick turnarounds.

I think that the first and last picture were the oldest projects that finally get finished up and boy was I glad to see the end of the ribbon stitch blanket. It was most definitely a UFO..

I've started way too many blankets this year so that is going to be my main focus for next year. I reviewed  my 2017-2018 list and decided that  I need to take a long serious look at it and see if I'm still in love with any of those projects..

I did some pruning of my other crafts, cross stitch and quilting, while I'm not ready to give all of it up some things just don't interest me anymore and they were moved on to make room for projects I really hope to finish at some point.

Hopefully I'll be able to add some of these to the finishes column during year 8!

If nothing else I can say it's been a colorful year..

Thanks for letting me fall in and out of the year of projects and I'm hoping to stay on a better track for year 9! If you'd like to be a Yopper too check us out on Ravelry!

Week 44 Year of Projects

The weather has been so nice this week, that I've been working outside until late after work so that doesn't leave much time for crochet. But I do have a finish on a special request.

A while back I had finally finished up a set of play vegetables. One of them was a beet.

My daughter and her best friend who are vegan immediately requested a beet pillow! I've got a couple of other items on the hooks but then I heard that Jessie is opening a vegan store! I was inspired to go ahead and start those pillows! It took me a bit to get the right shape. I was trying to start at the bottom  like I had done with the turnip and beet above but I just couldn't get a shape I was happy with. So I switched to the top and it finally came together! Now I just have to duplicate it again. I think I'll write it down this time so I can make more in the future for the shop, along with some other vegetables. 

The really fun, cosmic alignment part is that while I was working on these secretly of course, They were supposed to be a surprise for them. Jessie sent me a message and said she had finally come up with a name for the store... Up_Beet Market! So now I really have to get this out to her before the store opens! 

It's raining and the lighting is horrible but I just had to share these..lol

I think they'll love it, now I just have to dive back in and get the second one completed. Working with the bulky yarn is a work out, at least I'm getting some exercise today!

I've got a couple more layers on my rainbow ripple and a couple of squares joined on the peach blossom blanket. no pictures but hopefully a finish or almost finish for next week.

Be sure to check out the other Yoppers on Ravelry or join us each Sunday for updates.

Year of Projects Week 37

Not a whole lot of Crochet happened this week, but there has been some crafting done.
I'll start with my Peach Blossom blanket, I've managed to finish off a few squares. I'm happy with the color combination of shades of pink and the Grey. They work up quickly so I'll be thinking about borders soon. I think it should be a bit lacy but we'll see how it goes.

I've recently moved it's a temporary spot while I work on getting back to a farm of my own, so I'm missing my bees and getting the garden ready. even thought Spring tried to come early, winter has taken back over here on the East Coast anyway. I've been working on Spring Colors and then I just started a few hexis in a very happy yellow that I'm going to turn into a "bee" Blanket or lovey.

I found this almost granny type hexi on an older posting on the One loop short blog. I love the flowerish details. I'm going to do one more round in a darker yellow.

Earlier in the week I posted about my Yarn Carrots and I'm almost done with my Bunnies. Neither crochet projects but they both have some yarn content. 

I love the pom pom tails. I'll be adding some ribbons and maybe a nose with pink dmc thread.

The last project that related to yarn is something for my new space too. I've been looking at rugs, mainly crochet rugs but then I ran into pompom rugs. I received a pompom maker a while back and I have been putting it to good use. I've picked out my yarn and got the foundation but that's as far as I have gotten so far. Hopefully I'll have a great update next week for all of these projects next week.

So that's been my week. Check in with all of the other Yopers and I'll be getting back into the project pile! Have a great week!

Easter Crafts- Yarn Wrapped Carrots

I've been wanting to do a bit of different decorating for easter, a bit more than plastic eggs and bunny ears. Although those do have their place. I had been trying to come up with something for a centerpiece or something cute for a wreath. Then it hit me, Carrots! Yes Carrots they can be easter but they are spring too. After all I've grown my fair share of them in the late winter/early spring months.

So I did a google search for carrot ideas and came up with two I'm definitely doing this year and one I'd like to keep on the back burner for now. I'll let it simmer and see how much time I end up with before the holiday gets here.

My two projects are yarn wrapped carrots and stuffed fabric carrots, plus I'm sewing some bunnies to go with these guys.. Today I'll show you how I did some stash busting and created my chubby orange roots.

I started with a pair of  styrofoam cones that I picked up at Joann's, I had a coupon and was on a budget for this, plus I was there for fabric too..



To get a more carrot like shape I used an old serrated knife that I on hand from another project but you can find real shapers made for this at most craft stores. Since carrots come in all shapes I just whittled until I got a shape I liked.

They look like carrots right? 

So the next step is what to do abut the tops, after all to be a real carrot you have to have greens!

I lucked out in that too. I had a bit of left over ferny greens from another project that in my opinion worked out great. I took at chop stick, but you can use anything from a dowel to crochet hook to make your hole in the top. I drug out the hot glue gun and glued the tops into place before I did any other covering.

Here you can see the center hole and how I started the yarn around the tops with some strategically placed hot glue.

I jumped back into the crazy mess I call a craft room and came up with this Bernet baby yarn that I felt gave it some texture and a variance of colors for the wrapping portion. I wrapped each one quickly and carefully and again hot glue the ends. Easy peasy and too cute if I do say so myself.

One down one to go

Ta -Dah Easter Centerpiece

This was a fun simple and quick craft that even kids could do with some adult help, in total I had less than two hours into it, which included the shaping and stash hunting. 

I'll already had requests so I'll be making more. Some variances could be to use twine and paint your carrots your favorite color, or use a heavier yarn over a white or painted styrofoam for a more "shabby" look. You can literally branch out for the greens use something you found or dried, add rick rack or ever greens to make it yours. No carrot is ever alike yours don't have to be either. How about rainbow carrots, they are thing, don't be limited by the colors either! Add them to baskets, wreaths or your fruit dish for fun. Keep them out all spring, carrots don't only have to be for the Easter Bunny!

You if you love this idea and don't have the patience or time to make your own head over to my Etsy store or my facebook I'll be posting them there for sell too! 

Check back next week for the second carrot craft, Fabric Carrots

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  Ragged Bits for their Waste Not Wednesdays 

 A Stroll Thru Life _Inspire Me Tuesdays

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