New Yarn=New Projects!

I was so excited to get my new yarn this week!

I took a bit of a chance ordering these. I have worked with the multi-colored yarn before, so I knew what I was getting with that. I've worked with cotton only yarn before as well, so I felt pretty confident trying those. The red stuff though? I hate that stuff, and I don't think I'll be using that very much!

I was hoping to make some circular scrubbies, but I'll be honest, guys: it's just not working out. I can't tell you how many times I started, tore out, and started over. I want whatever I finish to be something I can be KIND OF proud of, and those scrubbies were just not it. 

So, I found a different pattern and came up with these:

They are dishcloths, and I combined two different fibers on all of them. I like them, BUT I'm not sure how to finish them off. The pattern says fold it over and single crochet it together, but I can't figure out how to do that, or even why you would want to? I'm not sure how I am going to finish these, but that's something to think about in the next day or two.

This is my last blog post, because our presentations are NEXT WEEK! How is yours coming along?

Out of Yarn...So It's Time to "Practice"

I have some new yarn ordered, but until it gets here, I don't have enough to make a "real project." I thought I did, so I tried a "real project," but I ran out of yarn right before I got to the end, and it didn't look very good anyway. So here are some things I've been working on! 

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This is treble crochet, but it doesn't look very good. I need to figure out how to get it to lay flat and not curl. Diane Harmon, crochet master, says this could be a tension issue. 

This is the "project" I was trying. My daughter kept asking "what is it?" on the above picture, and I kept saying "it's practice!" She suggested I make a headband/ear warmer, and I thought I probably had enough yarn to do that, but as it turns out, I didn't. Again, it probably shouldn't be curling like that. It's supposed to be a straight line. 

Then I decided I would start working on some of the fancier stitches! 

This would be great if I were trying to make one of those Victorian collar things, but again, this is supposed to be in a straight line, so I'm not sure where it all went wrong here, but I'll try again another time.

I actually think this is pretty good/close to what it's "supposed" to look like, even though you can't really see my sample all that well. It's definitely something I need to practice more on, but I felt at least moderately successful working on this.

 I am pretty pleased with these double crochet and half double crochet samples. They are laying flat (as they should), but these are stitches I have worked on before. Just trying to "perfect" them now. They don't really come naturally to me yet. When I see them in a pattern, I do have to think back about how to do them, or even sometimes go look at instructions for it.

I can't wait until my new yarn arrives! It's a new kind of scrubby yarn. I hope I like it and I hope it works well, because I don't have enough yarn to finish all the hotpads I had planned on, so some of you are getting scrubbies. No one is getting a headband/ear warmer, though! :)

Have you had to make any modifications on your project due to supply limitations?

Once I figured it out, I just couldn't stop making them! 

Again, I'm not SUPER thrilled with these, but they aren't bad. They are still curling a little at the edges, and I've tried to relax my stitches, but I still end up with the "curl" no matter what. Our good friend Mrs. Harmon says I do need to loosen the stitches, so I'm working on it.

I love this yarn combination and wish I could get more, but it is sold out at Hobby Lobby. There are some similar items at Michaels, but I have a hard time purchasing without actually feeling the yarn myself, so I am reluctant to buy online. Plus, there's a three skein minimum, so I think I'll just wait until I can get into a store. I probably have enough for one more scrubbie. I gave two away over the weekend. 

This is a simple project that doesn't take long at all! I do have to concentrate and count, though, so it's not really something I can do while I watch TV. I can't multi-task with this one! 

Next up: I'd like to make a beanie, but I don't know if I have enough yarn. I think I can at least get it started, and of course, that would be the hardest part.

Presentations are coming up soon! Hopefully you are getting to the point where you have something to show us! 

Keep On Keepin' On

This won't come as a surprise to any of you, but I'm still working on my scrubbies.

However, I finally found something new that helps this make a lot more sense to me.

One of my crochet pals, Clarissa (who, you might remember, attended Fiber Space with me) loaned me a book and I finally sat down today to look at it.

Turns out, it was really helpful in understanding how to crochet in the round.

One of the things I have learned in this process (and hope my students have, too) is how I learn best. I thought it was videos when I first started, and they have been helpful, but something about the way this was written made a lot of sense to me. I actually started thinking about this in a mathematical way (which you KNOW is not my strong suit), but that helps me keep track in my counting. 

Now: no, I'm not particularly proud of this. No, it's not finished. Yes, it's starting to look a little hexagonal and it's not supposed to, and yes, my ultimate goal is to add another type of yarn in with this, but that yarn is incredibly difficult to work with. BUT. It's a start and it actually DOES make sense to me now where it did not before.

An update on my hotpads: I have a lot of those in various stages of "done-ness," but I'm out of yarn and I'm not sure how to get more! I originally bought my yarn at Hobby Lobby and need matching skeins to finish, but I can't find them to order on the HL website. I haven't found them at amazon either, or the actual brand website, so I'm not sure what to do! Once we can go back out, I'll be able to get the rest and it won't take long to finish them, but for now, I have to work on the scrubbies and other projects that use this grittier "yarn" (the word "yarn" isn't even correct because it doesn't feel like wool or cotton and is not suitable for every project. I wouldn't use it to make handwarmers, for instance). 

Tell me what's going on with your projects!

You're not going to learn how to crochet from these videos, that's for sure, but I thought I would try a time-lapse video so you could see how my projects start and what the process is. This is the first time-lapse video I've ever made, for anything, and I had quite the set up!

I like this project because you only have to count one time: 42 chains at the beginning. That's what you'll see here. I made 42 chains and then started working down the right side. I think most people (right-handed people) would go down the left side first, but because I'm left-handed, I like to go down the right side first. I got about 3/4 of the way down on this one and then quit, so obviously, this project is just getting started and has several more hours in it.

Here is a video of the same pattern that is almost done. I'm concerned about this, though, because I'm afraid I'm going to run out of yarn. I have at least one more of these that I ran out of yarn on, and I'm not sure when I can get back to the store to get more of these! 

Here's what I've done so far!

Time to Get Back to 20Time

If you're like me, you haven't done much with your project in a few weeks.

Amirite?

I did sit down towards the end of last week an evening or two and got quite a bit of crocheting done. My big concern now is that I'm going to run out of yarn! I can't really justify a trip to Hobby Lobby right now when we're supposed to be social distancing.

I still haven't mastered the scrubbie.

Here's some stuff I did make over spring break, though:

 Bierocks; I always make these on breaks!

 For St. Patrick's Day. I also made an Irish beef stew, Irish soda bread, and lemon-lime poke cake (didn't get any pictures, though).

 Chicken Tetrazzini. I let everyone pick one dinner and one dessert they wanted me to make. This was my husband's pick.

 Taco chicken to freeze and use later.

 My daughter wanted breakfast burritos.

 My husband's dessert choice was chocolate meringue pie.

 My son's choice was chocolate pecan pie, and I made home made whipped topping for this (NOT Cool Whip--nothing against Cool Whip though. My daughter ate Cool Whip for lunch this weekend). For his "special dinner" he chose sausage pizza, which is not special at all, so I didn't take a picture of that!

 My daughter's dinner choice was chicken fried steak. We made REAL mashed potatoes, and even used the peels to make potato skins. No food waste here!

 Carmelitas, or, the reason I might end up on My 600 lb life when this is over. I can't stop eating these! 

 Chicken and noodle soup to go in the freezer for later.

Homemade donuts! Did you know the donut case at Dillons, where we stop and shop every Sunday morning, is shut down for now? I had to make my own! 

I know that looks like pandemic cooking, but it isn't. This was all stuff I had planned to do before things got turned upside down. Baking and cooking has kept me busy enough to keep me off the edge this week!

Anyway, I think it's time we get back to our projects for a couple of reasons. First of all, we started it, and I got really good feedback from a lot of you. I do think it's a worthwhile use of our time, so let's finish it! Secondly, I think this is a really worthwhile use of our time NOW. I am consuming WAY too much media, and frankly, I don't think it is doing me much good. Working on my project is a nice mental break from that for me, and I hope it is for you, too. Finally, I realize everyone's situation is a little different, and some of you may not be bored at all. You may be caring for younger siblings or even have a job that is essential at this time, but if you ARE bored, it's a great time to work on your project! Some of you may never get this kind of time in your life again. (Again, I say that knowing you may not actually be "locked down" and may be working.) Obviously, 20% of our "school" time now, is quite a bit less than it was, but I would say aim for at least half an hour per week on this. If you have more time, spend more time!

And finally (and I will put this in google classroom as well), we are going to push back the finish date for our projects. I've had to change some of what we were going to do at the end of the year, so now we have a little more time to play with on this. I'll get that final due date to you, but it will be AFTER April 9. Please continue to plan on making a presentation of some sort--the sky is REALLY the limit now! We'll utilize some of our online meeting technology to make that happen.

Be well.

Getting There

I still have a lot of work to do to get this thing perfected, but I did make a little progress last night!

My scrubbie is not done, and I'll have to tear it all out and start over because I don't remember where I left off, but I did get all the way "out" and started working back in. As you can see, it's shaped like a hexagon. I'm not sure what's causing that! Also, I still keep ending up with extra stitches, and I cannot figure out why. I do think I'm probably stitching a little too tightly, so I'm going to try to loosen it up on my next try.

I finished another hot pad, but this one is wonky because it doesn't make a nice square; it's more like a rectangle. It just needs closed up in the back, and I think I have enough of that yarn to make another one.

Big crocheting weekend coming up for me, I hope! NO KIDDIE SPORTS this weekend, or anything else to do, so I hope I get some time to work on this and figure this scrubbie thing out! You work on yours, too! Let me know how it's going!