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!

Still Frustrated

Just here to say I still haven't gotten anywhere with the magic circle, and I've now looked at several different tutorials. I think I found one that I will like, but it doesn't actually use the magic circle method, and I don't actually know if it's going to work for me, because every time I tried to play it last night, it would go black at a point I really needed to see! Somehow, I kept ending up with extra stitches at the end of each round, and I actually had a big blob of yarn; I don't know where that came from or where it was supposed to go!

I'm hoping to sit down tonight with some decent WiFi and get this all worked out, but if not, it will remain a spring break project. I can work on my potholders until then!

And if anyone is counting, I have probably torn out my magic circle starts about 15 times now. It's FRUSTRATING!

Frustration Level

As a teacher, I am on the lookout for when my students hit their "frustration level" with a project; it's that point where they really need some support or they're not going to be able to move on. If they don't get the support (or sometimes they just need a break), they tend to give up and throw in the towel. 

Of course, we don't want kids to throw in the towel, but some of our best learning happens right before our "frustration level" peaks. This has been good for me, because this week I hit my own frustration level in my project. 

It's the magic circle, again, and it's giving me FITS!

I want to master this so I can make dish scrubbies. I bought the special yarn for this, as you might remember, and even got a bigger hook to accommodate the thicker yarn. At this point, I don't think I will ever be able to start a magic circle without the step-by-step tutorial, which I now have to watch about five times before I get mine started. BUT! I am able to at least get the circle started and do the first round. I am not terribly pleased with this magic circle. As you can see in the picture, the hole in the center is not all the way closed up, and it is supposed to be. I'm not sure if that's the yarn thickness causing that or what, but the whole point of the magic circle is that you do not have a hole in the center.

I can live with that hole in the middle though. The bigger issue I'm facing is that I still cannot figure out how to get this thing to lay flat! You may not be able to tell in the picture below, but it is taking on a bowl shape. I need to find a written pattern for scrubbies, and I think I have one saved on my pinterest board. (I have learned that I prefer a written pattern to a video if it's something I know how to do. If I need to see how to do something, I prefer a video to a diagram.) I think I might be missing a chain or two or a slip stitch at the end of each round.

I will be in a Hobby Lobby town this weekend, and something I need to buy is a stitch marker. Very helpful in a circle project for seeing where one round ends and another begins!

I also need to pick up some more yarn! I thought I could finish a potholder, and you can see how close this one is to being done, but I need just a little more. I think one more skein will finish this and do another one. Do you like these colors? 

I hope you are not at your "frustration level" with your project, but if you are, do not give up now! This is where the best learning happens! Stick with it!

Projects in Progress!

I've managed a little more crochet time this week, and have finished two more pot holders!

You can't really tell on the brown one in this picture, but I think I need to tear some stitches out of it. It got a little doubled over on the back and it does not lay flat. Do you like the green and blue one? I would have liked it better if one skein of yarn would have been enough. You can tell where I had to start a new one. 

This is the next pot holder I'm working on. I hope I have enough yarn to finish this! I might have to rip out some practice projects and tie some strands together in order to finish this one. I'd say this is about half way done, in case you were wondering what they looked like in the middle of the process.

I have a couple of new things to try once I finish a few more potholders. My friend who attended the Fiber Space workshop with me gave me this book: 

I'm not even sure what a Granny Square IS, but it comes up a lot in crochet-talk, so I'm excited to take a look at this book. I'd love to be able to do something like the yellow and purple project on the cover!

I am also getting serious about my scrubbies soon. I bought some yarn that is specifically FOR making scrubbies, and it's a little bigger, so I think that will help me see what I am doing. 

I hope to put those two together in one scrubbie, but first I have to master that magic circle, which has given me LOTS of trouble. I think this will turn out cute, though. 

I have some long car rides ahead of me this weekend, so I hope to finish my pot holder, or maybe finish two! 

How are your projects coming along?

Fiber Space Recap and Picture OVERLOAD

Let's discuss Fiber Space! 

Fiber Space was the retreat I attended this past weekend to work on my crochet skills. It is held every year in January and February at Heartland Farm. Crocheters, knitters, spinners and weavers all come together and retreat to work on their craft. There are beginners as well as some very talented people who have been crocheting, knitting, spinning or weaving for quite some time. Here we are going over the schedule for the retreat.

Once we got all of the introductions and housekeeping items taken care of, we went off to separate areas of the strawbale building to work. Sr. Imelda had a pattern for handwarmers (which, by the way, sell in the gift shop for $30), and it looked like something I could accomplish. This pattern utilizes a half double crochet, and that is a stitch I wanted to work on, so I decided to make these.

One of the issues I was having with the half-double crochet was getting a wedge-shaped product (which I wrote about here). I knew this had something to do with the way I was finishing my rows, but I wasn't sure what. I was able to get this figured out at this retreat. (Answer: chain two at each end.) Here is my FIRST handwarmer!

This was a little big, and I ended up ripping two rows out of it later. I could acutally probably rip out one more. But, as you can see, my edges are pretty straight and NOT in a wedge, so I am fairly pleased with these. 

I finished my other one at home, and there are some problems, as you can see. One is longer than the other, one is looser than the other, and even though these are made out of the same yarn skein, they don't look like they even match due to the variegation of the yarn! But! They're mine and I made them and I love them I guess. I still might take a row out of the one that's a little too big yet. These were very simple and something I could make easily for a gift.

I also worked on my double crochet and made this: 

It's just a dishrag, I guess. It's cotton yarn, so it should be fine for that. I learned that double crochet is not great for pot holders because it's a looser stitch and too "holey" for grabbing something hot. 

One thing I really wanted to master was a circle. It didn't go very well. My circles just end up looking like big knotted blobs. I worked on it some at home, after the retreat, using a video tutorial for a magic circle. 

I definitely need some more practice on this! I don't think it's supposed to come up into a bowl like that. It should lay flat. But I want to master this because I want to be able to make hats and scrubbies. I will need to buy some yarn that is suitable to scrubbies. 

Even though this retreat ate up a large bit of my weekend (and kept me from attending one of my kids' sporting events), I'm REALLY glad I went. I learned a lot, and crocheting is very relaxing to me, even the stuff that's hard that I haven't mastered yet. I met some very nice people, too. I realize not everyone has an opportunity like this for his/her given project, but if you do ever have a chance to take a class or get some dedicated time to work on your project with others doing the same, DO IT! You won't regret it. Here are some more pictures of our weekend.

The start of my handwarmer.                          Patty, across the table from me, has never crocheted.                                                                              She came with her daughter in law, who crochets a lot.

 
    My friend, Clarissa, attended this retreat       The silo is my favorite spot on the farm.
    with me.                                                          If it had been nicer out, I would have crocheted in                                                                                    there!

Sr. Imelda was in charge of helping the crocheters.

I don't think there's anything she CAN'T teach you to do!

One last thing: you might remember that I was waffling between learning to crochet or knit when we first started this process. One of the expert crocheters at the retreat asked me if I knew how to knit, because apparently I hold my crochet hook more like you would a knitting needle. Sr. Imelda suggested a few times, "why don't you try it like this?" but I just couldn't do it! I taught myself my own hook hold and it works for me, but it was definitely weird to everyone else! 

Progress, New Yarn, AND Fiber Space Starts Tonight!

I haven't worked as much as I would have liked to this week on my single crochet projects, but I did get to the Hobby Lobby this week for some more yarn!

I had to get more of the brown because I ran out of that mid-pot holder and couldn't finish without it (hence not getting much done this week). It was about 20 degrees out when I bought these, but I was still feeling in springtime mood, so I went with the green, and I think those would make nice St. Patrick's Day projects. 

But I almost have my third pot holder finished: 

I just need to stitch up the back of that and then this one will be finished. You can probably tell where I ran out of yarn toward the center of the back. 

The big news is that Fiber Space starts tonight! My husband and kids keep asking me where I'm going again tonight and tomorrow and I really don't want to answer this question because I know they will make fun of me (and may not be excited that I am missing a swim meet to go), but I am pretty excited. My goals for this weekend are to learn to do the other crochet stitches: double, half double, and maybe treble. I just googled and saw that there are 20 "basic" crochet stitches! I could work on this for the rest of my life and not learn them all!

What are your weekend goals for your project?

I'll Keep This Short...

...but here's my second hot pad!

I kind of want to keep this one since it matches my countertops so well!

There's plenty more of this yarn, though, so let me know if you like these colors! I can (and will) make more!

Edited to add: There is NOT plenty more of this yarn, sadly. I started on my second one of these with this yarn and got about three-fourths of the way done and ran out! I will have to pick some more up next time I am near Hobby Lobby!