Front Burner

First of all, welcome to all of the new followers of my blog!  I have a fun time reading everyone's blogs and am thrilled that you like to read mine as well.  

For some reason I have been on a roll lately with getting my behind in gear and finishing things I have started.  In my Back Burner post I mentioned how I had crocheted all of these squares and rectangles for a charity but the charity would no longer be accepting these items.  And since things have been kinda hectic lately I didn't know when I would have the time to make use of these items.  Luckily, over the course of two days I found the time to whip stitch the pieces together and make a small afghan. I then single crocheted around the outside and then did a reverse single crochet after that. I don't know why I had avoided learning how to do the reverse single crochet stitch, it is much easier than I thought.

Now the only things that can be considered on the back burner about this project are it needs to be blocked and eventually mailed to a charity.  But on the bright side, at least it is all in one piece now, and not arranged piece by piece on my spare bed.

Corner to Corner Afghan- Finished

I finished the Corner-to-Corner afghan last night! I'm pretty pleased because if you read my previous post you will notice I just started the afghan this week.

 I didn't follow the pattern exactly more like just used the method of crocheting diagonally.  Had I followed the pattern normally, I would not have run into the problem of having an uneven numbered row.  Once I got to the afghan size I wanted and was ready to start decreasing, I did the math in my head and realized that my afghan would end up with an uneven row at the end.  I had been up until that point crocheting two rows of each color at a time.  So I decided I would rather have the odd row come in the middle rather than the end of the blanket.  So I did 2 rows of black, increasing each row.  Then I did one row of black, but this time decreasing.  I then continued on with my usual pattern of crocheting 2 rows at a time with each color.  When I was about 3/4 of the way done with afghan I decided that the odd numbered black stripe looked more like a mistake than something that was intentionally done.  If I was striving for perfection I would have gone back and made the black stripe in the middle, 5 rows instead of 3 so it would stand out more and not look like a mistake.  But I was too lazy to go back and fix it so there you have it.  I'll probably end up donating this to Bridge and Beyond eventually.  Either the new owner won't even notice or I guess they will be left wondering if the crocheter messed up.  Oh well.  Overall, I'm happy with how it turned out and even happier that it didn't take me very long to complete it.

Completed Scrap Afghan

I am finally done putting together my Scrap Afghan.  Not 100% satisfied with the end result but I am pleased for branching out and doing something different.   Some of the squares bunched up a bit so it has a puffy kind of look to it and the border is slightly wonky looking.  Maybe someone with more crochet experience could weigh in with why this happened.  I'm guessing my tension wasn't even throughout and plus all the different yarns I used probably didn't help.  I still need to wash it and I'll try blocking it, which is something new to me.  I always thought you block with cotton yarn but I read all the time people do it with acrylic afghans so I will give it a shot.  Any tips or suggestions?

While my Scrap Afghan may not be perfect, I sure hope when I donate this to a charity (most likely Bridge and Beyond ) that the effort I put into this blanket is appreciated.  Even with the imperfections I still think it's a neat looking blanket. 

And on a final note, sometimes it's hard not to be frustrated when you are going through a rough patch.  In the last month, the military messed up our orders so we will probably not be making it home for Christmas this year.  It was something I was looking forward to since I haven't been in the States to celebrate since 2008.  I normally understand and accept that your plans can change at the drop of a hat with the military but this was the one thing I was really looking forward to and now it most likely won't happen due to a mistake by someone else.  But at the end of the day if this and having to shell out money to get a new computer and fix our car are my biggest problems, then life is pretty good. 

Back burner

The last few months I've been making 5 inch and 10 inch squares and 5 x 10 inch and 5 x 15 inch rectangles.  I was going to donate them to a charity that provides afghans to a military hospital.  However, the need for blankets isn't as strong ( Yay!  That's a good thing!)  as it has been in the past few years so it looks like this particular charity group is winding down.  So,  it looks like I have a couple of options.  I can  stitch up this blanket and send the completed afghan to Bridge and Beyond.  Or I can continue looking for some type of military charity that would accept completed afghans.  Ideally, I would love to donate to a military hospital in my area but with us moving to Hawaii I'm guessing warm afghans aren't a necessity. Either way I have a few other projects that need my attention right now this will be put on the back burner.

100 Hats

If I counted correctly, here are 33 hats which is the exact amount needed to complete my goal of 100 hats donated to charity this year.  Now I just need to find a box to send them to Bridge and Beyond.  I'm glad I was able to finish the hats because life is just going to get busier and busier until the end of the year.

So that's one crochet goal completed.  Next I am going to start putting together my scrap afghan.  That's right, I do believe I have enough squares to complete a child- sized afghan.  This should be interesting putting together all theses squares.  Usually I just whip stitch together squares but I'm going to try a different technique this time.

Busy, Busy Summer

So, I have been sitting here at the computer trying to come up with something to talk about on this blog post.  You would think it would be easy considering it's been two months since my last post.  I guess in some ways I have too much to discuss since it has been a pretty busy and hectic summer.

My mother-in-law came to visit for about 3 weeks.  We had a great time going to Switzerland, Czech Republic, and quite a few places in Germany.  The day she left my parents arrived and stayed for 2 weeks.  We went to Berlin and Salzburg and of course some nearby towns in Germany.  It was absolutely wonderful to spend time with our family members but 5 weeks of non-stop visitors was a little much.  And of course the day I take my parents to the airport I have to immediately get all my medical records in order so my husband can get his official orders to Hawaii.  All I have to say about the quality of medical care here on our base is I'm not a big fan of having the government being in charge.  Very disappointing to say the least although not at all surprising.

Anyway,  here is a list of goals I have set for myself this fall:

1)  make the Kit Kat Purse for my friend's daughter.

2)  count up how many hats I have ready to send to Bridge and Beyond and make how ever many I need to reach my goal of 100 hats sent this year.  I think the last time I counted I only had about 7 more to make.

3)  Put my vacation photos on Facebook and send my Flat Stanley adventures to Sandy so she can post them on her blog.

4)  Continue working on my next big secret crochet project.  Stay tuned!  I have a feeling I will be talking about it in my next blog post.

5) Start putting together my Scrap Afghan.  


Thank you everyone that continued to post comments on my blog!  Sorry I have been absent for so long and haven't gotten a chance to respond.

Scrap Afghan Part 3

With all the crocheting I've been doing I've managed to gain more squares for the scrap afghan I want to make.  Not really sure how many more squares I need before I can start putting it together.  Maybe 100?  Since I want this to truly be an afghan of scrap squares, I have to finish projects and then use the leftover yarn.  I have more than enough yarn in different colors to finish making squares right now but I kinda feel like that would be cheating.  So hopefully in the next few months I can get some more hats done for Bridge and Beyond and have enough leftover yarn to finally start joining the squares.

2012 Bridge and Beyond Donation #4

If I counted correctly here are 37 hats that I will be boxing up and and shipping to Bridge and Beyond. I might be able to add a few more hats to make it an even 40.  If I've been counting correctly between the hats that I have shipped already, this box, and the others I have that will go in the next shipment, I only have about 20 hats left to make in order to reach my goal of 100 hats donated.  I would like to have my goal completed by the fall.  In July we will have visitors the entire month,  the end of September and beginning of October we will have visitors and will also be taking a trip by ourselves and probably in November the movers will be here to pack up our stuff to send to Hawaii.  So that's why I have been on such a mad pace to finish my goal.

Hats and Squares

Finished off some more hats last week.  These will all be donated to Bridge and Beyond 

And I made a few more squares for my scrap afghan.  I appreciate everyone leaving me comments and suggestions about my crochet projects.  I like blogging anyway but it's even more fun when you see that other people are interested in your blog.  Also, a big thank you to everyone that is a follower on my blog.

May Charity CAL

Here's what I've been working on for the May Charity CAL over at Crochetville.  These hats will eventually be donated to Bridge and Beyond.  I'm getting closer to my goal of 100 hats donated this year.  Even though I have made 3 yarn purchases at Joanns this year, I still don't think I will have enough yarn to finish my goal unless I place another order.  I almost have another box to ship off to Bridge and Beyond and after I count all those hats I'll have a better idea of how many hats I still need to make.  So far I've been able to make 4 hats out of each Caron One Pounder skein.  .

Favorite Hat Pattern

I've been working on hats for the Bridge and Beyond this past week.  These 11 hats are a step in the right direction of reaching my goal of 100 hats donated this year.  I've been using the Total Fpdc Hat pattern lately because it makes a pretty thick and warm hat.  All of these hats were used with the Caron One Pounder yarn that I received in my Joanns order.

2012 Bridge and Beyond Donation #3

I packed up a box yesterday of items that I am sending to Bridge and Beyond.

33 washcloths all done with just a simple half double crochet stitch.

Hard to tell from the photo but here are 9 hats and 7 scarves.

And finally,  I was able to fit 2 more hats into the box.  Hopefully, I will have a chance to ship it off tomorrow.  I've updated my 2012 donation totals on the right side of the blog.  I'm hoping little by little I will be able to reach my goal of 100 hats this year.

Good things come to those that wait

My yarn order from Joanns finally arrived.  They had a sale on One Pounders for $6.99 each.  I have to say I miss the days when I could go to Michaels and use a 40 or 50% off coupon and get one for under $5.  However, since this yarn is regularly $8.99, I can't complain too much.  I ordered 2 skeins of Kelly Green, and 1 skein each of Cape Cod Blue, Deep Violet, Espresso, Nutmeg, and Ocean.  I will be using these skeins to make hats and maybe a few scarfs for the Bridge and Beyond.  I still am hoping I can reach my goal of 100 hats donated this year. 

My yarn is almost here!

I checked the status of my package from JoAnns yesterday and it looks like it might arrive this week.  I took for granted being able to go to Michael's or Hobby Lobby whenever I wanted before I moved to Germany.  Oddly enough there was a JoAnns in my hometown also but I never shopped there.  Other than occasional purchases of cotton yarn from some local German stores, I've depended on Joanns online for all my yarn purchases  I only wish that they were more like Amazon where my packages usually get here within a week.  Waiting around for a month or two is slightly ridiculous.

Here are some potholders I have been working on this past week.  They were both made with Bernat Handicrafter yarn.

And here are some washcloths I made with the same yarn that will be donated to Bridge and Beyond