Crocheted Hats and Shawls

Well, I did get the hats and scarves finished on time...even with a little time left over. BUT...I had to get really sick to do it! I guess those powers that are bigger than me...bigger than all of us, knew I wouldn't be able to get them done on time while working full time and holding down a doctor's appointment a week and a class a week, so scheduled in some time off for me. I came down with some kind of bronchial virus thingy. Doctor told me I could not go to work until my next Monday...which gave me a full seven days with not enough energy to do anything but read and crochet. How very convenient!!!

So here are the two hats and scarves...



This is my daughter "O.D." modeling the hats and scarves. She was kind of excited that I wanted to take pictures of her wearing them to show you all...she's TWENTY NINE tomorrow...sniff, sniff!
The first set was a bugger to crochet. The yarn is beautiful, soft, but "curly". So getting the hook in the right space was, shall we say...challenging? I did it first, somehow knowing that it was going to be a little harder. The pattern itself became a challenge. I had to start over several times. The scarf was made up in my head from the pattern in the hat, so they would match.
The second was a breeze. Still super soft yarn, but not curly this time. The flowers were fun to make. We bought kind of deco patterned antique brass buttons to go in the center of the flowers. I also made up the scarf pattern from the pattern of the hat.
I am excited to find out how much they fetch at auction for my daughter's friend. I am making a hat and scarf set for her, to wear when her chemo treatments start making her hair fall out. I want to keep her warm and give her a little something soft to hang on to when times seem harsh.
In other news...I bought myself a Kindle with some of my income tax return. I L.O.V.E. That thing! I have purchased four books. They cost me $1.00! Two were free, one was $.99 and another was $.01! I have read one and a half of the books so far...thanks to having all that time off. There are a few things I would change on it...if I were smart enough to do something like that. I would suggest to the makers of this great little instrument...make the screen in color and get the voice that reads to me less robotic. I am sure someone in that company is working on those very things anyway. When they come out with it I will upgrade. Now I can rehome all my books (The ones my daughter hasn't already gotten rid of behind my back) I can fit 1500 books on my Kindle...I think that will keep me busy for a few years!
Speaking of Tsunami's.We had a two to three foot tsunami here today. It was bigger in Hawaii from what I hear. We all got to test our emergency systems that were set up after the horrible tsunami a few years back. (I have forgotten where it was) Our systems work well. I am happy about that. Now I just hope we never have to go through a bad tsunami. I also hope no one else has to suffer a devastating enough earthquake to start a bad tsunami ever again. This has been a bad year for quakes already!
Enough of my rambling. Have a great rest of the weekend!

A Nice (much needed) Day Out

So, last week, my oldest daughter asked me if I would crochet a few hats and scarves for a benefit auction. I am never one to turn down an opportunity like that. I love to give, I love to help out, but I am not one to go out and look for something to give or donate. If it falls in my lap I will take it on. (Is that wrong? Or am I being sensible in a weird sort of way?)
I am making two fairly simple hats and matching scarves to be auctioned. Then I will make a third hat and scarf more special. OD has a friend with breast cancer. All the people who know her are doing a benefit dinner and auction. Everyone is donating something to auction off. Since I can make these hats and scarves this will be my contribution. The hat and scarf that I am making special will be for her friend, so that when she has her chemo therapy, she has a nice hat and scarf to keep her warm after her hair starts to go.
OD is buying the yarns that I will use. She got her check so we went to the city (San Francisco) today to her bank. Then she took me out for breakfast at a small restaurant at the beach. I had a Veggie Bagel and coffee, she has a Pesto bagel and coffee. We had a great conversation. I met a friend of hers that she had met at this restaurant a few years ago. He is a local man who hangs out at the restaurant. His speech was slow, but he had a great smile and welcomed me to his home town. OD explained to me later that he had an accident when he was three ears old and had brain damage. He told me a little about his job and a lot about the home he lives in with his parents. It has a mural painted on the outside so that it looks like a jungle. I have often seen the home on my trips down that road. Now I know who lives there.
We had done a little research earlier this morning to see about some yarn shops in the city, so we could go check out the yarns there. We did end up getting the yarn for her friend's hat in the city and I got some Egyptian Cotton thread to experiment with making a grocery bag type project. But we just couldn't find the right colors or sizes of yarns we wanted for the other two sets of hats/scarves. We ended up going to my favorite store...where else? Joanns. We found exactly what we wanted there at a reasonable price. (The yarn we bought in the city was $25 for one set, what we got at Joanns was about half that for two sets!)
We were going to check out the other two stores we found out about in the city, but I started my anxiety crap half way through browsing the first store and we decided not to spend any more time there. On the way back to MY store I relaxed some and being in Joanns is familiar, so I was fine after that.
I did have a fun time. We had some good conversations and I met Peter (who put my life in prospective). I like the city a little, and I haven't been there except for a few minutes in the last 6 - 9 months. It was nice spending a little more time there today. It helped me out, because I am supposed to be planning fun time for myself. I think I could consider this fun time.
The weather cooperated too. Cloudy, but no rain...which now has started. I just heard the dripping outside. At least it waited til we got home and warmed up the house!
I'll post pictures as I get the hats and scarves done.

Not Just Sitting Idly By

In all the rucus and such that has been going on in my house, I have been busy craftwise. Actually the craft thing has been helping me get past the rucus. I have been working intently on an afghan that I had started about a year ago for my sister's birthday that is in May. I was planning on giving it to her LAST May. She will get it this May. It's darned near complete.


The other crafty was something I picked up again after (notice slightly red face) twenty years! It was a quilt top I had made with my silly little self taught skills and materials I had on hand. It's not a beauty by all means, but I was thinking if nothing else, it'll keep toes warm while watching movies on the couch. (If it doesn't distract the movie watcher from the movie!) I have been doing a little something with the quilt for the last year or so, but never really had the motivation to "just do it". I got my small state income tax refund and thought how better to fix the economy than by spending this little stipend on myself? I ordered a Q-Snap quilting frame which arrived on my door step yesterday. I had a 50% off coupon from Joann Fabrics and so saved $50! I like that. It was easy to throw together and easy to set my quilt up on. Talk about motivation! Now all I have to do is sit down and quilt it! Who knows? Next January I might be warming my cold feet under this quilt! I'll probably do some experimental hand quilting with this, why not have a little fun with it?