Too Much Yarn

The Project Linus people, and my own mother, will tell you that there is no such thing as too much yarn. 'Cause we're going to use it all, right?

Just like I am going to read all of these books "sometime".

Yarn is overflowing from its designated storage area in my house.  I have officially implemented a double-discount purchasing rule - I will only buy yarn when it is on sale and I have some other discount on top of that.  My first "scrap yarn" blanket has become a "scrap and clearance yarn" blanket.  It is going to be much prettier, anyway.

However, since I've been buying all of this yarn I have spent rather less money in other places.  Such as:

1. I have not purchased a single handbag in all of 2011.
2. I quit buying DVDs (although I really want to pick up True Blood Season 3 right now).
3. I haven't been in a bookstore in over three weeks.
4. I even blew off the last book sale at the Arlington Heights Library (although I did go to the Borders clearances a non-zero number of times, so this one probably doesn't count).
5. I've stopped the random toy shopping for the nieces and nephew.  They have enough stuff.

Thank you for indulging my self-rationalization.  Perhaps I can return to the daily puppycast tomorrow.

Blanket Two

I just finished the second blanket for Project Linus.  For my "records":

Caron Soft Yarn - Lt. Country Blue, Country Blue, Dk Country Blue

(My mother says it reminded her of the Dallas Cowboys.)  Project Linus makes a point that they always need blankets for older kids, so this was pretty large.  They also ask for neutral colors, which I decided just means No Pink.  Oh, darn.

I decided to work in strips, so that each piece would be portable until I put it together at the end.  I used a much smaller hook than I normally do, and while it worked fine for the yarn, it took forever and snagged more often than made me happy.  I don't think I will do that again.

Twelve strips crocheted together, and then I did two finishing rows around each end.  Being all careful not to make rounded corners, because my mother doesn't like that (rolls eyes).

This took me from just before Christmas until right now.  That's too long, I think.

The big, painful thing that I learned is that it doesn't matter what the label says, the skeins are not the same.  I ended up having to add rows to each piece (meaning all but one) at the end to make them come out even.

However, I also learned that I can make stuff up and it turns out ok.  Even when I only know how to do one stitch.  And I am nearly through my second audio book, too.

Putt's Pet Portraits

My mom's friend Miss Gayle is a semi-professional artist specializing in pets.  She just launched a website

http://puttspetportraits.weebly.com/

so I thought I would give her a Shout Out.  This is the piece she did several years ago of my Late Great Dog Dallas:

It is particularly precious to me because Dallas died far too young and I don't have many pictures of her at all.  It is painted on a wooden plaque from a digital picture that my mother, Kay, took and e-mailed to her.

Side Note:  Kay wants you to know that you will not find this work featured on the web site because it was Miss Gayle's First Commissioned Portrait.  Christmas of 2004, I believe it was.  As though I should put it in a vault to sell when she hits the Big Time.

As if I would ever sell a portrait of my dog!

I think the better point there is that if you think this is good, you know that six years later her work is even better.  Now if only Kiwi the Grey would sit still for five seconds...

The First Blanket

I finished my first blanket for Project Linus.  No - I am not a crocheting prodigy.  I have had the thing mostly done in a cubby since before Ainslie was born.  I had only three skeins of yarn to go.

I only do one stitch and I only used one color of yarn, so it was ridiculously simple.  But it was large enough and the color was such that it will be good for an older kid, which seems to be what they need.  (Note:  Toys for Tots has the same problem.  They receive way more donations for toddlers than they do for the older kids.)  So I am making the older kids my mission.  Anyway here it is:

For my own notes - the color was Garnet and the yarn was TLC Amore, which I can't seem to find at Michael's or Joann anymore.  Too bad, because it was soft, had an interesting texture, wasn't too stringy, but just enough to hide my newbie mistakes.

I left it at a local drop off point this morning, which was a big mistake because I figured that as long as I was out, I might as well hit the sales.

Bad idea.

Anyway, for the next project, I am refusing to learn a new stitch.  However, when I was a kid, my mother made a blanket by crocheting long strips of different colors and then stitching them together.  I always liked that and I think I can pull it off.  It is also convenient because I can have more than one going at the same time, so I don't have to run it up and down the stairs. 

I started watching a new course on Academic Earth, so that I am not tuning in to garbage on TV while working on this stuff.  And of course, there is always some sporting event to watch.  This might get me through the winter.

The Boxing Day Haul

Because of various plans and in-laws and other conflicts, my family gathers for The Gift Exchange each year at my house on Boxing Day.  We order pizza.  Some highlights:

1. My niece, Ainslie, aged two, received a small etch-a-sketch thingy in her stocking.  She started playing with it and didn't want anything else.  I tried to give her a great big box to open and she said, "No thank you."
2. My nephew, Alex is nearly six and he opens every gift like it is the best thing ever.  "They're Pajamas!  With Mario on them!  And not just Mario!  Mario Kart!" 
3. My mother won the gift-giving prize this year.  She commissioned (read as: got an artist friend to practice) mini-portraits of the three kids for my brother and sister-in-law.  They made Becky cry.
4. The handmade gifts were for our friend Janis, who actively volunteers with her church and a homeless shelter in her neighborhood.  We filled a big box of hats and gloves and scarves for her to contribute to her group.  We made the scarves and picked up the other things at random stores throughout the holiday shopping season.  It looked something like this:

And then I received the best gift of all - the Bears won.  And because I am finished with the furious scarf-making project, I am working on blankets for Project Linus.

I am on vacation this week and have no plans for anything in particular.  So I will finish 50 Book Challenge, make blankets, watch movies and Academic Earth.  And take naps.

That's a good holiday.

Spiderman Fleece

I didn't realize my nephew, Alex, was into Spiderman until he chose it for his costume this past Halloween.  When I saw this "No Sew Fleece Throw" kit at Michael's, I decided that I could have it finished in time for his birthday.  In February.

I started it a few minutes before kickoff.  The Bears were doing great.  I finished it in the third quarter and the Vikings started scoring.  I need a new project.  Right now.

Christmas 2009: The Take

My family arrived for Boxing Day pizza and presents and check out what I got:

From my brother.  Who knew they made Star Wars sheets for a queen sized bed?  People that shop at Pottery Barn Kids.

My mother ordered me a kitchen cart for the bird room, which my brother said he would build for me during football on New Years Day.  Awesome.  And check out what else she did:

I drew this picture of a Hyacinth Macaw in 8th grade art class.  She found it in the back of a closet somewhere and had it framed for the bird room.  Obviously I did not inherit my father's talent.  She also framed this one below, of a Double Yellow Amazon, that my brother did when he took the same art class in the 8th grade.  He is rather more talented than I, but better developed his skill drawing in comic book style.

My grandfather made a donation to the rescue for me.  And Santa left Laffy Taffy and a gift card to Meatheads in my stocking.

Ahhhh.  The Loot.

Christmas Day 2009

You might be aware that I celebrate with my family on Boxing Day, the 26th, rather than on Christmas Day. For the third year in a row, this has given me the extra day to inish whatever Christmas crafty-gift I hadn't yet completed. This rug, for my niece Ainslie, is my official reason for not finishing the 50 book challenge this year.

No, wait. Corporate Finance is the official reason. This is the last-minute excuse. The good news is that I am all caught up on back episodes of House (except for that one that the DVR didn't pick up because the World Series went into extra innings) and two more into Chuck. From last season. I was watching commercials for the Rockettes Christmas Special from last year.

I'm going to go read a book now.

The Rug

I believe I mentioned that while I was in New Orleans, I custom-ordered a rug from a weaver in the French Quarter. They are woven from your average cotton quilting fabric. Besides being interesting looking, they are: Totally. Washable. As in you could throw it in the washing machine, if your washing machine was big enough. Or you could take it outside and hose it down on the driveway.

We needed a new rug. Before visiting this store I only knew of two kinds - the old oriental rugs and the cheap ones hanging from the ceiling at Bed Bath and Beyond or wherever. So when I saw these, I was pleased. We sent over the paintchips from all of the rooms on our first floor because we weren't sure if the rug would go in the family room or the front hall. I think my mother also sent her some fabric sample from a quilt she hasn't made yet. We expected to receive the order in 12 weeks, or the end of August.

A couple of days before I moved out of the house for the great mold elimination (which I am only mostly satisfied is over), I received an e-mail from Louisiana Loom Works saying my rug had shipped. It sat in my garage for a week. I wasn't home an hour before I tore open the box. My poor mother was still at the hotel with the dog. And the cat. So I sent her a picture:

The fabric is espresso brown, rather like our family room couch. It is woven together with brick red, the color of the kitchen walls, sage green, the color of the bird room, camel-beige, the color of our family room walls and black. This is how it looks in the front hall:

My mother thinks it makes our dark hall too dark. Her damn fault for insisting on those teeny windows in the front doors. Wherever it lands, we are very happy with the purchase.

At the Refuge - The Mural

The construction is finally done at the Refuge, and while our director has been on vacation, Megan did this for our entryway:



My mother wants one for our kitchen. But I want a portrait of Kiwi the Grey and she wants a landscape and who can afford a mural in the kitchen, anyway?

No, this was not her real Christmas Gift.

This, Ladies and Gentlemen, is what I made my mother for Christmas. Decorative felt thingy that goes over a chair.

Why did my mother get this disgustingly cutesy thingy? Because I actually managed to put it together without any assistance from her. First time ever.

And she was surprised.

During the Bears Game

Before the Game started, I made myself a sandwich and steamed some frozen vegetables for Daisy. Kiwi never eats her vegetables. So what happened? Daisy took a chunk of my sandwich and flew away. Kiwi went to check out the vegetables. Shadow just didn't know what to do:

Then. Kiwi decided she likes carrots. And green beans.

And Daisy took a bath in her water dish:

And because I was having a hard time looking at the screen and not having a heart attack, I finished these:

And then the Bears won.

Baby Blanket

So one day my sister in law Becky - who is expecting a baby girl in December - tells me that she needs baby blankets. No one will think she needs baby blankets because she has already had a baby. But she does.

I point out that she is having the first girl in the family since me (or her on her side of the family), and she will be up to her butt in baby blankets any day now.

"Maybe," Becky said. "But they will all be pink."

So true.

I am not a crafty person. Wish I was. But I do require something to do with my hands during the Bears games or I will get so loud the neighbors will call the police. I can crochet, but I only do one stitch and it isn't any good. Finished it today during the third quarter:



You can see very clearly that it is uneven. And I just noticed that you can tell where one skein ends and the next one starts. I seem to remember my mother once saying something about dye lots. But at least it isn't pink. It is really too heavy to be a crib blanket. I figure it will be her Rolling on the Floor blanket. Alex had one of those - a brightly colored fleece. Here are the stitches:



Now I am going back to Snoopy latch hook kits. I'm on deadline before Christmas.