Using Up Before Buying New

I like to use up yarn by making blankets based on the "pattern" by Warm-Up America.  By doing this, I can use whatever colors I have on hand and end up with a warm blanket to give away...eventually.  However, I have a tendency to want to learn something new from time to time.

Currently I have a couple of skeins of cotton yarn that I want to use.  That's when I found this pattern for a round coaster:  Since I cannot read a pattern for anything, I was thrilled that there are tutorials online to make it:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xlrr2EG-TzM and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PALSsljrEo

I didn't have multiple colors of yarn, so I decided to just use the variegated yarn and not do two different colors.  This is the first one:

It's definitely not perfect, but I'm excited to be able to finally crochet a circle!!  :)

On a different subject, I finished my other daughters infinity scarf...also my first: 

Happy Crocheting!

Be Still My Heart...

Based on this idea, I created a little heart wreath to add to my meager Valentine decoration collection:  http://fiberflux.blogspot.com/2012/01/tinyone-round-hearts-by-jennifer.html

 I believe the original instructions were to use old cardboard (like a cereal box) as the backing.  I decided to rethink that for mine, and as I was looking around for options, I found a round plastic canvas in some of the craft supplies I was getting rid of.  At first, I thought I'd cover the whole thing with hearts, but then I decided to cut out the center so it would be a wreath.

I decided to use some of the buttons out of my sewing box and added them with the hearts to the circle.  However, I had not covered the whole circle in yarn and little bits of the plastic were peaking through.  That's when I stopped at two hearts and added the pink yarn to the whole of the base.

I finished adding hearts with buttons and then added the ribbon.

This project cost me nothing!  That's what I loved the most about it.

Yarn, Yarn, Everywhere...

 

For the past few weeks, I have busily worked on a few crochet projects that I thought I'd share.

This first one is my first baby blanket, which was made for our new nephew who should be joining us soon!

This is a basic scarf I made at my daughter's request.  The variation in it from what I normally would make is that I crocheted the length of the scarf instead of the width and made my rows from there.

These two pictures are miscellaneous scarves I made.  The top two are wider, shorter scarves, and the bottom two are made like the one I made for my daughter.














My current endeavor is an infinity scarf.  Both of my daughters want one, so I'm trying my hand at them.  I did also learn how to crochet tiny hearts with leftover yarn.  I'm so proud!  :)  I cannot read a pattern and have limited crochet ability at this time, so YouTube is my friend!

A Fresh Start

Today is January 1, 2013, and I feel that I should have some profound words to share...a list of goals for the new year, encouraging words about what the new year may hold, something.  However, for as long as I can remember, January 1 has been a day that leaves me feeling melancholy.

Nothing tragic has happened in my life during this time period, yet I have memories from middle school and high school of feeling very down on this day.  In more recent years, this time of year has left my husband and me with more stress than sometimes we have felt we could bear.  It seems that the end of the year has brought out the worst in people in our lives for some reason, and we suffered the effects.

But, alas, I have vowed not to focus on any of that today.  Today has, in fact, been just an ordinary day:  laundry, meal fixing, bill paying.  I do like the feeling of a clean slate.  I enjoy a blank calendar, because that just doesn't last long!  And I enjoy a day to be lazy, which January 1 usually is.

So while I have actually set a few goals (not resolutions -- I break those!), I'm stepping into 2013 with no expectations.

May you have a better 2013 than 2012!