365 Days Handmade

Making life a better place, one day at a time

Tag Archives: crochet


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Day 77/365: The Beginning of Another Stash-Busting Project

So I looked at all the yarn in the stash and pulled out these three little orphan balls that looked like they could go together, somewhat.  Naturally they didn’t have their labels anymore (why? why didn’t I save the labels and stick them in the middle of the ball, like thinking people do?), but it was pretty clear that they were three different brands and dye lots.  I figured they had the potential to be transformed into something cute.

3.18.2015

I started with the multi-colored pastel ball and crocheted a few row of shells.  Then it became pretty clear to me that I would end up with another small rectangle, like my most recent pink and yellow baby blankie.  I decided I wanted to make something different this time, where I would start the piece at the center and work my way out.  I could either crochet essentially what would be a round lace doily or a large granny square.  I went with the granny square.

3.18.2015B

Here is my little Luchador mascot, who you will recognize from my blog header.  We’re both trying to decide if we like how this granny square project is turning out.


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Day 76/365: Crocheted Baby Blankie of Pink and Yellow Shells

Here it is, the completed project:

3.17.2015AA

Ta da!

As you know, lately I’ve been on a stash-busting kick and working on crocheted blankets to give away.  Truthfully, it’s because I got bored with knitting, and crochet gives me the satisfaction of finishing a project in just a few days.  You’ll notice that I’ve been sticking to flat pieces and not things like hats or baby sweaters, which would be just as useful and good to give away to charity.  It’s because I’m being lazy and I don’t want to think about increases and decreases and shaping and counting stitches.

3.17.2015A

For this particular little afghan, I used two orphan balls of sport weight yarn from the stash.  They were made by two different companies, but were similar in color, weight, and fiber content (100% acrylic).  I’d thrown away their labels a long time ago, which is actually a good thing, because the perfectionist part of me knew that I wouldn’t have enough yarn to make an adult-sized afghan and I was tempted to go on eBay and find more skeins– which would have defeated the original purpose of using up yarn from the stash.  So I gave myself a little talk and made my peace with the fact that the finished blanket would be a small one– 17.5″ by 27″, to be precise.

3.17.2015C

Yup, there it is in all its entirety. About the size of a baby doll blankie.

I had fun making this little afghan.  The pattern was a repeating shell stitch that I found in one of my crochet books.  I’m very into the shell stitch right now.  I’ve already started a third afghan, and yes, it is another shell stitch, but who knows.  I might decide to rip it out and go with pineapple lace, instead.

3.17.2015D

 


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Day 75/365: Pink Shell Border Completed

Remember the pink and yellow baby blankie that I was crocheting?  I had run out of the pink and yellow self-striping yarn, so I’d added another yarn in a similar weight and completely different brand.  My plan was to crochet a border around the existing rectangle and hope for the best.

Here’s what it looked like after I completed a round:

3.16.2015B

Yeah, this is going to be a little baby blankie.

I kept going and had to fudge a little bit at the corners, adding extra shells to make sure that the edges didn’t bunch up or curl.

3.16.2015BBB

Those are some improvised corners.

I was able to crochet a few rounds before I ran out of yarn.

3.16.2015AA

Approximately 2.25″ wide of pink shell edging. Not bad for a small ball of scrap yarn.

I used the same shell stitch pattern for the edging as I did for the body of the afghan.  I’m pretty happy with the way the shells naturally made a scalloped edging.

The completed piece isn’t very large (17.5″ by 27″), but it was very satisfying to use up yarn from the stash and transform it into something neat and pretty.  It actually turned out to be a cute mini-afghan.  I could imagine a little girl using it as a baby doll blankie.

More photos tomorrow!


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Day 72/365: Pink Shell Border

As you know, I’m trying to use up yarn from the stash by making little afghans to give away.  And you also know (from previous photos) that I picked out a pretty yellow and pink self-striping yarn.  However, I don’t think I mentioned that I only had one small skein of that particular brand.  I knew that would give me just enough yarn for half a baby-sized blankie, and sadly, I was right.  I got to the end of the yarn today, and what I’ve crocheted so far measures 13 inches x 22.5 inches, or roughly the size of a dining table placemat.

So.  I scrounged through the stash and came up with a second ball of yarn that’s similar in weight and type (100% acrylic).  I knew it would look unbalanced if I just attached the new yarn and crocheted more rows to extend the rectangle.  It would obviously appear to be a half-and-half afghan made out of two different yarn brands with two different dye lots.  I decided to incorporate the new yarn as a border, instead.

3.13.2015

In other news, Sean and I are driving to L.A. this afternoon with plans for a full day tomorrow.  I’ll try to remember to take lots of photos, especially of the Hello Kitty exhibition (yay!  Sean came through with tickets!), if the Japanese American National Museum lets me.

 

 


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Day 71/365: Shell Stitches Close-Up

3.12.2015

Today was my Friday at work.  I’m taking tomorrow off because I’ll be driving down to Ventura, and then Sean and I will head into Los Angeles.  He’s giving a presentation at a conference on Saturday.  After that, we have plans to do a bunch of fun stuff in L.A., including eating at a couple of really good restaurants, checking out some cool Japanese shops in Little Tokyo, and going to the Japanese American National Museum to see an exhibition called Hello! Exploring the Supercute World of Hello Kitty.  (Doesn’t the name alone just make you want to see it?)  Sean is in charge of getting the tickets, and if he actually pulls it off and takes me there, he is going to win my Husband of The Year award.  He knows my love for all things kawaii.

I told my buddy the lieutenant (who was a key character in this post and this one) that I would be taking tomorrow off.

“Didn’t you just take the day off?” he asked.

I thought about it.  “You’re right,” I said.  Three weeks ago, I did take a couple of days off.  And the nice thing about having written a daily entry since January is that I can go back in the archives to see what I did on those days.  Turns out it was this and this.

“I had a seminar that time,” I said.  “And I’m going to a conference this time.  My license is up for renewal this year.  I have to earn 36 continuing education units.  Don’t worry.  I get some paid education leave.”

“I knew it,” he said.  “I shoulda stayed in school.”

 

 


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Day 70/365: Crocheted Afghan Still in Progress

3.11.2015

Every Wednesday morning, my colleagues and I meet for IDTT:  Interdisciplinary Treatment Team.  An IDTT generally consists of a psychiatrist, a couple of psychologists, a social worker, and a correctional counselor.  It’s basically a weekly committee where we review different patients’ treatment plans and meet with the inmate and discuss his treatment plan with him, including progress and goals.

Today one of the scheduled patients was a 23-year-old African American inmate with tattoos all over his face and the slouch and demeanor of a juvenile delinquent.  He was assigned to my colleague Dr. Y’s caseload, and during our meeting with him, he sat with an air of indifference toward the whole process.

Upon the conclusion of our little conference, the kid got up to leave and started heading for the door.  Dr. Y said (as he said to each and all of the inmates who came to IDTT), “Have a good day.”

The kid passed through the doorway and, to our surprise (and immense amusement), he casually tossed back, in a manner that he might reserve for wrapping up a phone call with his granny, “Love you, too.”


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Day 69/365: New Crocheted Afghan

I finished this little yellow afghan and sent it to a friend yesterday.  (And in case you were wondering what I decided, I went with no edging.)  I am still on a mission to use up yarn from my stash, so I decided to crochet another quick baby blankie to give away.

I crocheted a chain of 145 stitches and started a lacy strawberry pattern that incorporated a scalloped edging.

3.10.2015

Like so.

Then I decided that it wouldn’t do for a baby afghan.  So I ripped it all out and started a new pattern, this time with a shell stitch.  It actually turned out kind of nice, so I think I’m sticking with it.  For now.

3.10.2015B

Pretty, right?

Oh, P.S. I used my KnitPicks ballwinder to change that skein into a more attractive flat-bottomed ball.  In case you noticed the difference between the two photos.  Because I’m a little compulsive like that.


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Day 67/365: To Edge or Not to Edge?

Yes, I know.  I should have been resting the arm and shoulder when it hurt from so many hours of knitting and crocheting, but I was so close to finishing my project.  Well, actually, I was so close to running out of yarn that I figured, what the hell, I’m gonna keep on truckin’ until I finish this thing.

My primary intent in starting this particular afghan was to quickly use up yarn from the stash and turn it into something useful.  This particular yarn is Caron Simply Soft, and the name of the color is Sunshine.  I had two 7 oz. skeins that I knew would produce something the size of either a baby blanket or a small shawl.

After I ran out of yarn, I thought it looked kind of plain and needed something to fancy it up a little.  So I added a simple shell border.  But now I don’t know.  Do you think it looks better with or without the edging?

3.8.2015A

Before: Without a border. I think it looks clean and simple this way.

 

3.8.2015B

After: With a white shell border. Now it looks a little more old-fashioned, I think.

 


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Day 66/365: Not A Nothing Day

“I don’t have anything to write about for tonight’s blog post,” I told Sean.  “Today was kind of a nothing day.”

“You could write about how you got up this morning and your husband made you breakfast,” Sean said.  “And then how later on we walked down the hill and went to the Otter Rock Café and had lunch with a view of the bay, and we watched a sea otter cracking open an oyster.  And after that we walked down to the library and found a couple of good deals in the used book sale, and afterwards we went and got some really good frozen yogurt downtown.  And tonight we went out for a delicious sushi dinner.  Today wasn’t a nothing day.”

“You’re right,” I said.  “Thanks for writing tonight’s blog post for me.”

3.7.2015

And I got this much done on the afghan, along with everything else we did today.

 


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Day 65/365: Counting Down to the Time Change

Over these last few months, I’ve been staying late at work and typically leaving the prison between 5:30 to 6 PM.  Normally I have no problem being inside a prison, unlike Sean who absolutely does not enjoy the idea of being locked inside a penitentiary surrounded by electric fencing, barbed wire, and gun towers with armed guards.  But when it’s 5:30 PM in late November and outside of my office it’s like night time and I have to navigate my way through a prison yard where inmates are freely walking to the chow hall– I become acutely aware of my environment and the fact that I am a petite woman walking outnumbered among convicted felons who are potentially violent.  It is a downright creepy, nervous-making feeling.

Now that it’s March, the days have started to stretch out longer so that it’s still bright outside when I leave my office, and I’m easily spotted by the correctional officers as I make my way through the facility.  It’s also nice to get home and still have enough natural light to take a photo for the day’s blog post and show you a little bit of our view from the deck.

3.6.2015

Ahh, fresh air and the ocean. Such a contrast to the work environment.