Block #4 and My Distraction for Being a Day Late

I apologize for block #4 being a day late; I had a distraction these last couple of days. I had decided, months ago, that since there was so much fuss over The Twilight Series, that maybe I should read them and see what the fuss was about. A month ago, my Aunt gave me her copy of the first book. Unfortunately, as a very busy mom of 5 girls, it has sat on my counter this whole time.

Last week or so, I was browsing the newest patterns on Ravelry and saw a pattern for an iphone cozy. It had an open window on the front, so that you could still use your apps. In the pattern picture the iphone has its Amazon Kindle app open. That set the wheels in motion.

I do not own a Kindle or an iphone but I do have an ipod touch. I found the Amazon Kindle app in the apps store, happy that it was free because I knew I was going to be paying for the books. I downloaded the app and the first Twilight book. The app has been so much more convenient and I have been able to read through a book in about 2 days. I am now on book four.



So that’s my excuse for being behind on posting this block. Now on to the pattern!

Block 4

Ch 27

Row 1: dc in 4th ch from hook and in each ch across.

Row 2: Ch 4, turn, skip 1st dc, *dc in next dc, ch 1, skip next dc* repeat across.

Row 3: Ch 3, turn *dc in chain 1 space, dc in dc, repeat from star.

Repeat rows 2 and 3 to desired size.

Block 3 of the Three Generations Afghan

Block 3
Originally uploaded by CreationsByHand
Here is block 3 for the Three Generations Afghan.

Block 3 - Crazy Stitch

Ch 29

Row 1: 3 dc in 4th ch from hook, *skip 3 chs, sc in next ch, ch 3, 3 dc in same chain. Repeat from * across. End with sc in last ch.

Row 2: Ch 3, turn, 3 dc in sc of previous row. *sc in next ch 3 space of last row, ch 3, 3 dc in same space, prepeat from * across. End with sc in last ch 3 space.

Repeat row two.




This is what I am doing to keep the patterns together for my 10 year old daughter since I have been working ahead so that I have the block ready to post here. I'm worried that she has lost her interest :-( She is half way through block 1 and I can seem to motivate her to finish. I hope I can spark her interest again and get her back on the wagon!

Block 2 for the Three Generations Afghan

Block 2
Originally uploaded by CreationsByHand

My Mother has named this afghan the “Three Generations Afghan” because My Mother, myself and my 10 year old daughter are all working on our own afghans together, hence, three generations. I like the name and the afghan will make a nice memory for my daughter when she gets older and takes the afghan with her.

I apologize for this block being late. I originally hoped to post a new block every Saturday. I’m thinking this will probably not happen as it gets a little crazy around here with my five girls, since there is no school. I think a more realistic post day will be Monday, during nap time. So…you can start expecting every week’s block to be posted on Mondays.

Block #2

Ch 25

Row 1: *Slip st in first ch, hdc in next ch, repeat from star, ch 2, turn

Row 2: *hdc across, ch 1, turn

Repeat these two rows until block is the same size as block one.

Single crochet around the block in same color as the block was worked. Half double crochet around the block again in your joining color.

Craft for January and Afghan Block #1

For the month of January my Mom and I have decided to make paper beads from the security print inside of envelopes. We may also make some from magazine pages, scrapbook paper or other paper that strikes our fancy. When we have these done, we will post the directions. Start saving your junk mail envelopes that have a security print inside them.


We have also decided that we will start making afghan blocks to later put together for an afghan. Our plan is to do a block a week but that will depend on how fast my 10 year old daughter can keep up as she has decided to join us. I am using Michael’s new yarn called Loops and Threads Impeccable and a size H hook for all the blocks. The blocks will all be in crochet as my daughter kind of gave up on knitting when she learned that crochet is much easier for her :-)

For each block, single crochet around the edges in the same color as the block and then half double crochet around the block again in the color you will be using to join all the block, sort of like a background color.

Please note:  I do not claim to own the patterns for any blocks that will be posted here for this afghan. These patterns are relayed to me over the phone without reference to where it came from. If you own the patterns and want credit for them please contact me.

Block #1 pattern:
Worsted weight yarn
Size H hook

Abbreviations:

sc: single crochet

lsc: long single crochet (insert hook in stitch one row below your working row, pull loop up to height of work, work a single crochet)

Chain 23 or a multiple of 2+1

Row 1: sc across, ch 1, turn

Row 2: *sc in next sc, lsc in next sc, repeat from star, ch 1, turn

Repeat these two rows until your block is square.

Photo of Block #1

I am having trouble uploading photos, but you can see a picture of this block by clicking the link above.

Craft-A-Month in the New Year

A couple of weeks ago my Mother told me that we are going to do a craft a month starting in January 2010. When your mom tells you what to do, you don’t ask questions, you just do it. I’m kidding, I thought it sounded like a great idea.

I don’t get to see my mom all that much. She lives in a different town about 40-60 minutes away. That may not sound that far away to people that live in a big city where it takes you 40 minutes or longer to get anywhere but that’s a big drive for use small city dwellers! Plus she has an elderly mother with dementia that she has to care for so it makes it a bit difficult to pack up my grandma and bring her to my house.

I also do not get a lot of crafting time since I spend a better part of my day caring for my five girls. My three oldest are in school but that leaves my three and one year old at home and being much younger, they require a lot more supervision than my school aged children.

All these obstacles set aside, I’m sure that my Mother and I can spend one day a month doing some crafting. My Mother is in charge of finding our monthly craft and figuring out what supplies we need and I am in charge of providing the work space, coffee and mid-morning snack. We, together, will pool our supplies and of course, share.

We plan for most, if not all, the crafts to be low cost and/or recycling type projects. We hope to use things we already have or can find cheaply at dollar, thrift or similar stores. This is my kind of crafting, free or almost free!

I will be posting what project we will be doing a bit ahead of time so that if you would like to join us, you will be able to start gathering your supplies. After we have finished our pojects I will posting photos here. Sound like fun?? Great! Hope you can join us!

Thinking about joining us? Leave your comment or your link and let us know!

Slump Slowly Lifting

In my last post I mentioned that I was suffering from a creative/crafting slump. To refresh your memory, I talked about how I had many unfinished projects due to the fact that, unless I finish them quickly, I get bored with them. I also mentioned that despite the fact that I have over 800 projects in my Ravelry queue, nothing jumps out at me nor sparks my interest.

Well I am happy to say that my slump is lifting, albeit slowly. I still have a lot of unfinished projects lying around the house. I will more than likely have to frog those and reuse the yarn for something else. Here is what I have accomplished yesterday and in the previous week or two.

Yesterday I set a goal for myself. If you know me personally, then you know that I never set goals or if I do, I don’t meet them or I give up on them. Sadly, I am a bit of quitter, I’m working on that. Yesterday I set a goal and actually met that goal! Yeah! Go Me!

Remember in my last post how I talked about the hats that my Mother and I crocheted and knitted to donate to a children’s home for abused kids? I also told you how I had a bunch of them done but could not bring myself to weave in all the ends. That was my goal for yesterday.

I remembered that my children’s school is having a hat and mitten drive for needy children in our community. I figured that with my kids being able to take the hats to their school then I had a better chance of the hats getting done and donated. I also realize that the children’s shelter that I originally planned to donate to gets LOTS of donation already, so I know they will not be suffering from me changing my mind on where to donate.

The goal was not only to weave in all those ends, but to also get it done while sitting in the parent pickup line at my children’s school. That way, when my girls got into the car, I could send one child back in to the school to put the hats in the office under the “hat and mitten tree.”

I got to the school early. It was chilly yesterday and I figured more parents would be picking up their walkers instead of letting them suffer in the cold. That’s why I was there. I parked in the pickup line, turned on the DVD player for my three and one year old, and then got out my darning needle, scissors and hats. I was able to finish up all eleven hats and my ten year old took them into the office.


The school pickup line.


The finished hats.

My other finished projects include some crocheted dishcloths that I plan to put into some baskets that I am putting together for some of my family members as Christmas gifts. My Mother will NOT be getting any of those. She is a master crocheter and I do NOT want her scrutinizing my work, LOL.

The pattern is called Grit Stitch Washcloth and it comes from the Sandy Shore Washcloth Set of patterns on Lion Brand’s website. Out of the four cloths in the pattern set, the grit stitch is the one I liked the best. I actually have finished two of them but I was not happy with the first one. So, I have one “gift-able” cloth done and I am currently working on another one.

Here is the link to the pattern: Sandy Shore Washcloth Set


Grit Stitch Cloth

I am happy to have gotten some things done and to have been able to help some needy children keep their heads warm this winter season. Have you gotten some Christmas or charity knitting/crocheting done? Post your links below and let us know!

Crafting Slump :-(

I've been in a crafting slump for quite a while now. For the life of me I do not know why. I have over 730 queued patterns on my ravelry account but nothing jumps out at me and says, "MAKE ME!" I check Ravelry's new patterns daily and queue lots of things but yet I don't have the urge to make any. I just think, "that's really cute" and then I hit the "add to queue" button.

I have so many unfinished projects laying around everywhere that I'm not even sure WHAT projects I have in hibernation. I just know I have bags and bags all over the house with some long forgotten project in it. I'll get a bug to craft something, get all excited, cast on, work on it for a few days and then the bug dies and I put it aside and don't pick it up for a while, or ever again. I seem to get bored with it pretty fast.

I recently made a bunch of hats for a children's charity but I can't bring myself to even weave in the ends and get them delivered despite the fact that those kids are going to be needing hats soon. Even worse, I talked my mom into making hats to donate too and her hats are just sitting in my studio waiting to be delivered. At least hers are done and will probably have a better chance at making their way onto the kids heads since I'm always driving my kids to school and it will be easy to drop them off while I'm already driving around town.

Now that my youngest is almost 18 months old, I can steal a little crafting time here and there, mostly yarn crafting (knitting and crocheting). I still can't get back to any kind of sewing. That takes a little more concentration and time and my studio is not exactly the safest place for my one and three year old to be with needles, scissors and other sharp items.  I don't really get any time to myself to work on these projects either, so that makes it even harder to be creative.  There is always something going on in a house of five kids to disctract from a project in hand.

Most of the projects I've done lately have been small and crochet. I can crochet faster than I knit and if it's a small project, I can get it done in a day or two. If it doesn't get done in a couple of days it gets added to the hibernation pile only to never awaken again.  Sometimes it gets frogged to be used for another project or a half done project gets trashed becuase the other half never got done.

I need some motivation! Do you have any tips for dealing with a creative slump? Leave your comments and let us know.