Patience

 

All it took was a bit of patience. This morning, I finally managed to open up the ring that I joined in the wrong place weeks ago. It's time to make tatting part of my daily routine again!

After spending time with my tatting, Dave and I put away lots of Christmas decorations. We still have quite a bit to do, but soon our house will be back to normal.

Part of my morning routine this past week has been to crank out three gnomes. I then assemble them in the evening while Dave and I watch television. I've lost count of how many I've made since Christmas, but the numbers don't really matter to me. I'm just having fun!

I'm also enjoying cranking out ornament covers. I've been looking at ideas for embellishment online. I haven't seen anything that inspires me yet. I guess I'll just have to keep looking!

Friends

Dave and I went to visit some friends today. We truly enjoy each other's company, and we always share a delicious meal. Yes, I am stuffed!

Even though we were gone for over six hours today, I still managed to get in some pretty good crafting time. I cranked out six more ornament covers today. They're quick and easy to do, and I'll have plenty of time to embellish them before next Christmas.

One hedgehog and three gnomes were added to my stash today. I even found time to work on my latest cowl. 

Tomorrow, I really need to fix that tatted bookmark that's been lingering in my tatting basket. Once I fix my mistake, I know I'll be able to get back into my tatting groove!

Errand day

Dave and I ran errands today. His current project is building shelves in the basement to hold Christmas decorations. In addition to buying boards for the shelving, Dave also found some garland on clearance that we can use next year. Believe it or not, I did not find a single thing that I wanted to buy!

I did find time to knit some ornament covers. These will be for next Christmas. Once I finish covering the ornaments, I will embellish them. I've been looking at ideas for embellishment, and have found many things I'd like to try. 

Three gnomes a day will soon be unachievable. I have too many other projects I want to complete. However, it is nice to have a jump start on my gnome production!

I only managed to crochet one hedgehog today, and I'm okay with that. 

I still have to undo a ring on my tatted bookmark. I really need to talk myself into that!

De-clutter

I chose to spend time de-cluttering today, and it felt so good! I didn't go all out, but I did go through my Christmas tops, some Christmas decorations, and my kitchen counters. If I keep going through a little bit each day, I'll soon have my house back to normal, or even better than it was! 

I managed to make two more fidget hedgehogs today, and I finished a cowl that I started about a month ago. 

My stash of gnomes has grown by three. I wonder if I'll ever get tired of making them?

No tatting today

I really meant to do some tatting. I have a bookmark that is almost finished, but I have a ring to un-tat, and I just wasn't in the mood to do that today.

I did, however, manage to finish three gnomes and two hedgehogs. I also baked a loaf of bread, made a pot of butternut squash soup, and did some cleaning. Wow! I'm impressed with what I did accomplish!

Happy New Year!

I have plans for the new year, plans to use up as much of my yarn stash as possible!

I purchased shatterproof ornaments from Hobby Lobby after Christmas. I love clearance prices! It doesn't take long to crank out a cover on my Addi 22 pin circular knitting machine. 

There is still a demand for fidget hedgehogs. There are yarns that won't got through my machine, and I have quite a few odds and ends that will only work with small projects. These little cuties fit the bill!

I'm still enjoying making gnomes. These will be set aside for next year. I think I might use them for a fund raiser for the school drama club next year.

Now that Christmas gift giving is over, it's time to get back to tatting. There's so much I want to do!

Slacker?

 

I guess I've been a slacker as far as blogging goes, but not with my crafting! I won't bore you with multiple pictures of gnomes. I have finished quite a few over the past few weeks. All of the 7th and 8th graders now have gnomes, and I'm working on them for the 6th graders. My plan is to give all middle school students a gnome before Thanksgiving, and I think I can accomplish that. I have 15 finished as of this afternoon, and I need 33. I just need to keep cranking!

Busy day

 

I kept myself very busy today. I found a cute Beaded Fidget Hedgehog pattern on Etsy, and I just happened to have everything I needed close at hand. I made the blue one first. I miscounted the rows for the eye placement. I think the purple one looks much better. I chose to use yarn for the eyes instead of safety eyes. I pulled the pony beads out of a tin without looking. Maybe I'll choose colors for the next one.

I finished another strip for my Mix & Match afghan. The pattern is extended double crochet. I have enough strips to make an afghan, but they're mostly blue. I'll keep making strips with the different patterns and choose how to put them together later.

Today was a three gnome day. I need to make three more, and then I'll pass them out to the 8th graders. I plan on finishing gnomes for the 7th graders by Thanksgiving and the 6th graders by Christmas. I love giving away gnomes!

I finished the first front panel for my Harvest Cardigan. I think I'll finish the other front panel and the sleeves before tackling the changes to the back panel. All in all, I had a fun filled Sunday!

Nothin' but gnomes!

 

I've been working exclusively on gnomes for the past week. Some of the 8th grade girls have been making pompoms for me with the hope that I would use them on gnomes. This picture is of the 14 gnomes I made to give to 8th graders. After taking the photo, I made four more. Now, all of the 8th graders taking art this semester have a gnome. Next up, I will make gnomes for the other half of the 8th grade who are in STEM class this semester.

I forgot to take a picture of the gnomes I made for the AP Euro kids, but six of them were delivered yesterday as well.

What's next? I need to finish one more scarf for my group of 7th grade girls. After that, I'll be back to cranking out gnomes for the 7th and 6th graders. With all of these gnomes, one would think that my yarn stash is dwindling. It is not!

Busy week

Mom and I have had a busy week with hair cuts, doctor appointments, and having fun!

Mom took apart her Addi King knitting machine to give it a good cleaning. She's been watching videos so that she can  keep everything in order. There have been a couple of hiccups such as dropping screws, but she now has a clean machine that's ready for action!

I've been working on my doily, with only 19 pattern repeats left before I can move on to the final round. I'm not sure that the 4th of July is an achievable goal. I just realized yesterday that it's less than a week away!

Reorganizing is still a priority, and I'm finding that Mom and I need never shop for yarn again. In fact, we're avoiding our favorite stores so that we won't be tempted. In an attempt to use up our stash, I've started cranking out gnomes and twisted headbands again. If I have enough yarn for a larger project, I'm setting that aside. However, Mom and I tend to go shopping and buy individual skeins of colors that appeal to us.

Mom has also been working on reducing her stash. She's been making beanies, lap throws, and baby buntings. Because of our industrious set of mind, we now have quite a stash of beanies, lap throws, baby buntings, twisted headbands, and gnomes!

I guess it is easier to give away a finished piece than to show someone a skein of yarn!

24

 

24 gnomes are ready for adoption at the drama club's summer showcase, How to Succeed in Grant Park Drama Club Without Really Trying 2.0. Performances are Friday, Jun 21 and Saturday, June 22 at 7 p.m.

Sometimes these guys are well behaved.

Other times, they go a little bit crazy!

Variety

I needed to add a little variety to my crafting this week. I made no progress on my doily. Oh, I did plenty of tatting, but I made so many mistakes that had to be taken out. I spent more time fixing mistakes than I did tatting. Just when I thought I had everything fixed, I realized I had skipped two picots when joining to the previous round. I'm sure you've guessed it... my mistake was right where I left off after my last post.

Luckily, I have plenty of other crafts to distract me when I need a brain break! The school drama club is doing a fund raiser in two weeks, and daughter Carol asked if I would make some gnomes for their raffle. I plan on putting together three or four baskets. There will be two nights of performances, and I'd like to have two baskets for each night.

Mom and I bought a ridiculous amount of yarn for our circular knitting machines, and some of them just didn't work well in the machines. So, we have quite a bit left for hand knitting and crochet projects. This week I made a Simple Cable Beanie found on Ravelry and a Cowl from seamenschurch.org. Both were quick knits, and I'm very happy with the way they turned out. I knit them both with Big Twist in turquoise. I much prefer working with wool, but this is a pretty nice acrylic from JoAnn's.

Mom decided to try the hat pattern as well, and she made a drop stitch cowl to go with it. I went down two needle sizes for a firmer knit. Mom stuck with the original size needles, size 8, so her hat is slightly larger.

Mom then decided to knit a set using size 7 needles. This hat is a little shorter, but we think it will work well for a child.

So, despite making absolutely no progress on the tatting front this week, it was a productive week!

Keepin' busy

Daughter Alison was down to visit this weekend, and she asked if I would teach her to crochet little beanbags. After a little bit of research, I found a pattern for a crocheted chicken. The body was perfect for what Alison wanted. However, my understanding of the pattern was imperfect. I ended up with a whale tail.

I reread the directions and came up with the pyramid shape that Alison was looking for. I forgot to take pictures of all that I made. They're quick and easy. I filled some with dried beans and some with pony beads. I like the idea of the pony beads so that the beanbags can be tossed in the washing machine. The sound and the feel of the beans is more relaxing, so I'll probably make her some more of each.

Why beanbags? Alison is doing post-grad work in counseling, and she will use them as fidget toys when working with clients. 

I know the kids at school would love these, but I also know that they would be tossing them in the air or throwing them at each other. I think I'll refrain from passing these out at school!

Sunday was a cranking day. I cranked out bodies and hats for 15 gnomes. My goal is to have all 15 gnomes put together this week.

Test tatting is going well. I'm getting pretty good at those split rings, probably because there's only one on each round!

 

Success!

Yesterday morning I worked on the gnomes I cranked out on Sunday.

Working on one task at a time sure makes the whole process go more quickly.

I think I'll be taking these in to school to share with the kids who have shown interest in my gnomes.

This one I'll be keeping for myself. I think he's so cute! Of course Grinch-loving granddaughter Kara could talk me out of it.

This morning I successfully completed my first project on my new sock machine. It took me about an hour and a half to complete this tiny hat. I know I'll gain confidence and work more quickly as I become familiar with the process. For now, I'm considering this one a great success!

Sticking with cuddly

 

I've started a new tatting project, test tatting for a friend. Sorry for the tease, but I can't reveal what it is at this time!

Yesterday, I discovered Wise Owl Knits on YouTube. She set a challenge for herself of using her sock machine for 30 days and recording all that she learned. I watched the first two days, and decided I was ready to crank!

We're expecting several days of extremely cold weather next week, and I thought it would be nice to have some tube socks to keep my legs warm. So, I did some math (not my forte) and started cranking.

I learned several important lessons yesterday: 1) I do not know enough about my sock machine to just start making things without guidance. 2) A good light is a necessity. 3) Start with small projects, as suggested in the manual, so that I can experience a feeling of accomplishment. 4) Always put the weight on before cranking. 5) Keep watching videos.

My plan is to re-start today with something small!

I finished two gnomes today, and I've decided that I prefer my cuddly gnomes.

There's a place for gnomes with buttons on the bottom, but daughters are happy with theirs they way they are, and so am I. I guess I'll just have to find another use for those buttons!

Is anyone else having problems posting comments? In the last couple of weeks I've had problems replying to some comments on my blog, and I haven't been able to comment on other blogs. There's nothing consistent, so I haven't been able to pinpoint the problem. I do read every comment. I enjoy reading what others have to say!

Trying something new

I love my gnomes, but I wanted to add a bit of stability. My very first gnome has a little baggie of craft beads in the bottom for weight. I didn't like the way that worked out. So, all of my gnomes up until now have only been filled with fiber fill or yarn scraps. That's great for softness factor, but I found that they didn't always stand up well. 

I purchased some 2" buttons and have sewn them to the bottom of a few gnomes. I still have to play with them a bit to get the correct balance, but they do stand up better.

Which do you think is more important, to have a gnome that will stand up or to have one that can be cuddled?

Gnome day

I'm going to try something new. On Sunday afternoon, I plan to crank out seven gnomes, and then each evening I can assemble one.

I did crank out seven last Tuesday, after we returned from Georgia. However, I only assembled one gnome during the week. I assembled the rest yesterday.

Mom gave me this fuzzy yarn for beards.

They're so fluffy!

Daughter Joanne said that she likes the gnomes with their beards loose.

The nice thing about making multiples of something is that I can try different techniques and find what works for me.

I haven't made the perfect gnome yet, but I'll keep trying!

I achieved my goal of making seven gnomes the first week in January, and I cranked out seven more yesterday afternoon. I should have plenty for Christmas next year!