STAR OF THE SHOW

If you a fan of modern country music, and know who Thomas Rhett is, his current hit is "Start of the Show".

When I started working on this post I titled it CHURCH AUCTION, but "Star of the Show" was playing on the radio at the same time, and it fits.

This afghan/blanket was the star of the show at the church auction. It was again chosen as the featured item where the auctioneer asks for $20 bid donations from those who are not bidding to buy the item. They have chosen mine almost every year, which always amazes me. This one sold for $200 and made $600 in donations. It always makes me feel my time was well spent in making this.

This was not hard to make but did take a little bit of time in getting the squares to meet up 'perfectly' while sewing the strips together. And fringe always takes time, and I don't always add fringe even though the pattern calls for it. But I feel it adds a lot to this one.

 The one other project I managed to finish in time for the auction are the children's bear scarves.

 These came as kits with head and paws already made. All I had to do was knit the scarf and attached the head and paws to each end. The yarn is 'fur' or 'eyelash' type and worked up to a very soft and cuddly scarf.

They sold for $50 each, which made me happy as each kit cost almost $20 just for materials.

In this picture I tried to pose them as they would be worn to give you an idea what they should look like, but that didn't work out very well. I wish I had a child here to model them!

 If you are wondering about the white afghan used as the backdrop, that is one I made about 30 years ago, or longer. It has been an all time favorite over the years and I have made a lot of them from this pattern.

I have already started on some projects for next year's auction, though there is some talk about only have one every other year. But we do need some kind of fund raiser every year to help pay off our new building loan.

This 'n' That - More

Guess what? As I was digging around in my closet I found another bag with some yarn! Actually, when I looked in it, it was a bag I had set aside because it had some granny squares in two colors and some skeins of yarn to match. When I was given this among a bag of other yarn, I thought I would continue making the squares and make something with them to put on the church auction, since it was a church member that gave them to me.

But as I was looking them over the other day, I realized that was not going to happen. Look at the next picture closely.

See the difference in size? They weren't all this bad. Most of the white ones were close to the same size, but the brown ones were different. Some were the same size as the white, some only slightly larger, and then a few like the one above. There is just no way I can put these all together into one afghan or table runner. So. . . . . take them apart and knit more caps. As I was unraveling them, I found that the majority were done left handed, which is great since I am also, and so they would have matched up quite well. But there were a few that were done right handed! So there had to be more than one person making them, right? This just shows that stitch gauge is important, especially for things like this. The size doesn't matter as much as it does for clothing, but these do have to be uniform in size in order to fit together. Now I have about 10-12 brown and white caps to add to the 120 I already had. I suppose I could have re-stitched each square to get them the same size, but making the caps was faster as I didn't have to sew all the squares together at the end.

I am wondering if this original project is just another UFO that someone decided she was not ever going to finish it, or if she just got discouraged because the squares weren't all the same size?

This 'n' That - Year Long Project

YEAR LONG PROJECT

 

Here is what I work on all year long, and have done so for more than a decade.

 

 

 

This is the result for this year so far, actually since last November since that is when I took the ones made last year down to the Sioux City Goodwill Industries office for their Christmas Shoe Party.That is when they give each child a new pair of shoes, socks, winter cap and mittens.

 

I was getting tired of having the heaped high wash basket full of caps that was taking up a lot of space in my bedroom closet and in my way. So yesterday I counted them and had 119 caps plus one scarf. I had used up almost all the yarn so was done for now, but when I took the caps out of the many grocery sacks they were stored in, I found one more ball of dark green.

 

 

 

So this is what yarn I have left. There is enough to make one more cap, so started knitting, and finished that last night. So then I had a smaller green ball, about the size of the larger white ones, plus the two larger white ones. And I started knitting on those today, but there will not be quite enough to finish the cap, so it will go in the large tin and wait until I am given more yarn. I now have 120 caps to take to Goodwill the next time I go to Sioux City.

 

This is a frugal project as I use up even the small balls of leftover yarn. I have a few people in town who will bring me their leftovers, and some will occasionally donate some new yarn. I used up my own stash of leftovers years ago so I depend on the donations of others. Sometimes I find a good clearance sale and will buy what is there. And if I or a friend find some at garaage sales at a cheap price, we will get those. Too often people are asking too much for what is left and I will pass those up and spend that money on new yarn. So this is not only a frugal project, but I guess you can consider it 'green' as well, since nothing but the tails get put in the landfill. I think some people even save the tails and put them out in the spring for the birds to make nests. I might try that next spring and see if the birds take them. I know they, as well as the squirrels,  love to tear apart my cocoa fiber planter liners and take away as many as they can carry.

Rain and more rain

Yes, we have been getting lots of rain in the last week, after having a very dry year last year. We have gotten a little more than 6" locally in the last couple of days, according to a nearby farmer's rain gauge. The official amount was listed at 3 1/2+". That is a big difference! Lots of people pumping water out of their basements and it is sad for those who have finished basements as so many do today. We have a 70% chance of a large amount of rain again tonight and tomorrow, and still a chance for the next day or two. We have also had dense fog the past two nights so things are a bit sticky today.

I am not spending much time on the computer right now so my posts are going to be few and far between at times. I am devoting most of my time working on the last two Bible study lessons of the Covenant study we are doing. We are taking a break for the summer but I do want to get these last two finished so I can put it all away for the summer. I just have the last lesson left now as I finished typing up the first of the two. I get truly blessed all over again when I type them up. I took this study twice before as a student, and now am teaching it, and being reminded of all the things I have forgotten over the years since last taking it. If anyone reading this would like to take it, I will be more than happy to tell you where to get the study book, plus send you copies of the information I have to go with it.

I was looking at my bare pots on the patio and reminded of the seeds I started in late winter and the little pot garden I had. I did none of that this year. I just could not get excited about it , especially with the late, cold, snow and icy spring we had for one thing. And I just don't have the energy to work at it. I haven't even bought any bedding plants for flowers yet. I might just end up moving the bare dirt filled pots to the garage and out of sight for this year, unless someone wants to volunteer filling them for me. ☺

I plan to spend a lot of time decluttering this summer as well. I need to work on paper clutter for the most part, but I know there are some clothes in the closet that I haven't work for a long time and should move out to another home.

I have kept busy knitting caps for Goodwill again, while watching my favorite TV shows. I am getting down to the bottom of the can of yarn, so once that is gone I will move onto something else. I do have a couple of sewing projects that I had planned several months ago so might be so moved to start on them.

I am sorry I have no pictures to add here. I just have not been taking any. I should have taken one of the cans of Pillsbury Grands biscuits, caramel rolls and Cinnabon rolls that I bought last week. I went to the local store, which I don't go to very often as their regular prices are quite high. Loss leaders are often quite good, and I sometimes go there when I only need milk and bread and it doesn't pay to drive to the cheaper stores. This time I found a basket sitting in the open dairy case and it was full of the cans of biscuits and rolls for $1.50 each. I took most of them! I had recently read on a blog that they can be frozen right in the can so how lucky to find them on clearance! They were going to expire in a couple of days, so I baked one can of biscuits and one of caramel rolls, then froze the rest. This store's regular price for them is close to $4 each. I think WM has them for around $3.69 the last I looked. So I think I got a pretty good deal - providing they really do freeze well.

Speaking of bargains and money, I am still waffling between buying things I really want, or continue living without so that I can stay as close to my budget and income as possible. Notice I said 'want'. I can live without these things, but at age 70, how many years do I have left? So why not enjoy what I can? But if I do that, what if I live longer than expected and I run out of money? Did I ever mention that I hate making decisions??

So, should I end on this note, or should I find something else to write about? ☺ I have made my decision and am going to go play Mahjongg Dark Dimensions so I don't have to think so hard. I am tired of thinking. That takes energy and I don't have any left.

Ready. . . . Set . . . . GO!

 As I promised -

here are the pictures of the things I made and donated to the church auction.

"Hairy" caps and ruffled scarf

Mile-a-minute afghan


Here is a close-up of the stitches.



 

 

A mile-a-minute afghan is made in strips and then single crocheted together. This one has 8 strips using off white for the center of each strip, then a single row of beige, a single row of variegated to add a spice of color, one more row of beige, and one of off white. I added 2 rows of single crochet around the whole thing as I think it gives a more finished look. I am not real fond of fringe but I do think it adds a nice effect to this pattern. Would you say this would fit in the Victorian category?

 

I love the softness of the colors. Would you also agree that the colors would work in any home? That is what I try to aim for when making something for the church auction - something for everybody's home no matter what the decor, thought maybe it wouldn't fit in a modern one. It speaks to me more like country, Victorian or traditional. And I think those are more popular in my rural area.

 

I am so happy to get these projects finished! They are already at the church, and the auction is this Wednesday night. Now I can get back to decluttering and organizing. I hope I can also finish this project for once.

Stitching for warmth

 

Caps, caps, and more caps. Or maybe you call them hats. Either way these will all keep some kids a bit warmer this winter. I make these all year long from yarn that is donated to me, or what I can find on clearance for the cheapest price. Then in the fall I take them to the Goodwill Industries office in Sioux City where they will be handed out to the kids along with new shoes, socks, mittens and scarves at their annual Christmas Shoe Party.

 

 

This is what I did this year, from last October until early summer. Usually I work on them continually, but I ran out of yarn for awhile, then got started on other projects that needed to be done. The table top is covered with stacks of 5 caps each. There is a total of 124. 75 are striped, 40 are solid colors, and there are 9 that really don't fit either of those categories very well.

 

This picture looking down on them shows the various stripes and colors, at least of the caps on the top of the stacks. I use every scrap I can, even ones that don't quite finish a row.

 

This is one that does not fit the regular categories. It is made with black as the base, using all black for the ribbing band at the bottom. The bright pink is that fun fur yarn added to the black, so that I am knitting with both strands at the same time. Cute?

Don't you love my 'model'? I used to have a styrofoam head used for wigs but that was discarded several years ago. So the best thing I could think of is a round metal mixing bowl sitting on top of the overturned Rubbermaid container. :o)

 

As I said before, I use ever scrap. This is made using two strands of different colored sport or baby yarn to get the tweedy effect. That gives the cap more weight and warmth than a single strand of the lighter weight yarns. And, the fringe is leftover fun fur yarn.

 

And here is the very tail end of that fun fur. The cap is made from a specialty yarn as well. It sort of looks like chenille when it is made up. It was some that was given to me and I have tried to find some more like that but wonder if it has been discontinued some time ago. I don't recall the name of it, but it wasn't called chenille.

 

This is how some of the variegated yarns can turn out when mixed with coordinating solids. The dark is actually a real dark grey but it looks more blue in the picture. The cap below is also the same variegated but with the light grey. I love working with the variegated yarns to see what kinds of patterns it can turn into.

 

I will be dropping these off on October 23 when I go to Sioux City for my annual mammogram. And if they still have some free yarn left, I will get a bag full to start for next year. Their auxiliary buys large lots of yarn for such distributing, and it sure helps me out.

Arts and Amusements

(I just realized I never published this post which I meant to do a couple weeks ago, so here it is now.)

I am borrowing one of the titles for the theme of the day used in my favorite internet group. I hope that is okay. If not, one of you please let me know. And I enjoy Terri's blog with the various topics for each dayj, which is sort of like reading a newspaper or magazine with the same features that are in every issue. Since I like that format I hope to do something similar, though my topics will be different. And they may even change as the mood hits me.

For today, my mind is on my needlework projects of the past. It has to be the past projects as I am not working on any needlework at this time, not even the knit caps I am almost always working on and which are donated to Goodwill Industries for their annual Christmas Shoe Parties. Every year I also make an afghan or two to donate to my church's annual fund-raiser auction with the proceeds going to help pay off our debt of building a new handicap accessible fellowship hall. For the 2012 auction that took place February 1, I ended up making three. One was a knit baby blanket, one a variegated blue/lavendar crocheted afghan, and then I had a special order by a member that wanted an off white afghan to use when she was sitting on her new window seat, either reading or watching the birds and squirrels outside. She intended to bid on that until it was hers, no matter how much she had to pay for it. Below are the pictures of those three. They are not such good pictures because I had forgotten to take the pictures before I took them to church, so had to run down there with the camera later to get them taken before the auction started.

Above is the knit baby blanket. This is a quick and easy pattern using just 3 colors. To get the shaded stripes 3 strands of yarn are used throughout, then doing a number of rows with all peach, changing to 2 peach and one white, to 1 peach and 2 white, then all 3 white, then 2 white and 1 green, etc. It is done on large needles and simple knitting of each row. Very easy and quick. If memory serves correctly, I think the high bid was $45. Not an exceptional amount for this type of auction, but not a bad price either. I am sure whoever got it had to love it as I used a very soft yarn, and knit is always softer than crocheted in my opinion. I have to apologize to Julie who is holding the blanket since all you can see of her are her feet and the top of her head from the eyes up. LOL

The details of the blue/lavendar afghan can be seen a little in this picture. This is regular Red Heart yarn and crocheted. I think it brought around $60. I have seen them go much higher, but another woman donated 10-12 afghans this year, all the same pattern, just different color combinations. That was too much of a good thing for one year, and so none sold as well as they should.

This off-white heart crocheted afghan is the special order, though she only specified the color and not the pattern. It was done in 3 strips and then sewn together. It was fun to make and I love the way it turned out. This was the big money maker. The lady that got it paid around $275. But the auctioneer always picks one handmade item each year to have the bidders donate $25 per 'bid' and there were a lot of those bids. It ended up bringing in $1,000!! It totally floored me and thrilled me! It is the only one they announced who made it. Most years at least one of my afghans brings in some good money but never anything like that! And each year after the auction I wonder what pattern I can use to try to top the one from the year before. That is the hardest part! A few weeks later on a Sunday morning, the lady that bought it showed me a picture of the afghan on her window seat, and it fit in very well. She is thrilled with it, and says it is nice and warm while she is curled up there to read. I am pleased and very thankful that she is happy with it and that it raised that money for the church. Anyone have some ideas on what to do for next year?