Tag: crochet cotton

Nine of Eleven

by eileentroemel, posted in Life

Today I went with one of my nieces craft shopping.  I used gift cards and holiday cash to make all of my purchases!  The other great thing is everything I bought was on sale – everything.  So not only did I get great deals and the materials I wanted but I didn’t spend a penny out of my own account.  Thank you to my faculty at my job, one family member, and a friend.  They made this relaxing day completely possible!

Joanns has a great sale on and I stocked up on crochet cotton.  I can’t lie – the $1 a skein made me nearly clean out their display of the colors they had.  Then I hit the aisles to look for yarn for two blankets, one scarf and other crochet cotton (also on sale) which had different colors.  The per ounce price (yes I figured out for each of the brands on sale) for the $1 per skein was FABULOUS.  I got most of what I wanted – though I never get enough yarn.

My niece and I had a lovely day together, spending time and chatting.  We went to Burnie’s rock shop as well.  It was crowded and busy and yet we both managed to find items to purchase.

I have an afghan nearly done for her and I was hoping to surprise her with it today but at 12:30 last night I gave it up and said nope… too much left to do.  I’ll keep working on it and hope to get it done in the next week or two.

Aside from her blanket, I’m going to be at the Whitewater library on January 19, so I plan to make a few small things which can hopefully fill up my table and make some sales.  At this point, I’m thinking coasters and dishcloths but I want to consult my list to see if I can come up with other things.

While at Joann’s today, I picked up pins to use for blocking several pairs of earrings, bracelets and a bookmark.  Once they’ve dried, I’ll have to find buttons for the bracelets and those can come with me to the sale as well.

I feel like I’m getting caught up.  Tomorrow I plan to work on crochet patterns – publishing and posting.  I’ve got a long list of them to work on so I’m hoping to get a large chunk of them done.  I have new patterns which include two leaflets (meaning multiple patterns) to publish.  I have three groups of patterns I’ve not posted on Ravelry and need to get those up there.  This is the task which takes the longest.  I’m hoping to get through all of them before I go back to work so the next two day I think will be taken up with those.

I’m winding down on my days off.  I feel good about the progress I’ve made with projects.  Before this time off, I always felt like I was falling further and further behind.  Now I feel caught up and ready to move forward.

If I manage to get through the crochet patterns, I think I’m going to work on the short story I had professionally edited – it was so mangled from all the different version, I needed to help with it.

I’m at the end of my day and feel really good.  It was good to get one on one with my niece and to shop for things I love.  Now I get to play with all of it, making things for others who will hopefully really appreciate the goodies.

Published Crochet Pattern!

by eileentroemel, posted in Crochet and crafting, Writing

One of my patterns was published in Pattern Pack Pro through Happily Hooked.  I made a purse from jute and crochet cotton.  I’m thrilled with how it turned out and excited it was published!

With the jute, it’s sturdy and holds its shape.  The issue has other interesting patterns as well.  You can see the pictures of the purses on Ravelry.com.

Next I need to figure out what else I want to crochet and submit to try to get published.  I enjoy this publication.  They put out a good product with the magazine but also the patterns are checked before they’re published.

Publishing Crochet Patterns

by eileentroemel, posted in Crochet and crafting, Writing

My day yesterday did not go as planned.  This is not a surprise to me – rarely do my days go as planned.  But last night I was kicking myself for taking a nap instead of getting things done.  Vicki went to bed early and I opted to work on the computer.

This meant the publishing I was going to do in the morning got done last night instead.  I have eight new crochet patterns out.  There are links to them on my website.  They are all on the Crochet Patterns page.

My niece asked me for headbands so I created new ones for her.  In doing so, I took pictures and wrote the patterns.  This means there’s a new Half Dozen Thread Headbands available.  She also wanted a bandana which lead to me creating Bandana X.

I had two student workers graduating – one wanted an afghan and one wanted scarves.  The blanket is called Framed Tipped Lattice and the scarves are Climbing Vine, Lattice, Shades of Blue, and Sparkling Squiggle.  I finished an experiment for my daughter which is really a mini scarf – Puff Chain Scarf.

I’ve got a couple more in the works but they aren’t quite ready to be published.  The patterns are done, I need to work on the components.

Today, I’m working on publishing stuff until my niece gets here, then I’ll be working on cleaning and organizing my office and hopefully tackling some of the dining room.  It depends on how long stuff takes us.  I’m hoping we can get a long list of things done but I know my plans never work out.  I’m going to go with the flow.  Anything finished is an improvement.  If it reduces the chaos we’re living in right now, that’s all that matters.  I have two more places to market my stuff.  Then I’ll be getting off the computer and start on the other stuff – I hope.

New Tricks

by eileentroemel, posted in Crochet and crafting

I’ve been crocheting for about 40 years.  I love crocheting but sometimes I get tired of the same old same old.  It’s always a pleasant experience for me when I learn something new.

The other night I was working on a project (gift for daughter) when I ran out of yarn.  Now normally I tie a knot with the new skein and work over the knot.  I tried this but the material is silk so the knot wouldn’t stay.  Recently I read about a new way to join.  I read a description of it and had no idea what they were talking about but I did a google search on it and found a YouTube video on how to do it.

I’ve been crocheting for a long time and sometimes I get in the mode of I know best and new stuff is not the “right” way of doing things.  Reluctantly I tried this new join technique.  I was thrilled with the result.  The material around the join was slightly thicker but overall it was a better join than the way I’ve been joining material for the last 40 years.  There were no tails to tuck in, the joins was smoother, firmer, and held better.

Now before I say I will use this join on all materials, I want to try it out more.  It was definitely a wonderful way to join silk and have a smooth invisible join.

Here are a few links to how to do this:

Lion Brand 

YouTube

Another YouTube

The nice thing is you can use this for any yarn craft – crochet, knitting, or others.  I’m looking forward to trying it with different materials.

The Holidays

by eileentroemel, posted in Crochet and crafting, Life

The insanity of the holidays always makes me grumpy.  This year I’m missing my girls but I’m trying to make the best of it.  Vicki is home but the other two are in Georgia.  I’m missing them and I’m missing the all day game playing, movie watching, and being together.

Ken and Vicki went off to his family gathering.  They likely won’t be back till late afternoon or early evening.  I’m working on the computer for now but then I’ll be going back to crocheting.  I currently have two projects in the works for Vicki – an apron which will be a mix of terry cloth and crochet cotton and a shawl which I’m crocheting.  If I could figure out how to work on both, I would.

Yesterday Vicki and I went to Festival and got groceries.  We shopped their sale items and had a ton of coupons.  We spent $250 and saved about $120 between sales and coupons.  Today I was going through the receipt to split up her items and mine.  I noticed several of our coupons didn’t take off.  I called them expecting them to say there was nothing they could do since it was yesterday.  Instead they refunded the money and gave us two coupons for a dollar off.

Tomorrow we are going to do as much as possible with the girls in Georgia.  I’m sure there will be video chatting (or at the very least phone conversations) but we are also attempting to go to a movie at roughly the same time.  Saturday when Beth is over, we’ll open gifts and have more family time.  I’m also hoping to go see a movie on that day.

Aside from the holiday stuff, I’m hoping to get a number of projects done.  I’ve pulled out one of Vicki’s bags and have been working on the projects in it.  I finished two skeins of yarn to make her hat, wristers, scarf out of one and hat and wristers out of the other.  I’ll see how far I get by the end of the weekend.  I may have to shift things to determine what I’m going to work on.  As is normal – I have a LONG LONG list of things to do for her.

I’ve got classical music on.  I’m babysitting the two grand fur babies – Sasha and Ava.  I’ll be going back to crocheting shortly.  All in all, a good day so far.  Just one more day to get through with the holiday silliness and I can put another year behind me.

Busy Saturday

by eileentroemel, posted in Crochet and crafting, Life

Friday night, Ken and I went to Michael’s.  They had a sale on sugar n cream crochet cotton.  It was wonderful in that I got a lot of yarn at little cost.  I had a 20% all items coupon which made the great deal even better.  With tax, I paid about 82 cents per skein which is a huge saving because this yarn is normally 2 – 2.5 a skein.
I have already made one thing from it.  I found a pattern for a basket I like.  It turned out really well except that I learned we picked up scented yarn.  I’ve always avoided this yarn because scents tend to set off my asthma.  I was right in that this one did as well.  It turned out really nicely though and after taking an allergy med I didn’t feel quite so awful.

From the scraps of the basket, I started a trivet for Vicki.  She wants several so I just kept working with the variegated (not the scented) and started the trivet.  It is made completely from scraps.  It was a quick and easy project.

In addition to these two smaller projects, I finished the graduation gift for my student worker.  No pictures for now as she hasn’t gotten it yet.  I like how it turned out and hope she will as well.

I started a skirt for a friend but as I’m looking at what I’ve done, I’m not thrilled with it.  I have an idea in my head and will probably be tearing it out to try to make the project match what’s in my head.

I also started a dishtowel which I hope to finish this morning.  This is also made from scraps.  I just keep tying on a new little ball when I run out of yarn.  My middle daughter has asked for several new dishtowels, this will be the first to use up some of my scraps.  I also have actual full skeins she bought so I’ll be using those as well over time.

I finished reading both Cast in Peril by Michele Sagara and Remember When by Nora Roberts and JD Robb.  I’ve gotten the audio books for the next in each series on my fire.  I’ve been flipping back and forth between audio and text.  When I’m crocheting, I listen.  When I’m too tired to crochet, I’ll pick up the book and skim through the books.  It goes faster and I can skip the parts that annoy me.  Cast in Peril this was key in.  Love Sagara’s writing and her Cast in series but Peril was just tedious and not really a complete story.  I hear that the next one – Cast in Sorrow is the same way.  I’ll see what my tolerance level is for it.  I might end up skimming through parts of it as well.

I also downloaded Divided in Death.  Having just finished the short story, I’m trying to decide if I listened to the other two short stories before this.  I’m going to have to go look.  I don’t think I did.  That means I may have to just go through and do a quick read on both of them.  I’m trying to read her series in order including the short stories.  I’ll go back and catch these two up before I start the next one.

This should keep me busy for a bit and out of trouble – maybe.  I have a bridal shower to go to today so you never know what sort of mischief I’ll get up to.

Weekend Options

by eileentroemel, posted in Crochet and crafting, Life

The weekend looms in front of me with a large list of things to do.  It is pay week so that means all the normal errands.  In addition, I want to go to Michaels for their sale.  They are having a sale on crochet cotton which I use a great deal of.  It’s on sale for 97 cents.  I downloaded their app for my smart phone and got a 20% off my entire order coupon.  This means the crochet cotton will be about 78 cents a skein.  Normal price – anywhere from 1.97 to 2.50 or so.  It is a deal I can’t pass up.

I also have to go to the DMV to renew my license.  This promises to be an interesting event.  Ken is going to go with me.  Hopefully we can accomplish both this afternoon.  If we do, it will leave tomorrow for errands.

Sunday I’m going to my niece’s bridal shower.  I’m so happy for her.  I can’t wait for her to see the gift I made her.  I hope she likes it. 

It will be a busy weekend and yet in my head I’m planning out what else I might get done.  I am nearly done with my student worker’s wristers.  I hope to finish them tonight.  After they are done I’ll turn my attention back to my daughter’s afghan.  My hands aren’t as bent with arthritis.  I can actually make a fist and tighten it with only a small amount of pain.  Her project is not portable.  It will not travel well.  The yarn is delicate and fussy, though exceedingly beautiful. 

If I end up going around while Ken does errands, I’ll probably through a crochet project in a small bag and take it with me.  I have four going on right now and only two of them are overly portable.  Ironically I wouldn’t take any of the current ones with me.  I’d probably take the left over crochet cotton so I could work on trivets or dish towels. 

It promises to be a busy weekend and I’m hoping it will also be a productive one. 

Easy Trivet Crochet Pattern

by eileentroemel, posted in Crochet and crafting, Life, Writing

Last night I spent a bit of time working on a revamp of a pattern Vicki liked and I hated.  She likes the way it looks and I hated the pattern.  The end result – a new pattern written.  Ironically, I was all I don’t want a new phone.  I don’t need a smart phone and yet the smart phone helped me get to the point where I could publish this pattern.  I used the note app to write the pattern as I worked.  I used the camera to take pictures of the project.  It turned out nicely and will be available for sale on Amazon and Smashwords today.

This trivet is three dimensional so it cushions your hot pan from your table.  Quick and easy, bright and cheerful, this pattern offers an alternative to a hot pad and a way to use up scrap yarn.  Made with crochet cotton, it is durable, practical and pretty.

Go to my web site to check it out

http://eileentroemel.weebly.com/

Craft Focused Day

by eileentroemel, posted in Crochet and crafting, Life

After meeting my mom and sister to get our paperwork signed and notarized, I contacted my niece.  While waiting on her to arrive, I worked on all sorts of writing administrative things.  I got a lot done and then she showed up.

We played in my craft room for a little bit before we wandered off to Michaels.  I enjoyed – very much enjoyed – our time shopping at Michaels and the other stores.  Both of us needed stuff from Staples.  Since it’s two doors down from Michaels we hit there first and then Michaels.

I love sales.  I love yarn sales and I love wandering up and down aisles and touching different yarn.  I didn’t buy a single full priced item at Michaels.  It was all sale items.  I found pretty yarn both crochet cotton and regular yarn.  I filled in colors for my crochet cotton I didn’t have and even found some blues to make Stephanie happy for the items she requested.

  
We found good stuff for an afghan for my niece.  Her old one fell apart (it’s only about 20 years old) so rather than fixing it, I’ll be making her a new one.  Don’t worry people who are in line ahead of her – she isn’t butting in line.

While at Michaels we wandered the bead aisle so my niece could get some beads for some of her projects.  I’m hoping this means I will get the stuff she promised to make me.  It is always fun to wander through the bead aisles.  I like beads, I just don’t have a lot of skills when it comes to making the jewelry.

JoAnns was our next stop.  We wandered around quite a bit.  I actually didn’t spend a lot there.  Got a small package of yarn and a single skein.  My niece however spent a lot more there and got lots of goodies.

Picking up lunch, we came back and chatted the afternoon away.  After she left and Ken went to bed, I worked on daisies for the girls in Georgia.  Virginia requested purple and gray.  I was tired after all the shopping but I still tackled some more of her daisies.  I listened to Witness in Death and started working.  I was tired to begin with and after two I just wanted to go to sleep but I stuck with it and got the last six done for her.  Now I have to move on to Stephanie’s color choices.  I have a list and will be tackling them today.

Ken and I are watching Justified, since there is no football he plans to watch today, we may finish off season 5 and switch to Babylon 5.  At least that is my hope.  While we do that, I will work on the daisies for Stephanie.  I also have two infinity scarves to make so if I get bored with daisies, I can switch over and see what I come up with for the infinity scarves.

It was a good day yesterday.  I enjoyed the time with my niece.  I enjoyed making the daisies and listening to an audio book.  Today will hopefully be as productive and as enjoyable.

What I did over spring break….

by eileentroemel, posted in Crochet and crafting

This is of course the variation on what I did over the summer.  I didn’t even wait for the actual spring break to start.  Friday the week before I left work at 10:30 and headed for home.  Alex met me at my house and I finished getting packed.  He loaded the van.  We hit the road about noon I think.

Our drive down was long.  With Alex driving, we went through Chicago – downtown Chicago.  I don’t like to go that way but as passenger I don’t get to pick.  Alex thought it would be shorter and mileage wise it was.  Time wise it ended up taking us like seven hours to get there.

Vicki fed us on arrival and Alex unloaded the car.  Everyone has made fun of my craft bag that I took but I did get to a good bit of my crocheting.

I’ve been playing with lace patterns.  I’m not big on working with thread so I’ve been using different threads to make lace projects.  One of them was a lace purple sparkle scarf which I gave to Vicki on Friday:

Friday and Saturday I worked on scarves.  Here are a couple of pictures of the different ones I made:

 

Vicki and I went to JoAnn Fabrics on Saturday and got some great deals.  They had yarn on sale and I tried out two new ones that I discovered I loved – Red Heart Shimmer which is a smaller yarn and soft.  It is easy to work with and sparkly which is always fun.  The other yarn was Deborah Norville Serenity Chunky – crayon box.  It is a heavy yarn and the colors were stunning – bright and fun.

Now in case you haven’t heard this before when I get new yarn I want to dive in and start creating with that new yarn.  I had new yarn from the shopping trip and I had new yarn that Vicki had sent to me (but wouldn’t let me touch – it was TORTURE!).  Friday and Saturday I worked on ruffle scarves.  These are quick and easy projects.  Of the haul of yarn, Vicki picked out the ones she wanted so I just sat and worked on scarves.

I could not resist the new yarn I’d purchased and started with the Crayon Box to make a hat, scarf and wristers.  The array of colors were just stunning and both Vicki and I loved how these turned out.

 

After the crayon box yarn, I picked up the shimmer yarn.  Oh that turned out BEAUTIFULLY!  Vicki’s favorite stitch is the crocodile stitch and I had that book with me so I handed it to Vicki and told her to pick out a hat pattern.  The crocodile stitch is a yarn eater and she picked two patterns.  I ended up making her one of the hats in the book.  I also made a scarf and added the flower from the hat pattern to the scarf.  I also made her wristers using crocodile stitches and the stitch from the scarf.

  
I’ve also been putting off making slippers for her.  I’ve had the pattern for months but the yarn she wanted me to use was thicker and heavier than the pattern called for so I had to make adjustments.  I stayed up until three in the morning one night and finished her slippers.

 

In addition to all of Vicki’s stuff, I worked on kitchen sets for two of my nieces.  Dish towels, dish clothes, sponges, and pot holders for both sets.

 

When I left Vicki’s, my craft bag was significantly lighter – mostly because Vicki kept a lot of the items I made.  This last Friday on the drive home I worked on mesh bags and make up pads for myself.  I got those done on the drive.  Saturday Ken and I helped a friend move.  I drove and he packed the van.  While sitting in the van, I worked on potholders.  I got four of them done yesterday and today.

I also worked on Vicki’s afghan.  It is octagonal and takes a long time to do one row.  However, I did work on it and got several rows completed.

Today I worked on a solution for Vicki.  She has to put Tiger Balm on her back.  Unfortunately she can’t really reach where the lotion has to go.  In order to reach it she is using her back scratcher.  However, she is concerned about the balm having an affect on the wood.  So I crocheted her a cover for it so she can put the balm on the crochet cotton to go over the top of it.  I’ll be mailing it to her this week.

In total, I’ve made the following:

17 scarves
4 dish towels
8 pot holders (4 of which were actually for me)
5 sponges
2 hats
2 pair of wristers
2 dish cloths
1 pair of slippers
2 mesh bags
10 make up pads
and a strange cover for a back scratcher

In addition to the crocheting, I made homemade pizza and meatballs for Vicki as well as putting tiger balm on her shoulder daily and cooking the meals with Alex.  It was a GREAT week, very relaxing and productive.