Tag: crochet

Crafting Escape

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

It was a good weekend.  Friday I left work to go to the doctor with Vicki.  We were forceful about her needing a different antibiotic.  She has a sinus infection – the first antibiotic didn’t help.  Our ENT said this happens a lot.  So we got the second antibiotic and it worked.

After the doctor’s office, we went to Joann’s to spend my gift card.  I got yarn to make a blanket for my mom as she particularly liked one of the ones I made while she was in the hospital.  I’ll work on it this week I think.  We spent quite a bit of time wandering the yarn aisles.  It was a nice escape.  By the end of the trip, I spent my gift card and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Saturday was errand running and then we watched the Die Hard movies.  While watching I crocheted.  It was nice to sit down and not think about anything but a mindless movie and crocheting. 

Of course I paid bills this weekend and checked on sales for my books.  The fun thing was Friday night Stephanie called for some crocheting advice and we chatted with her while the three of us (Vicki was with me) crafted.  Even though we were in different states we crafted together and chatted.  It was fun.

There were the inevitable chores which had to be done.  Vicki and I worked on prep for food this week.  She made apple crisp and I made garbage soup.  The nice thing – Sunday I spent the whole day in my jammies.  We watched the Lethal Weapon series while we crafted.

A couple of editors sent me books to review.  I’ve gotten eight to ten from them.  I’ve read and reviewed three.  I read one last night.  It was a beginner book for Wicca.  I’ll be writing the review today I hope.  I started a second one on tarot.  I’m hoping to whittle these down and get them off my to do list relatively quickly. 

I didn’t get to publishing but I’m hoping to do that next weekend.  There will hopefully be fewer things going on. 

For a pay weekend, it was pretty calm and mostly relaxing.  I needed a relaxing weekend with a bit of me and crafting time.  It’s nice to escape into the yarn and the pattern without thinking about anything else.  Hopefully it has refilled my energies so I can face another week of handling mom’s stuff and life in general.

Days Fly By

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

It’s only October and my life is speeding up.  My weekends are full and busy.  I need a vacation but won’t be getting any for the rest of the year. 

We’ve been working on the house.  By we – I mean, Ken and Vicki with some outside help occasionally.  Vicki’s rooms are painted and I think she’s got them organized the way she wants them.  Our bathroom has been painted and reorganized.  Our bedroom has begun the process of deep cleaning, painting, and reorganizing. 

On my couch, I have a dozen (maybe more) crochet projects which are in different stages of completion.  The problem – I’m writing.  I counted this morning and have completed eight manuscripts.  Some have been published.  Some are in the editing stage.  Some I’m working on covers and other components.  I need to make gifts for faculty and student workers.  My crochet list is never ending. 

This weekend is busy.  Vicki’s going to a book sale event at the state fairgrounds.  It’s a pay week so we’re going to have all this running around to do.  I’ve got to pay bills.  Grocery shopping needs to be done.  There are other errands which need to be done. 

Then there is the prep for breakfast and lunch this next week.  We’ll have to fit that in.  As is normal, I have this list of things I want to get done but it’s looking like this weekend will be filled to overflowing. 

Instead of stressing about the busy weekend, I’m going to attempt to prioritize things and schedule next weekend.  In a part of my head, there’s the crazed maniac saying but we have (insert list of a dozen or two dozen things to do).  In another part, is the rational person who is saying there isn’t anything earth shattering that has to get done this weekend.  I’ll make a list (of course) and do as much prep as I can so I can be ready to do what I need next weekend which shouldn’t be as busy – I hope. 

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.

Where is My Crazy Brain?

by eileentroemel, posted in Life, Writing

In my family, there’s a story my maternal grandmother was a descendant from a Native American.  I’ve heard this story my entire life.  It was interesting to get my DNA testing done and discover where my DNA comes from.  One of which was a slight indicator (1%) of Native American.

But of course, I have two parents.  My father is passed so we couldn’t test him.  However, my mom did get tested and we recently got her results.  There was a lot of similarity in our DNA – as you would expect – but interestingly no Native American, not a trace of it.  This means if there was any (which with such a small percentage it’s debatable) Native American in my lineage, it came through my father’s family.

One of my sisters also got her DNA done and it was fascinating to see the differences between her and I even though we have the same parents.  We were able to see three areas which were not in my mother’s DNA so they are good indicators of our father’s DNA.

I find genetics a fascinating topic and if I were science minded (which I fail at completely) I would go into genetics.  Now it would be interesting to see how the other siblings compare.  I would also love to have my husband and all my daughters tested.  I just have to convince the people and find the money to do it.

We had our rummage sale over the weekend.  We got rid of several of the big items and some of the other stuff.  When it was done, Ken and Vicki filled up her Equinox and took a load to Goodwill.  During the sale, we only sold two big items which was disappointing.  Vicki suggested we post the other items on Facebook.  So I did.  We sold three more items through Facebook.  I have a number of them still posted and we will see what happens.

We still have items in my garage which will need to be loaded into her car and donated.  I’m hoping that will be on the agenda for this weekend.  There were a few other things which were higher dollar items I want to post to Facebook.  Additionally, I have a bunch of crocheting I want to do.  Preventing me is the need to work on my stories.  They’ve been taking over!  I love it but it can also be exhausting.

The next thing for me to prep for is to determine if I’m going to make the attempt do the vendor sale in November.  If I am, I need to make a lot more crocheted items – including a lot more variety.  The thing is I feel if I’m going to do the vendor’s sale, I should be able to take credit cards.  This I’d have to figure out.  It’s a lot of research and I’m not sure I want to hassle with it.  This is why I waffle.

If I do the vendor’s sale, I could take my books and crocheting.  I might be able to put out my books and sell some with more profit going into my pocket.  It’s definitely something to consider.

Right now on my couch, I have a dozen projects but have been so buy writing, I don’t have time to crochet.  I may have to take a Saturday or Sunday to binge watch something and work on finishing projects.  I’ve been getting ideas and ideas and ideas on projects I want to work on so I know I’ll be switching from writing to crocheting in the near future.

Surgery and Other Updates

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

Last Wednesday I had sinus surgery.  It was a day surgery where they cleaned out my sinuses, straightened a deviated septum, narrowed some bone in my nose to alleviate some of the allergic reactions I have, and removed a bone spur.

Each hospital personnel who entered my room for the first time commented on my list of things I’m allergic to.  It doesn’t build confidence when the anesthesiologist asks what does work for me.  Shouldn’t he know options?

Fortunately, everything went smoothly.  The surgery was successful and I was home and tucked into my recliner before too long.  Thursday and Friday were uncomfortable but Vicki was around to bug me and make me drink but let me sleep.  I accomplished almost nothing for those three days.

Monday I had the stents taken out.  I was told by someone it was extremely painful so I was a little apprehensive.  I was pleasantly surprised when it was nothing more than slightly (very slightly) uncomfortable.

I left the doctor’s office being able to breath which was very nice.  I came home and wrote.  My afternoon was spent at my computer working on the next Wayfarer novel.  Tuesday I was supposed to meet up with my niece but she couldn’t meet so I slept late, got up and dressed and sat down to the computer again.  I spent four hours working on the Wayfarer novel. I’m two or three scenes from being done, drawing the final plot lines together, making them solidify into a really good (I hope) conclusion for this group of plot lines.

Wednesday I came back to work.  I expected to be over tired and grumpy by the end of the day.  I certainly didn’t want to fall back into the work day routine but it was nice to see my faculty and student worker.  It was good to get out of the house and my head.

I’ve been working on my basket patterns.  I wrote them more than a year ago and never got around to publishing them.  I was less than happy with the pictures I had.  While I was off, I went through the patterns, edited them (thankfully) and I’m down to half a one left.  Once I get the last one done tonight, I’ll work on pictures – hopefully better than the last one.  I’ll do a few group pictures and individual ones.  I think the baskets will be a pamphlet, though I do have a couple places I may want to submit them to in an attempt to get them published.

Once the baskets are done, I have a bunch of fleece I want to get made up.  A few pieces I’ll be keeping but most I’ll be setting aside for the sale we’re having next month.  Once I’m through those pieces, I’m going to look at the themes for the crochet magazines and see if there’s anything which inspires me.  

Weekend?

by eileentroemel, posted in Crochet and crafting, Life

Where did the weekend go?  Saturday I was up and dressed but didn’t do a lot.  I crocheted.  I’m working on a kitchen set for someone.  Friday night I worked on dishcloths – lots of them.  Saturday I worked on pot holders.  Sunday I worked on a lot of different things.

It seems like my weekend flew by but I didn’t get a lot of stuff done.  Sunday I helped Vicki in the kitchen with baking, prepping for the week and a few other things.

We’re having a rummage sale next month.  I’ve been working on crochet items to sell during the rummage sale.  I’ve got a few dish cloths and I had some terry cloth.  Sunday I worked on cutting it up and prepping it so I could crochet around the material.

Once I’m done with the kitchen set I’m working on, I’ll work on the dish towels and hand towels.  I think I might have some fleece in the craft room which isn’t claimed.  If I do and I have time, I’d like to make up those so I could try selling them as well.

My goal for the rummage sale – make enough to get our dishwasher installed.  We’re going to go look at the dishwasher this next weekend – during all the sales.  The hope is we will have a built in dishwasher by the end of June or mid July.

From there, we will tackle other issues in the house.  In the meanwhile, I’m crocheting a lot and hoping the items will sell.

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.

Mini Vacation

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

Ken has flown the coop to visit our daughters in Georgia.  This means I get the house to myself (mostly).  Our middle daughter has moved home so she’s there when she’s not working.  However, I have the next five days off.  I’ve got plans, so many plans – too many to get done in a matter of five days.  This means I’ll pick and choose which of them I want to get done the most.

I’ve got household, publishing, crochet, and writing projects all on my list and all screaming at me.  My house is chaos.  I’m going to attempt to get one room done this weekend.  I’ve gotten through a large part of the sorting but need some help.  My niece is coming out to help so fingers crossed by the end of the weekend my office will be organized and clean.

If we actually manage to finish the office, the next step for me is the dining room.  My dining room table is heaped with stuff.  I’m hoping we can clear it off and maybe get the table out of the room.  It’s an old table and too big for the space.  I’ll have to see how things go but I’m hoping to get it out of there.

With any luck, I’ll get a little bit done in each category.  I also have to pay bills, prep for grocery shopping, and do all the usual pay week errands and chores.  I need more energy and less pain in order to get everything done I want to.

Tonight will be crocheting.  I’m working on finishing projects and making things to put out when we have the rummage sale.  While I veg out in front of the tv tonight, I’m going to work on either a shawl or some dishcloths.

Last night when I couldn’t sleep, I watched a show on the Spencer family in the UK (Princess Diana’s family) and made 1 1/2 dish cloths.  It will be more of the same tonight.

Vicki’s usually up around 5:00 and gets me up around 6:00 so I intend to stay awake and work on several projects.  While I’m alone in the house tomorrow, I want to get as much as I can crammed into the day.  It will be bill paying, organizing the office, and if my legs can manage it maybe some publishing of crochet patterns.  This is my plan.  Now the next question is – how well will this plan go?  I guess I’ll see tomorrow.

Friday, my niece comes out.  Since I’ll be doing some heavy duty cleaning with her, I might take it a bit easy in the morning before she gets there.  Vicki will have me up at 6:00 though so I could get more work in whether that’s crocheting or editing in my recliner or publishing crochet patterns, I don’t know yet.

At some point, I’ll have to make a grocery list, set up a menu for the next month, and clip coupons.  I’ve got a lot to fit in over the next few days.  I might end up needing a vacation from my vacation.

Projects – Done and To Do

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

This week I’ve finished the scarves and the afghan for my student workers’ graduation gifts.  I’ve given one gift which is why I’m posting the two pictures.  For the afghan, I need to take pictures.  I plan to publish four of the scarf patterns and the afghan pattern.  This adds to my list of crochet patterns to publish.  I have a bandanna, log cabin afghan, and set of headbands to publish.  

The collar or cowl scarf shown on the left turned out gorgeous.  I’m really proud of it because it was outside my normal and preferred type of project.  The smaller yarn and projects like this are hard on my hands but it was worth it to do and redo some of the stitching.  The other scarves turned out excellent and I’m excited to publish the four new ones.  The necklace type scarf I love making.  It uses up small bits of yarn but is stunning and versatile.  
Tonight I’ll be working on dish towels and dish cloths to make for someone who is helping me out this weekend.  After I get those done, I’ll be back on my other projects.  Currently I have bibs for a former co-worker of Vicki’s, a skirt, a couple of afghans, and a few smaller projects which aren’t designated for anyone yet.  
This weekend Ken goes off to Atlanta for twelve days.  I know he’s excited to visit the girls down there.  It will give him a nice break from work and our messy house.  
Vicki and I plan to play a bit on Saturday.  Sunday we will have help with getting things organized and settled.  Next weekend will be busy with working on the house as well.  
However, I’m taking off work on the 11th and hoping to get some writing stuff done – like publishing patterns.  I’ll have two days with no one in the house so I plan to get up and work on anything I have for writing – publishing, writing, marketing, editing.  I have a number of projects in the works so I want to make progress on them.  
Ken may be gone for twelve days but it will be a busy time for Vicki and I.  Hopefully by the time he comes home, the house is better organized.  I’m hoping this will lower everyone’s stress levels.

Unexpected Day Off

by eileentroemel, posted in Crochet and crafting, Life

Registration is done at work which means the stress level has reduced.  My house is still a mess and the next two weekends are full of activities.  We’ll do the activities – paint nite this weekend and an author’s event next weekend.  We need the down time to reduce our stress.

Ken leaves for Georgia in May.  This leaves Vicki and I hanging out on our own.  I’ve got a few days off during the time he’s gone.  My goal is to get some publishing, writing, and crocheting done during my time off.  However, I also have some household things I want to get done.

This week has been crazy for me.  I had an allergy test done on Monday.  They washed my arms with alcohol which immediately started them itching.  Their solution was to wash them with soap and water.  I let them, though most soaps bother me.  Fortunately, this one didn’t.  I didn’t really find out anything new.  I already knew I was allergic to the things they told me but these were more specific results.

Tuesday I left work early to see my regular doctor.  He gave me my results for my MRI.  There wasn’t anything to stress about – thankfully.

Today I am off to the dietician.  I’ve been seeing her for few months.  I like her and she has good suggestions for helping me balance out life and food.  I doubt I’ve lost weight.  It’s been a crazy few months with lots of eating fast food while we moved Vicki and a lot of stress eating.  However, I’ve managed to stop eating out as much which is good for my checkbook and good for my body.

The elevator at work isn’t working.  I spent yesterday at work but not in my office.  It made it difficult for me to be involved but the floor was quiet according to my student workers.  Today I’m hoping it will be even more quiet.  However, the elevator is going to be down for the first part of next week.  That will make it difficult on me and a number of my faculty.  These are the joys of working in an old building.

I’m working on two graduation gifts.  I’m creating new patterns for most of the gifts so this means new patterns to publish.  The first scarf I made turned out really well.  I like the design, color, length, and feel of it.  Now I need to take pictures so I can publish the pattern.  I started a second one last night and I’m hoping to finish it today.

This morning I’m spending a little time on the computer but hope to go back to crocheting shortly.  It seems like there’s always so much for me to do with a day off and so little time to get it all done.  I have to remember to keep the to do list to a reasonable length and focus on one task at a time.  Part of me wants to get a bunch of stuff done but I’m waiting on things from other people to be able to do those things.  This means I need to pick something completely in my control and work on it.  Today, it will be crocheting and watching movies.  For a couple of reasons, one – it will lower my stress level, and two – it will get things done I need to get done which has a definite deadline.

Considering I have the day off, I was up very early.  I did go back to sleep but was still up by 7.  Ava does not know what to do with me.  She came and cuddled – yup the cat who hates me – with me for a bit.  Sasha always is looking for attention from me but Ava rarely asked for attention.

It’s time to hit the recliner, find a movie and go back to crocheting.  Maybe with luck, I’ll finish another scarf and start a third.. fingers crossed.