Saturday, March 5, 2011

Thing-A-Day


 During the month of February, I participated in a blog called Thing-a-day.  It's a collective blog where participants pledge to create something, every day during the month of February and post it to the group.  I figured it would get me motivated to crochet and knit items to add to my craft show inventory and open the  online store I've been planning.  Yeah, right. Just like my efforts at Nanowrimo, I got sidetracked.

 The first several days went as planned.  I've seen a lot of sewn clothing for 18 inch dolls, but no crocheted or knit accessories.  So, I made a hat and a couple of scarves with some yarn I had left over from other projects. This yarn was left from a kids hat and scarf set I made recently. 




 This little purse started as a hat for this snowman.

He was supposed to be a cute amigurimi, but I think it looks more creepy than cute.  I couldn't get the top to flare out right like a top hat, so I put handles on it and it's now a beach bag for Barbie.  Of course, I had to make an obligatory dish cloth.




 And I spent two days making scarves from ribbon yarn-Lion Brand Incredible I found at a charity craft store.  I did a shorter, ascot like scarf, and a longer, more traditional fashion length scarf. 
Next, came the baby bib and face cloth.
   I took one day off because I just couldn't think of anything to do, and I needed a break.  Then, I looked through a pile of papers and saw that I needed to get my income taxes done before March 1 do meet the deadline for local property tax paperwork.  It took a while to get my receipts together and get everything organized.  So, I got this pillow finished during the time I wasn't organizing and sorting.  I wanted to have it finished in time for the Vanna's Choice contest, but I didn't get it done in time.   

Early in January, I found red, white and green Red Heart Super Saver in my yarn stash, so I planned to make a Christmas afghan to take to the Fall shows.  I did one square in January, and took around 3 days or so to do this square.  It's a cable pattern I found on Vogue Knitting website.  With only 2 squares done,  I have a long ways to go before I get this afghan done.  Hopefully it'll be done by this Christmas, although to do that, I may need to add some crochet squares.  I'm not the fastest knitter in the world.
 
 I also felt the need this month to replenish my baby blanket stash, since I sold them all during my shows last Fall.  This one took a week to make with Bernat Softee Baby.  I used to really like this yarn, but this batch wasn't that great.  It looked rather fuzzy once it was done, almost like it had been laundered.  Maybe it's just me, though.



 
The last week of February turned out to be busier than usual.  My brother was bitten by one of his dogs several years ago and had ended up in a local hospital for a week on intravenous antibiotics.  The hospital not only gave him antibiotics, but sent him home with a drug resistant bacteria.  Well, it flared up this past month with a couple of abscesses under his armpit.  Add a nasty reaction to a drug complete with tongue swelling and the inability to eat much, I had less time to craft than usual. Which lead to the two day burp pad.  I grabbed a ball of blue Peaches and Cream cotton and went to town.

The last couple of days I wasn't feeling that great. The weather changed rapidly and we had a snow storm, which meant worse migraines.  But, I  managed to cut up a plastic bag  to start a ball of "plarn", that I want to use for something.  Maybe a tote bag, or a liner for a grocery bag. The bag was already ripped, so it didn't take long to cut it apart.  I have a lot of bags in my garage, so I'll be making a lot more of this.


 
The last day of February, figured I wouldn't have time to do too much, so I got together all the bandannas my dogs have gotten from the Groomer over the past three years they've been living here along with the ones I made for their Christmas photos.  I plan to sew them together to make a throw.   I ironed them all-they'd been washed previously, and now they're sitting on top of a stack of storage drawers to be sorted by size and paired off.   I guess that's not bad for a month's work.  Considering there were other people who didn't create something every day, I did pretty well in comparison.  Maybe next year I'll have better luck.