Fall is Coming

With fall coming, many of us get back to the routines that were abandoned earlier.  I find it rather interesting how the lives of so many revolve around school even if we do not have children.  

However, with that said, my fall this year does have some bearing on school as I am returning to night classes this fall.  I decided back in the spring that it was time to return to school and am working on my business certificate/diploma/I am not 100% sure.  The school I go to has a variety of different programs which are all connected which is why I am not exactly sure where I will end up.

I will be taking two classes this fall – one of which is a night class and the other is an online class. I do not expect either one to be too difficult as they are introductory classes.   Most of the difficult classes have been completed as part of my accounting certificate but I know I have one or two math classes to take.

Fall also means a return to my craft group which I am looking forward to.  While I have been crafting this summer with some different groups, it will be nice to return to this group as well.  This will bring my crafting time to two times a week and possible a bit more if my twitter group gets together and I am able to attend.

Another thing that I appreciate about fall is the cooler temperatures, although, I am not a fan of the cold temperatures that will come later.  But for now, I will continue to ignore them and not think about them.

Looking for: Yarn!

I am looking for yarn to use for Charity projects.  It can be gaudy, it can be half a ball, and it can be whatever you can and are willing to donate.  Acrylic is lovely and wonderful!

I am currently working on blankets to donate to the animal shelters.  I know SCAT accepts donations and I will likely look into the SPCA as well.  I have made 2 blankets so far and would like to make a whole lot more.  For those yarns that I have less of, I am hoping to make cat toys that the shelters can also sell.  

And when the yarn gets to be too little for that, there is a lady in my craft guild who donates the itty bitty bits to a church who uses them to make dolls for packing dental supplies for a third world countries.  So many places will benefit!  Last time, I had a grocery bag worth of little scraps just from my own projects, and I already have a quarter of a grocery bag!

Making Crafts with Cat Hair?

I know my cats loose quite a bit of hair, I just need to look at my comforter for confirmation of that!  But I'm not sure about using that hair to make crafts.  But if you want to try, you may want to purchase this book from Etsy.

How to Make Crafts with Cat Hair

You will also need to be able to speak Japanese.

An interesting concept, but do we really need to be that frugal?

Time for New Projects!

So I managed to finish off my knitting projects, and its time to start some new ones.  I did attempt to start some socks the other night but didn't get too far, I just ripped it out several times.  I will try again another day.

I also have started a new crochet project - a granny square blanket.  I am using blue and pink together and will be donating it to the Crisis Nursery along with all the scarves I have made.  I did notice night that I have a scarf that I haven't finished in crochet, but I think I only have a row or two left (long rows) so I can finish it without too much effort.

I will have pictures in a few days.  :)

My Pretties!

I made myself a scarf with Pomp-a-doodle yarn.  The colour is called African Violet.  I used 2 balls to make it the length I wanted.

Some of the yarn I picked up on Boxing Day at Michaels. 

Boxing Day Shopping Made Easy

I am not a Boxing Day shopper; I am not a shopper at the best of times.  But, I received my flyers and went through them to see if there was anything worth my time and money.  And I did find one thing.

Michaels Flyer

As you may know, I recently learnt how to knit, and I have picked up my crochet needles again.  And while I have not gotten through much of my stash, a girl can never have too much yarn stash, can she?  (I think some of the threads on Ravelry are getting to me!).   

Michael’s was kind enough to have several different types of yarn on sales, and generously included a coupon that was good for 25% off everything you purchased, including those items that were already on sale!  This coupon cinched the deal for me, and I headed out at 11:30 this morning to go shopping.

I got some great deals; at least, I think they were, as much of the yarn I bought was 50% off, and then another 25% off.  I ultimately spent 100 bucks; although, I did buy a hook for 10 dollars, a photo box for 2 bucks and probably about 10 dollars worth of scrap booking materials.  The great thing is, I already have projects in mind for some of the yarn, and as a result, I had to buy 4 or 5 skeins of most yarns to make sure if I changed which yarn I was going to use, I would still have enough.  :)

Different Storage Option

Well, i decided that the cedar chest just is not going to work for me.  But, in the meantime, I have received a dresser which I am now able to use to store my clothing in my bedroom, instead of in the spare room.  Therefore, the yarn can now live in the dresser and I can sort it in some sort of method.  Now, I have to decide on a good method to store it.   Now I can use the cedar cabinet for its proper purpose, to store quilts and blankets.  :)

You are Invited - Saskatoon Craft Guild

The craft guild gets back together this Wednesday, September 15.

If you are looking to get out once a week to work on your craft, you may want to consider checking out the group.  There is knitting, crochet, needlepoint, quilting, smocking, hardanger and a few others that I cannot recall.

Details:
September 15. 2010
7 to 9 pm
1021 Sask Cres W  Masonic Temple

I will not be there this wednesday, but if you choose to attend, you can say that Sharon from Knitting invited you.  If you decide you like the group, there is a yearly fee and the group goes until April.  The fee is $50, which covers the rental cost and other expenses for the group.

Crocheting a Blanket

Before finding out my girl friend was pregnant, I had decided to start knitting a baby blanket, knowing it would take me a while to finish it, and this way I knew I would have it done before baby arrived. Unfortunately, this first blanket did not turn out in a way that made me happy, but it only took me three months to do it.

I embarked on a second quest to create a different pattern, but it was taking me way too long to do it. I had already been working on it a month and had only completed about 4 inches. Time was ticking away, so I needed to find something else.


In searching Ravelry, I found this great blanket that was a single crochet, but with a larger needle. With a modification of using a smaller needle, I made this blanket over the course of a week. It ended up heavier than I would have liked, so I ended up making a fourth blanket, and gave my friend both once her baby was born. This fourth blanket turned out perfectly, as it was lighter due to only using 3 strands instead of 2, and because I used a larger needle than the other. My friend assured me she would use both, and she was thrilled with the gift.

Winding Yarn

Lately I have gone on a bit of a yarn buying spree through Ebay.  All this yarn has come in lovely hanks or in the round, which is not very conducive to knitting or crocheting with.  So I have endeavored to turn these into balls which can be worked with more easily.

The first hank, well, I didn’t pre-think how to do it, I just dove in.  That is a huge mess which I may just end up tossing.  Thankfully I didn’t spend a lot of money on it, but I still hate the thought of tossing something out.

After the first failed experiment, I decided to do a little bit of reading to find a better way to accomplish this task.  Here is how I started it out, as the suggestion was to put it around a chair or something else, but my chairs were not wide enough.

Once I got down to about ¼ left, it kept falling off and I missed catching it the one time and it completely tangled.  It took me 3 hours to sort that tangle out.  :(  I still need to improve my methods, but at least I got it wound.

My latest Craft Project

After my first knit baby blanket did not turn out so well, I decided to create a second one.  I am only about 6 inches into it, and the baby is due in just over 70 days.  Last night I took a look to see if it is going well, or if it needs to be frogged, and well, it needs to be frogged.  I managed to turn the pattern around, which isn't that huge of a deal, and I see that the pattern is leaning a bit.

I am going to switch to a crochet blanket.  I have already found a nice simple pattern that I should be able to get done in a relatively short time.

Welcome!

I decided to split up my one blog into two, so this is the beginning of this one.  I likely will move the posts from the other one over here.

This blog is more about my life, which seems to revolve around my cats and some of the crafts that I like to work on.  Along the side you will see a few links - WAH Sharon is about my quest to earn money online and The Scentsationals is about my Gold Canyon Candles business.

Sharon