Been Busy

I apologize for staying away so long. Here's my news.

I've put up enough pickles for the next year or so. I made several prayer shawls for people who were at death's door or going into surgery. I also crocheted a big blanket for a wedding that's coming up.  In between those, I started an etsy.com shop. http://www.etsy.com/shop/AvidYarnArtist?ref=shop_sugg Virtually everything in the shop was made or written up in the last month and a half.



This pattern is time consuming and a true stash buster. The wedding afghan looks like this except the edges are light green.

I finished writing and posted the Kindle edition of the Homemade Dog Food book:
http://www.amazon.com/Homemade-Dog-Food-Variations-ebook/dp/B00EJSOAHS/ref=sr_1_10?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1376582807&sr=1-10&keywords=homemade+dog+foodonce

I have also studied and started again on a vintage craft that we used to do back in the '70's. There is virtually nothing about this craft - no instructions, no patterns, no photos of this anywhere on the web. I've found out that the companies that used to sell kits of this craft have destroyed their files. Only the die-hard sixty-something crafters even remember this type of yarn art.

My plan is to blog, write ebooks, and post video instructions. I have the blog set up so far. http://meshweaver7.blogspot.com/

More to come, but please be understanding if my personal page isn't the thing I spend the most time writing.

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi

 

Finished with Prayer Shawls - for Now

Here are those last few lap robes for hospice.  We had about three extra weeks and I couldn't resist cranking out a few more before they went to hospice.

33 and 34

I made another after these two and didn't take the picture. Les said 34 was the number for endurance, but 35 was the number for hope. I had to make that last one.

A couple of ladies and I volunteered to lay out all of the blankets for the Sunday service. We had over 350 to lay out on the stage, the piano...everywhere except the where pastor walks and the musicians stand. We hung some "from the ceiling" sort of. Here are the pictures of that.

One of our ladies made over 200 no-sew, tie-the-knots baby blankets by herself. Wow!

Next - big-girl and big-boy afghans for my great-niece and -nephew.

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi

The Last Two Shawls for This Season

I finished shawl number 29.  I started on a lap robe to make it an even 30.  Then God told me that Sharon should get the purple shawl before she goes to surgery on Monday.

So I crammed in the rest of the lap robe and turned it in as number 29.

As I was chatting with the church secretary, she mentioned that she would like a black and white afghan because her office is basically unheated except for a space heater.  Seems like that's a little short-sighted of the builder, but I wasn't part of the planning committee on that issue - or any other part of the building for that matter.

Anyway, here are the last two pieces for hospice this season.

Only 13 rows left to go on the granny ripple.

Thanks for visiting with me,

Kathi Linz

Nearly There

Back in July, I started crocheting again after hurting my right hand just before Christmas.  I decided to get a little ahead on the prayer shawls and lap robes for hospice.  Our church collects baby blankets for the neonatal ward at Riley's Children's Hospital and the above mentioned shawls for hospice.  We have a service at Valentine's Day when the handiwork is prayed over and sent out to the intended destinations. 

I took a notion to count the weeks from the time I started crocheting until Valentine's Day and came up with 29 weeks.  I figured I would be able to average one shawl or lap robe per week.

Somewhere in there, I managed to wear out the tendons in my left shoulder.  No surprise, as I was turn ing out more than two a week.  During the 29 weeks, I would take off a couple of days here and a week there to rest my joints.  I never picked up my crochet hook once between November 17th and December 15th. 

At that point, I had finished 25 prayer shawls/lap robes, two full-sized afghans, three baby blankets, and a couple of scarves.

After taking a month off, I started craving yarn again, so I tried to fill up my promise of 29 shawls for the church project.  Since I had given 4 of the previous shawls to other people, I still needed to make another 9 shawls or lap robes. (I also made two doll blankets for my great-niece's Christmas present.)

Today I am halfway through number 29.

Here are some of the ones I recently finished.  I didn't take a picture of a turquoise granny triangle or a sage green lap robe.

The yellow and brown one in the upper photo was done in Bavarian crochet.  That is a very labor-intensive stitch and one I won't be repeating any time soon.

Thanks for visiting with me,

Kathi

Chocolate Granny Square Shawl

This is number 16 for hospice, a chocolate granny square prayer shawl.

Thanks for visiting with me,

Kathi

Two more prayer shawls

Blue woven prayer shawl

I've made lots of granny squares.  I believe this is the first one edged in orange.  Also this is the first one that I used a join-as-you-go method.  It certainly shortened the finishing time.

More to come.

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi

Two More Prayer Shawls

Pink V-Stitch Shawl

I finally figured out how to do the yo-yo crochet stitch.  It isn't hard, but every strip starts from a beginning chain.  This one worked up pretty quickly.

I originally wanted to make one shawl or lap robe a week until Valentine's Day.  I seem to be averaging twice that much.  I don't know if I can keep up the pace.  We'll see.

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi

Lap Robe

I've crocheted three shawls for hospice.  I'm sure there are men in their care, too.  So I'm trying to make something the guys will appreciate. 

There's the first one for this season:

I used two strands of yarn together.  This is a thick, warm lap robe. 

Thanks for visiting with me,

Kathi