For Lo, the Winter is past... Well, it's still 21 degrees F up here in the frozen northland, but the sun is out today and there's a promise of spring in the air. It's a good time for a new beginning.
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Rummage season is a few months in the future, but I answered an ad on Craigslist and bought a bag of yarn, sight-unseen, for $5. It turned out to be 19 complete skeins of the yarn shown here---of course, it's a rather pinky shade called "antique rose", although I'm telling myself it's sort of a dusky mauve. It's acrylic, but very soft with a bit of a sheen. Certainly enough for an afghan, and not dirty or musty or anything unacceptable. There was also a tangled skein of some white cotton, which I can use for a few cloths. All in all, a good beginning.
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I also recently made a nice purse out of some chennile gifted to me, paired up with some snazzy wooden handles and a button, both salvaged from a thrift shop purse.
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It's just two hexagons crocheted together. I used a double strand of yarn and crocheted the motifs very tightly, then just put them together with a bit of a decorative seam with bobbles on each corner. It's thick and spongy and doesn't need a lining, although I prefer a shoulder strap.
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My biggest decision right now is whether to award myself the entire $20 for the new year, or try to get by on less, considering the fact that I have some stash left from my last year's budget. I'm just going to wing it for awhile until I see what kind of bargains are out there.
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I saw a wonderful documentary recently about the Hamlin fistula hospital in Ethiopia, and was curious about the patchwork shawls many of the patients were wearing. A bit of googling resulted in the knowledge that these were made by a group of Methodist women in the UK, along with some Australian knitters. It was very cool to find out that the residents--who stay at the hospital for several weeks--are now knitting the shawls themselves for the new arrivals. I love a good knitting story. It seems that there is no end to the number of good causes out there that needlewomen around the world contribute to.
My own little charity--Christmas hats for teens in the shelter here--is already shaping up for new year. I've decided to make all the hats in a black/cream color scheme, and am putting any appropriate yarn aside. The 2009 hats will be earflap hats, both in knit and crochet. I wanted to do something a little more "hip" (do people still say that?) than I did this past year. I already have black and cream yarn enough for about four or five hats, thanks to Barbara and Lisa. It's a good project to carry around in my purse when I'm babysitting or socializing.
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The "Sweet Scallops" blankie is finally done, and will be up here in a few days. It's so big, I want to get out on the porch to take a proper picture. I still need one more blankie for all the upcoming babies, but I'm tired of big projects right now and want to work on some thread projects first.
There's so much to look forward to! Life is good. Hugs to all.
3 comments:
Pink! Your favorite color. It'll make a pretty afghan or a bunch of hats. Maybe you can stripe brown hats with it for a Neopolitan ice cream look.
Interesting purse idea.
You're so creative.
Glad you are doing this for year 2!! Being I have no yarn budget at all. This is very inspireing that you only spent 20.00 on yarn. I have a small stash and I plan on useing it up and being creative on how I get new yarn. Looking at yarn at thrift and yard sales will never be the same now. lol.
I have just stumbled upon your blog while hunting for a few things to put in my own blog for today. It was supposed to take me 45 min tops but I've been reading yours for more than an hour!
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http://ramblings-yarntangler.blogspot.com
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