Hats, Scarf and Cards--- Where did the week go?!

Go and check this artwork out, I own about 5 of her prints!

Today I wanted to start off with some cards and a minor rant...  I ADORE Doodlebug papers.  My fingers are so itchy to buy when I seem them 50% off a Joann's.  I don't even want to work with it, I want to horde it like a dragon.  I want the washi, the paper, the die cuts, the stickers, the icons...  I WANT IT ALL!!!!  See dragon below.  (Shoot! I need this print too now!)

With that said...  The Pot O' Gold collection was horrible to work with.  Not that images weren't cute.  They were, but for the love of all that is crafty!  This collection just was such a mismatch of sentiments.  There was so much Valentine's Day over laid with St. Patrick's Day.  It really didn't lend itself to to St. Patrick's Day cards through out.  I was able to use more of the love themes for my grand-kids' cards and things to send my family with kinder; but very hard to create general greetings for friends...  And while the frogs are green and super adorbs; they aren't really in theme. 

I also worked with Echo Park Lucky Charm...  Same thing except really uninspiring for scrapping or card making.  It was very lack luster to me.  It was very hard to work with the journaling cards to create cards that were general for sending to friends.  

There are a few more cards that haven't been finished yet that use both paper sets.  I also have a lot of left overs that could be incorporated with something for next year maybe.  Right now though, even as a beginner, I am burned out from the energy it took to make this happen this far.

There are some duplicates.  I used a few sketches to help me with inspiration to maybe get more from it...  This was just so much harder than it had to be.

 I haven't decided what the inside of the cards will say, because of the nature of the cards.  I am going to have to have different things for different groups.

The next thing paper craft things is a set of Sock Monkey Cards.  This are a work in progress.  I am still trying to figure out how to get a lot of cards, but keep the monkey theme prominent.  The set is made for scrapbooking, so there are only 8 monkey stickers to use.  I may have to break out my Cricut to see what I can do to make more embellishments.

I had a rough day of fails last night.  I was so happy to end with finding red glitter rick-rack tape in my washi bin.  It looks so cute with the paper and a great accent to the more plain start on the first cards.

PS I am pretty sure that came from the Dollar Tree years ago.  How cute!

I did get two hats done to donate.  As I said last week, I am wanting to crochet or knit two hats a week during Lent this week.  I used two balls left over from the Harry Potter Blanket (still haven't had time to block the blocks). 

The pattern I used for these is Wanderlust Beanie I am in love with the texture on these.  I think I will use the same pattern again this week.  The fabric stretches over the head easily but is super snuggly on the head.  I may have to come back to this pattern after Lent and make one for myself along with the matching scarf.  I am sure I have a worsted weight in a pink or purple I could use.

Look at that texture!  This is done with some FPDC and BPDC.  So much fun and not hard to work on.  The worst part was bad lighting because it was back to being super moopy again this past weekend.





The final thing for me to share from crafting is my progress on the Doctor Who Scarf.  I am still not 25% done yet.  I am still having fits with the ends.  I tried to weave in as I went and it just isn't working.  So now I am going to have to use my needle...  So in other words, it might take me 6 years to "finish" this scarf.  At least I won't have to block it...

Good news, I will be watching my grandson a lot the next two weeks, so I will have a good deal of time where I won't be able to leave the living room.  Maybe I will get some work done on the variegated baby blanket and the scarf.  I am not sure how well he will behave without me being in eye sight.  Normally he is pretty good for me, but with a toddler, you never know who is showing up hour to hour.

Here is to more progress on working the stash down.

Love and joy to you all!

My First Post About Home Making - "Getting it All Done"

I thought a really good place to start off posting about Home Making would be answering the question I get the most from friends and family.  "How do you do it all?"  There is a fairly simple answer...  I really don't.  On days that I do though, I spend about an hour cleaning at most.  So, keeping up with the housework will be where I start explaining the apparent phenomena of "Getting it All Done."

Yes, I get a lot done in a day.  There are very few days where a large group of things don't get done, but I have learned when to walk away.  Some weeks are impeded by the moopies, some by life and there are other days where everything doesn't get done because I don't feel like it.

Most days though, I follow a schedule.  I am a person who thrives off of routine.  Routine helps to make sure I don't forget things.  Routine makes sure I know what I need to do.  Routine also helps to keep headaches and frustrations at bay.

For years I have been in search of the perfect schedule.  The perfect plan.  The plan that doesn't workload days to the point you can't do them when LIFE strikes.  Last year, I found a wonderful frame work to base my schedule off of.  THE SCHEDULE...  Go and hit that link to see what I mean.  To be honest I followed this for the whole 5 weeks.  I was diligent, we were heading into the holidays and I needed my house to be super clean and keep it that way for 2 months.  This is fairly simple and could be done for the most part while waiting on dinner to cook after work.

The first 5 weeks were a bore and a chore, but I was starting off from a very clean house when I started moving things around.  That is the beauty of find a good starting place.  Things are already planned for you.  You just blindly follow them until you realize where the holes are for your house.  The first week will take the most time over all.  Some of the chores on the list won't have been done in 6 months or longer when you start, but once done they take less and less time to repeat.

First I moved vacuuming to Friday.  Then came cleaning my windows once a month (we don't have kids or dogs so they really don't get that dirty).  At Christmas we added our tiny tiger, Pippin, to the family so I needed to add an extra day of vacuuming to keep up with the fur.  I moved vacuuming out the sofas to Friday because I didn't want to bring out the hose (I have central vac in my new house) just for taking care of the sofas but it was simple on the day I was already doing our floors.

I haven't retyped my schedule, but it is on my list of things to do.  Maybe one morning when I am time wasting drinking coffee I will pick it up and get started.  That way my husband can join in more readily when he is off work or working from home.  When I am sick he would know where to go for the list of what I need him to do.  That is assuming he learns how to use our washer (the loading of the HE washer is harder than the controls).

The other most important part to this though is knowing when to walk away.  When is it okay to skip a day or come back to it tomorrow.  This was very hard for me in particular.  I am a very Type A person who feels like it all needs to be done yesterday.  So when life got in the way, it was impossible for me to take a step back and relax even though my work wasn't done.  It wasn't uncommon to find me picking up or cleaning at 11 pm before going to bed just because I couldn't rest without that last load of laundry being folded.

This is another place where customization is personal.  What works for YOU is key.  Accepting that tomorrow you can finish what you start is important.  Our time together is important, more so than having a house that is put together.  My husband has never had an expectation of what I will or won't do.  He just rolls with it.  He is pretty low maintenance as long as the food is good and he doesn't run out of socks during the work week.

If you come home from work (I know not every who sees this will be a homemaker), have a rough day with the kids, had a lot of extra stuff going on or you just didn't sleep well; you won't have time or energy to do your chores for the day.  That is a good thing.  It means that you are human!  My house isn't always clean.  It isn't even apparently clean every day.  My goal is to try every day.  Make an effort to at least keep the minimum done for hygiene vs organization.

A good example of life being in the way was this week...  I have been on the go all week and I don't have a day this week where things aren't on my schedule to do outside of the house.  I didn't get my dusting done on Tuesday because I was gone all morning running errands.  I forgot to strip my bed Wednesday until I was crawling into it at 11:30.  Thursday (as I am writing this) I have things that need to be done in preparation of a meeting tonight, so I might only get caught up.  Tomorrow I have a doctor's appointment that could take 5 minutes or 2 hours...

All of that is okay.  It will be there tomorrow, Saturday, Sunday....  It may not get done until the next week's rotation.  And that is okay.  Your mental health and well being isn't worth the stress of a clean home.  Take what you need and just start fresh in the morning.  It is the best you can do.  The best gift you can offer yourself is a happy you.  That is also the best gift you can offer your family.  Yes, it is nice to have a clean house, but sometimes joy takes precedence and understanding that is very important to "Running a Happy Home".

Some days it is okay to just grab a glass of wine; curl up with your crafts/books/movie and just relax.  You won't do a good job if you are angry, tired or moopy; just tackle it tomorrow when you are more refreshed and ready to go at them again.

It is time for me to go and get my chores done this morning.  Maybe I can even fit in my workout, LOL, most likely not...  But I hope that there was some helpful information in here.  Especially if you know me in person and have wondered what really goes on around my house.

Planning, excitement and following through

Hey guys!  I know that this post will be going up late.  I have been in a huge cycle of "moopies" the last week.  I am not sick, thank goodness, but the over cast weather and busy schedule has really caught up to me since last Thursday.  I have been missing workouts and not really doing as much as I want to.  My motivation has been slipping...

With that said, I did get work done on "The Great Craftdown of 2018".  I got the boarders on all of my blocks for the Harry Potter blanket.  I have them set and ready to block next.  It will most likely be the end of next week before I get them blocked.  I have a lot going on this week and the start of next week.  It is really hard to take blocking to a doctor appointment....  Then again, I do have some serious dedication to getting the crochet done before the end of the month...

My first post coming back this year I mentioned that I had worked on some things that I didn't get pictures of.  Well, guess who started weaving in ends this Sunday!  MOI!  This is the first finished shawl of the year.  Super basic Corner to Corner design using Premier Sweet Roll yarn.




I took my "leftovers" from the red shawl and made this headband and scarf.  Not that they are a "set" per se, but they will most definitely be work as one.  I was very surprised to not have more leftovers than I did.  These both worked up so fast!

The headband pattern is Last Minute Ear Warmer by Cathy Wood.  Go and check out her blog, not just for this wonderful pattern, but for her other patterns.  She also provides some wonderfully detailed picture tutorials of advanced and unique techniques for her patterns.

The scarf is Soft Check Stitch Scarf.  I was really excited by this pattern because unlike a lot of keyhole scarf patterns I have been drawn to, it didn't matter the length you went with the scarf.  So many patterns I have noticed don't start with the keyhole, they put it in the middleish or the end.  You can't move it easily around for your height or the number of wraps you want your scarf to have.  The stitch pattern will prevent you from placing it at will.  Not so here.  I was able to make it a longer double wrap scarf and keep the keyhole to secure it with.

The next thing I worked hard on finishing was another group of shawls.  The bright striped one is made with Hobby Lobby Sugarwheel yarn.  If you haven't tried it out.  Dive in!  I love the colors and it works up so beautifully!  The second shawl was made with Caron Cakes.  I know many of you have worked with it, so I don't have to preach to the choir on how much fun these are.  The last one was worked with a Paton's worsted weight that I had left over from a poncho many, many moons ago.  I have had it so long I don't remember which line it was a part of or the colorway at this point.



Since my Harry Potter blanket is on hold, I decided to cast on a Doctor Who Scarf with the left overs.  So far it is going well.  I know by the time I am finished I am going to regret all of the ends I will have left to weave in.  I can't help but to be excited and overwhelmed with this project.  It is quite the undertaking and I am only just starting it out.

This week I do have a progress report for the new baby blanket I am working on.  There is something to at least show for it at this point.  The color way is so pretty!  This is just another Corner to Corner basic baby blanket.  The yarn is Red Heart Plum Pudding.  I have no idea where I got it from or when I got it.  I know it has to be in the last 3 years.  It was hiding in a box in my workout area.  I have some leftover Red Heart in a box in there.  I saw it through the side one morning while trying to take my mind off of doing beginner's opposite planks.

I am very excited about my progress with yarn.  I really need to have an afternoon or two where I can go and work on some paper projects!  My paper addiction is one of the reasons I started doing this to begin with!  I guess I would have more paper storage if I work down my yarn stash as well though...

Finally, I have set my Lenten devotion this year.  My goal is to work up 2 hats for Clean of Heart.  I know they will be late for this Winter really, but they can use them next Winter.  I spoke with one of the lovely women who started this outreach in our area about leaving them at the church for her to pick up.  She seemed really happy to know that at least there would be a few extras they can have.

I also would like to finish 4 baby blankets for Birth Right here in town as part of my Lenten Devotion.  That is more of a hope vs "I am setting aside time for this".  I can also crank out a hat very quickly if my day is my own.   This gives me something extra to work out every day just in case I finish my hats early.

Well ladies and gents, this was a long post.  As always Chez Penny is always a busy place to be and my fingers are always busy with something!  I am going to try to come back later this week to answer a few questions I get frequently from friends and family.  Until then; Love and blessings to you all!

I only spent $10 but still made progress on my stash

January has ended.  Carrie did good at staying on budget.  I am up to $10 spent on the year.  I got 2 6x6 paper pads and some sticker gems.  Nothing super exciting.  My Hobby Lobby also hasn't finished their markouts yet so who know what will happen as February continues.

This week wasn't super exciting to write about what I got done.  The few paltry pictures will show that work did get done, but it wasn't overly exciting.

First off, I did make A LOT of headway in the Harry Potter blanket.  So much so, that it might be done this time next week.  That is at least the crocheted half of it.  I am half way through the last block right now, so I am pretty excited. 

My next steps will be adding black and gold boarders to the blocks, steam blocking them, attaching bordering and then backing.  I am not looking forward to backing this blanket.  I have never felt the need to back crochet before.  This time it really needs it.  The small space I worked in made it hard to make it truly reversible like the Doctor Who blanket.  This is also going to be a baby blanket.  So I would really like that added backing for stability and cushion.  This would be a great throw on the floor kind of blanket, or a nice one to drape/hang.  So I want it to really be durable for either use.

If any of you know a good place to find Harry Potter Flannel...  I didn't see things that were generic, just the photo print or the British illustration print.  I would really like to have something that has the crest, HP, lighting bolts and broom sticks.  Maybe I need to find a set of sheets to cut apart.



Since I bought the yarn for this project planning on it being much larger...  I have a lot of left overs.  I am pretty excited though.  I was able to easily identify my next medium sized project just looking at my bag sitting here.  What will it be you ask, well a Doctor Who Scarf of course!  Every girl needs a 9 foot scarf for those lonely days waiting to hear and alien man shout, "Run!"  As I am down to the end of the HP project, I did pull the balls for the scarf in their own basket ready to be started. 

 The red tone leftovers will be used to make more hats for Little Hats Big Hearts.  The rest of the "left overs" are in a shopping bag waiting for an idea to strike me.  I am thinking some hats for men at the Men's Shelter for next year.  Maybe some granny blocks for lapghans.

Speaking of Little Hats Big Hearts.  I did finish off the last of the ball from last week's post.  I got two more hats out of it.  I didn't see any more red sitting in my stash waiting on a project, so I am going to have to play it by ear on doing more in the future.  I might uncover a whole stash of it hiding too.  I think I have some random boxes of yarn in my workout room and bedroom that are still in boxes from the move last year.

My last thing worth taking pictures of or talking about was the baby blanket.  I did get it finished.  I won at yarn chicken.  I have about 4 yards that got thrown in the basket for Hexie making.  The next one is already started, but it isn't worth a picture yet. 

The new one is in shades of purple and pink.  It will be my "car project".  When ever Troy is driving, I keep a bag in the kitchen of my "car project" so I can grab it as we walk out the door.  It is also the project I take to doctor's appointments or to keep my hands busy while visiting someone.  They take me a lot longer to finish, but they are made in my "wasted time" and there isn't a lot of that going around.

I hope that the next post is a little more exciting.  I still don't see a difference in my craft room because everything has been stuff that was already set aside as a whole project.  My next large project is the same way sadly.

I hope you guys have a wonderful week!  And don't forget, if you are following along, post your own pictures in the comments below.  I would love to see what you are working on as well!