stretchy fun

 I got a Cra-Z Loom super loom ( I am not advertising Toys R Us) and have been experimenting. You can make a very wide bracelet with this, and they advertise making banners and such; I don't know about that, but you can hook them together and make big rubber fabric. I don't want to do that, but I've been making bracelets again. I've given away LOTS of them but don't know what to do with all of them, LOL

My favorites are the beaded ones. I already gave away the first one. :)

Yarny stuff

All done. I ended it with a shell stitch border. I like it. Originally I was going to donate this somewhere but I love the colors so right now it is on my bed. :) I can't seem to take its pictures so the colors are not somewhere near true... yes I have a better camera. Somewhere. Being a casual blogger not worried about What Anyone Thinks, oh well. I can look at it and know what color it is. LOL

Next up. I've been going through my stash. Yesterday I saw that my Old Faithful yarn is being discontinued. Lately it's been rough textured anyway and Lorna gave me some Caron Simply Soft and it is just that, simply soft! Mom has been making a blanket with it and it is lovely. She also gave me some sparkly stuff but only one skein each-- and they have that in the store now, so if I want to make something bigger than one skein worth, I can. I saw Lorna has a pattern I want to try... well lots of them, but this one especially caught my eye. Short Row Shawlette I'm thinking that would look cute in that sparkly stuff. I am not endorsing the seller; never bought from them, LOL it's just the first clear picture I found. I think the pattern is simple enough for even me but I'll start it at my mom's or maybe I should have lunch with Lorna soon. 

I have always been a Simpleton where knitting and crocheting is concerned; patterns intimidate me. Dive in, right? Maybe my relatives will even get some yarny gifts. Don't hold your breath. LOL

AND.... drum roll. I finished a UFO I had forgotten about. All I had to do is weave in ends, LOL but hey it counts....

I Said I would Post My Progress Every Day so here it is. LOL

Today was one of those crochet a few rows then rip it out days. We went to get the new tires on my car and I knew we were going to wait so I brought along my little bag of cotton yarn that I use to make wash cloths. Usually I just start and go, but today I was restless and couldn't seem to get going on a pattern I liked. So in the end, I just got mad and ripped it all out.

Tomorrow is another day.

The Giant Granny

Trying to figure out just how big to make this. I love watching it get bigger. So far, it is about 40 inches square. I googled and found lots of pictures of other giant grannies-- all different sizes. I seem to always want to see what is the "right size" and guess what there isn't one.

I guess I have to figure out what it is for.

Here's a site I am going to explore some more...http://easycrochetpattern.blogspot.com/

I like the edging she put on her giant granny. I hadn't thought about an edging.

When I started this, it was going to be a rainbow. Then as I got going on it, I changed my mind. I had a bit of the blue-purple variegated (Red Heart yarn) left over from my daughter's afghan  and so I decided to go that direction.

Now. I've used up all the scrap yarn except small balls. Now what to do. Buy more yarn to make it bigger and use it as a coverlet for my bed, or leave it at this size and donate it somewhere? I really like it. But I'm trying to use up the Old so I can do New. I'm leaning toward buying more; Red Heart is not expensive and it wouldn't cost me more than $10 I think. One more navy, one more purple... then it could be diagonally on my bed over the blue bedspread I already have. I like changing the look of my bed often. That's going to be more of a guest room, so it will be pretty without being too "girly". Can't believe I actually have PURPLE in my bedroom. When I was little, I hated pink and purple. But this isn't THAT kind of purple. LOL and it goes well with my purple and blue plaid sheets.

Decisions, decisions....

I love her never-ending granny... and here's a tutorial: spiral granny
I didn't use a tutorial, I just kept going around and around. Nothing to think about and you only have to count to three. Great for working on while visiting with my mom.

UFO

I don't even remember when I started this. Now it's halfway done. I did a similar one for my daughter awhile ago, and have been attempting to use up my yarn stash--which isn't very big, just three drawers and a suitcase--but trying to Organize, and found this and I had forgotten all about it. One big granny square, I don't have to even think about anything. Just YO and pull through. No pattern, just 3 DC in each space and 6 DC in the corners. Easy peasy.

So in between holding my adorable new grandson and doing whatever I'm doing around here, I am trying to finish it.

The rest of the UFO's? A diagonally knitted afghan, which probably won't get finished this summer, it is just to hot to knit. Even crochet is a stretch, but the granny square isn't as hot as that knitted one.

The last UFO I am counting as ONE project although it's really two. I have one finished sock and two finished sock tops. I decided to do them together so I wouldn't forget what I was doing between socks.  So technically, it's two pairs of socks to finish. But I put them all in the same bag so it's only ONE, right? Sigh.

I can't think of any other yarn UFO's but I might find one in That Dresser that I need to finish cleaning out. Don't even ask about the UFO quilts. Not today.

Oh yeah. I just remembered. There's one more good-sized bag of yarn in there *blush* it will be years until I use it all up. And I just shared a bunch with my mom. LOL

Rubber Band Jewelry

It started when two of my grandsons wanted Rainbow looms. Then I went over to CJ's house and there he was working on it. He's been doing some amazing stuff. Crafter that I am, I HAD to learn. I didn't want to spend $15 on a loom, but when I saw the Monstertail loom I got it. Now I've been making them.

These are what CJ made for me:

I'm going to have to spend time with him (what a hardship, LOL) and learn how to use the Rainbow Loom. But this is what I've been doing with the Monster Tail:

basic simple patterns with the Monstertail loom

This thick one is a triple criss-cross pattern. I put beads on the edge bands. I don't like how the c-clip closures look, so I covered them with a button.

There are an incredible amount of video tutorial for these bracelets, from simple to complex. It's a lot of fun. However. I have to figure out who to give these to. ;)

Well then! Onward!

FINALLY I am not spending all my time Not Sitting. It has been hard not sewing much and either Standing or Lying Down. I've been exercising, walking and otherwise trying to recover. I am still in pain, but at least it isn't excruciating any more. I got some x rays done to see what these old bones are doing, and he said I have scoliosis! I wonder if that's new?

Anyway. I finished a quilt top, and will be teaching a class using the pattern. It is a simple quilt, but hopeful that SOMEONE will want to make it! Actually, the day it was displayed a woman bought over $100 worth of fabric to make two of them. So the quilt paid for itself already.

It is called Take Five and you're supposed to be able to make it in five hours. Me? I was fighting a sewing machine for control of the 1/4 inch seams. It was winning too much so I ended up ripping. I think if you were sewing on a great machine, turned off your phone, and focused, you could do it. Probably in less time than 5 hours! This is the quilt to make when you really don't want to think about it beyond fabric choice.

Here is a picture of my quilt top. I love the colors. It is bright but kind of dreamy too.