Crafting and the heat

more baby hats

This past week I have to admit that the crafting has been way down.  Of course work is part of the reason and then the heat is another reason.

The hot and humid days and evenings has meant that I really haven't wanted to do anything other than try and stay cool.  I have been trying to get a least get a few stitches in each day but crocheting has been slow.

Over the last week I was able to finish a few hats which is nice and I have a few more that are partly done so hopefully I can get some of them finished up this week.  I think most of the hats currently on the go are white which is very different for me.

I want to see if I make a dent in some of the yarn that I have to work on.  I received a little bit of yarn last weekend from a girl who's grandmother passed away.  I have promised that I would make some baby hats with the yarn so that is what I have started to do.  I am going to be keeping these baby hats separate as we are going to try and get her to drop the hats off herself in memory of her grandmother.

Santa hat

The first hat that I made with some of that yarn was another Santa hat because I saw the red and white yarn and immediately thought of a couple more of these hats.  I enjoy making these hats and figured it would also be a little different.

I am not sure how many hats that I will get out of the yarn that I received but am looking forward to seeing them come tonight in the near future.  The hats from this yarn has taken a bit of a priority over my other baby hats as I want to get them back to the grand-daughter as quickly as I can. It feels so good working on these hats because I know it made her happy when I said that I would make the baby hats with the yarn.

I have a few more projects that are on the go but have to admit that with the hot and humid weather that we have been having I haven't wanted to do much.  This week is another hot and humid week so I will see what I can actually get accomplished.

There are a few work things that need my attention today so I am now going to try and get them done.  Hopefully this evening I can get a bit of crocheting done but will see how things go.

Weekly update on hats and more

More hats in July

After writing the last blog about reaching 335 hats I tried to finish a few more hats before the end of the month and there is a picture of the remaining hats.  The final total for the period from September 1st through July 31st is 348 hats so I am happy with that total.

Over the weekend I was able to get a few rounds done on an afghan that I wanted to start.  This is how much stitching I was able to complete on Sunday afternoon while sitting chatting with some friends.

Cotton Candy Afghan

With all the heat and humidity I haven't been crafting like I normally do but hopefully soon I will be able to get back to stitching and enjoying getting some of my projects finished up.  I am really looking forward to being able to spend a bit of time cross-stitching soon as I would like to see what a couple of the projects that I am currently working will look like.

This week the weather is still suppose to be hot and humid so will have to figure out projects that work will when I am sitting outside in the evenings.  Of course, I know that the baby hats work well because they are nice and small so that will help.

Cotton Candy Afghan Yarn

Last Friday I was able to drop off a pile of baby afghans and the baby hats at the hospital.  It was wonderful being able to talk with the Manager of the Birthing Centre, as she was able to tell me what size hats work best so now I am really do better at helping them meet their needs.  I thought one size I was making was a little large and that is the size that the hospital likes the best so that is what I will be working on more often. The baby afghans can be various sizes so that is also nice as I will work on getting a few more of them finished up so that they are ready for the next drop off.

It is now time to get some work done and then I will see what the weather will allow me to work on.  At least I have projects of various sizes and complexity so depending on what I feel like doing I have something that fits that need.

335

More hats

Yes, the subject line for this post is a little different but it also has a lot of meaning. This
is the number of days from September 1, 2015 through July 31, 2016.  Of course, that doesn't mean a lot until I say that I decided to see if I could actually make 335 hats between September 1 and July 31.

The good news is that as of July 24th I have been able to crochet 335 hats and am very happy with that.  Now to see how many more hats I can get completed before July 31st.  The reason I had July 31st as my end date is because it means that on July 29th I am going to be dropping off some hats and afghans at the hospital.  I have been getting a friend to drop hats off throughout the year but now it is my turn to do the delivery.  The hat count for this delivery is only around 70 hats right now but will see how many more I will be able to get finished this week.

Halloween hat

As promised here it the Halloween hat that I was making.  The colour isn't as bright as it is in person but I am happy wit how they are turning out.  I had thought about putting little stems on the top of each hat but then I decided that the hats don't need the extra bits on them.  I am still having fun crocheting more Halloween and Santa hats so that is what I am going to be working on this week.

The baby afghan that I started is finally starting to come along and I now have 8 of the squares completed and joined.  I am trying to decide if it is going to be a square or rectangle afghan.  Part of me is going to leave it until I have at least the 16 squares done and then I will determine if I want it bigger or not.  Another part of me is looking at it and wanting to make it a rectangle so will have to see what really happens as the week goes by.

Granny square afghan

The heat has slowed me down on the crafting and I have to admit that cross-stitch is something that I would love to be doing but considering the heat I haven't done any. I am hoping that this week I will be able to start working on a project that I am doing based on another picture.  It feels nice being able to do some of the designing and then start to see the image some to life.

There are a few things that I need to get done today so I am going to get them done and then if I can find a cool spot to craft. I would love to get another four or five Santa hats done this week before I do the delivery, as well as a couple more Halloween hats.  If the weather cooperates I will be able to get this hats done and if it is too hot I know that the hats will just be delivered on a different trip and probably by my friends.

As for now I am going to try and get some work done and see how things go.  If you are dealing with the heat and humidity like we are, stay cool.

Hot weather and crafting

Granny square afghan

After all of the frustration at the beginning of the week I was able to get a bit of crafting done after that.

The baby afghan that I started has been put aside and thanks to my mom having some yarn that I liked, I have started another afghan.  This afghan is working up better than the green and white one did.  These yarns are the same weight and I am liking how the colours are looking right now. I hope to be able to work on this afghan for a while this week and maybe I can get it done before the end of the month.  Finishing this afghan before the end of the month will really depend on what else I get into.

I have continued to work on baby hats and am feeling very good with the pile of hats that are currently sitting waiting to have ends sewn in.  I am thinking that one evening this week I am going to sew all the ends in on the hats that I have finished and may feel better about them. I currently have 20 hats completed and would like to have 31 hats done before the end of the month.  The latest hat that I am working on is an orange baby hat so that the hospital can have some Halloween hats.  I am going to have to take a picture of the orange hat once it is finished. The orange hat is a little brighter than I thought it was going to be but I know that the hospital will appreciate them no matter what.

This week I hope to be able to get some more crafting done in the evenings but first I have some work that needs to get done.  The weather will also impact what I work on because when it is hot and humid out I am not in the mood to hold anything too large. 

A frustration

Squares and yarn

I have previously  posted that I wanted to finish off an afghan that I was going to be working on this month and I figured I would have something a little different to show by the end of the month.  Well what I didn't expect after starting this afghan was the problem that I discovered last night when joining the first two granny squares together.

The yarn that I was using was Bernat Softee Baby. I figured using the same type of yarn would mean that the weight of the yarn would be the same.  The first square I did was the white square and it worked up really quickly and I figured this would be a project that I could quickly get done.

Yarn and squares

Yesterday I decided to work on the second squares so that I could get it joined and I would feel better about the progress on the afghan.  I sat working on the square as I wanted to get it jointed to the white square.  I noticed that it didn't seem quite as big as the white but figured it was just how I was looking at it and I didn't think anything about it.  I guess I should have stopped as soon as I started to join the square together because after joining it I discovered what I didn't want to see.  Even though the green square is the same number of rows and I used the same crochet hook is considerably smaller than the white ball of yarn.

I had another ball of the green yarn but with a different label and it felt like it would be better so I tried it as well.  Both of the green balls of  yarn are a thinner yarn than the white Bernat Softee Baby.

Squares

I am pretty frustrated with this because I had been looking forward to working on a baby afghan that was going to be different than the ones that I had making lately.  This was also a project that I could work on a bit at a time but also something that I was enjoying doing.

Now I have two squares finished for two different afghans and no desire to work on two afghans.  I had been looking forward to doing a two colour afghan this month.  I am extremely frustrated with the yarn because the labels have the same description on them but it is when you actually work with them you discover they are not the same.

For now I am going to continue to work on the baby hats and then I will think about what I am going to do with this squares.

Has this happened to you?  If so please let me know how you handled it.

Another week and lots of heat

Konecny logo - July 3rd

This last week I decided that even with the heat that we were having that I was going to try and get a little bit of crafting done.

Konecny logo - July 6th

It is difficult to craft when it is hot and humid out but I found a cool spot where I could do some work on the various projects and that is what I did.  One of the projects that I really wanted to see finished was the Konecny Consulting Logo that I started in April. I didn't think it would take too long to finish it if I could focus on it and not bounce between it and all the other cross-stitch that I want to do.

This past week I sat for a couple of evenings and finally got the piece finished.  It makes me very happy to be able to say that this piece is done and all I need to do now is stretch and frame it.  I am looking forward to hanging this up so that we have something with our company logo on other than our business cards and shirts.

July hats

Besides working on the cross-stitch I did continue to work on making some baby hats. I was able to get a few more done and now just need to sew some ends in before they go into the box for July. I love making these hats as they are something that really don't take a long time to do and I am work on them while sitting outside when it is hot out.

This week of course there are a lot of things on my plate that need my attention so I am going to see what I can get accomplished.  The forecast is once again for another week of heat and humidity so that will impact the amount of energy that I have for crafting but will see how it goes.

Now I need to look at the pile of work that needs my attention and then will see what I can get done this evening if it isn't too hot out.

Week of some crafting

All of June hats

 This last week gave me a little bit of time where crafting in the evening was possible.  It was nice being able to have a little bit of down down where crafting was actually possible.

The main part of the week was me working on a few baby hats and getting all the ends sewn in on all the hats that I had made in June. I had kept all the hats that I made in June in one box as I was interested to see how many hats were actually completed in the one month. 

Santa hat

The pictures with the file of hats is the results of the crocheting that I was able to get done in June.  The pile is of 38 baby hats that were completed during the month.  Two of the hats in this pile are Santa hats as they also need to get finished so that they can be delivered to the hospital so that they are there for Christmas.  These hats could also be used for Canada Day so I am going to be leaving it up to the hospital to use them when they see fit.

Konecny logo - June 8th

I have now started to fill up the box once again to see if I can get 32 hats done in July.  Of course, there are only 31 days in July but I would like to see if I can actually reach a total that I have been trying to do and that is 335 hats between September 1st and July 31st.  I am only 32 hats away from that goal so that is where the 32 comes from for this month.

Konecny logo - July 3rd

Having a three day weekend also meant that I was able to find a little bit of time to sit and cross-stitch.  I haven't had much of a chance to work on this design for a while so figured it would be good to even spend a little bit of time working on it and that is what I did yesterday afternoon.  This is one project that works well sitting outside as I am not just filling in some of the areas so I don't need the pattern when I am working on it.

I am hoping that within the next couple of weeks that I will be able to get the Konecny Consulting logo finished and that will be another project off the list.  I will see how much time I have for stitching as they weather will also determine what I end up working on in the evenings.  The hot and humid weather makes it very difficult to work on the cross-stitch so that is when the hats are worked on while sitting outside.

The weekend is now over so that means that work needs to get done before I have a chance to sit and craft hopefully this evening.  Hats, baby afghans and cross-stitch are some of the things I would like to do but will see what I actually get done.