I went to Dallas - crocheted flowers, Mutant Leeches, and Cupcakes!

OK, until the last few days we haven't had much snow around here, but it seemed as good an excuse as any to explain why I haven't updated the blog all month.  Best-laid plans, and all that, as Robert Burns (whose birthday was celebrated last Sunday) would say.

In the meantime, I finished the hat I was knitting at the turn of the year:

Sadly, it is too big for me.  I do have quite a bit of yarn left, hopefully enough to make the mittens and a new hat.  A friend tried it on and said it fits her so she wants it, but I don't know if she will buy it or just wants it gifted.  The hat might go into my Etsy shop.

I donated a reflective yarn hat to the silent auction at a friend's weeklong storytelling and arts event. As you can see, it's neon yellow and has threads that reflect.  The hat can be less pointy if pulled down, and the bottom edge can roll up into double thickness if wanted.

I went to Dallas to see "The Cupcake Conspiracy" and "The Attack of the Killer Mutant Leeches" (one of the Pocket Sandwich Theater's infamous popcorn-tossing melodramas), and while there stopped by the Crochet Texas! monthly meeting and learned how to make flowers from buttons.  These are the ones from the class; the two circled ones are mine:

We got to eat cupcakes of course!  Local bakers provided them at every performance of Rover Dramawerks' "The Cupcake Conspiracy."  My friend Kim made these, and the Cherry Cheesecake ones were very yummy:

So yummy, we said, that people come from Connecticut to eat them!

Resolutions for 2015

I've been thinking about whether to post them, and why not?  I did last year, and it's not as if I have thousands of people reading the blog and keeping me accountable, so there's less pressure to actually DO them.  And it's fun to keep track, sometimes, and figure out where I am in terms of what I think I could accomplish this year.

So for this year, the three resolutions I am making are:

1. To keep the blog more up-to-date, posting at least once a month.  I know, it didn't happen last year, but that's a good reason to re-use it, to see if I can make the goal this year.  Once a month isn't horrendous.  I know where I fall down is because I want to use pictures, and that means resizing them and sometimes other adjustments to get Blogger to like the arrangement I want to show.
2. Keeping a record of everything I knit, crochet, etc.  I've done that sometimes in the past, and there are usually partial records as I blog, or post on Facebook, or keep records for my taxes, or get pictures of people wearing what I have sent.  It's interesting sometimes to keep a real record and look back to see how many of what I have made, or even just finished, in the year.
3. Put together the standing computer desk I bought, when I hurt my hip and then annoyed a back muscle and sitting was painful.  I've used a kluge when I needed to stand and work, in part because I have to clear and partially re-arrange my office area to put the desk where it will work with the rest of the items I have.  I'm well and have this enforced vacation from work, may as well put it to use!

So far this year, I spent yesterday organizing things in my crawlspace, and the extra area I use for yarn storage overflow.  I am trying to get the overflow to fit into the crawlspace, and might succeed, in part because I pulled out a lot of yarn to donate to my father's church, where a group of ladies knits and crochets items for shelters, the kids who come to the afterschool tutoring program, and so on.  A great place for odd balls of yarn to end up, or yarn from projects that never quite got started.

I also started a hat for me.  I decided that I want my first new project of the new year to be something for me, and special, and the hat I planned to wear this winter came out a bit big on me so I put it into my Etsy shop instead.  Since I've gotten into entrelac in the round over the holiday, beginning with this mitt:

Not quite one ball makes one mitt.  Yes, I will finish the other!

I decided to find a hat pattern and use some yarn I have in the stash.  In part it is because I found the yarn in my cleaning, and decided to use it for a hat and mittens for me.  I noticed that the yarn ("mystery bump" from Tidal Yarns) has very long colour changes and I thought that instead of making plain items, it would be fun to take advantage of that and make them in entrelac.  Here's what I have so far:

Not much done because I was busy organizing on January 1st.

The second hank, at the top, and whatever is left over from the hat-ball will become mittens.  The yarn is soft and squishy and I am enjoying knitting it.

My cordless drill needs charging, so I guess it's back to knitting.  Or maybe I'll replace the bulb in the entryway ceiling light.  And there might be a couple upstairs.  I like quick-to-finish chores!  Then I'll get back to knitting.