Crochet session

Cindy Holovach, Fort Worth, TX

Today, I was able to have a friend come over for a teaching session. She had been over once previously and had finished one cap and been working on making scarves since then. She brought along some new yarn and we started on another cap and reviewed crocheting in the round. We both worked on caps with different yarns and sizes and the same time. We had some fun learning a new stitch and even made a pom pom to put on top of her cap. The cap came out really well, it is adorable! She's modeling it in the picture. Meanwhile, I made a few caps, the one skein made 3 caps. I didn't do anything fancy with them, I may add some ribbon or buttons later but the pattern on them is pretty nice on it's own so I may not add anything. It was really nice to spend a few hours focused on crochet and having a nice chat as well. It's been too long since I did that and I have had 2 days in a row :)

New supplies

Suzie McIntire, Kansas

Unfortunately, I was sick the week headed into Christmas and wasn't going to chance delivering the caps to the cancer center until I was absolutely sure I was well. I finished the antibiotic the weekend before Christmas but the symptoms haven't completely subsided yet. I traveled a bit for Christmas as well so between the travel and being sick, I haven't gotten any new caps made. However, I did make a stop to pick up some new supplies with a gift from my aunt. I used a gift card she sent to pick up not only yarn, but this knit and weave loom kit. It is flexible to make a variety of items and sizes that I can use to make some new types of caps. I've started a new pattern and have plans to teach another lesson this weekend. Hopefully the next post will have more news.

Alpaca Yarn

Terry Raines, Dallas, TX

Two beautiful alpacas, named Robert and Pickles, donated the fiber for this yarn that I received yesterday! You can read more about them and their home, Pronkin Pastures at their website (http://www.pronkinpastures.com/) if you are interested. You can even buy your own alpaca or yarn from them :) The yarn is soft and sturdy and I'm sure each skein will make a great, soft, comfy cap or two. I'm still trying to finish up a few more caps for delivery this week so I will wait until the Christmas ones are finished before I start with the alpaca yarn but I am looking forward to trying something different with this fun new yarn.


I'm hoping to be able to post pictures from some donation drops this week. The caps are made and sorted and I'm getting some help tomorrow getting them labeled and tagged for delivery.

Christmas Caps

I can't believe another week has gone by and it's a week into December! I'm still surprised at how much the surgery slowed me down but the past couple of days there has been a lot of improvement. And with that improvement I've also been able to focus on making some more caps again. I still have plans to deliver caps to the Grapevine Cooks Children's Hospital before Christmas so I made them in Christmas colors to add to the that batch. Several people are interested in additional learning sessions, so I hope to get back to teaching crochet as well as making more caps again. Of course, on top of the busy Christmas season, I still have my various appointments keeping me busy but I always try to bring something along to work on in the waiting room, that's my secret to getting so many done!

Surgery slow down

"Prepared" for surgery

It's been too long since my last post! I had surgery on the 22nd and while I knew I would be stuck in bed, I had hoped I would crochet quite a bit during this time, but I spent most of the next 3 days unable to do much due to some medication side effects. I only got around to crochet on the 4th day so I stuck with some smaller projects (bracelets, headbands, etc.). Then, I went back to work on the 5th day, which turned out to be a bad idea, as I needed to "slow down" again and after another visit to the surgeon, I was in bed again for the rest of the next few days, again only getting to crochet on the last day. I went back to work again for most of the day today so I'm not much further along on any cap preparation or delivery.  I am really looking forward to the weekend and some more time to sit back, relax and crochet a bit! Hopefully my next post will have a few more caps to share but it will probably be a couple more days before I start working on them again. I want to get the finished caps all delivered by Christmas and then start up a new batch to start delivering at the first of next year. That is my next goal, after recovery, that is.

Mini projects and more yarn

Susan Bradley and Shelley Hillyard

Another busy week has passed and I've been working on some smaller projects for my students but I did get some new yarn donations this weekend. My friend Susan brought some fun purple yarn from California and my sister in law donated some fuzzy multicolor yarn. They are both textured yarns so I'll play with them and see what works best for each of these types. Right now I'm getting ready for surgery so it's not at the top of my list, however, I am planning to crochet after the initial effects wear off and I can focus on doing something rather than the fact that I can't get around much and do other things!

Traveling Caps

This weekend I took a road trip for a family wedding, congrats to Nathan and Shelly!!! It was a wonderful weekend with the family and a nice getaway but it's about an 8 hour drive each way. The good news is that my parents and I rode together so when I wasn't driving, I was able to work on some caps and also a couple of headbands. Friday I drove the first part and then my dad took the rest of the trip, Friday night through Saturday night was all about the wedding and family time and Sunday dad took the first shift driving and I finished up a few caps and then I brought us on home. While we were there, I delivered another set of caps to Kansas to be sent to the Tammy Walker Cancer Center in Salina. I still want to add a ribbon to the multi color cap and perhaps other accessories to the others but I thought I'd go ahead and get up a post with what is complete now. I'm pleased with what the car time accomplished on top of time with my family.

Appointments = Caps

I brought along my crochet bag along to several appointments I had yesterday. Between the waiting room time and other wait times I made a cap with earflaps. I had never made one before so I just made it up as I went and I am pretty happy with how it came out, especially for a made up pattern! I will probably look at doing more like that, although maybe I'll see what an "official" pattern looks like, but then again maybe not. I like the easy going flow of making it up and not following a pattern.

Weekend Caps

I had several things on the schedule this weekend, (I have a refrigerator again!) but despite that I had some time and motivation to crochet. I also had the new yarn of course to help motivate me and then once I made a Christmas one and got out my ribbons I got some other reasons to keep going. I posted a couple pics of ones I had finished on Saturday but here's the whole set of the ones I made this weekend. I varied the yarn and designs just a bit to keep it interesting as I was whipping through them. This week is especially busy but I'm hoping to bring some yarn with me to several of my appointments again this week and get at least a start on some more and also prep some more for delivery this weekend.

Ribbons and bows

I finally pulled out my ribbons to start decorating some of the caps. I'm trying to keep several plain for men to wear but I think some of the ladies wouldn't mind a little decoration on their caps! I made a couple of caps the last few days out of the new yarn from the package this week and some new yarn. I couldn't help myself yesterday when I was out running errands I found some fun looking yarn for a great price, so I picked some up. One red and silver one I used today to make a Christmas cap, simple and fast but cute and sparkly. I put ribbon on the first and I added a string of chained yarn woven into the cap. I may try to get a few more Christmas type ones made as we are approaching he holidays and I want to get them dropped off for people to be able to wear during the upcoming season.

Packages!

O'Quinn

I always love to receive packages, who doesn't? Yesterday, I came home to two on the front porch. One was nothing special, vacuum bags I had ordered, but the other was a box full of yarn with a note :)
This is the second donation from this family, a friend of a friend. I am excited to get a new batch of yarn to work with, despite still having plenty in the stash. I finished up a few caps from my personal stash for my mother in law this weekend and prepped all the finished Q caps for delivery. One batch is en route to Lubbock right now and another set is ready to head to Kansas shortly.

Prepping for delivery

Today, as a last minute request, I invited some friends to come over and help me get some caps finished up and ready for delivery. Thankfully a couple could make it over and helped me get all the tags on and the decorations (flowers and buttons) decided upon and I got those added to several of the caps. As we head into the colder seasons, I want to get more caps out to people in need. I hope to make deliveries to the Tammy Walker Cancer Center in Salina, KS in memory of my cousin Eric Hillyard, Cook Children's Oncology in Grapevine, TX in memory of CSHS student Drew Ducatelli, UMC Celebrate Today in Lubbock, TX in honor of my mother in law Sharon Romines and Texas Oncology in Denton, TX in memory of my husband Eriq Neale, during the month of November.  I didn't count but we prepped about 4 dozen caps today. Now I need to get back to making some more!

Big donation!

Ida Madison, Carollton, TX

I finally got down to visit a friend and her grand baby this weekend. We had a good visit and I got to take some photos of the little cutie, of course! Before I left there, I also picked up a boxload of yarn she had saved for me. She had so much and in a variety of colors and types. I can't wait to get started, The last couple of days, I've been trying to catch up on some of my recent photos so crochet has been set aside but I'm always motivated by more yarn :)

Cap Donation!

Pam Livingston, Denton, TX

I am so excited to get these caps! I knew they were made and ready to be picked up and prepared for delivery but my schedule hadn't allowed me to get them yet. Thankfully Quinton was able to pick them up and then when we got together he delivered them to me. They are so amazing and I can't express how much I appreciate them. Look at all the varieties and colors, they are awesome!
Thank you very much Pam!

Also, for anyone else out there making caps, I found this link helpful:
http://crochet-mania.blogspot.com/2008/04/newborn-head-circumference-13-14-hat.html
It lists average head sizes for caps. We need multiple sizes because everyone has a different sized head and some caps are stretchier, some will go to children, so all sizes work but if you want a good resource on cap sizes, check it out.

Flight Time

This past weekend, I was able to head out to Las Vegas during the SMB Nation conference that Eriq and I had been attending the past several years. That means airport and airplane time, which means of course, crochet time! I was only able to pack a few skeins of yarn, since I was packing for a trip and trying not to have to check any luggage. I succeeded in packing light, and we actually had to circle Vegas due to rain, yes rain, but that means I ran out of yarn before I ran out of time. However, despite all that, I did get 5 caps made. The trip was a much needed getaway, a good time to visit with friends, and I feel productive completing the caps. I also received word that more yarn is on it's way from California.

Traveling Yarn

I've had several appointments and meetings this past week and while I've taken some yarn with me when I can to get a few caps made, unfortunately that's about the only time I've actually worked on any. Due to working on it just when I'm carrying it around, I'm sticking with the basic patterns. I did an increasing size on each round of the blue on a "Drew cap" from single, to half double to double crochet just for something interesting. The other is the yarn that has a design it so it creates it's own lines and color patterns. I also want to make sure I have some smaller sizes for children's heads so I will start to make more of those soon. Those should also go a little faster so I hope to have more to share once I get going on those.

Komen Caps

The Q Continuum - Denton Komen 2012

This week was, yet again, extremely busy. I haven't had a chance to pick up the caps that I know are ready and waiting. I did finish up a couple of caps for the Komen race we had yesterday. This is a picture of our team "The Q Continuum" wearing our caps before the race. Now I will deliver the caps to the people who donated money to our cause and then it will be back to focusing on caps for Q's Caps specifically. Several caps were donated from this race to the Q's Caps so officially I have added to my completed caps pile. I hope to pick back up on crocheting lessons again soon as well, I know some of you are waiting on those!

New donation

Today I picked up another yarn donation. I was in Colleyville for the funeral and decided to stop by and see my nephews since they're just a few miles away from there.  My sister in law had received a donation from someone that she was holding onto until I could get by or they came over so I got it while I was there. There's some fun fuzzy pink yarn that makes me think of the Komen caps I need to get finished up and a couple skeins of simply soft, which is a great yarn for making the caps and works up so quickly. I need a bit of a break right now so I haven't started any but I do have a photo of the fun new yarn to share with you.

Drew Caps

I mentioned in my last post that I will be making a donation of caps in memory of the CHS student that lost his battle with cancer this past Monday morning. I chose the colors to match a shirt we had made last year in support of his fight. So, tonight I had an appointment to have my car checkup and I brought along the same colors. I changed up the pattern of green and blue for this one but still used the same yarns. I can make several with these color combinations based on the amount of yarn I have of each color. I also received word that someone has a dozen hats ready to donate, so look for a post of those next week sometime!

Two person hat?

Shelley Hillyard and Anna Neale

Maybe it's not what you're thinking but I have a two person hat. No, it's not made for two people to wear. When my family was over on Saturday helping me out around the house, my sister in law picked some of the yarn from the Q stash and got a cap started. She chose one of the multicolor, extra soft kinds we love to work with.Then she left it for me to finish when she went home and ta da, after another day of me working on it, we have a two person hat. Thankfully, we are a closer crochet match than my cousin Melissa and I (right Missy???) so I was able to pick it up and finish the cap using the same general stitches and size hook to keep going.

In Memory of Drew

We lost another great person to cancer today. Drew was a junior at our school and had fought his absolute hardest with the most positive attitude for a year and a half but this morning at 5 am, cancer took him from us, but only in physical presence. He inspired so many of the students and staff and in his memory, I made a cap tonight to match the shirt we had made last year to raise money. The sentiment on the shirt should remain true regardless. We had teams for him at last year's Relay for Life and I'm sure we'll continue to celebrate his life and the great impact he had in his short time here with us. I plan to donate some caps specifically in his name. I thought the first one at least should match the shirt we all wore today in his honor. Please keep the family in your prayers, this is a very rough time and will continue to be for sometime as they deal with this tremendous loss.

Packages

Susan Bradley, California

I don't have much new on the crochet front except, I did receive three packages in the mail today. One of them was an awesome new yarn from a small local shop in Cambria, California. It is 100% merino wool and in my favorite color, purple! Better yet, it's from "Manos de Uruguay" you can check out the site but I warn you, it's in Spanish, couldn't be more appropriate for me of course!  (http://www.manos.com.uy/) 
Special thanks to Susan for the special treat. I really wanted to get started right away but of course there were other things to do, but I am excited to get started with it.

Committed

Merry Christmas

 As I wrote this title, it occurred to me that at this time, for me, it has more than one possible logical definition. After the day I had today, and my first time to be home for an evening in awhile, still being "grounded" from exercise and as I received my Denton Komen Race Packet today I committed to making a cap tonight. That's the line of thinking, no matter what else comes up or I'm supposed to be doing, I can do this. There have been a few interruptions of course but I did it, I made one. Yet again, it's nothing fancy but I just have to get going again. Also, I got started on Christmas today, so how about that for being ahead of the game for one little thing in my life?

2012 North Texas Komen Race

On a side note, for those of you that joined the team or donated to my Denton Komen Race, it's just 2 weeks from Race Day, your pink crochet caps will be delivered starting that day!

More craziness, more accessories

So much for having the slow weekend I hoped for last weekend! Many of you know, but for those that don't the short version is that I had a cat escape into the brush and I had to go chasing her shoeless and in shorts, my weed eater and disposal both stopped working and I had a bike crash. I thought I might get to an event early on Sunday afternoon and get in a bit of crochet but adding a stop at a bike shop took away that extra time. The past 2 days have had me gone from before 7 am until around 8:30 pm, so just taking care of the animals and myself took what was left of my time and energy. Finally, I have had some trouble with motivation and I just took some time off.

However, I did make a couple of stops these past few days that had me finding some accessories. I found some really cute reusable lunch bags that are a great size for putting small crochet projects into, so I can keep the pieces for a cap or two in one bag and the pieces for flowers in another, etc. Even better, they were on clearance along with some pen/pencil boxes that hold crochet hooks perfectly, so they were made all the more appealing by their price. I also found some cute buttons that were on sale that will make nice decorations on caps so I picked up several colors.

Lest you think I haven't done any crochet, I have made the "shells" for several crochet mice for the Texas Siamese Rescue but those take only 10-15 minutes. The stuffing and sewing closed take longer but I can do those all at one time later. I hope to have more actual caps to post soon.

More donations

Kelsey Thomas, Southlake, TX

As I mentioned earlier this week, I have had a string of extra busy/crazy/stressful days. However, over the past couple of days I received some donations I want to share. I have very little scheduled for this weekend, in hopes of catching up on life in general, some of that hopefully includes crochet as it's one of my enjoyable activities that I'm missing out on lately. Back to the donations, when I had to leave early for my PT appointment, a former student came by to visit and to give me something she found at her house that she thought I could use. It's great to see former students but it was even more special that she thought to bring something to me for Q's Caps! I was disappointed that I wasn't there to see her but she visited another of her former teachers that is next door to me and I got the gift today. That same evening I met my mom after my appointment and she brought along some yarn she had bought and was giving to me to add to the cap making as well. Most is for the fake "hat hair" the pink and white of course is to go along with my Komen races coming up on Sept. 29 and October 20.

Jan Hillyard, DeSoto, TX

As far as when my next teaching session will be, I'm still not sure, I am really having some struggles with things right now that are taking pretty much all of my time. I'm working on easing up on some things this weekend and hope that can continue into coming weeks. I hope to have another one in September, so keep an eye on the blog for dates.

Physical (and mental) Therapy

Today was a 16 hour day. One of those crazy days of everything happening at once and in four different cities. I had a physical therapy appointment right after work so I headed straight there and got changed but then I got to talk to one of the ladies there about crochet, left a card for another lady and then got busy on a cap. Once I got through most of one cap, the PT came to get me and then he asked about the project and was interested so we talked some about it as well.  So, despite the completely busy day, I was actually able to complete a cap, and it felt great to get one finished again, although I was hoping to get into some of the more fancy patterns, I used one of the variegated yarns that makes a great pattern all on it's own. I hope to have some more time after this super busy week to make some more.

Happy Labor Day!

Cindy Holovach, Fort Worth, TX

I'm thankful to have Monday off in celebration of our Labor Day Holiday. After the first week of classes, it's really nice to have a 3 day weekend and also have a short work week coming up as the evenings are absolutely packed. I haven't had time to finish anymore caps and this week doesn't look promising. However, yesterday, I got to visit with some friends at a couple of different get togethers and picked up one completed cap to add to the collection. This is from one of my first crochet "students" this summer, she had started it at my house and completed it at home. She's moving on to scarves now as well :)

New things!

Gary Cunningham, sent from Finland

Yesterday, I received a knit cap in the mail from Finland. Uncle Gary found  it and it's made of all organic materials and part of that is soy. It's so beautiful and fancy and super soft! Then today, I received a book from Aunt Suzie that is full of knit and crochet hat patterns. I've only just skimmed it but it has lots of great ideas. Between those two great gifts, I've gotten a little new motivation, which I have needed as I've been struggling with other things lately. I am hoping to finish up a mini blanket for the cat shelter so I have an example size to go off of and then I am ready to try some cap patterns again. If you want to come try some new patterns, I have a great new selection, so just let me know and we can try and work out a date.

Suzie McIntire, KS

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Overseas yarn

Despite having work again full time this work and some continuing personal issues that are taking more time than I'd like, I have finally gotten some crochet completed again. I made a couple of catnip stuffed crochet mice for the Texas Siamese Rescue, and started a blanket for them but I also made a cap with one of the yarns that Uncle Gary has sent from overseas. He purchased this yellow one from a Hospice Center, I thought that was such a perfect purchase and was looking forward to using it. I also had some variegated yarn I had wanted to use as an accent. So, here's the cap, I just used a single crochet row for the accents.

Cycling and Back to School

Built in bow, been wanting to do this pattern for awhile
Shelley Hillyard, Keller, TX

I have taken on quite a few things lately and so the time to crochet has definitely dropped off lately, as have my posts. I went out to Lubbock this past weekend for the "Cycle for Hope" bike ride. While I was there, I met a few more people that are interested in learning to crochet so I will have to set up another scheduled lesson, but this time in Lubbock. I also started back to work yesterday. I haven't even had a chance to see if anyone there is interested, but I am wanting to start a club at some point.  I have been working on one cap as time has permitted. Both my cousin and my sister in law have also been working on caps and have completed one each, so I have a few pictures to show you.

How cute is this model?
Melissa Isaacson, Salina, KS

Mine looks boring compared to theirs!

Keller Crochet Lessons

We worked until after 11 pm last night on crochet lessons, I had 3 new students and my student teacher Shelley :) Everybody mastered the chain and then we moved on to the double crochet and had a lot of "ah ha" moments! There were lots of good snacks as well as a fabulous dessert to keep us going. We didn't finish any caps, though we got a good start on one and another is nearly complete. It was another first timers class, they all want to come back for more later when we can start making patterns. Our phrase of the night "you've gotta loosen up!".



I also had a new model help me out for a moment, my precious nephew wanted to try all the caps, though each on hardly lasted long enough for a picture but I have to share the one I got.

Coming right up

Tonight in Keller, I'll be doing another teaching session. One of the things I did for the Saturday group was have examples of a few different hats that I've made so they could see what the options are for choosing the yarn, colors, pattern and accessories. One of the patterns that's fairly easy but a little bit different I had already donated so I whipped this one up to take along tonight as an example. It's hard to see in the picture but it has sort of triangles rather than straight stitches. Yes, purple is my favorite color.

If you're working out there, here's the pattern for this: http://headhuggers.org/patterns/cpatt11.htm

Crochet Get together

Had a good showing today for the first Q's Caps crochet session. Rachel and Kati were totally new to crochet, Terry R hadn't done it in decades so she was close to new. Nancy had experience but only knew how to do granny squares so she learned a few new tips. Terry B helped with punching the cards to attach to the donated hats and Teresa and Claudia prepared the accessories (flowers, hearts, etc.) to be attached to the caps. We completed 2 new caps and another several were started and taken home to complete. We got a few decorative items completed as well and hopefully all had a good time, I think we did.

Busy days

It's been another crazy week here, seems like every time I try to do something, it takes 2-3 times to actually get it done. For example I found out today that there's somehow a year (only the year) missing on one part of one document on the sale of my car, so they want me to drive back over to the tax office and wait in line to write "12" this is the kind of stuff I've been dealing with. All that is just to say that I haven't had a lot of time to sit and crochet but that's ok, tomorrow is crochet day! I did finish 2 this week, one with a variegated yarn I received recently and one more for my Komen team/donors. On that note, I have met my goal for the Denton race, having 5 on my team and meeting my donation goal, thank you if you helped! I signed up for the Dallas race today and I am aiming higher on donations, so I'll start working on that soon, I made my page today. If you want to see either page, here they are:

http://www.info-komen.org/goto/AnnaBNeale

http://northtexas.info-komen.org/goto/AnnaNeale

Crochet time - August 11

Want to learn or remember how to crochet? 
Want to practice crochet? 
Want to crochet or knit some caps to donate in honor of Eriq for my Q's Caps project and already know how to crochet and/or knit? 

Want to help out by punching holes in the cards and attaching them to the caps so they are ready to donate or sorting yarn, accessories, etc.?

If any of the above apply then please come join me at my house for a day of crochet, snacks, and good times!  AUGUST 11 from 11:00 AM to about 4:00 PM.

Don't worry if you've never done it, don't worry if you mess up while we're learning, if you've ever been interested, I love teaching and I want to show you.

If you're experienced and want some new patterns to try, I will have some available

You do not have to commit to the whole time but I will plan on starting lessons at the beginning and then I can do another set of lessons later in the day, it will be pretty come and go and open ended. I just need to know how many to expect so....please let me know you're coming by! And please pass this along to anyone you think might be interested.

Variegated Yarn

Katherine Glore

Yep, you guessed it, I got some more yarn today. I received another couple variegated colors that are great to work with to start because they make their own designs as you crochet and it's not dependent on the pattern. This is especially helpful as I'm starting to get some dates set for teaching sessions. It's nice for someone new to get a little more than a basic hat out of a basic pattern. I'm looking to do a couple of sessions in the next 2 weeks before school starts back. I hope to have a good set of caps to donate around our anniversary (Aug. 14)  and then start building up another collection. So if you have some completed and want to get them to me, just let me know and we'll get that worked out as well.