Kuhl Cap

Kuhl Cap

This post is about a week late, but better late than never! As I've done once before already, I'd like to make a special recognition of someone else who has left us too early and donate caps in his name. So, this is the first cap of many I will make in memory of the father of my friend Leah Kuhl. His favorite color was purple, like mine, so I have made this first cap in purple and some of the fluorescent yellow that was one of Eriq's favorites. Best of both, in one cap.

Fluorescent

Before I go into my crochet talk, I have to share what crazy weather we're having here. I know, it's Texas, and we are used to this as much as you can get used to this but still...Within the past 2 weeks it has gone from 73 to 28 in one day, followed by snow 3 days later, which was gone by the next day and 4 days later it feels like spring, sunny and 65. The bluebonnets are coming up, the trees are starting to show buds and yet we typically get snow, if we are getting any, in February. No wonder everyone is sick around here!

Enough about weather the weather, I have been busy working on other projects these past couple of weeks due to a variety of things but I did get some new cards to tag the hats and had particular fun not just making this cap but in having my dog pose with it. Now I have to get the dog hair off, but it was worth it just to see her face! The yarn was from my last delivery as well as some of my grandmother's yarn I inherited. The color was so perfectly Eriq, fluorescent yellow, he would have loved it and even had a shirt that matched that he bought up in Kansas about a year ago Thanksgiving. I'm not even going to try and put a shirt on the dog, you'll have to enjoy the picture of the dog posing with the cap.

Crochet lessons and new yarn

McMains family, San Marcos, TX

I haven't posted in awhile, all year in fact! It's 2013, I had hoped for a better start but the challenges have continued, including losing another 2 students from our high school. These 2 were not mine but their deaths affected the other students. However, there have been some good crochet times, including times with former students. I mentioned in my last post that I had 2 days in a row of crocheting sessions. I ended up with 4 sessions over 6 days, all one on one sessions and in fact I have another one scheduled for tomorrow. Those sessions are good and I really enjoy teaching people to crochet and even reteaching as the case may be. Yesterday, I received a package from a college friend, he and his kids picked out some yarn and it had been delivered when I got home. They did a great job choosing colors Eriq would have loved, neon and purple among others. As always, despite having plenty of yarn, a new batch always motivates me a little bit more. I was glad to get that extra bit of motivation.

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!