Last day of school!

Last 2 weeks of school caps

Yes, today was the last day of school! If you're a student, you appreciate this day, if you're a parent, you're hearing all about this day but if you're a teacher...well, you KNOW. The last few days and weeks are so tiring, no matter what you do, it's just exhausting. This year, I set some goals for myself to get me through the last 2 weeks. One was to get 3 miles of walking in before the end of each school day, and still go for a walk or run most evenings and weekends. The second was to make at least one new cap for each day of the 2 weeks. That would give me somewhere around 70 miles and 14 caps at the end of the time frame. I achieved both of these goals every day and in fact ended with over 102 miles and 19 caps (and that's not counting tomorrow as the last day of the week!) You'll notice the caps come in a variety of sizes. I'm currently making caps for several hospitals that serve babies, children, teens and adults. It is a great way to use ALL my yarn, I can use the scraps for flowers and pom poms, the small to medium amounts of leftovers for baby sizes and then large quantities or full skeins for teen and adult sizes. I have to admit that I may take it a little easier on the walking, running and crocheting for a few days after all this...but it was a great challenge for me and I'm happy to have completed my goals and have another set of caps finished to share.

I'm back!

Most of the caps in box one

Many of you follow me on Facebook so you have seen my comments about continuing to work on Q's Caps despite not updating the blog. I have made quite a few caps and I asked if anyone knew of someone in need or a place I could donate. Thanks to my friends and family coming up with destinations, I was able to make a few for specific individuals and many more for specific hospitals, to share with a variety of people. Then I discovered something I already knew but it hadn't really hit me, the cost of shipping has gone up immensely. In fact, it seems that using priority mail is the best option but that means I really want to make sure I have enough to send (and cram in the box) to make shipping worth while. Again my friends came through and suggested I put a PayPal link on the blog, sent me a donation and posted to a group with my PayPal information. I received a couple of donations and was able to move forward on shipping immediately, though I'm still looking for cheaper or better ways if they should become available. My first box should have arrived at the destination yesterday, although flooding might have delayed the shipment, it will almost certainly arrive by today. I was able to fit 25 caps in that box and I feel that quantity is enough caps to effectively offer options for the patients and also makes the shipping worth while! I have decided to make a few more caps to put into my second and third boxes before I ship them, each has close to a dozen already complete, but I want to fill them up :)

A couple of notes to finish off this post:
1) My goal is to post at least once every month, feel free to remind me if I don't!
2) If you are interested in donating, I've put a PayPal link on the page (top right) for you to use, it's open to any amount (a box of approximately 25 caps costs $12.65 to ship)
3) If you have any great shipping ideas, ways to save, etc. please share that with me.
4) If you know of a person or a group/facility that could use donations, please let me know.

Too long!

It's been over 7 months since I last posted here, admittedly, that is entirely too long. Not to worry thought, it has not been 7 months since I made a cap or did some other work for Q's Caps! In fact, if you follow me on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter you will have seen a few "yarny" posts from me.
I'm going go more personal here and tell you what has gone on these past months,  if you already know or want to skip on, go ahead on to the bottom of the post to the text not in italics. 

This is what moving yarn looks like

As I mentioned in my previous post, my job wasn't going well, it was a situation that felt like I was having the life sucked out of me. Even when I wasn't at work, I didn't have the motivation I needed to do things I needed or wanted to do. I was working through it the best I could while searching for another position that would better suit me. I was looking into moving to a smaller house but didn't know where to go with the job situation uncertain. Meanwhile, I had reconnected with a guy from high school that was also a teacher, though in a district about 5 miles south and we were becoming close from afar. He was helping me survive the year and motivating me and then he did one better and found a new job for me! A position was coming available at his school in January. I applied, had a phone interview, then an interview and was offered the position in under a week! I accepted the position, gave notice, started looking for houses, started packing at home and at school, and generally started getting stuff done. Over Christmas break I was able to visit with not only my local family but also my aunt, uncle, cousins and families and my grandpa, all from Kansas and my brother and his family from China while doing the previously mentioned items. It was a completely crazy time. I'll skip forward, in January I spent my last week at my old job, then I spent a week packing, then I moved into a temporary apartment, and started my new job. A couple weeks later, I closed on my new (but vintage :) house and moved in the first of February. From there, I spent time going back and forth between houses, settling into my new job and attending baseball games. As the end of the school year approaches, I've mostly settled into the new house, including some painting and yard work, though I haven't gotten everything moved in yet, I've started a mini container garden, I haven't unpacked all the yarn but I have plenty to pull out a little here and there and I'm looking forward to finishing up at the old house and getting it on the market in the next month. Once that is cleaned up, cleaned out, on the market and SOLD, things will be even more settled and I look forward to that happening. Meanwhile, I have gotten a few caps done...   

I have made a goal to crochet at least 3 times per week and I have met that goal most weeks this past month or so. A couple of the finished caps have been worked on while I was at baseball games, so you'll notice the nice green background :) I haven't had any new donations to share lately, which is quite alright given the quantity I have and the busy schedule I have had a few leftovers from other projects that have added a few pieces to my stash. I hope as I get back to having only one house and being settled that I can finish unpacking and organizing all my yarn again and also get back in the habit of cap making. Thanks for sticking with me...

Traveling Yarn

Gary Cunningham, Sweden

My last post was as I started back to work full time. As expected, that has kept me busy and I haven't posted since I haven't worked on much. I did finish off the edging on a few more blankets for the Linus Project. However, this school year has had a really rough start and so I've had even less time and motivation to work on caps than I normally do to start a school year. I have started one cap but although it's very unusual, I haven't finished it yet. However, I received a new donation on Sunday and it's extra special, as it came from Iceland. Eriq's uncle Gary, who lives in Sweden, came through Iceland and New York on his way to Texas, and he picked up some yarn for me during his stop in Iceland.

End of summer

As my summer officially wraps up, I have been working to get ready for going back to work. I always try to get my house in order, all the laundry and dishes done, food prepared, etc. even though I realize it will go back to "normal" shortly. However, mentally, it helps me to be prepared to go back to work when I do these things. I also plan some fun outings to celebrate the free time :)  I have been doing all these things and that has not left much time for new projects but I am also currently limited in my ability to run or bike due to a minor knee issue so that did leave me a little time to make one quick cap that I thought I'd go ahead and share here. Happy back to school everyone!

Hello Kitty

I mentioned in my last post that I was working on caps for a girl that likes Hello Kitty. I finished that cap and along with a few others in her favorite colors, pink and purple. I was able to get them mailed out to her on August 1, but I forgot to post the pictures here. I left the next morning for a bike ride in Lubbock. This year was the second year of Cycle for Hope, a ride benefiting the UMC Cancer Center and I was on a team with my father in law, brother in law, sister in law and nephew. My mother in law worked the event and we all had a great time. While I was in town, we went shopping and got some fabric and yarn and worked on blankets for the Linus Project (http://www.projectlinus.org/) It was nice to do something a little different with crochet but still for a great cause. We finished several blankets and bought supplies for several more that I brought home with me to finish.

Colorado donation

Kristyn Rose, Grand Junction, Colorado

I received a package today that had not only yarn but additional monetary donations as well. A friend had done a couple of things for Q's Caps. First, she put a flyer up and collected yarn at a Relay for Life fundraiser, and then the board of ADEIL decided to donate the money raised from a silent auction at a conference to the cause as well. As I've mentioned time and again, it's always an extra encouragement to get a package, a note, anything to remind me how people appreciate my work.  It was great to know that someone is out there working for this as well and people are still interested in helping and donating and This past week, I worked on a cap while I was waiting for an oil change, I usually have a nice conversation with someone about crochet when I work on it in public and it's good to share with people. I also started a special request cap yesterday as well and those are nice for a little challenge and knowing a little about the person I'm making it for. Look for a Hello Kitty cap coming soon...