Today's hobby post won't be strictly crochet, though there will still be some of that. I have other things I enjoy doing—like cooking.
Having just passed Thanksgiving here in the US, with more holidays featuring dinners ahead, food and gatherings are on a lot of our minds. In this pandemic year, we need to be cautious, but my extended family of 2 sons, daughter-in-law, and 3 grandchildren live about 12 miles from me. Since we were all healthy, we planned on celebrating at their house this year with the adult kids not only hosting but handling most of the cooking. While my other half and I are both good cooks, and our adopted family member Lee Houston Jr. is usually sous chef and dishwasher, we're all getting up there in years. Plus my dishwasher was on the fritz! So our contribution this year was to make the stuffing for the bird and have someone run it over early enough that it could go into that cavity (yes we still do that, it's safe if cooked to the proper temp and removed promptly) before it went into the oven. I've got to write those directions down because I'm the only one who knows how to make it. I also agreed to make dessert, which for us has always been pies.
I've been cooking on Thanksgiving since I was in my late teens. Having a spouse who also cooks, we've hosted our share of holidays. So having someone else cook was a treat! With my limited mobility now, I can't stand for more than 10-15 minutes without a lot of pain and discomfort, and lifting and hauling stuff is strictly out for me. Pies need to be made the day before, and because we weren't having additonal people over and all three in my household are avoiding sweets, I only made three. Since the other half was at work on Wednesday, I drafted Lee to help with the baking. He wrangled my KitcheAid mixer, pie tins, rolling pin and the plastic rolling sheet with crust size measurements over to the kitchen table. He fetched and carried whatever food items I needed, opened cans, moved pies in and out of the oven, and did a lot of dishes by hand (because of the dishwasher). So I was able to sit down and concentrate on making the homemade pie crust and then while that chilled, mixing the pumpkin filling, eventually filling all three pies (besides the pumpkin I made apple and blueberry from canned fillings—I'm not a martyr) and getting them prepped to bake. Afterward I made low sugar dark chocolate silk custard in ramekins for those of us who want a little something sweet but shouldn't indulge too heavily.
So here's the results...
Now I didn't bother taking pictures of the stuffing on Thanksgiving morning. After being up a little late the night before, I got up at 6AM to get dressed and get right to it. I was tired and pretty busy for a while. Then I needed to eat. Unfortunately something I ate that morning did not agree with me and I've been fighting intestinal distress off and on ever since. Oh, I still had my dinner and later that evening a desert and it all tasted great, but let's just say it also digested far too quickly. 😑 The insides have been touchy ever since so I'm still on a bland diet right now. Mostly starchs, which I had been avoiding to lose weight. *SIGH*
We wound up having to host the gathering at my home that day anyway. Just before we were going to head over to the kids' house, my DIL called and said their power had gone off! It was something localized, but they wound up having to pack up two vehicles with everything they needed as well as the hot, half cooked turkey, and head over here to finish it. The kids took over the kitchen and I sat with the grandkids, watching them play and reading a book. Our dining room area was packed with stuff and there's not enough room on the kitchen table, so we had Thanksgiving dinner on tray tables and the grandkids sat at the coffee table. Everything was great and we enjoyed the day. Sometimes life can throw you a few curve balls, you just have to hit them back out there into play.
Now that we're past that holiday, let's move on to crochet. I have some older items to show off and one new one. This time around, I'm concentrating on useful items.
I like icewater and iced tea to sip on during the day. But I don't like slippery glasses. I usually put the ice tea or any other drinks that can stain my water bottles or insulated cups in our big plastic tumblers, so that I can have plenty of ice. The problem is they get sweaty on the outside, leave rings on the furniture, and the ice melts far too fast, watering everything down. So I made a couple of glass cozies. It was two night's work in front of the TV and used up some scrap worsted weight acrylic yarn I had in balls. All done in single crochet, it's fairly mindless work. I kept a representative glass nearby (about 16 oz size), and sized it as I went along with the appropriate increases. You start with the proper sized round as the bottom (the bottom keeps it from leaving wet rings) and when you get to that size, work the first round going upwards in whatever loop of the last stitches points in that direction so that it makes a edged turn. Then go on as normal, increasing where needed. I had made a bunch of them for Dunkin Donuts takeout coffees back in the day before I got my Keurig, but they were more cylindrical and didn't fit the contours of the glass. To make it easy I didn't bother with spiraling so that there was no seam, but connected at the end of each round, chained once and turned. That way the ridge is all in one area and it gives you a slightly raised bump to hold onto. They work fairly well, and I haven't dropped a wet glass in some time.
For the icewater, I was using stainless steel water bottles for quite some time, though they were sometimes hard to get the ice cubes into. I also found out in the smaller sizes (the first 2 are 16 oz, the last one 20 oz) they just do not stay cold long enough to hold the ice for more than a couple hours. That was disappointing, but then I had bought the big one first, and that did hold the cold somewhat better (more ice capacity). I love the reusable bottle idea (interior is stainless steel, exterior some sort of coating) because we have filtered water and ice on the fridge, but I need something that keeps it cold. Plus while the bottles weren't sweaty, they felt cold to the touch when you grabbed them. So I made them some bottle sweaters, which are more narrowly cylindrical than the glass cozies but otherwise made the same way. These have the bottom too, which muffles the thumping when you set them down. All these crocheted cozies are also washable, which is a big plus when they see a lot of use. I have made a couple that fit the plastic 'disposable' bottles (my state recycles them) which I will occasionally take with me when I'm out and about. At least I always know which plastic water bottle is mine—very important in this time of Covid-19!
I've worn glasses since I was in 4th grade. After my cataract surgery in 2007, I only wear them when I go out. I use reading glasses when I'm doing close work at home, but my regular glasses are progressive lenses, so there is a small reading pane area built into the bottom of each lens, though they are lineless so there's no 'bubble' to deal with. I did at one time have a pair of prescription sunglasses, but that was expensive for me because my nearsightedness kept worsening. I had to upgrade lenses every several years, so I outgrew them and never bothered again. There are some great slip-over sunglasses that have UVA and UVB ratings and side panels that protect your eyes from all angles, and they don't touch your prescription glasses. Very important when your lenses are polycarbonate, which is lightweight but does scratch easily. I usually wear a fully rounded visor when I am outdoors, because I can see better, but I often have ophthalmologist visits where I get my pupils dilated (I have acute open-angle glaucoma) and the daylight glare kills me afterward. So the sunglasses go with me on those days. These sunglasses however are a bit bulky and they don't come with a case, so instead of hunting for one the proper size, I got out the yarn and some buttons and made my own. Took a few evenings to perfect the first one, but I wrote down what I did and knocked out most of the second one in a single night, assembling it (there are end pieces that get sewn in) the second evening. They protect the plastic sunglasses from scratches and dust, the case is washable, and when the sunglasses are being used, can be folded or crunched up and shoved in a pocket. Since I always have yarn and buttons, this cost me virtually nothing.
We are living inn the age of wearing masks when we go out. Yes it gets uncomfortable and tiresome, but my family is precious to me and so I do that for their sake as well as protecting random others I may encounter who also have loved ones they cherish. I have a variety of masks, some cloth and a couple types of disposable 'paper' ones, and so try and rotate through them as the way they fit and feel is different. I favor the disposable types for appointments where I am not going to be in the midst of lots of people, mostly healthcare professionals who understand hygiene and follow the rules carefully. A cloth mask is always with me when we're running errands and you don't know who you will bump into. My husband is 71 with multiple health issues and he wears his at work or shopping, I'm 63 with high blood pressure so I take it seriously too, and Lee is 58 and has a weak heart so he wears two masks, with the outer one washable. My grandkids wear masks to school. Lee was out one day and saw someone with a crocheted mask extender like those above and came home and told me about it. I was surprised he recognized that it was crocheted! So I Googled 'crocheted mask extender' and came up with multiple free patterns, chose one to download that seemed simple and had multiple sizes, and went to work that evening. The one that I made Lee is missing in this picture, it was camo yarn and extra large (I had to fudge that, he has a big head) but it worked. What these do is sit in back of your head and catch the elastic loops that normally go around the behind your ears on the buttons and stretch them out so they don't rub as much. It's hard to see in the picture but there are several sizes there. The yarn size you use makes a difference too, so be aware of that. Mine were all worsted weight, but the thickness of the yarn varied, even within the same size by the same company (generally in different colors). Again, something useful and easy to make, those could be done in an evening. And yeah, I had all those button colors, I get them in bulk on Amazon fairly reasonably. Yarn is mostly a local purchase though, Amazon prices are seldom that good. Some were thrift store finds as well, and people give me things...
Last of all, I needed a neck pillow. This year I was blessed enough to get a lift recliner with heat and massage, which I absolutely love! That chair is a piece of paradise, comfortable, allows me to get my feet up, and does my back wonders with the heat and massage settings. Plus it stands me on my feet when I need to get out of it, which has been one of the biggest issues I've had with furniture. Most of the chairs or couches I've sat on are so low, my bad back and decrepit hip and knee joints can no longer hoist me to my feet, even with the cane. I always have to ask for help up. At home I was sitting in office chairs, and I could not get my feet up in any way and sit comfortably. Well anyway, the one drawback to the chair is that when the footrest goes up, the back goes back as well. You can't have everything I guess. I can get it to a comfortable compromise positon, but I was craning my neck to see the TV or whatever I was working on. Plus I wear my long hair up in a sort of twist or bun tied with a figure 8 hairclip, which is shut with a rod that runs through it, and every time I put my head back it would either dig in a bit or unfasten. Lee loaned me a neck pillow he has, but I found it rather tight and too 'poofy', and the plush material felt hot on my neck. So I hunted online and came across this free crochet pattern by Priscilla Hewitt who is one of my favorite designers, and I knew that was the first thing I was going to work on in the evenings in my new chair. Took a few days to get it made and properly stuffed (I was out of fiberfill and so were all the locals stores so I had to order some) but I like this one very much. I've made several of her patterns and they are always good, so I've linked you here with her free pattern site in general. The neck pillow is under MISCELLANEOUS, I've made numerous of the Basic Gripper Towel Ring under KITCHEN (with coordinating dishtowels they make great last minute gifts), and I still have my Hexagon Boot Slippers (in WEARABLES). I believe all the patterns are downloadable PDFs. Her site is well worth checking out.
One of these days I am going to do a post about my favorite crochet sites. I have some that I visit over and over again. I should also link them on the blog. But for now, this post is long enough, and so I'll just finish up by saying that being busy and creative during the day really helps me cope with both the challenges in my own life as well as the world around me. Next weekend I should be updating my writing blog again, and then just before the holiday, I'll have some other projects to show off, that I made 'IN MY SPARE TIME'.
~NANCY
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