Year 20, Week 43, Day Two (week 1083) 08-23-20 Sunday

 Year 20, Week 43, Day Two (week 1083)

(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)

08-23-20 Sunday

90 degrees, 68% humidity, stiff breeze off the ocean helps, when in shade, to handle the heat. This weather report is brought to you by The City Of Pompano Beach department Of Tourism.

We had a storm pass through a few weeks ago. I had warning so I moved the big stuff from mom’s house to the neighbor’s house over a few evenings. I had the lathe as the last thing to bring in. That Saturday morning, move the last big stuff and Mom and I were just picking up the small stuff, when my brother and my nephew came to take down the awning. Quickly, it was all done. I relaxed the rest of the day. And did nothing that Sunday also.

The weekend after the storm passed, which was not bad, we put everything back that Saturday so everything was back to normal. I meant to take a before and after picture but forgot. The are was swept of the big stuff by the wind, and mom cleaned up the remaining sawdust that was glued down by the rains. It was kind of nice to start clean. Once I get seriously working, that won’t last long...

Mom had one of those furniture rollers she got ages ago from Harbor Freight. Bugs got into it and because it was out in the weather, the wood took a beating. I decided I would replace it. Harbor Freight was out of them. I took her old one and disassembled it. The construction was simple. The glued on carpet came off easily, exposing the bolt heads used to hold the wheels on. I removed the nuts that held the wheels on, along with the washers, and then drove the bolts out. Because of the bad condition of the wood, they came out pretty easily.  Some pieces broke apart easily. 

I then picked up some pressure treated one by four wood. I later found out I needed one by six wood. I saw some fencing boards that might work next time. They are thinner but I am not sure that would make a big difference.

Now there was a whole lot I could have done to do this right. Instead, I depended on my training given to me by the Three Stooges and Laurel & Hardy. They taught me their style very well.... 

I did not cut accurately, using a saws-all instead of a table saw or a circular saw. The length of the boards were too long for the band saw. I have some furniture movers under my lathe and I used their length as my measurement and made these square. The ends were not absolutely square. 

 They used two nails in each corner to hold the boards in place. Before adding the wheels. I used one short screw in each corner to hold them together just long enough to drill for the wheels. I had to do it several times, resorting to getting one drilled and pegged with the bolts before I went to the next corner. I never did check to see if this thing is square corner to corner.

I found quickly that the boards were too narrow. The bolts were too long so they stuck out and would catch on the wheels when they stuck down. Since I had some board left over when I cut the pieces to length, I ended up making small blocks to fill the space. Two bolts disappeared. I had to locate two lag screws that appeared the right length and size. The lag screws gave me some problems. I drilled about the right diameter, but the small blocks kept splitting as I was screwing them in. I used a cutting bit on the dremel to remove the ends of  the lag bolts as they would have caught on or scratch whatever was put on them.

I had the wheels finally on, and decided having the two lag screws on the same wheel was not a good idea, so I cut two more blocks and moved a bolt from one wheel and a lag screw in its place. I finally got it where I considered it done. I was really disappointed with my work but it was what it was going to be. Later mom saw it and said it looked good. I looked at it and it was not near as bad as I thought it was.

I’ve been exploring some ornaments. I’ve explored guitars, banjos, drums, bugles, and birds, two ornaments I decided were good were pianos and dolphins. The pianos are completely done, and the dolphin basically need to be signed and then varnished. There might be a little touch-up paint needed. I will decide later.

The pianos are mostly done by band saw, and then just a little carving. I cut in for the keys and I carved the face of the piano back so sheet music stands out. With the first batch, I carved in the keys but once painted white, I decided to ignore them and drew black lines for the keys and thick black lines for the dark keys. The second batch, the keyboard are was simply flat and I just drew in the lines.  I painted each batch a different color. The first batch was originally a yellow, then I changed them to tan. The second batch was a pinkish red.

The dolphin went through several stages. I had found a card with dolphin on it and it was two sided. I cut out what I thought was a good dolphin, traced it and cut out on a larger board the shape. I made three of them. Looking at the shape, the lower fins, which are supposed to go out the side, while the pattern had the fin sticking down. I ended up cutting off the lower fin and the tail. The second batch I took a two by two and just did the body and was able to get two shapes on one stick of two by two. I band sawed out the shapes, then cut them in half to give me four bodies. I did that with a couple more sets. 

 On the first set, I shaped them with the dremel. I took some hard wood from a tree that was cut from at work early in the year. I split it to make the fins. I used a dowel to attach the tail, which I had shaped on the bandsaw, and then made basically sticks for the lower fins and made a tenon on the end that fit the drill bit I was using. With lots of glue, I drove them in. Once all the fins were dried, I used the dremel to shape them for the fins I wanted. That worked pretty good. The last four I made (for a total of ten) cut from a two by two. They went fast. I did make the mistake on two of them when drilling for the bottom fin, by drilling out the side of the body. I stuck a skewer into the hole with some glue. I capped the hole, after dremeled flat, with a little glue. 

I painted the first batches of dolphins blue, and was not satisfied with the results. I decided to see if I had some grey paint. I found some called “dolphin grey” who knew?  I painted the backs in dolphin grey, then the belly with white. I had a sharp line between them. Today I mixed the white and grey and went over the line to blend the two colors some. 

Three of the last four were painted grey and white and then the blend color all in one day. The fourth one is made for a friend. She wanted an Orca. There is a design difference between dolphin and orca besides the colors, is mainly on the head. The Dolphin I am making, are actually known as Bottle Nose Dolphin. They have sort of a beak. The orca’s head is a continuous curve to the tip of the snout. I painted the orca black, then added the white bottom and blobs of white on the upper body. I then added white dots on the dolphin and orca for the eyes. The last thing I did with them was to touch the white of the eyes with a big stabilo to give them pupils. I have to sign them and I might do a little touch up on the color before I hit them with varnish and they will done. I did add eye hooks to them and to the pianos today. 

I will explore some of the other ornament designs but a few just don’t feel good or are coming out as hoped.  My idea is to have four designs of ornaments and near a dozen of each for Christmas. That I am way ahead of schedule is great. I can come up with other designs that catch my eye later. I am usually just coming up with an idea for an ornament in October and struggling to get them done in November. It is hard to come up with new designs that can be made easily and fit within the material I like to work with. 

Yesterday, Space aliens kidnapped me, dragged me into Harbor Freight, and forced me to buy a bunch of stuff I did not need. I forgot I had a gift card and paid cash instead. 

I got one of those little tire pumps for mom. The first thing we did when I handed it to her was to dig out her wagon with inflatable tires and pump them up. This pump is not designed for auto tires. There is no cooling fan and it will over heat long before it gets to the volume and pressure a car tire needs. Back in the 90s, I picked up a tire pump and still use it. I gave one to my brother and he tried to fill his 80 pound truck tires and burned it up. For car tires with this new pump or my brother’s tires with the old one I use. You have to stop and let it cool down completely before you continue on. They say they can go with high pressures, but it is the time running that makes all the difference in the world. With mine with my normal truck tires, 40 pounds is all right. 

While walking the store, I got a great idea. I would buy a cheap set of drill bits, machine the shafts of even the biggest ones of the set to fit in my dremel. I was mostly looking at $17 to $20 drill bits, but I found a $4 set of carbon steel. That would be perfect. When I got home, I found which bit fit my dremel, then next one was too big. I then tried to machine on my little lathe the biggest one for the dremel.  I was having a problem with the motor, and the bit was not cutting. Carbon steel is hard. Drill bits are hardened to the max. they shatter easily because of it. Basically, I embarrassed the metal with the lathe. Today I was showing my brother the project. He sharpened a bit to get it to cut but the motor was having a problem. He took the motor home and is going to see if he can fix it. 

I picked up a set of needle files. I use them on the metal lathe all the time. Right now they are in the dremel box. Where they end up I will see. I can see uses with the dremel, and with other projects. 

I got rolls of sandpaper in three grits. It is like 25 feet of sandpaper about three inches wide.  I will put them on a peg a bit later, but decided not to open them just yet. 

Now I have no idea why I got them, other than the fact they were $15. Even that was not a good excuse. I got an 8 piece turning tool set. They could use longer handles and I know they are not quality metal, carbon steel at best. Definitely not speed steel. They will do the work in skilled hands, though. A couple are cut to something I can use. A couple I can reshape to something much more useful. If one is beginning and have no clue what to get, this will do the job. I’ve seen vids of people using worse tools to make something. The very first thing one must do when you open the box is to sharpen them. 

On Wednesday, I had expected to deal with another storm. It was said to reach here Monday. I figured I would drag in all the big equipment on Saturday. Friday night, it was still questionable. I got up Saturday morning, and saw that we were out of the path. It was only a few weeks ago that we took everything down and then put it back up. We lucked out this time, not expected to get even strong winds. Maybe 20 or even 30 mph gusts, but nothing serious. The awning is only designed to hold under normal strong gusts from thunderstorms, though some of those can be serious. 

I will see what happens next weekend. 

2247

furniture mover top side, notice added blocks for the screws.

furniture mover underside

dolphin with orca

finished pianos

another batch of pasta of different kinds

Projects This & That

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'.

Stay safe, keep busy, and be well,

~NANCY

BOOK REVIEW: ASTROPHYSICS FOR PEOPLE IN A HURRY By Neil DeGrasse Tyson

As the days turn colder and the nights longer, one advantage of late fall and winter is having more time to star gaze.

If you can brave the chilly air to look up at the stellar spectacular, it's like seeing a multitude of sparkling gems upon a cloth of black velvet.

A natural wonder without the costly electric bill some of those neighborhood holiday light displays run up.😉

If you've ever wondered about how the universe got to your observation point but don't have a lot of time to research the subject, then Astrophysics For People In A Hurry is for you.

Think of this book as the Reader’s Digest version of Astrophysics 101. Noted scientist Neil DeGrasse Tyson takes the reader on a brief but understandable tour of the universe, from its birth to projected future. Along the way he also includes explanations of what the universe is composed of, our relationship with everything in the cosmos, and even examines the nature of space and time.

Other than the fact that I wish this book had some interior illustrations, like a picture of the universe or at least our solar system, I highly recommend Astrophysics For People In A Hurry to even the causal stargazer or science fan.

With Plenty Of Stuffing!

Yes, I know what some of you are thinking, because it's close to Thanksgiving here in the US, but I'm not referring to the turkey kind of stuffing. I was thinking more about fiberfill in stuffed animals and other crocheted projects I've made for the grandkids or to brighten someone's day. I have however been working on making a stuffed turkey to go with my fall scarecrow dolls that I put out at this time of year. The turkey is still in the experiemental stage right now, because I'm not working from a pattern but making it up as I go. When it's done if it looks decent, I'll post a picture. In the meantime, here are front and back shots of the scarecrows.

Yes, I have been told they look like the sad clowns from the circus, and I'm okay with that. These get put away when the Christmas/Yule stuff comes out, but they have been played with and can take a little abuse. The clothing is part of the doll, so that was a disappointment to my granddaughter, who likes to dress and undress her own dolls. The patches on the clothing are just little bits of colored felt that I sewed in place to give them that 'rustic' look. Neither one of these had a pattern either; I just crocheted from experience and adjusted things as I went along. So they're not 'bought in some shop' perfect, but to me that's part of their charm. Half the fun is watching what evolves and how it compares with your mental image. I do tend to write down what I am doing as I go along in case I plan to duplicate something down the road.

I've made quite a few stuffed pieces to be played with or just displayed. Some of them are looking a big ratty, but they were designed to be handled and loved by children. No matter if the toy comes from the store or is made at home, if it isn't meant for a child to hold and have fun with, then it needs to be put in a glass case somewhere. That's not why I'm doing this.

This pair of little teddies are made from the same pattern. I'm linking it here, because it's very simple yet clever, all crocheted in one piece and sewn together. The site is in German I believe, but it has a link you can click on for an English PDF version that is a free download. These would make great little last minute gifts for a child, and they're not hard at all to work. Please if you make them, give credit to the creator. My faces are a bit wonky, but the grandkids don't seem to mind.

The bunnies came from a pattern who's origin I have long since lost track of, I've had it quite a while. I tucked them into Easter baskets for the grandkids and they decided to let them live here. I was going to add puff tails to the behind, but the granddaughter wanted to be able to dress the bunnies, so they are currently tailless. 

These are the Easter clothing I made for them, a sundress for the pink girl bunny and short pants and a sleeveless shirt for the blue boy bunny. It's funny how whenever I ask what color the kids want in their toys, I generally get the pink and blue scheme. You will see that a lot!

I was experimenting with the bunny pattern and made what is supposed to be a couple of upright cats. Again the blue and pink, because that's what the kids wanted. I shortened and widened the ears and made a long whippy tale that tends to kink and curl. I'm not sure why the blue cat turned out to be shorter, it might have been made from a lighter weight yarn. Or maybe I missed a row or two. No matter, they were fun projects. Yes those are turning seams on the back. While most crocheted amigurumi are worked in a continous spiral to avoid that, I sometimes get tired of having to count rows as well as keep track of where the last round's first stitch was placed. I crochet a lot while watching TV, so I'll tend to lose track and forget to move a stitch marker to a new spot. On dark yarns it's especially hard to tell where you left off. Since the grandkids aren't critics of my work, the visible seams don't bother them. So I do it the easy way. 😉 I generally keep that joining seam in the back, where it's not as noticeable.

I am always looking for free patterns online, but often forget to write down where I got them. Not sure where I got the one for frogger, but he was a challenge to make, though he turned out pretty well. There's chenille stems (AKA pipe cleaners) in the legs so they can be posed. When I was finished with him, he stood upright in my living room window with his toes against it for quite a while, staring down anyone who came to the kitchen door. Saw a UPS driver dropping off a package stop and stare back at him for a moment and then he laughed. Made me smile too!

This octopus pattern also came from somewhere online as well. They are basically a big stuffed ball with 8 long arms of curly crochet hanging from the base. I decided to go two tone on the tentacles. As I recall, they were fairly simple to make and I could probably fudge them together without a pattern. Hanging up they look kind of cool. The grandkids took turns tossing them on each other, pretending they were being attacked, or wearing them like weird hairdos. Imaginative play is what it's all about and I love to hear kids giggling while playing together and know it's because of something I made for them.

Bambi came from a kit that was sold at our local Aldi's. I got a couple of those inexpensive crochet kits—which had all the yarn and stuffing included—for my birthday from writing pal and all around good guy Lee Houston Jr. (Yes he posts the book reviews here). Something in the directions is off because the head is huge, so the little guy doesn't stand up. But that's okay; my granddaughter felt sorry for him and carried him around for an hour encouraging him to keep trying. She has a tender heart, just like Grandma. 💕

The hedgehog came from the same kit, but I could not figure out how to make the spines they had in the directions. Something in the wording seemed off to me, though the body came out fine. So I just went with tufts of yarn knotted in place and was very gratified when my granddaughter recognized what he was supposed to be. She had seen someone's pet hedgehog in a video on a kid's channel on her tablet, and told me all about it. This one got carried around for quite a while as well.

I've made a lot of crocheted ornaments for my holiday tree, and the grandkids love to come over and look at them all. They loved all the different shapes, but the stars were the ones that excited them the most. They wanted to keep some, so I made a couple for their own tree, but those got put away after the season was over. So I made them each a star they could play with year round. When I asked what colors their stars should be, I was expecting gold or something shiny, but no... it was pink and blue yet again. I should know better by now!  I added faces to make them more like toys. These are made of two star shapes each, and sewn together along the edges to give some thickness and a sturdy feeling without having to be stuffed. You have to do the embroidery before you sew the pieces together or the icky side of the stitches will show. The granddaughter sang about 14 verses of the Twinkle Star song before her brother got annoyed and complained rather loud and dramatically about it. The two of them are about a year and a half apart, and best friends nonetheless.

Goldie the goldfish was an experiment on my part. I have the instructions somewhere in my messy notes. I just kind of shaped it as I went along. The fins and tail  sections were done separately and sewn on, they are basic crochet leaf shapes I've learned from doing flowers and foliage. The dorsal fin I crocheted onto the stuffed body. Any time you have safety eyes, which have a stalk in the back with ridges and a washer that snaps over them to hold them in place, you have to put them in before you continue stuffing. I buy stuff like that in bulk in craft stores or on Amazon, when I can get a good price. I was going to display it in a glass bowl, but the kids wanted to play with it, so it's theirs now.

These two little bits were in with the stuffed animals. The pink thing that looks like a peanut with ears is a bunny like the ones I made for an Easter garland I put up every year. That garland has  multicolored crocheted colorful bunnies that looked like Peeps marshmallow candies and crocheted eggs that all hang from a line of pony beads on some sort of cording. Again the kids wanted bunnies of their own, so I made them each one, in the usual pink and blue.  Not sure where the blue one went off to, but this one was still hanging around. Yep, it's a bit beat up. You can barely see the facial features. There's a tiny white pompom tail on the backside. The butterfly is made from a granny hexagon that gets folded up. I sew the edges together to give it some thickness and bulk, as I did with the stars above. I've made a ton of those butterflies, I have a bunch I want to turn into a mobile with beads and stuff. Because this one went to the kids, I didn't use chenille stems for the body and antennae, but yarn instead. We don't want little fingers getting poked by wire.

I've made quite a few of these Jinglebirds, they are based on a bird pattern from Lucy over on Attic 24. Whenever I have a bad day and need something to brighten it up, her blog is where I go. The body is about the same, but I stuff mine full so it's a little more rounded. I've added a tail, changed up the wings, a longer beak, and little jingle bells at the end of the legs. I've given a few of these away, and this one went to the granddaughter. I had a blue one for the grandson too, but I can't find a picture of it. I have two in my living room hanging from the arms of wall lamps. The kids always love to tickle their feet to make them jingle, so now they have their own hanging in their room.

I think this is my favorite project. That above is an owl's nest, which was crocheted from two different colors (medium brown and light gray) of worsted weight yarn, because I didn't have anything bulky in my stash. Because it's so thick, bulky yarn makes a better form that holds a shape.

This is the nest filled with  owlets. I think we might be missing one, because I'm counting only ten total here, and I'm pretty sure there were ten of the tufted ears sort and the plainer one in the front makes eleven. I'm pretty sure there was one based on the color red. No matter, we'll find it. Again, the patterns for the owls came from online, but I've lost track from exactly where because I print these things up and then they sit in folders until I get to them. The kids love playing with the owls, but this project is the one that adults are always intrigued with as well. This nest full of owls often sits on my coffee table and people will pick them out to examine them and then look at at me like I'm some kind of genius (or maniac). 

The truth is I enjoy making things, and while it takes time and effort, it helps me to relax at the end of the day to have something in my hands that I'm working on. I do other crafts as well, but crochet is my favorite and what I am best at. I am grateful to be at that point in life where I do have this time, and glad I have somewhere to share it with people who don't get to see me every day. I can't emphasize enough the importance of being creative. It's why our ancient ancestors, who lived short and difficult lives, sat by the fire carving and telling stories, or painting pictures inside caves. We as humans have a need to express ourselves and leave something tangible behind. I write all afternoon most days (my writing blog), but in the evenings, I want to do something more tactile. There is so much upheaval in our lives even in years that haven't been as insane as this one is. Stress is a big issue for most of us, and the more you dwell on it, the worst it is for you. I'm no different, I have my ups and downs too, and I live in chronic pain. There are so many things we can be doing in this world that are unhealthy for us and others, so having a hobby to look forward to is a positive way of dealing with that. This is just one of many things I do, in my 'spare' time. I hope you find something of your own as well.

To all who are celebrating...

Be well,

~Nancy

The Dolls of the Valley—Part 3

It's about time to conclude the crocheted dolls post. Actually had my younger grandkids here for a while today, and the granddaughter did get out the dolls for a bit. The younger grandson was busy showing me where different countries are on his tablet. They did some drawing as well. It gets lively, but I love to sit nearby while they are playing and listen to their chatter. It takes me back to when my sons were that age.

But this is about doll creation. I have a few more pictures to share.

This is a doll I wanted to make because all the others had been caucasian. We live in rural communities that have very few people who aren't white, and I wanted to reinforce that humans come in a lovely array of skin tones. You have to forgive once again my not-so-skilled embroidery, which is not easy to do on crochet anyway. I do love the safety eyes, I get them in assortments on Amazon or whenever I'm in a craft shop and see some. Buttons will work too, I've done that at times. Just in case we have a younger child visit (as sometimes happened pre-pandemic) these are hard to pull out once installed properly. We don't want any choking hazards!

Next the doll was assembled, with all the parts sewn together. Head to body, and the arms and legs are all separate. This uses the same basic pattern as the other girl dolls I did. These are front and back views—a little hard to see because of the darker backdrop. But you get the idea. 😉

The hair was the next thing I tackled. I did the wig cap first, sewing that down to the head, and then added the kinky curled dreads afterward by sewing them onto it. I love the way the hair turned out and so does my granddaughter.

Yes, she can sit down—sort of. With that hair and expression, the name 'Caroline' just popped into my head, so that's what I call her. I'm sure Terralyn has her own names for her. Doesn't matter, she gets played with, and loved a lot no matter what we call her.

Now it was time for some clothing. Her skin tone cried out for bright colors, which is great because I have a lot of odds and ends of hot shades of yarn from other projects. This is a front, back, and side view of the dress. Yeah I just fudged this one together too. Buttons is another thing I have a good stock of, these are just for trim because the dress pulls up easily enough. The thyme green and bright orange work pretty well together. All the dolls share clothing so Caroline and her friends tend to dress as the mood moves whoever is playing with them.

Caroline needed shoes to go with the dress. Luckily there was enough of the thyme colored yarn left to make her a set of Mary Janes. Those are little orange flower buttons on the side, and I sewed them on with a matching green thread. Can you tell I had some some fun with all this? The shoes just slip on, the buttons are strictly for decoration. These are the parts you have to worry about as choking hazards, so we don't let the small fry get too involved with that. When we have other children here, I watch them carefully. The little ones tend to gnaw or tug on things, so you can't be too careful.

One one of the playdates, it was mentioned that Caroline wanted to go swimming but didn't have a bathing suit. So grandma got busy with that, and by the next visit she did have one in a hot peony pink. The bikini bottom was easy, it was done in the same style as all the doll undies. Fashioning the bikini top front wasn't too hard, but figuring out how to make it easy to get on and off was. These dolls' heads are very big and with hair and all, not easy to get something over them. Yet the body isn't that big, so it had to be something that could be tightened up once it went around the area it was supposed to be in. And it had to be something easy for a impatient child to get on and off. My granddaughter changes her dollies' clothing numerous times. I finally settled for ties, one set around the torso, the other around the neck. A little messy looking, but it worked. The kids are still learning to tie bows, but that's something any adult in the room can do, and they are easy to get off when a quick change is needed. I might try something with buttons next time, but for now, this will suffice. 

These are all simple dolls, though sometimes a challenge for me to design and dress. I don't mind because it gives me something else to pass the time with. I write most days, and so crocheting or other crafts are a change from that, yet still a way to keep busy and be creative. I mostly work on this stuff while watching TV in the evening. I am not the couch potato type who sits slack-jawed staring at the tube, and I don't snack in front of the TV, so doing something else while watching has been my habit for a long time. It's also relaxing for me. I have very severe arthritis in my spine and all joints, so I deal with chronic and sometimes debilitating pain. This takes my mind off that as well, and when I'm done I have something to show for it. Win/win!

I have a small handful of other dolls I've made. These three live mostly with the stuffed critters because they're not dressable like most of the others, so they're not quite as popular. They do get played with at times. The clothing is part of the doll, and everything is sewed on.

I pictured this one as a little sister or friend to one of the other dolls. Terralyn says she is a baby. The scarf was an afterthought and does come off, the hat doesn't. I don't think she has a name yet, but I am leaning toward Cyndi. Basic pattern came out of an E-book and I fudged the rest.

Same E-book had fairy dolls, so I made one of those as well. She's got no hair, but a big old hat. Nobody much plays with her, but she makes me smile so I don't mind. I call this one Rosey-Posey. Just because...

This is Gno Me, named after a character a friend once played on an online bulletin board years ago. I have a handmade Swedish Tomte I bought and wanted to make something similar. It took me a good two weeks to design him, working out the dimensions as I went along, getting all that hair and beard rooted, unplied, and fluffed out. I usually have him out around the holidays but mostly he lives in the overflowing  basket that holds the crocheted stuffed animal collection. He does have arms, you can just barely see them sticking out behind that luxurious beard. 

Well thanks for indulging me by reading down this far.  As I've said before, being an empty nester with family nearby, I like to keep busy, and making things for them is one way of doing that. Crochet is a something I'm very comfortable designing and working with, so I find it easy to fashion things in yarn that I can't manage in other fiber crafts. Can't sew for beans, that I'll admit! While I do make other things as well, crochet is my main crafty indulgence. Now and then I will have more to show here of my finished projects. With today's smart phones and digital cameras, it's far easier to document some of that progress in pictures, which gives me some visuals to share here of what I've been doing 'in my spare time'.

Now you go out and be creative too,
~NANCY