hats for clients

November 28, 2015 by 11 Comments

My boss also crochets and had the great idea that we use some of our easy-care stash yarn to make hats for our clients, who often don’t have the money to buy themselves things like that for the winter.  We both got really busy though, and didn’t get to make as many as we would have liked.  I’ve made 13 and my goal was about 30 or so.  Fortunately, one of our interns also crochets and she attends a church that has a knitting/crocheting group, and they all pitched in to help, too.  Now we have enough hats and scarves for all of the clients!  Here are the 13 I made:

IMG_4658

I’ve actually got a couple more hats for them that I’d knitted previously and just don’t want (I mean, how many hats can I really make for myself?), but these are the ones I made specifically for this purpose.  I’m glad there will be enough for everybody!

Well that’s all for today.  I need to get crackin’ on my last Christmas gift.  See you soon, and thanks for stopping by!  Oh and don’t forget to enter the giveaway!

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Thanksgiving yarn and hooks giveaway!

November 26, 2015 by 41 Comments

***Giveaway now closed.***

There are so many things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, even if you’re not celebrating the holiday in the United States.  To demonstrate this, check out this list I found (from itsbubz on Instagram):

Grateful for…

  1.  Early wakeups = children to love
  2. House to clean = safe place to live
  3. Laundry = clothes to wear
  4. Dishes to wash = food to eat
  5. Crumbs under the table = family meals
  6. Grocery shopping = $ to provide for us
  7. Toilets to clean = indoor plumbing
  8. Lots of noise = people in my life
  9. Endless questions about homework = kids’ brains growing
  10. Sore & tired in bed = I’m still alive!

Amen

Even though I don’t have kids, this is a great reminder that we can find things to be grateful for in what we usually consider to be unpleasant chores.

In the spirit of spreading thankfulness (which incidentally can also be really good for your mental health, see here), I’m hosting a giveaway!

giveaway

 

WHAT THE WINNER WILL RECEIVE:

 

  • 1 100g skein of fingering/sock weight yarn (480m/525yds) from DyeForYarn.  This Merino/BabyCamel yarn is a single ply yarn made of 55% merino superwash wool, 45% baby camel.  It is very soft and warm (I used it for my wedding wrap). Colorway: Blood Smear.

Not Your Average Crochet Thanksgiving 2015 giveaway

  • 1 more skein of the exact same yarn in colorway: Disappointed.

Not Your Average Crochet Thanksgiving 2015 giveaway

  • 4 Susan Bates aluminum crochet hooks in sizes:
    • B/1 (2.25mm)
    • C/2 (2.75mm)
    • D/3 (3.25mm)
    • E/4 (3.5mm)

Not Your Average Crochet Thanksgiving 2015 giveaway

The yarn currently retails for $21.27 USD (click here for my previous review of the yarn) and the Susan Bates hooks are my favorite aluminum brand, hands down, because the in-line shape allows me to crochet more quickly and smoothly.

GIVEAWAY RULES:

The giveaway starts today and runs through the end of Sunday, December 6, 2015 EST and the winner will be drawn randomly on the following day.  The winner will receive an email alerting them to their win, and they must respond with their full name and shipping address within 24 hours of the email being sent or else another winner will be drawn.  The giveaway is open to all countries.

To enter, you must do ALL of the following:

  1. Follow this blog (via WordPress, Bloglovin’, or email).
  2. Re-blog this post (or share on another social media platform if you don’t have a blog, such as Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, etc.).  Multiple entries can be earned if you share on multiple platforms.
  3. Leave a comment on this post including the following information: a) how you follow this blog  b) the links to your re-blogged post and any of your shares on other social media platforms.

If all three of these have not been met, you will not be entered.

Please keep in mind that if you are a new commenter on my blog I will have to verify your comment before it will appear below, but you are entered once you submit your comment so please do not comment twice.

Good luck to everyone, and happy Thanksgiving!

-Hannah

***Giveaway now closed.***

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current WIP

November 22, 2015 by 5 Comments

The simplicity of stockinette is great, don’t you think?  Although I must admit the curling is ridiculous.

stockinette cowl

At least this time I got a better photo of the colors in the Malabrigo Sock I’m using (colorway: 121 Marte).  This is the Fino Circle Scarf that I’ve been working on for a while.  I forgot how slowly thinner yarns knit up.

How are you all doing on your Christmas projects?  I’ve got to sew on some buttons and block a few things and I still have 1 1/2 hats to make, but that’s not so much, since it’s still November!  Wish I could share the projects with you but I’d better keep them offline for now, since some of the recipients might just visit here occasionally!  I should have a big update after Christmas Day.  🙂

Hope you all are doing well, thanks for stopping by!  See you soon!

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Yoshi’s Woolly World amiibo

November 14, 2015 by 3 Comments

If the title sounds like a foreign language, let me explain.  Yoshi’s Woolly World is a video game recently released by Nintendo for the Wii U console.  Like the Kirby’s Epic Yarn game, everything is made out of knitted, crocheted, or sewed items in the game.  Bridges and jump pads are made out of granny squares, and the grass is made out of garter stitch fabric.  It’s super colorful, adorable, and it looks really fun (and needless to say I am THRILLED to see knitting and crochet in a popular form like this, and they seemed to have done some research for it)!

The game is about $50, so I haven’t got that yet (although I’d like it, and it’ll be the first game I’ve bought for myself in years), but the amiibos are around $14.

Amiibos are little figurines of game characters made by Nintendo (ranging from old to new characters, and originating from various companies) that have a chip in the base that your current generation Nintendo consoles can read when you put the amiibo on top of the controller.  They allow you to get extra characters or abilities, etc. in a variety of Nintendo games, and some of them have become highly collectible, going for $100 or more on Ebay (or even so collectible that you can’t find them at all).

Most of the amiibos are made from plastic, but the ones that go with Yoshi’s Woolly World are actually made of yarn, and Chris managed to find one for me before they all sold out!  Check him out:

Yoshi's Woolly World amiibo

Isn’t he cute?!?!  The only color available was pink but I love it.  Some of them I believe look like little crocheted amigurumi dolls but this is the only one I’ve seen in real life so far.  He doesn’t come with a plastic base like most other amiibos but he connects with the controllers like all the others!

Yoshi's Woolly World amiibo

So I know this might seem silly if you aren’t a video game fan, but ya gotta admit that’s the cutest yarn-y baby dinosaur you’ve ever seen, right?  😀

Well that’s all for today, thanks for stopping by!  When I eventually get the game, I’ll post some screen shots so you can see. 🙂

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honeymoon yarn haul!

November 10, 2015 by 3 Comments

yarn shop happiness!

My husband Chris and I honeymooned in Asheville, NC.  It’s a beautiful mountain town with lots of great shopping and dining and sightseeing, and we went right as the leaves were turning colors on the Blue Ridge Parkway (a very scenic drive).

Of course I saw a yarn store and we HAD to go in and buy celebratory yarn:

malabrigo yarn

The yarn winder in the store got clogged with lint so we left before they wound the last ball of the Malabrigo Sock (100% Merino) in colorway 121 Marte.  The bright yarn to the right is Malabrigo Rios (a worsted yarn that’s also 100% Merino) in colorway 850 Archangel.  Below that is more Rios in colorway 043 Plomo.

Malabrigo yarn is great, and I don’t get a chance to buy it in person very often, so I was very happy to find this store!  I have plans for the worsted already but the sock was an impulse buy.  Fortunately I’ve already made a Christmas gift out of it (which I can’t share yet) and am also working on a cowl with the leftovers.

The yarn shop also had Mirasol Yarns, and I REALLY wanted to buy some Nuna and Llama Una, but I figured I’d spent enough on the 9 Malabrigo skeins, so I’ll save those for another time (but by golly were they SUPER DUPER soft)!

Well, that’s all for today, I’ll show more about what these yarns turn into soon. Thanks so much for stopping by!  Let me know if you’ve tried Malabrigo before, and what you think!

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