Orange Candle

 

A few years ago, Eric gave me a candle maker for either my birthday or Mother’s Day. I made one with Noel a while ago, but I was rushed that day and had to leave most of the work to her. A couple of days ago, I decided to get the candle maker out and make one alone. I had a lot of fun doing it. Since I was using the orange oil, I decided to make the candle an orange color. Mixing the color was the hardest part, but I am happy with how it turned out. 

This is something I will do again. I have loved scented candles for my entire adult life. There is just something soothing about them. 

Hobby Time

My daughter has had a few emotional weeks, and the closer it gets to her birthday, the harder life seems to be for her. (I won’t go into details because it’s not my issues.) She isn’t a big fan of being comforted which breaks my heart because I just want to fix everything for her. 

Tonight, she just wanted to leave the house, so we headed out after dinner. First, we got gas (originally our only plan). Then, we headed over to Micheal’s to get craft supplies. As we walked through the store, she seemed to perk up a bit. She found some pints and supplies for a project she had in her head and asked me to make her a sweater. We left with everything she and I needed for these projects. I know it didn’t solve her problems, but my hope is that she will use this as a healthy coping mechanism. 

Weaving the Ends

 

On the back of my office chair, I have 2 shawls, a scarf, and a lap blanket. These are all projects I have finished over the past few months. They are not there because I get cold easy. It hasn’t been cold enough for such things for the most part. They aren’t there for decoration even though the lap blanket will probably stay for that reason. They are all there because I still need to weave in the ends. 

I love knitting and crocheting. Working with yarn to make something beautiful or useful is a stress relief. The problem is that I hate weaving in ends. I do it fairly quickly when I make hats or when I am making something for someone else. However, when it is something for me that I know I won’t be able to use for a while, I’m in no hurry to complete this dreaded step. I know that I will be kicking myself when I want to wear one of these or when I decide to sit down in front of the tv to do it all. For now, I will just adjust my “decorations” when they slide down each day. 

Tommy’s Hat

 I finished Tommy’s hat today. It felt good to finish something again. This was a really fast knit! Funny thing is that I have made this pattern twice for Eric, but it has never knit this fast. I am obviously getting faster when I knit, but I also think knitting in church helped. 

Now, I need to decide which yarn to use for Chris’s hat and make another one. (I am leaning towards the leftovers from Noel’s hat.)

Back to Hats

I have finished the back, left front, right front, and 1 1/3 sleeves, and I have to stop crocheting for now. My right thumb is not appreciating all of the work I’m putting into this sweater. It doesn’t seems to care how much I want to finish and wear it. It doesn’t care that the more I finish, the more in love I am. It just wants a rest. 

Now, I am going back to my first love, knitting. I don’t need my thumb for that as much. I even have two projects that need to be finished by mid November. Today, I picked up Tommy’s hat and got a lot done in it without causing further pain. I expect it to be done by the end of the week. Then, I will start a hat for my brother-in-law. I am fairly confident that I will be able to finish it in a week or two. Hopefully, my thumb will be better by then. I am considering making one for my dad, too. I need stuff to knit in church, and hats are perfect for that. I just need to find enough people who will wear them. 

Tatting? Sure

 

The more needlework I do, the more I want to learn. I had thought I would be happy with knitting and crocheting, and I have been. I cross stitched here and there growing up, but it was never something I enjoyed as much as my dad or grandma. I’m not going to say that I would never do it again, but it does not grab my attention right now. Macrame has yet to appeal to me. Tatting has never quite been on my radar. 

Before I left a few days ago, my stepmom asked me if I had thought about learning because she had a book she wanted to give me. As I thumbed through the book, my first thought was, “I haven’t considered this, but I really want to learn to make that heart.” Guess what I am now excited to learn when I have my 7 week school break? How to tat!

The One Where You Buy a Book

Sometimes you buy the book

because you want the sweater.

Now, I need to come up with the money to buy all of the yarn needed. It looks like it will be about $90. Maybe someone will be generous for my birthday.