Lenten Challenge

Do you remember the Lenten challenge last year where I pledged to make a preemie hat for every day of Lent? Well I didn't make it because sometimes life just gets in the way. This year however I'm determined to do it. I'll be doing an average of five hair pretties a day for every day of lent. That's a lot of hair pretties. We are doing it in the Bev's Charity Challenge Yahoo group and several others are doing hair pretties, too. Be prepared for lots of pictures of hair pretties and maybe a new pattern or two, we'll see what happens.

Shawls from Granny's Daughters

I've shown you the Granny's Daughters, also called Saltines, I've made. So with Lynn's permission I'd like to show you the beautiful shawls she makes from them. Aren't these gorgeous?? Lynn and I both belong to the Crafting 4 A Cause Yahoo Group and these awesome shawls are sent to the different charities the group supports. To see more you can visit Lynn's album.
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I love making the Granny's Daughters, which are just the first two rows of the traditional Granny square. They go so quickly and I can use the yarn balls that are too small for anything else. I just sent Lynn a bagful and already have another bagful to send. Most of these were from the contest I had last weekend. I had a lot of fun with that and will be doing something like it again soon.

Make A Blanket Day

This is Project Linus' Make A Blanket Day. My Chapter (St Louis) has something going on at a Hancock Fabrics down in the city but I won't be going. Instead I'm staying home and working on squares and a blanket. Are you participating? Please take a minute and leave a comment to tell us about it. Also if you don't feel up to making a blanket, I'm collecting squares to join into blankets. See the post below this one.
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I didn't make this blanket today but I did finish (and about 5 others like it) it by tucking in the ends. They are all just one large never ending blanket square made very large. The yarn I used was Red Heart Baby Clouds. The blanket is sooo soft.

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I am also working on another blanket today in peach and white. That one will be made from 9 squares and I'll show it to you after I'm done.

Project Linus

Do you have a Project Linus near you? If you don't I will gladly accept any blankets to contribute to the St Louis Chapter. Right now I have a bunch of blankets that I need to work in ends, I made many of the blankets over a year ago and put them away when our Chapter coordinator stepped down. We've had a new coodinator for several months now and I have even volunteered to be the drop off point for my county. So I will be making regular trips with blankets to our new coordinators and will be glad to drop yours off, too.
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I have also decided to accept 12" squares to join into blankets for the same cause. Please contact me at debsstuff55 (at) yahoo (dot) com if you are interested in donating.

What I Did This Weekend

I was able to use up 15 partial skeins and balls and 1 full skein in my crocheting marathon. This is what I was able to make: Twenty four yo-yos and forty five mini squares.

and forty nine saltines or Granny's daughters.

Three 7" squares, thirteen hair pretties, and four finger puppets.

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The grand total is 138 which the winner hit right on the head. Noble Retrievers is the winner with her (his?) guess of 138. Contact me at debsstuff55 (at) yahoo (dot) com to find out how to redeem your prize.

My Resistance is so Low

I had to go to WalMart today to buy some googly eyes for finger puppets. I swore I wasn't going to buy any more yarn. I really did, I don't need anymore yarn, I've been trying to do some serious stash busting. Odds and ends of partial skeins and small balls have literally taken over my craft room, it's getting difficult to walk among all the boxes of yarn in there. Every drawer and shelf is full of yarn and fabric. I have bins and boxes and bags full of supplies. So I really don't need any more, BUT I have this project coming up to make scarves for victims of sexual assault and abuse and needed something really soft for that. I don't really like working with Lion's Brand Homespun but I love how it feels so I just had to buy a skein for that project. I bought a really nice blue and lavender variegated that I think will be perfect. Warmth isn't a factor for this project so I'm looking forward to doing some scarves that are different from what I usually make. If you would like to help the links are below.

Threads of Compassion

Woven Lotus
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Quickie Contest

The contest is over. The grand total is 138 which the winner hit right on the head. Noble Retrievers is the winner with her (his?) guess of 138. Contact me at debsstuff55 (at) yahoo (dot) com to find out how to redeem your prize.
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I'm going to spend the weekend making small projects such as yo-yo's, granny's daughters, mini-squares and finger puppets and maybe some 7" squares. I might also sew up some little hug pillows. The contest is to guess how many items I will make by Sunday night and leave your guess and a way to contact you as a comment. The person coming the closest will be the winner, in the event of a tie the person who posted their comment first will win. I can't tell you how much time I will have because I don't know myself. Family, cats and work seem to have a way of intruding on my crafting time, but I don't really have anything planned for the whole weekend. The prize will be a $5 gift certificate to the Crafting 4 a Cause webstore. They have added lots of new things since my last contest so check them out. All proceeds go to the Pine Ridge Reservation propane fund so even if you don't win, please consider buying something.

Crafting 4 A Cause Webstore
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Pretty Bird Woman House

One of the charities that is supported by my Crafting 4 A Cause Yahoo groups is the Pretty Bird Women's Shelter. They have recently posted on their blog, an article that is both interesting and disturbing. It is a long article but you really need to read it all the way through.

Pretty Bird Woman House Blog
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January Stash Busting Part 2

I took this picture last week and only added a couple more hair pretties. So this and the picture before is the result of my stash busting for January. I have filled up the bag again. (I recieved and bought a bunch of small balls and partial skeins so I added them to the bag) So the bag is full almost to bursting and I get another chance to try to empty it in a month. I wasn't able to do it in January and the bag is actually fuller now so I better get to work.

Bundles of Love Donation

For January the All_Crafts_4_Charity Yahoo group was making items for Bundles of Love in Minnesota. I am packing up these items to send to them today. First is a sweater set made from Lion Brand Baby Boucle, sort of a combination of both my Newborn Sweater Set and my Bumpy Baby Sweater. I will actually have to make the sweater again so I can write down the changes. The blanket to match is made from nine Never Ending Blanket Squares, made without changing colors. As well as the set I made two washcloths and two bibs, The patterns were developed specifically for this project. I will be packing this up today (and may throw in somes hats if the box isn't full) and mailing it out tomorrow.