Merry Christmas

I took pictures of Vicki, Sam, and Jessica wearing their ponchos. I think they really liked them.

Yesterday I brought Cynthia a whole bag of stuff. I think I had 11 hats, 11 scarves, 1 pair of mittens, 1 pair of gloves, and one afghan. She told me to keep on making them because their are still plenty of people who need warm things. So I already made another scarf, 2 hats, and some squares for an afghan.

Mittens

I finished 10 scarves and 10 hats so I wanted to try to make some mittens. I had I pattern for some but it was with sport yarn. I went to Gary's and found a book for hats, mittens, and scarves with worsted weight yarn. I made a pair last night. They came out really cute but now I need someone with little hands to try them on. So after I finished the mittens I started working on the ripple afghan again. I think I am real close to finishing it. I might be able to finish it today.

Scarves for Katrina victims

Lastweek Cynthia and Kim announced they were collecting blankets and warm clothes for some Katrina victims who were still living in tents by the Spillway. I have an unfinished afghan that I am going to donate after it is finished but I knew I couldn't finish it in a day or two. So night before last I was thinking and I figured if I can't finish the afghan I can make scarves and hats. It doesn't take long for each one and I have a bunch of yarn. I not only have my own stash of yarn but I still have all of that bulky yarn from Laurie's mom. So I started making them and now I am up to 6 scarves and 5 hats. I am working on the 7th scarf. I called Cynthia yesterday evening and she said the people by the spillway are taken care of but there are more people in need of warm things so I will keep making them. Here are some pictures of the first ones I made. The picture of the hats isn't too clear.

Stephen's scarf

I made a white, black, and gray scarf for Stephen. I got the pattern out of the same book that I used for the other 2 scarves. The book is "Ruthie's Easy Crocheted Scarves" and the pattern I used is "Slits, Slits, Slits Two." It has 8 slits where you can tuck one end of the scarf in. You can see in the picture. Isn't that a good looking boy!!

I also made a poncho for me. I used some sparkly sport yarn that I already had so it didn't cost me anything.

I still had some of the yarn left over after making the poncho so I made a scarf. After all, I won't be wearing the poncho and scarf at the same time. I still have more of the same yarn. Probably enough for 2 more scarves.

The Time Machine

I had my reading group for teens yesterday. We discussed "The Time Machine" by H.G.Wells. It was a good discussion. I think everyone enjoyed the book. The next book we picked is "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll. We had to talk Jonathon into reading it. At first he said he wouldn't read it. We told him that it is not a "girl" book. It is not just a children's book. And part of being in a reading group is reading books that normally wouldn't read. Sometimes after you read a book you decide that you didn't really like it and that's all right. Reading different things broadens your mind and exposes you to different things outside of your "norm." Anyway I think he will like the book once he gets started on it.

Scarves

Walmart finally reopened after Hurricane Katrina over 3 months ago. So of course I had to go buy some yarn. I also got a scarf book called Ruthie's Easy Crocheted Scarves. It is put out by Leisure Arts. I made 2 of the scarves already. The first one I made is called Lace and Spirals. I used burgundy worsted weight yarn then I made a hat to match it. I used the same v-stitches and bobbles on the hat. I made some gloves out of sport yarn that is really close to the same color.

The second scarf I made is called Purple Passion in the book but I made it in blue. It used worsted weight and sport yarn. Both K and L hooks are used to make the stitches real loose. It has beads on the ends.

3 projects

Right now I only have 3 crochet projects in progress. I am more than half way finished a ripple afghan. I am using left over yarn. When it it finished I will donate it to a coat and blanket drive. I am making a pink doily. I ran out of pink thread. I hope I can find the same shade of pink. I am making a hook case to hold all of my steel hooks. It is a pattern I found on the internet. There is a little pocket for each hook and it can hold 16 hooks.

I am also reading 3 books. The first is "Les Miserables" by Victor Hugo. It is for a reading group at the library. (I got the abridged version.) The second is "Seduced by Moonlight" by Laurell K. Hamilton. I guess it is science fiction/fantasy. The third book is "The Time Machine" by H.G. Wells. It is for a teen reading group that I started. Right now the group is small, my son, 2 other boys, and the mom of one of the boys. But it is a good group because everybody reads the books we pick and everybody participates in the discussion.