Chemo Caps

Mom has been undergoing chemo treatments for Breast Cancer.  [I just hate reading that - it makes it too real :'(  As one of my Facebook friends so eloquently said, "Cancer Sucks"]  Since I'm so far away and not working, I offered to make some caps for her to try since she's lost her hair.  She just wanted something to wear on her head, but nothing that would be too hot.  Had she been going through this in the winter and needed something to keep her head warm, it would have been very easy!!!  Flannel would be good and I could knit her all kinds of things to wear.  Hopefully she'll be done with chemo and her hair will be back by the time it turns cold in Nebraska.

Anyway, I found a pattern I had purchased a while ago and decided to try a couple caps from it.

Here's the first one I made:


I thought it was a little big, so revised the pattern some and made a few more.




They don't fit my head very well since my hair was in a ponytail, but I think they'll fit Mom better.

This is the back of them:

This is another one from the same pattern (this one was really easy once I figured the pattern out):
Turban:




I found an old shirt that was made out of pretty light fabric, so quick made one out of it before I mailed them to her:



I also found a couple patterns online:
Beret:




 I had another one that I found online, but apparently forgot to take a picture of it.  (I need to find a fake head to put them on instead of trying them on me.) lol

I made a few more but wasn't very happy with the way they turned out, so only mailed six to Mom.  Then I found really super thin fabric at Wal-Mart for $1.50 per yard, so bought 1 1/2 yards that will be enough to make a few more.  She said she likes the white ones with ties the best (which were the ones I liked, too), so I'm going to use that pattern for them.

We have a large family reunion on Mom's side in June, so Todd and I will be going up for it.  We'll spend a day or two with his Dad in Falls City, who is also undergoing treatments for a kind of skin cancer.  Then up to Milford to see Mom and Dad.  After we get home, I'll start looking for a job.  (I've been browsing and sending out resumes if something looks interesting, but not trying too hard.)  Hopefully one will come along soon.  I'm getting pretty  bored staying at home all the time and I end up worrying about Mom and Todd's Dad.  lol

Comments are appreciated!!!

No, I haven't forgotten about my blog. ;D

I've been sewing a little and knitting a little.  Since I'm not working right now, I always have something I'm working on.  Todd left this morning and will be gone for a couple days, so I needed to find something to keep me busy.  I've been meaning to take pictures of my latest projects and finally got it done this morning.

First, I found instructions for a knitted headband and decided to try it.  The first one came out a little wider than I'd hoped for (but I'll probably be able to wear it over my ears), so I tried it again and adjusted the width.  I used the same yarn as the beret, scarf and fingerless gloves that Alyssa models here.  The buttons are some from Todd's grandma and not exactly straight, but I'll fix that later.




 You knit part of it, then divide it up into three separate parts and braid them.  Then attach them to the beginning and add the buttons.


I also made a couple koozies for water bottles and drinking glasses.  The yard I used is 100% cotton.  LOVE THEM!!!!!


And I've also made a few more reusable shopping/grocery bags.  We have a HUGE family reunion coming up in June and we always have an auction to raise money for the expenses, so I think I'll take them to be auctioned off.

I made them larger than the ones I use, which is nice because you can really pack them full.  They will easily hold two gallons of milk.  The other adjustment I made was making the handles a little longer.  They are really great!!!!!

The first one I made was out of a vintage curtain we brought home from Todd's grandma's house.  I really liked the fabric so wanted to bring it home.  The bag is lined with the same fabric that the curtain was lined with.


I also added button holes and a slip on the back so it fits easily on the racks at the store.




I also used one of the vintage tablecloths that was large enough to make a set of reusable shopping/grocery bags!!!!






They hold A LOT!!!!
 

Organizational Tools

We had some of the grandkids over yesterday to color Easter Eggs and do an Easter Egg Hunt.  (See my other blog here.)  I always have a bunch of Egg coloring kits because I go to Wal-Mart after Easter and buy the kits for really cheap.  I try to be "thrifty" that way.lol  So I decided instead of just throwing everything back into a white plastic bag, I'd sew some bags so I could tell what was in each one.  I had already done it with Christmas fabric to keep cooking cutters, decorations, etc in it, so decided to do the same with some colored "egg" fabric I had, and while I was at it, why not use some Halloween fabric for the pumpkin carving stuff?  So these are the bags I have now:


I'm lucky enough to have a pretty large pantry, so I put them on the top shelf so they are out of the way.


It will be SO NICE to just grab the Halloween bag when it's time to carve pumpkins again!!!!!!

The tutorial for making the shopping bag is on Craftster and can be found here.  They are very easy to make and I get lots of compliments on mine when I use them to get groceries.  Here is a link to the post with the shopping bags I use - they are the first ones shown.  LOVE THEM!!!!!

More knitting projects!!!

And I used Alyssa for a model.

First I made the fingerless gloves.  The pattern was on some yarn I bought.  They had cables on them and I thought they were pretty.  Then I decided to make a scarf to match, also cables.  The patter for that I found here.
I have a few other scarves I've made out of that pattern and it's pretty easy.    The beret pattern I also found online.  The first time I made the beret it turned out ok, but I wasn't very happy with it, so ripped it out.  Then I decided to combine the beret pattern with the scarf pattern.  It took me a while to figure it out, but I think it turned out pretty well.  The beret is kind of small, though.  I think it looks pretty good on Alyssa!!!
The whole set
 

Better picture of the scarf and fingerless gloves


and a couple pictures of the beret


 

I finished one more sock this morning.  I'm taking a couple knitting projects on our trip so hopefully I'll have the other one done when we get home.

As always, comments are appreciated!!!!!

What's better than handmade slippers?????

Handmade SOCKS!!!!!!  I had been thinking of trying to make something with my double-pointed knitting needles, but wasn't sure what to start with.  I read www.craftster.org quite often, and someone posted there about making socks, so I thought about trying that.  I tried a couple and they worked OK, but decided to try them just a little different.  The main difference was I made 2x2 ribbing all the way down the top of the sock.

Here they are:






So I decided that socks are pretty fun to make! VERY WARM, even though Texas is probably done with cold weather for the year, I'll have them for next year.   And I also learned that you can buy yarn specifically made for socks (these are made with some regular yarn I had started making an afghan out of).  Sock yarn is very thin and some are stretchy.  I bought some yesterday and will start one today, so when I have a good pair done, I'll post a picture.

And one of Sam's friends asked if I could make another baby afghan for her, so I did that.




It's the basic basket weave pattern.  This is actually the second one I made - the first one I decided wasn't quite big enough, so I ripped it out and re-did it.     I seem to do that quite often, but that's one good thing about knitting and crocheting - if you don't like how the project turned out, you can re-use the yarn.

Comments are always welcome!!!!! :D

So I decided I wasn't very happy with the prayer shawl I made,

so I decided to rip it out and re-do it.  The second one is MUCH BETTER!




So I decided to make one for my mom, too.  She had surgery last week, so I got it made and sent to her before the surgery.


Both are made with Lion Brand Homespun yarn - mine is Barley and Mom's is Cream.

 

I can't believe it's been almost a month since my last post.

I've mostly been knitting, but last week I also did some sewing.  We purchased a new car last Monday, and we needed some seat covers to protect the cloth seats.  In our old car, we just have big pieces of fleece and that works OK, but I wanted something a little nicer for the new car.  After looking around craftster.org again, I decided I wanted to use a little heavier fabric, so went to shop in my stash.  I found two fabrics that I thought I had enough fabric to cover both front seats, so took them outside to figure out which one I wanted to use.  I didn't like the way the white one looked and thought it would get dirty really easy, so decided to stick with the paisley fabric.  It happens to have a little purple in it, so it matches the car. :D

Onto pictures!!!!!
The new vehicle:




And the seat covers (it was hard to get a good picture of them):


(It's been VERY cold in TX, so I threw a couple blankets in there just in case.)

I think they turned out pretty good.  I used some batting and muslin on the back of the main part.  The back is just one layer.  They should hold up pretty good with the multiple layers.  And the best part was they didn't cost me anything!!!  I had all the fabric, batting, muslin and thread already!

Since my last post, I ripped out the prayer shawl I made and re-did it.  It's much better, but I haven't taken a picture of it yet.  As soon as I do, I'll post it.  I also started another prayer shawl yesterday.  This one is for my mom, she's been diagnosed with breast cancer and will have surgery on the 15th.  I'm hoping to get it done and mailed to her before surgery, but we'll see if I can.

Scarves!!!!!

It's supposed to get cold here this week, so I decided I needed a scarf (or two or three, lol).  And cold here is in the 30's and 40's during the day, yes, we're wimps.

And just really quickly, here are a couple (bad) pictures of the prayer shawl that I made - it's really warm and sometimes I use it as a lap afghan while watching TV.




I also made a scarf to match it - this was made with size 15 circular needles, Lion Brand Homespun yarn, the color is  Barley.






I also made a cowl out of the Lion Brand Homespun yarn,  but this color is Heppelwhite; also with the size 15 circular needles.


I can double it to make a neck warmer!

The next scarf I made is the "Basketweave" pattern, size 15 needles (circular but could have used straight), the yarn is Bernat Satin Sport, Taupe.





It's amazing how warm it makes my neck even though there's no bulk to the scarf.

I also made an ear warmer out of the same yarn, but used a size 6 circular needle but didn't get a picture of it.  

I decided I wanted to learn how to knit cables and found this on craftster.  I started the scarf a few times, but wasn't too happy with it so kept trying different yarn and needles sizes.  Then yesterday morning I decided to knit a thin scarf with just the cables.  For this I used the size 15 needles and Lion Brand SUPER BULKY yarn, color #300.




For my next project, I'm thinking of trying mittens, but we'll have to see.  At the moment I can't locate my convertable gloves that match my poncho, so I'll need to find something before the cold weather gets here tomorrow.

Thanks again for visiting my blog!!!!!!