What to Do? What to Do?

I've mentioned the project I just can't seem to finish. I decided to try to finish it during Ravelry's Ravellenic games (during the Olympics). I was making good progress when the games ended. Basically, I had completed crocheting the blocks together and started crocheting the edging. I knew it wouldn't take me long to finish the afghan now! About halfway through the edging and then.......This.

No-o-o-o-o-o! I wanted to cry! I wanted to frog! After all this time! WHY?!?!?! I have to tell you, though, when I first started this project I really had no good method for weaving in the ends. This comes from being a sort of "learn-as-you-go" kind of girl. I'm pretty sure I can fix this block. The BIG problem.......I'm planning on giving this as a gift. Is this going to happen again? What to do? What to DO?
So.....Here's what  I think I've decided to do. Fix the affected block. Then.......wash the afghan and see how many other blocks come apart. Then.....fix those blocks. Because, REALLY, what else can I do?

Ravellenic Challenge 2012

Here's the progress I made during the Olympics on my Ravellenic projects:

1. Homespun Granny Afghan- This was my MAIN project and I must say that even though this won't be finished by the closing ceremonies.......I got quite a bit done on it! I only have 3 more blocks to sc onto the last strip! Once that strip is sc to the main afghan and an edging added, it will be done! I know what you're thinking......what about ALL those ends to weave in? HA! I've been weaving in all those ends as I go! See this post  for a tutorial of how to do that.
2. 3-Hour Cowl- By the second day of the Olympics I was SO pleased with my progress on the afghan..... I went ahead and cast-on this project as a travel project. I probably should not have done this as my vacation ended the third day of the Olympics. After I went back to work, (along with some other things I had committed to) I didn't get alot of knitting or crocheting time, so I had to abandon this project halfway through to continue to make progress on my afghan. Now we all understand why this blog is named "My Life's Little Distractions"!
3. Charity Blocks- No progress. Didn't begin any of them. These will be waiting for me AFTER the Olympics!

Even though I didn't complete any of my projects......The Ravellenics helped push me to TRY to finish up a 5 year-old project. So, that's a good thing!

Crocheting (or Knitting) Through the Olympics

As a way to promote knitting/crocheting while watching the Olympics. Ravelry created the Ravellenic Challenge. Well, it's now less than 24 hours away from the opening ceremonies (and the mass cast-on). So, I've lined up the projects I HOPE to complete in the 2 weeks while watching the Olympics.
Here they are:

Homespun Granny Afghan

I haven't worked on this for almost 2 years now. I grew so-o-o-o-o-o-o bored with it! I REALLY want to finish it! I'm hoping the Ravellenic challenge will push me to complete it. It's my number 1 goal.

BUT......I also lined up a few other projects. In case I finish this faster than I think (or more likely, get sick of working on it).  A few blocks (3 to be exact) for my favorite charity JCCF. Two pink ones for our annual "pink blanket" to be raffled to raise funds for breast cancer awareness. As well as one for our "regular" blankets to go to injured rodeo cowboys and cowgirls. These are the patterns I've chosen. Freedom and Ribbons of Courage.

Then.......in case I need a little knitting. I found this SIMPLE knit cowl called 3 hour cowl. I enjoy making cowls and this looks like a quick knit. I've got a bunch of Bulky yarn I need to use up and wouldn't these make FABULOUS Christmas gifts?

That's my plan.........I'll let you know how it goes!

"Ponytail" Holders

Get it? Sorry.......I just couldn't resist! Not the best picture either......my model wouldn't co-operate! But, you get the idea. Anyway, I found this tutorial at Lionbrand. It was just the type of project I needed. I've been in sort of a knitting/crocheting slump lately. Kind of ho-hum projects that are taking me WAY too long to finish. They shouldn't. They just are!

These ponytail holders seemed like they would crochet up pretty fast and also make nice little gifts. So, I dug through my stash and found a few yarns that I thought would make nice hair ties. Here's what I found:



Some glittery yarns. After finishing the basic holder, I decided a little lace edge would be pretty. After you join the with slip st to beg ch 3 here's what you do: *ch4, sc to top of the next dc; repeat this stitch around to where you started. Finish off.

Textured and Self-striping yarns. After finishing the basic holder, I just added a round of sc to the top of each dc just to give it a little edge. You could easily do a hdc if you preferred. Maybe even a different color?

Novelty yarns. These I just held the novelty yarn together with a fingering weight yarn and crocheted the basic holder.

So, dig through your stash and see what you can come up with. They take very little yarn (maybe 20 yards?). Very little time too!

Free Plants (part2)

I think I've mentioned my obsession with Pinterest. I found a tutorial from The Burlap Bag about re-growing celery from planting the base. Sorry, you'll have to look up the tutorial yourself......I could NOT get the link to work. Even though I've been to the site and wrote down the link correctly. I just CANNOT get it to work. It's beyond my control.

Anyway, it's another free way to get plants. All right. You have to BUY a stalk of celery, but, really, what are you going to do with that base? Throw it away? Compost it? Or, in my case, feed it to my chickens? Basically, you cut off the base about 2 to 3 inches (put the rest of the celery in a zippered bag for future use).

Dig a hole. Place base in the hole.

Cover with soil. Water. In about 7-14 days it will start sprouting.

AMAZING!

Steeked Coffee Cozy

I recently joined Simply Notable's group on Ravelry. Their summer challenge is to make a colorwork coffee cozy (or two). Now, I've actually dabbled in colorwork. Really, is there anything I HAVEN'T dabbled in? One member recommended the pattern Steek this Coffee Cozy. This seemed like a good idea. I'd never tried steeking before and my colorwork had been limited to 3 colors max. So, I dug through my wool stash and found a turqouise for the MC. Then, I found a brown, rust and tan. Still needed one more color. Decided a Navy blue would look good. I'd buy that later. I could still cast on and knit quite a ways before I needed that Navy blue. Who knew I wouldn't be able to FIND a Navy blue. After checking 3 stores,  decided to go with a purple in place of the Navy.
Now, this seemed a little strange to me, you knit the bottom ribbing flat. When you finish the ribbing, you join in the round to knit the chart. Then you go back to knitting the ribbing flat. Once I finished all the knitting it was time to prepare the piece for steeking.

Reinforced area before cutting

Then, I just took out those scissors and cut between the reinforcement. I tried to be careful not to cut the tails. Does it make a difference if they're cut or not? I don't know. So, I just avoided doing that.

After cutting

After that, it's just a matter of picking up stitches and knitting the button and buttonhole bands. OH! and weaving in all those ends of course. I still have to find and sew on buttons, but otherwise......FINISHED!

Free Plants (part 1)

In the spring, I rarely get in a hurry to weed. About this time of year there are quite a few weeds in my flower beds. There are also small seedlings of actual DESIRABLE plants.

Lemon Balm and Seedlings

Catmint and Seedlings

After my plants have bloomed, I could go out and harvest the seed, store it all winter and plant it the following spring. That seems like a lot of work when nature will do all of this for me, right?
Now, you do have to be able to tell the difference between what is a weed and what is a plant seedling. That's not too hard though, your plant will look like a miniture version of the large plant. Here's what to do next:

Determine if the seedling is in an area  you want it to continue to grow in. If it is, just start watering and feeding it in that area and let it get bigger. But, if it's not and you need to transplant it. Gently dig up the plant trying to keep as much of the soil around the root ball as possible.

You could certainly now transplant that seedling right into the desired home and water in. You would probably have to supply some sort of shade to the plant during the hottest part of the day (12pm to 3pm) to keep the seedling from wilting until it is established.

I transplant into containers of soil and water in with a water-soluble fertilizer. Then I move them into an afternoon shaded area of the fenced in garden area. This also keeps the chickens from uprooting the newly planted seedlings. Once the plants are rooted out I'll transplant them in their chosen spots.