Completed Project: Mandy for The Mother Bear Project

I found out about the Mother Bear Project during my trip to the Minneapolis Knit and Crochet Show in July. It's a great charity "dedicated to providing comfort and hope to children affected by HIV/AIDS in emerging nations, by giving them a gift of love in the form of a hand-knit or crocheted bear." For a $20 donation, I got the yarn, crochet hook, and pattern to make a crocheted bear. It also included the tag and the shipping costs to get it to the kids overseas.



This was a fast crochet project and a fun one to do. The instructions are super easy with only chain and single crochet stitches. This would be a great project for any beginner. I did tweak the design a bit by giving her some red shoes and her skirt is slightly different from the pattern. The ears are a bit more cat-like than I wanted but I didn't really understand what the pattern wanted me to do. Maybe the little flower decoration will take attention away from the less than perfect ears. It took me three tries to embroider a face I liked. The plain round eyes looked creepy when I tried them though I didn't find them creepy on other people's bears.

And I named her Mandy because I had the song "Mandy" from the movie White Christmas floating in my head the other day. Random.





As always, details on Ravelry.

To learn more about the Mother Bear Project, visit motherbearproject.org. You can see other bears on Ravelry, join the group on Ravelry, and also buy the patterns. Once you buy the pattern, you can make as many bears as you'd like as long as you send in $3 per bear for shipping.

When It Rains, Turn on the Sprinklers

I have a long list of projects to finish between now and January. The craft swap stuff is going well and I'm doing pretty good on the blankets. But then there are two baby blankets to be made (for babies due in October and January), a lingering blanket that must be done by Christmas, and a pair of socks that I had hoped to make by Christmas, too.

Oh, and I need to finish the Crochet Masters Course in the next week.

So what do I go and do?

I sign up to receive yarn from Lands End for the "Warm Up America" project. I've got to crochet 51 squares by December 1!

FIFTY ONE!!!!

And that's after the yarn shows up!

But it is for a great cause and it will be a true donation to charity once I get the squares mailed in. You remember the hats I took out to donate? Yeah - they are still sitting on my shelf, waiting for an envelope.

If you're interested in making squares, check out the "Warm Up America" site for details. You can knit or crochet the squares using acrylic yarn. And you don't have to commit to 51 squares like I did.

If you are a CGOA member, check your email for information on how to sign up and receive yarn to make the squares. It's a 51 square commitment per cone of yarn requested but you can spread the work around with your guild or group members.

Wish me luck! I'll need it!

Completed Project: Chemo Cap

It must be a 2-for-1 Monday special here at the blog...another F.O. to share.

Thanks to "C" for recommending the site, HeadHuggers.org. I'm not sure if I'll mail the cap now or wait until I have 1 or 2 more done before I send it.

This was my first ever hat and I found the pattern to be very easy, though I am no fan of reverse crochet. It slows me down too much. Overall, I'd make this pattern again, though probably with a bigger hook so I could wear it.

Here are details - also available on Ravelry.

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Pattern: Homespun Crochet Hat Pattern

Hook: K (6.5 mm)

Yarn: less than 1 skein of Lion Brand Homespun in Sierra (? - this is questionable as I used yarn from my stash and I know I bought this yarn eons ago. Could be a color that has been discontinued.)

Size: It's too small for my Irish melon. (Hence, no photo of me wearing it. It's too funny.) I'm just hoping it fits whomever receives it.

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PS: Make that 3-for-1. Though I won't post details because it was an easy project. My hairdresser loved the Oscar Scarf (related post or details on Ravelry). :)