The mystery balls that I made were lurking about in my view again. Initially, I made them with the intention of making an afghan. After several false starts, I used one ball to make a couple of sets, then tried using another in a new stitch pattern. Nothing fancy, but the way the colors were stacking looked great. I tried a new stitch pattern for the scarf, and it’s looking great. The set is colorful but in a more subdued manner. While it may not look like or cost hundreds like a high-end designer’s items that use “scrap yarn,” I’m…

Happy New Year! After a pivot and change to the 2025 donations at the last minute,  I made hats to go along with the scarves earmarked for an organization that stopped accepting scarves. Also, I made hats to accompany scarves that I found around the house. Initially, my goal was 75 sets and 12 red scarves. I tallied up everything and thought I had made 104 sets, I donated 100 of those sets. Then a lurker appeared, bringing the total sets made for 2025 to 105 sets after the mix-and-match combos were included. In 2026, I have plans to work…

Beat the heat – crochet indoors! People consider crocheting or knitting with heavier yarns a cool weather activity. Not me, crocheting is a year round activity… because these sets aren’t going to make themselves! Plus, there is air conditioning indoors. In many public places in the U.S.,  the air is cranked up so high that you want a shawl. Going to a lecture or a talk? Crochet. Enjoying a cool breeze at an outdoor evening concert? Crochet. You won’t move fast enough to get sweaty but the project will give you just enough warmth to knock the chill off. Here…

That sounds like it should be part of the Twelve Days of Christmas, but it’s not.  Just after Thanksgiving I shipped off a dozen red scarves and met the only goal that I set for myself this year. This didn’t mean that I didn’t create any additional items, I knew that this would be a busy year with moving, packing, and settling into my new home. Instead, I tried to use as much yarn that I have from my working stash as possible. If anyone has a large collection of yarn, yarn makes great packing material and works well to…