Golden Rainbow Crochet Doll

I haven’t made a crochet doll in ages but I’ve recently given myself a swift kick in the pants. I know that sounds kinda mean but I absolutely needed it. I had projects that needed seeing to and no one was seeing to them. With the end of the year bearing down upon me, I just had to kick it into high gear.

Finally! A doll is born.

First up was my sweater/coat/cardigan. I gave me the stink eye and threatened that there would be consequences if I didn’t get that sucker done and lo and behold, I finished it and was finally able to give it to my sister.

Next up was the Christmas tree. We have an artificial tree, and it was buried way, way, way, deep in the closet under Halloween boxes, Easter boxes, computer boxes and all kinds of other miscellany. I just didn’t want to go through that clutter-jungle. To add insult to injury, I would need to figure out exactly where I was supposed to put the tree. My kiddo moved back in and I consequently had to find new places for many of my things, so the tree spot was no longer available. Upon announcing to my hubs that the tree would remain in the closet of doom, he revolted. The tree had to go up he said. I said, you know the way too and pointed to the closet.

Succulents after the rain

I live in Southern California and it hardly ever rains, but when it does, oh boy!

Reasons I love the rain:

1. I don’t have to wash my car. Hear me out. Most people complain that it rains right after they washed their car. I’m the complete opposite. I love a good downpour. It can’t be just a little rain. It has to rain long and hard enough to knock the dust off of my car. It’s great when it happens at work because I drive home and dry it off and my car looks clean!
2. The sound of rain is very soothing and helps me fall asleep. For some reason, fake rain sound doesn’t work. I might fall asleep to it but then I’m dreaming about having to go the bathroom all night, and consequently, waking up all night. Not sure why real rain outside my window doesn’t do this.
3. I don’t have to water my plants for awhile. The summer is brutal on anything I’m trying to keep alive. I’ve not hidden the fact that I’m a terrible gardner and I never seem to give the plants enough water. But as we go into fall and winter, things get a little better for me and especially for the plants.

My garden on rain

We had about three full days of real rain in about a week, and besides my car getting clean, I had some real surprises in the garden. This is the first time my plants got a real soaking since I planted them.

The very first thing I noticed was that this one particular plant absolutely exploded! I didn’t know a plant could grow so quickly! These plants were doing well, but after the rain, wow. You’ll notice my creative use of cinder blocks. Ugly? Yes. Useful? Absolutely. The blocks keep the dogs from digging themselves to freedom (they were doing this) and and they also masquerade as planters.

These tripled in size! {Aeonium}

Crochet Bendy and Crochet Pea Shooter

So my first two students to reach Ultimate Prize Box asked for custom crochet items. They are brothers and love my crochet stuff. The projects they asked for didn’t seem too difficult and I agreed.

The first wanted a Bendy in some form. He wasn’t sure what he wanted, a hat? a plushie? a keychain? He decided on a puppet. Now I just had to figure out what a Bendy was!

Oh, that’s a Bendy

Craft Fair Part 3: Crochet Christmas Ornaments and Scarf

And finally, I made a few quick and easy projects for the craft fair. I like to have a few things I know the kids can afford so I made about 10 Christmas Tree ornaments.

I sold three of these.

And one of these.

And two of those.

I had a scarf I placed on the table, not expecting it to sell, but it went! I don’t have a picture of it but it was pretty. 🙂

The crowd wasn’t very big this year but I had a lot of fun hanging out with my friend and I sold enough to make it worth my while.

Craft Fair Part 2: Crochet Wine Bottle/Water Bottle Holder

Wine Cozies

I tried my hand at making a cozy for wine bottles or large water bottles. I saw people buying those at a craft boutique I participated in. Thought I’d make some for the craft fair at our school.

This one sold!

I went with Christmas colors.

I was going to make more and changed my mind. They’re cute and all but I have no use for the ones that don’t sell. But then again, I say I won’t but I probably will, do the craft fair again next year so it couldn’t hurt to make a couple more. 🙂

Craft Fair Part 1: Crochet Granny Square Beanie Hat

Yesterday, there was another craft fair happening at the school where I work. I didn’t do it last year and I wasn’t sure I would do it this time around. I get pretty lazy about getting up early on the weekend and even lazier about working furiously on projects to have enough inventory to sell. Then, when the fair is done, I have all this stuff left over that I have to store.

However, a friend of mine (the one that introduced me into the world of succulents) was going and she said I could share a booth with her so I didn’t have to make more things to fill an entire booth. I could simply take the few items I already had (mainly the stuff left over from previous craft fair, hehe). I could do that.

But still, I thought I should make a few more things. At the time, I had a whole 4 days to the fair!

Hats

I looked at all those granny squares I made for the Craft Yarn Council Course and just knew I could make something, anything, out of them.

I gathered all the squares and separated them by color. Then, I experimented with arrangements, and here is the first thing to come out of it.