Luigi the Tom Cat Pencil Case...

Happy first week of school Y'all!

We were all only semi-excited to return to school this week.  As much as I love Autumn, there is a pleasure in the slow, relaxing days of summer.

I am not a mom that starts the back to school shopping in late July when all the stores are teeming with academia supplies... no, we wait until later in August, get in and get out with only what we are sure are the basic supplies and wait to make our detailed list until after we meet the teacher.

This year, everyone found a pencil case that made them happy... except for Sammy... Sammy who is everything cats these days, especially her beloved TomCat, Luigi.

Feeling the itch to crochet but not able to pull myself into any project too heavy in the plus forty celsius temperatures, I figured a crocheted Luigi pencil case might satisfy both she and I.

And I'll just snooze here on the deck sofa while you work.  :)

Again, I should write up a pattern for what I have done, but basically I worked up two grey circles in single crochet for the ends of the case.  I embellished one with ears, nose, eyes and whiskers to look like Mr. Handsome above before working a stripey rectangle in single crochet for the body.  A closed ended zipper was sewn into place to make my rectangle into a tube and the circles were sewn to the ends to close it all up.

Luigi's tail was a stripey tube stuffed and sewn to the zipper pull.  :)  I thought it added a little charm to him.

Sammy went off to her first day of grade three with an extra little bounce in her step and Luigi went back to his place on his couch.

Thanks for stopping by,
Jeanette

Ice Cream Bicycle Basket - My OWN SCHNICKism

Hello Friday; Helloooo Weekend!

Okay.  So though I am a SCHNICK by marriage not by blood, I do seem to have SCHNICK ideas of my own and impressively they do work out once in a while.  :)

Last week our darling Krista with her armful of stuffed pets threw a little tantrum at not being able to maneuver her bike whilst holding her babies.   A whoooole lot of tears.  Draping her purse filled with her lovely creatures over the handlebars only caused her to really scream when she found she couldn't steer.  Okay... don the thinking caps.

What this poor child needed was a bicycle basket... and pretty darn quick.  Okay.  But have you seen how much WalMart and Canadian Tire want for those plastic woven baskets??  Not too mention the half hour drive to either store from home.  There's the little bit of dutch that has rubbed off on me mixing with my will to lead a environmentally-minded life.  I needed to come up with an idea.  Ice cream always helps with the brainstorming.

Thankfully the week prior our local grocery store had had ice cream on sale and so the freezer contained what I needed... brain food (aka sugar) AND a solution to our stuffy-toting problems!

This is what I came up with... an ice cream container bike basket.  But now how cool would one be tearing up the asphalt with Heavenly Hash splayed across the front??  Enter my yarn stash.  For those times when Derek has given me "the why are you keeping this?" look... this my dear is WHY.

Over a couple of days I found enough quiet moments to sit and hook.  I'm thinking of writing up a crochet pattern for this, but basically I used half-double-crochet stitches to mimic the shape of the ice cream container and cover it completely.  My tool of choice for making holes in the ice cream container to "sew" the basket cover in place was a handy-dandy two inch screw.

The next task was to consider HOW to attach the basket.  Crocheted straps would stretch with any item weighing more than a few stuffies - and the collection of rocks on my dining room table can attest to the treasures this one brings home.

I opted for plastic cabling zip-ties.  Finding my way around Derek's workshop had me raising my eyebrows though not questioning "WHY?  WHY are you keeping this??"  I completely get it... and I did find some.  Again, my trusty screw was the perfect tool to make the holes before threading the zip-ties through and attaching around the handlebars!

Voila!

Ofcourse, Sammy spotted my SCHNICK success and asked for one for her bicycle as well.  Never one to disappoint my children, I took to eating more ice cream.  ;)  A second basket has since been completed... in reverse colours so as not to match her sister of course!

A week of wind and rain has had biking on hold but today looks like the perfect day for a spin! And if anyone would like to treat me to a pint of ice cream; I'd be happy to hook you a basket.  :)

Jeanette

September Rainbows

Hey there!

Where have I been?  I've been curled up crocheting like a crazy lady.  And other than the stiff neck and sore shoulders I have no complaints; more importantly, I have a happy Krista to show for my week's work.

Krista LOVES rainbows... especially in the form of rainbow sweaters.  I knit her a sweater last year from some variegated yarn that she adored but sadly had outgrown.  She pointed this out to me very matter of factly before sweetly asking me for a new rainbow sweater.  I had come across this crochet sweater pattern on pinterest from the very talented Vendula a while back and decided to give it a go as I had plenty of pretty cotton yarn leftover from my horse jumper bonnet making last spring - I still make these on order if you know of anyone looking for a custom made horse show bonnet:

Capri - Super pony and still one of our favourite boys.

Alright, so I happily crocheted away changing colours as  I liked and felt like the end of the sweater was surely in sight... until I remembered there were still yarn ends to weave in and secure!

What a tedious job this is!!  But I persevered and Friday morning I had a very happy little girl in a colourful sweater making her way to the school bus!

 Yeah.. her hair is a bit messy because my wrists and arms were a bit too sore to hold the brush and tame the mane.  ;)  Focus on the smile (and the sweater.. lol)

Happy Monday!
Jeanette

Pins and needles

Good morning!

Our summer has had a feeling of being on 'pins and needles'... not only waiting to move houses but...

Our dear Sammy had a fall from the monkey bars at the end of May that ended with a bone break and surgical pin placement in her left elbow.  She's been an absolute trooper through it all - the hospital stay, surgery, after care of pins that protruded from her skin (on purpose for quick removal) and finally through the pin removal surgery yesterday.

All fixed up and ready to go!!

She smiled through the whole waiting process... I tended to fidget.  So I knit or I crocheted instead.

For those who see me "in real life" know that I practically live in my socks and Birkenstocks.  (I know! I know!  Nicole tells me I have seriously scarred her with my fashion choice. lol)   I rock my hand knit (or crocheted socks) at the grocery store, at church, during winter and summer and the seasons in between and had even considered calling this blog "the socks and sandals farmer" as I tend to garden and work in the barn in my socks and my sandals.

Through the course of Sammy's broken elbow adventure  -  in hospital waiting rooms and such I have had a pair of socks on my knitting needles as well as a sock in progress on the crochet hook - both projects just about finished.  And when asked why my go-to project is SOCKS even in summer, I reply that "Winter is Coming" (for all of my fellow Game of Thrones fans).  :)  Seriously though, they are small enough to pack along in my purse and aren't heavy and warm on the lap while working away on them.

Turning the heel!

I will admit that knit socks take me longer to make than the crocheted ones and that I am partial to the thickness of the crocheted ones - perfect fit for my sandals; but I enjoy the two at a time, toe up knitting process of the knit socks better.  No fancy patterns just straight up knit, purl and single crochet.  :)  Simple and lovely.

What types of projects/activities keep you SANE while waiting through tense times?

Jeanette

Never-ending Granny...

Good morning!

We had a very wet and rainy afternoon here yesterday so as the littles snuggled up to watch a movie on the back deck, I took to some HOOKing; it had been a couple of weeks. ( I'm talking crochet here.  :)  )  And with the rain coming down in sheets I didn't feel too guilty about indulging in some yarn time.

On my Granny love Pinterest board I had pinned a free e-book from the crochet crowd for a never ending Granny square afghan.  I thought I'd start with a three strand version...

After some re-reading and re-doing and multiple trips for snacks for the littles, I had a handle on it and a pretty good start to it.  Perfect timing for a WIP Wednesday (work in progress).

If you love yourself some "Fibre", be sure to connect with me on Pinterest.

Jeanette