Hiding fandom in the underwear drawer since 1977

. . .well I intended to do this on the first again, and I'll be tackling the contents as if I had, but Things Happened and it's been a bit of a bumpy start to the month.

But I did get a good bit done on the Pile and crochet in general in April, despite some rough times!

Also, before I get into it - the miniature roses I made for the lovely nurse at my neurologist's office? I dropped by the office to leave them, asked the receptionist if she was in that day (yes, but with a patient, I'm sorry, is it okay if I take a message?) and I told receptionist that actually I just brought this for her, and handed her the box and little card. Receptionist nearly teared up telling me thanks it was so sweet and the box wasn't even for her. ^^; She went to leave it on the nurse's desk, and I figured I might or might not ever know how she took them (which is what I figured beforehand anyway).

She called me, just after the end of the workday. ^.^ She was really touched and it turns out the week had been really rough for her, so it was extra nice timing maybe. She told me everyone at the office got a little pink bucket (the miniature hardware store style Lowe's does XD) for Valentine's Day with chocolate in it and hers was hanging above her desk but she wasn't sure what to do with it, and the bouquet fit perfectly so now the flowers are hanging just above her desk. ^.^

I'm super glad she liked them and I'm glad I wrestled with my own nerves enough to give them to her.

*claps*

On to the Pile!

Finished this month: 5 projects
Finished from The Pile: 3 projects

Added to The Pile: 1 project

Not bad, right?

So I started and finished two projects, and finished three from the Pile.

New ones were a practise for holding yarn double, because I was wondering if it was workable for a part of an amigurumi; I made a ball with my favourite cotton yarn held double (first time I've crocheted anything held double and now those words are losing meaning). It worked but I didn't love it, and the gaps are rather large for amigurumi but I certainly couldn't use a smaller hook - it was a struggle as it was!

( The ball's kind of fun though! )

I also made a mobius fidget toy! There was a lot of ??? and some trust the process, trust the process but it worked out! This totally looks like everything is intentional, right? XD

( mobius fidget )

I also started a bath set, to go along with a make-your-own-bath-bombs kit I bought, as part of a birthday present for a friend - naturally, as I have a friend (and my brother) with a birthday this month, another in June, another in August . . . this friend's birthday is in October. XP

( bath set )

I finished the damn dish scrubby!



. . .'30 minutes to work up' yeah I disbelieved it before, but now? HA. I did the last bit less than half the other night while watching a Britcom with a friend, though. And the finish? Yeah I had to fudge it because there was no way the pattern's way would have been possible! (Supposed to stitch through the top and bottom edges - it's crocheted as a tube - and then pull them tight like a drawstring in the middle. Yeah right! I could barely force that yarn through itself as a stitch at all, but I did that to pull the ends in to the middle and then just . . . stitched across the middle in wagon wheel style spokes.)

It remains to be seen how I like it as a scrubby, I haven't actually tried it yet.

I also made a lot of roses! Fifteen, to be exact, which finishes off a dozen of two different colours.

( roses )

I think 30 roses is about the limit of this vase, too! XD



That's all right; these are for marketable stuff anyway, I've just had them in the vase on my table in the meantime because . . . why not?

I want to make some other roses for myself though, maybe in red, purple, black? Maybe ace colours? Maybe even try using my similar weight chenille yarn to make really velvety rose petals and then cotton for the calyx and stem?

(Oh, I dyed some more yarn last month also - while trying not to think about some Big Stresses - and while I have yet to wind all of it, I now have purple (two shades, one warm and one cool) and grey (dark and light) in my favourite cotton! Also a darker green, specifically for roses, though it came out with a smidge more blue than I'd like.)

Also perhaps I'll make six more pink roses, at least, to bring that up to a full dozen. XP (And maybe some more yellow ones - I only made three of those, as a gift - from the bright yellow I dyed . . . orange, similarly . . . pale blue? Dark blue? Black? ;) I do like making the roses, and I think they're pretty - maybe they'll even sell, eventually. XP)

So as always lots of plans - though perhaps I'll indulge and actually work on/finish something for myself again before my birthday later this month. . .

Here's the state of The Pile currently:

Active WIPs: 22
(Subset that are market batches: 12)
Hibernating: 3

Total projects (complete, WIPs, everything): 149