I know it's been a while.....

I'm having a very hard time in my life right now. The stress is starting to get at me.

But I'm still doing crochet.
Crochet makes me happy.
Crochet, and the smile on my little boy's face. Even when he's being a butt.

I'm trying to bust out this afghan I promised my mother-in-law for Christmas. As it is, I have about 18 hours into it, and about five or six left to go.

It's a pretty simple ripple afghan, but I'm doing blocks of color instead of stripes. The ends have 4 rows of cream, 4 rows of white, then it switches to the main color, which is a nice grey tweed.

The pattern is pretty simple. I got it online, and if you google "Ripple afghan" it should be the first link. The author of the pattern doesn't allow mass sharing, though, so I can't link it.

The blanket is working up very nicely too. My mother-in-law has seen it in progress, and she thinks it's beautiful.

I really hope to have it done this week or next, but I'm really not sure of a time frame. I started the blanket in late spring, then our air conditioner broke and the summer was so very hot it was uncomfortable to work with. So I just picked it up again last week..... after my husband reminded me that it was November already, and almost December at that.

I hope to be able to share pictures soon.

Duct tape wallet/pouch

I found myself in need of a new wallet pouch thingy the other day. I was just putting too much into the card holder pouch that came with my wallet.

So, I decided to grab some Halloween motif duct tape on the cheap (around $1.50 for the whole roll), take some measurements, and get to it.

This tutorial is my own design. Any similarities to any other pattern is purely coincidence.

This is the end result:

Made with paper fill ^                            ^ Made with only duct tape

Made with paper fill ^                            ^ Made with only duct tape

Duct tape only pouch wallet with goodies

On the one with the paper fill, I made the tab a little wider. I was just trying different things, and that's how it ended up.

Here are instructions on how to make your own.

You will need:



A roll of duct tape
An exacto or razor blade
(Paper or cardstock is optional, it makes a stiffer wallet.)

If you are using paper:

1. Cut a piece of paper about 3in x 6in. You will end up folding it in half, but for now, you will work with it flat.
2. Cut a piece of duct tape about 6in long and wrap it around the paper short ways keeping the edge of the tape even with the edge of the paper. 
3. Repeat step 2 keeping the edges of the duct tape even with each other until the entire piece of paper is covered in tape. There will be a little excess, that's ok. Do not trim the excess. This will be your fold over.If there is little to no excess, go ahead and add another piece of tape to the end. 
4. Fold your wallet in half leaving your excess out, and using the same method as in step two, wrap the wallet in another layer of tape. This seals the edges. Leave the end open with the excess from before out.
5. Figure out how long you want the fold-over to be, Without the tab, mine is about an inch long. I just used the excess from when I was wrapping the paper. 
6. Cut another piece of tape about 6in long, and lay it sticky side upon your work surface.
7. Cut a smaller piece of tape, about 1/2 the width or so of the tape, and line it up with a long edge of the tape. Stick it evenly along the edge. This makes the pocket for the tab.
   
       This piece is a little smaller for demonstration purposes
       You can make the "pocket" portion as shallow as this, or as deep as half the strip of tape. Just make sure you make your tab length to match.
   
8. Keeping the "pocket" about center, wrap the tape around the wallet just below where your fold over ends, making sure you are on the correct side so the tab you will make on the fold over can be inserted in the pocket.
9. Cut another piece of tape about 3in long. Tape it to the top of the fold over so that just less than half of the new strip hangs over. 
10. Snip the new strip of tape about an inch on each side right next to the edge of the fold over. This leaves about an inch for the width of the tab. Fold your snipped edges sticky side to sticky side with the center portion to make the tab.
11. Slide the tab into the pocket , and you have a finished wallet, you can now fill it with goodies.

If you are not using paper:

1. Cut a piece of duct tape about 8in long. Lay it sticky side up on your work surface. 
2. Cut a second piece of tape the same length and place it sticky side down length wise covering only half of the other piece of tape
3. Cut a third piece and repeat on the other side of the first piece.
4. Fold the sticky edges in on themselves to make a solid, non sticky strip
5. Trim the very ends of the strip so they are even
6. Fold wallet in half, leaving about an inch and a half to two inches for the fold over.
7. Wrap the wallet in another layer of tape keeping the edges of the new layer even with the bottom of the wallet and with each other. This seals the edges of the wallet. Leave the end with the fold over open.
8. Cut another piece of tape about 6in long, and lay it sticky side upon your work surface.
9. Cut a smaller piece of tape, about 1/2 the width or so of the tape, and line it up with a long edge of the tape. Stick it evenly along the edge. This makes the pocket for the tab.
   
       This piece is a little smaller for demonstration purposes
       You can make the "pocket" portion as shallow as this, or as deep as half the strip of tape. Just make sure you make your tab length to match.
   
10. Keeping the "pocket" about center, wrap the tape around the wallet just below where your fold over ends, making sure you are on the correct side so the tab you will make on the fold over can be inserted in the pocket.
11. Cut another piece of tape about 3in long. Tape it to the top of the fold over so that just less than half of the new strip hangs over. 
12. Snip the new strip of tape about an inch on each side right next to the edge of the fold over. This leaves about an inch for the width of the tab. Fold your snipped edges sticky side to sticky side with the center portion to make the tab.
13. Slide the tab into the pocket , and you have a finished wallet, you can now fill it with goodies.

Poppy Bobby Pin - Veteran's Day

I decided to look up a crochet poppy pattern since it's Veteran's Day.

I found this one (Poppy Brooch). Although it doesn't have a clear cut pattern for the center, I was able to fudge one by making five puff stitches in a circle.

Make 2.
Ch 6. Slip stitch into first stitch to form a ring.
24 single crochet into ring.
Single crochet into each single crochet, increasing every other stitch to get 36 stitches.
1 ch [1 single crochet, 1 double crochet, 7 treble, 1 double crochet 1 slip stitch] 3 times with last slip stitch into 1st ch.
Fasten off.
Join the two pieces.

So the pattern I used for the center: chain 6, then sl st tog to make a circle. then 5 puff stitches into the circle. Fasten off.

And when I sewed it all together, and added my bobby pin, this is what it looks like:

(crappy cell phone pic)

So happy Veteran's Day. And if you are a veteran, please accept my sincerest thanks for serving your country and helping to maintain my freedom.