Tidbits . . . from the Handiwork Journal {Jan 15 , 2025}

It's been cold here lately.

Tuesday (1-14-25) we woke up to -3°F.   It snowed the entire day, making all of the roadways slick. Accidents, multiple car pile up's, and my husband stuck in traffic on his way home (due to another pile up).  I'm not kidding, it was that bad on the roads. I was out on them.  The doctor found no fractures, but I have an injured hamstring.  No wonder I have been in pain.  My husband missed his own doctor appt due to the accidents delaying him.

Today we woke up to a brisk -7°F, and we are in for a really cold snap next week.  Like below -20 or something.  I had the delight to watch a herd of deer this morning, and will post those photos in another post. 

We had a front porch visitor.  A raccoon. 

 It's been fun with the snow on the ground lately. I can track the animals so easily.  There are rabbit prints and deer prints all around the chicken coop, and all over the property.  I see the fat squirrel often, and now we also have kitty cat tracks that lead to every door of the house. I actually saw the cat again Monday morning.  It has been bedding down in one of our barns, according to the tracks in the snow.

On the handiwork front . . .

It may look like a lot, but it is winter, and the weather is too cold to do much of anything outside.

. . . finished three jar openers, using up some red thread, but I now have just small bits left from two.  I'll do some research on what I can use it up with. 

 

Any suggestions?  Size 3 crochet thread. Not much left on them.  I looked at 32 pages of patterns on Ravelry.  It is not a thread that would work for scrap dishcloths either.  Mini hearts, but for what?  Earrings are not well accepted as gifts. I made my Mom a pair for Christmas one year, and she never wore them.  Maybe donate it?  I may try and come up with a small Christmas ornament to donate to nursing homes etc.

. . . made a few "sunshine" Christmas tree ornaments to use up some yellow cotton I had in my stash.  These will be donated.  Would you stiffen these?  They are #4 worsted weight cotton.  If you would, what would you use to stiffen them?

. . .blocking more crocheted baby washcloths, and using up some discontinued 2 ply cotton thread.  When the thread is gone, these will be the last of the last of these.  

. . .first granny square for my 2025 creative project (watch for a post on this soon!)  I shared this granny square earlier.

. . . started another lap afghan.  The colors were inspired by the latest granny square, and uses up some more stash yarn.  

. . .started another baby blanket in blue and white.  We have someone expecting, so I'm making sure I have a variety of color options to gift.  Note:  After I starting drafting this post, I found out she is having a girl now, so there is no rush on this one.

. . . started a knitted dishcloth.  These are great gifts, host/hostess gifts, house warming gifts, and to use myself.

On the new purchase front . . .

I wanted crochet stitch minders, to help remind me what hook size I was using on projects like the granny square project.  I went online and found exactly what I wanted, but it was over $30 with shipping.  

I settled for these "knitting" markers, but will be writing the crochet letter hook size on the opposite side.  Cost?  $4.98 total cost.  I could make my own, but this will do the job.  The numbers are small and hard to read, so I'll use a marker to go over them.  It will work for now anyway.  

I could have also used letter beads slipped onto a safety pin, but guess what??  I donated those letter beads a few years ago, ha ha!  Anyway, I wanted the letter of the hook and the size on the markers, because for some reason some newer hooks have not been the same coordinates.  For example, I found an "I" hook to have other size numbers on them vs. the size 5.50mm.

By the way, I went to our nearest JoAnn Fabrics store, and they did not have any type of "hook" minders for projects.  I was surprised.  Also, I only had the time to check at Meijer, but to buy new "letter" beads it would cost $4.99 plus tax.  If you make your own hook size minders to remind you of your hook size on patterns, let me know.

Tidbits ~ . . . from the Handiwork Journal  © January 2025 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart