all's well

For those who asked, my colonoscopy yesterday went fine. No problems found. The prep was not bad (I used the pills) and I have no memory of anything between receiving the sedation and landing on my sofa at home. I am told I signed papers and got dressed. LOL I slept all afternoon and evening and even some today. Hubby got up with Jack three times last night. I think Jack knew something was up. LOL Daughter watched him most of today to give me some extra rest. Thanks!

I also started a double strand scarf which is aimed at The Bridge Project. My crochet projects go a bit slower these days with my new charge to watch over, but that's okay. It all gets done eventually.

I am also working on blue squares to match the red ones I did already. I am itching to get to my wool and start my soldier hats too. That is next month's project. I'll have to see what colors they ask for first.

That's about it. Have a great weekend!

Blessings,
Sandie

CPSIA

Once again, crafters are concerned with the August deadline CPSIA has given for testing of children's products.

Thanks to Wendy, who provided the pertinent link to info for crafters. You can find the pdf file here . Go to page 8. Table B begins:

Table B ‐ These materials or components can be used (separately or in combination) and sold (provided they have not been treated or altered or undergone any processing that could result in the addition of lead):

The info that applies to myself is as follows:

Yarn, dyed or undyed

Dyed or undyed textiles (cotton, wool, hemp, nylon, etc.), including children’s fabric products, such as baby blankets, and non‐metallic thread and trim. This does not include products that have rhinestones or other ornaments that may contain lead or that have fasteners with possible lead content (such as buttons, metal snaps, zippers or grommets).

Additional information is found in Question 13 regarding charity contributions:

Question 13: I donate the children’s products that I make to local charities and hospitals. Can I continue to send them my handmade donations?

Yes, you can make and donate children’s products to local charities and hospitals, if they are made of exempted materials or materials that you feel confident do not contain lead (see Table B). Children’s products made of yarn, dyed or undyed fabrics and natural materials such as untreated wood or cotton do not contain lead at levels sufficient to exceed the new lead limits.

If your products are made for children 12 and under, they will need to be third‐party tested if you use paint or a similar surface coating. Products for children under 3 will need to be tested to the small parts standard if you create a product (such as a toy, puzzle or doll) that could break into small pieces when used, dropped or otherwise handled by a child.

Avoid making and donating children’s products with soft vinyl or plastic, buttons or zipper pulls, or metal jewelry or embellishment or other pieces that may exceed the lead or phthalates limits.

So, there ya go. For my purposes it seems I am able to continue crocheting hats and scarves for children out of regular natural yarn or acrylic without any extras.

To make it perfectly clear, on page 12, Table C says it is okay to sell:

Dyed or undyed children’s clothing made from natural, untreated cotton, silk, wool, hemp, flax, linen, and other untreated natural materials including coral, amber, feathers, fur and leather

The pdf file contains a list of links and places you can find additional information. I was only concerned with the yarn portion, but if you make other items - like wooden toys, for example, you might like to read the rest of the paper.

I ran across a charity effort the other day called Operation Lap Wrap. It is a part of the USA Cares web site. They ask for lapghans no larger than 45" x 45" which are given to hospitalized service men and women. There are photos of previous donations and of the wraps being handed out. Has anyone donated to or been involved with this organization? Many of the parent organization's pages don't work, including the "about us" so I have no idea who is running this effort and if it is a legitimate effort. I noticed a couple things that I found questionable - like marking your item with a permanent marker - I would not do that, at least not to afghans or blankets. I found references to USA Cares saying it is "nationally renowned". Could be I'm just out of the loop.

Speaking of donations ... Here are the latest items off my hook. There are 10 red squares made with I Love This Yarn, a pink hat and a red/white hat. The little red/white hat is made with yarn from the donation from Carolyn Toups' stash.

The pattern for the squares is Kim Jiries Mama Bess Double Cross 6" square. You can find the pattern on my charity patterns page, used with permission from Kim. Please link to the charity page itself, not directly to the pdf file. Pattern may be used for personal or charity projects.

Well, I'd better post this before we lose power as it is thundering and raining fiercely outdoors. Jack made a quick potty stop just before the downpour began.

Blessings,
Sandie

pink ghan for CFAC

Remember those pink squares I forgot to take a photo of? Well, here they are. LuAnne over at Crafting for a Cause assembled them and this is the beautiful result. Skilled assembly does make a difference!

The square pattern is from Bev's Country Cottage site called Solid Granny Square. Mine did not lie flat on their own, but LuAnne got them trained. :-) She did a fabulous job of putting these 20 squares together. I'm very pleased with the finished product.

Yarn used was from the donation of Carolyn Toups' yarn I received from a friend when Carolyn passed away. It's still going strong and I see many projects coming from this yarn.

I also mailed out the hats and scarf I had completed. Getting closer to meeting my goal now. I can see it in sight. I just have less time right now for crocheting. But that will pass as Jack gets older and things get more "normal" if there is such a thing. He is learning. This morning he sped off to the front door and I knew that had to mean something. Brought him right out, he did his thing, and back inside. Yay, Jack!

I do look forward to sleeping all night again though. Last night, I stayed up until 11, brought him out and went to bed. He woke up at 4 and then again at 6. Since this has been going on for a couple weeks now, tired me. I was so tired - here you can laugh - when I threw on some clothes to take him out I put my shirt on inside out. I actually went to the post office like that! One must laugh because what else can one do? LOL I did not even notice until my sweet SIL clued me in. Thanks, J! I wish he'd have come in a half hour earlier. heh

Hope you all are enjoying your week. It's almost gone. Time just continues to fly past. We should enjoy it more, eh?

Oh, my A/C is fixed. They fixed it yesterday. So far, so good. I am still hot, but that is probably because it IS hot. Nothing can keep up with this heat. It's 93 right now and supposedly feels like 103. Which makes ME feel like I'm 103. LOL

In any case, it does no good to complain so have a great weekend! Crochet an ice cream cone. :-)

Blessings,
Sandie

Always something, huh? This morning my camera decided to have a tantrum. I took photos of the hats I'd made and it seemed to take the photo fine. When I went to upload them to my computer, nada. It said there were no photos there. I checked the camera. Sure enough. No photos. I changed the batteries. Took the pictures again. Tried to look at them first this time. It said it didn't recognize the file type. Hubby said to take the card out and put it back in. I did that. Tried again. Nope. Same message. I don't know what's wrong with it.

In the meantime I used my old camera - which is actually my husband's camera, but I usurped it some time ago. He has another one, so don't worry that I've left him stranded with no photo taking ability.

In any case, there is the photo of Noelle wearing one of the hats and holding another. I made these with leftover yarn.

My A/C is temporarily fixed so I hope to wash those hats and scarf today and get those out Wednesday. I don't have a car until then, but I know I will have it Wednesday because I have a doctor appointment. :-)

I have also found out where Sandi Marshall, formerly of crochet. about.com is. She has her blogs at http://filet-crochet.blogspot.com/ (last updated October 2008) and http://charts-by-sandi.blogspot.com/ which has an update in April 2009. And http://www.sandimarshall.com/ with the first post being in May and the last this month. This last site is the most current obviously. I didn't see any contact information though I am often clueless and it may have been there and I missed it. But at least you have the links. :-) She is a super talented lady and I think you'll find much of use there.

There is a new person in charge of the crochet.about.com and I'm sure she is lovely as well. Sandi's patterns are still available at the about.com site currently. I don't know if that is a forever thing, or if they'll be gone at some point.

If you missed it, go have a look at Lion Brand's latest Lola. Who among us cannot identify? LOL

Guess that's it for now. Have a good week.

Blessings,
Sandie

hats

Jack must have been tired out yesterday after his trip to the barbecue and playing with Lexi and Tyler. He slept a good part of the afternoon. I was able to finish the Doctor Who E-Space trilogy, part 2, and also do some crochet work.

First off, I finished a hat I started some time ago. I had considered making this into a baby bunting type of deal, but changed my mind and just made the hat.

I took a photo of it here on both the female head and the male head to show the difference. Rose and Logan did not mind. You can see that the hat "fit" both head types, but they sit differently. On the female it comes low on the neck and almost to the eyes, covering the ears as well. On the male it does not cover the ears and would come just below the hair line in the back. If I were making this one for a man, I would have added probably another three rounds of sc at the end. If I had intended it to be for a man at the first, I'd have gone to 72 stitches rather than 60 on my rounds. The pattern is simple dc and sc.

Then I worked on a couple more baby hats. I have several nice skeins of this variegated sport yarn and I plan to use that for hats. This one is made with a few filet rounds similar to the pink one I made the other day. It is about 5" from center to edge. Here's a closeup. You can see that I have the top of the hat solid, with just a few rounds of the filet

Then I worked one with the leftover yarn from the hat above.

I had what we call an "envie" (pronounced sort of like awn vee). It means "a pressing need". :-) What I mean is that I wanted to make a hat using fpdc. I remembered a pattern I designed some time ago and pulled it out. That is the hat seen here.

It uses 3 dc, fpdc on one round and the next round you put the fpdc between so they are alternating. It makes a nice, warm hat, though not as stretchy as the other. The tighter the stitches, the more firm and less stretchy.

I have not packaged these hats to send out yet. I'm thinking I might give them a turn in the washer first since they're not promised to anyone for a particular time. I will have to wait until our A/C is fixed though as I want to use the dryer as little as possible. Yes, it broken again - a different problem though, according to hubby. We slept with the window units on and all doors closed.

Well, that is all for today. Have a great week.

Blessings,
Sandie