Stash-Buster January Review

The first month of the stash-buster challenge is over and Ana and I have been overwhelmed by your enthusiasm, as I write this there are 77 of us stash-busting so far! Thank you to everyone who has joined us and I hope you will continue to enjoy it as much as I know we will. 
You have all got off to a great start and thank you for sharing your stashes with us here are some of them can you spot yours?

There are some really good ones out there and you have began to put them to good use already. I know there are lots of works in progress but here are some of the lovely finished projects we have done this month. 

Random Wooliness

lanas de ana

        Ana has made some lovely projects this month and all the patterns are on her blog.

Apple Blossom Dreams

Visit Astri to see the beautiful things she has made this month she has given us the patterns and even shows us how to make them.

Restoring her legacy

Teddy Wares and Flutterbies

Country Maison

                    Eva tells us how to find the sweet little hat pattern on her blog

Arctic Strawberries

Opening The Front Door

                  Isn't that little dress so cute, visit Jacqueline's blog for the pattern link.

Mack and mable

                       Visit Julies blog to see where she is sending all her lovely makes.

Jaydee's Ramblings


This is just a sample of what Julie has done this month many more lovely projects on her blog

mariannas lazy daisy days

Marianna is a new blogger and she is also a member of Loving Hands, I know that the things she makes are always beautiful,so you can look forward to seeing some lovely projects, why not pop along and say hi.
You can find the pattern for Mariannas hats here  

mistea crafts

Family, Books and Crochet

Visit Shelly and follow the links to see how she made those amazing Christmas decorations.  You can find more on her blog.

T's Daily Treasures

                               Tammy made these beautiful wash cloths to give as gifts.

Crochet Happy

Yarni Gras

....and from the lovely ladies from Loving Hands, these ladies do a tremendous amount of work every month to give away to various charities, this is just a very small collection out of the hundreds of donations they are sending away this month.  Follow the link at the bottom of the page to see just how much stash they have busted this month.

                                               Pet blanket and 7 scarves 

This is just one of the 24 dog coats Pat has made this month, she couldn't find a dog to model it so this little sheep kindly volunteered :)

• If you would like more information about Loving Hands and the fantastic work the members do just click on the name.
• If you have seen something you like and would like more information just leave me a comment and I will do my best to find out for you.

That Sweet Little Something

Stash buster projects 3 & 4

I couldn't resist, another little baby dress.

For this I used a size 4 mm hook and although it was supposed to be Dk it was quite fine for Dk weight, so this turned out a little smaller than the last one, large enough for a preemie baby or even a doll.

and a cute little hat to finish it off

I will share the little hat pattern with you soon, I have been using the scraps of yarn that were left over to make these little hats there are more to come along with the pattern.

For the Dress

It took 75g of yarn

Pattern here

For the hat.. 21g

I have been working on my Rockman CAL afghan and have managed to do 3 strips which weigh 63g so my stash-busting total is a mere 352g for January not nearly as good as some of you but I promise to do better next month. :)

See you all on Thursday for a round up of all your stash busting projects and totals.

See project 2 here

The Monday Smile

Good Morning everyone I'm so happy that the rain has washed all the snow away, I thought it was going to be with us for ever, we even got a glimpse of the sun yesterday.  I hope last week was a good one for you.

This week I will be showing you a sweet little something I have just finished making, I hope to have a new pattern for you and I'm looking forward to publishing my first Stash-buster review on Thursday, so if you want to see what your stash busting friends have been up to it's one not to miss.  

Don't forget to publish your finished projects for this month by Wednesday and weigh everything you have made if you want me to keep a count of how much stash you have busted.
Ana has done her first review today so do visit  lanas de ana. 


Looks like it's going to be a busy week! here's something to keep you smiling....

Just to let you know 

I'm thinking of you today.

No matter what situations life throws at you..... 

No matter how long and treacherous your journey may seem.. 

Remember there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Have a great day and remember to give thanks.....

                           Cats are so dramatic! 



                  

                                       

 this way                     and                             that 




                     

Anita's 3 Hour Scarf

Anita is a member of Loving hands and has kindly given me permission to show you her scarf.

It's a perfect stash buster as it was made with two strands of Dk wool a huge 10 mm hook and it's very easy to make.
This is how she made it.

Pattern

10 mm Hook 
Two strands of Dk or use Aran or chunky
Chain 12, dc/sc in 2nd ch from hook to last space 2dc/sc
No chain turn dc/sc into v of last row then into each st to last st 2dc/sc.
Repeat last row until it's as long as you would like it.
Anita's scarf has turned out 4 inches wide and 66 inches long.  10 cm X 168 cm

Anita says they are addictive to make because they are so quick and easy here are two more she has done.

Change the yarn thickness to get different sizes. 

Ideal charity projects too see a list of Charities at the top of my blog and please tell me about your own favourite charity so that I can add it to the list.

Thank you Anita for letting me show this xx

Read more about the stash-buster challenge here and just leave a comment if you would like to join us.

Please Turn it off

I don't mean to be rude and tell you how to run your blog but I know many are with me when I say this, word verification is a PAIN!.  When I see those little boxes my heart sinks, it usually takes me several attempts of clicking on the refresh button to even see the words and numbers I'm supposed to be typing  then I will type them in only to see it's failed and I have to start all over again, it's very frustrating to say the least, sometimes I have to just give up. Then sometimes I leave a comment and move straight on to the next blog only to discover later that my comment hasn't been published because word verification was present and I hadn't seen it.

I have had a problem with spammers lately so I enabled comment moderation for a while and deleted the particular post that was attracting it and have had no problems since.

For those who don't know how to do it, First click on settings and then posts and comments and you can turn it off there.

I know many of you are of the same mind please read Theresa's post on the subject here  it says it all.

The Monday Smile

Something a bit different this week an amazing video to share with you.  It certainly put a smile on my face enjoy and have a great week!

The man flying the 3 kites is in his 80s, and he's from Canada. He comes to the Washington State International Kite Festival every year. His skin is like leather as he normally flies with his shirt off. He is deaf, so when he flies we hold our hands up and wave them for applause. He flies 2 with his hands and the 3rd one is attached to his waist.

You must watch to the end to see the amazing landing of that last kite!  

Make sure the volume is turned up because the music is wonderful and totally reflects the soaring of the kits.  Beautiful.

click on the title

Romancing the wind by Ray Bethell                               

    

            here                                                                            here          

One for the girls

The sweetest little sweater dress.  I loved making this, as soon as one of my friends saw it she asked me to make her one to give as a gift as she liked it so much.

I'm loving the baby stash, baby clothes are a joy to make.

I used Dk wool with a 4.5 mm hook 

It took 96 grms wool

You can find this and many more fantastic free patterns on this blog  here   

Stash-buster project 2 

total yarn used so far.....193grms

see project 1  here



Read about the Stash-buster challenge here and leave a comment if you would like to join us.

What do you do with your stuff?

So now that we are stash busting we have to think about where our lovely makes are going to end up.  It's all well and good if you have a small family to knit and crochet for but what do you do if your family have all grown up and flown the nest.  
Of course you can make things and give them as gifts,  make things for yourself or for your home but there comes a time when our family and friends are over saturated with our beautiful creations and our homes won't hold another single thing and of course if you are like me you haven't become a granny yet :(                I live in hope.....

what then?
That's the situation I found myself in a just a few short years ago and so I began to think about charity knitting but hadn't a clue where to start.  That's where Loving Hands came in, I found this group while I was browsing on-line and have never looked back since.  Do check out this lovely group they knit/crochet/sew for all kinds of charities from blankets  for orphan elephants  to hen coats for battery hens. You may decide that you would like to join too, many good friendships have been formed on there and there is a lively forum where you can share your creative ups and downs and just about anything you want to really. You will also have access to free patterns and a list of charities to send your things to. 

I know many of you make things for charity  why don't you tell us about the charity you support and I will link it back to here, it may inspire someone else to support them too.  

Charities 

Greenfields Africa - Algerian Action - Operation Orphan  - Project Linus                       

Project Peru  - Heartease - Lily -(love in the language of yarn) -Cuddles

Siblings together - Sew Scrumptous  - Bridge and Beyond - 2 wish upon a star -  

Knit For Nowt - Needles & Hooks, Angels & Preemies - Muddy Footprint - Simba

The Monday Smile

Some cute pictures to start off your week with a smile.

Cat Headband comes in 3 sizes

Air Flossing

I told you not to give me that last beer

Who say's three's a crowd?

Darn it Glady's you blinked again...re-take please

Have a great week xx

To

          just click  here  or   here