Today's Inspiration

Today's inspiration should make my husband happy.  You see I am a clutterer...not so much a hoarder, I can get rid of things.  But instead of putting things where they belong, they lay where they land.  I know I'm not the only one and I have a very good reason for this.  If I put it away, I will forget to use it, forget I have it...like having my gym bag out is a visual reminder that I need to go to the gym.  Having my Avon books out reminds me that an order deadline is coming up soon and I need to make phone calls, send emails and get my order ready to submit.  I leave a pile of sewing next to the kitchen table, where the machine is, so that once I get "enough" to sew I can spend and afternoon doing it.  Ok so the pile has been there well over a month....!?  I have magazine's I need to finish reading.  Crochet projects half done....because if I put it away I won't have that visual reminder to finish it.  Makes sense right?  But in the mean time....I have piles EVERYWHERE!

So after getting my Zumba shot in the butt this morning this is what I plan to do this afternoon.  Let the pile attack begin!

If you have any tips and techniques PLEASE, yes I am begging, share them with me!

Crochet A Good Cause

One of my goals in my blog is to talk about what I'm currently working on.  But...since my current creation is a gift I have to wait until I give it away before I talk about it....don't worry, I'm taking pictures as I go!  So since I can't talk about that...I've chosen to talk about crocheting for a cause.  As many of you know my birthday was a couple of weeks ago.  Joe and I spent the day by the beach and when I got home I had this beautiful bag along with some hand picked flowers from some of the neighborhood kids.

Costa Rican Messenger Bag

Well I could immediately tell that this bag had been crocheted.  But out of what?  It was pretty stiff and felt almost plastic.  Upon further research I found out that it was indeed plastic, recycled grocery bags to be exact...AND a portion of it's purchase price went to help a Leatherback Conservation Project in Costa Rica.


Ain't he cute?



Not only did it help the leatherback but it also helped the Sea Turtles at Sea Turtle, Inc. right here in South Padre Island, TX!  According to their website these bags are created with approximately 80 plastic grocery bags.  Finding a use for these bags keep them out of our oceans and landfills thus helping to keep them away from wildlife where they can accidently harm themselves.  The women of Costa Rica crochet these bags, and are paid a fair wage thus helping not only the turtles but their family as well.

There are so may ways that we can use the craft of crochet to help our world.  Here are just a few I found:

Virginia Beach SPCA Wildlife Program Baby Nests

Hugs for Homeless Animals Snuggles Project

Scarves for Special Olympics - You will see another post from me when I finish my contributions!

You can upcycle and recycle just about anything you can put your mind to...find something that you are passionate about and let your creativity be your guide.  God gave us our gifts to share...I can't think of a better way than to help others...can you?

Some more birthday shots for you...

My new tire cover...Life IS Good!!

Toes in the sand...just like we like 'em!

T-Shirt No Braiding - Braided Rug

I have finally forced myself to finish my t-shirt rug I started last February. I really have no excuse as to why I just stopped but I did. Threw it along with the balls of t-shirt fabric under the couch and forgot about it...until yesterday. I was unpacking from our recent move to south Texas and found this long forgotten project under my couch. (If you are unfamiliar with RVs, I have a futon-like couch that allows me storage space underneath...not a lot of storage and not easy to get in or out of but works perfect to stuff yarn and other craft project inside...thus also working to store some of my wall hangings in the softness of the yarn while traveling.)

I taught a class on making rugs out of strips of fabric, I just chose to use my husbands old T-shirts. At the rate he goes through them I could probably make one for every RV in the park! This particular rug has 6 shirts in it. When I started this rug I wasn't blogging and didn't even thing about taking pictures and explaining how to strip a shirt so that it is all one piece and not a bunch of strips you'd then have to sew together....oh well, maybe next time!

There are so many ways to make a "braided" rug. For a traditional braid you would make thin strips then braid them together. Once you have sufficient braid you would just start to roll it into the shape you want, tacking it together with needle and thread as you go. That seemed like more work to me so I choose to crochet mine. I used the largest hook I could find, mine is a Q, and began chaining. The more chains you do the longer and skinner your rug will be, the less the shorter and fatter it will be...with the same amount of material of course. If you want it round just chain two and work an even number of single crochet (sc) into the 2nd chain from hook. Once I had my chain, I did a slip stitch (ss) into the back loop only all the way down both sides with 3 in each end for increasing purposes. And I just kept going around and around. If your work begins to curl just add a couple extra ss evenly around the piece of work and it will lay down.

Don't ever be afraid to rip something out. Yes I know you put a lot of work into it but if it's not right, and it is obvious, then it needs to be fixed! With practice you will find yourself ripping out much less often. And if you don't rip it out and fix it, every time you look at your piece all you will see is that flaw and not the beauty you created with your own two hands. Enjoy!