December 22, 2022

Three Things Thursday: Projects

I've been working on a fun project pretty much all day, which is what prompted me to write this post for Three Things Thursday. I am always in the middle of various projects, but right now I just happen to have several going at the same time... in addition to working on my bedroom and bathroom.

I mentioned a couple of these on my Wednesday Weigh-In post yesterday. I have been trying to keep my hands busy at night to keep from snacking, so I started a couple of crafts.

1. Knitting a hat.

When I decided to start a knitting project, I knew immediately that I wanted to make this hat. I made it once before and it requires a lot of concentration and counting (if you miss a stitch, it's really confusing to go back and fix it). So when I work on this, I don't have room in my brain to think about snacking. I'm not very far into it, because I've been working more on the other projects, but this is a good pattern to do in small chunks at a time.

Here is what it looks like so far...

I haven't used this kind of yarn before, so I don't know how the colors will end up looking in the end, but in the picture below, you can see what the hat looks like when it's done (with a different yarn). I love the colors of this previous one I made, but it's wool--so not only is it not vegan, it's super itchy. I like the colors of the acrylic yarn I'm using now, so I hope it looks cool when it's done.


2. Cross stitching a black cat.

Jerry and I were in Walmart for some reason--I think it was in the summertime--and we had this spontaneous idea to buy small cross stitch kits to work on together that night. Jerry had never done cross stitch before and I had never actually finished one, but we thought it would at least be fun to give it a try.

It ended up being hilarious. It took us forever to make a single stitch because we were trying to get organized and figure out what we were doing. We had to be SUPER careful with the string because the cats were watching it, just waiting for an opportunity to grab it. It was tied to some cardboard, so I felt better that if they grabbed it, at least it would be attached to that--making it harder to eat!

When we were putting things away, however, I noticed my cardboard piece was missing. We searched all over. Finally, we found it in the living room, and it had clearly been taken by the cats. We spent the next 48 hours or so watching them like hawks because we obviously didn't want to end up at the vet for emergency surgery again. Thankfully, all was fine. And now, looking at the cardboard piece makes me laugh!


Here is the progress I've made on it. I feel like I've been working on it forever, but when I look at the paper, I have so much more to go. I am determined to finish it, though.


3. Gifts for Luke and Riley.


I'm SUPER excited about these! I got the idea from a "card" that Mark received when he was sick. It was the most creative card I'd ever seen and I knew I'd want to make one someday. It's made of several brown paper lunch bags that are glued together in a way that allows you to turn pages like a book; and because of the way it is glued, the pages work like an accordion folder and you can put things in there.



For Mark, a company called Mars Advertising (I looked up their web address just now and it's no longer there--but if any of the employees are reading this, I LOVE the card and I thank you for the idea!) used a space theme throughout the "book" and in each of the slots between pages, they put individual cards for Mark.

For Luke and Riley, the book itself will have questions and answers with the kids (e.g. What is your favorite food?, What is your favorite thing to do?, Who is your favorite person?, etc.). In the accordion slots, I have envelopes with different sorts of cards in them labeled with categories: Say Cheese! (a card with photos); Fun Facts (kids' trivia questions); and [chuckles] (kids' jokes).








It's been time consuming, but super fun to work on. They are done, except for the actual writing of their favorite things on the pages. That shouldn't take very long once I get the answers from Becky. I love how they look so far and I'm excited to give them to the kiddos!

And that's it--three projects I have going right now. Today, I worked on the kids' books pretty much all day. It was fun because Noah is working on a scrapbook for his girlfriend, so the two of us sat at the table with scrapbooking stuff spread out everywhere. We listened to the Stuff You Should Know podcast while we worked.

Now I've got to go make dinner--I marinated tofu in a fajita marinade, and I'm going to make a southwest salad. Hopefully it turns out good!

2 comments:

  1. I love how you've transformed your anxiety. Did I mention I'm writing about crocheting right now? You reminded me of how concentration calms that part of the brain that can lead into danger (eating, anxiety, etc. etc. etc.). And that "book" you're making is brilliant. Will definitely steal.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'd love to see a more detailed post about the books you made for Luke & Riley... I love the idea for my nieces and nephews.

    ReplyDelete

I used to publish ALL comments (even the mean ones) but I recently chose not to publish those. I always welcome constructive comments/criticism, but there is no need for unnecessary rudeness/hate. But please--I love reading what you have to say! (This comment form is super finicky, so I apologize if you're unable to comment)

Featured Posts

Blog Archive