Tuck Away Tote finished, Another new project added

I finished the Tuck Away Tote yesterday!  Not only do I think that my plan to make the 2 pocket/bottom pieces first next time & attach them to each other while I start the sides, but I also think when I do, that I will make sure the extra piece will be in the inside then the bag is in use.  I turned mine inside out today & I think I like that better.  I showed it to my oldest daughter D. and she said except for the fact that the grandkids undies would show through, it would make a great bag for them to use on weekend visits without taking up a lot of space otherwise as well, so maybe we have an idea for another gift.

I had to drop by my son's last night to pick up the registrations & insurance cards to be able to go to the courthouse today & get my dh's name taken off our son's 2 vehicles.  While I did, since I had just found a 40% off coupon for Hobby Lobby on 1 item, I went ahead and picked up a jumbo ball of Aunt Lydia's Classic 10 crochet thread.  My niece J., had mentioned last year that she wanted something lacy.  I misunderstood her comment & thought she was talking about the shawls that I have been making, so I decided to make the next one for her.  But what she really wanted was a crocheted tablecloth to use for when the family isn't eating at the table.  So I had started looking for patterns for a rectangle tablecloth.  I found one that I loved, but it calls for 68 balls of #30 crochet cotton and at $2.89 a ball, that would be almost $200 just for the materials.  Since it is also able to be used as a bedspread, that might be part of it, but it does give 2 different totals for thread depending on the brand you buy, so even if I bought the 56 balls for the 2nd brand, that is still $162.  I didn't want to chance it & I certainly can't afford to spend that much myself right now with no job.  So I kept looking.  I found one that I think she will like that says it needs 1,750 yards of #10 crochet cotton.  The jumbo ball has over 2,700 yards, so I should be good.  Even if I decide to add a bit to the edging.  And the 40% off coupon brought it down to just $11.01 with tax.  A much better figure for my budget.  And even though I told J. that I needed to get my Christmas knitting done before I could start, yesterday was her birthday, so I pulled out my hook & at least started on the tablecloth.  But now, back to the Christmas knitting!

This weekend I will have my oldest granddaughter A. for the weekend.  She is the one who knits with me.  The last time she was here, she took her knitting home with her because I had mentioned that she needed more practice to really get better.  I hear she made a mistake & we haven't gotten around to getting that corrected.  At least she knows that she made a mistake!  We had also talked about going to Yarn, our LYS (local yarn store).  I thought they had told me that they held an open knitting on Saturdays now.  So I called the other day & found out that either it has changed or I misunderstood.  They do hold a spinning group on Saturdays, but open knit is Tuesday mornings, Tuesday evenings & Wednesday afternoons.  But when I said why I was asking, I was told to bring our knitting on down, that they have people drop by to craft all the time & the coffee is always on.  So will need to see what A. wants to do.  We are definitely trying to keep things to free activities.  Friday Grandpa is supposed to be working about 15 hours, so not supposed to be home until after midnight, which gives us the evening for just us girls!

We had a thunderstorm the night before last come through our area.  I have known that my male Pom has always been afraid of loud noises -fireworks, thunder, etc.  I was really taken by surprise though to hear a noise & looked over and he was trying to drag himself across the floor by his elbows.  He was so scared this time that he started having a seizure!  So I got him, petted him, reassuring him, etc.until he started coming out of it pretty good.  After a bit, he turned his head to look at me & I could tell he was starting to relax.  The female Pom had joined us.  She knew something was wrong and so was trying to comfort him as well.  When he finally wanted free, he was still stumbling a bit, but he has been fine ever since.  This is the 1st time that he has ever had this kind of an issue with his fear!  We used to have a chihuahua that would have seizures and we used to do the same thing for her - just comfort her until it was over.

Went to the courthouse this morning and it only took me about 45 minutes total today - I was the 3rd in line when I got there, which was a good way to start!  It didn't take very long to get to a clerk and $41 later the 2 vehicles are only in my son's name!  I hope that means it's at least 10 months before I have to go down there again!  Maybe by then they will have the issues fixed finally with their system.

Have fun & Happy Crafting until the next time!

Tuck Away Tote - almost finished

Well, I did it again!  Instead of working on what I should have been working on, which is getting Christmas gifts done, I settled in with the crochet project that I had told myself that I would just work on periodically.  And now it is almost done.  Almost because I need to go back and buy another skein of yarn to finish it.  It's either that or tear it back a few rounds to get enough yarn to finish it.  And I might make a smaller one later, but for now, I don't want to do that.  I got into the 3rd round of the pocket that creates the tuck away spot for the tote.  And I ran out of yarn!  Only need to do 7 rounds, so it really is a shame to need to buy more!  But I will.  In fact, I probably will go buy it later today.  And will probably finish it later today as well.

And I have a skein of black in this yarn also.  The idea was to make 2 of these totes to have with me for small purchases instead of bringing home more plastic bags that I end up tossing more than I reuse.  I even stop them from putting pop or milk, laundry detergent & such that have handles into the bags, but I still end up with a ton of them.  I know my dh does not do all that since I will be the one taking a half gallon of milk out of a bag when he brings it home.  Don't know why he doesn't see how ridiculous it is to put things like that into a bag when it has it's own handle to carry it by, but he doesn't.  Anyway, I think when I make the black bag I will make a change or 2. I think I will make both pieces of the pocket before I start the actual bag for instance & then connect them together as I start crocheting the mesh of the bag.  That should save sewing it together later.  On the blue one I did make a change for the handles.  The instructions said to start the handle by sc in the next 2 stitches, but then you were to ch 1, sc 1 for the next row & repeat that for 10".  So instead, I sc the next 2 stitches together, which reduced it down to just 1 stitch, then did the ch 1, sc 1 for 50 rows before attaching it by doing a sc next 2 stitches together at the correct place (there are 160 stitches around, so when you take out 8 stitches for the 4 ends of the handles, that leaves 38 stitches evenly spaced between each spot) and then did a sl st to join it without there being an odd point left on the handle.

Yesterday was Labor Day here in the US.  It is a holiday celebrating the working man/person.  Most holidays we try to get together with the family, but this weekend we didn't.  I decided to just relax a bit.  My dh decided it was the perfect time to tear down his van and see if he could get the water pump replaced - again!  He thinks that since his previous water pump, the bearing had gone out in it, that it created junk in there that messed up the newer water pump.  So he was replacing it again and trying to clean out the junk to try to make sure it doesn't go again.  In years past, I have been the one to help him, but about 13 months ago, I developed an issue with my right hand that causes it to hurt terribly if I put much of a strain on it, I have trouble picking up ink pens, etc.  I even have trouble writing now.  Most others say they don't see a difference, but I can see & feel it.  And because of this, I couldn't get a good hold on a bar that he wanted me to use to help move the motor, so that he could get all this work done.  So we had to ask our son to come help him & my dh isn't known for having patience with others schedules or plans.  So it created a few tense moments, but gone done in the end.

Saturday night, September 1 was the 10th anniversary Sherman Junior High School reunion.  They had the 1st in 2002, but I didn't become aware of them until about 5 years ago and since I had always sworn I would never attend a reunion, since I didn't have happy memories of school, was never allowed to participate in extra-curricular activities, etc. I didn't think I had a reason to.  But 4 years ago some Facebook friends convinced me to try it and my son agreed to go with me, if I wanted.  So I did & to my surprise, I did enjoy it.  I went again the next year.  Then last year I woke up with a bad headache, so didn't go.  This year I went again and not only did my son go with me, but my dh joined us also and I think we all had fun.  Although my son & his gf were having some issues, so he was involved with that a lot of the night.  This year I even felt comfortable enough to go up to several people that I hadn't seen in years & introduce myself to them first!  It seems like nothing ever runs totally smoothly, but we keep trying!  I know my dh was enjoying himself because every time I asked if he wanted to leave, he told me no, that he was enjoying the music!  So hopefully he will go with me again next year, as long as his work schedule allows it.

Have fun & Happy Crafting until the next time!