Back from the brink

Have been knitting and crocheting like a madwoman recently and have posted many of these items on my Ravelry Project pages. Nothing monumental or extraordinary mind you. Just some fun and funky things I've been experimenting with. What you need to know is that almost everything I knit or crochet these days is a new experience for me. I'm having a good time and making a ton of stuff to give away as gifts to friends. But I'm WAAAY behind in photographing things, so this one will be a first for here.

"SNUGGLE PUFF" Crocheted Circular Face Scrubbie

This is the first pattern I've ever written out for someone else to try! It's based on a simple circle made in Half Double Crochet that has been used for coasters, round dishcloths and other single-circle face scrubbies I've seen. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's ever constructed one of these, but my friends on Ravelry have said they wanted to try to make one——so I'm happy to try to provide a written pattern. (It may be full of errors; I hope not!)  

If you do try it out, and it works for you, OR if it doesn't, would you please let me know? Thanks!

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/alleysally/snuggle-puff-face-scrubbie

MATERIALS:

• Yarn: Pisgah Yarn & Dye "Peaches & Crème" double worsted cotton in Aztec. Optionally, you can use two strands of worsted weight cotton yarn held together.
• Crochet Hook: size 3.75 mm (F) for circle; 4.0 mm (G) for SC edge
• Large-eyed blunt needle for whip-stitching edges closed. (I use a small (B) crochet hook for this, but a needle is another option.)

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Start with a Magic Ring.
• Crochet 6 HDC (Half Double Crochet) stitches into ring.
• Pull tail to tighten stitches.
• Join to beginning of round with a Slip Stitch through both loops in first HDC; CH 1.
• Crochet 1 HDC through both loops in same stitch as the CH 1, then 2 HDC through both loops of each of the remaining HDCs (12 stitches).
• Join to beginning of round with a Slip Stitch through both loops in first HDC; CH 1.
• Crochet 1 HDC through both loops in same stitch as the CH 1, 1 HDC through both loops in the next HDC, and 2 HDC into both loops in each stitch around (24 stitches).
• Join to beginning of round with a Slip Stitch through both loops in first HDC; CH 1.
• Crochet 1 HDC through both loops in same stitch as the CH 1, 1 HDC through both loops in the next HDC, and 2 HDC through both loops in the next stitch; alternate 1 HDC with 2 HDC through both loops in each stitch around (36 stitches).
• Join to beginning of round with a Slip Stitch through both loops in first HDC; CH 1.
• Crochet 1 HDC into both loops in each of the stitches around.
• Break off yarn, weave in tails and hide ends.
• Make two of these circles.
• With wrong sides together and leaving a tail about 4" long, seam circles together with SCs about two-thirds of the way around, leaving an opening for your fingers (either three or four fingers).
• Finish with a whip stitch or two at the beginning and end of the SCs joining the two halves.
• Cut or break off yarn, weave in ends. Voilà!

    © 2011 Cheryl D. Davis

Now go wash your face! :o)

The Fine Print: Although this is a very basic and straightforward pattern, please show consideration for the time and effort it takes to work it out. I'm fine with you making copies of this pattern for yourself and your fellow knitters, and I only ask that you make sure to copy the pattern so that the copyright symbol and my name is included.

Please feel free to make as many SNUGGLE PUFF Face Scrubbies as you wish for yourself or to give as gifts, but please do not make them to sell. If you have any questions, you may email me at cherylddavis2@verizon.net. You can also contact me through Ravelry from my profile page: http://www.ravelry.com/people/alleysally. Thanks and happy hooking!

The Constant Craftswoman is on hiatus . . .

Due to a family emergency, I will not be posting for the short term.

Sincere thanks to the few of you who have looked in.
I'd intended to be much more prolific with my postings and sharings of some of my crafts with you. Hopefully, I will be back in the near future to pick up where I've left off.

Wishing you all a wonderful time of making and doing!

A RAK Give-Away for anyone who asks

I was checking out my Ravelry posts today when an idea hit me. I have a number of prints from my original calligraphy featuring quotes from A Course in Miracles, left over from when I used to sell them. I produced these back in the 1990s and I’d enjoy sharing them (read: GIVE AWAY FOR FREE!) with anyone who would appreciate them and might like to have one. 

I penned the quotes myself, had them printed on high quality card stock and then I individually added hearts, flourishes and other design elements to each one with pen/brush and colored inks.

Here are a couple of examples on my Flickr site, and there is an example on my Ravelry profile page (last photo before the listing of Groups I’m in).

I’ve seen give-aways on other blogs and references to a so-called “random number generator” that selects the winners . . .
I don’t know if this is an actual tool or just what people say to attempt fairness when drawing numbers/names. (Guess I could Google "random number generator", but that sounds too much like work . . . ;o)

My point is: I’m really trying hard to implement my New Year's resolutions and let go of some of my hoarding tendencies. I have a serious disorder involving accumulating things and saving them for that all important (but hard to predict) time when I'm absolutely, positively going to need them or use them. It's gotten out of hand, really. (You have NO idea! Trust me.) Giving these away would be a great big step in that direction. And I desperately need YOUR participation in this. 

Can anyone suggest how I might devise a fair way to get these out to any one who might want one? (Remember: I'm really new to all this blogging stuff and its protocols, so if it seems like I am not figuring this out on my own just chalk it up to ignorance and inexperience.) Leave me a comment if you have any ideas you can offer!



There are about six different quotes and about ten different designs. Some of them are in the form of matted or unmatted prints, suitable for framing. Formats are 6"x6" square or 4"x6" rectangular, unmatted.

I've made a few of the prints into blank cards using a high-grade card stock with matching envelopes. I'll be giving these away as well.

Prints will not be framed, but some of them are matted in archaival-grade 100% cotton mat board and have foam core backings. For each print or card I give away I'll include:
1) a little self-adhesive cardboard easel that can be attached to the mat backing and placed on a shelf or other flat surface for display, and
2) a small plastic self-adhesive hanger you can use to hang the print on the wall.
I'll send one of each with every print/card. You choose how you'll display them. 

In addition to the hand-colored prints, I have hundreds of undecorated ones that I'd be happy to give away in bulk. The quotes are as follows:

~ "Miracles occur naturally as expressions of love."

~ "Let miracles replace all grievances."

~ "Today I will judge nothing that occurs."

~ "God being love, is also happiness. To fear him is to be afraid of joy."

~ "I offer only miracles today, for I would have them be returned to me."
~ "Heaven is here—there is nowhere else. Heaven is now—there is no other time."

Oh—and I just remembered! I have a slew of hand-cut mats with beveled edges in 100% rag matboard that I cut for my prints. These are up for grabs, too! Most are either 8"x8" square or 6"x8" rectangles with openings slightly smaller than the prints for which they were intended. I think there are even some double mats in the mix.

FREE!  FREE!  FREE! 

If no one responds here by the end of January, I'll be shipping everything off to Omaha, NB to a good friend of mine who leads ACIM study groups. I know she'll be thrilled to have them.

Talk to me, people!

(The photo reolution on the examples shown is blurry, and for that I apologize. They were shot hurriedly primarily for documentation; they'll have to suffice until I can replace them with better photos. The quality of the actual prints/cards is excellent, so I hope the poor photos won't dissuade you from requesting one! Email me directly.)

"You must do that thing which you think you cannot do."

One of my favorite quotes from the inimitable Eleanor Roosevelt pretty much sums up my approach-avoidant attitude toward launching this new blog.

It's also a good New Year's resolution. For me . . . to consider putting into action in my life. (Notice that I'm not totally buying into it yet?) Though I don't have a stellar record for keeping my resolutions beyond the first few weeks of January (if that long), this one really resonates with me.

You see, I have a tendency to make choices by avoiding making choices. Not the best approach. Trust me.

So now I have a New Year's Resolution, and a goal for 2011. And it pretty much encompasses every other resolution that I could possibly make. How cool is that!?!

Anyway. I'll be back to add to this brief post shortly—or start a new one.
In the meantime, I wish you all a happy, healthy, prosperous and wonderful New Year for 2011. And good luck keeping those resolutions. (A pox on whoever started the blasted tradition. I think it was designed to guilt-induce all of us. I'm just sayin'.)

If you're reading this, Welcome!
Stop by now and then and share a cup of coffee with me.
I might actually find something worthwhile to say.

Not ready for primetime, yet . . .

Just so you know: I've not posted anything yet due to wondering if I really have anything to say that's blog-worthy . . .

In the interim, while I screw up my courage and decide just what it is I want to put out there, please visit my Ravelry page and my Flickr site, if you want to learn more about me.

Being a perfectionist, starting something like this is a bit intimidating . . .
No. Actually, it's terrifying. I once told my therapist that there were just two books that I wanted to own. One was entitled How To Do Everything Right and the other title was All The Answers.
Yeah. You're probably thinking the same thing she was.

So, I'm a big chicken when it comes down to doing something that I've never done before—because I want to do it well. Just attempting this is huge for me. I've read a lot of blogs out there and some of them are really amazing: wise, witty, and jam packed with wonderful insights and information. The bar is very high. And I hate looking like an idiot.