Super Stitcher Goals for 2014 and a NEW Stash Busting for Hope Challenge

Posted on January 5, 2014 by CrochetByDarleenHopkins

Goodbye 2013, Hello 2014

2013 was a great year for me crochet-wise. I met some of my 2013 goals and completed a 6 pound stash bust challenge. Crochet by Darleen Hopkins on Facebook is establishing a cozy community (come join us!), Pinterest is up and running and even a monthly Newsletter (Feelin’ Loopy) is getting ready for its second issue. So what is there to accomplish in Crochetland for 2014? LOTS!! A few of my top goals or to-do’s for 2014 are listed below. The Super Stitcher in me is determined to complete them all.

1) Complete the Crochet Guild of America’s Master Crochet Program. I’ve signed up and received the materials, now it is time to start stitching.

2) Work from yarn stash and only purchase yarn when absolutely necessary for a specific project; don’t buy yarn just because it’s on sale! This is ongoing. I started it in 2013 and plan to continue until I can get this huge stash under control!

3) Stash Bust for Hope Challenge 2014. This is my favorite goal. Last year I crocheted 6 pounds of Bernat CottonTots into soft hats for Halos of Hope. In addition to the 32 hats completed in that challenge, I also crocheted many other hats for Halos of Hope that were made from other stash yarns. So this year I challenge myself to crochet 7 POUNDS of my stash yarn into soft hats for Halos of Hope stitching at least 2 hats a month and, like last year, post photos and report on the total stitched yarn weight.

4) Continue to work on left-handed crocheting. Every once in a while I give this a try. I’m not there yet but I’d like to be comfortable enough using my left hand so I may be able to one day teach a lefty.

2013 flew by in what seemed like a nanosecond. The years are going faster and faster and sometimes I feel like my hooks can’t keep up, but I’m going to try. What are your crochet goals for 2014? Be a Super Stitcher too and have fun with whatever you make. Last, enjoy all the new year has to offer.

Darleen

Stash Bust Challenge Update – June/July 2013 Catch Up

Posted on September 2, 2013 by CrochetByDarleenHopkins

Stash Bust Challenge 2013 Update – June/July Catch Up

Chirp! Chirp! Tweet! Tweet!

As I mentioned in my last update, I feel behind in my stash busting for June and July. I made lots of hats for donation, just not with this type of yarn. So I vowed to make up for it in August-and I did. The last week of August was busy. I wrote up a new pattern, had it tested by the fantastic testers in the Happy Hooker group on Ravelry and made 5 myself! Phew!!

You can find this adorable (if I do say so myself) pattern – Chirp! Chirp! Tweet! Tweet! as well as the inspiration behind it, on my new site-Free Crochet Patterns by Darleen (www.FreeCrochetPatternsByDarleen.blogspot.com). This is where I’ll be posting, um, if you can guess by the name, free crochet patterns. Please note, this is a different site from this blog so if you subscribe to this blog and want to receive notification of the new patterns there, you will also need to subscribe to that one. (The links are posted on the bottom sidebar for RSS feed or email notification)

These 5 cuties will be going out with my next batch to Halos of Hope. The 5 hats weigh in at 12.5 ounces.

Total Stash Bust Yarn Used To Date: Almost 4 lbs. (3 lbs, 14 ounces)

Total Stash Bust Hats Made To Date: 20

Yarn Stash and the Anti-Hoarder

Posted on August 24, 2013 by CrochetByDarleenHopkins

Are you a yarn hoarder?

Source unknown

I’m always clearing out. My husband calls me “the anti-hoarder”. I know I drive him and my boys nuts as I’m always trying to get them to get rid of stuff. I feel if you haven’t used it in a long time and have no real future use for it and/or it is taking up space, then get rid of it. I also have this policy where whenever I bring something new into the home, I get rid of its equal, or more. For example, if I buy the kids new shoes I get rid of an old pair or maybe donate some old towels to the animal shelter. This works real well for me to keep the STUFF under control but I wasn’t always this way. I used to buy things I thought were good deals and thought the boys would need in the future. Although I’ve always easily donated items I knew I wouldn’t want anymore, I had a hard time getting rid of many items that were too damaged for the thrift store as I thought they could be used for something (the crafter’s curse) or items that I MAY need at some point in the future. I ended up with a lot of stuff in my attic and my closets.

But this all changed for me when I had to clear out my uncle’s house. He had started compulsive hoarding after my grandma died-about 5 years for him. Although he wasn’t nearly as bad off as some of those poor people you see on TV, who knows what his house would have looked like had he lived another 10 years.

My uncle passed about 4 years ago and his passing has had a huge effect on how I look at STUFF. That STUFF also includes my yarn stash. I have a lot of yarn – 11 paper boxes full. For some, that may seem like a ton, for others, it may not seem like a lot, but for me, it is too much. Like many, I bought random yarn on clearance figuring I’ll use it someday. I bought yarn for projects I never made, you know the deal.

I’ve been working on reducing this stash for a couple of years now. I’m only buying for new designs when I don’t have a current yarn in my stash that will work (I try to only use current yarn in my designs). Most of my non-current yarn stash works great for chemo hats and I make a ton for Halos of Hope. I’m slowly reducing the quantity as I’m always pulling something out of my stash to make a hat for them. Two years ago I donated some of the non-ideal chemo hat acrylics to the local library when they were doing a local version of Warm Up America.

My goal for today was to go thru my yarn and pull out any that cannot be used for chemo hats or future designs. I was able to clear out about a box full of yarn. I had hoped to clear out more but most of it will make great hats for Halos of Hope. So, for now, I’ll keep what I have and continue to Stash Bust for Hope. Some of the cleared out skeins I was able to return to the store-$30 credit!!! Some will be donated to the thrift store in town. I cleared out a box of sheets I had bought with the idea of making a crocheted rag rug. I’ve had those sheets at least 5 years. It’s not happening anytime soon so I’ll donate them back to the thrift store from which I purchased them. I also found a cute project bag to donate-it was a gift and is really nice but I can’t use it as it doesn’t have a zipper closure. I have found I must be smarter than my cat and that means all projects must be zipped closed. After the clear out, my stash is down to 10 boxes that are not over-stuffed; progress, not what I had hoped, but still, some progress.

Last Minute Handmade Halloween Costume

Posted on October 21, 2012 by CrochetByDarleenHopkins

10 Days and Counting to my FAVORITE Holiday. I LOVE Halloween. Some of my favorite Halloween memories are of dragging the costume box down from the attic and putting together that year’s spooky creation. That box contained some old miscellaneous costume pieces and a few of mom’s old wigs and 1960’s housedresses. I had a lot fun with that box and created some pretty wacky costumes both for Halloween and for just silly play.

Now that I have my own family, we have a costume box too but with only boys, it’s full of mostly bloody swords and capes. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with bloody swords and capes. We just don’t have anything pink or fairy-like. So when I started thinking about what would work as a last-minute costume with just bloody swords and capes, I thought of this.

What I love about this is the child’s face is not covered with an obstructing and hot mask. I dislike full face masks. They smell funny, are hot and make it hard to see, especially at night. Another awesome thing is once Halloween is over, you have a great hat to wear throughout the winter season.