Tag: crafting

crafty things · crochet · quilting

2020 – The Year of Finishing

Kara HartzLeave a comment

I was tackling my closet with the Marie Kondo energy and was surprised at how many unfinished craft projects I had in there. I was cleaning it out in preparation of cleaning my sewing table because there is a lot of overlap in what I keep in both places and it makes it hard to find things. Plus the sewing table has become one of those catch all horizontal surfaces in the house where all kinds of bizarre things go to be forgotten.

Some of the projects were started to learn a new skill or technique and maybe don’t need to be completed, but others I was excited to see again. They had been out of sight out of mind, but I would actually like to complete them. I made a list of all the projects I found, and am making it a goal of 2020 to finish at least a few of them. Not every project need to be completed, and I’m sure I’ll have new ones I want to work on as well, so I think a goal of 2 or 3 off my list is a good start. Not to mention some of the quilts are likely to be a good amount of work and asking myself to compete all of them is just setting myself up for failure.

I’m going to go ahead and post my incomplete project list just to make anyone else who tends to start then fizzle out on their projects feel a little better. We are not alone.

  • The cat quilt (this is a quilt with pictures of cats, not necessarily FOR cats) it has a very time intense sawtooth boarder.
  • Sunflower quilt (a medallion quilt I was trying to make as a gift for my mother in law)
  • Doctor Who scarf
  • Christmas square mini quilt. (Found this not really started, but all cut out and ready to go)
  • Baby clothes quilt
  • Green/yellow Jack in the Box bed Quilt
  • Quilt of Valor (plus I think I know who I’d like this to go to so I need to look the rules up)
  • Fantastic Beasts Newt blue coat
  • Soccer Jersey quilt
  • Tessellating triangles mini quilt
  • Pile of clothing that needs repairs
  • T-shirt quilt
  • Small amineko
  • C2C scarf – DONE! Gave to my mother before getting a picture (boo)
  • Crochet sheep – DONE! Pictures coming soon

You might notice I have finished the last two times on my list already. I went ahead and added the projects I was currently working on when I made my list because they were still technically unfinished at that time, and I knew I’d be done soon and would like the boost of being able to check them off.

In the spirit of finishing, I am going to take my Doctor Who scarf with me to my sort-of-monthly crochet and knitting get together this week. At first I was trying to think of what new thing I should start to bring along, then realized, I didn’t need to come up with something new to start. I can finish! (Although I’m a very new knitter and my mom finished off the end of the scarf for me at Halloween so I could wear what I had so far, so I also have to learn how to undo her cast off so I can continue it – well, luckily learning is fun too.)

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Christmas AmiguruMe!

Kara HartzLeave a comment
I found this adorable book at the library, and decided that THIS is what I was making the girls for their Christmas amigurumi this year. They were more challenging to make than anything I’d tried before, but a challenge is good, and the instructions were great for the most part. I loved the book so much I think I may have to pick myself up a copy to keep. I have 2 more nieces who I’d like to make as gifts. The author/creator also has a book for making pets that looks fun, and one of cute food. If you’re on Raverly her page is worth a look. So much cuteness! And I found a free pattern there for Sneeches (with and without belly stars!) I think I’m making that next.
Eldest daughter AmiguruMe by Kara Hartz

Youngest daughter AmiguruMe by Kara Hartz

Niece AmiguruMe by Kara Hartz
While I don’t think I’ve ever posted photos of my kids, or my niece – trust me, this is exactly what they look like. Those little sandals and flip flops were the toughest, but turned out so cute!

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2016 Christmas Amigurumi: Ashoka Tano and a Blue Minecraft Sheep

Kara HartzLeave a comment
Ashoka Tand and Blue Minecraft Sheep Amigurumi crocheted and photographed  by Kara Hartz

Every year, I crochet a gift for my girls. Traditionally, it has been a pokemon. This year my oldest daughter had been obsessed with Star Wars (she makes her mother proud), and the younger is all about Minecraft (another amazing kid – how did I get so lucky!?). So I decided to try to make something to match their current passions. 

I made the sheep first, and am not super happy how it turned out. If you look at the pattern, it was supposed to use something called ‘iris’ yarn and a 0.9 mm crochet hook. That hook is so small it’s difficult to see, and I’d never heard of iris yarn before, but from the picture I’d say it could probably also be called ‘thread’. So I wimped out in tacking something so tiny, and I just made the sheep with plain ole Red Heart yarn and a G hook knowing it may not turn out right,. I knew that was a risk I was taking. The kiddo says she loves it, so I guess I’ll be happy with that even though it isn’t quite as blocky as I wanted it to be. I’m half tempted to try the thread version – but not yet. Must rest the hands from the marathon crochet session getting ready for Christmas.
The Ashoka Tano pattern is actually what gave me the idea to make something different this year. I don’t remember what I was looking for at the time, but when I stumbled upon the picture of a crocheted Ashoka, I knew I had to make it. She is one of my daughter’s very favorite characters, and she is now rewatching the Cone Wars series with me to bring me up to speed about Ashoka so I can read the recent book featuring her. One of the cool parts of this doll is the wire inside her limbs and lightsaber that make her pose-able. Plus, she looks fairly complicated, but I found that she made up fairly easily and quickly. The most important thing though – the kiddo loves her. I’ve seen her holding her off and on over the past few days since Christmas. That’s what a maker wants to see. Yea!

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How the whole focus thing is going. . .

Kara Hartz2 Comments

Well, I’ve taken a few baby steps in the right direction toward getting myself more organized and focused – and so far without giving up any of the things that I love.

How did I do it, I hear you ask. Well, I took a bit of advice from those books I mentioned before, as well as one I read awhile ago called, “Refuse to Choose” (I added it to the recommended reading list if you want a link) It’s basically about a certain personality type that the author calls a “scanner”, or a person who loves a variety of topics and activity and has an unusually difficult time focusing or picking one single life path, career, goal, etc. It’s me 100%. I really loved it when I read it because it stressed that I didn’t need to give up anything or “pick something” to do with my life in order to be successful – pretty much the opposite of what is implied in the other books I mentioned, and in my previous entry. However, it does say that keeping organized is important to success for a scanner. Now, I only ever implemented a few of the tools she suggested to help me fit the things I LOVE to do into my life around the things I WANT to do, but I’m trying to get back to that.

What I’ve done in the past several days is to plan my day a little ahead of time, and not try to do it all every day ( so I can focus on each thing I want to accomplish – see it all coming together here?) Yesterday I ran errands in the morning and in the evening I worked on items for my Karabu Etsy shop. Today I’m cleaning house and tonight I’ll write. Granted, my Etsy projects aren’t finished yet, my house could always use more cleaning, and there are other projects I haven’t gotten to yet, but I have to say, I’ve made more progress on each of these areas than if I’d gone about things in my normal fashion of fluttering around trying to do five things at once. We even spent several hours at a playdate with my daughter’s friends and I did a little craft project with my kiddo too today!

So far I feel really good about this, and since my extended maternity leave ends next week I’ll really need to have a time management system in place in order to work, have time with my family and accomplish my other goals as well. I’ll keep you posted on how it all goes.