The Last Project of the Season and some Christmas Anxiety

I finished my final project of the season last night… this groovy granny scarf!

I don’t think I would ever have bought this yarn – it’s acrylic with a bit of silver thread woven in, and a little too flashy for my usual tastes… I got it via freecycle and figured I might as well put it to good use (AWESOME… I also got a brand new set of bed raisers via freecycle last night… I less than three freecycle!)!

I’m thinking that if there’s one day of the year I can get away with wearing something like this, Christmas Day would be it.  Maybe I’ll go crazy & pair it with a Santa hat and an embroidered Snowman Sweater…

 

I could *totally* pull off this look, right?

Speaking of hats, I had a bit of yarn left over, which I attempted to turn into a granny triangle and which ended up looking a lot like a teeny hat for Miss Nina.  I probably should not drink wine while experimenting with granny triangles… I feel very strongly that cats SHOULD NOT EVER wear hats, but for some reason (read: the second :::ahem:::third:::ahem::: glass of pinot) I forgot that last night.

 

this is the closest Nina would get to her tiny hat. Smart kitty!

Aaaaaanyway.  Husband, Nina and I will be making the long, traffic filled trek to Pittsburgh tonight (it’s usually a 5 hour trip, but with holiday traffic it usually takes much, much, MUCH longer…), so I spent yesterday preparing myself for the holiday festivities by getting a sparkly new manicure & a last-minute head shrinking session (turns out I’m *not* the Grinch.  :::whew!:::).

 

thumbs up for Christmas Anxiety!

It’s cool that I got the same color nail polish as the 12 year old who sat next to me, right? })i({

 

Freecycling is the Coolest!

Friends,  please enjoy this article by Amy, the Queen of Freecycle and author of With Duck and Goose:

I was first introduced to Freecycle.org when I was pregnant with my oldest daughter, Norah (affectionately known as “Duck”.) I was flipping through the pages of a pregnancy magazine on my lunch break at work, and in one of the articles about going green, it mentioned Freecycle.

Freecycle is an international organization that is run completely by volunteers. The goal of Freecycle is to keep unwanted (but usable) items from being thrown in the landfills by offering them to someone else who may have a use for them. Alternately, if you are looking for an item, someone might be giving away what you want. All of this is, well, free, hence the name “FREEcycle.” By participating, not only are you helping out the environment by keeping things out of landfills, but you’re also decluttering your own life and possibly receiving items you need/want without spending a dime.

Almost every county/city/town in the United States has a local Freecycle chapter, and of course, membership is free.

Shortly after the first time I had heard about Freecycle, my pregnancy got a little complicated. I was put on bed rest and my employer fired me – and yes, that’s illegal, but I was in my 90-day probationary period, so there was nothing I could do about it. Duck was planned, but losing my job wasn’t. This, of course, wreaked financial havoc on my family. I was distracted by this and forgot about Freecycle for a while.

We went from a double income family to a single income family almost instantaneously – and while we had savings, they weren’t enough to get us through for very long. We were still newly weds at the time (4 months in) and we didn’t even have all the essentials we needed for us.

My bed rest restrictions were still in place, and my husband was still working very hard, but we just weren’t going to be able to afford things for our baby that we needed like clothing, toys, storage, bedding, and furniture.

Bearing this in mind, I said a whole bunch of prayers and my husband continued to look for a better paying job. As I was looking online one day for work-at-home jobs, I came across a familiar organization. Freecycle! There it was again. This time, I signed up.

Long story made short, we eventually got almost everything we needed for Duck. We got a changing table, toys, clothing, a bunch of storage containers, decorations, bedding, and more. In the process, we also gave away a bunch of things we no longer needed (no one needs 6 toasters!). And all of it was free. Without Freecycle, we probably wouldn’t have made it at that point in our lives.

Ultimately, my husband did find a better paying job (he’s still there, almost 3 years later), and although we’re doing just fine now – I’m still a highly active member of our local Freecycle group. I am so thankful to have found it; to be able to help others and receive things that we want and/or need.

Here are some of the cool things we’ve gotten on Freecycle over the years:
A huge bookshelf/toy storage unit:

coutresy of withduckandgoose.wordpress.com

A beautiful stand-alone fireplace:

 

courtesy of withduckandgoose.wordpress.com

A professional grade massage chair:

courtesy of withduckandgoose.wordpress.com

Our bed:

courtesy of withduckandgoose.wordpress.com

I highly recommend that you check out Freecycle.org and join your local chapter. I can almost guarantee you that you’ll be glad you joined!

-Amy
Author of With Duck and Goose

thanks for the warm fuzzies, Amy!  })i({

The End of the Freecycle Yarn

Well, I finally used up the last of my freecycle score by making a zillion teeny granny squares and another pair of Stay at Home Socks.

I threw the teeny squares into a basket, partly because I had no idea what they were going to become, and partly because I love baskets, and putting things in baskets, and also talking about putting things in baskets.  I heart baskets.  I also less than 3 baskets.  Whenever I can combine crochet and baskets, I totally do.  Anyway.  Here’s the basket, where the squares stayed for quite some time:

They were happy there, they really were, but they wanted more from life, and so they lived a comfortable yet somewhat unfulfilled life inside the basket.  Finally, just when they thought they could last no longer, I got tired of looking at them and turned them into this groovy tote bag:

(which someone will be getting for Christmas…)    Yay!  })i({