Crochet and Other Stuff in 2019

Hello 2020! To whom it may concern, this year will be my 15th year in Blogger, and my 60th year in this world. I'm really looking forward... But wait! this year everything was put on hold, and our lives changed. Lucky are we if we didn't get infected, or none of our loved ones did...So just staying healthy and sane this year is an accomplishment worth mentioning.

This blogpost came very late for the topic, but I still need to finish it...just to complete my yearly compilation of crochet-related stuff.
So, here's my crafting for 2019.
(Btw, if you are on IG, please view @crochet.denim.me. You're welcome to follow me, and I'll follow back if you have a crochet/craft account too. 😇)

Crochet Projects

These are most of my projects for the year as posted on Ravelry...

Projects with details on Ravelry

The wonderful part of being able to crochet is making gifts that delight kids. Here's my granddaughter when she got the little mermaid doll https://www.instagram.com/p/BwdEH5nB1cO/

The Little Mermaid

Then there's also the satisfaction one gets from being able to customize something that would help other people...like this crochet boobies to be used to teach moms how to breastfeed.

Crochet Boobs

And these tiny booties for the preemies at the hospital. I made several pairs, mostly in white.

Preemie Baby Booties

And here's a gift I made for a friend visiting from abroad, January 2019.

Crochet Dreamcatcher

Patterns

I only published one free pattern on my blog, though I made up several small patterns that we used when I was teaching crochet to some moms at a local children's hospital.

Crochet Flounder Amigurumi

Flounder Amigurumi - free crochet pattern

(Disclaimer: Pardon the ads appearing on the pattern.)

Also in 2019, I submitted a tote bag pattern for the WeCrochet Magazine Spring 2020 issue.

Other Stuff

At the Philippine Children's Medical Center, July 2019...crochet session that ended with fruit-eating session 😍

More crafting soon...I hope, and may I come up with some more crochet designs.

Thanks for looking! Here's my end-of-the-year 2019 pic. See you in 2020! 😎

Another dog ami and some more FOs...

Now I can show you another dog amigurumi that I recently made...This one's for Tina, whose dog Jetta inspired its creation :)
Actually, I used my basic pattern for a mini dog ami. The head and muzzle are the same as the  Dachshund ami, and the ears are the same as Molly ami. The body and paws are all the same, except for the color.
Btw, I used an inventive technique to add the white fur on the chest. I'll explain on my next post what I did, if anyone's interested...
Meanwhile, I'd like to share a couple more projects. I really haven't been crocheting much lately...but these ones came up instantly.
I saw a hibernating project, I forgot what I was attempting to make. There were three strands: 2 of crochet cotton thread, and 1 of a fine yarn with nubbs (unlabled, but looks like a natural fiber too). I thought it would make a nice chain necklace, and save me the trouble of having to sort it out again in my stash :p
It makes a simple accessory to match a low neckline top, also something light and cosy to wear.

The reason I went through my stash again, is to look for acrylic yarns to make hats to donate upon Judy's request. Since she asked for bright and colorful, these caps for kids are as colorful as I can manage, based on the available yarns that I had ;)

Ravelry's Help for Haiti

This last week of January, I sold a few more patterns included in Ravelry's Help for Haiti patterns. From this I was able to donate $10. more to Hope for Haiti. Even though it was a small amount, it's still good to know it added up to the huge contribution which came from the whole Ravelry community going to different organizations helping Haiti.

Crochet Update, January 2010

Crochet for charity
Help for Haiti patterns are still up for sale on Ravelry.
About 10 Ravelers purchased patterns from me from Jan.16-24, and because of this I was able to make a small donation to Hope for Haiti.



It is heartbreaking to see in the news what has happened due to the earthquake. Let's continue to pray for them, and pray for ourselves too - to ask for protection from earthquakes and other calamities.

Crochet for yarn
Once in a while, I need to feed my curiosity for yarn. For those who don't understand a crocheter or knitter's need for a variety of yarns, I could liken it to a chef's need to have different kinds and the best of ingredients that could be had. I also love to cook and occasionally seek out a variety of ingredients. I'm only limited by budget, of course. As with yarn, I have to restrain myself :p
I saw Deneen's yarns for destashing here. I'm sure treating myself to a new skein of yarn won't hurt anyone. I picked a skein of cotton-hemp yarn, and I'll be patiently waiting for it in the mail ;)

Crochet for gift


My only crochet project as of this past week is this baby hat. This will fit my one-year-old grandniece. Can't wait to see her wearing it ;)

Help for Haiti patterns

This morning, I saw the Help for Haiti patterns over at Ravelry. The sales for these patterns were pledged for donation to organizations helping Haiti Earthquake victims. In line with this, I have pledged the net sales of some of my patterns in Ravelry for donation to Hope for Haiti, until January 23.

Update (Jan. 19): So far 8 ravelers have purchased my patterns in response to this in the first two days; however, due to there being so many patterns offered now, its much harder for my patterns to be seen, so I changed the above pledge to take effect up to Jan. 23 instead of 31.

Bazaar selling...

Better luck next time is all we can say...but at least we had a little fun and got busy over the weekend. We were also glad to be able to show support to Project Brave Kids' activities. I took some souvenir photos and have some to share.

Here's my friend, as we prepare our items.



(See the small cabinet where I put the boxes of Cannon thread? I requested any spare cabinet just a few days before, and the people at Coats were so generous in helping me out. They had it delivered last Friday.)

We really did not know what to expect, but was a little disappointed that nothing much happened. Sunday was supposed to be the busier day, but it rained the whole afternoon and evening - no fun :p

I went over the booth of the Habing Buhay moms and was so glad to see their items neatly displayed. They were able to sell several items during the bazaar.



Aside from cell phone cozies, here's what I made a few days before the event:
I intended it to be a pitcher cover, but it can also be used as a doily. The lilac and brown color is Catania cotton and the yellow is two strands Cannon thread.



Btw, there were some celebrities who went and entertained the kids and their families, and some who shopped. Ms. Miriam Quiambao was there and we saw her buying some native bags. Our helper asked her for a shot and she graciously obliged.



And here's our own celebrity, Daisy's chihuahua, Sugar. I wasn't able to get a good shot of her at the bazaar, so I got this picture from Daisy's blog.



She's wearing a Santa shirt designed and made by Daisy. She has made a few more and is selling it on her Etsy shop.

Lastly, here's my thoughtful son and his g.f. who stopped by to cheer me up :)

More on our crochet group...

As promised to Kristen (see previous post), here are some more pics I've taken of our group as they were working on her computer bug design. They were not able to finish it at home, so here they were in a hurry to finish up so they could submit it.

Later in the afternoon, here are some of the finished products:


Since it was late, everyone was in a hurry, so the bugs did not have time to pose for the pic ;)

Crochet for Charity

For quite sometime I had been wondering how I can use my skills to contribute to a worthy cause. I am also wondering why crochet as a craft is not as popular as it should be, seeing that there are so many stay-at-home moms here who have time to do it in between their daily routine work. Moreover, most of these moms are poor, and crochet can be a convenient way for them to earn some income for their family.
Having this same observation, a growing non-profit organization chose to include teaching crochet and selling the items as one of their projects. But what makes this organization special is that they are working with families of cancer patients, and these patients are kids.
When I received an email from them asking me if I could help out, I took it as a great opportunity. Actually I was quite eager, though reluctant since I do not have any experience teaching crochet. Moreover, these were underprivileged people and I know I cannot give them instructions using only our language, since most of the terms are in English.
As much as possible, I wanted to come up with my own patterns to teach them. I thought a coaster would be a good project. But I made the mistake of choosing a spiral design, since I immediately had a picture of it in my mind. It seemed simple and good enough, I went ahead and wrote up a pattern. I decided to teach it on my first meeting with them. Most of them wanted to look at the finished item while crocheting, instead of referring to the pattern.
Ok, it might not have been a big mistake, but I realized that I overlooked the fact that they are beginners and making 6 sc all in one ch at rnd 1, is a big challenge. I was glad none of them complained, and they all tried their best. We meet once a week, and next time I will come up with more beginner projects for them.
For more info on Project Brave Kids please visit their website:


Btw, the coaster pattern is here in case anyone is interested ;)