Crochet Diaries #10: What I’m Crocheting Right Now + Life Updates From the Cabin
Come along for Crochet Diaries #10 filled with current crochet projects, cabin kitchen updates, leftover yarn stashes, a sunrise 5k, and little life updates from our off-grid life.
Welcome back to another entry in my Crochet Diaries series, where I share my current crochet projects, little life updates, cabin progress, and all the random in-between moments that don’t quite fit anywhere else.
This particular Crochet Diaries has a little bit of everything: current projects on my hook, leftover yarn stashes, cabin updates, random thoughts, and a few life updates I feel like I haven’t properly caught you up on in a while.
All About Weighted Vests
Hey friends!
So…I’m currently 4 1/2 months post-op from my breast reduction surgery. If you’ve been around for a while, you probably remember that I basically made it my entire personality back in January lol. It completely changed my life.
Anyway, my mom called me the other day. She’s a pretty active lady and likes to walk the length of their rural road whenever she can. She asked me what I thought about weighted vests and how heavy a one she should get. And I VERY quickly said:
“Mom…I just had my weighted vest surgically removed and I have absolutely zero desire to ever simulate that feeling again.” Now listen…I fully understand there are wonderful benefits to weighted vests. If you use one and love it, I genuinely love that for you! But I’m telling you what, the thought of putting weight back onto my shoulders again almost gives me PTSD lol.
For the first time in my adult life, I’m free from the weight and pain I carried around for years, and it’s honestly hard to describe how much it’s changed everyday life for me. The freedom of moving around without constant strain has been incredible.
So no…I will not be participating in the weighted vest era.
A couple of completely unrelated little updates before we get back into the crochet talk…
Over the weekend, I did a really fun little 5k along the lakeshore at sunrise. And when I say sunrise, I mean this race started at 6 am. Which probably sounds horrifying to some people, but as a morning person, it was perfect for me. The lake was beautiful that early, the weather was nice, and I loved the peacefulness of being up before the rest of the world.
It definitely wasn’t my fastest 5k ever, but I didn’t even care. It was just a really fun event, and I’m so glad I did it.
Also — cabin update! Which probably isn’t much of an update if you follow me on social media because I share little bits of it all the time. But our kitchen is SO much farther along now than it was even a few months ago. We officially have real counters now…with actual shelves, cupboards, and drawers. Like a normal kitchen!
I know that probably sounds dramatic, but when you build things little by little yourself, every tiny upgrade feels huge. At this point, all we really have left is getting a full-size refrigerator, adding shelving above the cupboards, putting in a backsplash, and getting barstools. At the moment, the bar stools are the thing I struggle with the most because I cannot decide what I want.
A New Old Crochet Pattern
Anyway, on the crochet front…I’ve been working on a new cowl pattern! Well…technically it’s an OLD pattern. I originally wrote it at least 3 years ago…maybe even 4 at this point. I discovered an unpublished draft sitting in my blog post folder and decided it deserved a second chance.
So I worked up a fresh sample, took new photos, and now I’m getting everything ready to finally publish it! I’m working on uploading the YouTube tutorial today, and if all goes according to plan, the pattern should be live on both my blog and YouTube channel tomorrow.
Update: the pattern is officially live now! You can find it right here on my blog, and the YouTube tutorial is either up now or should be very soon, depending on when you’re reading this. Honestly, I’m so glad I finally rescued this one from the depths of my drafts folder because it really did deserve its moment.
A Very Important Crochet Decision
I don’t know if you watched my recent YouTube video about my controversial crochet opinions, but one of my opinions was that giant yarn stashes are overrated. Which brings me to my current situation…
I was cleaning under our bed the other day and realized my leftover yarn from past projects is officially starting to pile up. So I’ve decided I’m not buying any new yarn until I use up what I already have. Over the last 8-10 months, I’ve used Lion Brand Heartland yarn for several different projects, and now I’m left with about 15 skeins — some mostly full, some half skeins.
The problem? These colors only make sense to me when I arrange them in rainbow order 😂 The projects they came from all had completely different color palettes, so together they look…questionable lol. So I think I’ve settled on making a simple color block blanket to use them up, BUT I need your opinion:
Do I arrange the colors in rainbow order?
OR…
Do I go completely random?
Part of me thinks it would be fun to write all the color names on little slips of paper, throw them in a jar, and randomly pull a new color every time I start a row. But I genuinely can’t decide. So tell me:
- Rainbow order
- Random colors
Which would YOU choose?
Crochet Blanket Update
Speaking of blankets…I’ve officially used all 12 skeins on the blanket I’m currently working on, and I finally ordered 6 more skeins that should arrive in 2 days! That means I can FINALLY finish this blanket pattern and get it out to you because I’ve gotten SO many requests for it lately.
If you’re curious which blanket I’m talking about, you can watch my hospital vlog, or hop over to my YouTube channel and check out some of my recent Shorts where I’ve been sharing little progress updates along the way
~ Christine
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SHOP PREMIUM PATTERNS:
These photos are the property of Spotted Horse Design Co. This tutorial is for your personal use only. Please do not copy/paste, distribute, or alter and claim as your own.this Crochet Diaries catch-up. It feels really good to be back.
