Stitch Markers into Progress Keepers!

I recently started attempting to keep track more carefully of what I knit every two weeks. I love doing this because it helps me in January. You see, in January, I sit down with Ravelry, and with sewing patterns, and I analyze how much time I have during the year, and decide exactly what everyone is getting for Christmas. The ability to know more accurately how much I knit per week, on average, is extremely helpful.

 Well, in order to keep track, I needed progress-keepers. But I only had one. That wasn't going to cut it. So one day, while I was stopping at Michael's to kill time before an appointment, I wandered into the bead section.

I ended up walking out with a purchase of some bronze gator clips and rings, some bronze ringed beads, and some silver gator clips. I attached the bronze clips and rings to one (or three) of the bronze beads (and a few I had on hand), and the silver gator clips to some old stitch markers that I had, but rarely used, because I prefer the non-dangly kind.

Wha-la! 15 progress keepers!

Upcycling Class

Last year, I did a class with my then-students on upcycling. Recently, I realized that I'd never posted on it, and I figured, why not?

There's a local store called the "Center for Creative Reuse," and most every Saturday during that six week class, I took a trip there or to Salvation Army to get some supplies.

We did a series of fantastic projects, and the kids really enjoyed it! I'll just show you a sampling of the results.

We made some t-shirt bowls and rugs...

And some candle holders and photo-holders from old CD cases and wrapping paper rolls...

I got about 30 frames from Salvation Army, and we made a series of real-cork-boards...

And as a finale, we made terrariums with old glasses, to throw some sustainability in the mix!

Here's a shout out to all those kiddos, who I miss dearly. I'm thinking of you!