Sock Monkey Finis & A New Kind of Post

Finished blanket & toy

Per Lesson #14 of Blogging 101 Workshop

PS, if you are puzzled because you didn’t
see the beginning of the project, it is in the prior post…

Starting the Year with Losses; What Would You Do?

It’s only the first month of the year, and I’m already running around with a big L-shaped cloud over my head!

First thing: I started a post December 18, featuring an Infinity scarf I made to go with a cute dress I ordered from zulily. I pictured myself wearing it during the holidays. It was olive green, one of my favorite colors, and had a diagonal Argyle-plaid pattern. Here’s the scarf:

Infinity scarf

I found a good pattern on Craftsy and another good one from this blogger Crafty Gemini. It took me about 5 minutes, max, to make this.

But I never got the dress I ordered! Finally, after more than a month of waiting, I cancelled the order.

Next, I signed up for some personal training at the gym. I was sorry I did, because I wasn’t feeling so good after working out more strenuously than I wanted to, so I thought I would try to get out of the contract I signed for 12 sessions. Especially after I cancelled one less than 24 hours before it was to happen, and I got billed for it anyway, like I agreed upon in the terms of the contract. Not so! Although I’d been told I could stop any time I wanted to, I could only get out of the contract if a) I moved at least 30 miles away or b) I had some sort of medical procedure, like surgery, and presented a doctor’s excuse. A medical doctor’s excuse, so I couldn’t bring in a note from good ol’ Dr. Ingley. 😦

I am working on the Blogging 101 class. Today’s assignment is to work from the Daily Prompt. So I feel like the anti-prompter in this post about making a prompt your own.

Next, can you see my dilemma in this photo?

Sock Monkey and Blankie

If you guessed “ran out of fleece binding” then ***ding ding ding*** you’re right! So what would you do if you were me? Go to JoAnn’s and buy another package of red to finish that little corner? Finish it in another color of fleece binding, such as light blue or yellow? Go to the fleece barrel and try to find a piece of red fleece and cut out a strip and use it to bind that little corner, where it will be red, but maybe not the exact same red, and a bigger, thicker texture? Or something else brilliant to fix the problem? Give me some feedback!

Not too early for Football Remnants

With the temperatures in the 80’s and 90’s, it’s a bit crazy to think of making fleece blankets for football season. EXCEPT when you can get a decent-sized remnant of collegiate team logo fleece (which normally sells for $14.99 a yard) at 50% off!

Go Gators remnant!

We know someone who is a fan of two great college teams–one not in the SEC so they’re not playing each other…except when it came to basketball last year…but we’re going to stop bringing that up right now…

the OTHER team, what's it's name

So, I sewed the two remnants together using a reinforced zig-zag stitch. Then I put about 2 1/2 packages of Wright’s Extra wide Double Fold Fleece Binding all around the edges. Fleece binding is a bit pricey for a project like this, but I love the look of it. I used to make gator blankets all the time and bind them with Wright’s fleece binding in Royal Blue, which was a perfect match to the gator fleece. But alas, the company just stopped making it one day. I scavenged leftover Royal Blue fleece binding as much as I could for a few years, but I can’t find it any more. That was a real disservice to gator fans, Wright’s. Luckily I had some white fleece binding in the stash, and the common color unites the warring patterns of the two team fleeces.

Ready to warm

Just open up the binding, match the edge of the binding to the edge of the fleece, right side (fleecey side of tape) to wrong side of fleece fabric and sew along the fold line next to the edge. Then fold it over so that the top edge covers the seam and the raw edge, then sew it down. I used the reinforced zig zag, but you can use a straight stitch or any stitch.

Say what?

The WordPress prompter has suggested that one thing we can write about is Should you help the Homeless? Good question; in my mind no one would say no to this, but some people I know, say NO! Why? Because they believe that the homeless folks “got themselves into” their situation. Obvious, but who hasn’t taken a helping hand from someone? Are we not all beggars for something? Once, when I was on a committee that dreamed up service projects for our group to do, someone suggested working on a Habitat for Humanity house. “No,” said one guy. “No one helped me by giving me a free house to live in.” True, we all have the choice of acting like the ant or the grasshopper in the fable, either preparing for hard times or frittering away our time and resources. Sometimes it hurts to see the waste. But behind all the drama, he is me and she is he. I think everyone benefits from freebies. Big corporations that pay no taxes, stores and restaurants that dump unsold goods and get a tax break, tithes and offerings that are paid to church organizations and given to people in need, Medicaid for people who can’t afford insurance.