Category: crafts

Wrap Up, 2020 and Beyond

Leave a comment

Hello everyone,

Some of you have noticed that I stopped posting regularly some months ago, posting just twice right before the election. In these weeks that I’ve allowed myself to take a break, I’ve found my creativity flourishing in other directions. As creativity is a somewhat rare commodity for me as late, I’ve taken time to consider what I want most to do with it, as well as the time I’m devoting to creation in a variety of forms. This blog has also increasingly become an avenue through which people demand my time and attention, to the detriment of my family and my mental health. And although those people are objectively few in number, and the people who have messaged me this year to talk about my posts in positive ways have outnumbered the others, it’s still true that this venue doesn’t give me the creative outlet or the joy that it once did. Despite maintaining a list through this time off of ideas I think would make good blog posts, I have no desire to write them.

I plan leave this blog up for a time, with no new posts. I may eventually choose to take it down altogether. I don’t want to pretend that I’ll pick this habit back up in a few months or when my life circumstances change. I might, of course, but I believe in endings. And I feel at peace about the end that this blog has come to. I also believe in celebrating accomplishments, so here is my wrap up for 2020: 

1. Wrote over 50,000 words, including 34 blog posts (not all of which I chose to publish)

2. Read 142 books (and counting!), including these favorites

  • Indigo – Beverly Jenkins
  • With the Fire on High – Elizabeth Acevedo 
  • Stamped – Jason Reynolds, Ibram X. Kendi
  • My Year of Rest and Relaxation – Ottessa Moshfegh
  • Memorial Drive – Natasha Trethewey
  • Whiteout – Adriana Anders
  • City of Ghosts – Victoria Schwab
  • A Prince on Paper – Alyssa Cole
  • Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky – Kwame Mbalia 
  • Matzah Ball Surprise – Laura Brown
  • In a Holidaze – Christina Lauren

3. Adopted a kitten

4. Spent an estimated 160 hours crocheting, creating

  • 20 scarves
  • 5 pumpkins
  • 4 baby blankets
  • 4 junimos
  • 2 pillows
  • 2 hats
  • 2 octopuses
  • 1 big blanket
  • 1 potholder
  • 1 turtle
  • 1 Christmas tree

5. Kept a journal

6. Discovered Blackpink

7. Sent letters and cards throughout the year, including 33 Christmas cards

8. Learned to use a sewing machine

9. Bought 27 masks for myself and others

10. Somehow did not bake a single loaf of bread, but did learn the 1 way I’ll tolerate green beans

Thank you to all of you who have read and searched and ask questions along with me these past 4 years. I am so grateful for your patience and grace as I’ve written and grown before you.

I have endeavored to use this blog as a way to pursue in my personal life the 2 greatest commandments, to love God and to love others. I hope you will seek to keep those commandments in 2021 and beyond, just as I will.

Crocheted Ear Savers

Leave a comment

Over the past few weeks, I’ve crocheted about 25 ear savers for friends and friends of friends in the medical field. I don’t have a sewing machine so I can’t make masks, and I’ve been so grateful to have found this way to help.

Ear savers wrap around the back of your head or neck so the elastic straps on protective masks can loop over the attached buttons instead of your sore ears. 

I’ve seen buttons sewn onto headbands, several designs for 3D printed ear savers, even a leather ear saver to try to combat the same problem. These crocheted ones are light, soft, and can be thrown into the washing machine alongside cloth masks and mask protectors.

The first few I made used a 5” ear saver pattern by Vicki Leverre Duncan that my friend Nicole found on Facebook. As I’ve made more and gotten feedback from the people using them, I’ve adapted the original pattern and scaled it up. I’m including my adapted 5” pattern below, as well as my 7” pattern. The 7” ear savers can sit above a high ponytail, helping to ensure the ear saver and mask don’t slide down throughout the day. (A bobby pin or two can also help prevent sliding.)

A 5″ ear saver takes about 15 minutes to crochet, the 7″ takes about 20 minutes, and the buttons take 5-10 minutes to sew on good and tight.

I’ve been using Red Heart yarn because it’s light-weight, inexpensive, and durable. And I have plenty of it, including tons of “scrap yarn” from old projects. I’ve even made ear savers to match the colorful masks they’ll be paired with, which is fun. 

Hook: size H (5.00mm)
Yarn: Worsted weight
Buttons: size 3/4”–1” (20–25mm)
HDC=half double crochet stitch
SC=single crochet stitch

Pattern for 5”

  • Chain 18
  • 1 HDC in 3rd chain from the end (chain 16)
  • 1 HDC in every chain until the 2nd to last 
  • 4 HDC in last chain
  • Turn
  • 1 HDC in between stitches until reach end 
  • 1 SC stitch in same hole as last stitch
  • Finish off
  • Work in loose ends 
  • Sew a button onto each end

 Pattern for 7”

  • Chain 26
  • 1 HDC in 3rd chain from the end (chain 24)
  • 1 HDC in every chain until the 2nd to last
  • 4 HDC in last chain
  • Turn
  • 1 HDC in between stitches until reach end 
  • 4 SC stitch in same hole as last stitch, working around the end 
  • Turn
  • SC in each hole until reach end
  • Finish off
  • Work in loose ends 
  • Sew a button onto each end

I usually make the 7” ear savers with the third row, as specified above, so they don’t flop as much under the weight of the buttons. It isn’t necessary though, if you’re in a hurry. Also, if you have masks with different length elastic, you can sew 2 sets of buttons onto one 7” ear saver so it will work for either type of mask. If you do so, put larger buttons near the center of the ear saver and smaller buttons on the ends.

Buttons of the needed size have been a bit hard to find. After raiding my spare button stash and cutting all the extra buttons off the inside tags of my coats, I ordered two of these sets from Amazon. They took a couple of weeks to arrive, and they’re random assortments, so I picked out and paired the largest buttons for use on the ear savers, then put aside the rest for a future project. Now that there isn’t so much of a run, I’ve been able to order a pack of these. (Remember, if you’re ordering buttons online, be sure to check the reviews and comments to make sure the buttons don’t break easily.) 

If you make any ear savers, I’d love to see pictures! And if you don’t crochet but have really sore ears from your masks, let me know! I’m happy to keep making more.