broken computer. bears. needles. goals.

Spring Break, YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! Broken computer, BOOOO!!!!!!
I'm hijacking my mom's computer for the rest of the week, but when I'm not on the Facebook I'm keeping my hands busy.

Bears:
Introducing Graham

Graham was completed last week. He is going to be my first contribution to the Mother Bear Project.  Mother Bear sends crocheted and knitted teddy bears to kids affected by HIV/AIDS in developing countries. This is the second item I've made for a charity in my life (The first was a blanket I made for Project Linus way back in the 6th grade.). I started working on a girlfriend for Graham Sunday, I'm close to halfway done.
Mother Bear link

Needles:
I've also found a charity that hits close to home: Blankets for Deployed Daddies.I'm a little iffy about it cause I'm not sure if it's still active or not. But it's such a cool idea. They collect blanket and send them to expectant father who are deployed. The dad sleeps with the blanket for a few weeks so it can absorb his scent. Then the blanket is sent back to the new arrival. Newborns can recognize their parents by their scent.They know their mom's scent from the amniotic fluid, but they have to actually learn their dad's scent.
They have an easy knit pattern that I tried out and after 6 or 7 tries I got it. I can't wait to get started on my first real blanket.
Blankets for Deployed Daddies
I also found CareWear. They provide a list of hospitals looking for crafted goods like blankets, toys and hats. They also have patterns  that I can't wait to try.
CareWear

Goals:
I have a foot locker overflowing with yarn under my bed. I'm hoping to downsize my stash with the help of all these charity projects. I'm hoping to make 6 bears and 3 blankets by the end of summer.
I also want to venture into making clothing. I hope to knit, crochet and sew skirts by the end of summer. Wish me luck <3

AACCCCHHHHH MIDTERMS

I've been meaning to post, but with midterms and my procrastination problem there's no time. But next week we break so I'll post them. Stay classy.

Past Project: Harquebus AKA Hackbutt

 The last two crochet magazines I bought had features on Tunisian crochet and I was reminded of this little guy.

This is Harquebus. He's named after a gun. He supposed to be a lovable monster. Like the Big Friendly Giant, in crocheted puppet form.
He was created in the early 2008. This was my first attempt at Tunisian crochet. I really enjoyed creating him cause I didn't outright suck when I first tried this technique. I have tried to make more things with Tunisian but I been discouraged by things not going too well. My sister had asked for a set of place mats and I found a pattern for an "x" texture stitch. 2 words: no bueno.
I think those magazines are trying nudge me back to "the love child of knit and crochet."

first post

I was in a rut and boyfriend told me I should start a blog about crocheting. Little did he know I had already set up this site, I just never got around to the actual blogging part.
So here goes. This is a craft blog. My original idea for the first posts was a documentation of my attempt at sewing a dress. That project has been put off but I promise to get back to that once my work load lightens. Until then it'll be all crochet most of the time. (I'm sure I'll stumble upon other things to share.)
about me
My name is Karla. I'm Killeen, Texas born and raised. I attend the University of Alabama. Technically I'm a studio art major who has taken most of the courses required for the journalism tract.
My grandma Magda is amazing. She taught me and my sister to crochet when I was 8. I remember us being so proud of our chain stitches that we ambushed our god sister with several "headbands". Back to the amazing of my grandma. She's a seasoned seamstress. When we would go shopping, if she saw some clothes she liked she would examine it for a few minutes and have a pattern made to make the same exact thing. I hope to be as awesome as that some day.
This last summer my sister let me borrow her sewing machine while I was in Alabama. So I've been dodattling with that.
Other stuff I do (not well but adequately enough): knit, zine, write letters.