January was a rough month for me, but there was a big highlight: I got to see family and friends in and around Tulsa, OK near the end of the month. (As I said in my last post!) And there’s yarn and beads involved!

My aunt and I went to Loops one Saturday morning and got to meet Kathleen (known on Twitter as @zenasurialpacas) and her husband Tom.  We had a truly fantastic time and I can’t wait until I get to go to their Alpaca ranch in Jay, OK in late May/early June!! After much yarn petting, I blew my Christmas money on this:

Loot from Loops!

Delicious!  I am going to use them for Healing Arts projects, or at least the prototypes (that I will probably keep for myself as I always screw up prototypes!)  After lunch with Kathleen and Tom we said our goodbyes and my aunt and I headed to The Bead Merchant (pics to follow later, if I ever find the stuff again! Aieee!) and then to another yarn & needlework shop called Stitches, where the last of my budget went to:

More lovely yarn and embroidery floss

I don’t usually use mohair but on the trip my Daddy bought me the book Cool Crocheted Hats: 40 Contemporary Designs (which is awesome BTW!!)  and I loved the effects they got with mohair so I decided to try some.  I also snagged some wool embroidery floss that was being discontinued (good for re-enactment projects!!)

I then went to see Ozark Carding in Durant, OK.  Gail and Jim are really fabulous people and showed me and my father around their mill where they take fibers directly from the animal (freshly sheared) and clean, card, process and sometimes spin it into a finished product!  Here are just a few photos:

The outside of Ozark Carding Mill in Durant, OK

Washing Fleeces

Spinning Machines

The final product: yarn!

They do a truly amazing job and I *HIGHLY* recommend them to anyone who has fleece they need processed. Sadly, they are unable to handle rabbit anymore They also have a long waiting list/processing time as they are in such high demand, so be sure to get in touch with them shortly after shearing to assure your spot!  Tell em I sent ya

Then January went from not-so-good (apart from the wonderfulness outlined above) to downright bad.  I’m blessed to be a member of the Choctaw tribe of Oklahoma and so get free healthcare at our tribal hospital in Talihina, OK.  I go there about every three months for state-of-the-art diabetes care as well as oversight for just about every other part of my body.  I was there being tested, poked, prodded and checked-up for three days: the third day was a real doozy. I had a dead tooth pulled, then got a diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder (instead of the major depression I had previously been diagnosed with).  Then, as we were fleeing the hospital trying to avoid getting snowed in as another storm was ravaging Snowklahoma, we were hit by a driver pulling out into the street without looking.  My leg was a little injured but our car was totaled and we were stranded in Broken Bow, OK for three days as things got sorted out.

I’ll spare you the rest of the details!  February saw me get two nasty waves of Cold Season along with the ups and downs associated with getting on a new psychiatric medication.  I didn’t leave the house more than about twice before my trip on the 25th to Asheville, NC, which I will start to detail in my next post.

I don’t believe in apologizing for being absent on my blog, but in this case I think I had mighty good reasons so I’m going to milk them!!

Please keep sending in hands! I’ve got a great crop in already but the Bipolar (and the associated med change) is hitting me really hard so I still need to see reminders of people being there for me (as I know virtually everyone reading this is ). I’ll show off my collection as soon as I get the right adhesive (which is being donated by @GlueDots, yaaay!) Meanwhile, I’ll try to post as and when I can but I have a lot of catching up on life to do, so as always, please be patient

Tomorrow I leave to drive to Tulsa/Sand Springs for the weekend and then to my adored free hospital where I have a bajillion doctors appointments in Talihina for the week. I also hope to pop over to Durant to see Gail & Jim of Ozark Carding whom I met at SAFF. I know of the fabulous yarn shop Loops and the Bead Merchant, both in Tulsa.  I also know Hobby Lobby is based in Tulsa and OKC but in my experience the stores are the same as everywhere else. I hope to be able to meet @ZenSuriAlpacas — if anyone else around there wants to meet up let me know!

So my dear readers, any other suggestions of crafty places to go in any of those towns?  Most of the shops listed on the net are out of business so it’s hard to find out which places are still thriving!  Please let me know ASAP if you have any suggestions.

Meanwhile, I don’t know if I will have much net access until the end of the month. I have my ipod Touch for checking email in cafes but I don’t like lugging out the laptop in public so I don’t know if I will be able to post or not.  (I’m staying at the hospital’s hospitality suite and dunno if they have internet!) But I will try to take pictures and do a write-up when I get back, especially of Ozark Carding.  I hope to be allowed to take video, I’ve never been to a professional carding mill before, I am so excited!

I really need a hand...

I’m struggling.  My health has been worse than usual this past year and although I don’t talk about it much it has been very hard.  The depression is coming back after having been at bay for a long time and I’m spiralling downward into malaise.  I want desperately to get Healing Arts (formerly The Sick Chick Crafts for Causes) up, running and fully legal (and thus tax-deductible!) but it’s a lot more work than I had initially imagined.  It will be very worth it, but…like the people I want to help, I’m in a bad place right now and could really use a little lift.

Can you give me a hand?

I mean that literally! I’m asking you and anyone, everyone, young and old to send me a cutout of a hand, decorated any way you please and made from whatever materials suit your fancy.  I’ll use these hands to cheer myself on by affixing them to the bare walls in my room and also sending hands to anyone else who seems to need one. Please write your name or nick on the back so I/we will know who is lending their hand to this project (And if you send other contact details I will write you a thank-you note eventually!)

Here's one I made earlier...

Please send hand images to:

I will be ever so grateful and hopefully this will be what I need to get myself out of a funk and get cracking on helping others!  Many thanks in advance!

But I miss the camaraderie of the blogosphere and I would very much like to post more often.  So please, if you are so inclined, send prayers/energy/candles/etc my way that I will have the stamina to blog in this new year. And now, on with the show!

Papercrafting

• Handmade cards and postcards (can involve sewing/quilting/fabric/etc too!)
• Signs of good wishes to hang up near their bed/lair
• Mini-books filled with inspirational quotes
• Personalized stationery to make it easy to write notes to friends — with postage included
• Blank journals to record their health, feelings, dreams or wishes, etc.

Quilting

• Lap quilts for wheelchair users (I like 30 inches square finished size)
• Small throws for lounging on the sofa
• Bed quilts, especially for the hospitalized to bring to colour to the room
• Padded cases for eyeglasses
• Thick quilted “pot” holders to be used for hot OR cold items (my hands can’t handle taking things out of the freezer, for instance)

Sewing

• All kinds of warmers made with grains/rice inside of fabric that can be microwaved; these can be shaped for certain body parts or square for a generic heating pad
• Nice pillows to put said warmers into, or just in general
• Fleece hats
• Extra-warm Mittens
• Bed jackets and shrugs
• Bags and totes for carrying things to appointments
• Bags, “backpacks” and other items to add storage space to a rollator or wheelchair
• “Slanket”/”Snuggie” type throws
• Cute animals to cuddle up with — yes even adults like to sleep with a friend sometimes! — ideally very soft as well

Knit/Crochet

• Lap blankets for wheelchair users (see above)
• Throws for lounging
• Shrugs and cardigans for those who get cold easily
• Gloves, mittens or fingerless versions thereof
• Wrist, arm, legwarmers
• Hats, especially soft ones that are washable but don’t have bulky brims (for those of us who have to sleep in hats a bump at the brim can be uncomfortable)
• Handmade socks
• Prayer square where appropriate
• Cute, soft animals (see above)

Toiletries — check with the person first for allergies/sensitivities!!

• Lotions for those with skin problems
• Unscented items for people allergic to perfumes
• Exfoliating items for people who can’t bathe/shower every single day (dead skin can build up quickly)
• Aromatherapy blends for relaxation, stress reduction, mental clarity, etc.
• Bath blends without harsh chemicals; salts are usually good for this
• Massage oils safe for use on the temples and forehead or warming or cooling ones for the body

Beading

• Bookmarks
• Stretchy jewelry for people who have trouble with hooks and clasps
• Pretty, sparkly things for women who may be feeling unfeminine b/c of illness or side effects of treatment
• Prayer beads where appropriate
• Tiaras to make them the Queen of their Domain
• Medic alert IDs — make the medic sign very visible
• Awareness jewelry relating to their specific disease(s)

This is really a small sample of things that can be made, and things I plan to make for others.  Watch this space for more ideas in the weeks to come, and of course feel free to ask any questions about the items listed or to make suggestions of your own!

Since this is Invisible Illness Awareness Week, I can’t think of a better time to start ah, taking names

If you are, or know of, a person who is out about living with chronic illness (please don’t divulge secrets not your own!) who is into crafting, please please comment!  Leave the blog, website, Twitter, Facebook, Etsy or other URL where we can find them so we can spread the encouragement!

Invisible Illness Awareness Week 2009

And please don’t forget that I am crafting for the chronically ill & their support teams, donations of craft supplies & postage greatly needed!!

Since I know most of my readers ARE chronically ill people, what I would really like from you is just to spread the word that I am looking for supplies. Please tell everyone with excessive stashes or any craft supply companies or book publishers who might be able to donate. Thanks so much for your efforts!!!

For more info please see: http://thesickchick.com/causes

The point of this challenge is to *make and finish* one small crafted item per day. No time requirements so it can be very ickle things. So far I have been making bracelets and more mini-facecloths (but I didn’t double-count any for the Fibertudes challenge, yes I did two things a day for three days!) but I plan to branch out into stitch markers very soon.  And keep making my facecloths because I love using them

I will do my best to actually take pictures this weekend, how scary!  I haven’t shown an FO on this blog in what, over a year….so hold on to your (hand-crafted) hats, people!

Today is the last day of August and thus the official end of the FiberTudes 31 Day Fiber Challenge.  The point was to do something fiber-related (and of course that is yarn/thread/paper not edible fiber!) for 20 minutes a day every day in August.  I had to plead The Sick Chick Exemption* a few days so I’ve got three days left to do, but for the record, what I did was:

(*The Sick Chick Exemption: For any day of a challenge where you are too ill to sit upright for more than three hours, you can skip that day — as if it didn’t exist, since for you it didn’t! — and add the day to the end of the designated time. Please feel free to borrow this concept as needed and quote me as giving you permission )

1. design for sekrit embroidered & felted laptop case
2. Setting up studio & yarn stash
3. crochet starting dishcloth
4. design costume for the 29th (never made it, alas, maybe for Halloween!)
5. yarn shopping & general Hobby Lobby raiding
6. design conventioneers neck pouch thingy (sewing design)
7. quilt/fabric shopping esp for SCA dresses
8. research corn yarn, patterns, etc
9. pick out fabrics & style for bulletin board
10. organizing bead stash
11. sketched bracelet designs for shrink plastic awareness styles
12. design bracelet, watch crochet videos & more crocheting on dishcloth
13. loom knit on afghan
14. more crocheting on dishcloth, boy I am slow (hindered by kitten, as usual!)
15. The Sick Chick Exemption
16. The Sick Chick Exemption
17. Finish washcloth, yaaay! May add trim to it later though
18. play with beads, sketch more bracelet designs
19. loom knit on afghan
20. art supply shopping & watch band design
21. start crochet ATC
22. finish crochet ATC
23. prep (gesso) pages for art journal
24. practice single crochet, fail miserably, make Zentangle ATC instead
25. more knitting on afghan (I am sick of this one now!!)
26. The Sick Chick Exemption
27. Start loom knitting hat
28. Finish knitting hat and headband (6+ hrs)
29. Loom knit armwarmers, spool knit collar and earrings (6+ hrs)
30. watch quilting videos, drool muchly, learn muchly
31. read up on how thread is made (research for upcoming project)

So as you can see, I still have three days to go to complete that challenge, but I do have some FO’s to show off and some nearly completed items to finish, so there may be *gasp* PICTURES on this blog in the near future.  (Unless you wanna see pictures of my now 10 month old kitten, in which case I can oblige almost immediately ) Quite frankly, I am amazed at how much I got done this month, as it was fairly challenging, health-wise.

I’ll give you the final tallies after I finish my last three days!

But to the ladies of FiberTudes, I salute you and thank you for this challenge and can’t wait for the lace-along to start sometime in September!