Leftover yarn.. what to do?

After making a few projects in the last few weeks, I had some leftover yarn. There was too much left to want to throw it away, and too little left to do something big and complicated with. Dilemma – what to do with my leftover yarn?

Thank goodness for pintrest.

On Pintrest, I found lots of small projects – everything from applique birds and other creatures that can be attached to other crochet projects – to mini granny squares that you just save forever until you can sew them together. The best, however, was a pattern for a cup / mug / beer cozy. As a coffee drinker this was the perfect idea for me, and so I started with a granny square.

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Once the square was the height / width I wanted, I then started working on one side – and then the other until it made it around the mug.

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Finally, I made a long tie – and wove it through the back “shoelace” style.

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Here’s what the finished product looks like – on the cup:

Fabulous colors of Orange and Blue for my adjustable cup / coffee mug /beer cozy. Order one for your favorite fan today!  https://www.etsy.com/ie/shop/PhoenixRoseDesign  #auburn #blue #orange #crochet #custom #etsy #PhoenixRoseDesign #handmade #followme

Not bad for a little bit of left over yarn and about 20 minutes time. I think I’ll have to make a few more as gifts – because I know several football lovers who would appreciate these in their team colors!

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Fiat Punto

I bought a new (to me) car!!

After a little over 4 years in Germany without a car (I didn’t need one), I moved to Ireland. Ireland does have some public transport and alot of Taxis which are relatively inexpensive. However, after about 6 months of being here – I have grown rather tired of the waiting for busses that aren’t on time, taxis that cost 10 – 15 euro to get home with my groceries, and the inability to take my dog anywhere he can’t walk to (he’s not allowed on busses/trains/taxis here) when I want to take him with me. (In Germany, he was allowed on busses and trains – so we actually got to do alot together – including going to cafes.)

The result is that I started looking for a little transportation for the weekends. Thanks to my friend, Liam, he managed to locate (through a friend of a friend of a friend) a 1999 Fiat Punto with 98,000 miles on it. It’s a right hand drive (British), and gets about 40 miles to the gallon. They’re normally between 1200 and 1400 Euros to purchase, but he found this one for 700 Euro – and I had to jump on it. It has 2 new tires, a brand new radio, a new head gasket, new fan belt – and despite not being super clean (the person who had it before me used it to transport her dogs too) – it runs great, and most importantly — it does what I want it to – gets me from point a to point b, runs me over to the grocery store – and more importantly, it will let me take the dog with me to go hiking and/or out into the countryside for some further exploring of Ireland.

Now, just to get used to buying gas that runs over 6 euro a gallon ($10); driving on the “wrong” side of the road… and finally get my full Irish driving license….

Note: I am still planning on walking to/from work and riding my bike where I can, because I want to keep my carbon footprint (and insurance) as low as possible. This car is simply for the stuff that I can’t do with a bike or on foot – like taking my dog to go hiking in the mountains around Dublin.

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