Joy's Autism Blog

We did the autism walk on Saturday. There was a threat of rain and we saw lightning and heard thunder in the distance but we didn’t get rained on so that was nice! On our way home our windshield was pelted pretty hard with rain so I’m glad we left when we did! So we didn’t get a lot of pictures but we got one of the people ahead of us walking (really exciting right?):

And this is the tshirt we got:

So that’s that, I’m glad we participated. We had a good time.

I finished another scarf for the Special Olympics Scarf Project, so here is a picture of that:

I thought of another fine motor activity yesterday. The kids and I took a bucket of water outside and some little paint brushes (big ones would have worked better but I didn’t have any) and the kids “painted” the house, rocks, and sidewalk with water. They loved it:

That’s about it around here. I need to figure out what to do with the kids today because it’s going to be very hot out but Adrian doesn’t feel well so we may have to hang around home today!

I finished up two scarves for the Special Olympics Scarf Project and I wanted to share them with you:

(Scarf Patterns: Pretty V Stitch Scarf with Tiny Stars and picot edging, the multicolor scarf is just two strands held together with a double crochet, I used a large crochet hook (N) and it works up very quickly and is very easy)

I’m not sure how many I want to make for certain yet but I’m kind of aiming for 10 at this point but hopefully I can do more then that. If it’s an easy pattern I can usually finish one in a day or two and I have quite a long time before the due date for Iowa is January 7th but the due dates range from the beginning of December to the beginning of March 2012 so hoping to do a bunch.

I taught myself to crochet a few years ago, I’m by no means great at it but I can make something that resembles a scarf, hat, or blanket. I am not crafty at all. Practice, get a book with easy stitches, watch some you tube instructional videos and you can learn to do this too. A cheap hobby where you can support others, go for it!

I woke up feeling much more positive and motivated today. I hope it sticks around.

I’ve just been browsing around a little bit on the internet before I finish tackling my house work. I so much appreciate all of the support I’ve gotten via my comments, facebook, and email so thank you so much for your encouragement and support.

Have you been working on your scarves for the Special Olympics Scarf Project? I have two that are almost finished and I’m excited to share the finished projects with you hopefully within the next week. Also check out the scarf project on facebook. If you can’t knit or crochet but you want to get involved in supporting these athletes you can donate here.

And wow, did you see this public service announcement for Spread the Word to End the Word?

Glen teases me sometimes when I get into my crochet. It’s like a go into a zone and I don’t hear or see anything around me and when I do this sometimes I can crochet for hours. It doesn’t happen often but because I’m excited about the 2012 Special Olympics Scarf Project I’ve been up until after midnight most nights, crocheting in the zone.

It’s relaxing and I’m really enjoying it. So much so that I kind of slacked on my house cleaning today and we ordered pizza for dinner. I definitely need to put down the hook and cook and clean tomorrow but for today this is what I’m doing, it’s not done yet but I may be able to finish tonight!:

Close up of the star:

I’m thinking I’m going to make the blue end thicker and of course I’m going to add a ton of those blue stars. We’ll see how far into the zone I can get tonight. Are you making a scarf for the Scarf Project? Share with me if you make one, I’d love to see it!

If you’re a crocheter and curious about the patterns I used here is the scarf pattern which I followed except I’m going with a picot edging, and here is the star pattern and I used the “tiny star” pattern.

I know they have to do a report card because they need to have that stuff on record and stuff but seriously…a report card with ALL 1′s on it is a little tiny bit disheartening. 1 means “Student cannot complete the task independently and shows little understanding” It just kind of makes me feel blah to read that kind of stuff, I know, cry baby central over here.

Ok so on to more positive things, I’ve finished the second scarf for the Special Olympics Scarf Project, not to be obsessive about this but I think it’s a pretty pathetic number of scarves that they’re received at least from the numbers their website shows and it’s kind of shameful. I’m really hoping that people can get on board with this and if you can’t knit or crochet that you’ll donate to the Special Olympics which you can also do through the link above. Another great way to help is to spread the word so that people who can knit or crochet know about this because I just found out the other day and I wish I’d have known sooner. If you’ve made a scarf email me the photo and I’d love to share it on my blog! Here is a picture of the two scarves I’ve made so far:

Adrian drew this picture of Santa and candy canes the other day and I had to share because it’s too cute not to!:

I’ve been using my spare time today to get moving on my scarf for the Special Olympics Scarf Project so this is going to be short and sweet. I didn’t want people to click on their state and see that it was past the deadline and think they couldn’t help out! You can send to any state and there are many states that still need lots of scarves! Check it out:

(first date is the shipping deadline and the second date is the deadline to receive the scarves)

Wisconsin January 14, 2011 January 21, 2011
Tennessee January 14, 2011 January 21, 2011
Maine January 14, 2011 January 21, 2011
Illinois January 18, 2011 January 25, 2011
Michigan January 18, 2011 January 25, 2011
Ohio January 19, 2011 January 26, 2011
Texas January 20, 2011 January 27, 2011
Arizona January 21, 2011 January 28, 2011
North Carolina January 21, 2011 January 28, 2011
New Jersey January 23, 2011 January 31, 2011
South Carolina January 23, 2011 January 31, 2011
Alabama January 24, 2011 January 31, 2011
Mississippi January 24, 2011 February 1, 2011
Wyoming January 24, 2011 February 1, 2011
Rhode Island January 29, 2011 February 5, 2011
Pennsylvania January 29, 2011 February 5, 2011
Minnesota February 11, 2011 February 18, 2011
Maryland February 11, 2011 February 18, 2011
Montana February 11, 2011 February 18, 2011
Connecticut February 19, 2011 February 26, 2011
Colorado February 19, 2011 February 26, 2011
Washington February 19, 2011 February 26, 2011
New Hampshire February 19, 2011 February 26, 2011
South Dakota February 22, 2011 March 1, 2011
Idaho February 25, 2011 March 4, 2011
Louisiana February 25, 2011 March 4, 2011
Alaska February 25, 2011 March 4, 2011
Nevada February 25, 2011 March 4, 2011
Northern California February 25, 2011 March 4, 2011
Virginia February 28, 2011 March 7, 2011

I’m about half done with my first scarf, here is my progress:

If you knit or crochet please consider making a scarf for the Special Olympics, some of the deadlines for getting the scarves done have already passed but there are many you can still donate to. I can’t wait to get started!

I made a purse that I wasn’t thrilled with but it turned out ok for my first purse.

And I made a baby boy blanket for a gift

I love crocheting! It’s been my new hobby since around Christmas time and I can’t get enough. I’ve done several wash rags for practice, a blanket, a poncho for Sanura, a poncho for Nevaeh (that didn’t really turn out well), two scarves, baby booties, juggling balls,  and two hats. Below is a picture of Nevaeh in her hat that I finished tonight. It was so much fun to make.