Travel Mercies Are Free!

Dear Readers,
Thanks so much to those of you who offered words of encouragement after my last post! It's so nice to know you are loved, and I love you right back!

While I was in the throws of last weekend's misadventure, I heard myself using this phrase over and over as I explained to curious passers by what a travel mercy was: "It's more of a ministry than a business." I realized then that my making and sharing of Travel Mercies should not be a business at all. After all,
     The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
     His mercies never cease.

     Great is his faithfulness;

     his mercies begin afresh each morning.

       - Lamentations 3:22-23, New Living Translation; http://biblehub.com/nlt/lamentations/3.htm

 

Why was I ever trying to sell a Travel Mercy, a reminder of how much God loves each of us? I've remarked previously how much joy and get from making and giving Travel Mercies (everything I crochet for that matter); why would I ever try to put a price on that?

 

During the second downpour at the craft fair, a couple of families with small children decided to take refuge under our tent. One was a mom with four kids, I'm guessing ages 0-7, and the other was a mother and her daughter who was also probably about 7.

 

Although everyone was behaving well, they were obviously a bit anxious and ready to move on, but before they did, I declared, "Everyone stuck in our tent during the rain gets a free Travel Mercy!" The urchins excitedly swarmed my table, each looking for one in his or her favorite color. With over 125 in my inventory, there was no danger of someone's favorite color not being represented! The three older siblings had no trouble, and I selected a green one for the baby, giving it to the mom for safekeeping.

 

The little girl with her mom selected a yellow one that I had not yet finished, so I was able to more fully explain what a Travel Mercy was and tell her how much God loves her as I put the eyes on and completed the back side. It wasn't quite the Build-a-Bear workshop, but it was at least a positive shared experience. In fact, it was undoubtedly the highlight of my day!

 

I firmly believe that it's OK to fail at something as long as you learn something in the process, and I learned a great deal at this craft fair about what makes me happy and how God wants to use my Travel Mercy ministry. Therefore, here are my new rules of engagement:

 

1. Travel Mercies are free. If I have a Travel Mercy, I'll give it to you. If I don't have it, I'll make it. I've tried to give them to people in the past who have insisted on giving me some money. I will still take these contributions as their sharing in this ministry. That money helps pay for supplies, and who am I to deny them the joy of sharing? If I decide to do any more craft fairs or community events, I'll take whatever Travel Mercies I have, but most of them will be unfinished. I want the opportunity to witness to people for a few minutes instead of letting them just grab and go.

 

2. I will seek out opportunities to donate my crocheted creations for the Glory of God. For example, I recently crocheted a pink jellyfish that I have donated to the silent auction for my son's school (I entitled it "Slinky Pinky - The Breast Cancer Fighting Jellyfish"). The auction is tonight; I'll let you know how it goes. I have also volunteered to make six centerpieces for one of the holiday parties at work. With each of these opportunities, I will leave my business card which will direct people to this blog. I hope they visit and learn a little bit about how much God loves them.

 

3. I will continue to crochet things for our family's personal collection of creatures. My wife is the biggest source of encouragement I have (she bought a display case for my creations) and the most important person in my life. If I'm going to use so much of my time in this ministry, the least I can do is make some stuff for her as a small token of my gratitude.

 

4. Regardless of where they eventually go, I will continue to make things I think are cool. I think God is using my skills for a special purpose, so I will follow His leading, and when I feel inspired, I'm just going to go with it. I really like the custom garlands I've been making out of eyelash yarn. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with what I've made, but I'm sure I'll think of something...

 

So, that's it in a nutshell! If you don't have one and would like a Travel Mercy, please email me your name, address, and specifications about what you want (color, size, level of fuzziness, etc.) to mdkeihl@verizon.net. I can't promise speedy delivery, but eventually you'll receive a package in the mail.

 

All I ask is that you let me know what you did with it. What did you name it? Where did you take it? Did you give it away? Did you use it to minister to someone in need? If nothing exciting happened with your Travel Mercy, make something up; I would love to know what imaginary adventures they have, especially from little kids. Please take a picture and send it my way.

 

Most importantly, if someone asks you what it is, please explain it as best you can and direct them to this blog where they can learn how to make one or email me and ask for one of their own.

 

Thanks for sharing in this ministry, and until next time, be blessed!

Matt

 

PS - Here's a picture of my friend Pam on vacation with her Travel Mercies. I would love to have pictures like this from you with yours!

 

 

Adventures in Arts & Crafts

First of all, my humblest apologies to all (or should I say both?) of you who, having enjoyed reading my first 4 posts, have waited these many weeks for #5... Wait no longer! You see, I have been building my inventory of Travel Mercies and other stuff to populate my booth at the 38th annual Hickam Air Force Base Fall Craft Fair which was yesterday.

Before I tell you how the craft fair went, let me tell you about my experience to date with the sponsor, the Hickam Arts & Crafts Center. In short, they're pretty cool! They have lots of fun things to do, a friendly, encouraging staff, and a great facility to help you express your talents in painting, woodworking, sculpting, etc., and my personal favorite, the fiber arts. You can check them out at greatlifehawaii.com under the "Leisure" tab.

When I was still recovering from my shoulder surgery, I spent some time there hanging out with some fellow crocheters and knitters. They have a "yarn baller" I used for a couple of hours trying to convert an earlier garage sale purchase from a trash bag full of disorganized yarn to nice, orderly cylinders that would fit in my cupboard. That's when I learned about the Art Show.

From 1 Oct 13 to some time in January 2014, the Hickam Arts & Craft Center is sponsoring an art show in their facility. Artists were allowed to submit 3 pieces that will remain on display during this time. I submitted pieces entitled "Michelle's Squid," "Christopher's Caterpillar," and "Clayton's Octopus." You'll hear their stories in a later blog.

Here's a picture of my with my work at the reception on 16 Oct. I'm the one on the left...

Although the reception was free and open to the public (they had great food, by the way!), pretty much everyone we saw there either worked at the Arts & Craft Center or had works on display or was a friend/family member of someone who had works on display. Just as my friend Rebecca (whose son Ethan is a photographer) were noting the lack of "public," the very next people we talked to had nothing on display. Very funny, God!

The most important thing I learned that night was this: kids like my creations. Although I didn't spend much of the evening hanging around my own work, I was able to notice from across the room that whenever little kids came in, they gravitated to my shelf. Any why not? It's in their reach, and it has three stuffed animals on it. Too bad they weren't allowed to touch them (which would have been fine with me, but the staff said that was a bad idea...). Regardless, seeing children enjoy my work brought me a lot of joy.

Preparing my inventory for the Fall Craft Fair, although time-consuming, also brought me a lot of joy! Once I had a sufficient number of Travel Mercies (I think I had around 125), my creative process turned to the Christmas season, and I started experimenting with custom-making garland, tree skirts, and tree stars for small trees. Here are some of them.

I see some real potential here, especially for those who would like to celebrate the holiday using non-traditional colors. My favorite is the "Christmas Island" tree in the middle. Email me if you want to know how I did any of this stuff...

What did NOT bring me a lot of joy was trying to sell my stuff at the craft fair! I was there from 0900-1500, and I only sold 2 Travel Mercies all day! And both of those were to people from work that probably just felt sorry for me. Although I was splitting booth space with Ethan (who did quite well because his photography is AWESOME!!! - http://ethanwhitecottonphotos.smugmug.com/) to save some money, if you count the cost of the materials, my time, the booth, the tent, the tables, the business cards, the ink for the printer, the babysitter, and taking my wife to the movies because we had a babysitter - not to mention all the stuff we're going to buy from Ethan because his photography is AWESOME!!! - the only thing I could do that would be a more epic failure than yesterday would be to run for public office!

It rained fairly hard twice, and it was during the second shower that my silver lining appeared.
What huge lesson did I learn?
What life-changing philosophy emerged?
How am I ever going to make this mountain of lemons into lemonade?

That, my dear reader, is what the next blog will be about.
Until then... God bless and keep you all,
Matt

A Gift for Sampson



I've crochet a lot of creatures, but this is the first time I've made something specifically for a creature...

Are you a "dog person" or a "cat person?" I am neither one..
When I grew up, we usually had a dog and a couple of cats running around. I love both, but since members of my family have allergies to pet dander, we can have neither. I am, however, slowly becoming a "reptile person."

The "gateway pets" to becoming a reptile person are beta fish and the hermit crab.
I think around the time my oldest son was three and we moved to Colorado Springs, we got our first beta fish. He was a beautiful shade of blue, and since this was the era in which my son was naming our vehicles based on their color (beginning with our Chevy Blazer "Purpley"), he of course named the fish Scott. Scott was with us for a little while, and I'm sure we had a hermit crab or two during this era, but the first major pet experience came at the very end of kindergarten.

On the last day of school, my wife and I both went to pick him up. We wanted to make sure we got everything and to thank the teachers for taking such good care of him. Since we were moving to Ohio a couple of months later, this would be the last time we saw them. I made the HUGE mistake of commenting how cute the class pet was, and before I knew what was happening, I was leaving with three fiddler crabs and three newts!

We kept the six of them in the same cage, and likely due to my lack of animal husbandry skills, by the time we moved, only one newt remained. I don't know what went on in that cage, but what I imagine it playing out like a tiny Highlander sequel! Somehow that newt survived the 4 years in Ohio only to perish shortly after we moved to Albuquerque.

For a couple wonderful months we were petless again, but my son wanted to get more hermit crabs. Like any good parents, we said we would look into it. We were at a garage sale one Saturday in September and came across fish tank that would be perfect for our future crabs. We asked, "How much?" and they said, "$20, but it comes with a turtle."

A turtle? My boy was ecstatic! It turns out, he had only been settling for hermit crabs, and what he really wanted - in his heart of hearts - was a turtle. Any resistance I might have offered melted away when saw him. About the size of a silver dollar pancake, Nelson quickly became the newest and the only cold-blooded member of our family. My wife took Nelson to the vet for a check-up and a shot of vitamins (who knew turtles could yelp?), and came back with Nellie, the ornate desert box tortise. When animals are that young, it's difficult to tell the gender. The vet ran the "television test," and when the turtle kept changing the channel back to Oprah, we knew that a name change was in order. Note: we still refer to her a turtle; it's just easier than saying "ornate deserb box tortise."





Nellie (top, center) getting ready to chow down on some escargot in Albuquerque!


Nellie has been with us ever since, surviving the rest of the 4 years in Albuquerque and the 4 years in Virginia and is now living with us in Hawaii, but before we left New Mexico, my son had started high school and needed a new pet for an experiment in his biology class. I was finishing my year in Saudi Arabia at the time, so I'm not exactly sure if he HAD to have a snake... All I know is that by the time I got home, we DID have a snake - Sampson. (Note: Sampson is very shy, so I don't have a picture of him... yet).



Older son with snake (not Sampson).

Younger son with snake (still not Sampson).

About the size of a number two pencil, Sampson was a beautiful red, orange, yellow, and white albino corn snake. I had long ago assumed primary caretaker status for Nellie, and since I was the only one not nervous about holding him or feeding him frozen mice, I took over Sampson's care and feeding as well. They both bring me a lot of joy, as does Roger, a red-eared slider who rounds out our reptilian trio - we picked him up about a year before we left Virginia.


Roger doing his daily yoga in Virginia.

Moving to Hawaii presented a bit of a problem because, although Nellie is on the list of reptiles that are permitted to live here, Hawaii does not allow ANY snakes because there are none indiginous. Roger probably could have come, but he's a little too high maintenance to take over the ocean. Thankfully my parents have taken Roger, and my sister has taken Sampson. When we move back to the continental US, I plan to take both of them back.

The project I just finished crocheting served a couple of purposes:
- I had a ton of yarn that I got for next to nothing in Saudi Arabia. It's very thick and coarse and riddled with imperfections, and I've spent years trying to come up with something to do with it.
- I have been wanting to experiment with large-scale hyperbolic sculpture.
- Sampson, who I have been missing a lot lately, is now about four feet long (thanks to years of "power feeding"), and I wanted to make him something versatile that would fit in his cage and be strong enough for climbing, large enough for hiding, and flat enough for basking.

Here's what I came up with.

I started with a chain of 5 stitches, and to make the project go faster, I decided to use double vice single crochet. I followed the same patter I do for Travel Mercies, putting two stitches in each stitch from the previous row. The math adds up very quickly: row 1 - 10; row 2 - 20; row 3 - 40 ... 80, 160, 320, 640, 1280...

It was at this point that the sculpture was getting fairly large and starting to tax my attention span. I like the way it was turning out, but I wanted to give it some additional height, but I didn't want to do the next row of 2560 stitches, so instead of increasing, I did 3 additional rows of 1280, making it one of each color.

I finished the project by starting to close the form, placing one double crochet in every other stitch from the previous row. I did a row of 640 and a final row of 320. I decided against closing it completely because I really like the way it is able to fold back on itself, giving Sampson lots of different nooks and crannies to explore and making his habitat more interesting with a variety of shapes to climb on. I hope he likes it, and if my sister will take some pictures of it in his cage (hopefully with Sampson using it), I'll share them in a future post. Until then, thanks for reading!

God bless,
Matt

How to Make a Travel Mercy

Dear Readers,
     This is one of those rare posts I promised during the introduction where I will get specific about how I make something.
(Note: I'm having trouble fixing the formatting for the pictures at the bottom, but I think you'll be able to understand what they're illustrating...)

     Please don't take this to mean there is only one way to make a Travel Mercy! Indeed, no two ever should or could look exactly the same. I've made hundreds - some fancy, some plain. They are as different as the people who carry them. Mine have three things in common:

1. Materials
Up to this point, I've used some form of yarn, but I'm considering expanding my repertoire, possibly using rope or video cassette tape (the latter is some tough stuff to crochet!). Mine also have eyeballs. Initially I tried gluing them on, but they didn't stick very well, creating a choking hazzard. When I got serious, I searched Etsy for supplies and found folks who sell "safety eyes" with locking washers on the back - the same kind you use to make stuffed animals. My source is Clara at 6060. She is great about filling my special orders quickly for what I consider to be a reasonable price.

2. Method
I crochet Travel Mercies. It would probably work to knit them, but since I don't know how to knit, I can't be sure. I intend to learn some day. I tried teaching myself a few years ago on a long road trip between Albuquerque, NM, and Montgomery, AL, but I was not impressed with my results. Before you ask, no, I was not driving during the experimentation.

3. Motivation
Every Travel Mercy is made with love, and they are meant to be shared in love. It is my feeble attempt to reflect the love God shows me - a way of blessing others however I can. I want them to bring joy, but I'm sure I get more than I give!

     For those of you who don't crochet or are trying to learn, this is about as easy a project as you could ask for. All you need to know is the chain stitch, the single crochet, and how to tie a simple knot. The rest is just math and the elegant simplicity of hyperbolic crochet. It's a real thing. You should look it up... or just wait until I blog about it eventually.

     Anyway, here's how I do it:
1. Chain 4 stitches, and use a slip stitch to make them into a loop.

4 Chain Stitches in a Line

4 Chain Stitches in a Loop





 

8 Single Crochet Stitches in "Row 1"

2. Place two single crochet stitches in the back half of every stitch in the loop.




3. Keep going around and around the loop. I suggest not worrying about the number of rows and total stitches you do. Each time around you will be doubling the number of stitches in the previous row. As you do, the piece will begin to "buckle."







4. Once the piece is as large as you want it to be, you use what I call inverse hyperbolic crochet. Instead of putting two single crochets in each stitch, put one single crochet in every other stitch to begin closing the project.

5. When you get down to a hole just big enough to put your thumb through, stop, and select the eyes.

6. Flip the piece to look at the front. If you haven't done so before now, use your hook to pull the loose yarn from the original chain of 4 into the piece; give it a gentle tug if there's a lump. Place the eyes in a good location. When the Travel Mercy looks right to you, secure the locking washers by taking them through the hole in the back and pushing them onto the eye posts. They should be snug but not too tight.


7. Finish closing the back by doing a slip stitch in every other stitch until the hold is gone. If you were to continue with single crochet, the yarn would come to a peak, and the back would not lie flat. If you start the slip stitches too soon, the yarn will look stressed, and holes will form on the back side of the project.

8. Finally, tie an overhand knot, pull it tight, and use your hook to pull the excess yarn into the project, making sure everything is flat.

 

     I hope these instructions and pictures are helpful.

     God bless,
     Matt

What is a Travel Mercy?

 

Mercy (mer-cy); n. pl. mercies
1. Compassionate treatment, especially of those under one's power; clemency.
2. A disposition to be kind and forgiving: a heart full of mercy.
3. Something for which to be thankful; a blessing: It was a mercy that no one was hurt.
4. Alleviation of distress; relief: Taking in the refugees was an act of mercy.
(Definition courtesy of The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright (c)2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. All rights reserved. www.thefreedictionary.com; June 2012.)

"The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works." - Psalms 145:9

"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." - Hebrews 4:16

"Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful." - Luke 6:36
(Bible verses are from the King James Version and taken from www.godvine.com; June 2012.)

     Have you ever been in church and heard someone ask God for "Travel Mercies" or pray that someone going on a trip would receive them? My wife and I have heard this sentiment repeated in churches we have attended all over the country (We move frequently, courtesy of the Air Force).

     The "Travel Mercy" became our running joke. We often mused why God had established this special category of mercy. Obviously these believers were just asking God to bless them or their loved ones during travel, a time when all of us can frequently use all the help we can get.

Travel Mercy Basic Shape

     I had never seen a "Travel Mercy," so I decided to create one using hyperbolic crochet. Yes, it's rather geeky, but making them brings me a lot of joy. (I'll show you how in a later post...) I like making Travel Mercies so much that I have turned it into a ministy. I often crochet them in public, hoping people will ask me what I'm doing. It's a great way to talk with people about how much God loves them.

     More often than not, if I can finish the one I'm working on during the conversation, I give it to the person. In the last couple of years I have probably given away a couple hundred; I haven't kept track. Sometimes people have offered to give me money for them. I politely refuse, but if they insist, I take it to go toward supplies. I'm about to participate in my first craft fair (9 Nov, Arts and Craft Center on Hickam Air Force Base for those readers in Hawaii; I'll post some pictures). A beloved uncle, one of the best men I've ever met, is battling cancer, and I'm trying to raise a little extra cash to help with his medical expenses...

     My desire is to see Travel Mercies spread throughout the world and that each person who receives one would be reminded how much God loves him or her. This little companion is perfect for sharing adventures, both good and bad, and Travel Mercies remind us to show God's love and mercy to one another - to cut each other some slack - especially when we travel!

     Be safe, and be blessed!
     Matt

Travel Mercies by Matt - Photo by my mom Suzie

Introductions Are in Order

Hello. My name is Matt, and I crochet.

I do lots of other stuff, too, but this particular blog is going to focus on what, why, and sometimes how I crochet.

One must assume if you're reading this blog, you are probably a relative, a friend, a crochet enthusiast, or lost on the internet. You are all welcome! Here is what you can expect from me:

Relatives and Friends
If you're brave enough to admit you're in this category, you probably know what to expect. I'm going to try to be witty/entertaining... Oh, yes, there will be puns. I'm going to try to honor God in what I post/discuss. I'm going to give you a least a partial explanation for all those times you've asked yourselves, "How does his mind work? Where does he come up with these things? Why doesn't he think before he speaks?"

Crochet Enthusiasts
I am one of you. I am atypical of our demographic. That will become more and more obvious as time passes. I have considered doing a biography of sorts and describing who I am and where I come from, but I think that is better revealed anecdotally, through the stories I intend to tell about my creations.

I am not going to follow conventional crocheting blogging practices, operating under the following assumptions:

1. Most of you know how to crochet, so I'm not going to focus on the mechanics. What I do is simple with respect to technique. You will be able to do the same things I do, and they will look better than mine. I've seen your work, and you're really good! I do not use patterns, so don't ask my exactly how I did something. I will describe what I'm doing in general terms, and every once in a great while, I will provide a detailed explanation, complete with pictures. I can't wait to see what you make!

2. Many of you cruise sites like this so you can get new ideas. I have lots of new ideas. Innovation and creative thinking are two of my strengths. I can't wait to collaborate with you!

3. Some of you will be offended by my work since it's so non-traditional. That's okay... I still love you. I may not always post your comments, but I can't wait to see what you write!

4. A few of you will be kindred spirits and really get me. You will move to the "Relatives and Friends" category. I can't wait to meet you!

People Lost on the Internet
Although not on purpose, you have come to the right place! The world of crochet is fascinating, and you will marvel at what people can do with yarn, time, creativity, and passion. I hope you enjoy your stay!