DEAR READERS: Today's Sound Off comes from a reader whose frustrations center on the bags inside breakfast-cereal boxes.
Jim S. in Houston wrote: "One of my pet peeves is the difficulty in opening plastic bags inside boxed items such as cereal. One would think that in this age, someone would have figured out how to make easy-to-open bags. Do you have any solution other than scissors?"
The best solution I have is scissors, because it's only sometimes that "the powers that be" are on your side and these bags can be easily opened.
DEAR READERS: Here are some things you can make with leftover yarn:
• Crochet scarves or mittens and give to homeless shelters.
• Knit baby caps and give to hospitals for NICU (neonatal intensive-care unit) babies.
• Knit or crochet large squares or rectangles and send to animal shelters for bedding or covering.
• Make articles of clothing to donate.
• Search the internet for free one-skein pattern projects.
DEAR READERS: I just gave you hints for using up those extra skeins of yarn. A reader wrote in about what she does with hers, and since it supports the column so well, I thought I'd share it.
"I crochet small projects and have leftover yarn. My winter project is combining leftover skeins and making 50-by-6-inch scarves and donating them to a food pantry.
"I use crochet stitches, such as single and double. It keeps me busy, and someone can always use a warm scarf. A word of caution: Don't make them with scratchy-fiber-type yarn."
-- C. Duffy in Alabama
DEAR READERS: I've seen a few letters cross my desk with other ways to use binder clips. The ones below are hints I'd not considered.
Emily S. in Texas, wrote: "I just finished reading your hints for binder clips. I am a quilter and use them to hold the quilt top, batting and backing taut so that I can start pinning everything together before quilting."
Alice A. in San Antonio wrote: "I make and quilt baby quilts and pads. Instead of pinning the pieces together for sewing, I roll them together and place about five large, black clips on the roll. It holds the pieces in place and allows me to quilt with ease."
Send a money- or time-saving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000; fax to (210) 435-6473; or email
Heloise@Heloise.com
ActiveStyle on 01/16/2017