Month: May 2012

Bowl of greens: Raw food made simple

Aynaria 5 Comments

Recently, I’ve been craving a lot of raw dark green vegetables; which is a great, since they are loaded with nutrients like calcium, iron, and an entire host of other nutrients. Since they’re packed with fiber, they can help keep you regular, which I must say is welcome any day to constipation. Who wants that?

Bowl of greens 05 21 12 1

Today’s a special day, it being my daughters ninth birthday. After dropping her off at school, I returned home to get things ready for the small celebration we’re having.

About thirty minutes ago, I took a break and prepared a meal for myself. Since I’ve been craving dark leafy greens I went into our garden and picked collards, fennel, kale, and spinach, and tossing everything into a bowl… and promptly ate them. Well, I did make a homemade salad dressing; cherry tomatoes, ground raw cashews, balsamic vinegar, and some raw honey. It was delicious, and I thought I’d share the above picture on my site. Admittedly, the picture was prompted by a few emails I’ve received over the past several weeks…

Although Celebrate Life site is small, I do receive a lot of email from users; new and old.

Some remembered me from my old personal site; Vegan Momma, and wandered if I’m still Vegan. I am. Others asked whether I still eat a high amount of raw food. I do. Well, why aren’t you sharing them on your site? Good question…

In my mind, I think most people won’t be interested in what I eat. My meals are very simple. But, I guess I shouldn’t feel that way, since Celebrate Life’s search stats tell a different story…

People do land on my site in search of raw food info. Yeah, there’s not too much information here at the moment. A huge change from my old site, where posting a variety of healthy meals was common. Eventually, I moved my food postings to their own site which focused on raw and cooked foods.

A lot of the extras you see in today’s foods, are a bit too strong for me. The past several years, I’ve been following a whole food lifestyle, so my taste buds can taste all the extra crap that’s tossed in over processed foods, and my taste buds reject it. But you know, making a conscious effort to eat healthy has its benefits… I don’t appear to be 41, many think I’m a lot younger. My skin glows, and I do have a ton of energy. I don’t need pick me stimulants, such as caffeinated drinks to jump start my day. I don’t need it; I have a lot of natural energy.

Over the years, my weight hasn’t changed a lot. A lot of that is because I stayed active, even the years I couldn’t get  in the gym. These days, I am more muscular. I’m five feet and weigh 115 pounds. Not too much fat, but a lot of muscle. I work out several times weekly.

Moving forward, I’ll try to do better and post brief snapshots of my raw food meals. But… I have to warn you, my meals are simple, nothing fancy here. But, I promise in the future; I’ll do a nice presentation with a few of my meals before I show them on Celebrate Life. And I’ll add a few raw food recipes too.

Pattern testing done: Ladybug beanie hat

Aynaria 8 Comments

I really enjoyed crocheting this ladybug beanie hat.

Crochet ladybug beanie hat 3

It only uses a basic crochet stitch; single crochet, but  I’ve always loved seeing single crochet in finished objects, and even some of my fancier designs will showcase this simple stitch. 

It took less than three hours to complete this preteen crocheted ladybug beanie hat. Due to my daughters having long, thick, and curly hair, it couldn’t fit her head. Note to self, remember you must make adult size hats for your daughter’s head. For some reason, I forgot this small fact, when I agreed to pattern test the preteen size.  But to be fair, up until now the hats I’ve crocheted for her weren’t from patterns. They were my own creations, and so I measured as I went. If you’re a Ravelry user, I created a project page for this crocheted beanie hat.

The crochet designer is Alaina Smith, and she’s a Ravelry user. Her profile states she’s a homeschooling mother (love them) and she’s been crocheting since she was 11. Her profile says she learned knitting also, but she forgot how. I had to chuckle at that since for me it was the reverse. I kept up with knitting, even though I learned crochet also. But, I did forget the little amount I’d learned, up until this past December when I relearned crochet.

Further research shows that she sells her crocheted items on Zibbit. I must say it’s nice to see that she’s not underselling her work. I would be curious as to how she does with some of her higher end items. What people need to realize is, that it can take a lot of time to make handcrafted items. Some people (crafters and buyers alike) really need to realize that the time spent making the items isn’t “free”. 

Crochet: Learning new stitches; frogging mistakes

Aynaria 2 Comments

Last evening, I was finally able to squeeze in some crochet time. But it wasn’t long, perhaps twenty minutes?

Unfortunately, I have no pictures to share…  since I frogged (ripped out) the stitches. In hindsight, I should have taken a photo anyway. It’s a new stitch I’m working on, and since my first crochet attempts weren’t satisfactory (at least for me) I frogged it. But you know what? It’s nice to keep record of the incorrect way to do something, since later you can see how much you’ve advanced. And if you share those mistakes,  perhaps it can be an encouragement to others learning too. Since they realize that others, experienced the same obstacles, and were able to move past them?

I must say, I don’t have any remorse about doing that. Perhaps I’m conditioned to this process, since I’d do that with sewing via a seam ripper, and with knitting too. With knitting, it’s much more painful to rip those stitches than crochet, that’s for sure. But with those crafts, I’ve gotten to a point where it’s rare that I have to rip out anything. And the same holds true with the basic crochet stitches. I rarely mess up, but with new crochet stitches… I might. Especially, if the directions aren’t explained well. Which is what happened last evening, if I have time I’ll log onto check out a crochet video tutorial on YouTube.

Today’s going to be busy, and I’m unsure if I’ll have a chance to crochet that much. In less than two hours, we’ll be heading to the 9:00 service at our Lutheran church. Afterwards we’ll come home and hang outside. It’s such a beautiful day.

Who knows, I might have a chance to sneak in a few crochet rows at that time. But I’m not counting on it. However, If I do get the chance… I’ll be sure to post pictures of some of my attempts with the new crochet stitch.

Coraline wasn’t completed yesterday, as I’d hoped, since we spent most of our time outside. However, the crocheted Coraline, will be finished in time for my daughter’s birthday. We’re holding my daughter’s birthday celebration after she returns home from school tomorrow.

Busy day: yard work and upcoming homemade gift list for Christmas

Aynaria 1 Comment

Weekends a time to rest? That’s crazy talk. Weekends are a time to pile all the stuff you can’t get done during the week.

This morning, around 6:30, my daughter and me were outside pulling weeds from the garden. Well… I was doing most of the weeding. She was getting distracted by all the dirt, insects, and flowers. So after, a bit I sent her off to play.

10:30 this morning, I had a meeting that took us away from home. It lasted an hour; it was extremely productive. I’m not going to say too much about it, since it’s for a brand-new committee that’s forming,  but it’s church based, and I must say I’m really excited about this opportunity and see this as another chance to interact, network, and engage others.

The Bible tells us to go out and share with others. How many churches or people are actively doing that? I must say; I’ve been in many churches where people are content to say within their comfort zone. You know, just interacting with one another in church. It’s so nice to be part of a church that has ministries; food pantry, homeless shelter, quilts for those in need that regularly reach out to others. My Lutheran church isn’t all talk, and that has me on fire. It’s nice to be surrounded by other like-minded souls

Back to the house, and more gardening work, tilling, a bit more weeding, and laying down mulch. The mulch was placed where the sweet potatoes will be planted. We have a huge mulch pile for our garden.

I took three loads of mulch from the pile, piled it in the wheelbarrow with a pitch fork, and dutifully wheeled it to the garden. Each load produced some interesting things; Massive wolf spiders were in each load,  a harmless garter snake was in the first and third mulch dumping, and a skink in the second. The skink was plump, and  I suspect it was pregnant. I did halt my mulch spreading to retrieve the skink and return it to is home. Snakes and spiders were ignored. They’re good at keeping down the insects and rodent population.

Why is that I remember to take photos, after the work is completed? I must get better at taking garden pictures.

 My daughter helped with the gardening too, but I also believe children should run around and play. And so, after she did her chores, she was free to play in the area of the garden that hasn’t been planted… yet. 

I had every intention of grilling, but with how busy I was that wasn’t happening! However, I did fix my daughter homemade burgers, fries, lightly steamed veggies. And a homemade strawberry smoothie.

My crochet hooks have been calling my name all day. Maybe they’re annoyed that I’ve ignored them. I haven’t had the time. Who knows, I might later squeeze in some hooking time (this evening.) It won’t be much, just a few rows…

Within the next few days, I’ll be posting my Christmas craft list. Nicole was the first person I saw mentioning this, and then I saw it recently when I visited Marie, certified crochet instructor, who also happens to own the site The Underground Crafter. You know what? It’s nice that others are starting their holiday crafts early too.

This is the first scarf that I’ve crocheted, and it’s given me ideas for Christmas gifts, and so I’ll be playing around with different types of yarn, and adding beads to some of my creations.

The above quote, was taken from a post I wrote in April. The crocheted swirly twirly scarf, gave me ideas for the upcoming Christmas holidays; and since the first scarf creation. I’ve made a few more of the scarves, and have set them aside as Christmas gifts. It feels great, getting my handmade gifts completed early. I like having my holiday gifts completed in advance.

There’s no way I’ll be making a lot of handmade Christmas gifts at the last minute. 

Knitting 101: How to knit; video tutorial

Aynaria 2 Comments

Recently, I received an email from one of my Celebrate Life readers…

In their email, they asked why I haven’t written about knitting on this site. No reason really, there’s a lot of crafts I don’t write about here, sewing, jewelry making, soap making, are just a few but over time I guess I could post pictures of some of my other crafts. I still do many of them, but recently crochet has been on the top of my list. Understandable, it’s my newest craft. I crochet often, so I can improve, and someday (hopefully) my crochet skills will be at the same level as my other crafts.

I started knitting when I was eight-years old, since that time I’ve made quite a few knitted items.

Currently, I’m not knitting anything. Crochet has my undivided attention.

But, I have been thinking about knitting socks… a lot. I’ve always adored knitted socks. I still haven’t tried crocheted socks yet… but I will.

Mass produced socks can’t compare to quality hand knitted socks; knitted socks are much better. If someone ever knits you a pair of well-made knitted socks, be very impressed. They most likely think you’re awesome. Since knitted socks, at times, can a while to create.

I vaguely remember knitting a few pairs, in my twenties. In fact, I still have the few pair I made. I went through a period where I’d have huge bursts of creative energy. Ok, I still get those now (sort of like the crochet kick I’m n) but I can’t shut myself off the outside world, being a mommy, and all. But back in my twenties,  on weekends, when the crafty bug hit… I’d lock myself in my downtown apartment for the entire weekend, and tune everything out, focusing on my creativity.

For those interested in learning knitting, check out the basic knitting 101 video tutorial above. Unlike Dan’s humorous knitting 101 video tutorial. The above video will get you started with the basic stitch.

What I do like about Modeknit’s knitting video is she does part of the video in slow motion. Perfect, for someone new to knitting. That’s why Teresa Richardson aka Crochet Geek, is my favorite crochet teacher on Youtube. The majority of her crochet video tutorials are done in this manner; and it’s how I learned to crochet.

I do think when we go on vacation in July, knitting needles will be accompanying my crochet hooks. Of course, I’ll be bringing yarn too.

I’ll most likely add knitting back into my routine at the end of July or sometime in August. After all,  I do have a few long-term knitting projects on my to do crafty list.  So you’ll definitely see me knitting socks, and perhaps at least one gorgeous knitted cardigan, as some of my works in progress.

Knitting 101: knitting made easy

Aynaria 5 Comments

Who knew knitting could be this easy?

I like humor, and did get a chuckle out of this video, however, if you want to knit. You’ll have to look elsewhere.

Here are a few of my favorite statements from this video…

“We’re not making mistakes; we’re making experiences!”

You can use the point of this one, to pick up the crap that you dropped!

Don’t worry about it! It’s only glue, only glue…

I started knitting when I was eight-years old, and even at that young age, I knew knitting wasn’t this easy. Fast forward 33 years, and it still isn’t. I still enjoy knitting, but it’s not as easy as Dan would like you to believe. Of course, you can purchase knitting machines. But those aren’t “easy” either.

What’s important to remember, when attempting something new, sometimes it will take time. Take for example, crochet, it took a few weeks before I was able to do the basic stitches without wanting to pull my locks out in frustration.

What’s my regret? There isn’t a similar  how to crochet video tutorial. Check out this post for a link to a knitting 101 video tutorial.

Crochet pattern testing: crocheted ladybug hat pattern

Aynaria 7 Comments

Girl ladybug

A few days ago, I offered to test another crochet pattern for a Ravelry designer.

This time it’s an adorable crocheted ladybug hat. It’s a small crochet project…

Knowing how much my daughter adores ladybugs, as do I, and seeing a generous project deadline. I jumped at the chance to be a pattern tester.

The crochet designer had a nice range of crochet hat patterns to choose from; infants to adults. I chose the preteen-teen hat.

While it’s true that my eight-year old daughter does have a child sized head, she also has a lot of hair. It’s halfway down her back, and it’s also very curly and thick. I often keep her hair braided, or styled in two stranded twists. Which explains why I offered to crochet  the pre-teen/adult size hat, right? All that hair won’t fit in a child sized hat.

This won’t be my first time crocheting hats. I’ve made several already, but I didn’t follow a pattern. I just played with a variety of crochet stitches. And after practicing with my crocheted stitches, my crochet skills improved, and I was able to make my first crocheted hat for a person. I’d made several for my daughter’s Monster High dolls.

I still have that first human hat I’ve made. Occasionally I’ll look at the hat and marvel at how much my crochet has improved in a few short months. I’ve come a long way. So much so that I’ve gifted a few recipients with them; father, daughter, and, nephew. Oh, I even was able to crochet a dreadlock wrap for my locks too.

Tomorrow, after dropping my daughter off at school, I’ll stop by the local yarn store and pick up yarn in a dusty rose; works perfectly with her complexion. That will be the color of the ladybugs body. The dots will be a dark chocolate brown. I think it will look lovely.

I’m at the point where I can read the patterns without to much of an issue. The few times, I’ve run into issues, with published patterns, a simple online search cleared up the questions I had. So I figure I can do the same here, if I should run into issues.

I’ve already printed it out the crochet ladybug hat pattern, and I must say I’m impressed with how thorough this crochet designer is with explaining her pattern. I’m looking forward to crocheting this hat. It shouldn’t take too long, perhaps three hours?

I’ll be starting on it this weekend. I’ll most likely crochet this ladybug hat, while my daughter, and I are watching a movie.

Pattern testing update: I’ve completed the crochet ladybug beanie hat.