Month: June 2012

Knitting: Not feeling the trim

Aynaria 6 Comments

When it comes to crafts, I enjoy juggling a few projects at a time. So it’s not a shocker that I’m usually working on two or three, and in some cases many more. 

Knitting ribbed stockinette hat 1

The above photo is the ribbed stockinette hat that I’m knitting. 

Knitting ribbed stockinette hat 2

But, I soon realized that I hated the trim that I crocheted onto the brim, and I’ve since removed it, since it annoyed me so much. The hat should be completed by tomorrow, That’s… if I work on it later today.

Soon, my daughter and I’ll be heading out for her piano practice, and then we’ll return to an afternoon of crafts. It’s too wet to be outside (raining most of the day). She’s focused on designing/sewing additional outfits for her Monster High dolls, and of course I have many projects, like wrapping up the crocheted and knitted bag.

And there’s a new project,  my daughter’s knitted hat.  Earlier today, I casted on her hat using my size six circular knitting needles. The pattern will remain similar; a few rows of stockinette stitch, followed by a few rows of ribbed stitch, and finished off with more stockinette stitch.  

But… it won’t be a smaller replica of mine. Instead, her hat will be done in the multicolored cotton (trim) you see in the above pictures. It’s her choice. Also, I’m thinking of sketching out a simple design onto graph paper, and knitting that onto her hat.  There’s so many things she adores; animals, tons of insects, and hearts… Hmm, guess I better dig up an appropriate yarn, eh?

Ahh… decisions, got to love them.  

Gardening, grilling, and knitting…

Aynaria 6 Comments

Today has flown by so quickly, this morning I was up early picking sweet peas in our garden…

Naturally, I nibbled on a few while I picked them. And why not, our garden produce  is organic, so I don’t have to worry about fresh chemicals sprayed on the plants. Which means I don’t have to wait X amount of days before I start eating them, and since the almost one acre of garden is completely enclosed with fenced. I don’t have to worry about deer wandering in for a snack, or a neighbor dog marking our plants Ughh…

Today marked my daughter’s first day of summer vacation, well if you don’t count the weekend, and so in honor of this occasion I grilled outside. Hotdogs and hamburgers for her; tons of fresh veggies for me. I didn’t feel like making anything more elaborate for myself.

When my daughter and I weren’t acting silly, you could find me knitting a hat. I love hats, the sillier the better. This knitted hat was made with ridges. at the bottom. Of course it’s  colorful! I’ll be sure to post a picture later this week. It’s too big for my daughter, but it fits me! It wasn’t intentional, honest! Tomorrow, I’ll cast one on for her; she’s excited that we’ll have matching knitted hats. 

Of course, I didn’t take pictures at all today. But, my daughter did use her video camera a lot, and she even performed a play with her Monster High dolls. I was one of the voice actors. 

6th annual Boumi carnival; Carnival fun = temporary wipeout… for me

Aynaria 6 Comments

My daughter has been looking forward to this day, it being the 6th annual Boumi Carnival. It’s the first Boumi Carnival that we’ve been too.

I was a bit leery taking her to another carnival, since I was still thinking about her unpleasant carnival experience when she was six years old.

She’s definitely not the thrill seeker  that I was at that age, I could share some crazy stunts I pulled just for the “rush” when I was nine-years old. No, my parents didn’t know about it at the time. I would sneak off and do them; Very hard to do under my mother’s eagle eyes. She was a stay at home mom, until my brother, and I was in our early teens; I was 15 he was 14.

But even with the prior carnival apprehensions, last week I went to the Boumi Shine, and bought advanced tickets. They were $10 off each ticket, which meant I was paying $10 per ticket, and  that purchase granted us an armband which allowed us to have unlimited rides. Yippee!

I don’t even want to know how much an armband purchase was at the door, since today I saw $20.00 only granted you about 35 tickets? 

I must say my daughter has improved with the rides; she loved them! And since we arrived as soon as it opened, we could get on anything she wanted.I still had to talk soothingly to her during the pirate ship type ride. She closed her eyes most of the time, and told me I was a nut to think this ride was “fine” she being way off the ground and all, but I’ll take that over screaming any day… yeah that’s what she did last time. Much to my surprise, she wanted to get on the Sea Ray (pirate ship type ride again).

I did purchase the obligatory stuffed animal. You know the type… toss a hoop, fish for stuff, shoot a water gun at a target, and be awarded a dollar store animal for an exorbitant fee. I’m not bitter, honestly. More important my daughter had a great time, and we went on almost all the rides at the carnival. I couldn’t talk her into getting on rides she deemed “too scary”… sighs… perhaps as she gets older she’ll be more like her thrill seeking momma? I still have images of us skydiving together after all. It’s one of the extreme sports that I’ve put on hold  since she’s been born.

The bottom line, my daughter had a blast at the 6th annual Boumi Carnival, but I’m wiped out. But to be fair, I wasn’t feeling the greatest today, but today being the last day of the carnival there was no way I was going to cancel on her. Tomorrow is another day, and after church, I’m not doing too much besides hanging out with her… and resting.

Crochet and knitting: Tying up loose ends; knitting in rounds with circular knitting needles

Aynaria 10 Comments

Sometime this weekend, I’ll be washing the crocheted and knitted bag that I’m making for my daughter’s teacher…

 

Crochet half double crochet

The bulk of the crocheted bag is complete, I know it doesn’t look like it from the above picture. In total, this bag is three foot long, of course it won’t be that length when it’s pieced and sewn together. I am positive that my daughter’s teacher will love this gift.

I truly love what she has done with my daughter’s third grade class, and I want her to know it. Well, I know she does, I’ve sent her notes and gifts throughout the year. And yesterday, I received a really nice card, with a long message from her. It felt great.

I’m still undecided if I’ll hand-sew or machine-sew the ends together, but I have a few days to make my decision.

Since the end is near with this bag, last evening I kept my hands occupied with knitting…

 

Knitting stockinette stitch circular needles 2 06 09 12

It felt great playing around with my circular needles. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was on television, and so my daughter, and I curled up in our family room, and watched the movie on our 53″ flat screen television.

I don’t need to look at my hands when I’m knitting. My hands automatically “know” where to go.

Regarding the circular needles, I’ve been using them for a few weeks. I haven’t made anything yet, but I have knitted a lot to get getting comfortable knitting with a cable attached to the ends. I’m finally over that awkward stage, and can now knit as smoothly as I do with my regular knitting needles/double pointed needles. 

I figured last evening was a good time as any to start knitting in the round with my circular knitting needles. It’s the main reason I bought them after all, I’d much prefer to knit socks, and a variety of other projects with circulars knitting needles instead of DPNs (double pointed knitting needles). I’ve knitted in the round with those many times, but never with circular knitting needles.

I’m pleased to say I didn’t find this “new process” difficult. No mistakes were made, and since I’d been practicing with the circular needles (daily) for over a week, knitting with circulars no longer feels awkward. 

When attempting something new, you need to allow yourself time to get used to the basics. I always do that before moving onto something more advanced.

Knitting stockinette stitch circular needles 1 06 09 12

If you look at the above picture, you’ll see a “jewel” hanging from my knitting. That’s my row marker. Last evening, I created it, along with others.

Since I’m pleased with how knitting on circular needles is going, I’ll be frogging this project (ripping out the stitches) and casting on something new. 

And yes, I already have ideas in mind…

While knitting with my circular knitting needles, a few  creative thoughts invaded my brain, and it was all about a gorgeous hand knit sweater… for me! The ideas were so delightful that I hurriedly sketched them on paper before they vanished. That’s happened to me when I was in my teens…I’d have an idea, sometimes they would awaken me sleep, but in all instances, I’d forgotten to write it down, and it vanished. I quickly learned to write immediately, so I wouldn’t lose the inspiration. Now, I stop and draw when I’m inspired. I’m sure I’ll be knitting that inspiration within a few months. Knitting will play the major role in that project, but crochet will be stopping by to join in on the creative fun.

Finding my happy place: End in sight; crochet & knitted bag

Aynaria 9 Comments

I’m very pleased with how the crocheted and knitted bag is turning out for my daughter’s teacher.

And while I could easily give it to her tomorrow. I’ve decided to hold off giving it to her until next week. My daughter last day of school is tomorrow, the teachers have another week.  I told Mrs. M; we’d be stopping by next week to bring her garden produce. I didn’t mention the gift. Why ruin the surprise?

Of course, this means I can add additional extras to the bag, I’m really excited. And… I’ll be posting pictures, of the bag, at some point. I’m thrilled that I’ll be able to share a few of the crafts I enjoy within one project.

You know…

I really tried to hold off on doing anything knitting related for a while. I wanted to devote most of my crafting time to crochet, and it worked for about five months. But, I didn’t hold off as long as I’d originally planned. Way too many knitting projects are calling my name, and I’m over the moon about circular knitting needles! Who knew, I’d love them so much!

Since I’m over that crochet learning hump, and have practiced and made numerous crocheted items. I think it’s ok to bring knitting back into the mix, don’t you?

I feel the quality of my crochet is at the level where it can be included with some of my knitting projects. Well… in this case it’s the other way around, since the bag is mainly crochet.

Knitting has decided to make a guest appearance on the crochet bag, and since they are now on the same level, knitting won’t be embarrassed being featured on the same project as crochet.

As I mentioned before, I’m a process crafter. I enjoy the process, more than completing the project, and so in my mind, I’m already lining up other projects for my queue.

 

With the crochet and knitted bag turning out as I envisioned, I’m definitely in my happy place!

At the halfway mark; crochet and knitted bag for daughter’s teacher

Aynaria 4 Comments

Today, I’m a bit too busy to post photos and link to other works in progresses…

But I’m moving along with the crocheted and knitted bag I’m making for my daughter’s third grade teacher.

Thus far, I’d say I’ve put about ten hours into crocheting this bag. Because of the stitching used, half-double crochet, it is extremely durable.

If you’ve been following my recent posts, the pattern I linked to was obviously a crocheted bag. But that’s just a generic pattern guide. I referenced it, so I could get a general idea about the bags height, width, and base.

I’m almost halfway through crocheting the bag, after that time I have a few things I’ll be knitting, which won’t take long at all. The final step in the process will be sewing; yes, I’m adding that into the mix too, and perhaps a bit of embroidery.

I decided not to dye the crocheted bag…

This is my first time working with Sugar’n Cream yarn . Also, I haven’t used  mulberry as a dye in years, I don’t want any unpleasant surprises.  However, I will be introducing some earth tone colors in the form of trim, and it’ll make an appearance with a few other items also. 

There is a possibility that this handcrafted bag will be completed by tomorrow, but I’m planning on giving it to her teacher on Friday, which is the last day of school…

Pulling out my hook; Crocheting bag for my daughter’s teacher

Aynaria 5 Comments

Today, after dropping my daughter off at school, I stopped by A.C. Moore and purchased this large skein of yarn; 710 yards total.

Sugar n Creame off white yarn crochet project

Lily is the company that makes this yarn, and  the brand is Sugar’n Cream, and it’s 100% cotton! Yeah! This bag can easily be dyed if I choose to do that.

 Although, I’ve read favorable reviews about this brand via Ravelry, I get such great crochet and knitting information from that site, this will be my first time working with this brand.

Judging by the crochet bag pattern, I should have more than enough yarn to create the crocheted bag. Since my clients work is completed, its time to pick up my my size J hook, and get busy. Friday will be here before I know it. 😉

Upcoming radish dip recipe; vegetarian

Yesterday, my neighbor gave me a large bag of  radishes. We’re always giving each other things… she’s been in our garden many times to get fresh organic vegetables.

You know, I was all over those radishes! I love them, and they add a bit of kick, when you include them into a horseradish dip, which works perfectly with vegetables, hotdogs, and other “dipworthy foods”.

Once things settle down, I’ll try to post at least one horseradish dip recipe. Teeni, the social butterfly, mentioned I should post one a few weeks ago. I’d commented about enjoying a horseradish dip at an event I attended. I believe I did that on Facebook.

Now of course, this means I’ll have to measure the ingredients. Uhm, yippee? Those who know me well realize I don’t follow recipes, I just know what works. Because it’s Teeni, I’ll guess I’ll actually measure what I add to the horseradish dip. 😉