Devoting most of my online time to my own websites, not other social media sites

Aynaria 7 Comments

A few months ago, a long-time friends, M, complained to me that one of his (newer) niche websites was not receiving too much traffic.  My response…”Quit spending so much time on Facebook, and other social media sites, and channel some of that activity into your own sites.”

We were at lunch at the time, catching up with each others lives, family, and each others online ventures (we both have online business and personal sites).

Promote Your Brand Online Social media can be a great way to promote your business/personal site. And if you think about it, your business site, or personal site, can be a form of social media too.

But, the problem I see is that some people, like M, put social networking sites ahead of their own. Which doesn’t make sense to me since you’re actively promoting your work on another business site. And doing nothing to make your own virtual space more appealing to visitors. Social media sites can change their rules at any time, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Facebook has done this now and again, and a lot of their changes I wasn’t thrilled about, but since most of my time is spent on my own sites; it hasn’t affected me.

Personally, I always find it disappointing when I see business/person has done a lot of interaction via other social media sources, but you go to their business/personal site, and it’s obvious it isn’t receiving too much attention.

I do interact on other social media sites, and some are extremely effective for my personal sites. But, the majority of my online time, is still spent on the sites that I own.

M did take my advice, and while he does promote his site on Facebook, and other social media sites, most of his attention is focused on his own “social media websites,” which is how it should be for the goals he’s trying to achieve. The good news is that  his traffic, and online income for that site, started to increase.

Interesting read: Since when are blogs not social media?

Happy Father’s Day, dad….

Aynaria 3 Comments

My earliest memories of my father were on the track…

I was four years old. He was at the track with his running buddy, and there I was, wanting to follow him everywhere. Naturally, I couldn’t keep up with them, but he could see me wherever he was on the track, and years later he told me. That I never gave up, I kept running, as he said, you had great endurance. The fact that I never stopped running until they were finished is no surprise. I wanted to be like him, after all, even at a young age. 

You could say I’m a female version of my father. Even though I look very feminine, I’m not… which I believe my mother didn’t like when I was a child. She wanted a “girly girl” and that wasn’t I, it still isn’t. Persistent, usually smiling, laid back, I enjoy helping others, passionate about my beliefs, but I’m accepting of others too… and I’m a hard worker. I enjoy physical activity, and even if I’m tired, I keep moving. Just like my dad…

My father is now 74 years old, and still physically active, and can still beat people much younger than he in running or lifting weights. It’s not that they are so slow, he’s just that fast and strong. He takes care of himself, and he still possesses other qualities I’ve admired. I’d be thrilled if I’m the same way, if I reach his age. And there’s hope, since I’m following the same course right now. 😉

I don’t need a special day to let my father know how awesome he really is, but it’s nice to have a day to honor him, just the same. 🙂 And you know something, outside of my daughter, he’s the one that receives the majority of my crochet and knitted projects, because he’s craft worthy. 

To all the amazing fathers out there…

I wish you all a Happy Father’s Day.

Knitting: How to make increases

Aynaria 6 Comments

Yesterday, I mentioned I requested to test a quick knitting pattern for a designer who posted on Ravelry.

The project took only a few hours to knit; I made it last evening.

As a knitter you’ll occasionally create an item  that requires knitting increases. It was required in the pattern I tested, and while I learned how to make increases in my knitting a long time ago, I was about eight years old, a new knitter might not know how to make them. If they’re like myself seeing someone doing certain things can be more helpful than reading about it.

I searched for some knitting video tutorials that did a good job showing how to make knitting increases in your work…

Unlike the crochet video tutorials, thus far, the knitting video tutorials I’ve found don’t even compare to the ones made by Teresa Richardson aka crochetgeek on YouTube, most of the ones I’ve seen weren’t done in slow motion.

 

The above video is one of the better knitting videos I’ve seen that shows users how to make knitting increases within their work.  So if you’re new to knitting, check out the above video on how to make increases.

Temptation: Pattern testing; to test or not to test?

Aynaria 2 Comments

Lately, I haven’t been too much pattern testing, on Ravelry. I have plenty of my own crochet and knitting projects to keep me busy for a long time.

And then there’s that paid pattern testing….

Recently I was approached via email by a designer asking whether I was interested in pattern testing, and after some deliberation I did accept. That pattern test differs from the others I’ve done on Ravelry since it’s a paid pattern test. And no, they didn’t find me via Ravelry. I really can’t write about what exactly I’m testing. I must say the yarn that was sent to me, along with the actual pattern is lovely, and I’m having a lot of fun.

Earlier today, I gave into my temptation when I saw a cute knitted heart pattern on Ravelry, and I’ve asked to test the pattern. It’s a knitted heart, is simple to make and will be completed within a few hours; which is the only reason I’ve requested to test it. And while I’ve made plenty of knitted hearts before, I wanted to knit a simple pattern from one of the pattern testers. This pattern, if the designer accepts my request, will be the first knitted pattern I’ve tested on Ravelry.

Other pattern tests were for crochet. It was my newest craft, and since I rarely follow a pattern, I thought it would be great to not only improve my crochet skills but see if I could follow a pattern. I  didn’t have any issues, once I knew the crochet abbreviations, and it was a great chance to practice crocheting while learning new techniques.

If I receive the pattern, I most likely will knit sometime this weekend. A quick and easy knit, when I need a distraction from some of the more intricate knitting projects.

Volunteering: Preparing dinner at the homeless shelter and cooking at home

Aynaria 3 Comments

Later this afternoon, I’ll be going to the homeless shelter to help cook the dinner meal. It’s my first time making dinner at the shelter. I’m usually the one cooking breakfast, but I’m unable to do that this month.

While my nine-year old daughter was in school, she’d asked me several times if she could join me. She still at the age where she wants to follow mom everywhere, and she’s heard me talk about the volunteers, other guests, and the wonderful time I have when there, it’s natural that she’d want to experience it too, and today she will. She’s excited about the fact that she will be able to help cook a meal.

What did I prepare at home?

I prepared a vegetable pasta using my spiral vegetable slicer. Vegetable pasta, is something I was introduced to years ago, through one of the raw food websites I frequented. Perfect choice for someone who want’s a healthier meal, or someone that can’t tolerate gluten (such as myself.)

Occasionally I’ll marinate my raw vegetable pasta for a few hours before I serve it. Vegetable pasta is usually made with some type of squash, but I’ve used beets, carrots, and occasionally cucumbers too. I use this the traditional pasta, since it’s a healthier option, and the pasta resembles your traditional pasta. Today, I used zucchini and made “zucchini pasta.” 

I also made cheese steak for my daughter; of course, the one I prepared was a healthier option than what is usually purchased, but according to her it was still very tasty. No, she wasn’t just saying that, she’ll definitely tell me whether she doesn’t like something I’ve prepared.

I  coarsely chopped steak into a skillet. Once it was cooked, I drained off the fat, and added the steak back into the skillet. Some seasonings were added along with finely chopped zucchini pasta (it looked like shredded mozzarella), green onions, garlic,  and tomatoes, freshly picked from the garden.  I let those cook for a while, and then added provolone cheese.  Spinach leaves were added once it was loaded onto a crusty Italian roll.

Along with that, I made oven baked fries. I used four potatoes, cut them into potato wedges, added a mix of seasonings/herbs, and slid them into the oven. I had some of the pasta along with a delightful lentil dish I’d prepared yesterday. It tasted even better today.

Hopefully, I’ll be able to take a picture sometime this evening… before it all disappears.

Knitting: Long-term projects; Sylvi coat and Beekeepers quilt

Aynaria 11 Comments

I’m a “process crafter,” I enjoy learning a new technique.

In some cases, I’ve spent hours learning something new only to erase the project and start fresh. Most recently its been crochet, since I learned in December 2011. Occasionally I’ll learn something new with knitting, although I’ve been doing that for 33 years. When my daughter was younger, she used to be shocked that I’d erase a project… “Mommy, why did you do that, you spent a lot of time on that?” But as I told her, it was obvious that I was just learning, since it showed in my work… there was no way I was going to pass that product off as “complete” unless it was made correctly. I enjoy the process, regardless of the craft.

Works out perfectly for those people/groups that I deem “craft worthy” since I also don’t mind giving things to others…

I like to see items being used, and while I could keep all the items I’ve created, how useful would they be tucked away in some closet collecting dust? That, to me, is wasteful, since I don’t need to physically keep the items, to relieve the crafting experience. So yes, for me, it’s better to give those items to someone who’ll actually use them.

But here’s the thing…

I make the items for whomever I want, on my terms. A lot of the items made, go to someone besides me. And many of my crocheted, knitted, and sewn items are given to various charity organizations. But, the moment someone starts assuming I’ll make something for them, without even asking me, things change. I dislike self-entitlement, and for someone to automatically assume that I’ll make something for them, without even asking me first, is a bit rude. I’ll say no quickly.

I rarely make something for myself, that’s because I have what I need/want. But, I do have a few long-term projects in my queue…

Knitting Sylvi cardigan

Such as this gorgeous Sylvie coat, isn’t the detail amazing?

When I look closely at the picture, it looks as though they’ve used seed stitch too. I’ll be making mine a bit longer, currently I’m unsure of the color, and of course I’ll be deviating from the pattern a bit….

I really love what the designer, Mari Muinonen, did with the cables… just look at those lovely cabled flowers! While I’ve been making cables since I was young, I haven’t done too much intricate cabling such as above and so this week in my “creative” time I’ve been playing around with intricate cables. It’s been a lot of fun…

Knitting Beekeepers quilt 1

And this amazing knitted beekeepers quilt. I believe I’ve written about my fascination with bees on this site before. Well, I’m fascinated by most insects, and I absolutely adore honeybees. They’re hard workers. I’ve been fascinated with bees since I was a child, and would spend a lot of my outdoor time watching them, and studying their activity. I tried to follow them back to their home a few times, but that never worked.

But back to this lovely knitted quilt. It’s made by knitting hundreds of honeycomb shapes aka hexipuffs. I’m planning on making at least a queen size quilt… think about that, I’ll be turning yarn into honeycombs, which will then be joined to create a queen size quilt. That will take some time.  This is an item that will be passed onto my daughter. The beauty of it is; she’ll be able to watch some of the process. I plan to start on knitting this quilt this Fall.

Question:  Do you have any long term projects, it doesn’t have to be craft related?

Photo Source:

  1. Sylvi; Ravelry
  2. Beekeepers quilt; Miso Crafty

Everything old is new again; repurposed yarn

Aynaria 2 Comments

The girls were ripping their old dresses and bonnets, sponging and pressing them and sewing them together again the other side out, to look like new

Farmer Boy

Farmer Boy, was one of the books in the popular Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Although I haven’t done what Almanzo Wilders sisters; Eliza Jane and Alice did, I have ripped apart outfits I’ve designed (and some I haven’t) and made other items out of them. It’s a great way to extend the life out of something I no longer wear.

A few weeks ago, I rounded up a few yarn crafted items that I don’t wear anymore, and put them in a “to be repurposed bag.” Eventually, I’ll start unraveling them. orial on how to unravel a sweater.

So yes… I have plenty of projects to keep me busy for a while…

Skull mh

Of course, my daughter already has asked me to make a Monster High tote bag for her using their signature skull. Tomorrow, I’ll be purchasing graph paper, and I’ll sketch a Monster High skull design onto graph paper. I’ll follow the design to knit it onto her tote bag.

Once my fathers knitted Bible cover is complete, and the hats have been finished; I’ll cast on the Monster High tote bag.