Change of heart; swapping for circular knitting needles

Aynaria 2 Comments

Yesterday, my daughter told me she wanted to hold off on knitting. She said this, while she watched me as  I tried to get comfortable knitting with circular needles.

She does sew a lot, and she crochets, and does many other crafts, so I figure if/when she’s ready to learn knitting. I’ll have an additional option for her. I did return the standard knitting needles I’d purchased for her, in one of her favorite colors (pink) and bought a larger size circular knitting needle size ten.

Yesterday, I mentioned I’d purchased my first pairs of circular knitting needles…

My first attempts to knit with circular knitting needles weren’t pretty. And I have a swatch to prove it, the rest I frogged. I’m thinking it might have taken me a while to get used to circulars, because I’m used to holding standard knitting needles a bit differently?

Sure it was frustrating, but I didn’t give up…

I kept attempting to become comfortable with knitting on circular needles, and I’m pleased to say that I’ve crossed over the other side. I’m still much slower on circulars as opposed to the regular knitting needles, but that’s not going to discourage me, since I know in time… I’ll improve.

I must say, I like the portability of the circular knitting needles, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I started using them for all my flat knitting projects. Yesterday, I made a simple cable stockinette scarf for my daughter’s amigurumi Coraline.

Pattern testing and circular knitting needles

Aynaria 17 Comments

Circular knitting needles

I guess I can’t get enough of testing crochet patterns….

A few days ago, I accepted two additional pattern tests…

I figure, why not? I already try to crochet daily, even if it’s just a few rows. The more I crochet, the better my crochet skills will become. Testing out a crochet pattern gives me the practice I need to improve, while allowing me to crochet a pattern that I like. And… it also exposes me to different ways that a pattern can be written. Think about it, do you really think that all designers will write their patterns the same way?

I haven’t started on the crochet patterns…yet, but I will within the next few days. Being that they are simple, I should have them complete within one sitting. The longest a slouchy hat, which I’m claiming for myself, should only take two hours to make.

Picking up my knitting needles

In a recent post, I mentioned that I’d been thinking about knitting. I do adore handmade socks. I’ve made a few for myself, and have been gifted with some others by a dear friend that has deemed me “knit worthy” I cherish the few hand-knitted socks I have. However, I’ve been hesitating making them. It’s been a long time since I’ve done that, and it means relearning how to make them. But, I feel that my upcoming vacation will be a great time to relearn how to knit socks.

With that in mind, I’m stopping by A.C. Moore, once I drop my daughter off at school. I’ll be using their 40% coupon, and choosing some circular knitting needles. Circular needles are new to myself. I’ve never worked with them before, and have always favored the traditional or double pointed needles, but I’m fascinated with circular needles since knitting with them shouldn’t leave a seam.

But I have to admit, the real reason for having knitting on the brain recently, is that I want to incorporate knitting into some of my crochet ideas. I have a few additional ideas for an crocheted amigurumi doll, but some of those ideas require that knitting is added too.

Amigurumi: Crochet Coraline; almost complete

Aynaria 8 Comments

 

I’m happy to say that my crocheted Coraline was finished in time for my daughter’s birthday.

Wait, I take that back… She was complete, until I decided to go in a slightly different direction.

Crochet Coraline 05 22 12

In the book Coraline by Neil Gamon, Coraline raves about these day glow green gloves that she sees at the store. Her mother was taking her shopping for school uniforms. 

And could I have Day-Glo green gloves to wear, and yellow Wellington boots in the shape of frogs?” asked Coraline.

Coraline’s intrigued by the gloves, and keeps pestering her mother for a pair. After all she’s looking for individuality, a way to stand out from others who’ll be wearing the same drab uniforms. In her mind, these gloves will do the trick. I’d have to agree. By the way, in Coraline the movie, the gloves are multi-colored. 

Crochet Coraline 2 05 22 12

The more I thought about my daughter’s crocheted Coraline; the more I realized she would definitely choose lime green pants over black! And while her mother might not have allowed her to have such a bold color, I would…

And so I frogged the black pants, and crocheted lime green pants.

I read Coraline years ago, so I’d already created my own image of her years before I saw other artist’s interpretation of Coraline. While I think other artists have made some amazing Coraline’s, I wanted to add my own spin.  

Crochet messenger bag 2

In Coraline the movie, she wears a messenger bag, and so I crocheted this one. I wanted to crochet a backpack, but my daughter was insistent that it be a bag. So, I listened to her request. I’d wanted to make something for her in bright pink, since I think Coraline would be all over that, but my daughter said, No!

This was a very simple bag to create, and it reminded me of a messenger bag that I’d made in the early 1990’s. It wasn’t knitted or crocheted, but I did sew it. Odd, that I haven’t thought of that bag in years. Then again, I’ve designed/sewn hundreds of items. There’s no way I’m going to remember every single item I’ve made. That sewn messenger bag was my favorite “go to” bag. It was made out of corduroy, velvet, and strips of leather. I carried it everywhere, and it received a lot of compliments. I wore it so much, that it eventually wore out, and I had to toss it, but not before I saved a scrap to use in a pillow I was creating.  I have lots of great crafting memories.

Regarding my crocheted Coraline, I opted not to do crochet individual fingers, this time… Time was a huge factor, but I will be making crocheted fingers with my next crocheted human amigurumi.

I still have a few minor additions to this Amigurumi Coraline…

My daughter is insisting that I add freckles; I believe I’ll embroider them on her face. I’m also going to add something to her hair. I’m just not sure what. I’ll most likely have to reread parts of the book, perhaps then Coraline will tell me what she wants. 😉 And… I’m wanting to add extras to the messenger bag; I have a few ideas that involve embroidery and beads, so we’ll see what happens.

If you want to make your own crocheted Coraline, please visit Sharon Ojala of Homemade Obsessions and  check out her free crocheted Coraline pattern.

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.