06.02.10
Posted in hobbies, knitting and crocheting at 9:18 pm by Administrator
Originally I was planning on blogging about The Ayatollah Begs to Differ by Hooman Majd since I finished reading it last week. Which, by the way is a pretty good book. But with all the distractions on the news lately I almost forgot about it. I’ve been keeping an eye out on the BP Oil leak, then I came across this article, “Niger’s Agony Dwarfs the Gulf Oil Spill.” Oye. . . too much depressing stuff happening together. Too much, too much! I need a break from all this depressing news, so thought I’m just gonna blog about my crafts right now.
I’m one of those people who likes to do two things at one time especially crafting because I don’t want to feel like I’m wasting all my time crafting. So, I generally read and craft/knit at the same time. Well, there has been a lot to read recently, so I’ve been cross stitching like crazy. Plus I’ll add that it’s all my friend’s fault because she got me back into cross stitching, and now I’m hooked again. I think she and I are going for broke cross stitching Christmas things. Between the two of us we have lots of patterns to work from, but could we settle for that? Sadly, no, and just recently we received our shipment of new patterns to work on, ha, ha! She called me late one night to share a link on cross stitch kits, and so we went online shopping. Here’s what I’ve done so far using our old patterns.
Yep, being the rug rat that I am, I’m still using up old supplies that my friend and I bought years ago hence the “wrinkled aida cloth,” heheh. I’m hoping they iron out okay. . . I did try to put a few of them together to see what they would look like stuffed. They’re the ones in the clear plastic bag. It’s kinda hard to see them well in the above pic, so here’s a closer look at some.
And while I’m at it, I also finally got to work up some of the organic Peruvian cotton my sister and her hubby gifted to me a couple Christmases ago. . . Here are the lovely skeins.
Oh wait! I have to back up a bit to tell my story. . . 
A few weeks ago I was diving in my yarn stash hunting for my next project. I found some yarn and a lace book that I had purchase a year prior. Yes, a “year” prior. I decided I was in the mood to learn how to do this lace pattern in this book. So I wound up the yarn. Then, the following morning I tried to knit. For some reason I was having the hardest time. Things were not going well. I knit, ripped back, knit, ripped back, knit, ripped back, I don’t know how many times! Then I decided that maybe the yarn wasn’t right for the size needles and such. So I dove back into my stash and found another very old skein that looked like it would be suitable. So back again, I knit, ripped back, knit, ripped back, knit, ripped back. . . Oye! Something was wrong! I looked over the pattern and counted, and lo and behold, the cast on instructions were wrong! Grrr. Just looking at their graph, instead of 49, I should cast on 52. So back I went knitting and when I got to the fourth row when things went wrong again. . . I thought, I must have knit something wrong again, so back again ripping it down to the start. Knit it again, and again, and again. Finally I decided maybe there’s a list online for errata on this book. Sure enough there was errata, but not for this pattern. Hmmm. But I “know” there’s a mistake because I had just found the cast on was the wrong number. So I looked on Amazon for reviews on this book, and what did I find? A few comments stating that this book was “rife with errors!” Argh! I just went blind trying to work that thing up! Okay, so now my ego has been battered that maybe I can’t really knit after all. I dug around trying to find lace patterns that I liked, but nothing was working up to my liking. Here’s a sample of “some” of the things I tried working up and then abandoned.
Yes, there was more than this. But while straightening out my pattern folder, I came across a pattern from Lace Style by Pam Allen and Ann Bud. It was a cute little shrug that had open work. Hmm, I thought, I just may have the right yarn for that. And so I pulled out my Peruvian cotton. Once I started to work it up, I felt that this pattern and yarn were going to work. Here’s what it looked like in the process.
Ah, yes! This would be perfect for California weather. And with the big loose knitting it worked up really fast. I was done in no time. Here’s the completed shrug.
I will vouch for this organic Peruvian cotton yarn. It drapes well, and it’s very soft. I think it only took three skeins, so I still have about 7 skeins left to work up another project, woo hoo! I will also vouch for Pam Allen and Ann Bud patterns because this is the second pattern of theirs that I’ve worked up that worked beautifully. Good instructions! Which is much appreciated by hopelessly addicted knitters like me.
Marlakins
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05.15.10
Posted in Health-related--Natural Alternative Treatments, family stuff, knitting and crocheting at 4:10 pm by Administrator
Just to update my yarnie projects, I’m happy to say that I actually finished a long-time project that I had almost forgotten about. . . my Babette blanket. . . I still need to block it, but I’m just not looking forward to doing that just yet. So, anyway, here it is, finally.
I placed it on my sofa to help give it size perspective, so here’s another shot at what it looks like laid flat.
Yep, another funky project that somehow caught my attention. But now that I got that out of my system, at least I’ve learned some things in the process and will be doing some things differently if I choose to make another Babette blanket. My oldest son isn’t too thrilled with this style and calls it my “Dr. Seuss” blanket. But I’ve always enjoyed Dr. Seuss, so maybe that’s why I like it? Ha!
Anyway, so moving right along. I think I mentioned in a previous post that I finally learned how to do entrelac. Well, I found a pattern that looked simple and kinda nice, so here’s what it looked like in progress.
And here’s the finished project–a shrug. . .
I’m finding it handy in our mild weather. The days are generally too hot to wear a full sweater, but the nights do get cool enough to warrant a little back and arm covering. I think I may be dabbling in a few other shrug patterns.
Then a while back I finished another multi-directional scarf pattern by Iris Schreier, so while I was clearing out the pics on my camera figured might as well share the finished scarf.
Then last week I finished another pair of socks for Andrew. However, he’s shy about modeling socks, so Brian did the honors here.
Oh, and while I’m at it (cleaning the pics off my camera), I might as well put in a little plug for Larch Hanson’s seaweeds. He’s my main seaweed supplier and a couple weeks ago my order from him arrived.
Our family likes to use seaweeds not only for flavoring, but also for micro minerals. We like to purchase the family pack which consists of a 1/2 pound each of kelp, alaria, digitata, nori, dulse, and a seaweed mix for soups.
Here’s what they look like outside of the plastic.
I’m so glad we have a person such as Larch who harvests these seaweeds with conscience and care. If anyone knows about seaweeds, it’s Larch! So if anyone is interested in ordering seaweed in bulk, check out Larch Hanson’s site www.theseaweedman.com Orders can be place through his website or by phone at 207-546-2875 or via U.S. mail: Maine Seaweed LLC, P.O. Box 57, Steuben, ME 04680
Good quality stuff! We’ve been using him for more than five years now, I think.
Okay, I think I’m updated now with my camera pics. Erp! Wait, I just remembered, no, yesterday I tagged along with my oldest son, Andrew, to a class trip they took to a museum yesterday. I have more pictures. . . but that’ll have to be for another post. . .
Toodles for now!
Marlakins
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04.27.10
Posted in Church Issues and Bible Interpretations, Playing the Tourist, knitting and crocheting at 12:13 pm by Administrator
Some people like to accuse Christians of disregarding the earth because of what they “think” is taught in Genesis 1:28.
28“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”
It’s the word “dominion” that they like to run with. And in reality, I can see why some people run with that word because I have seen it myself where “some” Christians do in fact reason that this world is only temporary so we have every right to do with it as we please be it cut down all the forests and pollute the land and air with wild abandon. They want no restrictions. However, I would like to assert that not all Christians believe that. I for one think that Genesis 1:28 refers to man being good stewards of the earth, and the “dominion” part of it has to do with our ability to reason and our capacity to think and plan/organize. This is a far cry from recklessly plundering our natural resources without regard of the future ability of the land to regenerate healthfully. Just think that within the very same verse God instructs man to “be fruitful and multiply.” How can man fulfill that command if he pollutes the environment so badly that nothing will grow, and animals struggle to reproduce, and their own children are born with birth defects as a result of that pollution? Therefore, I submit that having dominion refers to being good stewards of the earth that God provided for us, not a license to rape the land, air, and oceans.
So in my little ways, I try to be a good steward of the earth, too, by trying to do green things. Granted sometimes it seems so overwhelming as I look at our trash cans and realize that we do in fact contribute to a lot of waste that clogs up our landfills. I have endeavored to recycle and cut down on plastics and anything toxic that I can think of. But I am guilty of owning and going through several computers and various electronics, consume countless batteries and other excess packagings, and enjoy long-distant traveling. But with this duality, I have become sort of a pack rat with things that aren’t donate-able. I hate to waste and throw things away. . . so I try to donate old stuff when I can. But what to do with the undonate-able stuff? Then on Earth Day I happened to see a video of a woman using scraps of fabric from old shirts and turning it into yarn that she knit up into scarves. Oye! I’ve got lots of old rags. . . even old jeans and bed sheets that aren’t really donate-able, but I still don’t have the heart to throw away. What to do?
Well, I decided to try it and make a small rug out of one of my old bed sheets. Here’s how it looked when I started. I had already started ripping before I thought I should take a picture of my progress.
After I stripped the sheet down, I started to connect the pieces by just tying the ends together and wrapping it up in a ball.
Then it was ready to knit. This is what it looked like half way through.
And here’s my little rug completed!
Yeah, I know, kinda of a funky rug, but hey, it works! Not sure if I’ll just leave those ties sticking out or tuck them in or what, but I’m loving that now my old sheet that was essentially unusable is now going to be used again. It’s completely washable, too! And the added bonus to this project is that I not only recycled, but “upcycled” something. Heheheh. I love it.
Okay, so that’s my little recycle project, but while at Santa Monica last weekend we saw a larger scale green project in the works there. It’s a system called “SMURRF,” Santa Monica Urban Runoff Recycling Facility.
The yellow tank in the foreground has dirty, gritty, oily water in it where it is filtered and cleaned. As the water passes through the system it ends up cleaned as shown at this stage.
As described in the placard, the water that is captured in the SMURRF system comes from the city storm drains, which contains a lot of debris and which ordinarily would go straight into the ocean without being processed first. But this system captures some of that dirty water, cleans it, then recycles it to water the landscape. I love it! Not only is the dirt prevented from entering the ocean, but the lawns are also fed and maintained.
Thank God for people who have the genius to know how to put these facilities together. Now that’s a good use of a scientific brain, and what I think would qualify as a good steward of the earth.
Marlakins
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04.06.10
Posted in gardening, hobbies, knitting and crocheting at 5:45 pm by Administrator
Hope everyone had a nice Resurrection Sunday. Ours was quiet except for a short-lived excitement created by a little rocking and rolling from the Baja earthquake. Thank God it was mild for us considering it was a 7.2 in Baja. It was a rolling kind of earthquake rather than the jolting shaking kind. And it was kinda long in duration as far as earthquakes go. Then today I just read that there was another earthquake in Sumatra. Oye, Haiti, Chile,Taiwan, Baja, now Sumatra. . . what is going on?
Other than that, things have been business as usual here in the Brown household. I continue to read books. I’m still reading Dark Sun: the Making of the Hydrogen Bomb. Still want to blog about The Day We Lost the H-Bomb, but just haven’t gotten around to it, yet. Just picked up Sugar Fix at the library today. I also bought another book that I haven’t started reading yet called Nuclear Showdown, North Korea Takes on the World. Then some of the nice ladies in my knit group have been knitting scarves for a charity. The organization is called “Handmade Especially for You.” They supply handmade comfort scarves for these abused women. One of the ladies in my group has been knitting up a storm for this charity and has recruited a few of us by giving us yarn to knit, too, heheh. Apparently, Handmade Especially for You has donors who supply them with all sorts of yarn. They wind them up and make little kits, so that all you have to do is just knit up the ball of yarn until it’s all gone. And it goes really super fast, too, because the scarves are knit on “large” needles such as 15s or 17s. I didn’t pick out the yarns or colors. They do that for you, including the fluffy parts on both ends. I still need to tuck in the loose ends. Here are how the scarves turned out.
While I’m on the knit subject, I also finally learned how to do entrelac, so I can now tick that off of my list of things to learn. I’ve only made a small swatch as I’m not sure what to do with this stitch as of yet. I was originally gonna make a scarf with this stitch, but decided that I didn’t like how the back is not as presentable as the front, and I tend to like my scarves reversible. Plus the yarn I was using is self-striping, and I didn’t like how the colors were pooling. But here’s the swatch I made.
I think I’ll reserve this stitch for something that’s not reversible, or try to figure out how to alter the pattern so that it is somewhat reversible.
We also got a little more rain the other day! Yay! That always is good for the plants, which by the way, we have our first produce. . . artichokes!
We planted this artichoke plant last year, but didn’t get anything until this year. Plus during our winding spell this plant fell over on it’s side, and I was concerned that we had lost it. Brian just propped it right back up with some rope and viola! We now have artichoke!
My seeds were pathetic. . . and before I could replant, Brian came home with these!
I feel like I’m cheating getting them all started up like this, but oh well! If all goes well, they’re gonna be organic string beans!
Then something Matty ordered in the mail a while ago finally came. . . His paulownia tree.
We didn’t expect it to be so small! Ha ha! But Matty likes it just the same. I like how he and his dad have been working in the yard this year. When it gets cleaned up a bit more I’ll try to share some pictures of our herb garden. I’m hoping that we’ll get some fish back there, too, but we’ll see. It got kinda wild while we were away in the Philippines and it rained like cats and dogs. Boy, did the weeds grow up like they owned the place. We’re still trying to catch up with that between my regular house chores and hobbies. Hopefully soon we’ll have a handle on it.
As another nice garden surprise this year, it appears that one of our random seed planting bloomed into this.
I love poppies! Flowers do make me happy. This reminds me that once upon a time I wanted to try to plant edible flowers. Hmmm. Another thing to add on my list. . .
Okay, well I think I’ve rambled on long enough, so will start working on dinner now. Oh! Speaking of dinner, I should share some pics of Aaron’s lumpia wrappers. That little guy is such fun in the kitchen. He definitely encourages me to try new things. But I’ll have to share those pics later.
Marlakins
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03.24.10
Posted in hobbies, knitting and crocheting, quilting at 7:44 pm by Administrator
Since each year seems to be flying by faster and faster, I’ve been trying to train myself to just keep working on some project each day even if it’s just for a few minutes at a time. I figured that way I’d be able to chip away at my list of “things to learn” while at the same time using up my craft supplies and making something either useful and/or decorative. While in Thailand, I picked up a few plain cotton shirts for my boys. I really wanted the ones with embroidery on them, but I didn’t find any. So I bought these plain ones thinking that I might try to put some embroidery on them myself. Well, it’s been a while since I’ve done any hand sewing, but since I do like to hand sew as well as cross stitch, I decided why not try practicing some embroidery by making little crazy quilts?
Okay, so here’s a picture of a couple of the plain shirts I bought. I’m thinking of embroidering around the collar and down along the slit in the front.
Well, I haven’t done it yet because I haven’t decided on what design to make, yet. But I did get my feet wet a little by jumping back into embroidery by trying my first attempts at a few crazy quilt patches. I figured I have so much scrap cloth from my patchwork days that it should be a good way to practice while also finally trying crazy quilting. So here are a few of the scraps I picked out, including cutting one red piece in the shape of a heart.
I stitched all these scraps together, then practiced some hand embroidery on it. I ended up making three squares. Here’s what they looked like when they were “somewhat” done.
I actually ended up stitching a bit more on these including some buttons and seed beads as well. The heart on the bottom square was still not sewed on in this pic, either. At first I didn’t know what I was going to do with these, but then I decided that my storage boxes looked a bit like they needed some decoration. Here’s what my storage boxes looked like before I put on the squares.
And this is what they look like after the squares.
Yeah, it’s a bit funky, I know, but I guess that’s why they call them crazy quilts? Anyhoo, I’m happy with the results because I feel like I’ve killed a few birds with one stone–using up my scraps, getting a feel for what crazy quilt making is like, decorating my storage boxes, and getting some embroidery practice in.
Other projects I’ve finished is this hat for Brian. He wanted a double layered knit hat, so I decided to try my hand at making a reversible hat. I figured if I just knit from the top to the brim, then back again I could just flip the hat inside out to make it reversible. I decided to make it plain on one side and striped on the other to test it out. Here’s what it looked like after I cast off.
If I tuck in one side it looks like this:
And if I flip it inside out, it looks like this:
This was my first attempt at making a double layered hat, and at the same time I figured out how to make it reversible, too. Another check mark on my list of things to try and learn.
I also finished my multidirectional scarf, which is also a new technique for me.
I used Iris Schreier’s pattern from her Modular Knits book. I love her technique because there’s no picking up stitches, they’re all live, so no hand sewing any pieces together. It’s all just knit along the way. Now that I’ve learned that, I want to try other modular knit patterns.
Then Matty was moving things around in his room and we were talking about wall hangings. He remembered that he liked one of my old patchwork tops I was working on “years” ago. I happened to still have it stored, but not finished. I pulled it out, and he still liked it, so I’m gonna try to finish it up this year as well. Here’s what it looks like so far.
I actually found that I still have quite a few patchwork tops that I haven’t finished and are still just stored. . . So, I guess that’s another thing on my list to do–finish my old projects! But I think I’m gonna work on the small ones first. Here’s another small one that I’ll try to get to this year as well.
If I eventually do finished these, I’ll try to post them.
Okay, so back to being productive! Oh, I also just finished reading The Day We Lost the H-Bomb by Barbara Moran today. My! Another captivating story! Will try to post my comments on it another time.
Toodles for now!
Marlakins
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02.26.10
Posted in hobbies, knitting and crocheting at 7:34 pm by Administrator
Last night we visited the Barnes and Nobles at the Grove because I heard that Crazy Aunt Purl was going to be there for her book signing. I honestly haven’t read her book, but I wanted to check out the scene anyway. After listening to her speak a bit, I decided to hit the cooking section and the crafts section. And oh boy! There is no end to great books and people with tons of inspirational projects, wah! I think I’ve got plenty of craft supplies, but there are just so many different types of crafts that I think I’ll have enough to do for the rest of my life. . . And it made me remember that I really should try to use up my supplies. . . which, I actually got back to chipping away at this week. After returning from the Pines, I spent about a week getting things back in order. This week I got a chance to pull out the crafts and “yarn.” Ohhh. . . heheheh. But I gave in to one of my temptations and bought a little pattern for an amigurumi. It was just too cute to pass up. It’s called the Signature Escargot by Elisabeth D. I started it last night. This is what it looked like.
This morning I was able to finish it! And now Petunia has a new buddy. . .
Modest little gal, heheh. I was working off the pattern from my computer, so the picture of what the real Signature Escargot should look like can be seen on the computer screen behind. I didn’t have the other supplies like the plastic eyes or the fancy flower on her head. I just stitched on the eyes and sewed on a little ribbon instead. Here’s another picture of Petunia with her new friend.
Hee hee! For anyone who hasn’t seen Elisabeth D’s work, check out her flickr photostream. She’s among the best amigurumi designers I know.
The other project I’m working on is really just to help hone my knitting skills. I’ve been interested in modular knitting, and I really like Iris Schrier’s modular designs because her patterns use live stitches and there is very minimal sewing, if any. So here’s a picture of a skinny scarf I’m working on to get a hang of one of Iris’s multidirectional patterns.
Her instructions are very easy to follow, and I’m happy that I’ve gotten an early start in the year to learn more skills to improve my knitting. I still have a list of other things to learn, but at least one item down! I’ll try to post a pic once this is completed.
One other project I managed to complete were a pair of socks for Matty. He’s the picky one and wanted a sock combo of wool and cotton. So I knit up a pair with two strands of yarn–one sock wool, and the other crocheting thread. Here’s what it looked like in progress. The leg part is in plain blue partly because Matty didn’t want the leg portion cotton, only the foot portion. I tried to match up a thicker yarn for the leg to make up for the foot portion.
And here it is completed.
I wondered if it was a little too thick to wear in shoes, but he wore them to school the next day and loved them! Ha! He said they were soft and comfy. That has inspired me to make him another pair using the same two strands of yarn (but different color). One of the gals wants me to teach her how to make socks tomorrow, so I’ll try to get another pair started then.
So that’s what I’ve had going on the yarn front. I did pull out some of my old patchwork tops that I had worked on years ago, and think I will try to complete a few of them this year, hopefully. I’m also getting interested in sewing an embroidery again. . . oh, oh. . . I also want to try out more cooking recipes. I have plenty of them that still need trying. Well, at least yesterday Aaron and I sowed some seeds. I hope this year we’ll have a better crop than last year. Aside from the Mandarin oranges, the rest of our crop was pretty pathetic. . . I think we were being too conservative with the water being that we were suffering from drought. At least we got a lot of good rain the start of this year and the soil looks much happier. We’ll see how long that lasts. . .
Toodles for now!
Marlakins
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02.03.10
Posted in Health-related--Natural Alternative Treatments, Playing the Tourist, food and restaurants, knitting and crocheting at 8:22 am by Administrator
Since everyone officially decided against going to Sabong to see the underground river, we decided to go into town the next day to see what’s there. We were told that it was about a 15 minute ride in the tricycles. Daddy decided that his back could handle that, so the lady who coordinated the tours and activities called up three tricycles to take us into town. Aaron and I shared one tricycle. 
It’s a little easier going over the bumps in one of these, but it’s also a lot dustier. No matter,when in Rome. . . In about 15 minutes we arrived at Narra’s town center. 
Many things were sold here such as veggies, meats, and fish. They also had other goods like clothing and house supplies. There was also rice and breads. This is part of the fresh meats section . 
And here are some of the dried fishes. 
I was also able to find some nice sarongs for a good price (half of what they charged for them in Bohol last year!) This is a pic of one of them. 
Then Mommy started her usual “hurry, hurry, let’s go now.” So off we went back to the resort for our lunch, which I ordered a soup called “binocoy,” a Palawan specialty. We had tasted it the night before, and wow, was it good! I’m hoping to try to figure out how to make it once we get back home. Binocoy (and I’m not sure of the correct spelling) is a chicken soup with cyote, finely chopped ginger and other veggies served in a young coconut. I’m guessing that there’s also a tad of chili pepper to give it a little zing. Here’s a pic of what it looked like. 
After lunch I suggested that my parents go for a nice massage treatment at the resort’s spa. It didn’t look like much from the outside. . . 
But when we entered, we found that it was very cute in there! The atmosphere was very relaxing! They had little structures for the different treatments. Here’s a pic of their wet exfoliation room. 
Actually, off to the right are the showers, the curtain to the left is the sauna, and the room straight ahead is the wet exfoliation room where two people can be treated at once. This is what the tables looked like. 
I had to take a pic of this without Mom and Dad there because while they were having their treatment Mommy said if I took a picture of her there she’d break my camera or my head, whichever was easiest, ha ha! Basically, the way the treatment worked was they ran warm water under the top mat so that you’re lying in warm continually flowing water. During that they rub pureed cucumber all over you, then ground rice, and then finally shaved coconut. They let me watch the process, and in so doing I got so tempted that I decided to have a treatment, too (as did Auntie Lits and Uncle Al). While we lined up for our treatments, Aaron and I waited in one of their waiting areas. Of course, I had to knit. . . 
From where I sat, this was the view. To the left of the pic is their jacuzzi area, and the structure behind the trees just to the right is their reception area. 
To the immediate left of where I was sitting was the dry massage area. It’s elevated and open. Mommy allowed me to take a pic of her and dad here. I stood below the stairs when I took this picture. The nice thing about this set up is the weather was so nice that it was especially pleasant and peaceful to have a massage out there. They also had very calming music piped in. The massage was done using pure coconut oil. The girls took their time, and the total time given to each of us for both the exfoliation and massage was two hours! Oye! 
That’s Mommy getting pampered, and Daddy’s on the left getting pampered by another masseuse. When it was my turn I had to hold myself back from groaning out loud in pleasure, ha ha ha! The weather was perfect, the atmosphere was extremely relaxing, and having a massage at the same time was just heavenly! The stiff neck I developed on the way into the resort left me after this massage, and I awoke the next morning feeling very refreshed and limber. Okay, so once again, I’m out of room for pics, so I’ll continue on another post later. However, tomorrow I’m probably not going to be able to post, then the following day we’re headed off to Bangkok where I’ll be offline for four days. So I’ll try to update in about 5 days with the last part of “Palawan Ho!” when we get back to Manila. Toodles, and take care! Marlakins
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01.10.10
Posted in knitting and crocheting at 9:56 pm by Administrator
Since I can’t post pictures on the comments section, I’ll just add it here. . .
This is the Misti Alpaca skein. It’s not a great picture as it really has some flecks of red that is not evident in the picture. And the picture kinda has a bluish tinge, when really, my eyes in life says it’s not really bluish, but dark and multicolored.
And since I know it’s hard to know what the colorway will look like knitted up just by looking at the skein, I knit up a small sample. This picture looks to me more like what the actual colors look like. Aaron says this pic is a little lighter than the actual, but closer in color than the top pic.
I didn’t expect to have a hard time finding the right colors. I mean navy and dark gray sound basic, right? Well, they had lots of choices, but not many plain colors and mostly a lot more vibrant than this! The only other colorway in Misti Alpaca was in greens.
I don’t usually go to several yarn shops in a such a short time, so the temptation was too great to not pick up something for myself, errrp! I’ve been wanting to try some Koigu for a long time, and I finally broke down and got a couple skeins. I left one in a hank, and the other I had wound up. I think I’m going to make this into a scarf for myself.
Okay, that’s all for now.
Marlakins
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12.31.09
Posted in hobbies, knitting and crocheting at 4:29 pm by Administrator
Well, this is it! Last day of the year. Once again, we’re cooking and heading over to my parents’ house to usher in the new year with them. Cookies and pies are out of the oven. Muffins are in. Stew is cooked, chickens are steeping, veggies have been cut and washed, shrimp and salmon are waiting in the wings until later, so I have a few moments to add one final post for 2009. Nothing heavy to post about, just a couple things to share that I learned this year that I’ve had on my list of things to learn. One is a knitted tam or beret. As usual, I like to try them out in baby size first. So, I made one for Banini. Here he is with Brian at my parents’ house after Christmas. Be warned that Banini is very particular who holds him. Only a select few are allowed, and if this picture is any indication, Brian is not one of the select, heheh. Neither am I for that matter, wah. I so much wanted to hold him, too. . .
This is Banini modeling the beret I knit for him when he’s a little happier.
And here is his backside, which also shows another angle of the beret. Hee! He’s so cute. . .
The other thing I learned how to make just before the year ended is mini needle punch. I have wanted to try this for literally years now. I have even bought a little kit to get my feet wet. I think I purchased this kit about a year ago. . .
This is my first time trying an iron-on design. It’s super easy, and now I want to try to make my own design. I’m also wondering if I can reuse the iron-on transfer and change the color scheme to make a set of these.
Here it is in progress after I finally got the hang of it. It’s a very simple process, but it took a little practice once I figured out which was the appropriate size needle, how to thread it, and then which direction the needle worked. It’s worked from the back, and the actual design comes out on the other side like latch hook rugs.
It works up pretty fast, and here is it completed.
Now I’ve got to figure out how I want to display this thing. Make it into a small pillow, or frame it or what? I also found some other old cross stitch things I made years ago, which I should assemble as well.
And that about wraps up the last minute things I learned to make in 2009. Shortly I know I’ll be going over what I want to learn in 2010. I’m currently reading Eating Animals, by Foer and just as I suspected, I’m learning something more that I had not realized. It’s likely gonna influence my 2010 new years’ resolution.
Okay, bye 2009! Welcome 2010! HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!
Marlakins
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12.20.09
Posted in hobbies, knitting and crocheting at 4:05 pm by Administrator
About four more days until Christmas. . . Are you ready? I’m coming along okay now. For a while things got pretty hectic, but I think it looks like things are now starting to fall into place (therefore the moment to blog, heheheh). Most of my cards are out, just a couple little items more to purchase, the few decorations I’ve put out for the house are out, and then the grub for the Christmas Eve dinner will top off the list of things that need to get done. But I’ll start picking up those things on Wednesday.
Yesterday our knit group had our Christmas luncheon, and boy was that yummy! I really enjoyed it, and to top it off, our host made all of us these cute little stuffed Christmas trees. I’ve place it right on my living room table.
Here’s a close up of it.
This year we’ve only lightly decorated. I have a big ribbon on the front door with several poinsettia plants along the porch. The only Christmas lights are just framing the doorway. Although it’s just a little, I think it gives just enough flare for some holiday cheer.
Speaking of making things, this year I made some Christmas cards. I had a pattern for about thirty little miniature cross stitch stockings. Here’s what some of them looked like in progress.
Here’s how some of them came out on the cards.
I couldn’t fit them all on one picture, so here are a few more.
I started to address them as I made them, then realized that I forgot to take pictures of all the completed ones. Oh well. Here’s a close up of one of them.
I also managed to finish a pair of socks for Aaron. He made me laugh when he gasped in shock seeing his “hairy” legs on the picture, hehehe.
Here’s a baby vest in the works that my mom asked me to make for her neighbor.
And here’s the vest completed along with a little baby beret.
Okay, that’s about it for now. My dad has invited us all out for dinner tonight at La Petit Greek, so I better make sure my crew are all clean and have clean cloths for tonight. Gee, I guess I’d better find something to wear, too! Toodles!
Marlakins
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