Fancy Swag for the Crafty Witch

Trips with yarn are always good trips. Even if you have to dash home before you head out so you can feed the hamsters which you forgot to ask your husband to do because you forgot to do. Even if you realize that the rumbling sound is coming from your car and the guy at the dealership tells you that your muffler has rusted right through. Even if you spend one of the nights driving around for half an hour looking for a place to eat dinner. Even if all of these things happen AND the locals put you through the dunk test and burn you at the stake for knowing how to swim... but you got yarn, it's a good trip.

Once again, Door County provided us with an absolutely fantastic weekend of relaxation. And really, the muffler thing turned out okay because it became a conversation starter.

"VROOOM!"

"Okay, we are totally the most manly Toyota Corolla in town right now."

"...Hey, when we're going uphill, it kinda sounds like our car is constantly farting."

"We are here, Sturgeon Bay! Cower in fear at the nasty rumblings of my awesome Toyota from Hell, bitches!"

We stayed at the Chanticlear Bed & Breakfast for the second year in a row in the same cabin. No noise (except the occasional rumblings of our car). No kids. A private jacuzzi. A king sized bed. And a fireplace. Not to mention Saturday morning cartoons. Hooray for pajamas until noon and a morning marathon of the Fairly Odd Parents. We traipsed up and down the peninsula where we found the only kite store open in winter that had a good selection of sport kites which will no doubt pull me through a field one day as I wrestle with the Guardians of the Watchtowers of the East ("Powers of air!Spirits of the East! Stop showing off!"). Plus, we found Spin - a yarn store without a website, but with all the more reason to visit and splurge.

I grabbed these two books the first day with grandiose plans of finally crocheting a potholder and adding a border, or crocheting an entire bouquet of flowers because I could. Well, turns out the books are not for amateurs in the world of crochet. I've found that my head may have to wrap itself around actually reading the directions before I start. Ugh. I've never been one for rule reading. But if you're not afraid of a challenge, I would say go for it. Both of these books have beautiful designs that make me want to crochet a potholder or a flower bouquet! And... wait...

This week will be severely busy, as bellydance practices are going back-to-back. However, I will have a recipe coming up tomorrow, and another giveaway coming up on Thursday. What is it? As I said to a 7th grader today when he asked me "What's for snack?": "What's for snack!? Who is it coming from? Where is it? How many can fit inside my mouth at a time? Can my fist fit inside my mouth? Who are you? What day is it? Who am I!? I'm confused!!!!" "...." "....It's food." :) 

Oh, and the yarn from top to bottom: 

1). Recycled Silk Sari Yarn, 

2). Silk Sari Ribbon 

3). Kettle Dyed Pure Merino Wool

Consumed by Resolutions

 

Only six days into the new year and I feel as though I'm just barely managing to pull myself up out of resolution fever. I really only made one resolution this year that I can't tell you. Maybe it's me being stubborn, but mostly it's my deep seeded belief that new year's resolutions are also bound by birthday wishing rules: If you tell it, it's not going to come true. Hm, kind of makes me wish new year's always came with candles. Suffice it to say, the goal for 2011 revolves around personal health - which is as unique a subject for a new year's resolution as methods of deep frying things are to a Minnesota State Fair food vendor.

This, mixed with my small goals of reading and sleeping more, has meant that I can sufficiently blame my lack of posting on a stubborn attempt to make the year perfect - a business model that is definitely not sustainable over the long haul. It doesn't mean I can't try, though. 

In the midst of this overhaul of the day-to-day is an overwhelming drive to crochet my own patterns. I was so happy with how Dag turned out, that I tried making him again. ...Turns out I didn't take very good notes. I managed to struggle through Dag #2, and am now working on a second pattern for another monster. Perhaps at some point these will be up on an Etsy site. For now though, I'm still trying to stay afloat in my own promises

Anyone else in the "improving your health" boat? Oh my gosh, have you ever had a point in your life where you've wanted a pizza dipped in chocolate so badly!? ...No counting pregnancy! :P

Um...

 How did I DO that!? Awesome! His name is Dag, after the rune "dagaz" - the rune of opposites and paradoxes. The paradox? The fact that I got all this work done in two days, yet all that work was done sitting on my butt. :P

Happy New Year!

Here There Be Amigurumi Monsters

Step 1: Find cute monster photo b/c I can't draw.

Well, almost. This is my first attempt at crocheting something sans pattern, and I would like to take this moment to get on my knees and bow down to the those crochet artists who actually make their own patterns. The process is one that makes me want to rip my hair out - and then crochet with it - in a vain attempt to turn a 2D picture into a 3D object. 

Step 2: Wish I had amigurumi design software... or modeling clay.

As I sit hear pondering whether an all around decrease would create the exact butt shape I want, I also wonder if I could start adding some knot magick into my crocheting... Maybe I should just remember to take this one step  at a time. But the next frickin' easy hackey sack I make is going to be a magickal hackey sack for sure! ...One that promotes concentration and patience. :)

Step 3: Craft something vaguely monsteresque. This could also be a very unfortunate duck.

If you'd like to see some truly fantabulous crocheting, I suggest checking out Amigurumi Artist. The patterns are free and are available for anyone who wants to take a swing at them. I take one look at those and think that making a tiny monster sounds pretty simple right now.