A Trip to The Past

The Christmas season managed to get me to fall behind on my upkeeping of Creative Yarnings.  I got the bright idea to make everyone their gifts this year (think 20+ people) and it took me until the beginning of this week to finish them all.  But it's mission accomplished.  Everyone's gift is made (not slapped together), wrapped, and sitting under the tree.  Will I do this again?  Probably.  But I'll be scaling it down a bit. 

I like being creative and planning people's gifts.  I know that some people won't appreciate what I've made and I'll just make a note to just buy their gifts from now on.  Others will love the uniqueness of their gifts.  And those people are the ones who make the creative process that much more enjoyable. 

I can't post anything about what I've made until after Christmas (I have family members who actually visit Creative Yarnings).  After Christmas though, I have plenty of topics to write about.

Besides finishing up everyone's gifts, I had to seal some ornaments that some girls had made during a lesson I gave a few weeks back.  The weather here has been so miserable that I didn't get to seal the ornaments until Saturday (sealer is toxic to inhale and needs to be sprayed outside).

While spraying the ornaments, I thought about when I started painting.  My grandmother was taking ceramic classes and she would take me (my mother was a single parent and needed someone to watch me on weekends while she worked).  I was ten and staying still was a difficult achievement at the time.  So my grandmother would let me paint from a selection of cast outs (ceramics that were faulty in some way).  At the time I didn't know that I was painting ceramics that no one wanted.  I just thought that the instructor was being nice and letting me pick pieces free of charge.  I still have a couple of those pieces.  I had fun in those classes and learned many of the techniques that I still use today. 

Later, I painted ornaments at my church and the lady had us leave our ornaments so she could seal them (much like I had the girls do).  When I returned for my ornaments, I was upset by the results.  To make the ornaments look nicer, the lady had put glitter on them before sealing.  I felt like she had ruined my ornaments.  I liked them how I had painted them.  I didn't want them all covered in glitter.

I remember this because as I was preparing the ornaments to be sprayed, I realized could easily sit down and "fix" the ornaments.  But I would only be doing the same thing that the lady did.  These girls worked hard on their ornaments.  They practiced different techniques, mixed their own colours, and applied the glitter where they wanted it.  Granted, they didn't paint the ornaments the way I would have.  But who am I to judge?  If I sat down to "fix" their work, what kind of message would I be giving these girls?  That their work isn't good enough.  That they can't rely on their own ideas.  That isn't a message I want to give, so I sprayed the ornaments as they were, red snowmen, blue angels, purple trains.  The ornaments are as as unique as their makers. 

I didn't give them the painting lesson so they could be like me.  I gave it so they could have another way to express their creativity.  And these girls expressed it.  There will be plenty of people in their lives who will try to douse the flames of creativity.  I refuse to be one of those people.  I want to encourage and nurture creativity.  I want to see the potential become a reality.  I don't want to be remember as the lady who ruined a child's art project.

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas.

Please donate to my transplant fund at http://cota.donorpages.com/PatientOnlineDonation/COTAforSolanaC/

Quick Pesto Shrimp And Pasta

Since the holiday season is fast approaching, people are going to be busy shopping and going to events. This makes planning daily meals at home a little difficult. The last thing I want to do after a day of shopping for deals is come home and have to spend more time on my feet planning, chopping, and preparing a healthy meal for my family. And with the economy the way it is, eating out is a luxery that not everyone can afford.

I thought I'd share one of my favorite "quick meals". It takes less than 30 minutes from start to finish. Notes are in parenthesis.

Quick Pesto Shrimp And Pasta

Ingredients:

1 lb pre-cooked shrimp

12 oz package penne pasta

18 oz pesto sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/8 teaspoon pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

Directions:

1.  Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the penne and cook according to package directions.

(I like to cook my pasta to al-dente. I like my pasta a little firm. Also get the penne pasta that has the grooves on the sides, it holds the sauce better.)

2.  Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-hight heat. Add shrimp, pepper and garlic. Cook until shrimp is heated through. Remove from heat.

(If you want, you can get uncooked shrimp. Just make sure it has been cleaned and deveined. This saves a lot of frustration. Cook the shrimp for about 3 minutes. To save time, you can get the jars of minced garlic. Not as good as fresh, but it's a time saver.)

3.  Save 1/2 cup pasta water. Drain pasta, return to pot. Add pesto, shrimp, and pasta water. Toss to mix. Add salt and pepper to taste.

(You can make your own pesto. Each time I try, it never seems to come out right so I just resort to buying my favorite sauce.)

4.  Serve with grated parmesan cheese and a few squirts of lemon juice on top.

5.  Enjoy.

If you enjoy this recipe, consider donating to my transplant fund at http://cota.donorpages.com/PatientOnlineDonation/COTAforSolanaC/

What Every Crocheter Needs

When crocheting there are some essentials that you need to have on hand. I'm not talking about having a large room where you can stash all your favorite yarns (though that would be a dream come true). I'm talking about the basics. Things that every crocheter needs before starting a project.

1) The right size hook. I can't stress this enough. Making sure you have the right size hook is important to even starting a project. There are different types out there so pick one that fits your preference, be it plastic, aluminum, wood, ergonomic, fancily carved, or what's on sale. I prefer the bamboo hooks because they have the stability and texture of wood with the added bonus that bamboo is a renewable resource.

2) Measuring tape. Most of your projects will have some type of measuring involved. Sometimes it's to check the gauge and other times it is to measure clothing items. A simple measuring tape from any arts and crafts store will do.

3) Small notebook. This is for writing the measurements of the person you are making clothes for. Also for writing down any changes you may have made to an existing pattern (this helps when you're making more than one of that item). And you can write down notes when making your own pattern. It also helps with keeping track of which row you're working on when you have to put your project aside for a time. I find a small spiral notebook is the best for me. The pages don't get bent and worn down.

4) A pen or pencil. Need something to write in that notebook of course. I prefer a pen since I tend to get pencil lead on my hands and then it transfers to my project making it look dingy. A pen is much cleaner.

5) Stitch markers. These help you mark certain stitches or the beginning of rounds. Keeps you from constantly having to guess or count. Just make sure you use the removable kind for crochet, not the circular ones designed for knitting.  You can find stitch markers online, at craft stores, or local yarn shops.  Or, if you're a broke college student like me you can use paperclips or safety pins as stitch markers.

 

 

6) Scissors. These are needed for cutting yarn when you are to fasten off on your projects. They also seem to disappear at the most inappropriate times. Keep a good pair of scissors around for your projects. Do not use them for anything else but crochet or knitting. Cutting with paper will dull them. And if you use them for your fabric projects, you will forget that you left them by the sewing machine and waste valuable crochet time searching for a pair of scissors.

7) A project bag. This is a bag of some sort that you store all your items needed for that particular project in. It holds your hook, measuring tape, notebook with pen, stitch markers, scissors, yarn and pattern all in one place. This eliminates you going all over the house looking for the yarn that you put in "a safe place." I keep my stuff in a large tote bag. It's large enough to hold the yarn for a large sweater, plus all my essentials.

Bonus:

9) Yarn needle. You can get away with most projects without having to use one. I piece together parts using a single crochet stitch or a slip stitch. Sometimes though a yarn needle is needed to embroider eyes on a teddy bear, or to make an invisible seam.

8) Hook case. If you are like me and have been crocheting for a while, you have accumulated quite a collection of hooks. You need a safe place to stash them when they aren't in use. This prevents you searching the couch coushins, kids' toybox, doggy bed, for missing hooks. There are many different styles of cases to choose from. You can get the canister kind which have a pop off top that you can just throw all you hooks in. The roll out cases have individual spots for each hook. You can even use a ziplock bag to store them in. I use an old pencil case. It's large enough to hold my hooks, plus my scissors, stitch markers, measuring tape, and yarn needle.

10) Stitch guide. There are small booklets of crochet stitches available online, and in most craft stores. You can also find them in bookstores. Choose the book that is most useful to you. Some contain diagrams of the most basic stitches, others will have the really elaborate that you will rarely run into in a pattern. There are also electronic versions available. No matter the size, a stitch guide will help you refresh your mind when you're trying to remember how to do a "picot."

These are the basics that every crocheter needs to have. As time goes on you will collect items that make crocheting that much more simpler and enjoyable for you.

Please consider donating to my transplant fund at http://cota.donorpages.com/PatientOnlineDonation/COTAforSolanaC/

Toddler Slipper Socks With Tassels

Here's another quick weekend project. My niece is one year old and growing like a weed. With the cold weather setting in, I needed something I could make quickly. There's nothing worse than starting a project for a child and it being too small by the time you finish. Unfortunately, she was too big for the baby patterns I have, and too small for the child patterns. So I decided it was time to make one up myself.

This took about half a day from start to finish. That's including writing down the stitches as I went. This is my first time writing my own pattern, and I'm sure that as my niece grows many changes will be made to this basic one.

Fits a 5 1/2 inch foot.

Materials

1 skein Bernat Baby Coordinates (color of your choice)

1 skein Bernat Baby Coordinates (second color of your choice)

4.5mm hook

Update

This pattern is now available for sale here  

Pink Triceratops

My niece's first birthday came up and I had tons of pink yarn left over from her baby shower. I had hoped that one of my other expectant friends would be having a girl, but alas, my niece was the only girl in the bunch. So I had all this pink yarn, taking up space in my stash, meaning I couldn't buy more yarn till I had room. What a dilemma!

I always wanted to make a dinosaur and I figured this was the perfect chance. The great thing about making things for young children is that they don't care what's popular or if your project comes out goofy looking. As long as it's something they get to play with, they're happy. So I use my niece to practice all these new patterns I've been dying to try. Hopefully, when she's old enough I'll be an old pro and can make things by request.

You can purchase this pattern from Gourmet Crochet. They have a range of whimsical patterns for sale. They also have non crochet patterns for those who prefer other forms of crafting. And their site has a link to pattern corrections which makes the going that much easier. So if you're looking for something cute, check out Gourmet Crochet. You won't be disappointed.

I used Bernat Baby Coordinates. One skein was more than enough for the triceratops. Because my niece is still young and loves to shove everything in her mouth, I embroidered the eyes instead of using store bought ones.

I did have to take the dino apart once since it wasn't looking right. Second time around, it turned out fine. Don't be afraid to take a project apart and start over.

I used blue number 10 crochet thread to embroider her eyes.

In all this little gal took me about a day to complete. That's including my starting and taking apart the first try.

Obviously, my dinosaur didn't look like the one on the pattern. But it's my first try and I'm pretty proud of the little gal.

Apparently, my little dinosaur was a hit. After opening her present, my niece immediately shoved the triceratops into her mouth.

Please consider donating to my transplant fund at http://cota.donorpages.com/PatientOnlineDonation/COTAforSolanaC/

Sand Dollar Pendant with Fresh Water Pearls

So this project came out of the depths of my mind.  Someone had given me a bunch of shells and sand dollars that he no longer wanted.  Since I love stuff from the ocean, I gladly accepted the free stuff.  I took one look at this small sand dollar and knew it was perfect for this project.  I had always wanted a sand dollar pendant made from a real sand dollar.  So here was my chance to make one.

I decided that I didn't want to bleach the sand dollar.  Bleaching would ruin the character of the sand dollar.  First I had to put a hole in the sand dollar. Well, I don't own a drill of any sort so I had to put the hole in by hand.  I carefully, drilled a hole in the top of the sand dollar using a nail and just twisting it slowly.  This was very time consuming and if I make another shell pendant, I will purchase a small drill to make the holes.

Next came putting some sort of sealer on it.  All I had in the house was Mod Podge, and acrylic sealer.  I didn't want to ruin my sand dollar.  I mean I had gone through all that trouble of drilling a hole in it.  So I pulled out an ugly looking black shell from the pile that I was given.  I coated it in Mod Podge (one coat) and then the acrylic sealer (three coats).  After coating the shell, it was beautiful.  The acrylic sealer brought out some copper tones and made the black look polished.  So I decided to make another pendant.

Since the experiment with the shell went so well, I went ahead with sealing the sand dollar.  While the sand dollar was drying I started figuring out what kind of necklace I wanted to put the pendant on. I figured since it was an ocean piece maybe the rest of the necklace should have to do with the water.  Now saltwater pearls are way too pricey, I went to Walmart to price out those pearl-like beads.  That's where I found these freshwater pearls.  I fell in love with the ones of varied shapes and sizes.  So I bought two strands of them and a container of rainbow beads (they look black but bounce light off in different colors).  I also picked up some clear, stretchy, beading thread, crimp beads, and some clasps.

I threaded the beads and pearls on.  I made the pearls the main color for the sand dollar necklace and the black beads the main color for the shell necklace.  I have to say that they came out quite lovely.  Especially since this is my first jewelry adventure.

 

Image of the necklace as a whole.

Close up of the sand dollar pendant.

Finished shell necklace.

Close up of shell front.

Close up of the shell's back.  The picture does not do justice for the copper tones.

Overall this project took me a weekend to complete.  That includes the shopping.  If you have all the supplies on hand to begin with, it should only take up a Saturday.

As a side note:  After doing some research, a lot of people suggested using shellac (sp?) as a sealer for the shell.  I guess it's supposed to be waterproof and provides a lovely shine.  The acrylic sealer I used is not waterproof, so wearing these necklaces on a rainy day or to the beach is not an option.

If you enjoyed this project, consider donating to my transplant fund at http://cota.donorpages.com/PatientOnlineDonation/COTAforSolanaC/