2 in 1 Blues and Green Pillow Covers

Finally I completed the other cushion to complete the set I started last year, so many projects at once make this happen but, baby steps, there is no rush.

I was inspired by a picture of some pillows in a magazine, then I added my own touch.
I used blues to match the triangle cushions and then added green, blues and greens, my favorite combination!
With this I learned how to sew two pieces which are not the same color and how to sew a zipper to a crochet project.

The pieces
A] I made 4 squares with half double crochet in this color pattern:
White
Row 1. Ch 27
and then 4 rows.
Light Blue: 2 rows
Blue 1: 2 rows
Blue 2: 2 rows
Green: 1 row
Blue 2: 2 rows
Blue 1: 2 rows
Light Blue: 2 rows
White: 4 rows, fasten off, weave in all those crazy ends, it's very important because later on it'll be easy to sew the parts.

My squares look kinda... odd, I think it's because of 2 reasons: 1 there are different types of yarn and 2 I might had crocheted them at night and might had made hdc where I didn't have to :p

B] I made a square starting with 6 ch joined by a sl st and then:
White:
1. ch 3, 3 dc, *3 ch, 4dc, I repeated from * till I had 4 groups.
2. ch 3, dc in the last ch of the "3 ch" from last row, 4 dc in each dc and then 2 dc in the "3 ch" group, ch 3.
And I basically repeated this, making 2 dc at the beginning and end of each group in all the rows following this color pattern:
White: 2 rows,
Green: 1 row,
Blue/white: 2 rows,
Green: 1 row
Until I had, more or less, the size of the previous 4 squares joined together.

Wood+Wool+Gems+Glass = Happy Creative Space

 A month ago or so, we bought a new table and I chose this one because I can change whatever is inside anytime.
Usually people put cereals like corn, lentils, beans.. hence the name mesa cerealera, I've seen some with dry flowers also. So I thought, why not gems and crochet flowers?... that's more like me. So I tried and tried many many patterns and colors, none worked until one day my Reader showed me this post of whip up
and I loved the picot flower from Skamama. Made them in no time, they are very simple and beautiful, then added some white stones (the ones for fishtanks) so the gems pop, and it was done. I'm very happy with the results...

 

I'm playing along at Our Creative Spaces today, sooo many great stuff to see, specially this one which reminds me of the time I used to play with wire and make jewelry :)

Smok

 Last week I started and (kind of) finished this lovely dragon from Lucy Ravenscar's blog
 I found her previous free dragon on craftster last year but I frogged the project because I chose cotton and somehow the body was little and the legs were huge :/, so this year I saw she updated the pattern so I gave it a try... and here he is, still eyeless/earless... for some reason I just don't get how to finish the ears, it looks so simple but I think I'm just over thinking the deal.
 I decided to crochet claws instead of embroidering, I think it gaves the leg more balance. I looked up images of dragon's legs and images of other's people dragon designs, but they are either embroidered, too complicated or for sale so, not what I'm looking for now lol.
 I just somehow repeated the spike pattern in a smaller size, it doesn't look like... dragon claws, more like duck feet but oh well, everything cannot look always real (I actually have a ... problem with this, I should crochet a pink elephant or a purple pig with wings to get a bit out of my "realistic box" :p)

 

 Anyways back to the claws, I did this:

Hope this make sense. 
I found the middle st (where I wanted the bigger claw to be) in the 3rd row of the leg, and in the 3rd st to the right I worked:
Small claw: {ch 2, sc into 2nd ch from hook, ss into next base st},
Bigger claw: {ch 3, sc into 2nd ch from hook, hdc into 3rd ch from hook, skip a base st (middle st), ss in next base st},
And again small claw: {ch 2, sc into 2nd ch from hook, ss into next base st and fo}

I worked with a 5mm hook to make the claws of the back legs (same I used to crochet the whole thing, body, wings, etc) and changed to a 3 mm hook to make the claws of the front legs.

I like how they look now, I think the dragon looks cuter with these claws, and of course it will be cuter with ears and eyes :p

{scratch my belly, please :3}

Multitasking day(s)

uhm where to start....
Over a week ago I saw focaccia recipes everywhere (I love italian food), it didn't seem too complicated so I wanted to give it a try, since my brother's birthday was coming, it was the perfect opportunity. So I made it happen, wrote down 2 recipes that looked the best and made my own with bits of them and it worked out really well, I wanted to make buns with the dough leftovers but my brother was like... "why don't we make a pizza out of it?"

This is what is left for tomorrow (and the day after tomorrow and who knows) (lots of food -.- but you don't turn 29 everyday):
 

Today I've also been watching videos at lockerz, they give you more points for watching videos today and since the redemption is coming soon and I have enough points to TRY to trade for 25 bucks on my paypal account (I'm looking forward to buy a rotary cutter on etsy), I made the most of it and watched threadbanger's videos, interesting things there.
There were also idiotic videos like some girls talking emptyheadedgirly stuff, I can't believe such people can be so airheaded, it's so ridiculous that it looks fake... come on, who cares if your bf wears designer underwear that cost more than a car! or if your miniature dog's farts smell like flowers! or if a "newsupahottop" iphone gadget gives you massages! come on!... so with just reading the video tittles ("Pink is in, Julia is out" or "Sex with ex?" or "Strippers"... please, give me a break here >.>) I knew it wasn't good, so I muted them and listened to some good old Beck songs, nice memories there... I used to lol at this video when it was first released, I was like 11 or 12 and the image of the fridge humping the cooker was to die for, also the songs sounds so... happy, like No rain by Blind Melon with the little bee that kinda looks like the girl from Little Miss Sunshine.

DANCE LITTLE BEE!! ^^



 These days, and today, I've been crocheting a little, I still have this endless "square net sweater"

but I know I'm going to complete it... this time.

Seriously... I do. Oh and there is also a peek at the crochet cushion cover I made for the white cushions I also made :p, I just need to make the other one.... so lazy

Also while I was waiting for the dough to rise I tried to knit with these double point needles I bought today... I almost bought them on etsy because no craft store had them or the size I needed, funny thing is that I didn't even know their name in Spanish (I think I heard it on a craft show here but I first knew about them in English) so I was like translating it and I found out the name "agujas para medias" or... sock needles... it seems nobody knit them anymore but I saw oooh so pretty sock patterns on ravelry!

The result of me getting started in ... this technique, more here.
Well, it is a nice "thumb cosy"
I'm excited with this.... it feels like those moments when your mind is all happy and racing because you accomplished something that seemed too hard,
eg:
- "I'm riding a bicycle on my own!"
- "I'm knitting!"
- "I'm driving!"
- "I finished school!"
- "I won!" (a dressing contest in second life, funny thing it was "best in skirts" and my avatar was wearing a simple one and the rest of the girls were all dressing like ho's... and people voted for me and I won :p)  
- "Opeth is coming!!!" (probably one of the happiest moments in my life, too bad at that time I didn't have someone to share the excitement with)
- "I understand!" (when I read or listen to stuff in other languages that I don't know much about)
- Etc...
And now...
- "I'm knitting with double needles!" 
 

I know it's late...

... but HAPPY BIRTHDAY Pau!! (although I already said it on text and on your facebook wall but I just wanted to say it here too :D)

This is for you... let's say it's not for your bday cos I know you feel awkward with gifts... so this Kitty is just a random gift... actually it is but I've been procrastinating to make it and then give it the final touches, but Im glad it happened, I learned a lot from the first time I tried the pattern :p
I've been busy to take pics or to get things done these weeks, with my dad here and his doctor's appointments and with people working on my apartment, everything was a chaos (but the Goddamn parquet floor is finally fixed! yay!)

I finished this Kitty amigurmi the night before Pau's bday, on the 31st... funny I still have it but I think we will find the time to get together.
I hope you find the resemblance, I made a butterfly pin with this pattern (loved the graphics), added a black ribbon with a little bell and a lil chain with a star embelishment I had on my stash. Hope you like it!

Pattern from here

A new addition

The other day another friend "discovered" my "secret blogger" identity :$ ...Hey there *waves*.
Well Sakul asked for a green mushrom and here it is: Hope you like it

Weird thing about it was that it turned out bigger than the red one and I think I used the same size hook, I unraveled it and did it again...and still bigger...it still looks cute though but anyways, I made that brick box the other day... it made me feel like in school again, I printed a sheet of paper with the template and then grabed some markers and a pencil and colored it inside the lines :3, I like making cardboard boxes for some reason, I guess I like geometry after all...
Pattern from here

Ps: Yummy

So...

1. Crochet long sleeve top - on process, 2. Las mil y una noches - close up, 3. Cooking, 4. Pattern making - skirt

... I took a long Easter break and went home, had a blast with my family, I'm starting to miss my parents now... it's weird, it's been like 4 years since I moved but I had a great time with them.

 I began the long sleeve top before I left to go home, like 2 or 3 weeks ago, and I already have the half of it, a big improvement to me because I get easily bored, but the pattern helped, it's really easy but it's kinda tiring because I'm crocheting all the sleeves and "body" together so it's like forever to make a round.but I know I'm going to complete it... this time.

 And I also began to read again, I'm reading Las mil y una noches, One thousand and one nights, I first read the whole book when I was in high school I guess, and I started again now, it's said if you read the same book after 10 years, it changes the whole meaning, (like with the Le Petit Prince, it's been more than 10 years, I should read it again), so this book is somehow special to me, it's kinda old, it has this yellowish color and it's from 1975, my dad bought it when he was in college here.

Another thing I've been doing in this long college break is... to cook "real" food every day, like more than 1 or 2 steps food, not including just "open the package and boil" or the simple one " take the phone and order" so I think it takes more time and waiting and preparation but it's more special and cheaper and I guess I'm losing weight lol. I don't know what is going to happen next week when I start school, and I spend the whole morning there... probably I'm going to be too tired to just take the knife and dice, but I'll see.

Last one but not least, I finally started a pattern making course, I'm so excited, I always wanted to learn the "good way" because since I was young I taught myself from magazines and craft shows but it's good to know how things are really made, before I took just a pattern and cut, now I learning how to make that pattern and modify it, I have so many drafts I want to make real. I also brought my sewing machine from home, it's funny that is the same age as me, my mom hardly used it, it works really good, someday I'm going to post my first attempts at sewing.

Anyways I made a little friend to help me.

I took the pattern from the Wolfdreamer of the hook's blog, and I love it, it's been really useful, I thought the pins would "get lost" in the yarn but so far is so good. I lost practice in embroidering though.

I'm trying to make a Puzzle Bobble amigurumi, I can't believe nobody else has done them, they are so cute.

 

Problem Solved

So, I solved the rug "problem", I had to unravel it, and do it my way, I made that one (the first one) following some instructions from an old magazine but... as I was making it, and clearly I could see, it didn't turn out well, so... I began to crochet it again following what I once read, something like: "if it curls, you need to increase, if it forms a wave, you need to stop increasing". And I also cut the white striped "yarn" in half, that way it was almost the same size as the blue one, that way I saved yarn and the result was better.

So it turned out almost perfect:

 Packed and ready to give it to my sister-in law... who actually loved it, I was so glad it turned out as I wanted it to be, it made my day.
Here is the graphic I used at first, I found it in an old magazine, the rug on the article was made with fabric strips and a mix of cotton yarn, which is not a bad idea, but I'll stick only to "fabric yarn" in the meantime.

Oh and I also found out how much yarn you get with a yard of fabric... less than 500 grams, so I don't think it's worth to buy and cut (I used this method), unless I buy it by weight on the sale area, but they don't always have good colors, and I was also looking forward to buy the fabric yarn from another city cos it's cheaper (1 kg = $10 and here is 1 kg = $13) but I lose when it comes about sending it, it was like $50 to send 6 kgs :/ so no way, I'll stick to the "sometimes" boring colors of the craft supply store.

FAILS: Sometimes you just need a little kick...

Well, I know I posted here I was going to do some projects and I've never talked about them again... and now I look back and I want to kick my procrastinating butt and...

....I feel kinda bad because I have a wandering (?) mind... it's like I am all excitiment about something and then I find a rock on the road and instead of jumping over it I look at the sides and get excited with a new idea or maybe I don't find a rock but I get bored of the project-idea-activity so I find  a new excitiment one and I left the previous one....and so on... that's how I been like with everything in my life since I have memory. (for instance, artistic gymnastics, ballet, ballet with other teacher, acting classes, ballet again, guitar lessons, graphic design and English (those last 3 I found out I learned better on my own so it doesn't count really)
 Some people have told me it's a good thing because I can be very creative, which I feel it's true... but I can't have constancy and it's a competitive world and on the other hand some people have told me I have to try to change but I don't agree with that either because it's the way I am.. and besides I tried and it didn't work :p. 

Anyway, I'm getting confused right now so... I'm just going just to see what I have and what I can do about it. Although I already feel "better", I mean... taking the pictures and typing about how I feel made kinda a positive change on my mind and now I want to study. (Turn out blogging is a great therapy)

· On this post I said I wanted to knit some gloves for me... and the "rock" was that I didn't find the perfect wool for the project I had on mind, I found some but they didn't look good when knitted on the pattern I wanted and worse with the little beads I wanted to knit with and it kinda push me back on the idea BUT then I found these punk rock corset gloves which I fell in love with, but it was like October and it was reaaally hot somedays... and kinda freshy but not to wear this, but I was all day thinking about them and I had the materials so I gave it a try:

Why should I kick myself for this project?... because I only made one glove -.-

Then on the same post I said I wanted to knit my friend Valeria some legwarmers.... but happened the same, it was hottt, so.. when in December I went to visit her I gave her my heart ;) and a one of the Christmas tree I made and she was all happy and cheerful.

· Moving on I said somewhere in this messy and empty blog I wanted to crochet a bag for my mom, well, I DID but didn't turn out well because of the size. The body should be wider or less wider so I can join 2, because when I finished it, it was too narrow and my mom wanted it to be a bit wider... so.. I started unraveling the base but I didn't want to unravel the body yet, cos.. it took me a while to crochet because of the yarn and the pattern, but I have to.. :(

· And finally what I was talking about in the previous post wich I still have to translate into English.. so with this one into Spanish, anyways I said I was making rag rugs, for some reason (no tv and no computer :p) while being in my hometown I finished a whole rug in 2 days... the idea come out cos my mom had this "totora" or "fabric yarn" and was knitting a rug with it but she didn't like it much because of the holes the large sized needles would leave so I told her I saw a rug made of crochet so I gave it a try and she really liked it... so she bought more yarn for me the other day and I finished a pretty red-green-white rag rug for Christmas.. and another one in grey and blue that I brought here but it's kinda dirty so I didn't take pics of it.
Anyway... I found here a pretty blue totora and another in white and blue stripes.. perfect matching for my apartment so...I made a rug out of them, final weight around 2 and half kilos.. about 5 pounds.

Problem: Because of the waves if someone is not looking while walking, that person could trip and fall.
Reason: the white and blue striped totora is wider than the blue one and it's also made of a different material so it gets wavy.
Solution: Unravel it and cut in halves the striped one and make it all over again.

Anyway... *sigh, I feel like I did nothing but I know it's not that way at the same time, it's just hard to trip and try to do it again knowing that you may trip again, but it is the way life is, like my brother said: "We hate working in vain but we have to learn how to stand up over that".

I do feel better and I feel something else I can't explain right now, so I'm just going to take a break on the deep thinking for a little while and maybe then show what I did finish and I'm proud of, but.. later..(...)and I want to kick my procrastinating butt(...) (!) and this is not procrastination, my camera is out of battery and I should go to study a little more. Catch you later blog.

Intentando hacer algo con "plarn"

Querido diario blog:
Estuve entusiasmada haciendo alfombras con totora, pero como me quede sin nada más que hacer, intente probar hacer "plarn" (hilado de bolsa de plástico).
Cuando vi el post de uno de los blogs que sigo, me sentí identificada con la foto de la montaña de bolsas de plástico, en mi departmento tenemos un mónton y también en mi casa... y en casi todas las casas creo yo... asi que leí el tutorial y es demasiado simple... asi que me puse a buscar entre la montaña de nieve de bolsas y encontre unos lindos colores... asi que me puse a hacer eso en vez de estudiar... :/

En la foto, una madejita de tonos verdes... y el "granny square" a medio hacer porque... pierdo más mi aguja de crochet nº7 que el control remoto...
Estoy pensando hacer un tutorial con fotos pero, la verdad 0 ganas, yo todavia ni se que voy a hacer... posavasos?, canasta de pan? bolsa para poner ....algo?.

Ps: Me siento muy rara escribiendo en español.

Árbolito de Navidad

Otra vez me uní a un proyecto de Tejido y Amigas, la tortuga me salio bastante bien, menos los ojos, pero bueno, ahora a intentar hacer el árbolito de Navidad :)

Las instrucciones estan en el post, pero quise hacer un gráfico, hace mucho que tenia ganas de aprender como se hacen, pero no pude encontrar un buen programa gratuito para hacerlo asi que tuve que hacer todo yo, los simbolos, el armado y demás, desde cero. Para ser el primero no quedo taaan mal.

aclaro de nuevo que el diseño no es mio, solo lo traslade a un gráfico.

 Progreso: