flower looms ...

I didn’t think I could do it!!! I was fighting the urge to keep instead of the original plan to give away.  I took it this simple desire to God…. I wanted to the right thing…

 

I went to the local thrift shop and I scouted out the craft area looking for flower looms for the girl at work.  I have some modern day flower looms of my own and have dabbled in them and really want to do more on these looms.  I have some patterns for flower looms that I showed crafty girl at work and she fell in love with the idea of making them as hair clips and even for hemp wrist bands that she dabbles in.   She also loves old things and the modern flower looms can be a bit high in price.  So finding flowers looms at the thrift shop would be just perfect.  I didn’t think I would be so fortunate to find them but I would look anyways.  What do I see before my sparking eyes did appear?   Not just one but two different sizes of round flower looms.  One is a double loom which gives you the option of three different sizes of flowers.  Then to top it off with a cherry was the double square flower loom!  She is leaning for the circle loom but one must have a square one too!  The price is the kicker and the reason I had a funny urge to keep these flower looms for myself instead of the original plan to give them to her.  The circle flowers looms were .70 cents.  The square one with other tidbits came to .75 cents.  These cheap prices are unheard of!  Oh dear!

 

I told God about my feelings and asked for help to do the right thing.  I have my own flower looms.  I do not need more but the pennies I paid made the find so much richer for me.  Well, what would I do?

 

I already had a gift of painted glass for her with some odds-and-ins she needed for her craft habit.  I wasn’t going to add the flower looms in that gift until I scouted out what she found in her own search over the weekend.  Well, when she came down to express her thanks for the glass, she brought up the flower looms and I found she hadn’t found anything so enter in me actually showing her what I found.  She was excited and when I heard that little notion of her giving them back, I said oh, that is for you, a gift! 

 

I did it!!!! …. I gave her the flower looms!!!!  It feels good to give and that notion of keeping them will pass.  Now will I keep looking for flower looms in thrift shops and be disappointed….. or maybe I can still be thrilled by it again…. But nothing happens twice the same way….

 

I am very happy though because she is too.

giving homemade ...

This season I have been acutely aware of the giving of gifts. I had a co-worker tell of her gift giving. She gives of what she has no matter if that means re-gifting. Money is tight, but I think this is the norm for her. I don't think I can do that because I am usually using my gifts! I think re-gifting isn't too bad especially if the gift can be used or is needed by someone else. I have to admit that as crunch time approached, I did look around my house to see if there was anything worthy of giving. I didn't find anything.... lol.

I have had quite a bit of of painted glass leftover from a craft show flop in 2007 that I used and allowed others to dip into this year for gift giving. It came in quite handy especially when I felt moved twice to give something homemade and special. Mom is always making requests and I welcome them. One of my sister-in-laws need teacher gifts for her little preschooler and of course I was quite happy to do so. I want to paint but won't because I have too much crowding my tiny kitchen. The glass stash is getting lower and I will be happy to finally see the end to it. No more mass painting for craft shows. It is too painful to have my little masterpieces go without homes. Forget the encouraging comments! If you really like, buy! Oh well. I have become very self conscious of my painting and crafting abilities. If people won't buy them, do they really want to receive them? And don't tell me that I have them priced too high. I have them at decent rates and even marked them down this year to account for the empty pockets. Grrr! (think I better hush up & change the subject!)

So it has been hard on me to paint and craft without it really going anywhere. So I have decided not to create for money but for giving. I am sick of the last minute rush I find myself every time I make a prezzie. With January being a more quiet month, I am planning the gifts I am giving this year and making a place somewhere in this tiny home to stow them until it is time. I will tag them with the name and event. I will also make 'gift-extras' for those times one might need a gift on the fly. I have been doing some mental note taking on what gifts to make for my special people and I am quite excited. My dream is to have a stress free gift giving at birthdays and at Christmas. I also want the gifts to have good turn around. No more storage of vast amounts!

I will see how my confidence is at the end of the year. Maybe I will have end my quest of the homemade gift. Oh, that will be a hard day ..

sunshine & persimmon ...

The final push started with sunshine yellow and persimmon orange yarn sat in their own bins but beside each other. There in the local craft store the dots where lining up. The fact she likes purses, color, and fall is coming all made my decision easy to make yet I dragged my heels because I have no confidence in what I make especially a new concept.

I started with the loom several years ago when it made knitting easy for me to teach myself and make it a go. I made hats and scarves but this year my little bro got me a knitting book on purses. I have been in such a craze with my crocheting Amigurumi that this really cool book has been sitting in the corner of my mind marinating waiting for me to make a commitment. I love purses and bags so why not try to translate the knitting instructions to the loom. I already have some loom books and online resources that will help me come with the translation...

I decided on a wave pattern using a loom of a multiple of 12 stitches (green loom with 36 pegs). The wave was 6 rows of at least 12 stitches. I saw a white ribbon with yellow, orange, and a rose color so I was going to do the purse in orange with a stripe of yellow with the rose in the wave. When I took it off the loom, I saw a mistake and I didn't like the rose wave so much and I didn't like the excess yarn in the back so I took it apart and started again. I also made it smaller with about 40 rows. The stripe is still yellow but without the rose wave. I am not sure if I will put the rose yarn in there as an accent or if I will use the ribbon. I took a black and white checkered bandana and made a lining I will sew inside. I have yet to finish it. I am crocheting round circles for the flap. I will either crochet or loom knit a strap. I am thinking of embellishing the flap with flowers and yo-yo's. I hope to do all this tonight!

It might be wishful thinking on my part but I think it would be really cool to make a Japanese Amigurumi patterned mouse to nestle in the bottom of the purse for an extra little wow factor to the gift..... Time is running out! Or maybe I should do the Japanese Amigurumi patterned fish as it would fit the wave theme of the purse! I don't know! If I keep 'dinking' around I won't finish the purse!

Her birthday isn't until the 13th of September but we are celebrating tomorrow with Dad's birthday last week so I really want a completed project!!! Oh, remembering to take a picture would be topping on the cake! Funny, I don't care for orange but for the right kind of orange I shall make an exception!

visual crochet ...

I have said before that I am an Amigurumi junkie. I guess it was the perfect storm... First my job was becoming unstable. With that I go for learning something new. My mother's mom crocheted and knitted but I never asked to be taught. I couldn't wrap my mind around being able to use my left hand with my right hand. Huge projects like blankets or clothing didn't intrigue me but the little granny square did leave a hole in my creative heart. Fast forward many years and I discovered knitting looms which took care of the knitting part but I still could not do the granny square. Then this new thing started cropping up in creative blogs - Amigurumi. These small stuffed toys brought me full circle to my childhood where a great friend that was a small stuff puppy that I could hide away easy but bring it out when needed. As an aunt I wanted to learn crochet for the sole purpose of making little friends for little ones. It was a struggle as I self taught through online pictures. I even did the magic ring you tube. I finally did it.

I am learning everything I can and I still haven't made the granny square just yet but will. I did discover a book at the library called Blueprint Crochet. I got it because their was a pattern for a purse. Simple dc circles attached to each other looked easy enough for me. When I finally took a deeper look, I was surprised by the lack of 'normal' instructions of abbreviations! Let me tell you trying to self learn by these abbreviations is quite daunting and set me packing several times. Hey, I am visual and the only way I could pick it up was by still photographs. What Blueprint Crochet is about is the visual pattern instruction. Gone is the abbreviations and in the place is bird like scratches in a pattern. When you look at the bird scratch pattern, you visually see what the finish product looks like. The author who is a visual learner as well pointed out a great thought - if you learn this bird like scratches, you can read patterns from Japan and Russia (etc). It is a universal language. Amazing! I do have one pattern from Japan with this bird like scratches but it has abbreviated instructions so I didn't really look at the pattern. I shall be paying attention!

A thought of mine comes to me that this just might help me design my own thing. However with Amigurumi, I think the best design comes from just trying something since it is mostly about shaping. Outside the Amigurumi world, there are flowers and small things that excite me too. I think here the bird like scratches will come in handy. The author said there was computer programs to aid in making these patterns so you don't have to do it all my hand. She didn't give any names so it will be a google search.

I believe that if I am lucky to teach crochet and pass this fun to another, I will be using both kinds of instructions. I am a huge believer that we all learn in different ways (aka 7 smarts). Teaching just one way leaves out a lot but teaching in several ways, dots begin to connect. Wa-la, you got it!

junkie stage ...

I have been in a very excited state of late. I can't seem to get enough. All I want to do is get home and try my hand at amigurumi. I have a collected a stash of patterns from the web as well as a book. I want to create all the little 'amies' at once but can only do one thing at a time!

I just finished a bear with a honey pot. It is a prezzie for my little niece. I didn't like the head and I am thinking that when I find a better head, I will use it and attach the small body too. I have plans for the monkey once I get that warm chocolate brown color if they would only stock it! The nephew has a birthday coming up fast. I need to make these things quick for the boy before he out grows them.

I have plans for Easter with the egg patterns I have. Super excited to put that into action. I just might make them for the whole family if I can get started soon enough. Then I found a rather cute bird pattern that I just can't wait to make. Then there is this heart pattern that just didn't make much sense until I worked out the math and I finally got it. The pattern wasn't as clear as it should be but I was surprised that I finally got it. Now the trick is to make it and hopefully it turns out well. If so I will have to make pix and then add the photo to the pattern.

I have other talents that have been sitting dormant and I hate that but I just can't get enough of this. I do want to incorporate all my crafts together. They may seem very different from each other but who knows... I say that I am a creative sort so I just will have to do some daydreaming and get down and creative!

Hmmm, words, paper, paint, glass, amigurumi, loom, yo-yos, crochet flowers.....

What is up will come down?

I can't get on blogger? What is going on? Is anyone else having issues?

I have been preoccupied with getting more instruction on my looms and haven't been mentally ready to write. Bummer, too. I need to write to be sane. A lonely existence needs outlets as well as a creative.

I have been running into glictches. My iTunes needs my iMac updated and when I go to upgrade it takes alllllll day and even into the night then it gets a networking error - timed out (-1001) Before that I had to delete old systems to make room. Guess what? My currant Appleworks is messed up because of me! And the fourth break down is blogger not allowing me on and it smells of Safari not working with Blogger.

On the looming side of things, I have made progress on finding a great instructor. She creates small projects that really make for great impact! She labors over the instructions more than the actual creation. What dedication! I am too new at looming and have no back ground in knitting or crocheting. I doubt I will ever to create anything that far out. I can make some creations and maybe when I am over my frantic need to grasp everything, I will be able to really have some creative vision instead of relying on patterns.

At work the auditors have come. Grrr. I know that they are there to make sure we measure up yet it feels like 'big brother' breathing his grimy breath down my exposed neck.

All the while God still whispers that He is still there and reminds me what is important for the Eternal. Swindoll has been taking about 'living life exceedingly, abundantly, beyond'. It came at the right moment. It that amazing of God? It is flying over and seeing all the crazy chaos below and not being touched by them nor hindered. This learning sticks to my bones. I care very much about how I do things and the tools that I use but I don't get bogged down. Not necessary. Not eternal either.

Another thought came this week and I think it was Swindoll again. ''The struggle in coming around is as important as doing what God asks'. I so often get frustrated with others when they are struggling and just don't do it as well as getting frustrated with my ownself. I do come around to excepting it. Hmmm, a struggle isn't it. The struggle is 'holy mud'. It fashions us into being a better reflection of God.

What won't kill us makes us stronger. eh?

muddled daydreams ...

Oh boy, I am obsessed with looming and finding patterns that work! On top of that I am trying to get my imac updated and getting a bunch of errors. I also am trying to put time into getting rid of stuff besides squirreling away time to come write! Don't forget to add in the photobooks that make great gifts as well as eat away time. I soooo desperately want to be creative but I must pigeon hole allotments of time for each creative bit I want to do as well as working an eight to five accounting job to feed my hungry tummy, clothe my bod, and provide sleep and shelter for my weary soul. What is a girl to do?

Besides that I am in such a mommy mode. Noooooo, I don't want kids but rather I am feeling such an urgency to impart hard fought wisdom to kids. What a mess this world is in and I hurt when I see such trouble. It isn't just the teenagers that seem in trouble but the twenty-somethings are really getting messed up. It is really scaring the daylights out of me. I pace and mutter. Yes, I know that might look a bit funny to an on-looker. I am not a mom but an aunt and I do wonder what influnence I can bring to my own nieces and nephew.... I have to answer my many questions with what I have learned in Quiet Leadership. Ask the questions...

Having my mind daydreaming on words, looms, and saving the world, I have to finish this crazy rant with a success, I completed a red and pink valentine hat for my niece. It has an interesting crazy knot on top but wanted to add some corkscrew fringe. Failing at this. I think the instructions are lousy! On an up note, I sewed an inside to my loom purse and stitched it in. Finally completed! Quite happy. Have some cool patterns! Some I am sure I can figure out and unfortunately some that I might not be able too...

to stifle a craft ...

Help! I just do not understand. The round and rake looms are said to have been around a long time. I had never heard of them until they became a big thing in '05. So what has happened to the history? It cannot just be about the chucky e-wrap. Let me tell you that ain't pretty. My biggest grief is that there are very little in the way of patterns out there compared to the formal knitting. On top of that when I find out there are new instruction books out there the craft stores will not carry them nor do they give the time of day in trying to locate these books. Sure, I could get them online but I will not trust that until I know the patterns are good ones. There was a book that I did find that after looking at the ridiculous patterns, I ditched the thought of getting them.

I have three books that I want I think will inhance my loom knitting journey but to locate them is becoming a nightmare. I have a lead that I might be able to snag one of the books at a local department store. I hope so as it was on there website and it could only be available online....

The three books in question are:
Learn New Stitches on Circle looms by Anne B
Learn to Knit Cables on Looms by Isela Phelps
Loom Knitting Primer by Isela Phelps

If you can actually pick up the book and take a peek inside, then I want to know about the place.

Why is it that this craft is soooo secretive? Let this craft come out in the light of day! Let us be able to self learn and give away beautiful homemade gifts from the labor of our hearts!!!! It has been great with the limited ideas and patterns to see my brother light up over fun baby hats for his little girl. Great inspiration for me!!!