Have you seen the blog Gumi-Gumi Island? She goes by KnittingTurnip. Her blog is at: http://amigurumiandpizza.blogspot.com/ Check out her work. It is TOOOOO cute! I especially like her little babies in animal suits. :D

And she is having a contest right now in which you can win a customized baby bunny! Woohoo! I'll tell you about it even though that means my chances of winning are lower if you enter too (see, aren't I a sweetie?) Go to the page here for info: http://amigurumiandpizza.blogspot.com/2009/11/giveaway-ups-i-did-it-again.html The contest only runs until Dec 19, so make sure you enter before then. Who doesn't want one of her adorable baby bunnies? Below is a pic from her blog announcing the giveaway. Squeeeee!



I hope I win!!!

I made this for a friend on Ravelry who commissioned it for her hubby's 50th birthday. Lord Ganesh is on his way to her as we speak. He lived with me for so long, I miss him now!



( More pics under the cut )

My friend TheKnittyCat just send my kiddos a care package with some wonderful little peeps in it! They were so excited! First thing out of Taran's mouth: It's Oddish!!! He then went around talking like Oddish apparently talks: Odd Odd Oddish! He is a total Pokemon freak. He LOVES his Oddish and Pokeballs and could not possibly have been happier with her choice.





Kaisa got a little bunny peep named Felicity who likes carrots, celery, and her friend Flutterby the butterfly (who conveniently came along with Felicity). They are so cute! I foresee lots of snuggling in their futures. :)



Flutterby loves to sit on people's heads:


Kasia discovered Felicity's little bed makes a nice little pill box hat:


Thank you TheKnittyCat! You're the best! My kids will love you forever! :)

I got the following as part of an add for the Spin-Off Autumn Retreat, but it is like someone has been secretly watching me and taking notes...

"Does this sound familiar?

For years, you've had a secret, inexplicable yearning to make yarn—a subconscious desire that you've resisted, rationalized away, and pushed to the back of your mind. Things have happened, though, that make this resisting harder. Perhaps a good knitting friend has confessed a desire to learn how to spin, or maybe you just happened to attend a sheep and wool festival and couldn't tear yourself away from the spinning demonstrations that seemed to be occurring behind every barnyard door.

Or you've walked away from your local knitting shop with a bag full of unspun fiber—even though you're not quite sure what to do with the stuff—you just like the way it feels and smells.

Eventually your resistance has eroded, and you've finally been able to say aloud, "I want to make yarn. I need to make yarn. This yarn must be made."

So, you found some books, magazines, and websites and pored over them, wanting to learn the secrets—how to turn this insubstantial fuzz into yarn that can be knitted up into the gorgeous garments that dance across the insides of your eyelids at night as you're falling to sleep?"

So now do you see why I think there must be a spy? Or maybe it's a hidden camera. The spinning bug has bitten. I took a drop spindle spinning class at the Estes Park Wool Market, and now I want to take a wheel spinning class next year. You know what that leads to, don't you? Pining for my own spinning wheel! Just what I need since I have no free time as it is. And when I do craft, I feel guilty because there is always something more important I should be doing (like laundry, feeding the kids, etc.).

Well, I'm going to play with spinning anyway. I may not make it to the point of owning my own wheel, but you never know. Maybe I will.


My first spinning from right after Wool Market.

This was written by the father of one of my good friends from when I was growing up - John William Smith from Rockville, MD

Til This Summer..... An American Story

Until this summer, when the Town Meeting Thugs, took over the town hall health care meetings, I thought I lived in a democratic America.

Until this summer, I thought I lived in a democratic America, and loved the fact that Americans overwhelmingly elected a black man to the nation's highest elective office, that is until THT began carrying loaded guns to the President's appearance at health care meetings. Until this summer, I thought calling the President vile, racist-names, was a thing out of America's unforgiveable past.

Until this summer, when the THT took over the nation's Town Hall meetings, and drowned out any intelligent discussions of the nation’s need to discuss the need to reform national health care matters, I thought I lived in a democratic America.

Until this summer, it did not dawn on me that the THT were bought and paid-for insurance and pharmaceutical company shills and provocateurs.

Until this summer, I thought there was at least respect for the office of the President, until THT burned him in effigy, painted Hitler-like mustaches on his pictures, and called him names that belied any respect for his office and for his humanity.

Until this summer, I thought American parents would welcome a public address by the President, to the students of the nation to study hard, get good grades and graduate from high school, but I was wrong about some misguided parents.

Until this summer, I had hoped that America's racist past was receding from its heart, but the THT, in their most virulent outbursts about race and culture, erased those thoughts of hope from my mind. How sad!!!!!!!!

Until this past summer, I had hopes that America's belief in democratic principles, would be a shining light to people of other nation's, but the THT have given a black eye to that hope.

Until last summer, the THT thought they had won the health care war; good Americans saw through theTHT "30 pieces of silver" take, and good Americans overwhelmingly still want a new and reformed health care system that will:
not discriminate against the sick and disabled; protect the health care needs of senior citizens; be portable across state lines; be competitive with a public option function; be cost effective and keep costs contained; cover and protect all Americans.

The THT had a wonderful summertime insulting the intelligence of the American people, and insulting elected officials and their constituents; even now the THT don’t realize that they have lost the war against the American people. There will be a new health care law.

Written this day, September 7, 2009, by johnwilliamsmith

I finished my first handspun. This pic shows it partially spun, with the original color of the batting.

( More pics of the process and the finished work )

Last weekend was the Wool Market in Estes Park. We have gone the past few years, but this was the first time I signed up for workshops on Thurs and Fri. My friend Kathy and I rode up together and stayed over Thurs nite at the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes.

Thursday, I went to the Ravelry class. It was taught by Jess, Casey, and Mary-Heather. They were the three people behind Ravelry for a long time, but they have recently added a 4th person. Sara was not at Estes though. They talked about the history of Ravelry, its neat features and how to use them, and they answered questions. Poor Jess had bad altitude sickness and clearly just wanted to get to lower elevation so she could feel better.

Here is a pic of Mary-Heather, me, Jess, and Casey from after the class.


( More + swap and animal pics! )

My friend Sian sent me a great package in the mail - all the way from England! It had a bunch of wonderful stuff in it:


( Warning - picture heavy! )

I made a little apple for my son's other teacher. He spends a lot of time in his classroom, so I figured I needed to make something for him as well. It is from the Lion Brand pattern "Amigurumi Apple" http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/80283AD.html?noImages=. I gave mine a face because, well, it needed one!



Cross posted to WLA

For my son's teacher this year, I made the Lion Brand graduation bear (http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/80285AD.html?noImages=). He's not graduating, but I thought it looked like something for a teacher. I used old yarn from my stash (actually, I think it is from my Mom's stash so no telling how old it is!), and after doing the head, body, and arms, I decided I was definitely going to run out. And they don't make that kind anymore. So I turned the arms into the legs and made smaller arms. Also, he really needed something, so I made him a little sweater in the school's colors to match his mortar board. I am not totally thrilled with him, but eh, he'll do. I know - terrible attitude, but I don't have a lot of time to make him better right now. I need to move on to making something for a swap at the Estes Park Wool Market with some Ravelry friends.



Cross posted to WLA

I've got two more items to show off. The first is one that I sent to a friend, so I had to wait till she got it to post a pic.
( pics )

For Earth Day there was a reusable tote bag contest at work. I decided to try making a plarn bag - plastic yarn. You cut the bag into strips so you end up with circles of yarn about 1" wide. Then you loop them together to make a double stranded plastic yarn. The bag took about 45 bags to make!



If I made one of these again, I wouldn't attach the handles with bows. I don't like how they look, but I couldn't fix it at that point without ruining the handles. And I didn't have time to redo them.

I made a walrus for a friend, and now that she has it, I can post!



( side view )

Check this out. During the 30 hrs that a 98 yr old woman was trapped under the rubble of her collapsed house in Italy following an earthquake, she kept herself occupied by crocheting! http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/08/italy-earthquake-survivor-crochet If I ever get trapped in a disaster of some sort and am waiting by myself for rescue (or even death for that matter), I want to have my knitting or crochet with me too! That and a good audiobook. :0)

I also wanted to share this awesome poster I found online. It sums up this blog pretty well.

I found this quote on an artist friend's blog (http://www.brithammer.com/) and it really speaks to me. I am *so* inspired by color.

"Maybe we should develop a Crayola bomb as our next secret weapon. A happiness weapon. A beauty bomb. And every time a crisis developed, we would launch one. It would explode high in the air - explode softly - and send thousands, millions, of little parachutes into the air. Floating down to earth - boxes of Crayolas. And we wouldn't go cheap, either - not little boxes of eight. Boxes of sixty-four, with the sharpener built right in. With silver and gold and copper, magenta and peach and lime, amber and umber and all the rest. And people would smile and get a little funny look on their faces and cover the world with their imagination." - Robert Fulghum

My 4 yr old daughter is really crafty already, and for her birthday in January, I got her a bunch of her own Sculpey, some tools, and some tiny cookie cutters of animals, flowers, and things. She has been doing a lot of clay playing lately, and she often asks me to play too. I have made a couple of little things lately that I am happy with, so I thought I'd post pics.
( sculpey goodness )

You have probably already seen this somewhere since it has been all over the web, but just in case, I'll add it one more time to the growing number of mug cake posts.  My mom sent me this recipe in an e-mail, and I had to try it out.  It was yummy!  I used apple sauce instead of oil or butter, and it worked fine.  The cake was a bit dense, but that could also be because I used bread flour instead of regular or cake flour.  The applesauce was chunky, so there were little bits of apple in the cake.  I couldn't taste them because of the chocolate, but I want to try this again without the chocolate (maybe add 2 extra teaspoons of flour instead of the cocoa?) and add cinnamon to make an apple cinnamon cake. I also saw people online adding things like chopped hazelnuts to the chocolate version.  If you make it , let me know how it tuns out, especially if you try something different!  Also, if anyone has tried this version as well as the cake mix version, how did they compare?  Which was easier?  Did you have to use up all the cake mix quickly?

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG  CAKE

 

  4 tablespoons flour
  4  tablespoons sugar
  2 tablespoons cocoa
  1  egg
  3 tablespoons milk
  3 tablespoons oil  ..or try real butter...worked very well
  3 tablespoons  chocolate chips (optional)
  a small splash of vanilla  extract
  1 large coffee mug

 

  Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well.  Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil  and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using - but then again, who wouldn't want to add more chocolate?!) and  vanilla extract, and mix again.

 

  Put your  mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts (high). The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but  don't be alarmed!

  Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired (the chocolate chips all sink to the bottom - probably better to use mini ones). EAT! (this can serve 2 if you  want to feel slightly more virtuous).

 

Yesterday I finished a little bear I was working on.  I think I am going to start an Etsy site to sell him and his pattern, but first i want to get another ami and pattern ready to put in there so I have more than one thing.  What do you all think? And does anyone know what I patterned him after?



( Another Pic )
Cross posted to We Love Amigurumi

I got the following from thropots LJ:

Fictional Album created via meme
1. Go to Wikipedia and ask it for a random article. The title of the article you get is the name of your band.
2. Go to the Random Quotations Page. The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page are the title of your album.
3. Go to Flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”. Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

Band Name: Ivesia paniculata (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivesia_paniculata)
Album title: At the Village Pump (en.wikiquote.org/wiki/656)
Album Cover: