Meet Maile the Mermaid and Her Friends!

Finally! A new post and a new pattern! I'm sorry it's taken me so long!!! Believe it or not, I've been working hard most of the summer cleaning out my parents' house, but I managed to find a little time to design these whimsical friends! The 8-page pattern includes all the directions for knitting both the mermaid and the seahorse, then felting in your washing machine. The directions for embroidering the features and the star-shaped, shell bra are also included, as well as directions for the hair. As with most of my patterns, these are knit completely in the round. You'll need US size 10 1/2 double-pointed needles for the mermaids ... and you'll use two strands of wool held together with one strand of a novelty yarn. I like Crystal Palace Little Flowers. Amazingly, if you buy two skeins of yarn (I like to do this) so you can work with two strands without having to pull from both ends of a ball, you'll be able to knit about four mermaid fins! With two skeins of skin-tone, you'll be able to knit about four upper bodies/heads and arms!
Sugar, the seahorse, is also knit in the round on US size 8 double-pointed needles. You'll only need one strand of wool and one strand of Little Flowers for him (or her!) ...
They are really so quick and so much fun. I hope you'll give them a try!
You'll find the pattern available at The Pattern Box and also on Ravelry.

Just a note: Names of yarn colors and the colors, themselves, seem to be continually changing. I think it's important to look at the yarn in person, if you can, before you make any decisions. It's really hard to judge from your computer monitor what the actual color will look like when it arrives.
But, just in case you were wondering, these are the colors I used for my mermaid models:
Sugar the Seahorse requires one skein of 100% wool yarn (such as Ella Rae Classic) and one ball of novelty yarn. One strand of each is used throughout on US size 8 double-pointed needles. I highly recommend the use of Ella Rae Classic wool because it felts so beautifully, but as you need less than a skein of yarn to complete the seahorse, you may find something in your stash that would be suitable. For instance, I knit Sugar, as photographed above, with Cascade 220 in a light purple solid, such as 9541, which I had on hand. I held a strand of Crystal Palace Little Flowers in Blueberry Grape with it. Although a fair amount of stitch definition remains, he is still quite cute! I would also recommend Paton's Classic Merino, which is quite easy to find at most local craft and hobby stores.Remember: These will be your mermaids and seahorses. You can use any color combinations that you like! Maile was knit with Ella Rae Classic number 25 (aquamarine), but there are plenty of other greens that would also be beautiful. I used Crystal Palace Little Flowers in Seafoam. Maile's Caucasian skin-tone is Ella Rae Classic 54.
Leilani was knit with Ella Rae Classic number 43, Magenta. I used Crystal Palace Little Flowers Strawberries and Limes. Leilani's Island skin-tone is Ella Rae Classic number 11, Rose.Please do be careful when choosing colors by name. I saw two different "rose" colors at a web store that sells Ella Rae Classic. They were not the same at all! I just don't want anyone to be disappointed!

New pieces and maybe even a tiny Studio!

I'm super busy these days working on some new patterns, while at the same time cleaning out our house! Randy has officially "approved" of the guest bedroom/storeroom/old computer room to be turned into whatever I can make it ... I think he heartily agreed just to get the stash of yarn and books out of our bedroom ... and the dining room ... and the family room ... oh ... and the living room, too!!! YIKES! I have stuff everywhere. I will not take a before picture because it's too horrible to imagine; however, I have great vision and I know I will be able to fix it! I have limited wall space and limited electric outlets, so I have to think carefully before I put anything that can't be moved!
It's not easy. There are so many things in this room that I have to find other places to store ... like our daughters' 8 years worth of chess trophies! AAACKK! They moved them out of their room into this room and now I've stuffed as many as I can into a huge box and have loaded it into the hall closet downstairs. Some of these trophies are enormous! THEN there's all the dog-grooming paraphernalia from our dog-showing days. For instance, the giant crate, the crate pan, the grooming table and the grooming-table arm ... then there's the card table and chairs ... and the box of paint clothes waiting for another project so they can be worn again. Not to mention all the extra pillows, blankets and comforters that won't fit in our teeny-tiny linen closet in the hall. I'd get rid of them, except we need them in the winter!
I have purchased a couple of wire storage cube sets and hope to put them on top of each other. I wouldn't mind if they'd reach to the ceiling! I have to make sure I keep my acrylic yarn separate from all the feltable wool yarn, though and right now, that's going to be a chore to separate them as they all tumbled together in the middle! AARRGGHH. It will be most distressing to try out a new pattern with acrylic by mistake ... and have it be just as big after washing as before! (Kind of defeats the purpose!)
I have been wondering for some time if I should sell finished pieces, as well as my designs? So many people have told me they don't knit, but would love to have one already made. Maybe after I have everything straightened out and in its right place, I'll be able to see if this is actually do-able for me. I have set up an Etsy store, but haven't really used it yet. I put up one pattern early on and I don't think anyone even looked at it! I just need more time to be able to pursue all of these ventures.
For now, it will all have to wait. I have to take my Dad back to the doctor today. I expect it will be a long visit this time, so I won't be able to work on organizing the room. I will probably get a lot of knitting done, though!

I've been given a Blog Award!

Amybel from Knitting in my Backyarn blog has given me this wonderful Blog Award! It's the first award my blog has ever been given. So, here's a big "THANK YOU!" to Amybel!

The rules: Accept the award and post it on your blog with the name of the person that gave it to you. Pass on the award to as many bloggers as you wish and let them know you chose them for the award.

I give the award to:

Jennifer Murphy

Paddington

KnittingAlone

ArielZoe

The Byrd's Nest

Red Momma Lynne

Gleek

Darcy's Knotty Knitter

Little Scarf Girl

Hooping for Exercise!

"Exercise" hoops (not to be confused with children's hoops) are becoming more and more popular these days ... and, at anywhere from $39 to $59 for a colorful hoop, it pays to experiment a little and make your own! I found a great website with video tutorials here on Squidoo.

The hoop is recommended to be from about 39 to 43 inches across. I made this one to fit my son, really ... measuring the tubing from the ground to just under his chest. It is 47 inches and probably a little too big for the rest of us, but I've been using it, anyway.

I used the 3/4" 160 psi plastic irrigation tubing. I bought mine at Lowe's for about $30 for about 100 feet of tubing. Just pick up a package of connectors (my package of 10 cost about $2.97 or so) and a roll of black duct tape. This will make roughly 10 hoops!!! I followed the directions on Squidoo and it took less than 10 minutes from start to finish to make the hoop! Not fancy or pretty at this point, but definitely hoop-able!

I ordered holographic tape, vinyl tape and gaffer tape from Identi-tape and, if you order $100 worth or more for taping hoops, be sure to type in: hula hula in the code box and you'll get a 15% discount!! As you can see, above, my wrapping skills need much improvement ... but for a first try, I thought it wasn't half bad! The instructions say to put down the foil or specialty tape first, as it needs to have its edges covered by the heavier tapes or it tends to peel up and get ruined. So, apply the tapes in this order: specialty (mirror, mylar, glittery, holographic, etc), then the vinyl tape and finally the great-gripping gaffer tape!
Colette is kindly holding this one for me. She thought the colors looked very mermaid-like. I have to agree!

Here is Colette, testing it out. Even though this hoop is WAY too big for petite Colette (who barely reaches 5 feet and 1/2 inch, she's hooping magnificently. Somehow, the bigger hoop really gets going without a hitch!

She was really enjoying it! The dvd "Hoopnotica: Hoopdance Basics" is an incredibly good one! I LOVE it! I never could get a child's hoop to stay up. It always fell. Hoopnotica has a whole "troubleshooting" section so you can fix what you're doing wrong! In only about three tries, after watching the troubleshooting part, I was able to get this hoop to stay up and keep spinning until I wanted to stop, not stopping because my hoop fell! I have to say, it gave me a big boost of confidence! I'm just now trying to master walking while hooping. I'm having a difficult time with this ... but hooping with my hand over my head (halo), is quite easy and feels really fun. Just watch out ... when I first did this, my hoop took off and landed across the yard! I can't explain what a freeing feeling it is to get out there and hoop. I felt quite gloomy the last few days as it was too rainy for me to get out there and get going. I can't wait to make hoops for everyone in my family! If you don't have the time or the energy to make your own, Hoopnotica sells a lot of very cool, already-made hoops.
It's so much fun. It's still light outside. I must go. My newly taped hoop is calling to me!

My Gumball Machine Arrived!

Isn't it WONDERFUL?!!! It works perfectly! Glass globe, wonderful Acorn sticker and everything! Now, I'm off to order the Rain-blo gumballs!!! I feel like I'm in 2nd grade again ... I'm at the A&P grocery store after school ... and my Mom has given us all a nickel to spend on our way out! My favorite gumballs were the blue ones!!!

My First Jar!

I changed the date and anniversary line to three lines, instead. Also, I couldn't decide if I should put their marriage date or the current anniversary, so I finally put the current anniversary date ... that's the date of the jar, as well!

Another close up of the final jar ... here are some photos before I changed the anniversary.

Here's a full view of the Happy Anniversary Jar for my sister and her husband. The jar magnifies everything inside. I think I would have liked it better if it didn't!

Here's a close up of their faces. I won an auction for some old 1970s paper dolls and then found a photograph of the two of them and printed their faces out on watercolor paper. After cutting them out as best I could with an Exacto, I used some spray adhesive to put the faces on the paper dolls!
I filled the bottom with wool roving finger combed with flash ... and lots of mica!

I painted some watercolor paper with yellow and orange and let it dry, then I used a calligraphy pen and drew the moon face. You can't see it very well, but I put mica on the moon, too! I made a couple of impromptu stars and put a lot of glass glitter on them. I hung all these from the inside top of the jar.

I cut out the Bridal Chorus and used the music as the backdrop.

I added a lot of glass glitter to the paper doll's gown and glued on some paper flowers for my sister's bouquet and tied them with a little ribbon. I used a small paper flower for her husband's boutonniere. I also used a bit of netting and a little crepe paper for her veil. I know it's a little odd, so I hope they like it! I have been getting lots of ideas for jars ... like Happy Birthday jars and that sort of thing. I think I learned a lot about spray adhesive and being patient!!! The back is not as clean as I'd like ... the glue smeared a bit ... but it'll have to do. I do wonder what they'll think of it! Now onto package it up and take it to UPS. I hope it doesn't break!

It's a Jungle Out There!

Meet the newest addition to The Pattern Box animal patterns!

I have finally written up and taken some photographs of the Giraffe pattern. If you're interested, he (or she!!!) is for sale at The Pattern Box. After purchasing, you can download it right away! Why not turn your own backyard into a jungle this summer and knit the lion and the elephant, too? All are knit in the round on double-pointed needles (size US 8) and then felted in your washing machine. I hope you'll give them a try!