Babies, Festivals, and Christmas! Oh my!

I'm a horrible blogger!  I have no real good excuse for not posting in so long.  But even though I haven't been blogging, I have been creating!

In October I worked hard on a crocheted version of Zero the ghost dog from A Nightmare Before Christmas.  A friend at work was having a baby, and she is obsessed with the movie.  So I thought a cute half plush, half blanket would be perfect.  I used this pattern I found through Google, Lizville.  I am still being defeated by crocheting in the round, so I didn't adhere to that part of the pattern.  I think the end product still came out pretty darn good.

November brought my most favorite music festival in Austin, Fun Fun Fun Fest!  My bff in Oregon was supposed to come out, but couldn't make it at the last minute.  Oh, the life of a college student!  So instead, I dragged J along with me!  He didn't really mind though.  We saw Slayer, The Damned, Public Enemy, Brian Posehn, Tune-Yards, Donald Glover (and Childish Gambino), and many more!  The only thing that could stand up to the music, was the awesome food vendors the festival brought in this year.  They had super yummy crepes, pancake shakes, and pumpkin empanadas that I couldn't get enough of!

 Don't you just love me in my festival get up?  They changed the location this year to a bigger park, with a big open (and treeless) area.  That, coupled with an entire summer with no rain, made it pretty dusty, pretty fast.  But we had a blast!  I was so excited to see Public Enemy and Brian Posehn.  I can't wait till next year.

And then there was Christmas.  This year I really tried hard to do a "handmade holiday" and make all my gifts handmade.  I was really close to doing it too!  Everyone got something handmade except my step-dad.  He is one of the hardest ppl to get gifts for, because he has everything he wants.  And the things he doesn't have that he wants, I can't afford!  I didn't get pics of everything I made, but here are pics of the bigger items I worked on.

J loves space invaders, and already had some space invaders he had made with perler beads in his kitchen, so I decided to keep with that theme.  I made him 4 pot holders with space invaders, and then the painted canvas.  My little bro (who is super awesome at art) helped me with the canvas.  He used a ruler, and chalk, to grid the canvas into the design.  I couldn't have finished that project without his help!
Then there is the infamous Twinkie Chan cupcake scarf.  I've been working on this one since I finished the buttered toast scarf (you can see it here) I made from her pattern book.  This was a very labor intensive scarf, but the end result was totally worth it.  My mom LOVES IT!  I don't think I want to make another one anytime soon though!

I hope everyone had a great new year!  What crafty things are you planning for 2012?

6th St Yarnbombing!

My little brother from another mother moved down to Austin, and is staying with me awhile.  This is his first time here,  so we decided to take him down to 6th St and show him around.  It was a game day, so there were a lot of drunken people to laugh at.  I decided I wanted to do some yarnbombings and whipped these up a couple hours before we went downtown.  I wanted them to get seen by a lot of people.

Little Bro approves of yarnbombing!

J in upper right and Little Bro bottom left, watching out for me!

This one is a little hidden, its not directly on 6th st!

I had to sew around the bikes, my yarn got caught a couple times.

 I really hope these stay up awhile.  I can't wait to do more.  I finished the buttered toast scarf, and have moved onto the cupcake scarf.  It was a bit challenging starting off the pattern, but I think I got it now!  I used a regular worsted weight yarn, instead of a bulky yarn, and my cupcakes looked more like mushrooms!  Cool, but not what I was looking for!  I might make a mushroom scarf later though.  The cupcake scarf will have to be hush hush till my mom opens it for Christmas. 

Works in progress

Lots of crocheting going on around here.  Finishing up a birthday present for my bff, a pumpkin beanie for an October newborn, and a yarnbombing that I just randomly decided to do. 

Buttered Toast Scarf, pattern by Twinkie Chan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Almost like french toast

This newborn pumpkin beanie was super easy.  I got the pattern here.  I don't know if I'll have time, but I also want to make some super cute newborn shoes that have a skull and crossbones on them for the October newborn.

Lastly, this is my yarnbombing.  It's supposed to look like a paw print, I hope it does!  I plan on adding the word "adopt" across it, and putting it up on this big huge cement pillar that is on the corner of MLK and Chicon. 

Impromptu Bacon Sliders with Sharp Cheddar Cheese

I don't think I need to use many words for this.  The pics do enough.  I got to play with the food setting on my Nikon.  I used Kings Hawaiian Rolls, and turkey bacon (I have long preferred it to pork bacon), sliced sharp cheddar from HEB, and mayo.  I wish I had Miracle Whip.  Super Yum.

More crocheting! (Shocking right?)

My mom volunteers at a ferret rescue back home, and next month they are going to be doing a fundraiser.  I told her I would make 2 sets of potholders.  One set that were girly colors, and one set that were more guy colors.  I had made this once before as part of my step-dads father's day gift.  These are great because they are really thick, and you can do them in any colors you want. 

I got the pattern from The Lion Brand Yarn Website, (you have to register with their site to see their patterns.  Just do a search for "pot holders" and it is the last one listed.  They came out pretty radical!  I wanted to embellish them with ferrets, but I couldn't find any ferret applique patterns online.  I'm not good enough at crocheting to make my own yet.  Instead, I just embellished them with circles. 

I'm about to be a dog trainer!

I've reached one of those moments in your life where you never thought in a million years you would be.  When I moved to Austin almost 4 years ago, I never thought I would have gotten so involved with training and understanding dogs.  I owe it all to one special dog though, for causing me to get the ball rolling.

Graduating from Basic Obedience!

This is my special guy, Payden.  After I bought my house, I wanted a dog sooooooo bad!  With my work schedule, I couldn't get a small puppy, but I had to have a dog that would be good around cats, and ferrets (I had 2 of each at the time!)  I decided that Craigslist was probably the best route, and I checked it everyday hoping to find the right dog.  Soon, I found a post where a girl said that she loved the dog dearly, but her apartment complex wouldn't let her keep him, because he was a "pit bull" (hate that term!).  If she didn't find a home for him that day, the apartment complex was going to call animal control and have him taken.  He had been raised around cats and ferrets since he was a pup.  PERFECT!
I picked him up that night after I got off work, about 3am.  He was loving and happy, and sure enough got along splendidly with my other pets!  Sadly, I didn't even have him a full week, before he was diagnosed with Parvo.  I was faced with the decision of spending a couple hundred bucks to put him to sleep, or a couple thousand to keep him alive.  I called my mom in tears begging her to tell me what to do, but like a good mom, she said I had to make the choice.  After talking to the vet, and being assured that she had seen dogs in much worse condition than him pull through, I decided that I just couldn't bear putting him down.  I mean, look at that face!

Contemplating the meaning of it all.

So I decided to use the money I had been saving to go to Korea with, and save this dogs life.  Looking back, I have no regrets at all.  Not long after his recovery though (the standard 7-21 days I have now learned!) he learned his place in our pack.  And his place was claiming me,  being reactive, and not listening!  I needed help!  And fast!  I had a dog that I loved dearly, and had helped me overcome a serious depression when my father died of cancer.  But I had no idea how to control him.
I knew a friend who had issues with his boxer, the dog was very reactive and had bit a few people.  I asked him where he had taken his dog, and he referred me to Tara Stermer.  I knew right away that she knew her stuff, because on the main page of her website was my friends dog, sitting in a pack with about 10 other dogs.  I signed up for a basic obedience class with her as soon as I could!  That was in March of 2010.
Fast forward to now.  Payden has been through basic obedience, a reactive dog class, and is currently going through intermediate obedience class.  He is controllable, listens to me, and has 10x more focus than he did before I started classes with him.  He has come so far, and worked very hard (both of us have!)
He is the reason that I even met Tara.  He is the reason I am a proud "pit bull" owner (except now I only call him a staffie, because that is what he really is!).  He is the reason I applied to be an intern with Tara.  He is the reason I have learned so much about dogs, and am about to start teaching basic obedience classes for people that were just like I was.  He is the reason I fight for dogs, especially "pit bulls" (staffies!), because I know just what amazing creatures they are.

Nik

Surfside Yarnbombing!

I always have the hardest time trying to think of a witty title for my posts.  I hope the more comfortable I get with blogging, the easier it will get.  I am open to suggestions so if you think of a funny title, leave a comment and if it makes me giggle I'll probably change it. 

This weekend was J's birthday, so we went to Surfside Beach, Tx. His parents own a beach house there, and he wanted to spend the weekend. I just love his family more and more.  I am now Facebook friends with his brother and sister now, so we are on a whole new level now!

I had so much fun!  Although I did get sunburned (ouchie on my back and shoulders) I had a ton of fun.  A tropical storm was supposed to hit the gulf this weekend, but luckily it didn't hit us, but made the waves perfect for boogie boarding!  I was able to sneak in a yarnbombing while on the beach.  I have been holding onto this one for awhile. I think because I had attached a tag with my blog name on it, I was nervous about leaving it. 

The previous night J, myself, his sister and friend all went for a walk on the beach to check out the waves, and show them the little crabs that walk out at night.  We were able to check on some previous yarnbombings that we had done on our previous visit to the beach house, and they were still there,  just covered in sand!  I regret not taking pics of them.

This is a swatch I did a few weeks ago when J got me Yarn Bombing: The Book.  It was a super cool stitch where it makes a bump in the swatch, like a dot almost.  I also used this swatch to better learn how to do stripes.  I love that book and I suggest getting it if you love crocheting it has some really cute patterns (The only bad I have to say about it is that it has to many knitting patterns and not enough crochet!)

 

 

I also regret not taking a picture of the back of it!  I have learned now to take shots 360 degrees around!  I had to use this big plastic needle I had and I sewed up the back really tight like a corset.  It looked pretty awesome!  I hope it is still there the next time we go back, so I CAN take a picture of it.  This has gotten me really excited to do even more yarnbombings.  I just have to find the time!  

Right now my WIP is a pumpkin beanie for a newborn that is due in October, 4 large hot pads for a ferret rescue fundraiser due by the end of August, and a Twinkie Chan Toast Scarf for my BFF by mid September.  Oh!  And I still haven't tackled the mini Domo-kun I was making for J's birthday that kept tripping me up. 

What is your WIP right now?