April ‘Appenings

It’s “What Happened?” Week! This is my second installment of informing all of you just what exactly happened in my life this past month- the good, the weird, the bad, the boring…You get the gist of it I hope! Anything pretty much that was out of the ordinary you can find below. 😉

• Easter!  I celebrated with my family and some friends from church.  It was fun!
• I survived April Fool’s Day, and missed any pranks that someone tried to pull on me….Which reminds of a funny story from the 1st of April in 2014- I’ll have to tell you guys about that some other time
• I got an iPhone!  So now I can actually make phone calls….Quite nice.
• The weather in the Midwest is perfect(I hope it is wherever you are too)
• My family got a new car- it’s a nice little Acura with a whole bunch of fancy do-hickies on the inside
• I found an Easter egg….on the 11th.  Yes, a full week after my siblings were supposed to have found them all.  The Kit-Kat still tasted quite good though!  And the egg was still in one piece, even though I ran over it with a lawn mower…oops
• Some friends and I got together to play Capture the Flag and Ghost in the Graveyard.  Even though I exercise semi-regularly, I was quite sore the next day half a week.
• I met a boy that wanted to kiss me within an hour of our acquaintance.  His name was Sawyer, and he is two years old. And quite adorably sweet.  I gave him a hug.
• My parents had their 27th anniversary.  We ate Death by Chocolate in celebration- it’s pretty much the best dessert ever
• My little brother cracked a plate with his head- he didn’t get so much as a headache, but the plate didn’t fare quite as well….I’ll leave the rest to speculation
• I completed a Mohawk hat for my cousin, C4R.
• Our Tuesday night church meetings ended for the summer.  Dance will end in a couple weeks as well, which makes me realize all the more how fast summer is approaching!
• Our backyard is covered with the ghosts of dandelions
• Some of my siblings and I went to a concert where our cousin performed, and I gave him his hat.  We had a lot of fun together, and went to Applebee’s afterwards
• The same siblings went with some friends and me to the movie theaters the next day, and then went to Taco Bell.  I’ve gotta get away from eating out so much!
• My family rented “Five Armies”(the third installment of The Hobbit) and I must say I rather enjoyed it!  After losing interest in the other two part way through, I watched the entirety of this one and liked it. Bilbo Baggins’ personality and one-liners were probably the points of interest for me. 🙂
• Last Tuesday I did some multitasking- weeding the family garden and working on my tan (invisible though it may be) at the same time.  If there my skin isn’t a darker shade, at least I can say I got my vitamin D for the day!
• After my knitter’s block post last week, I almost immediately began a green textured slouch hat(I guess I just had to write it out?).  But now I have all the *great* suggestions from some very nice people of what I should knit next, that I can go back to when my project is done. 🙂  Thanks again to all of you for your ideas!

That may be all of what happened in my April!  Or at least, out of the ordinary…..What about yours?  Anything new and exciting?  🙂  I hope your April was wonderful, and the month of May is just as good.  Have a great week, and thank you very much for stopping by!

Knitter’s Block

This is something I have never heard of before, but am experiencing at this very moment.  It’s very, very similar to writer’s block, except my affliction requires knitting needles, and not a pen(or a keyboard nowadays).

I can’t find something to knit.  There is plenty of material to work with in both the yarn and pattern situation.  In my room, there is a big box of assorted skeins of yarn.  I’m talking a few feet tall and a couple feet wide.  Big.  But, it’s no help to have all these options because as someone who has trouble making decisions in the first place, increasing the number of options typically just makes things worse.

What about a specific pattern?  Well, you remember how I mentioned all those knitting magazines I got in the ‘March Madness’ post?  I have all those to choose from, plus some knitting books that I got for my birthday and Christmas.  The possibilities are semi-endless!

Given the plethora of yarn and potential patterns, I find myself even more at a loss to make a decision.  There are too many options!  My brain just can’t decide which potential project I should work on next.  Any suggestions are very welcome!  I probably have whatever is needed for anything you can come up with, as far as supplies go.  Unless you are that one individual that picks the one type of yarn that I don’t have in my ridiculous stash.  Please don’t be that person.  Then I’ll feel inclined to go buy more yarn, instead of diminishing the vast amount that I already possess.

Does anybody else experience this problem?  Maybe in some other area?  Writer’s block?  Thankfully, I haven’t had that problem….at least, not this week.

My last project was done right around a week ago- I finished a Mohawk hat for my cousin, C4R.  That’s his stage name.  There’s a picture of the hat on my Instagram, if you’re bored and want to check it out.  If you know anybody that wants one, let me know! 😉

Just one more thing- if you happen to be a crafty person of some sort, you might have possibly thought coming into this post that I was talking about blocking some of my knitting.  For those of you that knit, I apologize for being misleading.  And for those of you that don’t knit, yes, that is something that exists. 🙂  Here’s a mini-explanation of the process-

Blocking a knitted project is normally done for a lace project, but I’ve heard of it being done for other things as well.  Anyway, it’s done to make a lacy garment even more lacy.  When a knitted garment is done, sometimes it tends to curl up on itself(depending on the project, yarn type, etc.), so blocking consists of soaking the finished project, stretching it out over a towel, and pinning it down in it’s stretched out form.  This may not sound good for a knitted garment you just finished, I mean we aren’t supposed to stretch out clothing, right?  But, trust me, it’s how blocking is done!  Once again, if you are bored, look up before and after pictures- the lace comes out quite lovely, and is actually easier to appreciate the lace design.

So, there you go- why knitters stretch out their stuff.  Just one more thing you learned today.  If you already knew that, chances are pretty good that you have a suggestion for me to get my hands busy again.

Let me know what you think below, or just please try to avoid any kind of ‘block’ for yourself- it’s really not a good feeling.  Have a great week, and be block-free!  Thank you for reading. 🙂

What is THAT?!?

Did I get you to look?  No?  Oh….

Here is the long-promised bit on knitting. 🙂  The suspense is over everybody, you can chill now.

Now, being honest, that’s not exactly how most people respond to crafters doing their thing in public, but it’s come pretty close before.  When commencing this post, I started to go on a rantle(a rambling rant, but it was a polite rant), but I decided to delete it, and start over.  All you need to know is the #1 most asked question when knitting, knotting, or needling, in public is “Is that knitting or crocheting?”.  The second most asked question is “What are you making?”.  So, I’ve been thinking about this for a while, and here are some helpful tips to tell what exactly that person is doing to pass time in the waiting room(or wherever you come across a crafter).  Normally it’s nice to ask instead of awkward silence, which is good, but here’s some information to help you have a little more knowledge about it.  And just a hint, if it looks like a sock….It’s probably a sock.  I promise there aren’t very many people who will bite you if asked what they are making. 😉 This is looking more and more like my previous rantle, so we’d better get started-

Without further ado, the differences between knitting and crocheting…..

1.  The tools.

Knitting is a craft that requires big needles(as opposed to sewing needles), crocheting requires a hook.  Another difference is how many of the tools they are using- crocheters always have one hook(as far as I know).  Knitters can have anywhere from 2 needles, up to 5.  You never know…..Unless they are using a circular needle- that’s a whole different subject….

If for some reason you can’t tell because someone is knitting with crochet hooks, or crocheting with a knitting needle, keep reading….

2. How it builds on itself.

That really isn’t the best description, but I can’t think of how to say “what you do to make your project bigger, and how the tools help”….That right there doesn’t even make sense.  Bear with me, please.  The difference I am trying to describe is how with knitting you actually have a whole bunch of “live” stitches, where if you take out the knitting needle that they are sitting on, your project will unravel.  Crocheting on the other hand(haha, can you knit with one hand and crochet with the other?  I would love to see you try….), is done where you only have one live stitch on your hook at a time.  So, it’s really easy to finish a crocheting project- cut the yarn, tie a knot through the loop, you’re done.  Knitting has a fancy technique called “casting off”, which isn’t a big deal at all once you get the hang of it, but the trick is getting the tension to match the cast on.  That’s a doosie.  Summary- crocheting looks like it’s hanging on by a thread(literally) to the crochet hook, and knitting has all the stitches on the needle and comes unraveled so easily it will appall you.  At least it has me.  It’s a sad day, but I’ve coped and learned how to fix it. 🙂

3. The appearance.

This one is tricky- knitting and crocheting look totally different.  There are some stitches done in one craft that sort of resemble the other, but for the most part there’s almost no similarity.  Other than the fact that they are both comprised of yarn.  Because this takes specific knowledge of at least one or the other, I’ll stop right there.  Just stick with the other two ways to tell, but know that there is a difference between the appearance of knitting and crocheting.  Try asking someone that, maybe instead of which they are doing.  It could lead to a much more interesting conversation!

So, now you know.  You can shock a yarn-loving person with your amazing knowledge of their work.  Or you can just ask them the regular questions, because that’s what they are accustomed to answering.  Either way, it’s fine.  But hopefully, you learned something today about knitting and crocheting!  I apologize if you were looking for a detailed history of both crafts- I recommend Wikipedia for that. I honestly don’t know a whole bunch about their history, but I do know that they’ve been around for a LONG time.

As always, thank you for reading!  I appreciate your time. And….if you have any more knowledge you can share on how to tell knitting apart from crocheting , there’s an empty little comment box below just waiting for you! 🙂  Or you can just tell me what your favorite craft is!  Or you can take a wild guess which my favorite is…. I’d love to hear it all.  Please enjoy the rest of your week, and  have a Happy Thursday!

Real Neat!

The Real Neat Blog Award, thanks to the Real Neat Renee. 🙂

Well….As you know, Thursday is my “normal” post day, and Friday is my award day. sort of. officially, now that it’s been decided by a very indecisive individual(me).  I’ve decided to start “Flattered Fridays”, when I’m so flattered to have an award to post. 🙂  If you have any better suggestions, feel free to share them!  I’m also thinking that maybe the last week of the month will be “What Happened?” Week (kind of like my March Madness post).  I’ll just let you know what happened in my life for the past month.  Unless it was really boring, and then I’ll probably skip it. 😉

If you don’t have a calendar in front of you, or for some reason forgot that it’s FRIDAY, let me remind you- it’s Friday.  Hence, award day.  This is partly because I missed my regular post yesterday due to a visit with a good friend, and partly because I thought “huh, award day is a good idea- it’s gives me a routine kind of thing”.  So be aware that I am starting a ritual.

This time I was nominated by Renee, who has a very neat blog herself and seems to be a big fan of Boba, whatever that is. 🙂  It’s the Real Neat Blog award- how neat is that!  So here we go….

The rules are:

• Put the Award Logo on your blog
• Answer seven questions by the person who nominated you
• Thank the people who nominated you, linking to their blog
• Nominate any number of blogs for the award, linking to their blog
• Let them know that you nominated them for the award

Renee’s questions for me:

1. Favorite animal?

Do butterflies count?  Butterflies are my favorite! 🙂

2. Favorite place to travel and why?

Well, my experience with travel has been limited, but Chicago is a fun place to go. I like to go there because it’s so different from how and where I live-  I come from a very rural area, and it’s a super-duper huge city!

3. What kind of person do you aspire to be one day?

This is hard.  But I would say, I want to be a blessing to others. That’s the kind of person I want to be.

4. Best book you’ve ever read and why?

I have a tough time picking favorites, but the first one that comes to mind is ‘Pride and Prejudice’.  I probably have some other favorite books, but that one is such a classic and so good. 🙂  It’s so fun to get lost in the language….Yes, that is a direct quote from “You’ve Got Mail”!

5. Best movie you’ve watched?

Hmm….Pride and Prejudice? 😉  The BBC version, but that’s really a mini-series….I told you I wasn’t so good at picking favorites!

6. Why did you want to start blogging?

I started blogging as a way to promote my Etsy shop- To Knit or Knot

7. Favorite song of all time?

I don’t have a favorite song….But here’s a good one to listen to!  Favorite Song by Tobymac.

For the Real Neat Blog Award, I nominate:

Hannah Brencher

Witty ‘N Pretty

The Captain’s Speech

I Lost My Lens Cap

Glimmer of Happiness

Scarlett Curtis

There are many more really neat blogs out there, these are just a few I thought of….

And my questions for these Real Neat bloggers are:

1. What is the most interesting thing that happened to you this week?

2. Did you become who said you wanted to be when you said “When I grow up…”?

3. What is the weather like today?

4. Red or blue?

5. Are you dealing with Spring Fever?

6. What is the nicest thing a stranger has said/done to you?

7. Would you prefer a compliment or a hug?

And I apologize for not posting a something about knitting like I said I was going to- getting together with my friend came first.  I know you’re terribly disappointed, but I hope you understand. Thanks again to Renee, and everybody have a Real Neat weekend! 🙂

March Madness

Here is a whole bunch of madness, exciting, out-of-the-ordinary stuff that happened in my month of March, that has absolutely nothing to do with an orange ball dressed in black stripes….I apologize for disappointing you basketball fans.

• I got a whole bunch of new knitting magazines for under $20(it gets more interesting, I promise)
• The girls in my family(and little brother, because he couldn’t stand to be left behind) all went to go see “Cinderella”  I liked it quite a bit!
• My dad got a new job!  This is good because he was not happy at his last job, and needed a greater sense of accomplishment.  So yay for him. 🙂
• My brother got a new job! Yippity-doo-da for him as well. It’s nice to have happily employed relatives. 😉
• My sister has a new job- dressing up as a princess for birthday parties.  Totally not a job I ever saw her being excited about, but maybe I misjudged!  And there is more to it than that- she’s an intern for event-coordinating, just what she wanted!
• I stayed at my job, it makes me happy and is a good place to work…..I just thought you’d like to know that I did not get a new job
• I met a famous guy who came into the place where I work, although I’m not disclosing who it was because he’s already famous enough, so he doesn’t need anymore advertisement here
• My family is enjoying the presence of little ones in our home again- we have two little girls staying with us for a couple weeks and are learning just how out of shape our little-kid-chasing muscles are
• There was a high-speed chase on a highway my dad and I were traveling on, and we nearly got involved in it(thanks very much to the young man who nearly hit us while he was playing tag with the cops), AND we got to see the aftermath when we caught up to the party while moving with traffic.  Mr. Naughtiness was being led away by the cops.  I’m glad we got to see the results. 🙂  I’m also quite ecstatic that we didn’t die.  You can check out the whole thing here. And if you watch the video, my dad and I were passing the scene right about 02:10, but you can’t see us…. Oh well.
• We got chicks!
• I got my first two Liebster awards
• My cousin released his new album- Heroes in the Making Check it out!
• The color green made an appearance in our yard(and other places too…) again- it’s kind of the opener for spring- the main attraction 🙂 I’m pretty hyped about it
• One of my sisters made it to 14 years old, and did it with flare
• I went bowling, and thoroughly embarrassed myself.  But it was with friends, so I enjoyed it anyway!
• There were several people in jail who I talked to on the phone(it comes with my job), and one was trying to give me advice on said bowling, and the other wanted me to take him partying when he comes to visit!  Haha, no.  Both of them freaked me out by calling me by name- someone in my workplace was nice enough to share that information with them, without informing me….
• My family and I watched “Big Hero 6”  *fist bump* Fa la la la….. I apologize if you don’t get that reference, it’s from the movie, which I can recommend fairly highly!
• I talked with a Ms. Smith on the phone(at work again), who seemed to think that someone should recognize her by her last name. Sorry to disappoint, but um….  And no, her name isn’t changed for her protection.  That is her name, and you still have no idea who she is….That makes two of us!
• I finally made it to 100 followers….plus a little. Thanks a million!!! Well, really just a hundred, plus a few more. 😉
• Our garden was planted…..on our dining room table.  Before you raise an eyebrow, we put them in seed-starter thingys which have a much tidier appearance then a pile of earth plopped on the table.  They (supposedly) transfer to real dirt easily.

Next week’s post should probably have something to do with knitting in it….I haven’t shared anything about that in a while now, and just realized it. *sigh* Oops.  Well, I’ll leave you in suspense about what exactly the subject shall be, but it will mostly involve needles and yarn of some sort. 🙂  I hope you had a great March, and are springing into April happily!  Until next week, TTFN- Ta ta for now!  Let me know what you did in March, I’d love to hear about it. 🙂