A "New" Spice Rack

Pretty Pearls

I performed last night for the first time - well, my first more-or-less choreographed time, at least - with my wonderful bellydance ladies. We danced to History Repeating and our costumes included fedoras and pearls. Pearls, I have (had) only a few of. Shopping!

My fedora, complete with feathers (kindly donated by a bird who got his wings clipped at work) and a few little pearls...

Jewelry... little studs from my wedding, big studs were $1 at a local antique store and needed one "diamond" replaced. The dangle was a hoop earring with a cheap pearl bead threaded on and the earring re-bent; attached to the back side of the stud. I made a ring out of another earring and bead. Necklace, $2 at the same store.

Hooray for thrifty, fun costume jewelry :) And also for an amazing evening dancing with lovely friends!

Sockarms

There are always so many cute, fun knee-high socks around. Any discount or big-box store has them, in every color, for ever season. But armwarmers? So much potential, so little to be found. Sure, there are your standard knit ones, but long, cozy ones are rare, choices slim, and they're always $10-15 or more. Enter the sock arm.

The formula is simple: 1 pair knee-length socks - toes + heel-hole = sockarms!

See? Sockarms. At $5 tops, a bargain. And ridiculously easy.

New Life for an Old Frame

Back in high school when I was taking photography - and film and photo paper were still the necessary elements for that hobby - my grandfather gave me some of his old developing equipment, including trays, an enlarger, a timer, and a frame used to keep the photo paper square and create a white border around the photo.

Needless to say, digital came in before I had a chance to set up and use any of it, and my photo lab is now on my computer. But I still have most of it, including this frame, which now has a new life as another kind of nearly one-of-a-kind frame.

Crochet Hook Roll - Finished!

It's been a few weeks - but it is done!

This ...

is now this:

Complete with scissors pocket...

...and a place to stash stitch markers.

These pictures hide nicely my inability to make the pockets straight - so perhaps I'll never sell these guys, or be a good seamstress :) But I have a cute place to store my crochet stuff, so I'm happy!

Crochet Hook Roll

My dad used to have a great cloth roll out in the garage for his wrench sets, denim blue and dirty. This, once I figure out how to assemble it, will be a crochet hook roll, far prettier, but equally functional! It will have two rows of slots for hooks and two wider pockets for scissors, needles, pens and the like, and a small ribbon for holding stitch marker rings. Hopefully it will materialize in the next week or so!

Another Feathered Friends Feeder

For my Feathered Friends

Since moving to Colorado, I've been enjoying all the "new" birds that show up outside my window. None terribly rare, but there's rather little overlap in the ranges of birds between here and PA! With spring finally here, bird feeders are in order.

This the first of two or three crocheted feeders that are going up outside the window in front of my computer - hopefully to attract many pretty birds!

Spring Break!

Spring break, at last, is here. This means I've finally gotten time to hit the projects all lined up waiting for me!

First one up today is a pair of wristwarmers for my chiropractor, who saw a pair I'd made myself and liked them enough to ask me to make her a pair. I didn't have a pattern I liked, so made this one up, using a stitch pattern from Super Stitches Crochet. The pattern requires you to turn at each row, but there isn't much I dislike more in crochet than having to stitch up a completed object - and not being able to try it on as I go. After a few blunders, I managed to solve that problem, and work this connecting each row before turning - best of both worlds!

This picture shows them about half-done, after I'd figured out how to make an acceptable increase :) Pattern and finished picture coming tomorrow.

Eyes-Sore

I suppose the whole point of safety eyes is that they are supposed to stay on well, and perhaps that means hard to get ON, as well as off. But I really didn't think it would be quite so bad!

The first set of eyes (for the Cthulu, from Jo-Ann's) went on fine. The owl, though.... the yellow cat eyes from Hobby Lobby proved rather more of a challenge. Try as I might, the backs would not go on to the eye posts. Finally, I had success with a hex wrench that fit around the post (without pushing the back of the washer closed). Put the eye against a hard surface and the back on the eye post with the wrench on top of it, and push down on the wrench.

Voilà, eyes!

 Fair warning, though - don't do this on a surface you care about! (oops....)

I might be crazy

I have to wonder how many UFOs and WIPs (that's Unfinished Objects and Works in Progress, for the unenlightened) are now floating around my house (all having appeared within the last 2 weeks!). Some crazy part of me decided to make Christmas gifts, using patterns I've never tried (obviously, since I just started crocheting!)... and this is the result. I can think of at least 4 or 5, off the top of my head. Most of those consist of equally unfinished pairs. I can only hope I will finish in time for Christmas! And I gained 2 skeins of gorgeous wool from a bellydance friend today - to make her 2 pairs of Surface Waves wrist warmers, which already make up 2 of my unfinished objects!

And why did I decide to make my own pattern for hand warmers?? I couldn't find one I liked well enough.... However, I am pleased with how they are turning out. That pattern will be posted soon!

Making Old Things New

Mira is probably the biggest inspiration for this. I envy her knack for finding the cheapest way to do everything (lessons, please?!). I'm learning, bit by bit. But really, what is more fun than taking something old and at the end of life and giving it a new one? So here are bits of some recent projects of ALL different types.

Recycled Lamb I had an old wool sweater that had finally gotten moth holes in it, and didn't want to give up on it. I found (or rather, was shown) this set of patterns for felted wool animals. Shrink, cut, sew, stuff - cute new toy :)

Buttermilk The stuff is so stinking expensive, yet so darn easy to make - take 1/4 C cultured buttermilk, add regular milk, leave on counter overnight. Done! Use some, refill with milk, repeat. Never-ending supply of cheap buttermilk.

Gleaned Yarn Found a nifty, loosely knit (and basically unworn) scarf at Goodwill for $2. Pulled apart for three balls of yarn! I LOVE the orange (all the colors are a bit darker than the picture shows). Now to decide what to do with them.

This one's definitely Mira's idea - despite the fact I've no baby butts to cover! 

New & Improved Darrell's  My favorite cookie recipe is and has been Darrell's Forget-the-Cookies-Just-Give-Me-That-Batter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough from the Klutz Kids' Cookbook. This is my "New & Improved" version:

Mix & melt in pan or microwave:

   2 T butter

   6 T applesauce

Add & stir:

   2/3 C brown sugar

   1/3 C white sugar

When cool, add & stir together:

   1 t vanilla extract

   1 egg OR 1 T ground flax seed plus 3 T water - let sit 3 minutes before mixing in

In a separate bowl, mix together:

   1 1/2 C whole wheat flour

   1/4 t salt

   1/2 t baking soda (or a bit less, if you live way up high like me!)

   1/4 C wheat germ

   2 T flax seed (I just sprinkle some on top)

Add sugar mixture, mix well, then fold in:

   ~1 C (or a handful) Chocolate Chips

   ~1 C (or a handful) Oatmeal

   1/2 C chopped nuts (optional)

Place bowl in refrigerator for about 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375 F. Roll into walnut-sized balls and place on greased cookie sheet. Bake for 12 minutes - don't overbake! Eat & enjoy :)

Who needs a teacher...

... when you have tutorials this awesome?

So as I said, I re-taught myself to crochet a few weeks ago. The entire process became infinitely easier when I happened upon Crochet Spot. You know how sometimes you go to look something up, and all you find on google are crappy YouTube videos and those terrible About.com links? No pictures, lots of words, not much help. This is NOT one of those sites.

Crochet Spot has awesome tutorials, step by step instruction, and a close-up picture of each step of each stitch. Brilliant! Everytime I find a new stitch, this is where I go to figure out HOW exactly to do it. Also, for you lefties, hover each picture for the mirror - left hand version. My only complaint - there's no index of all her "How To Crochet" tutorials. So I'm making one here (including hers and a few assorted others), as much for myself as for anyone who might find and read this post. Enjoy!

Getting Started:
How to Read a Crochet Pattern
How to Hold Yarn in Crochet
How to Crochet: Slip Stitch (sl st)
How to Crochet: Chain (ch)
How to Crochet: Foundation Single Crochet (fsc)
Another FSC tutorial from Snuffykins
"Magic Adjustable Ring" for Crochet in the Round

Regular Stitches:
How to Crochet: Single Crochet (sc)
How to Crochet: Extended Single Crochet (exsc)
How to Crochet: Half Double Crochet (hdc)
How to Crochet: Double Crochet (dc)
How to Crochet: Triple (or treble) Crochet (tc)

Increases & Decreases:
How to Crochet: Single Crochet Decrease
How to Crochet: Single Crochet Invisible Decrease
How to Crochet: Double Crochet Decrease
Another Invisible Decrease
I haven't found an "increase tutorial" yet - but as a general rule, just do 2 stitches in one stitch to add a stitch to the row.

Special Stitches:
How to Crochet: Front Post Double Crochet (fpdc)
How to Crochet: Back Post Double Crochet (bpdc)
How to Crochet: Tunisian Simple Stitch (tss)
How to Crochet: Tunisian Knit Stitch (tks)
How to Crochet: Popcorn Stitch
Loop and Nub decorative stitch Tutorials (from NeedleNoodles)

Ends:
How to Change Colors in Crochet
How to Finish off and Weave In Ends
How to Minimize Weaving In Ends
Joining Yarn: Russian Join

Other:
7 Tips for Consistency
Using Stitch Markers in Crochet
How to Crochet on the Opposite Side of a Chain
How to Find the End of the Yarn in a Pull Skein
Master List of Crochet Abbreviations

Hooks & Yarn

Back in the day, my grandmother taught me to crochet. I was never very good at it (always managed to miss a stitch!), but it was fun. I dropped it for 10 (15?) years, and never really thought twice about it until about 2 weeks ago when I decided to give it a try again in order to (what else?) make a bellydance belt.

What's that? Yes, bellydance. Like many things, this too is Aertimus's fault. First gypsies, now bellydance. Well, it was only a matter of time.

So, a bellydance belt. I couldn't find a pattern for one I liked, but did manage to find Crochet Kitten's AWESOME blog. She has a great set of bellydance patterns, and I promptly made myself a set of Josephine Gauntlets (for which I need to take a better picture - this one will do for now!).

But, alas, no belt. I liked the pattern well enough, though, to fumble through my own adaptation of the "Josephine" stitching, and came up with something I am quite please with! Add fringe (this is the pricey part - even cheap ribbon is not cheap when you need a yard and a half for each fringe!) and a cowrie belt I found at a thrift store last year, and voila! Awesome dance belt.

Crochet? Want a pattern? Here you go.


 © K. Frank, Handmade Gypsy 2009. All rights reserved.

Well it's about time!

4 years ago was my wedding. We had this awesome photographer, who took TONS (like, 1200) of pictures, so you'd think we'd have a really cool album, right?

Nope. Bought the negatives, daunted by the possibilities (that perfectionist thing again), and never got it done! Even bought an album - just never put it together. So here we are, a week and a half before the big move (PA to CO!), and I'm finally doing it.

This is the progress, thus far:


It's a start! The real question is can I finish it soon enough to get pictures printed - before we move, and I have to find a new photo place I trust with my precious negatives!

(Looking for a good developer in Western Denver...)

Wenches of all stripes

First of all, I'm covered in cat hair. This is entirely irrelevant to the post at hand, but it was bothering me! Thanks to Peanut Butter and Jelly (no, I didn't name them - they're my friend's cats) for that. So now I'm sitting here at the shop, waiting for my car to be fixed (and drop another $1000 on it, I'm sure!), picking cat hair off me, and blogging. What else is new?

Back to the topic. Kia lent me her sewing genius this week - and is trying to make some of it rub off! - and helped me make a brand new chemise. The old shirt I had - well, it's getting old. Plus the poofy sleeves, while quite fun looking, are rather annoying at times! So it was time for something new to wear. I found some light blue-gray fabric on sale ($1.50/yard!) at Jo-Ann's, and got 8 yards of it. A garage/estate sale provided me with some really pretty lace at dirt cheap. So a new chemise it is.

Now here's the problem. Every time I go to the fair, I get more and more gypsy. Ok, so I can't do anything about the blonde hair. Sorry - I draw the line there. But still, I've racked up a pretty decent collection of scarves, belts, jewelry, etc., and can make a pretty nice gypsy costume out of it!

This fabric, though, is silky and pretty. And did I mention the lace? Add purple velvet bodice, and that it doesn't match my gypsy skirts, and I have a problem. It just may be that I have to go to faire this year and NOT be a gypsy. Or a pirate.

I might have to be - gasp! - respectable. Like an innkeeper's daughter (wait, no, that's Kia's role! I suppose I can't steal that). Perhaps a noblewoman? We shall see (and there will be pictures). I think I have a string of pearly-things that might work out well.

Nevertheless, I can't NOT be a gypsy, just for lack of a shirt. It's in my blood.

It just means I'll have to make another :) Less pretty (more wenchy?) this time! A gypsy's work is never done - and her wardrobe never complete.

What to do in your spare time

I've found a new hobby this summer. First you must understand that I am a teacher - or at least, have been for the last two years. Second, I used to play WoW.


To anyone *in the know*, this should immediately tell you that I used to have NO FREE TIME whatsoever. But now it's summer. And I quit WoW (for now, at least, until Kia talks me back into it). Read: I have free time now! At least til I move across the country in two weeks.

But for now, I have a new hobby. It started with going to Africa this summer, and being put in charge (okay, so I volunteered) of meals. Me, I like yogurt. And I've become rather fond of strange things, like bulgar wheat, wheat berries, and beans of many types. So I decided I needed some recipes, and I needed to know how to make these things that wouldn't be so easily found, say, 8 hours out in the middle of nowhere. So my experimentation began. Pita bread, yogurt, tortillas (on my lefse iron!), french bread. Modest experiments. But they worked!! So now I'm hooked. Why buy it when you can make it, and it's FUN? Now I've made some cheese, which tasted pretty good (needed salt), and bagels are next on the list to try. I'm not up for challenges, but this stuff is easy!

"Jungle Camp" Brownies are good (Thanks Maggie!) but I take issue with "makes 16" - not the way I eat them!



Pancakes are so bloody easy, why use a mix? More-With-Less (new favorite - discovered in Burkina!) has a good 10 different kinds. I made Wheat Germ Griddle Cakes (minus the mace - no clue what that is or where to find it!) this morning, in all of 20 minutes start to finish.

The upshot is, this is fun :) Trying new things, probably cheaper (but then, who knows?) and they sure taste better. Downside? My dear husband has more dishes to wash. Well. I suppose I can help with those - at least a little!

Check back for new recipes whenever I get the urge to try them (and feel like writing about it)!