Cow Mittens

            Happy Easter everyone! I hope you've been having a lovely day... Today I have finished making a pair of cow mittens. Rather suiting, I think, being Easter. Cow are kinda springy, Eastery animals, right?

...anyways...

            Take a look-

             I made these in sections (or pieces) and sewed them together, quite the same as the St. Patty's gloves I posted on St. Patrick's Day. I used...

• size 10 1/2 needles
• three colors of standard yarn (nothing special): pink, white, and black

             The pieces I made:

• eight same-sized black circles for the eye pupils and nostrils
• four same-sized white circles for the eye whites
• one, white, one black, and four pink ear shapes.... As you can see, one of the ears on each mitten is the thumb part. A pink ear shape is sewn on the bottom. The black ear shape and white one also have pink on their undersides. They were just sewn together, then sewn onto the mitt.
• six different black spots... Three go on each mitten. I just made random shapes for these, even more unorganized and left to my whims than my "pattern making"... Just knit and add/remove loops whenever, keeping them at a reasonable size.
• two white thumb pieces, which are just rectangles the length of a thumb and folded diagonally. One of these days I will show you how to do these things step-by-step with pictures, but not today as I'm dedicated to showing you my mittens.
• four pink rectangles for the nose
• four sloping rectangle things for the wrist part... basically look at your hand from the middle of your palm to past your wrist... this is the shape I'm talking about.

            I'll now leave you to your imagination  as to how to put that together... Someday, I shall also post real patterns I make for you to follow, as these are just kind of "run-throughs" of things I've made. Making a pattern should be fun!! :) Hope you have a good Easter!

Be brave!

       Ari

Wind and Dust

            Hello! So the weather here in Where I Live, New Mexico has been incredible.That doesn't mean it's good. It's windy. This isn't your average wind, either. It looks like the Dust Bowl.

            That's the view from my window. Obviously, you can only see my car, and the measly outlines of the house across from us and our tree. That giant dust cloud? That's the street that normally stretches on out of sight. Today, it's just out of sight...

            That is our front porch, or part of it. I sweeped it yesterday afternoon. :( More sweeping...

            This may not look too bad to some of you, but it was worse about three hours ago. Earlier today, I had decided to do some errands on foot. It was not my smartest move, as after about thirty minutes I looked like I had gotten an amazing tan, and my face looked like it had very poorly done stage makeup intended to imitate elderly age. I could not see more than ten feet in front of my face. I hope this clears up to my favorite sweltering heat. Well, bye for now!

Be brave!

      Ari

St. Patty's Gloves

            Top o' the marnin' teh yeh! Happy St. Patrick's Day! Now I have a wonderful green knitted creation to share with you today: A pair of pure green, bamboo-spun yarn gloves!

            It didn't take too long to make these. I really almost never use knitting patterns, so I made these off the top of my head. If you'd like to be guided in the right direction to make something like this, here are a few pointers...

• I used green bamboo spun yarn. It is, in fact, the very same yarn that I used to make the tassels in last post's scarf.
• I used size 10 1/2 needles
• Rather than using some crazy pattern, I knit eight different size rectangles and used a tapestry needle to sew each piece in the correct area. I'd have a set number of loops for each finger or hand piece, and I'd just knit until the length of it matched the length of the actual person's hand. Here's a diagram:

Thank you Grandloving.com for hand outline

• Please keep in mind that these particular numbers are for a full-grown man's hand. I also had to add on to the end, as the wrist part came out a little bit short, so I knit a short bit with 32 loops and sewed it onto the end. :)

Be brave!

     Ari

Chinchilla Scarf

            Hello readers! Well, today I actually have something I've just knitted for my father for his birthday (which is actually in October). Unfortunately, it's not of much use now that summer is starting to role in (where I live, spring only lasts about three days). It is very thick and warm, though, so it will be good for next winter.

            Nice, if I may say so myself? :) If you want to make one similar to it, I used:

• three types of yarn: the tassels are bamboo spun yarn, and the main body is striped with two different colors of the same material, which is the thick "chinchilla" yarn.
• size 15 needles. I must tell you that knitting with this combination of needles and yarn is a bit rough on your fingers, so be gentle.
• eight "loops" (I don't know what you call the little loops on your needles when you knit, but from now on, that's what I'm referring to when I say "loops"). Again, thick yarn!!

            I actually used all of two balls of yarn for the main body alone, and just a little for the tassels. Oh yeah, and I used no fancy stitching, just standard knit one, knit one, knit one..... Well, hope you enjoy!

Be brave!

      Ari

Hair Care

            Hey, readers or people just passing through random parts of the internet! :) It's late, and although it's Spring Break for me, I've been quite busy, so I'll keep this quick. I wanted to talk about hair care.
            My hair has sort of been on my mind as of late. The way it feels, the fluff of it, how easily it breaks when wet, the way light hits it and it goes into a million flecks of orange and gold even though I am and have almost always been brown-haired. I don't even know if that's healthy, and I admit I've been fascinated. Here are some care tips I've gathered through the years that I simply must get in the practice of:

• Washing it everyday is apparently bad. That makes it dried out and brittle (or so I've heard). Hair needs it's natural moisturizers, and when you are always washing them out, it never has time to do it's stuff.
• Conditioner!! This also helps with the said above problems. According to some sources, you must never go without conditioner.
• Brushing when it's wet is bad. We've almost all heard that awful riiip sound when we brush out hair when its wet, knowing about fifty hairs are now without their ends. Well, as you might have guessed, that's bad.
• Ironing is also bad and blow drying!! I never iron my hair. If I want to curl or crimp it, I take a shower the night before and wear curlers (for curling) or lots of braids (for crimping). I don't know what to do for straightening, as I've never had that problem (my hair's naturally straight)... But this way I've mentioned is much better for hair, and it looks more natural!
• Eat healthy. I know this comes up in everything, but it's true.I cannot express enough how much eating affects everything. Fresh fruits, veggies, lots of water, and un-greasy, healthy foods are the way to go. Seriously, they even have influence on the overall moods you're in. I heard once that when you eat a lot of junk food, you tend to be more cranky.

            Well, that's all for now. I told you it'd be brief, and I'm pretty tired. :) Hope you liked it!

Be brave!

      Ari

Book Binge

             Hello lovely readers! Life has been extremely busy this week, it's amazing how everything is so fast paced! The play is over, I am thankful to say. It was fun but very time consuming. Unfortunately, I did not have time to exhale as this term is wrapping up, tests and all work is due tomorrow, I have state tests that greatly affect graduation in a few weeks, and a very inconveniently placed Spring Break is planted in the middle of it all. Wow, did I really just complain about Spring Break? How foolish! It will be nice to have all this pressure lifted for a mo'.
            My brain also decided to have a huge reading binge. I tend to have odd reading habits. It so goes that I will hardly touch a book in months, then all of a sudden I just can't get enough and I'm devouring a novel a day. You can see, as how I'm very busy, I do not have time to sit around reading books all day, but my book-binges still make themselves most prominent. My last binge lasted from early spring to late summer,  and a lot of those books were really good. Many of them are now having sequels or sequels to sequels coming out now or very soon, and so they have resurfaced to my mind.
            Here are some books I've recently read/read last summer:

• Delarium and Pandemonium, Pandemonium being the sequel. About a society where love is considered to be disease.
• Divergent and Insurgent, Insurgent being the sequel. About a city where people are separated into factions based on personality stereotypes and how that is problematic.
• The Hunger Games and its correponding books. Very popular, and not unworthy of it, either. About children killing each other due to unfair government.
• Matched and Crossed, Crossed being the sequel. About a girl who lives in a city where significant others are chosen for you by the government.
• Maximum Ride series, which is about a band of genetically mutated and abused children on the run from just about everyone and try to save the world.
• Of Poisedon was about a girl who gets mixed up with a fish guy and she finds something fishy about herself, too.
• A lot of books by Robin McKinley
• The Girl of Fire and Thorns was about a girl with gem stuck in her belly button.
• The Selection was about a girl who was "honored" by being chosen to be one of the prince's suitor, but as she harbored a secret relationship with someone else, found a few problems. I rather favored this one.
• Entwined by Heather Dixon. I adored this book. About twelve sisters who secretly dance in a magical room they found with a handsome man. But is this man all he seems?
• Harry Potter. I am currently rereading this series. It's too good to just read once!
• Wake by Amanda Hocking. About a girl who's life is turned upside down by three sirens (the Greek myths)

            There were of course more, like Animal Farm, The Outsiders, and such, but those are classics, and the ones listed above are fairly new and/or have sequels coming out, which leads to my next list.

            Here are some books I have waiting in line to be read:

• Requiem, the final book of the Delarium trilogy I mentioned above.
• Convergent, or so I've heard because the title isn't solidified yet, is the the final book the the Divergent trilogy mentioned above. Hasn't come out yet, though.
• Reached, the conclusion to the Matched trilogy mentioned above.
• Nevermore, the final book of the very long Maximun Ride series
• Of Triton, the next book in the Of Poisedon series which is fairly new and rumored to have five books.
• The Elite, the sequel to The Selection, and is not out yet. :( I am particularly excited for this one.
• Lullaby, the sequel to Wake, and isn't out yet.
• the rest of Harry Potter that I haven't finished (Half Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows)
• Mary Queen of France, a novel that looks interesting that my uncle sent. Apparently she was my great great great great great great great great great great great great great great grandmother or something.
• Beautiful Creatures, which I saw the movie for. It was about a young witch who is worried about a curse that will turn her bad.
• Heaven is for Real, about a young boy who has a near-death experience while in surgery and visits Heaven. Based on a true story.
• The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. Enough said.

            If my binge isn't over by the time I finish these in about two weeks, perhaps I shall tackle something more classic and literary, like To Kill A Mockingbird or Great Expectations, the book my father tried to read to me when I was little but I kept crying because I felt he was Joe.

Be brave!

      Ari

"Music Man" Opening Night

            Hello readers! Today is the opening night of "The Music Man" musical at PHS. I am playing my flute in the pit. It's not all singing and dancing, now is it? Where would we be without the background music? I love dancing though. Hopefully next year I will be in that part of the production. Most of my friends are in this one, and for some of them, it is their last before graduation. Wish them (and me) to break a leg! :)
            "The Music Man" is quite a funny musical.

Be brave!
       Ari