OMG! 2008 in review

Introducing Eddie...

I just realized it's the end of the year. I'm just not paying attention to time.

In the past, I'm usually busy cooking all day, following the Japanese tradition of having a feast on New Year's Day. This year, I haven't even thought about it. I think I better go down to the nearby Marukai and pick up some sushi and mochi. I'm really getting lazy!

ANYWAY, here are the highlights of 2008!

CROCHET
Probably the biggest change this year was that I started crocheting. I guess that doesn't sound that big, but it really spun off into new directions. I discovered amigurumi and learned to improvise my own patterns. I joined a great community of yarn crafters on Ravelry. I made a ton of mutts and alley cats and sold them to benefit animals in need at the Best Friends Animal Society. I even got my mom and her friends interested in amigurumi and she's really enjoying it. I opened up a store on etsy called "Mutts" where I'm selling my amigurumi and patterns.

GARDENING
My SPF hobby business had a few new acquisitions. I finally got a new car, a Honda Element so I can actually carry more cargo. This made a big difference in my quality of life. I started a new garden at my father-in-laws house and he takes an interest in the garden and we have more bonding time. I started a worm bin in January and it’s expanded nicely. I got a food dehydrator over the summer and started drying fruits and veggies. My husband built me a new light bar for my seedlings and I’m now growing the best ones yet.

ECONOMIC CRISIS
It’s been a really bad year for everyone economically, so I’m glad to have the garden to supply our veggies. Gas prices went up to $4.50 gallon over the summer, so I bought a bike and started riding as much as possible. In a few months, shockingly, gas prices fell to $1.75 in December, so the bike is gathering dust for now. We’ve been cutting expenses as much as possible. The computer doesn’t stay on all the time anymore and the air conditioner wasn’t turned on in the heat of the summer.

TENNIS
I said goodbye to my tennis team. I’ve invested a lot of time to tennis over the years and I’m finding it harder and harder to stay motivated towards it. I’ve got my mind on other things right now, so I’m giving league tennis a break, although I’ll still play now and then to keep in touch with friends.

EDDIE
And last, but not least, this weekend we adopted Eddie. He’s a very sweet, alert, 8 month old and we hope he’ll be a good companion for Dusty.

Rainy Day Crochet

It was raining all day yesterday and it's really cold for So. Cal. It was too wet to go out farming, so I bundled up by a heater and crocheted while watching a Korean drama. It amazes me that I can crochet and read subtitles at the same time.

I was inspired by a cat on a teapot I brought back from a trip to Japan. Now I admit, my crochet cat is nowhere near as cute as the teapot cat, but hey, I said it was inspiration! I liked the heather blue yarn I was using. It reminds me of denim. I added the flower to the cat's ear to perk it up a bit.

Mutts

Check out my mutts. I call them Mighty Mutts. I'm having fun making them in different colors, with different ears and tails. In fact, I've made so many of them in such a short time, that my thumb is sore and keeps popping out of place. Ouch! These little dogs are a great way to use up yarn remnants. Oh, there's so many dogs to make. I'm also going to make alley cats, but that's still in the works. I'm in the process of writing up a pattern for these mutts, so if you are interested, check back later.

I'm hoping to sell these mutts to make money to benefit animals. One organization that I feel is very important is the "Best Friends Animal Sanctuary". If you would like to know more, check out their website at www.bestfriends.org.

First ami people - Sachi and Yonny

I was racking my brain trying to come up with a thank you gift for some friends who have everything. What to do, what to do? Well, I finally came up with the idea to make ami dolls of them. Sachi is my tennis team captain (yes, even farmers play tennis) and her husband Yonny owned a special Japanese antique store.

I made these ami dolls on the fly, that is, without a pattern and without even knowing what they'd look like. I knew that the hair had to be spot on, since it would be the only identifying characteristic. I started by making the doll body out of beige colored yarn and added some embroidery floss for hair. I had just come back from the Fiber Festival and had a delicious stash of yarn to inspire me into making yukata for their clothes.






I was happy with the final result and had a great time making them and learned a lot in the process. Onward!

Fiber Festival Loot

Thanks to the L.A. group on Ravelry, I found out about the Fiber Festival sponsored by the SC Handweaver's Guild. I went just to "check it out" and came home with this stash...

Wow, wow, wow. I had such a great time. I especially liked buying the yarn remnants for 25 cents to a couple of dollars. They are perfect for my little amigurumi projects. I bought a lot from Newton's. They had many skeins for $5 and $9 dollars that were regularly priced from $10 to $29. I also had fun buying these tiny beads priced $1 a cup. I would have missed this great show if not for my friends at Ravelry.

Three Dog Night

We've been having crazy weather around here. It's been hot, then cold in the same week, and then the pattern continues week after week. Right now, the Santa Anas are blowing through making it hot and dry which makes eyes ichy and skin start cracking. It's late October and today it was in the 90's.

Meanwhile, I've been busy crocheting my friend's 3 dogs; Hana, Kiku and Kanoa. Hana and Kiku are German Shephard Chow mix and I'm not sure about Kanoa.

I made these puppies up as I went along. It's kind of fun to adlib and feel like you can crochet anything. Crochet really has some usefulness and I can see how it would really come in handy in an emergency. For instance, say you are stranded on an island, as in the movie "Castaway". If you know how to crochet, you can make everything you need if you can find some appropriate fiber. You can make socks, shoes, slippers, clothing, baskets, rope, even a raft. Why not?

Delilah's in the house...

A friend is having a birthday tomorrow and a group of girls are coming over to my "farmhouse" to play some cards and share some food and laughs. I wanted to surprise her with "Delilah". Delilah is a grey and white, somewhat chubby cat who likes to talk a lot. She might have some siamese in her.

I made Delilah using two colors of yarn, grey and cream, crocheted together at the same time. This gives her a chunky, tweedy look. Then to dress her up a bit, I made her a scarf with a flower embellishment. She looks so stylish. I hope she gets along with the real Delilah.