Easy Peasy

I had every intention of making a cute knitted snowman this week. Turns out he used size 3 double points and mine were clearly abducted by aliens. So, there I was on Monday deciding I needed a quick one.











Not to mention that this one stares at me every time I go

choose the week's project. Each time I think "Why did I get this? It looks ridiculously easy." I assume I saw it online and didn't realize how it was made. I probably shouldn't admit what is involved in this one. Glue 6 big sequins near the outside points, glue 6 small sequins closer to the middle, cut a pipe cleaner into a 3 inch piece and wrap into a circle, glue it and rhinestone. Flip and repeat.  It is ridiculously easy! Not bad looking in spite of that.

Oh yeah - I went and bought more size 3 double points.

Most of you saw a few giraffe encounter photos on Facebook. For my Ravelry friends who aren't Facebook friends (Hi Trudy and Melissa!) here are two:

Giraffe Week!

Anyone who knows me well knows that my favorite animal is the giraffe. Not sure what it is about them. Maybe because they are tall and quiet - so unlike me! Or maybe it's just that they are so beautiful and graceful. I found out recently that the Oregon Zoo has something called a Giraffe Encounter, a small (5 or less) group experience behind the scenes in the giraffe exhibit.

Last week I went on my giraffe encounter. The zoo photographer came along and eventually I'll have photos to share. I'm sure I'll have a totally goofy smile on my face in all of them! I learned some new things about giraffes in general (did you know that giraffes only sleep about 2 hours a day?) and our zoo's giraffes in particular. Then we got to feed them carrots, pellets and leaves and pet their noses. It was terrific.

So, in honor of this experience I made a needlepoint carousel giraffe. It's from a kit that has 5 other animals - none as awesome as the giraffe of course. Kind of cute, right? I might even be inspired to work on the zebra or lion in a few weeks.

I found something easier!

I believe we have established that I don't like cross stitch. One might wonder then why I have so many cross stitch ornaments. The answer is simple: Mom. My mother loved to cross stitch. I don't really know how she managed when she was my age and older - I think it's really hard to see those blasted tiny holes.

I inherited a bunch of cross stitch stuff from her. But I also bought a bunch of my own. Mom and I would go out shopping and we would each end up buying stuff for each other's hobbies. I started cross stitching because of that and did enjoy it more then. I will definitely finish the ornaments she started and maybe do a few more.


Now this ornament was a kind of stitching I enjoyed, even

with the little holes. It is on perforated paper with some beautiful, unusual fibers. And gorgeous colors! Anyone who has seen my knitting projects on ravelry (userid karenrc) knows that.

It was in a kit I bought on etsy. Unfortunately, the kit was missing one of the fibers. I thought about trying to find it at our local stitchery stores but ended up digging in my supplies and finding some peach ribbon that I think looks pretty. The center of the ornament was supposed to be left plain. I decided instead to use the pretty Watercolors fiber to make a big stitch pattern. It's finished by cutting around the stitching and mounting it on felt.

It filled the bill of being easier and was fun to do. I miss I had more cross stitch like this!

This one was a challenge!

Yikes! What a tough one. Actually not so much tough as tedious. LOTS of little tiny beads and pins. Probably made worse by waiting until Monday to work on it and then having a power failure at 5 PM (a tree fell on the line a few blocks away - no wind, no rain, no lightening - it just fell ?!?). Tedious not tough except for the bottom tassel. More on that later.

It seemed I should be able to easily finish it Tuesday. I barely did - leaving a few little things off. There is supposed to be some silver bead string wrapped around the jeweled center. I still can't decide if I like it. I might add it later.

Then there is that blasted tassel on the bottom. Oh my goodness. I almost threw it across the room while working on

it. All of the strands of beads kept tangling around each other I couldn't find a way to hold it to stop it from happening. I finally quit a few strands short of the number I was supposed to have. Sanity (or what remains of it) was more important. This morning I noticed that a few of the strands had loosened and were hanging down farther. I might try to fix it later but I think it needs a few weeks timeout first!

Next week will be simpler - it couldn't be much harder. But I will choose something nice and simple. I'm sure there will be more challenges later.