Saturday, December 28, 2013

crochet ariel and rapunzel dolls


as i mentioned before, these dolls were made upon request for our four year-old twin nieces, valentina and maria. maria adored her ariel and pushed her around so nicely in a baby doll stroller. valentina on the other hand swung rapunzel around and around by her braid, as hours and hours of work unraveled before my eyes. nooo!!!

of course i'm not mad, but leonardo was also returned with broken swords, so now i'm faced with the challenge of making these dolls sturdy enough to withstand standard american children lol.

at christmas time i always think of laura ingalls wilder and her little doll, her lone christmas present, that she loved and cherished like a real baby. it seems children today just get so much that they don't have the energy to care for it all.

anyway, i guess i can see the fun in swinging her by her braid. valentina is very active and probably just wanted to test out rapunzel's swinging capabilities.=) i'm glad i sewed the hair tight enough so that her body didn't fly off, but the braid is undone and the flowers are a mess. i'm thinking i'll make her a new doll with hair like ariel's, and maybe even take a stab at writing a pattern while i'm at it.

the bodies were made with this wonderful doll pattern. the hair was inspired by this ariel, and this pattern (among some others i can't find) helped me figure out a way to do rapunzel's hair.

thank you for the encouraging comments and suggestions on these dolls' progress - i couldn't have done it without you!=)

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

crochet jack skellington santa

after some late night stitching marathons, the dolls are finally finished. one of jack's legs is longer than the other and making the hands had me on the verge of a breakdown, but i'm happy with the way he turned out. the fuzzy elements and stitched mouth are my favorites.
wishing you and yours a wonderful day filled with laughter, love and joy.

xoxoxo

Sunday, December 22, 2013

crochet guinea pigs

oreo, cream puff, freckles, cappucino and snowflake



i had a little too much fun naming these baby guinea pigs and wish i could have made more. snowflake was made during a snowstorm and cream puff was made for a little boy with sweet cheeks. i had ideas for a yellow one named sunny and even started one i was calling peaches.

ariel is also finished and jack and rapunzel are almost there. my poor arm is screaming no more! with each stitch i make, but i don't have too much left to do. can you believe i hot glued rapunzel's arm on the wrong way?! she was so close to being finished and now i have to make her a whole new arm. grrr. that's what i get for trying to take the easy route i guess. (serious amigurumi-ists use stitches only.)

the weather is crazy warm this weekend and my pansies that were just covered in snow are standing up like it's spring! amazing. ok, enough procrastinating.

enjoy your day!
xoxoxo

Sunday, December 15, 2013

millet vegetable sushi

a few weeks ago i made vegetable sushi rolls with millet instead of our usual quinoa. i like millet but thought it was just ok in sushi. john said it was dry and meh. at least he's honest.

if you'd like to learn how to make vegetable sushi, chef jared shows you how here. if you already make sushi, i'd love to know what you put in your rolls!

as for the millet, i bought it years ago when i was first trying to eat gluten-free. it kept well in the fridge and it's cheaper than quinoa, though john definitely prefers quinoa. but i haven't made quinoa since i learned of its high oxalate content in relation to my interstitial cystitis symptoms. sorry johnny. he likes spinach too but i don't make anything with that eat anymore either. he'll be ok.

it's crazy that things i thought were super healthy for me (in particular quinoa, spinach, and kiwi) may have actually been causing me pain. it's made me see how important it is to be fluid. sometimes the knee-jerk reaction to new information is to reject it because we don't want to change our beliefs after all these years, or just because the truth sounds downright absurd.

i remember coming across and instantly dismissing negative spinach reports on health food sites. in my mind, spinach was one of the best things you could eat! (why did i think that? popeye?)

i'm not trying to deter anyone from spinach or quinoa. i'm just reflecting on and sharing my experience. if i weren't so awkward, i'd be able to make a really sweet analogy here to life and how when we remain open to new information and are willing to challenge and shed false beliefs, we can then shine new light on problem areas and maybe even learn what we need to move forward.

years ago i would have thought it crazy to make a medicinal tea from a weed that grows in the yard. now i can't imagine my life without plantain. it's wild, literally.

since i last posted about all that, i have been feeling really good. i've even eaten some spinach in a pesto, so it's probably ok for me in moderation. there have been no flare-ups, only minor discomfort a couple of times, which the plantain tea helped instantly. last year my flare-up occurred after the holidays, so i need to be mindful this season not to over-do it with the indulgent foods.

so how are you? how has your weekend been? we had another snow day and i helped my neighbor and his kids build a snowman on our lawn (helped as in brought out buttons and a carrot and patted it a few times saying looks great guys!) the older i get, the bigger the baby i am in the cold. i said i had to go in because i was feeling the early signs of frostbite in my fingertips, to which the five year-old girl replied, you should really get some insulated mittens kelli! ha! noted, little lady.=)
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