Today will be short, as I'm already posting this late! I had a hot pad in the shape of a watermelon slice from my Great Aunt. It's cute. So, I decided to make one of my own. It turned out alright, but I would have made a few changes to make it look a little more round. Ah, well. Here it is anyway and it'll still be hanging in my kitchen!
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Did you know eggplant comes in more colors than just that bodacious purple we have all come to love? If you're the smart readers I know you are I bet you do! Eggplants come in white, stripes, and even orange. Pretty cool. Shapes very as well. I am hoping one year I remember to order seed from some other varieties of eggplant to grow. I'm hoping they have a different texture or even flavor than the 'Black Beauty' that typically adorns my garden. Today I decided to stick along the 'egg' theme and knit up some egg cozies that look like little eggplants. I must tell you that last night, when I thought of the idea, I had it all planned out and was super excited to knit them up today. Not all went as planned. Below is the process (from left to right) I went through to get the right fitting size for my home raised eggs. First I made it too big. Then I made it too small for the bottom opening. The first two were knit from top to bottom, obviously a bad idea. I should have known better, as these are almost like little hats for the eggs even though the egg is fully encapsulated in the cozy.
Several hours had passed and I was feeling very frazzled. On the third try I finally got it right. I knit it up in white to look like the more unusual (to most of us) color of eggplant and to be a little more egg-ish. I then knit up a second in a deep purple. Both are spectacular and with these in my home I am now keen to start using them whenever I boil eggs for a meal! When I was a kid I used to hate eating peaches fresh. Their fuzz bothered my tongue. It only makes sense, right? Thankfully, today I do enjoy a nice, fresh, juicy peach. Last year we planted two lovely peach trees in our orchard and I am impatient for the year that it bears its first fruits. It'll be a couple more years, though. Good things come in time. Especially when it's a peach! For today's challenge I wanted to try two forms of peaches. A regular type peach shape and one shaped like those donut peaches. Have you ever tried one? I've really wanted to, although I'm sure they really don't taste any different -- minus the nuances that come in different cultivars. I think it's just that novelty shape that gets me! I'm definitely a sucker for something offered in a new form. I tried finding a pattern for a cool peach online, but I had no luck there. So, I took the time to whip up these two peaches on the fly this afternoon. I am pleasantly surprised at how well each turned out. I crocheted it with a nice peach colored yarn and added stem and leaf embellishes for a finishing touch. I am contemplating rubbing some rouge on them for a pretty blush, but quite honestly I am a little afraid to try. I'm sure it'd turn out okay in the end, but I DO like them just the way they are.
Right now I don't have them written down, so it'll take me some time to do that. You should be able to find the pattern on my Ravelry shortly. Radishes are one of the easiest and first crops to get going in the spring. I myself don't like eating them alone, but the DH does. I prefer mine as a garnish or added zest to a salad or meal. With my apparent distaste for the root veg on its own you'd think I'd whip up a radish and be done with it. Well you're very mistaken. I took today's challenge to crochet something that I've been itching to do for ages! Yes, it involves my obsessive love for all things Harry Potter. Yes, it's something that I can wear. Yes, not people get it when I tell them what they are. >_< Here are the pair of Dirigible Plum earrings that I made for today's Radish challenge. They DO look like radishes as the ones Evanna Lynch wore for her character of Luna Lovegood in the HP films look like a typical radishes as well. Truthfully, Dirigible Plums are orange in color. It wasn't until I had finished that I had remember that there is a gold variety of radish that I really should have styled after. Ah, well. I stayed true to the films and challenge at least.
I digress. The earrings are actually clip-on earrings. I don't have pierced ears and do not care to pierce them. I do like to wear earrings, though. I chose to use the blank earrings that did not have the dangle-y feature. I think that style is a little ugly personally (at least with clip-ons) and I could make them dangle just fine by myself, thank you very much. As you can see, I used a couple rhinestones to cover up a sticky area on the clasp that you would put a normal flat earring or whatever. I'm not a jewelry maker I don't know the terms! Then I wrapped the showing gold bit with green crochet thread, made a long stem like piece to attach the radishes too, and tied it off. On the back side I used a fabric clue to hold the loose ends of thread in place. It all worked very well and I'm SUPER happy with they turned out. :) I shall don them whenever I wear my other HP apparel, or maybe just as I garden. ;) While at the store yesterday, I picked up a couple lemons. Partially as inspiration for today's challenge and partially as an effort to use up some of the egg glut we are currently in. What do I mean by egg glut? Well, we have 10 laying hens (which we got last year at this time as little peeping fluff balls!). Since the weather has gotten warmer and the light levels have increased we have been getting more and more eggs every day. I decided to give Angel Food Cake a try and with the leftover yolks I made a luscious lemon curd! I may not have any cake for you, but today is still QUITE a treat. For day 10 of the #marchmarketmedley challenge I present you an awesome new pattern. Complete with an overload cuteness. I couldn't help but crochet another little amigurumi. This one is a puckered little lemon that you can't help but squeeze! You can find the pattern in my Ravelry Store or my Etsy Store. Either way I hope you pick up a pattern for yourself and make one of these little guys for yourself. Share your creation on Instagram with the hash tag #MissNissDesigns Avocados are hard to make. I mean knit or crochet wise. The whole thing just wants to fold into itself and it's a bit hard to get the facing to look flat. I made one though! My initial idea was to have two halves, one with the seed and one without. Then give them little arms and legs so they could *hug* :D Due to my struggles with the design I decided to go another route. I made only half an avocado with the seed, gave them faces, and let them be sit happily together! I won't be doing up a pattern for this challenge creation, because I don't like how it turned out in the end. I do have the inspiration for a different pattern in the future, though! Hopefully that one will turn out. Nothing tastes more like sunshine to me than citrus. It's a treat to dig into a juicy grapefruit in the depths of winter. Sweet, tart, bitter. The memories it invokes. My Grandparents would winter in Texas and would always have a crate of grapefruit for my parents. I remember this very little, but when I eat a grapefruit I always think of my Grandparents. Today's creation is a large coaster, but would really do better as a hot pad. Either way I like the colors and the white cotton that divides the sections of fruit. You can find similar patterns on Ravelry or Pinterest by simply searching for citrus coaster. Did you like broccoli as a kid? I didn't unless it was in a cheese soup. It wasn't until after high school that I really loved to eat this nutrient dense vegetable. We also grow it every year in our garden. We've had most success with a variety called De Cicco. It's a nice flavored, early variety that continues to put on side shoots after the main head is cut. Superb! As for my creation I decided to knit a broccoli florette. I could have easily crocheted one, but so far in this challenge I haven't done ANY knitting. The pattern uses only two stitches - stockinette and seed stitch. You can use your finished broccoli however you like, but I gave it to my cats as a toy! They absolutely love it. Knit Broccoli Pattern Materials Stitches
Worsted weight yarn Cast On light green and dark green Knit (K) Size 5 DPN Purl (P) Scissors Knit two together (K2tog) Tapestry Needle Purl two together (P2tog) Poly-fiber Fill Pattern Cast on 9 stitches onto your DPN 1.-13. Knit around (9) 14. Increase in each stitch around (18) 15. *K1 with light green, K1 with dark green* repeat around -- Break light green and continue with dark green only -- 16. *K1, P1* around 17. *P1, K1* around 18.-25. Repeat rows 16 and 17 26. *K2tog, P2tog* repeat 4 more times (9) 27. P2tog, K2tog, P2tog, K2tog, P1 (5) F/O and cinch in the top opening. Stuff broccoli with fiber fill using the stick that usually comes with the bag. This can take a little patience. Cinch in bottom part of broccoli and you're done! Sunday's them was Grapes, as you see in the title. For this challenge I wanted to do something a little more delicate and 'old school.' I chose to crochet a doily. Now, crocheting doilies isn't necessarily out of fashion (though maybe it is), but I envision it as something my Grandmother or Great Aunts would do. Don't get me wrong, there are lots of cool patterns out there. Old and New. I just think it's an antique technique that not a lot of modern crocheters continue to do. The pattern I found is called 'Grape Harvest Doily' by Jo Ann Maxwell. The pattern link is through Ravelry, however, that link will take you to another site that you do need to sign up for. The sign up is pretty simple, though, so don't fret! After that the pattern is free and easily printable to take with you. I chose to crochet this project in a lovely green and lavender. I know grapes don't come in this color in real life, but a pastel purple is just irresistible to me. My doily measures roughly 6 inches across. I think it's the perfect doily to set a candle on or an evening glass of wine - I mean, it's grape related! What a day it has been here. I've spent most of it planting seeds in hopes of a beautiful and well stocked garden this year. Though it's fun to play in the dirt, I sure do enjoy creating things for this challenge! Today's produce of choice is the KIWI. Now, in this challenge there are quite a bit of fruit that I wouldn't normally be growing in the climate zone that I live in - Zone 5b (if you're curious). However, did you know that there is a hardy variety of kiwi? It can tolerate our colder climates of the north, but are a little different. The fruit themselves are smaller than the typical kiwi you find in the grocery store and they also do not sport a furry coat. Either way, they're just as awesome! I'll let you know on flavor when the ones in my garden fruit. ;) For my kiwi creation I decided to forego a knit or crochet item and jump right into something I've been wanting to do for AGES. I found these Pom Pom Fruit while perusing Pinterest. I didn't have a practical application for them yet, so I hadn't attempted to make any of them (even though I had quite a few concepts float through my noggin).
The kiwi pom poms were a perfect fit for today's challenge. I made up one last night just to see how it would go. I really liked the way they looked, but admittedly mine aren't quite as neat as the Mr. Printables blog. Today I decided to whip up a couple more. Originally I thought I would make key chains for a back pack or my car keys, but I didn't have any fasteners that looked very good. So, I went for the next best thing - Garland. I made four smaller pom poms to go in between the kiwis, crocheted a long chain to fit all the pom poms, and ended the piece with a tassel on each end. I hung up my newly made home decor the way you normally would put up a garland. I didn't like it. Maybe if I had had some cute washi tape or something it would have looked better. That or I simply placed it in the wrong place. Either way, I opted to hang the garland vertically instead, right by my computer, where I can admire it! |
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My name is Annissa, owner of MissNissDesigns. I am a knitter, crocheter, sewer, and all around crafty lady. Archives
April 2023
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