in like a lion

In the past month, I have been crocheting a lot, and writing and making a few pieces of art. My friend, Pepe, commented on a painting I made. He said that it "looks like [Joan] Miro". What a compliment! In terms of my crochet, I made a lap blanket for a friend of mine, Lindsay, and I finished about half of another lap blanket. I am making the latter lap blanket with various scrap yarns. Please do not forget to check out my Etsy shop, Green Owl Crochet. Until next time... Ciao!

"Just Play #1"

close-up of scrap blanket

close-up of rainbow lap blanket

my cat, Callie, models the scrap blanket

Lion Brand London Kaye LKYC yarn and hooks

     Hello! As I've stated before, I've been working with super bulky yarns a lot lately. I've mostly been crocheting cat beds and cat mats for the local animal shelter. So far, I've made eleven beds and six mats for the kitties. I've also made some other fun projects, like another large rainbow and two mason jar cozies. 
     I first heard about Lion Brand's London Kaye LKYC yarn and hooks through the JoAnn website. I visit their website about once or twice a week. In late March, I noticed that JoAnn's website had a special advertisement featuring London Kaye's work. I had heard of London Kaye before, because of her yarn bombing pursuits. I clicked on the advertisement and it brought me to a page with Lion Brand's London Kaye LKYC yarn, yarn packs, and hooks.
     I needed some more large hooks, so I decided to buy the set of her three crochet hooks. The pack is currently 9.99 US dollars on JoAnn's website. However, when I bought them back in March, they were on sale for 7.99 dollars. The set contains all three of London Kaye's crochet hooks: a 9 mm, an 11.5 mm, and a 20 mm. They are lime green, hot pink, and electric blue, respectively. 
     These hooks are great! I love the way the lightweight plastic feels in my hand. The plastic is light, but does not feel cheap. The ergonomic handles do not tire out my hand,wrist, and arm as much as some other kinds of hooks. However, I have to admit that London Kaye's crochet hooks do not allow yarn to glide as smoothly as Clover's Amour hooks. Also, a small complaint I have is that there was a rough plastic nub on the tip of the 9 mm hook. I was able to file the nub down with a nail file, though. All that being said, I'll stick to using Clover's Amour hooks most of the time. I will, however, keep the London Kaye hooks for when I teach crochet, or for when I want a little variety. 
     Now let's talk about the yarn. The yarn is super bulky and 100% acrylic. It comes in twenty three colors. At first, I bought three of London Kaye's yarn packs: London Eye Blue, Roy G Biv, and Spread the Love. I used these packs to crochet the London Eye, two rainbows, and a heart. I got the idea for these projects from Lion Brand's video tutorials, which feature London Kaye herself. The yarn packs come with five skeins each. Plus, each yarn pack comes with an inspiration booklet. The inspiration booklet is interesting eye candy. However, it would be better if there were few patterns, or even just some yarn bombing and/or general crocheting tips, included.
     After quickly using up all the yarn from the packs, I went on to buy twenty one skeins of Lion Brand's London Kaye LKYC yarn in the middle of April. I feel conflicted about the yarn. I appreciate that the price is low, the yarn soft, and the colors vivid. I also love that I am supporting London Kaye, whom I admire. I do not, however, enjoy that the skeins are so small (only twenty yards!). I've also found that almost every skein I've used has one or two knots in it, which is such a pain. 
     All in all, I'd recommend Lion Brand's London Kaye hooks. I'd say that the yarn collection is worth buying, with some reservation. I'd especially recommend Lion Brand's London Kaye yarn if you're looking for an affordable yarn in small amounts, say, for yarn bombing or another project that could benefit from the yarn's attributes. 

crocheted motifs, oh how I love thee! (February 2016 update)

I hope everyone had a nice Valentine's Day. I exchanged gifts with two of my friends to celebrate. Alas, because of the post office being sluggish, I didn't get my gifts before the holiday. That's okay, though! I can be patient (sometimes). I also exchanged Valentine's day cards with people from my postcard exchange club and some of my pen pals.

I've been crocheting a fair amount of motifs. I love to crochet them! Do I have a use for them? Not usually. But they are fast, fun, and easy. What's not to love? 

I made two paintings last week. I also started on another one. It felt good to whip out my acrylic paints again. I so rarely paint. I really should do it more often.

December 2014 Update

     Hi all! I've been crocheting up a storm. Most recently, I've made a cactus stuffed toy and two beanie-style hats. The cactus was for an online friend of mine who was nice enough to pay for both the cactus and the shipping (all the way to Norway!). I'd made my friend's mom a shawl, too. The shawl took me a long time to make, but it's worth it because I really wanted to show my support of my friend and his mom while they go through a difficult time. 

     I've also been making a wee bit of mail art and I wrote a short story that may become part of a novel. 

     The other fun thing I did was follow a suggestion from the lovely Ms. Keri Smith. In one of her books, How to Be an Explorer of the World, she suggests an exercise where you blindfold a willing participant and have them touch objects. They then have to guess what the object is. So, I made a texture board and had my mom touch the various objects and guess what they are. I told her that if she got at least 5/7 correct, I'd give her a prize. She got 6/7 correct, so I bought her a box of chocolates. It was fun! 

     Please pardon the look of my blog while I fix it up a bit. 

     Happy holidays, everyone!

July art & a poem!

I've been crocheting a lot, but haven't really been making as much art as I'd like. Here are some pictures of the mail art I have made. Also, I'm including a picture of my mom holding my first-ever blanket! It's a yellow baby blanket made with a simple V-stitch. Also, here's a poem a wrote at the beginning of July:


Stumble

Laying in the grass,

my head on your belly,

I gaze at the sky.

We talk about what

it means to be

fully alive.

I don't want to merely glide

through conventional motions,

I say as I watch a heart-shaped

cloud pass by.

I want to stumble on a

path that is my own,

then rise, slightly bruised,

but better.