Patchwork Pumpkin

This project is actually an UFO. I bought this yarn, a beautiful merino and I started knitting a poncho. Right off the back I realized the color was a little bit bold for a poncho, then, the yarn started breaking up. Yeap... breaking up.
The piece became this big UFO and I had no idea what to make of it.
Since my sister-in-law makes beautiful patchwork items, I bought a piece of fabric (lining) and she stuffed the pumpkin for me. I added up some leaves and the stem is knitted with the I-Cord technique.
I think it would look really cute in a basket, as a table centerpiece or pincushion.
Happy knitting!!

50 days of pain

Credits: everything from denin & daisies
I’ve been in bed for about a month and 20 days. My knitting has slowed down because in part, I am not 100% back into my physical shape and not out of pain yet. Sitting down has been challenging and I cannot knit lying down in bed.
Besides, the pain gets on my nerve and irritates me to a point I want to throw my knitting needles and all my 500 skeins out of the window.
I have never been incarcerated, but people like Marta Stewart got in-home incarcerated, she had to wear those GPS bracelets. You got green you’re in safe zone, if you accidentally
go beyond the perimeter, red light flashes and you have to get your butt back inside the safe zone.
Well, in my case, I try to move around, to do the resistance band, do my abs, my walking, but when it starts hurting, I’ve got to get my butt back in bed and take it easy.
So, the only thing that distracts me and takes my mind away from all this misery is my computer. I am glued to him 25/7 and it keeps me so busy I don’t see where time goes to.
I have learned a lot about Photoshop and I embedded the subtitles to my first translated movie. It is not perfect yet, I’ll get better by practicing. The process is long and sometimes I get tired and go back to my Photoshop tutorials. I love doing both.
I am posting 2 new layouts today.


Credits: I learned and created the tape technique from an online tutorial.

Estou de cama em torno de um mês e 20 dias. Meu tricô está devagar porque em parte, não estou fisicamente 100% e sem dor. Sentar é ainda um desafio e eu não posso tricotar deitada na cama.
Além disso, a dor começa a dar nos nervos e me irrita a ponto de querer jogar meu tricô e todos os meus 500 e tantos novelos pela janela afora.
Eu nunca fui presa, mas pessoas como Marta Stewart ja passaram por isso, e sabem como usar aquelas tornozeleiras eletrônicas. Se está verde você está em zona segura, se você acidentalmente vai além do perímetro, a luz vermelha pisca e você tem que trazer o rabinho pra trás de volta para a zona segura.
Bem, no meu caso, eu tento dar caminhadas, fazer a faixa de resistência, fazer meus abdominais, mas quando começa a doer, eu tenho que deitar meu rabinho na cama e sossegar.
Assim, a única coisa que me distrai e faz minha mente voar para longe de toda esta merda é o meu computador. Vivo colada nele o tempo todo. Ele me mantém ocupada e não vejo nem o tempo passar.
Eu tenho aprendido Photoshop aos montes e já traduzi e incorpororei legendas em inglês pela primeira vez num filme. Não está perfeito ainda, eu vou melhorar com a prática. O processo é longo e às vezes eu me canso e volto para as minhas aulas de Photoshop. Eu amo fazer as duas coisas.
Hoje estou postando dois novos layouts.

Labor Day

Everything from:Denin and Daisies – from sunshine designers


I’ve been feeling much better for the past few days. For one, August is past gone and I feel relieved and prepared to breath the fresh air of September. Superstitious or not, August has never been a lucky month for me.
Secondly, I’ve been taking some scrapbook classes online and just over the last few days, I’ve learned new skills such as: clipping mask, how to make and save styles, cut out brushes, stitching, torn paper effects, add path to text. Now I am feeling more confident with my abilities. My next challenge is going deeper into extracting pictures and doing collage.
There are tons of beautiful layouts I get inspiration from.
I don’t mind there is no money coming in for this. I feel productive and learning more photoshop really does no hurt. Past week alone I finished off three layouts and I am posting one of them today.

terrain

The owl vest is already off the needles and does not fit Fernanda’s baby. He’s only 5 months old, but he is wearing an equivalent of a 2 year-old boy(exaggerating a bit)- Oh, well… there I go once again try to knit something that fits him. I decided for the surprise baby jacket from Zimmermann’s book, The Opinionated Knitter and this time, it’d better to fit, because this yarn is way too pricey and it is the best yarn I have ever bought.
I got it two weeks ago and I felt in love with it. I am seriously contemplating buying a different colorway for future projects. The lady from the store seems to be a nice lady and after sending her an e-mail thanking her for the stunning yarn she wrote me back a short and sweet note:
“Thanks Gisley!
I really needed that email. My heart is all warm and fuzzy. I have a teen so this is a rare and wonderful state for me to treasure! I’m really glad you like your yarn. That’s *so* important to me!
Meg aka Twisted Dyer"
Of course I will go back to buy from her again. Of cooourse!!!! Yeap! Like I need an excuse to buy more yarn....
By the way, I love exotic tastes and this past weekend I made a shrimp and green apple salad and it was served with this dressing:

Apple and Shrimp Salad
Ingredients
2 lbs. shrimp, cooked and peeled
4 medium apples, (Granny Smith, unpeeled and cubed)
4 ripe avocados
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup ketchup
6 drops of hot sauce
2 Tbsp. cognac
2 Tbsp. dry sherry
2 tsp. Cherchies® Lem'n Dill Seasoning

---------------------------------------

●Cut shrimp into 2 to 3 pieces. Set aside in mixing bowl. ●Slice avocado in half, discard the pit. Scoop out avocado meat with a spoon (you will use the shell for serving). Cube avocado meat and add apples and avocado to the shrimp in mixing bowl. ●In a separate bowl, blend remaining ingredients to make a dressing. Add this dressing to shrimp mixture and toss to coat evenly. ●Spoon salad mixture into avocado shells. ●Place the shells on a bed of lettuce before serving.

Serves 8(I modified by not using avocado,cognac and sherry)



I eyeball the ingredients and by doing so, the first bite tasted a little spicy, so watch out for the amount of hot sauce.
This salad is perfect to be savored with a nice glass of dry white wine. Enjoy it!!

No bake cookies for Valentines

A friend made this quick and easy cookies. I loved and I am passing on.

Pedacinhos de crochê

My mom was a crochet addicted! She lived to crochet and she was quite good at it! Her life never revolved around one type of craftsmanship, but she really enjoyed crocheting. I remember seeing her really concentrate at it. She wouldn’t answer to anyone, talk or look to nobody, totally absorbed by it. I recall being a bit of a pain to get her attention. Now, my karma comes back to me, when I’m knitting and my husband, Norman talks to me, trying to get my attention! Excuse me, I’m counting stitches here!!!!
Perhaps for my mom, crochet might have been the center of her universe. But then, when she finished her pieces, I would realize why she was so into it. She really enjoyed the intricate work: the detailing meticulously crocheted at odds hours of the night... soothing, more relaxing than Prozac, out of body experience. Who knows!!
After her passing, I kept some pieces that are the treasure of my life. So many more pieces got lost though! My mom is no longer with me, but her craft is my tidbits of her that I will always have…
Minha mãe era uma crocheteira viciada! A vida dela não era só esta arte, ela adorava diferentes artesanatos! Entretanto, crochê, era o seu passatempo preferido. Eu me lembro vê-la crochetar, e realmente se concentrar no seu trabalho. Ela não falava com ninguém, ou olhava para ninguém, enquanto ela crochetava. Meu carma voltou na forma do meu marido, quando ele tenta, incansavelmente tirar a minha atenção do tricô, para prestar atenção nele. Espera um momento, estou contanto agora!!!
Para minha mãe, talvez, crochê fosse o centro do seu universo: mais importante que qualquer outra coisa que a rodeasse. Mas quando ela terminava seu trabalho, aí eu entendia o porque de tanta introspeccão. Ela adorava trabalhos detalhados: os detalhes a levavam a crochetar até altas horas da noite. Era um calmante, um relaxante, mais poderoso que Dienpax, uma experiência extraterrestre. Quem sabe!!
Depois que ela se foi, eu fiquei com algumas peças, que eu guardo com a minha própria vida. Tantos outros trabalhos se perderam! Minha mãe não está mais nesta vida, mas o seu trabalhos, são os meus pedacinhos dela que eu sempre vou ter...

De-Loved

Seeing Harry Potter in his latest adventures against Voldemort´s dark forces was a bit disappointing.
Half Blood Prince is a pathetic excuse for a franchise that shouldn’t have gone any further after Order of the Phoenix.
Everything in life is a learning curve, but then, we get better at whatever we do, then we excel at it. Self-actualization, exactly like Maslow´s hierarchy of needs predicts .
Harry Potter on the other hand, never excels at any subject at that school of witchcraft and wizardry. Yeah, he did decent at the dark arts, but that was it. My girl, Hermione is much more talented and committed pupil, but Harry is the chosen one! Go figure! The sent message bothers me, I do not believe in predestination.
In every situation, Harry Potter is always in the middle of the action, however, he never pulls it off without external help. I mean, never….
One treat he really has is initiative, but I would love to see him going a mile ahead, without having to be helped by his mates, professors or Dumbledore.
Once more, all hell will break loose in the end (typical of every Harry´s movies), but I am not giving anything away! I am not here to spoil it to anyone. Watch it and you will come up with your conclusions.
My wish to Harry Potter: please grow up and master skills to achieve excellence.
By the way, it was a waste of three hours of my life. I might have broken up with him long time ago…
I forgot to mention Draco Malfoy... What was it with that hair cut ``a la queer´´ for the Almight´s sake.

Fui ver Harry Potter e suas últimas peripécias contra as forças do mau de Voldemort. Bem ruizinho.
Essa franquia não deveria ter ido além da Ordem do Phoenix. Eu acredito que o começo de todo aprendizado é dureza, mas daí, nós melhoramos naquilo que fazemos, e no final, aperfeiçoamos. Auto-realização, exatamente como a hierarquia de necessidades de Maslow prediz.
Por outro lado, Harry Potter nunca se aperfeiçoou em nenhuma matéria naquela escola de magia e bruxaria. Está certo, ele se saiu mais ou menos em magia negra, mas só. Hermione é muito mais talentosa, mas Harry foi o escolhido. A mensagem me incomoda porque eu não acredito em predestinação. Não é uma mensagem positiva e motivadora.
Harry tem estado no meio de tudo, entretanto, ele nunca sai das enrascadas sem ajuda externa. Nunca...
Um talento que ele tem é iniciativa, mas eu adoraria vê-lo sobressair-se sem ajuda dos seus amigos, professores, ou Dumbledore. No final desse filme as bruxas se soltam, mas eu não vou estragar nada para vocês. Vão ver e cheguem a conclusão por vocês mesmos.
Meu desejo para Harry Potter: cresça e desenvolva excelência.
Por falar nisso, foi uma perda de três horas da minha vida que não voltam mais. Talvez seja o fim do namoro (platônico) com Harry de uma vez por todas.
Ah, eu esqueci de mencionar Draco Malfoy... Aquele cabelinho corte à la gay, pelo amor da Santa Virgem...

Chá da tarde

Final de semana passado, fiquei em casa numa boa. Assim mesmo, sem fazer absolutamente nada, em perfeita mesmice.
Tenho zilhões de projetos em andamento, preparei um chazinho verde, e fiquei a tricotar entre um gole e outro. Chá é um ótimo revitalizador de energias. Adoro!
I just chilled at home this past weekend. Nothing to do, absolute routine.
I got gazillion of knitting projects in progress. I fixed myself a cup of green tea and enjoyed my day; knitting and sipping tea. Green tea is a great pick me up!