I do not like this new 'updating' of Google blog. It has messed with and erased my posts, made it harder to do anything, and now requires me to use Picasa. I really don't like Picasa; it limits my pictures and I have to open it seperately to post pictures. I am considering moving to another blog site; if I'm going to have to repost everything any way why not?

St Valentine's Day

So for St. Valentine's day I made all my sister's hair pin kanzashi. My brother Robert and I made one for mom as well. I made up a new recipe for linguini using chicken, tomatoes, and king oyster mushrooms. They really do taste like oysters. A little cheese, some spices and pesto sauce and it was ready to go. Of course for dessert we had chocolate.(^.^)



Holly's hair pin kanzashi. I still think I should have painted a little white something on the middle bead.



Maggie's hair pin kanzashi, plus one for her doll. The big one looks longer than it really is; I have no idea why the photo came out this way

Nashville Parthenon

Today we went to The Nashville Parthenon. They filmed a movie here; Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. Of course, when they shot it the the new statue of Athena wasn't there, so that was totally different. It was funny watching the movie later and going "I know those water fountains, I drank from those!" I took a ton of pictures, though Maggie stole my camera halfway through; maybe she needs a camera next? Of course, the twins spent the most time trying to decide why this one statue had only part of his parts, if you know what I mean. Never mind it was missing his head; the fact that his trouser snake was gone was much more interesting.

The Parthenon. Notice the way the columns are shaped.

Is it just me, or does the scupltor of Athena have a snake fetish? She is covered in them, and she looks like one herself. The gold eyebrows and lashes don't help with the snake image at all; the only thing that isn't white or gold on her is her eyes. Apparently Greeks are one of those groups of people who think snakes are lucky or something. Yikes!

Amigurumi

Amigurumi is a Japanese word simply meaning knit/crocheted toy. Basically amigurumi are stuffed animals, dolls, etc which is made by knitting/crocheting the form of the toy and then stuffing. The method of making these toys is not Japanese at all; however, those that knit or crochet often use the word amigurumi simply because saying something like 'a stuffed, crocheted cat' is a mouthful.
Amigurumi are usually worked in the round, which means instead of working back and forth like you see in afghans and sweaters, you work around and around. Amigurumi have very few if any seams; often the only stitching involved is the attaching of limbs. They come in as many shapes and sizes as any other soft toy, and are gaining popularity with both handicrafters and toy collectors of all ages.
I crochet, not knit, so the only example pictures I have are of crocheted amigurumi. I can't knit something that doesn't look like a cat chewed it to save my life! However, if you search for images under amigurumi, you can see many different types. Some are really creative, like an amigurumi Spock^^



An amigurumi Curious George. He's over 60 cm (two feet) tall, and does NOT have a tail. Curious George is a rather odd monkey like that^^



A mouse amigurumi, roughly 10 cm (4 inches) tall