Crocheting

Amigurumi

Amigurumi is the Japanese word for "knitted (or in my case, crocheted) stuffed toy." Here's my first attempt.

MATERIALS:
Worsted weight yarn in cream and pumpkin
F hook
Yarn needle
Cotton balls*
Pearlized straight pins**
Pattern by Lionbrand.com, available here

I debated whether I should post the pictures of my finished product, since it's obviously not made that well/a little demented looking. Then I decided, what the heck. It makes me laugh every time I look at it, so that alone should earn it a spot on this blog.

And here it is...

My ugly-cute chick!

Hefa is the name :)

Check out the crazy looking beak :D

And here she is, looking like a winged banana...

Slam dunk? :D

Well, I hope Hefa's made you laugh, or at least have a little chortle.

*Polyfill is actually the "proper" stuffing for amigurumi. I didn't have any on hand, so I used what I did have - cotton balls - instead.

**Again, not exactly the "proper" material to use here. Basically, I decided to stick a couple of pins on the chick's head for the eyes because I was too lazy to sew the eyes on. Whatever works, right? :)

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Sewing

For as long as I can remember, I've been wanting to learn how to use a sewing machine. I mean, how cool would it be to make my own clothes, or just to be able to hem my own always-too-long pants? Well, I still don't know for sure just how cool it would be to do those things (though I can sure imagine!), but thanks to Ryan's mom and her saint-like patience, I present to you my first ever sewing machine project...


...A reversible apron! :)


What side 1 looks like in the front (I LOVE the print!)

The side view

Another side view


What the back looks like


What side 2 looks like in the front


A side view


Another side view



From start to finish, this apron took me about 6 hours. Yup, that's right, 6 hours - I started cutting the fabric (7 separate pieces of fabric were used to make this apron) at around 7 PM, made my last stitch at around 1 AM, and spent at the very least an hour removing bad stitches and restitching in between. I have to say though, I have never felt so proud of anything I've ever made, not just because I've never ever used a sewing machine before and was therefore totally out of my "comfort zone," but I've actually made something that's not just super cute, but is actually useful! Now, I love cute, useless things (as evidenced by the majority of my other blogs), but cute AND useful? Whoa. I'm impressed :D

Anyway, being the super ambitious (or should I say, totally clueless) person that I am, I actually picked up enough fabric to make two aprons - this one, and a full-body one - that I was going to make in the SAME day. Well, that didn't happen. So for now, I will just say that the 2nd one involves cupcakes. And polka dots...

Until next time! :)

Cooking

Bibimbap!

Driven by an incredibly strong craving for Korean food, I made my first attempt at making bibimbap (a popular Korean dish that literally means "mixed rice") last Friday. I must say that it turned out FANTASTIC :) Sure, it was a very labor intensive meal (LOTS of chopping and I sadly do not own any kind of "chop wizard" or the like) and it took me like two hours to prep/cook everything, but it was soooo worth it (not to mention much, much cheaper than if we had gone out!).

Ingredients (listed clockwise in picture below):
- Sauteed shitake mushrooms
- Sauteed carrots
- Sauteed zuchini
- Fried egg
- Cooked seasoned bean sprouts
- Cooked seasoned spinach
- Bulgogi (marinated Korean BBQ sliced very, very thin; I got this pre-sliced/marinated from the awesome Kim's Mart in downtown Davis. My trusty electric grill did all the work once I got it home)
- Cooked white rice (not pictured)
- Gochujang (not pictured; seasoned Korean chili paste, also from Kim's Mart; a must have for this dish!)



What it looks like when it's all assembled.



YUM!! :)