Sundial Agenda

I was just scrolling though the blog OMAkO's Posterous and found an awesome idea for agendas! (direct link to post)

I've always been really interested in organization (probably too much) and of course, if there's a way to do it myself, I will ^-^ For the past few years I've been struggling with finding/creating a functional agenda design, and I think the sundial approach is a very visual representation, which is awesome for me.

Piccadilly sells these agendas:

Each page of the Sundial Agenda represents either AM or PM, and you write your plan like spokes on a bicycle wheel, making it clear, intuitive, and easy to plan and see your daily schedule.

Muji sells a similar type of agenda, and I actually prefer theirs over Piccadilly, based on the feeling I get from their respective websites. Muji's philosophy:

MUJI is not a brand whose value rests in the frills and “extras” it adds to its products.

MUJI is simplicity - but a simplicity achieved through a complexity of thought and design.

MUJI’s streamlining is the result of the careful elimination and subtraction of gratuitous features and design unrelated to function.

MUJI, the brand, is rational, and free of agenda, doctrine, and “isms.” The MUJI concept derives from us continuously asking, “What is best from an individual’s point of view?”

MUJI aspires to modesty and plainness, the better to adapt and shape itself to the styles, preferences, and practices of as wide a group of people as possible. This is the single most important reason people embrace MUJI.
MUJI - in its deliberate pursuit of the pure and the ordinary - achieves the extraordinary.

And, based on Piccadilly's price tag of $12.95 to Muji's $5.50 for basically the same notebook... who needs the frills? Because that's what you're paying for, or so it seems. Not that I have anything against Piccadilly, because I've never used or purchased one.

I'm going to play around with this concept. But one of my main concerns is paper usage. Currently I use two pages to display one week, but the sundial uses two pages for just one day. I think if I opt for a smaller sized notebook or keep the size I have (which is a Moleskin Large Squared Notebook, 5.25" x 8.25" 240 pages) and just divide one page into AM and PM. That still uses a lot of paper though. If anyone has ideas on how to make this a more economical idea, I'd love to hear them!

Anyway, thanks Matt from OMAkO's Posterous for the great idea! (I hope I didn't weird you out by linking your blog, but I loved the idea so much)

This is how I knit:

(pictures from last night)

This is how I knit:

1. Obtain sleepy cat.

She likes to lay on top of my yarn and then play with it when I pull more out.

2. Turn on Golden Girls, or another awesome t.v. show, to listen to and occasionally glance up to watch the good parts.

3. Cold beer (^-^)

Lately, Session has been my favorite, but I always love Blue Moon or Alaskan Amber.

Although this setup works pretty well for me, I'd love to join a knitting/crocheting circle! I have a few friends who enjoy knitting and crocheting also, we just have to coordinate something =)

Hmm

I ran out of both Yogi Detox and Egyptian Licorice a little while ago and haven't been brave enough to try Timothy's again. But today I finally found Egyptian Licorice Mint!! (at the Good Food Store for about $5). Before I only drank it at school because it was relatively inexpensive, fifty cents or something for the tea bag.

However, after drinking a cup of it just now, I think I prefer the plain Egyptian Licorice; it's a bit sweeter. I still really like the Egyptian Licorice Mint, but not as much as I thought I did... haha.

On a side note, I was listening to 107.5 fm in my car the other day, and Rihanna's "Rude Boy" was playing. I've heard the song before but, like with all other song lyrics, I never paid attention to what the message was. OMG O.o !!! haha halfway through the song I realized she's singing very explicitly about sex. I have slightly mixed feelings about this, but overall it doesn't bother me. Except that I'm so slow to realize things like this.

Also, I've started a new scarf <3 The pattern is from Knit Scene special issue 2010, and it's an irregular rib scarf, basically alternating with different amounts of knits and purls. I'll post pictures once I've knitted a few more inches =) p.s. I'm reusing the yarn from the checkerboard scarf because I made a mistake and didn't know how to fix it...

Shower, Tea, Knit... a Perfect Order

One of the nicest things after a shower on a chilly, windy day, is a hot cup of tea.
Lately I've been enjoying Yogi Tea, especially the Detox, Egyptian Licorice, and Egyptian Licorice Mint.

However, in light of some spring cleaning, I found a few boxes of tea from past holidays. While my friends know I like tea, I'm very particular about the kinds I drink.

The one I chose for tonight was from Timothy's:







I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that the tea is in "silk" bags with actual tea leaves and not just tea dust. That said, I tried Chai tea, and it was horrible. After a few sips I couldn't drink anymore. Absolutely flavorless. It reminded of really bad coffee, like the kind that literally tastes like boiled cardboard.

I googled the company to find more information on them, but haven't found anything substantial yet. I did find that Timothy's manufactures individual "K-Cups" for coffee and tea...so you can brew just one cup at a time, I guess? sigh...lazy. I'll keep searching.

<:3 )~~~

Besides being misled cute tea packaging, I've started and stopped a new crochet project. After the black and white Granny Rectangle scarf, I decided I skipped a step in the process and started working on plain Granny Squares. I crocheted nine squares alternating in bright blue and spring green (both Red Heart), and single crocheted around each with black.



I started sewing them together, but I'm feeling a bit burned out of them haha I'm not used to projects of stop and go, only going! I would really like to finish this scarf by the end of the week, and I know I can, I just need to do it! I normally don't choose bright colors like this but I was thinking how nice it will be to wear a bright springy scarf in the middle of winter!

Also... I picked up my knitting needles again. I am horrible at knitting, mostly because I go too fast and then a stitch falls off and I don't know how to put it back on, or I miss a stitch...you really never know with me. Anyway, I found a SpiceBox at TJ Maxx today, and it's an Introduction to Knitting, which, I felt couldn't hurt even though I already know the basics (though not so well). Plus, it came with a few cute patterns, four skeins of wool/soy yarn, 5.5 mm bamboo needles, a darning needle and stitch holder, all for $7. What the hell =)

I really like the bamboo needles too. I have three sets of metal ones but compared to the wooden ones, they are much slicker. No wonder stitches kept falling off! (haha....that'll be my excuse). Anyway, I started a Checkerboard pattern which is new to me, but it's very neat looking!




I haven't knitted very much because it takes me such a long time! But you get the idea what it will look like, I hope. This wasn't the yarn that was included in my super box buy ;) it was just a ball in my yarn bag but I have a feeling it's Red Heart. It's a nice yarn to practice with because it's thin yet has a lot of stretch to it. I wonder what I originally bought it for...

Well, this has been a marathon blog for me because I've tried to squeeze three separate things into one. Hopefully my next post will less of a catch up of what I've been up to!

Happy crocheting and knitting!!

Black and White Granny Rectangle Scarf

I started this scarf yesterday after finding the pattern on wikihow.com (see previous post). This was my first time ever crocheting a Granny Square so I had a little trouble at times. For example, I didn't realize the first row of stitches would actually be the center! So my scarf might end up being a little longer than I imagined but this has been a great learning experience =)

My camera is really old so it's difficult for the close-ups to turn out well. The problem I found now with the scarf is that it's so dense in the middle and loses some of the bulkiness along the edges, so it kind of flaps and doesn't hold the shape. But I'm in the process of single crocheting around the edges so hopefully that will add stability.



The yarn I used was Caron Simply Soft in 7 oz. skein, Medium 4, and 100% Acrylic in black and an ivory sort of color.

I love the Granny Rectangle scarf because once I got the hang of it, it's super easy! I can't wait to experiment with crazy colors and heavier yarn.

I also found a great pattern on PBS's Create last night. It's a treble stitch with a post stitch using three different colors. I tried finding a picture of it but failed. Anyway, I think I can remember the gist of it so that's my next project. I haven't tried a post stitch so this should be very interesting =)

Pink Scarf

I started this scarf around the end of March while on vacation. Since I wasn't driving, it was a great way to pass the time! I usually single crochet or double crochet for the entire scarf, so I decided to add some more texture. To be honest, I don't know many different stitches and don't like following patterns. So for this one, I kind of winged it and decided how it should look as I went along...which worked well for me =)

I'm not quite finished with it as I ran out of yarn, but this is how it will look more or less.



And here's a close-up of the stitches:


I single crocheted three rows, then in every third stitch, I made three double crochets to make the little bubbles. I repeated this series of single crochet rows with the double crochet bubbles four times to make this scarf about four and a half inches in width and four feet long.

I would like to try this scarf again but alternate rows with different colors of yarn, which I think would make for a fun scarf!



For my next scarf project, I found it on wikihow.com here and it's my first try at a Granny Rectangle!! (square...) I really like browsing wikihow.com because there are so many different entries, especially on things that I've never really thought about making. I just realized today that there are probably a lot of crochet and knitting ideas on there and I was right =) I'm really excited about this Granny Rectangle scarf because it's really easy but looks so pretty.


Well, happy crocheting!!

How on earth do blogs ever become "established?" While trying to start my own, the openness and endless opportunity freaks me out. I'm also, in general, an indecisive person so making certain decisions about this blog are making my brain spin. The first post was an inspiration about haibun, but now I'd like to expand this blog to showcase more of my interests, such as crocheting, knitting, scrapbooking, photography, pens.... will that be too overwhelming? Certain blogs that I follow are specific only to pens, or notebooks, or amigurumi. Oh dear. I'm already feeling scattered.

Hmm...well, perhaps I will go at this blogging with whatever pops into my head. So I guess on that note, I'll take some photos of a scarf I'm working on and upload them soon.

Ganbarimashoo!




This is Berny <3 You will see a lot of her.