Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Day 45 pictures :)

Hellooo everyone!

:D
I hope you guys are having a great week! I am so glad today is Wednesday, because I have today and tomorrow off work! Yay! I have worked 5 days in a row with each one being 8 hour shifts with overtime. I am tired. I was able to sleep in this morning though, and boy was that super duper amazing! I woke up feeling refreshed and ready to enjoy my two days off and make something of my spring break other than work. I plan on going to a yarn store over the next couple of days :D I am very excited to go and marvel at all the lovely yarn all saying "take me home Nikkole!" haha. Well I do not have any thing new to show you as far as my creations. I am working on learning how to knit still, and I would rather not show you my failures quite yet ;) But I can show you my day 45 pictures from doing p90x! These pictures mark my half way point, and I can tell a huge difference in how I feel both emotionally and physically. I am very happy with my results, and I can't wait to start the next round all ready! Okay so here they are: This is my day 1... I was starting to become a whale.
Compare this to my day 30 pictures and you can see a huge difference!Tada! Here is my day 45 picture! Only 15 days after day 30 and you can see an improvement :D

I hope you enjoyed looking at my triumph! :D So as of today I have lost 11 and a half pounds, and I have lost about 3-4 pant sizes. Most of my clothes do not fit anymore, so that means I have to go shopping when I am at day 90! Such a great excuse to go shopping! I hope everyone has a great rest of the week! I will speak soon I promise (hopefully with a project this time)

Nikkole
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Thursday, March 17, 2011

Happy St. Patrick's day! Free Four Leaf Clover ring pattern :)



Nobody can pinch me today! bahahahaha!


I may only have a percentage of Irish in me somewhere, but I am going to fully embrace the holiday with my Four Leaf Clover ring :)

Want one yourself? Let me show you how :) I will do my best to explain how I made this ring, but let me warn you that this is my first go at pattern writing/explanation. I comprised this of a few different styles of clover patterns, but mostly from this youtube video: click here!!!! The only difference between this video and my pattern is the beginning and how to make the ring. That being said, here we go!

my abbreviations are as follows:
ch--chain
tr--triple crochet
sc--single crochet

You will need:
Green yarn (I prefer worsted or dk. the yarn I used is wool of the andes avocado from knitpicks)
4mm G hook
Tapestry needle

First start out with a magic ring. ( take the yarn and wrap around your finger(s) so that you have the cut end towards you and the connected yarn on the back of your hand)

Round 1: Ch 4 into the ring. Then tr into the ring 2 times. ch 3. It should look like this:


sc into the ring (we are going to be working in the magic ring the whole time, so do not cinch together)

Round 2: Ch 3 into the ring. tr into the ring 2 times. ch 3. sc into ring.
Round 3-4: repeat round 2.


You should now have 4 petals.
Round 5: ch 5, that way you now have the stem. cinch the magic ring together (pull on the cut end of the magic ring). cut and fasten off.

Now to make the ring. We are going to use a tapestry needle to weave in the loose end from the stem of the Four Leaf Clover go in between the stitches until you reach a petal. Weave yarn in and out of the Four Leaf Clover then cut the yarn.

You should now have one loose string of yarn in the back of the Four Leaf Clover. Thread this string into the tapestry needle and push into the Four Leaf Clover so that you have a loop. Pull this loop tighter until it fits sung on your finger. Leaving the loop at the size you want, continue to weave in and out of the Four Leaf Clover until the loop is sturdy. weave the string into your work then cut.

Tada! You should now have the ring! :D

If you have any questions or comments please let me know and I will be happy to reply! Have a great day! :D

Nikkole
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Monday, March 14, 2011

And so it begins....

Hello everyone!

I know it has been forever! I am so sorry :( Life has gotten quite busy over the last ten days. I try to post every three days or so, but it seems that when you are running around like a crazy mad person, you forget to find some to
blog. I am in the midst of the semester, so projects and exams are due. So I have been a busy girl! During the last couple of days, I have been working away! That's right! I got my job back that I was laid off from a couple months back. So now I have work on top of my 15 units of classes. Yay! I am so happy to be working again and getting regular paychecks. In celebration of getting my job back, Kevin was so sweet to give me a card with a gift certificate to a craft store in my area. I of course went shopping right away and got these lovely items :) I am excited to see what I can make with the bamboo yarn. It is so soft and delicate. I am also a little bit nervous to use the dpns. I am still new at knitting and hopefully I can pick it up pretty fast. I also have a couple of pictures from a learning swatch that I have been working on. So far I have learned a couple of things :) It's nothing special, but I like it just because I use it to learn :) Well... I guess it is time for me to return to the world of homework. Working now has limited my time to do homework even more than it already was. I hope everyone has a good next couple days! :) Enjoy the lovely weather changes :D (I get to see this every time I am on campus)


Nikkole

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Friday, March 4, 2011

Inches and Threads

Hello my lovelies!

How is everyone doing? I hope well! I am e
njoying a Friday night at home with my yarn and study guides. I have been working on studying for two exams next week, and the one I had earlier today (I did okay). I am most looking forward to the abnormal psychology study guide, because it is just so interesting! But first before I continue in the land of homework, I wanted to show you guys my latest project! I bought some supplies to start working with crochet thread, and so far I have had a few successes. I think my favorite is the multi colored flower :)

Today was also my day 30 for P90x! So far I have lost a total of 6-7 lbs and a little more than a full dress size. The biggest difference is in my waist, abs, hips, and legs.
Proof that this program really does work! I am even more excited to see how I look towards the summer time! Kev took this picture early in the morning, so forgive my tired, messy hair look ;)


I hope everyone has a great Friday!


Nikkole
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