Wordless Wednesday

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Snowflake Monday

Today's short and sweet snowflake was designed while watching the April 17 SpaceX Starship test launch, which ultimately was scrubbed and rescheduled. We'd watched "Martian" for about the 30th time the night before, and even though delays happen, oh, how awesome it is to think we will one day have astronauts step foot on Mars!

We are HUGE fans of space exploration, and we think it will be worth waiting for!

You may do whatever you'd like with snowflakes you make from this pattern, but you may not sell or republish the pattern. Thanks, and enjoy!

Finished Size: 3 inches from point to point
Materials: Size 10 crochet thread, size 7 crochet hook, empty pizza box, wax paper or plastic wrap, cellophane tape, water soluble school glue or desired stiffener, water, glitter, small container for glue/water mixture, paintbrush, stick pins that won't be used later for sewing, clear thread or fishing line

Starburst II Snowflake Instructions

Make magic ring.

Round 1: [Pc in ring, ch 3] 5 times; pc in ring, ch 1, 1 dc in top of first pc to form 6th ch 3 sp of Round. Don't pull magic circle too tight.

If you're not reading this pattern on Snowcatcher, you're not reading the designer's blog. Please go here to see the original.

Round 2: Ch 4 (counts as 1 dc and ch 2), 1 sc in same ch 3 sp, [in next ch 3 sp work (1 sc, ch 2, 1 dc, ch 10, 1 dc, ch 2, 1 sc)] 5 times, omitting last dc, ch 2 and sc of final repeat; sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 4; bind off. Weave in ends.

Finish: Tape wax paper or plastic wrap to top of empty pizza box. Pin snowflake to box on top of wax paper or plastic wrap.

If using glue, mix a few drops of water with a teaspoon of glue in small washable container. Paint snowflake with glue mixture or desired stiffener. Sprinkle lightly with glitter. Wash paintbrush and container thoroughly. Allow snowflake to dry at least 24 hours. Remove pins. Gently peel snowflake from wax paper or plastic wrap. Attach 10-inch clear thread to one spoke, weaving in end. Wrap fishing line around tree branch (or tape to ceiling or any overhead surface) and watch snowflake twirl freely whenever you walk by! Snowflake also may be taped to window or tied to doorknob or cabinet handle.

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Friday Funny

my part AI/part Photoshop interpretation of what Earth would look like with rings and more moons

Yesterday was "May the Fourth Be With You", and today is "Revenge of the Sith." So I'm resorting to space humor today. I have not yet been successful in creating an AI image of a sunset on the surface of Saturn, but I saw a pretty funny Star Trek challenge, and here are some of the best responses.

Prompt: Write a Star Trek script using only five words.

Computer, activate auto destruct sequence.

The Tribbles ate the ship.

Only the Red Shirts survived.

It was all a dream.

Kirk violated the Prime Directive.

First star to the left.

And straight on until dawn.

Beam me up, Scotty, now!

Don't wear the red uniform.

Hey, Red Shirt, watch out!

All the red shirts die.

There goes another red shirt.

And then it got worse.

Shaka, when the walls fell.

Enterprise encounters more advanced aliens.

Enterprise encounters less sophistacated aliens.

Star Trek: The Musical Episode

I said, "Shut up, Wesley!"

No intelligent life down there.

We traveled in time again.

Red alert! Raise shields! (Explosion.)

Enterprise goes out and returns.

Spot the Cat Strikes Back

Kirk, I am your father!

And Picard saved the day.

Explore strange new worlds. Again.

The holodeck is malfunctioning again.

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Motif Madness

Remember my way too long list of crochet motif UFOs??? Back in 2019, when my 10-year-blogging anniversary was approaching, I thought perhaps I could devote one Monday per month to at least a few motifs on an old project. Instead, I ended up starting at least one new crochet motif project!!! (Which also hasn't seen the light of day since July of 2019!)

Well, I've since started at least three more crochet motif projects. Only one is seeing regular and good progress, and that's my 2023 crochet temperature project.

I spend 15 minutes every single day to make the previous day's motif. The project, to me, is inspiring, motivating, envigorating and empowering... because I CAN keep going without sticking a beloved WIP motif project on a shelf. Without getting bored! I love working on this project. I love watching it grow. And it takes SO little time each day. 15 minutes. That's all.

For weeks now, I've wondered if I could also pick up a couple of other crochet motif WIPs to make one motif every day. That would mean 45 minutes per day instead of 15, and I don't know that I can keep that up every single day. But what if I did it every day I can? If I miss a day, it's okay. I can still make a new motif the next day.

I decided to challenge myself and see if I can do it. And so far, two weeks into that new goal, I've managed 20 new motifs on the Harvest Flower join-as-I-go project featuring my hand-dyed thread (what a great way to use up some of those old colors!!!) (AND 30 more Harvest Flower centers to boot!!!) and 4 motifs on my avocado-pit-dyed crochet project (which will be featured as a new free pattern on an upcoming Snowflake Monday). I really had to work at reverse-engineering the avocado-pit-dyed project because I hadn't written the pattern, and I hadn't touched it in more than a year.

I'm still struggling to get back to my sewing machine. Lizard often naps on a mat on the floor right next to where I have my sewing machine set up. I just don't have the heart to wake him when he can actually sleep. This new crochet motif goal will allow me to get going on fiber projects that need to be finished while allowing Lizard his necessary nap time. And I get to do something I absolutely love. The quilt WIPs will have their day. But for now, I think I've got a plan with which I can live and hopefully thrive!

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Wordless Wednesday

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AI Strikes Again

(affiliate links to my greeting cards)

Early in the pandemic, my neighbors asked if I would check in on their cat when they had to travel out of state to be with a terminal relative. (The family member passed on a couple of weeks later due to cancer, not the other 2020 killer.) Lizard and I are cat people, but we can't have a pet now due to the tripping hazard. Taking care of our neighbor's elderly, blind and hard-of-hearing cat was a show of kindness during a scary time, but it also gave us the opportunity to indulge in some purr comfort.

Last month, my neighbors' cat crossed the rainbow bridge. I know how much they loved that cat. She was their baby for more than 20 years! I wanted to design a greeting card that might express the sadness we feel and the heartfelt love we hope to share. I decided to try my hand once again at AI. Because, well, I don't have a cat. And because I snapped only a few photos of my neighbors' cat back in 2020.

One of the AI images gave me a great idea. I don't have cats anymore, but I do have yarn. What if I built a rainbow bridge from my fibers and used an image of my hand-dyed colors to generate the sympathy card I could see in my head?

I came up with a few great images, in my opinion. But many needed some heavy digital TLC. Such as this one... Check out the face on the seventh cat. And the boats in the background. I made no background specifications in my prompts.

With the help of old images from my own kitties decades ago...

...I was able to fix what AI couldn't. One cat in my favorite AI rendition looked like a gerbil with a cat paw coming out of its tummy. One cat had too many legs. One cat had a dog's tail coming out of its neck. All the eyes but one were wacky. And there was a piece of thick barbed wire coming out of the mountain to what may have been an "intelligent" attempt to generate lightning in the smaller cloud. ??? Sometimes, AI makes me roll my eyes!!!

After heavy editing in Photoshop, I came up with what I think is a wonderfully expressive card! And this is what I sent...

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Snowflake Monday

Today's snowflake is inspired by my 2023 crochet temperature project motif. And it's named after one of the final 14ers I was able to climb on foot with Lizard. (We climbed two more 14ers on foot after Columbia, and we climbed three more 14ers via bicycle before Lizard was no longer able to climb.)

I've been so anxious for the week when I get to begin incorporating new colors into my 2023 crochet temperature project. I cannot wait to see what more new color will look like, and each day as I make a new motif now, my imagination runs wild with what the summer months might look like.

When I first decided to include the maroon in my project, I wasn't really sure I wanted it to preserve what likely will be a common color for the next few months. I don't gravitate to reds, but also, deep shades are difficult to achieve in dyeing. I kept thinking, what if I need this color for something else later on, and I can't ever get thread this dark again?

I opted to keep it in the project because I think it makes a great transitional color in my temperature project as warmer temperatures begin. To me, the maroon helps the pinks flow more naturally into the nature-created gradient. And, always game for a good challenge, this means I will have to one day attempt to achieve another deep wine red at some point. Who knows how many fun hues I will come up with in the process???

Nearly every medical appointment I take Lizard to, one of his specialists asks if I'm taking care of me, as well as him. They all want to make sure I'm not burning out and that I'm incorporating some "me" time into my days.

I make snowflakes, and I try to quilt when I can. I play in Photoshop, and sometimes I even play in AI. The big thing I'm doing for me every single day now is 15 minutes of 2023 crochet temperature project. I just love the way this beautiful fabric is coalescing right before my eyes!

Lizard and I climbed Mount Columbia back in 2007. Still can't believe it's been that long ago. We set out to do the double climb of Harvard and Columbia, but I was lucky to make it up just Columbia. I guess that's why I got only two more successful 14er summits after that. I didn't realize until I began writing this blog post how long ago it was when climbing became almost too difficult for me. Lizard went on to climb Harvard two years later. I bonked before reaching true altitude and spent my day photographing the Bear Lake basin ringed by Collegiate Peaks, no regrets. I've proudly claimed since then I went as far at Harvard as I could!

Roger Toll of the Colorado Mountain Club named 14,077-foot Mount Columbia after his alma mater in 1916 when he climbed it. When I went back to read my Columbia and Harvard trip reports, I realized I had set a goal to share a new (to me) stitch or technique for each of the Collegiate Peaks. I almost changed the name of this flake because I did not learn any new stitches or techniques for this pattern. However, the snowflake is inspired by my first daily non-digital temperature project, which includes lots of new things for me. Among them, when I wrote this blog post (back in March!!!), it was my 88th consecutive day of making the same motif every single day. Now I'm up to 121 days! I've never done that before. That counts as a Columbia-worthy education, right?

You may do whatever you'd like with snowflakes you make from this pattern, but you may not sell or republish the pattern. Thanks, and enjoy!

Finished Size: 8 inches from point to point
Materials: Size 10 crochet thread, size 7 crochet hook, empty pizza box, wax paper or plastic wrap, cellophane tape, water soluble school glue or desired stiffener, water, glitter, small container for glue/water mixture, paintbrush, stick pins that won't be used later for sewing, clear thread or fishing line

Mount Columbia Snowflake Instructions

Make magic ring.

Round 1: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), 1 dc in ring, [ch 10, 1 dc in 7th ch from hook, 1 hdc in next ch, 1 sc in next ch, ch 1, 2 dc in ring] 6 times, omitting last 2 dc of final repeat; sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 2; bind off; weave in ends. Pull magic circle tight, but leave opening big enough to allow stitches inside it to lay flat. Pull magic circle tight.

Round 2: In any ch 6 tip work (5 dc), [in next ch 6 tip work (5 dc, ch 3, 5 dc)] 5 times; 5 dc in next ch 6 tip, ch 1, 1 dc in 2nd ch of starting ch 2 to form 6th ch 3 tip of Round.

Round 3: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), 2 dc over post of dc directly below, [1 dc in each of next 3 d, csk next 4 dc, 1 dc in each of next 3 dc, in next ch 3 tip work (3 dc, ch 3, 3 dc)] 6 times, omitting last 3 dc and last 2 ch of final repeat; 1 dc in 2nd ch of starting ch 2 to form 6th ch 3 tip of Round.
If you're not reading this pattern on Snowcatcher, you're not reading the designer's blog. Please go here to see the original.

Round 4: Ch 5 (counts as 1 dc and ch 3), 1 dc over post of dc directly below, [ch 10, in next ch 3 tip work [1 dc, ch 3] 3 times, 1 dc)] 5 times; ch 10, in next ch 3 tip work (1 dc, ch 3, 1 dc, ch 1, 1 dc in 2nd ch of starting ch 5 to form 6th ch 3 tip of Round.

Round 5: Ch 7 (counts as 1 dc and ch 5), 1 dc over post of dc directly below, [ch 12, in next ch 3 tip work (1 dc, ch 5, 1 dc, ch 7, 1 dc, ch 5, 1 dc) 5 times; ch 12, in next ch 3 tip work (1 dc, ch 5, 1 dc, ch 2, 1 tr in 2nd ch of starting ch 7 to form 6th ch 7 tip of Round.

Round 6: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), 4 dc over post of tr directly below, [in next ch 5 sp work (3 dc, ch 3, 3 dc), ch 4, 1 sc over Round 4 and Round 5 chains, ch 4, in next ch 5 sp work (3 dc, ch 3, 3 dc), in next ch 5 tip work (5 dc, ch 12, 5 dc)] 6 times, omitting last 5 dc of final repeat; sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 2; bind off. Weave in ends.

Finish: Tape wax paper or plastic wrap to top of empty pizza box. Pin snowflake to box on top of wax paper or plastic wrap.

If using glue, mix a few drops of water with a teaspoon of glue in small washable container. Paint snowflake with glue mixture or desired stiffener. Sprinkle lightly with glitter. Wash paintbrush and container thoroughly. Allow snowflake to dry at least 24 hours. Remove pins. Gently peel snowflake from wax paper or plastic wrap. Attach 10-inch clear thread to one spoke, weaving in end. Wrap fishing line around tree branch (or tape to ceiling or any overhead surface) and watch snowflake twirl freely whenever you walk by! Snowflake also may be taped to window or tied to doorknob or cabinet handle.

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