Saturday, February 24, 2024

 It's midnight, and everybody but Chris is asleep. It's time to make his move, then he makes his move; he sneaks over to Martin`s backpack & takes out his Power Disc collection,& takes his Electric Eel Power Disc.& Leaves The Tortuga to find their Electric Eel friend, Voltage. Meanwhile, at The Tortuga, Martin wakes up. It's now Morning, and he decides to go for a Morning swim, but then he notes that Chris is GONE!!!& So is his Electric Eel Power Disc! But then he realized that CHRIS TOOK IT!!!!!!!!!!So he went down to the garage,& made 14 clones of himself. ACTIVATE CAIMAN POWER!!! As he & his clones head to the river, then he sees a zap, "AHA," but it's actually Voltage, Martin gets electrified and screams OUCHIE. Then, he sees a flash of Greenlight,& then, he sees CHRIS." HEY CHRIS!!!!!""Uh, oh, "says Chris as he picks up the pace. But then he sees Grabsy & her family, "ACTIVATE SPIDER MONKEY POWER"!!!!!as he brachiates through the tree tops. But then Martin activates Harpy Eagle power, "ACTIVATE HARPY EAGLE POWER"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!As he flies through the treetops, meanwhile, Chris is swinging through the treetops, but then, the vine Chris is holding onto SNAPS! He falls to the ground, and then a Black jaguar attacks him! But luckily, Martin distracts the Jaguar as it chases Martin as he flies away back to the Tortuga HQ, where Chris gives Martin 2 of his Creature Power Discs to makeup for taking his Electric Eel Power Disc,& for Martin saving his life.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              THE END

Sunday, February 4, 2024

 The Wild Kratts are in the Oklahoma plains when Martin spots a Wolf Spider. he asks Aviva if she can make a Wolf Spider Power Disc. Meanwhile, Zack Varmatech Hears about this in his spy cloud," A Wolf Spider?"."OF COURSE!!!"" A Wolf Spider Zack bot." Meanwhile, Aviva has just finished the Wolf Spider Power Disc. As Jimmie teleports, it is just in time. Chris is hanging out With gazels,& there's only 1. so Martin grabs it & touches a Wolf Spider, "ACTIVATE WOLF SPIDER POWER", yells Martin. Later he sneaks up on Chris. "BOO" "WHAO" yells Chris. "Hey Martin, did Aviva make a second Wolf Spider Power Disc?" oh, um..., no."Aw man." "Hey, where is Venom?"(gasps)"wheres all the Wolf Spiders!?""Martin, look up!"" What?"" THAT."As they see Zack's jet sucking ALL the Wolf Spiders!"We gotta stop him"."Agreed"."Hey, look a PeregrineFalcon". "ACTIVATE PEREGRINE FALCON POWER!!!"."Oh yeah,you don't have Peregrine Falcon Powers anymore.""Well anyways,I,M FLYING TO THE CREATURE RESCUE!!!"."Not so fast Zack","what the, uh wild rats" "THATS WILD KRATTS!!!" "Eh whatever, I,m gonna turn all these puppy spiders, into my new attack bots,MWA HA HA!!!"."Not if we can help it, & dude the dislach button is like right here soooooooo, yeah"."NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO(20 hours later) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"& then Zack screams like a girl,& yells,"I'LL GET YOU WILD RATTS!!!!!"."THATS WILD KRATTS"as the Kratt brothers press a button that makes Zack's jet crash in Antarctica!then Zack yells"ZACK BOTS FIGIHT!!!"As the Zack bots start fighting each other as zacks plain crashes in Arctica                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            THE END

Saturday, February 3, 2024

 Of on the African Savanah, Chris & Martin spot a Black Momba fighting a Martial Eagle. Then Martin calls Aviva,& says, "Hey Aviva, Can you make a Bla-."A Black Momba & Martial Eagle power suit, DONE!AWESOME!Meanwhile, Up in the air,Danita Danata spots the Martial Eagle & the Black Mamba and says oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 5 hours later oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo la la  she says some lushious fighting necklaces and Dabio says ooooooo worm and Pidgeon.So they went down & captured ALL the Black Mambas & Martial Eagels in on the SAVANAH!Meanwhile,Chris & Martin found the nests. Martin activates Martial Eagle powers,&Chris activated Black Mamba powers. TO THE CREATURE RESCUE!they yell. as Martin crashes through the roof of Danitas jet,& says"HOPE I`M NOT DANATEXPECTED!"But Chris & Martins power suits are damaged!& when they touch the other animal then a combination suit is created!& Well chris distracts Dabio & Danita,Martin free`s the animals & sends them to Antartica.THE END.























Sunday, January 28, 2024

Danny's Wil Kratts Story

My son has gotten in trouble at school off and on for his extremely creative superhero stories and drawings that sometimes get too extreme for school. So, we are practicing appropriate stories here. They are un edited and a creative outlet for him



In the Indonesian Rainforest, Chris and Martin Kratt are trying to look for a flying Gecko. This unusual creature has the creature power to glide like a Draco Lizard because they have special things between their toes and fingers that allow them to glide. They can also climb on smooth surfaces because they have special fingerpads. Gecko fingers go the opposite way that human fingers go.

But meanwhile, over in the sky, there is Zack Varmetec. He is trying to find a new creature for his new spy bots. He thinks the flying geckos might be the answer. 

Meanwhile with the Wild Krats, Martin calls Aviva and asks if she can make a flying Gecko power disk. She says

"Oh, these!" and she pulls out 2 from her pocket.

Martin Says, "How did you...    ...um"

"I knew what you guys were doing," says Aviva "Teleport 'em Jimmy."

The powerdisks arrive and MArtin finally comes up with a name for the new gecko friend. "Sticker" 

"activate flying gecko powers" they say together

But all of a sudden, when they turn around to see sticker, he suddenly disappears. When they walk back to the Tortuga, they realize all the flying geckos in the forest are missing! "We gotta find them" says Chris.

"but how?" says Martin "we don't even know where they are."

Aviva says "Come on guys, maybe we can use this special animal tracker I just built"

"well, we can try" says martin

"Now lets check" says Jimmy. meanwhile in the sky Zack Varmatech has turned all the Flying Gecos in the Indonesian Rain Forest into spybots!so now he can steal ALOT of the Wild Krattses technolaghy!such as...,The Creatarae,The Miniturizer ,The Bus Bikes,or even,THE CREATURE POWER SUITS!meanwhile,...at The Tortuga"no traces of the Flying Gekos yet"says Aviva.Then all of a sudden Chris & Martin spot something!Its Zacks jet!AN THEN...ALL the Flying Gekoes in the Indonesian Rain Forest come out of the sun roof & steal all the technology!But luckily The Wild Kratts have a plan.First Chris & Martin miniturize themselves & take of all the the gloves Zack put on them.Next they spray all the walls with some thing that makes it so the geckoes cant climb them. Next while the geckoes are distracted well The Wild Kratts remove all the mind control helmets of the Gekoes.& also Zack screamed like a girl  & yells, I'L GET YOU WILD RATTS !' "THATS WILD KRATTS!" THE END

Monday, January 15, 2024

Crochet Owl Hat

Crochet Owl Hat

My niece in her new owl hat

Hook: H-8 (5.0mm) <That is what the pattern says, but I sized down to a G because I made one that looked to open. Also, I used the smallest hook I had for the eyes, because otherwise they looked a bit crazy with the pupils having a big zig zaggy outline against the white.
Yarn: Vanna's Choice medium worsted weight yarn (I used some soft baby yarn I had on hand)
Time Investment: I made the hat in one night because I was so excited to see it come together, but in the future I would probably crochet the hat and ear flaps on night, then the details the next night.
Pros: This pattern has directions for all sizes. I also love how the details of the ears and braids that come down form the ear flaps used all 3 colors of yarn from the hat creating cohesion and visual interest at the same time.
Cons: maybe this is because I did not use the recommended yarn, but the weave was fairly open, if I am going to bother with a hat, I want the weave to be nice and closed/tight so cold air does not blow into my ears.
Would I make it again? yes 

Since I've been having so much fun knitting and collecting patterns, I messaged my Brother and Sister-in-law, who have a new 6-month-old baby. I told them I had been having fun knitting and asked them if there was anything they needed for the new baby that I could make for them. They said their older daughters have owl hats that my sister gave them. They asked for me to make a coordinating hat for the baby.
It brought a big smile to my face because one of my old friends/crochet teachers sent one of these owl hats to my Son Tobi when he was a baby. I love it when life comes full circle.

My son in his owl hat from Aimee many years ago

Knit Hot Pad

I had a lot of extra cotton yarn from making my daughter's market tote, so I made her a hot pad.  


Knit Hot Pad

Front and Supplies

Back

Pattern:

Youtube: https://youtu.be/bsB4Pde729M?si=2nz5aZm5HhHCpTKr
Needles: US 6/4mm Circular Needles (16" long)
Yarn: 1 Skein Cotton Yarn (159 yards/ 100g)
Time investment: I would estimate this would take about 1 week of knitting during family TV time at the end of the day. I made it a little faster than that, but it was because I took it with me on a long car ride.
Pros: The circular needles made this pattern simple, 
Cons:
  • It was hard to pick up and know if I should be knitting or pearling, so I made a reversible stitch marker to remind me how to garter stitch on circular needles, one side told me to knit, the other side told me to pearl. Each time I reached the stitch marker, I would flip it.
  • The 3 needle cast-off that the pattern told me to do made a ridge on the pot holder, I am curious if the ridge will make pots wobble a bit, or if it will smooth out under the weight of a pot.
Would I make it again:
yes, I am excited to get some red and blue cotton yarn to make some to match my kitchen and decide what I think of this pattern compared to other knit potholder patterns.
The back side of the pot holder looks a bit different than the purl soho one because I wasn't paying attention and I did another 3 needle cast off instead of whip stitching like the pattern said to do. 

Knit Market Bag

 For the holiday Bazaar in November, I made a LOT of little knit stockings. It reminded me how much I enjoy a good craft project and how little mess a knitting project creates compared to a sewing project. I was reminded of 4 friends and family members who have taken the time with me over the years to teach me how to knit and crochet (My great aunts, my mom, Aimee, and Ginger.) Thanks ladies for helping me through the awkward stages of learning this skill so I can pick it back up whenever I like and continue learning new things with the knowledge, skills, and confidence you have given me. I think I you all everytime I pick up my needles or hook.

Knit Market Bag

I started with a knit market bag for my daughter. She loves being friendly to the environment and bringing her own bag places. So I made it with that in mind. 

Photo from Sheep&Stitch.com

Pattern:

Website: Market Bag Knitting Pattern (and Free Video Tutorial) - Sheep and Stitch

Youtube: https://youtu.be/jHwBql133Zo?si=By6bXTEGzt3PLNUj

Needles: 32″ 3.5mm circular needle

Yarn: 2 Skeins Cotton yarn (You will only need a small amount of the 2nd skein)

Time Investment:

I made some mistakes my first time around interpreting the pattern, so I had to start again and watch the youtube video to clarify what I was missing. But once I got things figured out, it took me about 4 weeks of knitting as we watched TV as a family each night before bed.

Pros:

The bag looked small when I completed it, but it stretches very nicely and adjusts well to most items you might want to put in it.

Cons: 

What I noticed was that since it took a whole skein of yarn + a little of a second, when not in use, the bag does not condense well. It takes up as much room as a skein of yarn would.  

Also, the open lacework that makes it stretch so easily, allows rain/dirt to come into the bag. So it was good for my daughter's California vacation but it might not protect her books when she takes it home to rainy Seattle.

Would I make it again:

Yes, if I had another environmentally-friendly friend I wanted to make something for. I presented this bag to my daughter when she came home for the holidays. She had to travel so light that she was not able to bring a purse/bag to put her wallet in. She ALWAYS loves to carry a book with her wherever she goes, so she seemed happy to receive it and used it to take her wallet, book, and personal items with her wherever she went during her 2-week visit.

If I wanted to make something similar that condensed better, my mother told me to try something called "jute" (I'm not sure of the spelling) that is much thinner.

I have some more projects I am going to make with the leftover cotton yarn.