mariacas

Creativity

I was not able to go and put on eyes on my Luma amigurumi but I was able to finish a new one. This one I spent a lot of effort in since it's a Christmas gift (which is why I'm not posting any pictures right now) and so I work really hard to make it look as perfect as it can. The biggest problem with this amigurumi thought is that there is no pattern for it. And so I had to improvise, at least it turned out quite well, I hope that the receiver will be really happy.

Now we have also started sewing on my cosplay costume! We decided to do it on Sunday since one usually never get down to doing anything that day anyway. I'm really happy that Åsa is helping me out since I'm not the greatest person at sewing and by exchanging ideas and such we can make the best out of it.

Creativity hours in total:~16 hours

Activity

Well... once again I forgot the baton and haven't really had the time or energy to twirl at home. Things doesn't always go as planned.

Activity hours in total:~11 hours

Service

We have finally been able to have another flute lesson. Barbro was also refiled since she hadn't been able to work on by herself. It is a bit fun that she says how everything doesn't work and once she is suppose to how me how bad it goes, she does it perfectly. We also noticed that now she knows about half the book which is really great! Now that she knows G I were also able to introduce her to some Christmas carols that I encouraged her to practice until Christmas. I have a ulterior motive with this. The thing she has biggest problem with is high tunes, but she got really excited over the Christmas carols and so I told her to practice “Nu tändas tusen juleljus” which goes quite high. So if she practices this song until Christmas she most likely won't have as much problem with those high tunes, I also believe she will be able to play it perfectly by Christmas.

Service hours in total: ~11 hours and 45 minutes

Puh, I'm getting kinda tired of crocheting now. The biggest problem right now is that this amigurumi I'm actually giving away and so I want it to be really really good!!! There were some thing that were really tricky but since the person whom I'm giving it to might read my CAS-blog I'm not posting any pictures or further information about it until it's been given away. I've been crocheting for about 2-3 hours this week.

Åsa and I have started on my cosplay costume! DUN DUN! I'm really excited and longing for the time when I'm finished with it (and hopefully pleased with it as well). I'm having a bit of a hard time understanding Åsa's sewing machine thought... I feel it is kinda weird and oldish. But it works and I have faith in old stuff! As long as it doesn't make weird sounds! I think we were working on the costume for like 3-4 hours or so.

Finally able to have a flute lesson with Barbro! I was sad to hear that she felt as she had hit a wall and I tried to get her excited over the new tunes as well as helping her moving on. We played for about two hours since we had a lot to make up for the times we missed.

Creativity

I have finally finished my amigurumi, now all that there's left is to give eyes to my creation.

Creativity hours in total:~11 hours

Activity

Well this week I forgot the baton and also was really busy so I have only had time for half an hour of twirling.

Activity hours in total:~11 and a half hour

Service

Once again we weren't able to have a flute lesson this week :(

Service hours in total: ~9 hours and 45 minutes

Yay! The body of Luma is finally finished it turned ot really really super cute o(^-^o). I tried putting on buttons to see how the finished result would look like. But I'm really is going to use for the eyes is some kind of fabric.

Creativity

After having made one amigurumi, I took on a bigger project. A Luma. It take some time, but once I start crocheting I just wanna keep going to see the finished result. I've become much faster thought! I've also realized that there is a lot of yarn being used to make even amigurumi. I mean I needed to buy more yarn in order to be able to finish the Luma. And earlier I've only used that yarn for the bunny amigurumi. But I'm going home next weekend and my mom have a lot of yarn that she hardly ever use, and so I'll be able to feel less guilty over buying unnecessary things. Because I know we have yarn at home and that's why it feels so stupid buying it. I should of course use the yarn already bought before buying more. That's like buying a bed, putting it in the addict and buying a new beds just because you felt like it. Over consuming is a big problem, and I want to be a part of the solution and not the problem.

Creativity hours in total:~9 and a half hour

Activity

Twirling, twirling twirling! I've found it very refreshing going outside to practice throws and stuff. You don't have to worry about disturbing anyone or hitting something. At this time of year it's of course quite cold but once you've gotten started it's not a problem. For me throws is also the coolest things you can do in twirling. So when Magda asked me if I wanted to learn how to do a throw and make a twirl, I was very excited. But it's a really hard thing to do! The baton have to spin in a certain speed for you to have a chance to catch it, you have to twirl a certain way and of course avoid having the baton landing on your head. And now it's so cold outside that I have to wear so much clothes outside that it's really hard to twirl, so I can't really go outside to practice anymore...

Activity hours in total:~11 hours

Service

This week we had to cancel our flute lessons since your schedules collided. Lately it's been much harder to find a time that suits us both and so I'm worried that we won't be able to have a lesson next week either.

Service hours in total: ~9 hours and 45 minutes

Well I did work on my comic for half an hour, but you... Don't get very far on that short time. I finished one frame and sketched two.

I haven't been able to get a hold of some stuffing this week so I haven't been able to finish my amigurumi, but I've bought some more yarn so I have been crocheting for about one hour this week. I'm working on a Luma (a character from Super Mario Galaxy) amigurumi in bluish yarn.

This is how it should look in the end ^^

This time I'm really going to start to do actually hard stuff! Like tossing the baton an spinning, and a really hard ting to explain. Most of the stuff Magda have thought me earlier I've been able to learn in a week. But this! Will at least take me two! We kept at it for about an hour as usually. I've also been practicing outside for about one hour.

I went outside to practice some throws in twirling. I also dragged Antonia with me to film. Only problem was that in the beginning as soon as the camera came on I failed ^^' I have to become more used to people filming me!

Creativity

Amigurumis, just learning the name took me a while, (it's originated from Japan). But I feel that this could be a quite useful skill. When I first heard about it I wasn't to excited about it and didn't think about it any more for a while. But later on I googled it and found some really cute amigurumis that I wanted to make. I'm probably going to make a couple as Christmas gifts this year, which I think is great idea. Because they will be quite original, I mean sure you can buy a teddy bear in any toy store. But can you buy a Togepi ? a cupcake? Or maybe a Totoro one? My point is that there are a lot of possibilities in amugurumi and you can make something special that isn't available in any store in Umeå. I'm also thinking of maybe selling some amigurumis to make money for charity. But since I'm not quite sure if I need any kind of permit ( or if anyone would actually like to buy one), I'm going to have to look in to it.

Creativity hours in total: ~8 hours

Activity

Twirling is a lot of fun and can at times be really hard. Lately I'm trying really hard to learn this new throw as well as some twirls and throw high. But it's really hard! I mean when I went outside to practice the new throw as well as high throws I dropped the baton more often then I caught it. And I think a lot of it is because I know how cool it looks when you throw it really high and so of course I try to do so. But... It doesn't work that way, I have to slowly get better and better. I can't just expect myself to be able to everything after just a couple of weeks. At the same time as I get kinda sad and disappointed in myself when noticing my limits, it also gives me a very realistic view of things. I'm not an expert in twirling, but I'm improving. And as long as I keep trying I will continue to improve. What I can't do one day, I might still not be able to do the day after, or the day after that. But I might be able to do it a week later. And that thought is what makes me carry on in most things. I might not be able to do it now, but as long as I keep trying, one day I will ^^

Activity hours in total: ~9 hours

Service

After a week without a flute lesson Barbro have improved a lot. She now mostly plays clear tunes which sounds really good. In the beginning it was a lot of technical things that needed fixing of course but now, she stands correct, she plays mostly really clean tunes and she catch on to new tunes really quickly. And now since she have become so much better it's time for me to prepare more for her lessons. Since it was pretty easy things in the beginning (for me at least) I usually only needed to prepare like 5-10 minutes the day before each lesson. But now, we have started on things that I don't remember as well as the absolute basic. And therefore I'm going to need more time preparing myself in order of being able to teach Barbro correctly. Because I don't want to teach her something I don't know how to do myself, that would be like conning her. Or, that's at least how I feel about it.

Service hours in total: ~9 hours and 45 minutes

I've been practicing a lot at home, I even went outside for a while to practice throwing. But it was quite dark outside and I had no one to film me. I think I'm going outside again on Tuesday, and then I can ask Antonia to film me. I've been practicing for a complete of 2 hours or so ^^

I actually tried a bit to make an amigurumi (crocheted stuffed animal) before going to the workshop that was held at Hamnmagasinet. But It was really hard understanding what to do from just reading the instructions and watching YouTube videos when I'd never done it before. So the workshop was a really great ting, everything got cleared out. The workshop was about 1 and ½ hour, but I finished the very ”simple” amigurumi at home. I've also started out on a new one, the thing is that this one is bigger, more advanced and stuff... So before I can continue, I need more yarn and stuffing ^^ In total I think I've spent about 4 hours on amigurumi crocheting this week ^^'

Here are some examples of amigurumis:

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My work!

So after a week of having a lesson we are back on it! I can really see how Barbro have improved and now I really need to make sure I know what to teach her. Earlier it was just the basic that I knew very well, but now, since I haven't played for several years I've kinda forgotten a bit. She still have some problems of course, but hey! Rome wasn't built in a day. This time we practiced for about 1 and a half hour.