BOOK REVIEW: ASTROPHYSICS FOR PEOPLE IN A HURRY By Neil DeGrasse Tyson

As the days turn colder and the nights longer, one advantage of late fall and winter is having more time to star gaze.

If you can brave the chilly air to look up at the stellar spectacular, it's like seeing a multitude of sparkling gems upon a cloth of black velvet.

A natural wonder without the costly electric bill some of those neighborhood holiday light displays run up.😉

If you've ever wondered about how the universe got to your observation point but don't have a lot of time to research the subject, then Astrophysics For People In A Hurry is for you.

Think of this book as the Reader’s Digest version of Astrophysics 101. Noted scientist Neil DeGrasse Tyson takes the reader on a brief but understandable tour of the universe, from its birth to projected future. Along the way he also includes explanations of what the universe is composed of, our relationship with everything in the cosmos, and even examines the nature of space and time.

Other than the fact that I wish this book had some interior illustrations, like a picture of the universe or at least our solar system, I highly recommend Astrophysics For People In A Hurry to even the causal stargazer or science fan.

With Plenty Of Stuffing!

Yes, I know what some of you are thinking, because it's close to Thanksgiving here in the US, but I'm not referring to the turkey kind of stuffing. I was thinking more about fiberfill in stuffed animals and other crocheted projects I've made for the grandkids or to brighten someone's day. I have however been working on making a stuffed turkey to go with my fall scarecrow dolls that I put out at this time of year. The turkey is still in the experiemental stage right now, because I'm not working from a pattern but making it up as I go. When it's done if it looks decent, I'll post a picture. In the meantime, here are front and back shots of the scarecrows.

Yes, I have been told they look like the sad clowns from the circus, and I'm okay with that. These get put away when the Christmas/Yule stuff comes out, but they have been played with and can take a little abuse. The clothing is part of the doll, so that was a disappointment to my granddaughter, who likes to dress and undress her own dolls. The patches on the clothing are just little bits of colored felt that I sewed in place to give them that 'rustic' look. Neither one of these had a pattern either; I just crocheted from experience and adjusted things as I went along. So they're not 'bought in some shop' perfect, but to me that's part of their charm. Half the fun is watching what evolves and how it compares with your mental image. I do tend to write down what I am doing as I go along in case I plan to duplicate something down the road.

I've made quite a few stuffed pieces to be played with or just displayed. Some of them are looking a big ratty, but they were designed to be handled and loved by children. No matter if the toy comes from the store or is made at home, if it isn't meant for a child to hold and have fun with, then it needs to be put in a glass case somewhere. That's not why I'm doing this.

This pair of little teddies are made from the same pattern. I'm linking it here, because it's very simple yet clever, all crocheted in one piece and sewn together. The site is in German I believe, but it has a link you can click on for an English PDF version that is a free download. These would make great little last minute gifts for a child, and they're not hard at all to work. Please if you make them, give credit to the creator. My faces are a bit wonky, but the grandkids don't seem to mind.

The bunnies came from a pattern who's origin I have long since lost track of, I've had it quite a while. I tucked them into Easter baskets for the grandkids and they decided to let them live here. I was going to add puff tails to the behind, but the granddaughter wanted to be able to dress the bunnies, so they are currently tailless. 

These are the Easter clothing I made for them, a sundress for the pink girl bunny and short pants and a sleeveless shirt for the blue boy bunny. It's funny how whenever I ask what color the kids want in their toys, I generally get the pink and blue scheme. You will see that a lot!

I was experimenting with the bunny pattern and made what is supposed to be a couple of upright cats. Again the blue and pink, because that's what the kids wanted. I shortened and widened the ears and made a long whippy tale that tends to kink and curl. I'm not sure why the blue cat turned out to be shorter, it might have been made from a lighter weight yarn. Or maybe I missed a row or two. No matter, they were fun projects. Yes those are turning seams on the back. While most crocheted amigurumi are worked in a continous spiral to avoid that, I sometimes get tired of having to count rows as well as keep track of where the last round's first stitch was placed. I crochet a lot while watching TV, so I'll tend to lose track and forget to move a stitch marker to a new spot. On dark yarns it's especially hard to tell where you left off. Since the grandkids aren't critics of my work, the visible seams don't bother them. So I do it the easy way. 😉 I generally keep that joining seam in the back, where it's not as noticeable.

I am always looking for free patterns online, but often forget to write down where I got them. Not sure where I got the one for frogger, but he was a challenge to make, though he turned out pretty well. There's chenille stems (AKA pipe cleaners) in the legs so they can be posed. When I was finished with him, he stood upright in my living room window with his toes against it for quite a while, staring down anyone who came to the kitchen door. Saw a UPS driver dropping off a package stop and stare back at him for a moment and then he laughed. Made me smile too!

This octopus pattern also came from somewhere online as well. They are basically a big stuffed ball with 8 long arms of curly crochet hanging from the base. I decided to go two tone on the tentacles. As I recall, they were fairly simple to make and I could probably fudge them together without a pattern. Hanging up they look kind of cool. The grandkids took turns tossing them on each other, pretending they were being attacked, or wearing them like weird hairdos. Imaginative play is what it's all about and I love to hear kids giggling while playing together and know it's because of something I made for them.

Bambi came from a kit that was sold at our local Aldi's. I got a couple of those inexpensive crochet kits—which had all the yarn and stuffing included—for my birthday from writing pal and all around good guy Lee Houston Jr. (Yes he posts the book reviews here). Something in the directions is off because the head is huge, so the little guy doesn't stand up. But that's okay; my granddaughter felt sorry for him and carried him around for an hour encouraging him to keep trying. She has a tender heart, just like Grandma. 💕

The hedgehog came from the same kit, but I could not figure out how to make the spines they had in the directions. Something in the wording seemed off to me, though the body came out fine. So I just went with tufts of yarn knotted in place and was very gratified when my granddaughter recognized what he was supposed to be. She had seen someone's pet hedgehog in a video on a kid's channel on her tablet, and told me all about it. This one got carried around for quite a while as well.

I've made a lot of crocheted ornaments for my holiday tree, and the grandkids love to come over and look at them all. They loved all the different shapes, but the stars were the ones that excited them the most. They wanted to keep some, so I made a couple for their own tree, but those got put away after the season was over. So I made them each a star they could play with year round. When I asked what colors their stars should be, I was expecting gold or something shiny, but no... it was pink and blue yet again. I should know better by now!  I added faces to make them more like toys. These are made of two star shapes each, and sewn together along the edges to give some thickness and a sturdy feeling without having to be stuffed. You have to do the embroidery before you sew the pieces together or the icky side of the stitches will show. The granddaughter sang about 14 verses of the Twinkle Star song before her brother got annoyed and complained rather loud and dramatically about it. The two of them are about a year and a half apart, and best friends nonetheless.

Goldie the goldfish was an experiment on my part. I have the instructions somewhere in my messy notes. I just kind of shaped it as I went along. The fins and tail  sections were done separately and sewn on, they are basic crochet leaf shapes I've learned from doing flowers and foliage. The dorsal fin I crocheted onto the stuffed body. Any time you have safety eyes, which have a stalk in the back with ridges and a washer that snaps over them to hold them in place, you have to put them in before you continue stuffing. I buy stuff like that in bulk in craft stores or on Amazon, when I can get a good price. I was going to display it in a glass bowl, but the kids wanted to play with it, so it's theirs now.

These two little bits were in with the stuffed animals. The pink thing that looks like a peanut with ears is a bunny like the ones I made for an Easter garland I put up every year. That garland has  multicolored crocheted colorful bunnies that looked like Peeps marshmallow candies and crocheted eggs that all hang from a line of pony beads on some sort of cording. Again the kids wanted bunnies of their own, so I made them each one, in the usual pink and blue.  Not sure where the blue one went off to, but this one was still hanging around. Yep, it's a bit beat up. You can barely see the facial features. There's a tiny white pompom tail on the backside. The butterfly is made from a granny hexagon that gets folded up. I sew the edges together to give it some thickness and bulk, as I did with the stars above. I've made a ton of those butterflies, I have a bunch I want to turn into a mobile with beads and stuff. Because this one went to the kids, I didn't use chenille stems for the body and antennae, but yarn instead. We don't want little fingers getting poked by wire.

I've made quite a few of these Jinglebirds, they are based on a bird pattern from Lucy over on Attic 24. Whenever I have a bad day and need something to brighten it up, her blog is where I go. The body is about the same, but I stuff mine full so it's a little more rounded. I've added a tail, changed up the wings, a longer beak, and little jingle bells at the end of the legs. I've given a few of these away, and this one went to the granddaughter. I had a blue one for the grandson too, but I can't find a picture of it. I have two in my living room hanging from the arms of wall lamps. The kids always love to tickle their feet to make them jingle, so now they have their own hanging in their room.

I think this is my favorite project. That above is an owl's nest, which was crocheted from two different colors (medium brown and light gray) of worsted weight yarn, because I didn't have anything bulky in my stash. Because it's so thick, bulky yarn makes a better form that holds a shape.

This is the nest filled with  owlets. I think we might be missing one, because I'm counting only ten total here, and I'm pretty sure there were ten of the tufted ears sort and the plainer one in the front makes eleven. I'm pretty sure there was one based on the color red. No matter, we'll find it. Again, the patterns for the owls came from online, but I've lost track from exactly where because I print these things up and then they sit in folders until I get to them. The kids love playing with the owls, but this project is the one that adults are always intrigued with as well. This nest full of owls often sits on my coffee table and people will pick them out to examine them and then look at at me like I'm some kind of genius (or maniac). 

The truth is I enjoy making things, and while it takes time and effort, it helps me to relax at the end of the day to have something in my hands that I'm working on. I do other crafts as well, but crochet is my favorite and what I am best at. I am grateful to be at that point in life where I do have this time, and glad I have somewhere to share it with people who don't get to see me every day. I can't emphasize enough the importance of being creative. It's why our ancient ancestors, who lived short and difficult lives, sat by the fire carving and telling stories, or painting pictures inside caves. We as humans have a need to express ourselves and leave something tangible behind. I write all afternoon most days (my writing blog), but in the evenings, I want to do something more tactile. There is so much upheaval in our lives even in years that haven't been as insane as this one is. Stress is a big issue for most of us, and the more you dwell on it, the worst it is for you. I'm no different, I have my ups and downs too, and I live in chronic pain. There are so many things we can be doing in this world that are unhealthy for us and others, so having a hobby to look forward to is a positive way of dealing with that. This is just one of many things I do, in my 'spare' time. I hope you find something of your own as well.

To all who are celebrating...

Be well,

~Nancy

The Dolls of the Valley—Part 3

It's about time to conclude the crocheted dolls post. Actually had my younger grandkids here for a while today, and the granddaughter did get out the dolls for a bit. The younger grandson was busy showing me where different countries are on his tablet. They did some drawing as well. It gets lively, but I love to sit nearby while they are playing and listen to their chatter. It takes me back to when my sons were that age.

But this is about doll creation. I have a few more pictures to share.

This is a doll I wanted to make because all the others had been caucasian. We live in rural communities that have very few people who aren't white, and I wanted to reinforce that humans come in a lovely array of skin tones. You have to forgive once again my not-so-skilled embroidery, which is not easy to do on crochet anyway. I do love the safety eyes, I get them in assortments on Amazon or whenever I'm in a craft shop and see some. Buttons will work too, I've done that at times. Just in case we have a younger child visit (as sometimes happened pre-pandemic) these are hard to pull out once installed properly. We don't want any choking hazards!

Next the doll was assembled, with all the parts sewn together. Head to body, and the arms and legs are all separate. This uses the same basic pattern as the other girl dolls I did. These are front and back views—a little hard to see because of the darker backdrop. But you get the idea. 😉

The hair was the next thing I tackled. I did the wig cap first, sewing that down to the head, and then added the kinky curled dreads afterward by sewing them onto it. I love the way the hair turned out and so does my granddaughter.

Yes, she can sit down—sort of. With that hair and expression, the name 'Caroline' just popped into my head, so that's what I call her. I'm sure Terralyn has her own names for her. Doesn't matter, she gets played with, and loved a lot no matter what we call her.

Now it was time for some clothing. Her skin tone cried out for bright colors, which is great because I have a lot of odds and ends of hot shades of yarn from other projects. This is a front, back, and side view of the dress. Yeah I just fudged this one together too. Buttons is another thing I have a good stock of, these are just for trim because the dress pulls up easily enough. The thyme green and bright orange work pretty well together. All the dolls share clothing so Caroline and her friends tend to dress as the mood moves whoever is playing with them.

Caroline needed shoes to go with the dress. Luckily there was enough of the thyme colored yarn left to make her a set of Mary Janes. Those are little orange flower buttons on the side, and I sewed them on with a matching green thread. Can you tell I had some some fun with all this? The shoes just slip on, the buttons are strictly for decoration. These are the parts you have to worry about as choking hazards, so we don't let the small fry get too involved with that. When we have other children here, I watch them carefully. The little ones tend to gnaw or tug on things, so you can't be too careful.

One one of the playdates, it was mentioned that Caroline wanted to go swimming but didn't have a bathing suit. So grandma got busy with that, and by the next visit she did have one in a hot peony pink. The bikini bottom was easy, it was done in the same style as all the doll undies. Fashioning the bikini top front wasn't too hard, but figuring out how to make it easy to get on and off was. These dolls' heads are very big and with hair and all, not easy to get something over them. Yet the body isn't that big, so it had to be something that could be tightened up once it went around the area it was supposed to be in. And it had to be something easy for a impatient child to get on and off. My granddaughter changes her dollies' clothing numerous times. I finally settled for ties, one set around the torso, the other around the neck. A little messy looking, but it worked. The kids are still learning to tie bows, but that's something any adult in the room can do, and they are easy to get off when a quick change is needed. I might try something with buttons next time, but for now, this will suffice. 

These are all simple dolls, though sometimes a challenge for me to design and dress. I don't mind because it gives me something else to pass the time with. I write most days, and so crocheting or other crafts are a change from that, yet still a way to keep busy and be creative. I mostly work on this stuff while watching TV in the evening. I am not the couch potato type who sits slack-jawed staring at the tube, and I don't snack in front of the TV, so doing something else while watching has been my habit for a long time. It's also relaxing for me. I have very severe arthritis in my spine and all joints, so I deal with chronic and sometimes debilitating pain. This takes my mind off that as well, and when I'm done I have something to show for it. Win/win!

I have a small handful of other dolls I've made. These three live mostly with the stuffed critters because they're not dressable like most of the others, so they're not quite as popular. They do get played with at times. The clothing is part of the doll, and everything is sewed on.

I pictured this one as a little sister or friend to one of the other dolls. Terralyn says she is a baby. The scarf was an afterthought and does come off, the hat doesn't. I don't think she has a name yet, but I am leaning toward Cyndi. Basic pattern came out of an E-book and I fudged the rest.

Same E-book had fairy dolls, so I made one of those as well. She's got no hair, but a big old hat. Nobody much plays with her, but she makes me smile so I don't mind. I call this one Rosey-Posey. Just because...

This is Gno Me, named after a character a friend once played on an online bulletin board years ago. I have a handmade Swedish Tomte I bought and wanted to make something similar. It took me a good two weeks to design him, working out the dimensions as I went along, getting all that hair and beard rooted, unplied, and fluffed out. I usually have him out around the holidays but mostly he lives in the overflowing  basket that holds the crocheted stuffed animal collection. He does have arms, you can just barely see them sticking out behind that luxurious beard. 

Well thanks for indulging me by reading down this far.  As I've said before, being an empty nester with family nearby, I like to keep busy, and making things for them is one way of doing that. Crochet is a something I'm very comfortable designing and working with, so I find it easy to fashion things in yarn that I can't manage in other fiber crafts. Can't sew for beans, that I'll admit! While I do make other things as well, crochet is my main crafty indulgence. Now and then I will have more to show here of my finished projects. With today's smart phones and digital cameras, it's far easier to document some of that progress in pictures, which gives me some visuals to share here of what I've been doing 'in my spare time'.

Now you go out and be creative too,
~NANCY