Cute Crochet Robot, Mr. Banks!

I've done it again... I've crocheted a handsome fellow all by myself. I mean, I always do it all by myself, but what I mean is that I created him and the pattern literally all by myself!

I did have inspiration, though! My little lady's nursery is all decorated in robots. When I see stuff with robots, like shirts or tights or "piggy" banks, I just can't help myself--it winds up in our little robot shrine. It's really cute in there, honestly.

Ramona likes to say goodnight to her robots. We say goodnight to "Stan," and "Lois," and "Boris," (framed prints on the wall), then Mr. Banks, and Gregory! (Gregory is a *reallyreally* awesome lamp that my husband's BFF, Greg, gave us after she was born. It just seemed like the right name to give it.)

So, sometimes I find myself sitting there in her room, rocking her or just sitting while she destroys the order of everything *ahem*, and I think to myself "hey, self, you should make a crochet robot similar to that one!" And so, I bring you... Mr. Banks!!

I've also written a children's book about Mr. Banks... hopefully to be published in the near future. :-)


Follow this link to buy the pattern and make your very own Mr. Banks!
https://www.etsy.com/listing/254193183/crochet-pattern-robot-mr-banks

Tonight's dinner shall be divine!

Tonight's dinner is going to rock!! My husband was just saying he wants to make "Hawaiian style steak like Local Boyz" but that he has been unable to find a recipe. So I worked my Internet magic and found a copycat recipe conjured by an OSU alumni. The recipe for the marinade is here:

http://mirlandraskitchen.com/recipe/teriyaki-sauce-marinade/

I just finished cooking it. Once it cools, and once my steaks thaw, I can get them combined in the fridge for a few hours. 

While reading that recipe I saw a link to the Hawaiian mac n cheese, but I paid it no mind. Then I mentioned to my husband that I could make Hawaiian sweet rolls (using my bread machine) to go with our steak and he said no, he wants the amazing mac n cheese that you also find at Local Boyz. He said "it's basically just noodles and mayo." That's gross, but I went and looked at the recipe. That recipe is here:

http://mirlandraskitchen.com/hawaiian_macaroni_salad/

We're out of mayo... so guess who just hopped in the car to make a mad dash to the store to get some? Haha... I'm pretty excited to have dinner tonight! I've never eaten at Local Boyz. And brown sugar in my macaroni salad???? Sounds pretty intriguing!

On a side note, my husband has also gotten me to make Shoyu Chicken from a Local Boyz copycat recipe. That stuff is pretty good, too! It's made in "Da Sauce" as well. Yummmm...

That recipe can be found here: http://www.heatherlikesfood.com/hawaiian-shoyu-chicken/ 

Cute Crochet Robots!

I'm a maniac. I crochet like nobody's business. (Does that make me a crocheniac?) For years and years I followed patterns. Simple patterns, complex patterns, you name it. I made all kinds of stuff, but I wouldn't venture out and make stuffed animals. Well along came December 13th of 2011. A coworker asked me if I could crochet a reindeer hat for her, with stuffed antlers and sewn-on button eyes, and she needed it by Dec 15th. Not one to let people down, I spent my birthday (the 14th) crocheting this hat and branching out with my skills. This single project really transformed my life, and I will forever be grateful for that challenge.

Fast forward to 2015.... I now create and sell my own patterns for crocheted robots! OK let me explain my love for robots. Back in 2012, while my then-fiance and I were simply talking about maybe having a baby, I one day got this inspiration in my mind to decorate the future nursery in robots--no matter the flavor of the baby! Boy or girl, we would have robots galore! And that's what happened when our sweet little baby girl was born in 2014. We have a robot nursery. She has tons of robot shirts and tights and sweatshirts. Robots have grown quite dear to my heart. And, naturally, I wanted to crochet her a stuffed robot. I found a pattern on etsy.com for a pretty basic little robot. I used huge yarn and a huge hook to make it really big. This was the very first stuffed animal(robot, obviously) I'd ever made!

A good friend of mine saw this robot and she eyed it with admiration. She then had a massive outcropping of grandchildren (FIVE, suddenly, crazy huh?) and she presented me with a proposition in January of 2015. She asked me to make 5 crochet robot hats, plus 5 crochet stuffed robots by Christmas of 2015. Challenge accepted!

When it came time to start, which I believe I did in September of this year, I went on a hunt for more crocheted robot patterns. I found a few but they weren't all that fantastic. I made three of them from patterns and then I just knew I was going to have to make up my own. So I did, and I wrote down the patterns, and they are so brilliant! Here is little Robbie Robot:

And this here is his good friend, Kyra-bot. (She was made for a little girl named Kyra.) 

My friends and family are pretty excited about my unique robot designs and I'm already getting orders! But for each request I'm making an additional brand new unique one-of-a-kind robot, writing the patterns as I go! This is so fun! I've literally lost sleep over this because I am just so excited.

Currently I'm working on a robot called Mr. Banks. I'll post a blog about him as soon as he's finished!

You can snag the pattern for Robbie Robot at the following link:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/250030864/happy-little-robot-crochet-pattern?ref=shop_home_active_3

And Kyra-bot can be found here:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/250613547/kyra-bot-the-pretty-little-robot?ref=shop_home_active_2

Happy hooking! :-)

It's a revolution!

They are rising against me, I know it.

Seriously, my husband even says that he has never seen as many of them as he has since he's known me. They seek me out. It truly is an Evil Ninja Spider Network.

This morning I had to use the restroom. I was on my way in when I saw a very large, menacing foe dangling right there in the middle of the doorway. His web took up the whole upper left corner of the doorway, and he sat on it. I saw him in profile view, each nasty lanky leg. There were more than 8, though! There were 10! Oh, wait, nevermind. Those are fangs. Huge gangly fangs that are probably a third of the size of his legs. This spider is frightening and he means business.

I used a different bathroom, but not before posting to Facebook:
"There I was, minding my own business, about to walk into the bathroom, and suddenly there's a huge 8-legged creeper hanging in front of me. His fangs are huge. Like a third of the length of his legs! I won't be going in there for a while...."

I went about my business, getting ready for my day. I told my husband he was welcome to kill the spider. Much to my dismay, he hadn't done so when I finished with my shower (in a DIFFERENT bathroom). I needed something out of that bathroom, however, so I decided very begrudgingly to get the vacuum and suck this spider to obliteration myself.

I got him. I felt him thud against my hand as he whizzed through the vacuum hose. It made me feel sick to my stomach. I practically had this beast in my HAND. There was just a thin layer of plastic between us. It's terrifying, but I did what I had to do. I grabbed my hair straightener from the bathroom, and on my way out (with it, to the living room) I noticed ANOTHER spider on the wall. It was heading back behind the open bathroom door. I vowed to return to get him with the vacuum when I finished with my hair.

Fast forward... hair looks amazing... Taking the straightener back to the bathroom. Not only do I need to vacuum my enemy, but I also need to vacuum cat litter off of the floor of the shower. (I have the litter box sitting in there, because it's the guest bathroom and its out of the way. Cat litter gets all around the floor around the box, so it's in the bottom of the shower. Are you following all of this?)

So I walk into the bathroom and check the wall to find that spider. I don't see it. I get closer to the wall, so I can lean and look in the space behind the open bathroom door. I don't see it. Then I look up and it's--BAM--right in front of my face! GAH! So I have a bit of a panic moment, I turn on the vacuum, and I suck up the little bugger. PHEW! Glad that's over, yeah? Right?

So I turn around to start vacuuming up the cat litter from around the litter box and OH NOOOOOOO PLEASE MAKE IT STOP there is a big spider on the edge of the litter box, running at me.

That's it. I can't take it. I've surpassed my threshold already. I'm above and beyond high alert. My instincts are telling me to RUN RUN RUN for my very LIFE!!!!

I try to vacuum this guy but it's on the edge and he keeps side stepping. And I'm also doing some stepping, back and forth, foot to foot, because OMG SPIDERS. And I'm whimpering like a fool because OMG DEATH BY SPIDER OBVIOUSLY! After the third attempt, I got him. And then I threw the hose and ran down the hall, bare feet pounding on the floor, breathing rapidly, feeling like I might pass out, hopping from foot to foot, scratching the invisible spiders off my legs. Thank goodness I didn't cry this time! But my brain was mush because all I could think was survival!

"KEVIN omg and there was this OMG and this spider was OMG RIGHT THERE and then BAM omgomgomgomg KEVIN it was on the ummm the ummm the THING THAT THE CAT POOPS IN!"

Yeah that's how functional I am when spiders viciously come after me. Those jerks. They know it, too. They do it on purpose.

Kevin laughed. Pshht. *As if* this is funny.