Kindle Unlimited Review

Note: I have received no compensation for writing this review. I just think it's a product worthy of review.
...Another note: The pattern for the crocheted case that you can kind of see underneath is coming soon. :)

I love reading. I have a slight obsession. As in, I read way more than I probably should. Surprisingly, however, I didn't jump at Kindle Unlimited when it first came out. I really only got it when there was a Cyber Monday deal last year to get a discounted Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Unlimited for six months. Now that I've had it for eight months (because of the month-long trial and continued subscription), I feel like I can write a review.

Guys, I love it. For $10 a month, you can read up to ten books at a time, and there are lots of options. Not anything really big, but enough to sate my addiction. I'm always surprised by how many books are available.

Because I personally know an author listed on Kindle Unlimited, I can tell you that authors do get paid when their books are read, but only if the reader finishes at least 10% of the book. So, I try to finish at least that much when I read, but I don't always since some books just aren't good.

There are plenty of highly rated books on the list, and plenty that aren't. I feel like there really is something for everyone, except the people who only want to read health cookbooks. There aren't a ton of good options for those people.

One thing I love is that there are TONS of cute, full color children's books. They don't really work on normal Kindles, but they do on any tablet or computer through the app. Heck, I used the Kindle app on my phone, and we have hours of amusement from that. The only problem is, once again, the ten book limit. You have to kind of cycle through the books you've already...what word am I looking for? Rented? That's essentially what it is, but they don't call it that.

There's one other cool feature that Kindle Unlimited supposedly has, and that's that some books also have an audio version. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get this to work with my phone. My Kindle is new and doesn't have the option for sound, and it doesn't appear to work with the app on my tablet, either. I think it's probably a problem with the app rather than Kindle Unlimited, but I'm kind of disappointed that I couldn't get it to work. It would be nice to listen to a book while I work out.

Final verdict. I highly recommend Kindle Unlimited for those who love reading. For the price of about two ebooks, you can read unlimited (hehe) number of books. Are all of them great? No, but there really is a great variety. Are you going to be able to read the hottest new releases? Not most of them. But still. I think it's a great value. I'll be keeping my subscription. :)

Welcome, Summer!

It's May, but it's rainy and cold where I live. I think I was meant to live in Oregon or Washington, though, because I LOVE rainy days. I think they're beautiful. I'm not one of those that finds them depressing. I could sit on my porch watching the rain for hours.

BUT, not everywhere gets to enjoy the lovely rain, and someone asked that I make a summer sign. This is what I came up with. :)

This one actually has a transparent background.

Anyone interested in different colors? I can change them up and post some others. :)

Grateful Turtle

After I did the octopus, I knew that I wanted to do another cute little animal "card," and I tried a penguin. Which was a complete mess. I need to hone my penguin. After that failure, I decided on a turtle.

I feel like it's both different and similar to the octopus. It's not so cartoon-y, but the speech balloons kind of tie them together. Your thoughts?

I don't mind if you use this for yourself or for non-commerical use, but please don't sell it or claim it as your own. Thanks!

Friendly Octopus Card

Lately, I've been really interested in learning to do hand lettering. I have decent handwriting overall, and I thought it'd be fun to improve on it. I've been looking into it and playing around with lettering. There are so many cute ideas out there! Search for hand lettering on Pinterest sometime, and you will be awarded with hundreds of tutorials and ideas.

I was trying to do something fun and interesting with different lettering, but there wasn't really anything creative about what I was doing - I was kind of just copying what I had seen elsewhere. But then I decided to try doing a cute birthday card. Yeah, didn't work out. My balloons were turning out really funky for some reason. They looked like octopus heads. Then, LIGHTBULB. My Friendly Octopus card was born. I drew it by hand and then cleaned it up and colored it in GIMP (a free Photoshop-like program). I think it turned out pretty cute. :)

This was the first one I colored. After I finished it, I realized that it kind of looks like an octopus that washed up on the sand. Not a super happy sight...but hey. At least the colors are cute, right?

I like this one. It has fun, complementary colors.

I had to do one super bright color, right?

Here's the plain, white one if you didn't like my colors. Make it how you like it. :)

I don't mind if you use this for yourself or for non-commerical use, but please don't sell it or claim it as your own. Thanks!

Crochet Oven Mitt

When I go to Hobby Lobby, I like to check the clearance yarn. I often get really good deals on my beloved I Love This Yarn! brand this way. Without fail, the one kind of yarn I always find in the clearance section for really cheap is the funky, ruffle-y yarn. I, for some reason, threw away the wrapper, and I can't remember what brand it was, so...sorry. The closest I can find is the sashay yarn by Red Heart, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't Red Heart. Here is a picture, though.

Does it look familiar? ANYWAY. Long story short I've never really found a use for this yarn. Then, I thought, "Hey, this yarn - when not pulled apart - is kind of like bulky yarn. I bet I could use it in bulky yarn projects." So I bought it. And had zero inspiration of something to make with bulky yarn. Until I realized that my oven mitts are starting to die. Like, holes right by the thumb, where hot stuff touches all the time. Great place for a hole, I know. Now, I've tried making hot pads with normal cotton yarn, and it is just not thick enough to protect your hands. You have to double it up (a pattern for this is coming soon). I wanted to try bulky yarn, but it's fairly expensive compared to normal yarn. SO, I decided to use my funky yarn. Whoo.

It took two skeins of the stuff, but my hand is fully protected in this giant oven mitt. Really. It's big. It fits my husband's hands, and they are GIANT.

This is made with plain ole double crochets, but, because the yarn is so thick, it looks like I did something special to it. 

Crochet Oven Mitt Pattern:

Yarn: the weird yarn I described earlier or (I imagine) normal bulky or super bulky yarn.

Hook: 10 mm hook. I think this is a "P" hook, but the writing has rubbed off, so I'm not 100% sure.

For this pattern, when I say "inc," it means "increase" - which means 2 dc in that st. When I say "7dc," or something like that, I mean to dc in the next 7 sts. Don't make 7dc in one st. 

You're going to start with a magic circle, which is a fun challenge with the big yarn. If you're not comfortable with those, just chain three and make the eight double crochets into the first chain (the other two chains will NOT count as a dc). If you are, great. 8 dc in the magic circle. Join.

Ch 2. 2 dc in each st around. Join.

Ch 2. [Inc, 7dc] twice. Join.

Ch 2. Dc around. Join.

{Ch 2. [Inc, 8dc] around. Join} do this twice, and then fasten off.

Join 2nd color 3 sts before where you fastened off. Ch 2. 3dc. Ch 8. Sk 1 st (this includes the knot where you fastened off). This will create the thumb hole. Dc the rest of the way around. Join.

Ch 2. Dc around, including 1 in each of the 8 chs.

Ch 2. 5dc. Dc2tog. 10dc. Dc2tog. 6dc. Join.

Ch 2. 4dc. Dc2tog. 10dc. Dc2tog. 5dc. Join.

Ch 2. 4dc. Dc2tog. 4dc. Dc2tog. 3dc. Dc2tog. 2dc. Dc2tog. Join.

Ch 2. Dc around. Join. Fasten off.

Join into the open thumb hole you created earlier. Sc around. Make four rounds of sc before you start sc2tog-ing until the thumb hole is pretty much closed. You can either sew it closed, or just kind of sl st it closed. Just go with what you feel. And then fasten off and weave in your ends.

What do you think of the pattern?

Hexagon Baby Blanket

So, my cousin is having a baby soon, and her shower is on Saturday. I decided to make her a blanket, and since I love hexagon "squares," that was what I used to make her blanket. 

She's having a boy, so I decided on some pretty bold colors. Although, I think they would really work for girls, too. But baby girls generally get boring pale colors, a tradition I intend to break if I ever have a girl.

I used Red Heart Love yarn...because I was at Walmart when I bought the yarn, and I liked the colors and the yarn was passably soft. Having worked with it now, I don't love it, but I don't hate it. I reminds me of the texture of the Lion Heart Vanna's Choice yarn. Good not great. It's just not as soft as my beloved I Love This Yarn. Another note: I used three skeins, and they combined to barely make one baby-size blanket. And it's a newborn size blanket. Keep that in mind if you decide to use their yarn.

Hexagon Baby Blanket

Yarn: Acrylic
Hook: J

If you've ever made a granny square anything, this is very similar. You'll make a bunch of hexagons, and you'll combine them together in whatever pattern you want. You will be using a cluster stitch a LOT. And here it is:

Cl: Yarn over, insert hook, yarn over, draw through a loop, yarn over, pull through two loops, yarn over, insert hook, yarn over, draw through another loop, yarn over, pull through two loops, yarn over, insert hook, yarn over, draw through a loop, yarn over, pull through all loops.

If that seems like a lot of yarning over, it is. But it works up quickly.

Hexagon pattern:
Ch. 4. Join to 1st ch with a slst to form a ring. Ch. 2. [Cl, ch. 2] 6 times in ring. Connect to first cl with a sl st.

Ch 2. *[Cl. ch 2. Cl.] Ch 1.* around. Connect to first cl with a sl st.

Ch 2. *[Cl. ch 2. Cl.] in the same st. Ch 1. Cl. Ch 1. Cl. Ch 1.* around. Connect to first cl with a sl st. Fasten off.

Join the second color in any corner. Ch 2. *[3dc, ch 1, 3dc in the corner]. 3dc in each ch1sp.* around. Fasten off.

Make as many hexagons as you need to make the size you want. To join your hexagons together, I like this method. But I ended up doing my own version of this method because I couldn't remember how to properly do it. My way definitely creates an edge along the join, whereas the other method makes the project lay flat. I've used the other method before on the one other blanket I've made, and I prefer it. But here's how I did this one, just in case you're interested:

Hold two hexagons together. Join the yarn in the corner of both pieces (You will be making all the sts in both pieces unless otherwise noted). Ch 1. Sc in the same corner as join. Ch 2. Sc in the space between the corner and the first group of 3dcs. Ch 2. Sc in the next sp. Do this until you reach the corner. Sc in the corner, then take ch 1. Take the next hexagon piece you will be adding, and sc the two pieces you want to join. Continue the pattern, using a ch 1 and a sc to join in new pieces at the corners.

Does that need more clarification, or does it make sense? Please, please, please let me know if that description is fuzzy at all or if you have any concerns/questions. Thanks!

Crochet Boot Cuff Pattern

Around Christmas time, I wanted a new project. I was bored, and I wanted something fun to do that wasn't a Christmas present. So, I browsed through my Pinterest crochet board and found this blogpost. While I like a lot of them, this one stood out to me, and it's the one I decided to make. I made it without the little frills at the top because I didn't like the way they turned out. After I had made a few pairs to give away, I saw this version of boot cuffs, and I really liked the idea of taller top. Hence, my own pattern was born. It's essentially the same techniques as the ones used in the pattern I made before, but I tweaked it to make it my own. Here you go.

For perspective, these measure about 5 1/2 inches from top to bottom. I would call the size about a Medium, but you really can adjust these to whatever size you want REALLY easily. I'll explain how in the pattern.

Crochet Boot Cuff

Yarn: I Love This Cotton! - but really, you can use whatever normal weight yarn you'd like. Heck, you can even go lightweight on these puppies, but I probably wouldn't go bulky weight unless you don't mind, ahem, bulky boot cuffs.
Hook: size I (5.5 mm) - I used this hook mainly because it was the size listed on the yarn.

Row 1: Ch. 15. Sc in the 2nd ch from the hook and in each st across. Ch 2. Turn.
Row 2: Dc in each st across. Ch 1. Turn.
You will repeat these two rows until you reach the desired length. I worked until it was 30 rows, and then I sl st the two sides together. Make sure you end on a "Row 2" row.

After connecting, do not fasten off. Flip your project inside out so that the seam is on the inside.
Round 1: Ch. 1. 2 dc in the first ch 2-sp. 2 dc in each ch 2-sp around. Join with a sl st to the first dc.
Round 2: Sl st to the space between the first 2 dc cluster. Ch 2. 2 dc. 2 dc in the space between each cluster. Join with a sl st to the first dc. Repeat this round twice more to make four rounds. Fasten off.

If you don't like the line that inevitably follows connecting two pieces using sl sts, then feel free to sew them together. I am lazy, and I liked the way sl st allows for this to be made in one piece. 

Let me know what you think of the pattern! Does it need more clarification, or does it make sense? Thanks!