Knit Cape and Other Knitting Projects

December 16, 2015 kimberlee 3 Comments

Recently I finished a knit cape that I designed using Homespun yarn from Lion. Homespun yarn is probably one of my favorite fall and winter yarns to work with. It is very soft and the colors are pretty.

The color name of the yarn that I used for this cape was called painted desert. It has a lot of great colors in it and goes with many different things.

The cape is designed to fit kind of snug around the neckline and shoulder area and then gradually gets wider at the bottom. This pattern is knit on circular needles so there are no seams – which is nice because when you get done all you have to do is weave in a few ends and you are finished with your project. A great reason to love circular knitting.

Another great thing about this pattern is that it can be worn different ways. You can also wear it as a hooded type of scarf to keep you warm on a cold and windy day.

For more information on this pattern you can visit my etsy shop , craftsy store, or ravelry.

Other projects that I have been working on are some yoga socks, knit with some Noro Silk Garden yarn I had in my stash. I am currently testing out the pattern in another yarn, also found in my stash, before I will be releasing it.

The socks look like some type of pac-man object or something in the photo – this was just a quick shot I took after completing them. They actually do fit nicely and I have wore them twice now to practice yoga in. It is nice to have something to keep your feet warm on chilly mornings but still be able to grip the mat with the ball of your foot, toes and heel. The opening in the middle is the part where your heel goes. The pattern for these will be coming soon.

I have also been working on a chenille afghan. This yarn has been in my stash for quite a while, I am ashamed to admit. I bought it with intentions to knit a sweater and decided after attempting that last year that it was going to be too bulky. So, this year I decided it would make a nice blanket-afghan for our living room. The yarn is so soft and seems like it will keep you warm. I have kind of put it aside lately to work on yoga socks and a new cowl pattern but I plan to finish it by January and I will share it here on my blog when it is done.

My friend Marilyn knitted these cute Christmas dishcloths. She knit two of them for all of the ladies in my monthly knitting group – there are five of us that meet once a month at a Starbucks to knit and socialize. We have been doing this for about 6 years now. The dishcloth on the right has a tree design in it – can you make out the outline of it? I love using these cotton knit dishcloths in the kitchen. My mom likes to knit these as well so I am sure I will be getting a couple more for gifts this year.

What kinds of projects have you been working on lately? Let me know by leaving a reply.

I hope you have a Merry Christmas!

-Kimberlee

Categories: Knitting

Tags: knit cape pattern, knit yoga socks, knitted cape design, knitted dishcloths, knitting, knitting pattern

Free Knit Scarf and Crochet Cowl Pattern

December 8, 2015 kimberlee 6 Comments

Christmas is going to be here before we know it. Are you ready? Do you have all your shopping done and all your handmade gifts completed? I wish I could say that I do but I don’t – I am not even close. I have been so busy designing new patterns for my shops that I have not taken the time to shop at all.

I have a couple of designs to share today on my blog that are both pretty quick and easy to knit or crochet – so if you are still looking for something to complete for someone for a gift maybe one of these patterns will work. They are both Free pdf download files.

The above photo is of a Chunky Knit Drop Stitch Scarf. It is super quick and easy to knit on size US 15 knitting needles. If you can do a knit stitch and a yarn over and drop a yarn over you can complete this pattern. Any chunky weight yarn will work. The yarn I used was from Hobby Lobby – not sure if it is still available – it is called Yarn Bee Finale. It goes from thick to thin and is a variegated yarn. Drop Stitch Knit Scarf You can click on the highlighted name of the pattern to access the pdf pattern and print.

The other pattern I am sharing today is for a crocheted ripple cowl – I call it Candy Cane Ripple since it is done in red and white sparkle yarn. You can choose any two colors you want with or without the sparkle, glitter, yarn. This cowl is crocheted with a size US J hook. It is a one row repeat so pretty simple to do once you master the pattern. The cowl is crocheted in rows and then sewn together. You need to know how to double crochet and chain and skip chains to crochet this. Yarn I used was Hobby Lobby I Love this Yarn in the sparkle – any #4 worsted weight yarn can be used. Candy Cane Ripple Cowl Crochet Pattern Clicking on the highlighted text will take you to the pdf pattern for you to download or print.

I hope you enjoy the patterns and are able to get some handmade gifts completed for those on your list.

-Kimberlee

*For my complete line of patterns please visit my etsy shop or my craftsy store – links are in the sidebar.

Categories: Crochet Knitting

Tags: Crochet, crochet cowl pattern, crochet patterns, easy knitting pattern, knit scarf pattern, knitted chunky weight scarf design, knitting

Essential Oil Diffuser Blends for Fall and Winter

November 30, 2015 kimberlee 2 Comments

I wanted to share some new essential oil diffuser blends I have come to enjoy this fall. Most of the blends include Basil essential oil which has become a new favorite for me.

Basil essential oil is used in traditional Asian Indian medicine. The name basil comes from the word “basileum” which is the Greek name for king. Uses for basil according to my pocket reference book are: help with migraines, combat throat-lung infections and insect bites. The fragrance is also know to fight mental fatigue – promoting energy, alertness and good decision making.

Two of my favorite combinations of the above list are:

Basil, Peppermint and Lime
Basil and Peppermint

Both of these combinations smell good and seem to give me energy to get things done, which I can always use.

Basil, Cinnamon Bark and Lime is another pleasant combination.

So far I have only tried Basil essential oil and these combinations in the diffuser. It seems that Basil oil when applied topically with a carrier oil, like jojoba oil, would be good for colds or congestion. According to some information in my Aromathreapy 101 book Basil is a good oil to aid with respiratory illnesses and muscle spasms in the chest area, especially when used with Eucalyptus oil.

I use Young Living essential oils. Please contact me using the form below if you would like more information about Young Living and how to use their essential oils.

What are some of your favorite essential oil combinations in the diffuser? Leave me a comment and let me know.

-Kimberlee

Categories: Essential Oils Young Living

Tags: basil essential oil, diffuser combinations, essential oils, essential oils for diffuser, young living essential oils

Fitness for October 2015

October 30, 2015 kimberlee

The month of October is almost over…tomorrow is Halloween and the time will fall back this weekend. This past month I followed a pretty intense workout schedule using my Cathe Friedrich programs – Xtrain and Ripped with Hiit and doing yoga. I am trying to ramp up my workouts some and get ready for her new series that I have already pre-ordered called ICE which stands for Intermediate Conditioning Extreme. The title itself makes it sound like the workouts will be a challenge. The workouts are coming out the end of fall 2015.

I alternated my weeks in October with one week Xtrain mixed with yoga a couple of days and then the next week Ripped with Hiit and yoga. I averaged a 5 to 6 day a week workout schedule with 2 of my days being yoga.

For my yoga routines I used this older Yoga Journal magazine I bought back in April 2013. I also used my new crocheted yoga props that I made myself on many of my yoga days. For more on the crochet pillow and strap see this post.

I love doing yoga on my non cardio days. I really enjoy yoga on Saturday mornings, too – it is a great start to my weekend to get up early Saturday, before 7 am, and do 20 to 30 minutes of yoga. Yoga also helps keep me flexible after the intense cardio and weight workouts I do.

I have also started juicing again this month. I kind of put my juicer away a few months ago and got out of the habit of using it. I decided it was time to start up again. I love buying the produce and looking through my juicing books for interesting juice combinations. I think the reason I don’t keep up with it on a daily basis is because of the clean up involved with the juicer parts – it doesn’t take that long but it is something else to have to do when you are done juicing. I find it works better if I make two or three juices up and store them in mason jars in the refrigerator so I don’t have to drag the juicer out every day.

A benefit I notice with juicing is how good I feel and how much more focused I am. I also think it helps influence better eating choices. My goal is to have a fresh juice at least 4 to 5 times each week.

The fresh kale, in the photo above, is from my garden. This was something else to motivate my juicing. I grew some last year and used it with my juicer and remembered how much better it tasted and juiced than the kind I buy. I grew some again this year, from seed, and it is doing really well lately. It tends to not grow so good in the hot Texas heat in the summer but does very well in the spring and fall weather.

So, what kind of workouts have you been doing lately? Let me know in the comments below.

Have a great day!

-Kimberlee

Categories: Exercise Food Health

Tags: Cathe workouts, exercise, fitness, juicing, Kale, ripped with hiit workout, xtrain workout, yoga

New Crochet Designs

October 27, 2015 kimberlee 3 Comments

I recently finished some new crochet designs. The first thing I completed at the beginning of October was this crochet laptop sleeve and this little crochet case.

I love this vibrant V stitch design used to create my laptop sleeve. I was inspired to create this because I was tired of having a large laptop case to carry when traveling. This sleeve is perfect for holding my 16 inch laptop and it will slide down inside a larger bag that I carry when I travel. The stitch is also very thick so it provides some extra cushion for the laptop. I also created this little mini case to hold the laptop power cord and the mouse that I use.

My other new design for October was this fun chakra yoga pillow or bolster pattern. I was tired of using my couch pillows for a yoga bolster when doing certain poses so I decided to crochet one. I got inspired to do one in chakra colors as I have a book about chakra yoga and thought a crocheted pillow or bolster would be fun to make and something I would use. I am really pleased with how the pillow turned out and I have already used it many times in the last couple of weeks. Along with this pattern I also made a yoga strap to go with the pillow.

Both of these patterns are available here on my website under my Pattern Store tab. You can also find these patterns in my etsy shop, on craftsy and on ravelry.

Visit KimberleeG’s Craftsy Pattern Store »

What have you been crocheting or working on lately? I would love to hear about it in the comments below.

Have a great day!

-Kimberlee

Categories: Crochet

Tags: chakra colors pillow pattern, Crochet, crochet designs by kimberlees korner, crochet laptop sleeve pattern, crochet patterns, crochet pillow pattern, yoga bolster pattern, yoga pillow pattern

Essential Oil Blends for Perfume

October 16, 2015 kimberlee 5 Comments

There are many ways to use essential oils. One of the ways I have found to use them daily is wearing them as a perfume. Not all oils are good for this but I have discovered a few of the different essential oil blends from Young Living that smell nice when worn as a fragrance.

Three of the blends I have discovered that work well as a perfume are:

Awaken
Lady Sclareol
White Angelica

Awaken is actually a combination of five different Young Living Blends in fractionated coconut oil. The blends are: Joy, Forgiveness, Present Time, Dream Catcher and Harmony. According to the Essential Oils Pocket Reference Book this blend enhances inner self-awareness, stimulates right brain creativity, amplifying functions of the pineal and pituitary glands to balance the energy centers of the body. I think this blend has a pleasant smell and have applied it on my wrists and behind my ears and over my heart area in the morning before doing some yoga.

Lady Sclareol is a blend of 11 different single oils to create a lovely fragrance that I have been using a lot as a daily perfume over the past several months. This blend is suppose to enhance feminine nature by improving your mood and raising estrogen levels for women – it may also provide PMS relief according to the Pocket Reference Book.

White Angelica is a blend of 12 different single oils in fractionated coconut oil. This blend is suppose to bring a renewed sense of strength and protection to the body, create a feeling of wholeness in one’s own spirituality and neutralizes negative energy as stated in the Essential Oils Pocket Reference Book. I have also been wearing this one a lot as it has such a pleasant and calming smell.

To wear any of these three essential oils as a fragrance you can apply them as you would any perfume, as each of them are safe to apply without dilution, to the wrists, neck, behind ears, on the forehead, on the shoulders or over the heart area. You could also use a small glass spray bottle and dilute about 15 to 25 drops in one or two ounces of filtered water to create a body spray – I have done this with some single oils to create my own blend and this works well.

If you are interested in learning more about essential oils or about Young Living specifically please contact me using the form below and I will get back to you.

If you are interested in signing up to be a Young Living member please click on the highlighted Young Living to take you to the sign up link. If you join Young Living with this link I will send you a free gift for signing up once you have ordered you starter kit.

How do you use essential oils and what are some of your favorite Young Living blends? Please let me know by leaving a reply.

– Kimberlee

Categories: Essential Oils

Tags: awaken essential oil, essential oils, essential oils as perfume, lady sclareol essential oil, white angelica essential oil, Young Living essential oil info

Fitness for September 2015

September 30, 2015 kimberlee

For the past month I took a break from my normal routine of using fitness videos and used some of my book and fitness magazine routines. I have a collection of workout and yoga books and lots of fitness routines from magazines that I have clipped out and saved. So, the first couple of weeks of September I used the magazine routines alternating in some yoga. It was fun to put on some good workout music and do those sets of exercises for 20 to 30 minutes.

The second half of the month I chose to use some of my workout books and alternate those with yoga from my yoga magazine. I also got a new Pilates book from Sams at the end of August so I mixed that in this month as well.

pilates book

I really like this Pilates book. It is a full color book with step by step photos of the exercises. At the end of the book there are several different Pilates routines that you can do – like one is classic Pilates, another called spinal call and working the leg-core connection. There are twelve total routines at the back of the book.

As you can see my other cat likes the Pilates book, too. She has been out more lately since I have started this new routine. She is usually more shy and quiet than my other cat who loves to join me for my daily workouts. I guess she is a Pilates fan.

Some of the other books I used for my workouts this month were some that I have had for a while. They are books that use an exercise ball and some of the exercises use weights. So a lot of these workout are more for toning and strength training.

As you can see I own a few fitness books that are about working out on the ball. The exercise ball is probably one of my favorite fitness tools. I know it is not exactly convenient for storing but there are so many things you can do on the ball and so many areas you can tone up much better than just doing traditional exercises. I think working out with weights on the ball is a lot of fun as well as some of the abdominal work.

So, for this past month I enjoyed creating my own routines or using some from the books. Most of them were about 20 to 30 minutes long. On my yoga days I usually did about a 20 or 25 minute yoga sequence from my Yoga Journal magazine that I bought several months ago. It is a great magazine and I never get tired of the routines in there.

yoga journal magazine with great yoga practices and other info — Yoga Journal Magazine with lots of great workouts

For the coming month of October I have decided to go back to using my Cathe workout dvd’s and alternating yoga or the Pilates book in between video days. I find I do best with variety which is why I am constantly changing my workouts each month. I also think it helps your body stay in shape to do different things.

What kinds of workouts have you done lately? Let me know by leaving a reply.

Kimberlee

Categories: Exercise

Tags: exercise ball, exercise books, exercise routine, exercising, exercising at home, fitness, monthly workout, working out, yoga

Uses for Ruffle Scarf Yarn

September 25, 2015 kimberlee 8 Comments

Ruffle scarf yarn is for crocheting and knitting scarves – hence the name. This type of yarn became very popular a few years ago. It is still popular and you see it in craft stores or online in various colors an textures.

I knit a LOT of scarves in this ruffle yarn. I knit many for gifts, to sell and for myself. After a while I got tired of just knitting scarves with it and decided to try using it as an edging on scarves or shawls.

The above scarf is a crochet version I designed using Homespun yarn as the base and Patons Pirouette yarn as the ruffle edge. The pattern can be found in my etsy shop.

The photo of the red, black and white scarf is a knit version. I knitted this scarf in Texas Tech colors for my neighbors daughter who goes to school there. The ruffle yarn is a lot of fun to use with one or two other colors of yarn to showcase some team colors. This pattern is also available in my etsy shop.

The above cape is something I designed about a year ago for my Grandmother. Again the main body of the cape is knit with Homespun yarn and the ruffle edge is Patons Pirouette. This pattern is easy and can be found on etsy.

The blue shawl above is a lovely prayer shawl design that is knitted in Homespun yarn and then edged with the ruffle yarn. I gave this to my friend this summer who was going through chemo therapy to fight breast cancer. Blue is one of her favorite colors. This pattern is also on etsy.

It is pretty easy to use this yarn as a decorative accent. You have to crochet or knit with your base yarn and the ruffle yarn held together. Below are a couple of photos showing how to crochet or knit with it for an edging.

crocheting an edge with ruffle yarn Kimberlees Korner — crocheting a ruffle yarn edge

I have also found that a lot of the Homespun yarns from Lion brand yarn coordinate well with some of the Red Heart Boutique Sashay or the Patons Pirouette yarns.

Patterns for these designs can be found in my etsy shop – links above highlighted for each specific pattern or in my craftsy pattern store.

Have you used ruffle yarn before? Let me know by leaving a reply in the comments and tell me what you made.

Have a great day!

Kimberlee

Visit KimberleeG’s Craftsy Pattern Store »

Categories: Crochet Knitting

Tags: Crochet, crochet patterns, crochet with ruffle yarn, crocheting with ruffle scarf yarn, knitting, knitting patterns, knitting with ruffle scarf yarn

Crocheted Bags

September 16, 2015 kimberlee 7 Comments

The past month or so I have been working on a lot of new crochet designs. I was on a sewing spree for July and part of August and now I am on to crochet. Instead of working on my normal scarves or shawls I have designed some new things – a couple of different styles of crocheted bags.

The above photos are my new crochet market bags. I had a lot of fun designing and crocheting these bags. I think I ended up making four of them in about a week. I made one in the round, the one on the left, a large size one which is the pink one in the middle and a medium size which is the royal blue on the right.

I love how quick and easy these are to make and the options – you can make one in the round if you don’t like to do seaming or you can make the other two versions that are not in the round but require some sewing around the sides and bottom seams. All of the bags feature a fun top drawstring and tie handle.

The photo of the red one above is the fourth one I made and that one is crocheted in the round.

I decided I did not need to have four of these bags so I ended up giving three of them away to my three friends in my monthly knitting group. They all seemed to like the surprise gift. It also feels good to make things for others. All of the other ladies in my group knit but do not crochet so I thought they might enjoy something different.

I kept the periwinkle and blue one since it went with my bike that I ride to the store sometimes. The bag worked well for holding groceries and it fit perfectly in my bike basket.

All of the market bags were made with Hobby Lobby I Love This Yarn. It is just a basic worsted weight acrylic yarn but it works well for certain projects, like these bags, and it washes well. It is one of the yarns I prefer if I work with a worsted weight acrylic – also there are tons of colors and prints to choose from and it is on sale every three weeks at Hobby Lobby.

The other bag I designed is a cotton crochet bag that I have named Shades of Color. This bag is a color work crochet pattern – it uses three coordinating or contrasting colors. I choose a light blue, navy and a dove gray for my bag.

The stitch pattern I designed this bag with was a lot of fun. The different stitches and the color changes make it interesting. I have already used this bag several times for different shopping trips to the store and even to Hobby Lobby to buy more yarn – that I don’t need!

The Shades of Color bag is crocheted with Hobby Lobby I Love This Cotton. It is a good basic 100 percent cotton yarn that is soft and easy to work with. It is also on sale every third week at Hobby Lobby – but not the same week as the acrylic yarn.

Both of these bag patterns are available for download purchase here on my site under Digital Downloads, in my etsy shop, on craftsy and on ravelry. You can click on any of the highlighted links to take you to the sites. Also, if you are purchasing the pattern on etsy please use the coupon code BAG10 to save 10% off either of these patterns – coupon code expires October 15, 2015.
Visit KimberleeG’s Craftsy Pattern Store »

I am currently working on a couple of other crochet projects and a knitting project so check back to see what is new.

– Kimberlee

Categories: Crochet

Tags: Crochet, crochet bags, crochet market bag, Crochet Pattern, crochet projects

DIY Bug Repel Spray

September 7, 2015 kimberlee 1 Comment

One of the things I love about summer and early fall weather is being able to sit outside on my front porch after my morning workout. I love to sit out there with a cup of coffee and read or do a little crochet or knitting. One of the things I don’t like are the mosquitoes that also like to sit out there with me.

Since I have been using Young Living essential oils for the past nine months I have gotten quite a collection and decided to make my own DIY bug repel spray this year. I tried it once before in the past with some other oils that were not Young Living and I didn’t think it worked all that well. Well, this blend I came up with seems to work pretty good. I have used it daily for the past few months and do not get mosquito bites. The mosquitoes do still come around me but they do not seem to bite me. The other bonus with this blend is that it does not smell terrible like some of the other products you buy. It is also free of harmful chemicals.

The blend is a combination of citronella essential oil, rosemary essential oil and peppermint essential oil with a tiny amount of optional witch hazel. It is super easy to make up. I keep mine in a 2 ounce glass spray bottle. I think I ordered the bottles from Amazon but you can also find them at Whole Foods or Sprouts.

The main essential oil in this blend is the citronella oil which is known for keeping bugs away – especially mosquitoes. I added in the other two oils to make the smell a little more pleasant and they were also listed in my Pocket Reference book as recommended for an insect repellent. The citronella oil is pretty strong on its own but if you only have that one then you could probably try the blend with just it and leave the other two out. I also read in my Essential Oils Pocket Reference book that blending the citronella oil with cedarwood enhances the insect repelling properties. I have not tried that blend yet. Two of the top oils to blend with citronella as listed in the book were palo santo, and idaho tansy but I do not have those oils.

Citronella essential oil has powerful antioxidant, antibacterial and antifungal medical properties as listed in the Pocket Reference book. That in addition to being an insect repellent. Other uses as listed in the book include:

respiratory infections
muscle-nerve pain
digestive problems
anxiety
skin problems (acne, oily skin, eczema)
skin penetration enhancer

In addition to using my DIY bug repel spray I have also been taking a gauze pad or cotton ball and placing 2 or 3 drops of the citronella oil on it and sitting it next to me when I am outside. I have a friend that lives in Michigan that told me about using essential oils last summer to make a DIY bug spray and she said it also worked well to spray it around the perimeter of the area you are sitting in. I am not sure what her blend was but I remember her telling me about spraying it around her deck so she could sit outside in the evening to read.

If you would like more information on Young Living essential oils please email me at kkg@kimberleeskorner.com. You can also click on the highlighted Young Living to take you to a sign up page.

*Please note that this blend is my own creation and opinion, it may or may not work for everyone.

Categories: Essential Oils

Tags: citronella essential oil, diy bug repel spray, essential oils, young living