My New Video Editor

My new video editor      

I AM VERY FRUSTRATED!!! I have to share my frustrations with you, ladies and gentlemen - to keep my sanity.

First, my old video editor started acting up and was not either editing well (I noticed in few of my last videos after uploading it to YouTube some dark flicks) or it was crashing on me when I was editing video. I went on-line and read the reviews of new upgrades and decided not to go that route because videographers cannot use that sucker anymore due to a bad coding. It crashes on them more than before or doesn't do what they are asking the editor to do, etc. I don't want to waste money on that... OK, problem solved. Let's move on.

So, I finally bought a new and expensive video editor that I was eying for about two years and which has good reviews. (Thank you, my dear husband and my dear mom-in-law for a really nice gift.) For a couple of days now I've been learning this new video editor so I can post more videos to my Youtube Channel for my knitting and crocheting virtual colleagues and fans. However, my new program (understand my new video editor) is a lot more complicated to navigate than the old one. I have to learn a new terminology and what it means, and learn new ways how it works. And that is quite exhausting to master. Hours and hours of re-learning and unlearning the old editor, AND learning new stuff.

Well, I finally put together about a 2-minute long video, but now my computer tells me that I do not have enough memory. OK, I click on something to "get rid of" something - whatever it is. Then I try to save it or upload it or whatever. Not happening. OK, no problem - be patient, Bronislava, I tell myself.

I try to "poke" around my new editor, click on many drop-down menus, then do a search on Google, read many questions and answers, then do few other steps in my editor AND then...... it completely crashes! Exhausted and starving because I don't eat when I try to solve problems, I go to the kitchen and make a meal for my lovely husband and I. He is also hungry, helping our daughter with math for as many hours as I learned my new program. Too bad our dogs can't cook.

So, the conclusion: I need to purchase a new hard drive and move a lot of stuff from my computer to that hard disk because I "burned" the connection to my old hard drive when I was upgrading my computer's operating system - I forgot to unplug it. Sigh. Well, it was almost full anyway. So no biggie. Then I want a new computer with a LOT OF MEMORY for my large video files (yeah fat chance). And I need a vacation. Too bad I keep spending so much money on yarn and tools. LOL.

Let's just keep knitting and crocheting and be happy.

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DID YOU FIND ERRORS? Let me know on what page of my blog, and in which row by clicking HERE, and I will fix it as soon as I get to it. You can PM me on my FB Page HERE as well. Txs!

Also if you haven't subscribed to my HandmadeRukodelky Channel, you can do it HERE. There are many videos to be seen, too.

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Copyright page - click HERE

PLEASE, COMMENT ON YOUTUBE BELOW MY VIDEOS, AND/OR SHARE YOUR IMAGES OF YOUR RECREATED WORKS ON MY FB PAGE HERE :-)

Note: Most of the time I work as fast as I can to keep up with knitting and crocheting requests. I have to videotape, edit videos, then convert them & upload them to my channel. After that often I post on my blog patterns. I answer many questions, which means that often I work up to 16 hours a day. I would tremendously appreciate IF anyone of you who finds an error in the written pattern, so please, let me know - where (what rows) and what may be the problem. Many future knitters & crocheters from our artsy and crafty virtual world will thank you for your good deed, including myself.

Even Vampires Knit

OK, I have to write about a movie "What We Do In The Shadows" from a director Taika Waititi. I do not know if you like "vampire movies," but if I come across a movie that is a comedy and it has vampires in it, I have to see it. I think the movie crew made this movie quite cleverly. It was made in New Zealand and filmed in the form of a documentary, making it believable that vampires exist. And NO, vampires DO NOT exist. Don't let them fool you. But besides this movie being a pretty good comedy (I had many laughs) what I liked about it was that one vampire is a knitter!!! Not that actor could actually knit, but he had such a straight face while knitting that if you are not a knitter you would believe he surely knows knitting. LOL.

Anyway below is a trailer, and if you like comedies, men who knit and vampires it is worth of seeing it. Have a great day knitting or crocheting. I will because it is snow storming outside today. Too bad I cannot find another great vampire movie for this kind of weather.

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See or knit/crochet along my many tutorial videos which you can find on my YouTube Channel HERE (you can load more videos at the bottom of my channel page) 

Other Crocheted Items you may want to check out

Amigurumi Bunny
Amigurumi Egg - (video)
Yellow Chick - Decoration or Toy?
Chicken Placemat For Kids
Bubble Gum Wrist Warmers
Crocheted Bonnet For a Newborn Princess
Cat Hat (adult size)
Crocheted Boobies, a.k.a. Knockers (prosthetics)
Crocheted Fingerless Gloves (adult)
Three Summer Crocheted Hats For Babies
Crocheted Spring Hat (youth/adult)
Crocheted Hat With Raised Design (Youth)
Simple Crocheted Headband
Simple Crocheted Coasters

Knits you may enjoy checking out:

Reversible Knitted Holiday Scarf
Pink Simple Ankle Length Socks For Narrow Foot - Size US 6
Red Black Furry Shrug
Knitted Long Basic Mittens (adult)
Basic Knitted Fingerless Gloves (adult)
Knitted Striped Fingerless Gloves (adult)
Charcoal Hat With Rolled Up Edge (youth/adult)

Knitted Unisex Hat (adult)

Easy Lacy Scarf 

Simple Beanie Hat (adult)

Stealy-White Slouchy Hat (adults)

Spring To Fall Lacy Hat (youth/adult)

Adult Lacy Hat

Lacy Hats

Spring/Summer Hat (baby)

Snow White Hat (baby)

After Sandy

Dear readers, we have been affected by that pesky storm called Sandy. Today is day 8without the electricity so there will be no blogging until all this mess is sorted out. I hope all off you are well.

Knitting And The Stormy Weather >>> Moje Pleteni Pri Vichrici

We had several "exciting" days lately. As many of you know there has been a devastating stormy weather on the East coast and left many people without the electricity and many unfortunate people ended up with huge damages. We were without electricity for three days, which is considered very lucky. Our family realizes now how much the electricity and water (yes, we have water well and therefor our pump was not working) means to us. In these few days the nature made us very humble. While some people have to replace houses (I saw a totally flattened house on the net), or roofs, and get rid of trees, we only have to replace food in the refrigerator and pick up few small branches. My thoughts are with all the people that were tremendously affected and I am thinking now, which country will donate to these American people that lost their house so they can have less stressful life, just like these American people donate elsewhere when there is a need.

And while all this "weather nonsense" was happening and I was left with not much  to do at home during the storm,  I sat there by a fire place, which was the only heat source at our house, and knitted few things (socks that do not have "holes" in the heel area, two finger puppets - punk and strawberry, and booties Mary Jane's). It was actually "peaceful", considering what was going on in our area.


















Meli jsme par zajimavych dnu. Na nasem vychodnim pobrezi se "certi zenili" - vichrice ponicila hodne domu, vyrvala stromy, pokacela elektricke vedeni. Mnoho lidi ma vysoke skody, nekteri ztratili domy. Spousta domu je zatopenych. Nase rodina skoncila jenom bez elektriky a ponevadz mame studnu, tak i bez vody (pumpa funguje jenom kdyz je elektrika). Je mi lito tech lidi, kteri maji velke ztraty a hodne problemu. Ja jen doufam, ze nekdo temto lidem pomuze. Kdyz mohou Americane posilat financni pomoc komukoliv, i do jinych zemi, myslim, ze by bylo hezke, kdyby zase nekdo poslal lidem, kteri by dali prvni posledni, neco na oplatku jim.

Takze zatimco byla venku vichrice a ja nesedela na pocitaci, umotala jsem par kousku - jen tak co me napadlo. Ponosky, co nemaji diry v patach, dva manasky (trochu jine, nez jenom "zvizatka") a vzdy jsem chtela vyskouset uplest boticky s prezkou, zvane "Mary Janes".

How To Make Pom-Poms >>> Jak Vytvorit Bambulky

My Mom taught me how to knit and crochet. You know, the basics. Nothing fancy. After that I always tried to explore outside the box - make my hand made products little more lively. One other thing that my Mom taught me was to make pom-poms - or "bambulky", as we call it in my country. It is not hard to do, you just have to be very neat when making it, otherwise it will not turn the best. For all of you that do not know how to make pompoms, I have made a video "How To Create Pompoms", which you can see below.

Maminka me naucila plest a hackovat zaklady. Postupne jsem se vzdy snazila naucit neco, co by ozivilo moje rucni vyrobky. Jednu z veci, ktere me maminka taky naucila byly bambulky. Neni to obtizne je vytvorit, pouze musite byt detailne orientovani, aby jste vytvorili bambulku kulatou. Vytvorila jsem video, jak takovou bambulku vytvorit.

Painted Rocks >>> Malovane Kameny

Couple summers ago, when I visited my family and friends in Europe, I was walking by a gift shop and behind the window they displayed several painted rocks. They were very tastefully decorated into peoples faces. I like unusual things that appeal to me visually. The rocks motivated me, I could also say influenced me, to find my own rock and try to paint it. When I returned back to America I decided to make a paper weight rock for my husband as a gift. On one of the family trips to the mother nature I found a rock I loved. Then at home I painted a face on my rock with a regular pencil, and white and brown pencils and sprayed it with fixative.



Pred nekolika lety, kdyz jsem navstivila rodinu a pratele v me byvale domovine, uvidela jsem za vylohou jednoho obchudku hezke kameny ktere umelec "ozdobil" jako tvare lidi. Mam rada zvlastni veci, ktere na me vizuelne pusobi. Tyto kameny na mne tak zapusobily a motivovaly mne, aby si nasla svuj kamen, ktery bych pak pomalovala. Kdyz jsem se vratila zpet do Ameriky, pri jednom vyletu do prirody jsem nasla ten "muj" kamen, ktery mame doma jako tezitko. Namalovala jsem mu oblicej obycejnou tuzkou, a bilou a hnedou pastelkou, ktere jsem pak prestrikala fixativem

Coasters For Cups or Glasses >>> Tacky Pod Hrnicky nebo Sklenicky

Years back, when I moved to my first own apartment, I started making my place "livable". One day I walked to a store and I saw plain wooden coasters that I liked a lot and, which I needed for cups and glasses to protect my furniture. They were not expensive at all and I decided, that I will decorate them to make them look very special. At that time "gold leafing" was very fashionable, so after I purchased the coaster, I stopped at the art store on the way home and bought a gold leafing kit. I painted the middle of the coaster with red color and the rest (including a coaster holder) I painted with gold paint. I gave the coasters two coats. I made sure that my lines would be straight - I like to be neat. When the paint dried, I gold-leafed the red part (the middle). Gold leafing requires a lot of patience. Hands must be clean and dry, so the gold leaf doesn't stick to them much. And I remember vaguely that I also used brand new clean brush to smooth the gold leaf onto the coaster. When placing the gold leaf onto the object, you need to keep on mind that some of the red paint needs to show. That is the effect of antique gold leafing. To make my coasters more interesting, I glued images from the magazine onto the holder. After I was all done I painted clear varnish all over the holder and the coasters to make sure that the gold leaf would not peel.
I had these coasters for many years. You can see that they still look good, although they are a bit used. But it doesn't matter - it is giving it an antique feel. My friends usually ask where I bought my coasters. I always tell them how I did it and about a gold leaf kit which has a step-by-step directions in the package.

Later on, I even gold leafed an old and ugly chair, and gave it a new fabric. After I was done with  it, the chair looked like brand new chair. Unfortunately I do not have any image to show you. I do not even have that chair. It is now in the possesion of another person.






Kdyz jsem se pred mnoha lety prestehovala do meho prvniho vlastniho bytu, zacala jsem si upravovat moje hnizdecko. Jednou jsem vesla do obchodu, kde jsem natrefila na male tacky pod hrnicky a sklenicky, ktere byly ze dreva. Byly levne a tak jsem si rekla, ze si je "ozdobim". V te dobe bylo velmi popularni tzv. "gold leafing" - zdobeni zlatymi tenouckymi listy. Takze jsem se okamzite zastavila v obchode pro malire a koupila jsem si sadu. Stred kazdeho tacku jsem natrela cervenou barvou z teto sady, zbytek jsem pomalovala zlatou barvou. Taktez jsem natrela zlatou barvou stojan na tacky. Dve vrstvy. A davala jsem pozor, aby prace byla odvedena dobre. Jakmile barva zaschla, vzala jsem "gold leaf" (zlaty list) a nanasela jsem ho na cervenou plochu tak, aby mezi kouskami listu prosvitala cervena barva. Na stojan jsem nalepila "utrzene" obrazky z casopisu. Pote jsem vse natrela prusvitnym lakem.

Tyto tacky mam jiz mnoho let, takze jsou jiz mirne opotrebovane, coz nevadi nebot jim pridava starozitny efekt. Pratele se me ptaji, kde jsem tyto tacky koupila a ja jim vzdy rikam at si koupi "gold leafing" sadu a taky si neco hezkeho vytvori.

Pozdeji jsem jeste "o-gold-leafovala" stare osklive kreslo. Sedadlo a operadlo jsem potahla novou latkou. Kreslo bylo jako nove. Bohuzel fotografii meho kresla nemam nebot uz mnoho let je u jineho majitele.

Wine Cover/Cooler >>> "Kabat" Na Lahev Vina

One day I was having dinner with my husband and while we were sipping a nice chilled wine I imagined a felted cover for the wine bottle, so it would help keep wine cold longer, without using the ice bucket. Of course I am a person that starts imagining things and while I was enjoying our meal, wine and presence of my husband, I designed in my head the cover for our wine bottle.

However, if I will make another cover some day, it will have a bottom and a zipper at the top, so it will be easy to slip the bottle in. This cover does not have a bottom so it could be slipped on from the top and when it is being used a person pouring the wine has to be careful so bottle bottle does not slip out.

My friend liked this wine cover very much, so I gave it to her. I hope she is having fun with it when she is entertaining her guests. The cover on the top is the cover before it was felted (shrunk in the hot water) and the other image is after it has been shrunk. This certainly makes a nice gift. If anyone would interested in such an item, drop me couple of lines into comment box. I might consider making it for you if the price is right.


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Jednoho dne  jsme sedeli s manzelem na terase, jedli veceri a popijeli vinecko a ja jsem najednou zacala premyslet o tom, ze bych mohla vytvorit "kabatek" na lahev vina, aby vinecko v teplem pocasi zustalo dele studene, pokud clovek nechce pouzivat nadobu s ledem. Ponevadz jsem osoba, co porad premysli a vymysli, tak jsem ve spolecnosti meho manzela a dobre vecere s vineckem vymyslela tento "kabatek".

Tento kabatek se nasouva na lahev s vrchu, ale kdybych chtela vytvorit jiny, tak asi vytvorim povlek ktery bude mit dno a zip, aby jsem mohla lahev zasunout do "kabatku", misto "kabatek" na lahev.

Moji kamaradce se "kabatek" na lahev velmi libil, tak jsem ji ho dala. A ja doufam, ze ho pouziva, kdyz ma na navsteve hosty. Ten "kabatek" na prvni fotce je pred "srazenim" a druha fotografie je konecny vysledek. Kdyby mel nekdo zajem o takovyto darek, napiste mi do komentare. Kdyby byla cena prijatelna, vyrobila bych vam podobny.

Tea Pot Cover >>> Pokryvka Na Cajnik

Lately, I have been looking through my old files and I am finding some stuff I am quite proud of. For example this tea pot cover to keep the tea (or coffee) warm. I made this for my friend for her birthday. She really loved it and when ever I visit her, she always uses this cover over her tea pot, when she serves me tea. the knowing that my work was not a waste makes me feel really good - especially to see that my skill is greatly appreciated.

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V posledni dobe jsem prohledavala moje stare soubory a nasla jsem tam spoustu mych vyrobku na ktere jsem docela hrda. Napriklad tuto prikryvku na cajnik jsem vytvorila pro moji kamaradku k jejim narozeninam. Kdykoliv k ni prijdu na navstevu a ona mi serviruje caj, tak prikryvku pouziva. Nas caj zustava dele teply. Jsem rada, ze moje prace se neminula ucinkem a kamaradka ocenuje moji zrucnost.















Some of the teas below would make a nice gift for tea lovers.