Joshua Tree camping trip 1/13/11-1/15/11

 When I told a coworker that I was going camping in the desert they responded with "Well it should be hot right?" Oh hell no, desert camping in California during the winter is still cold. Yeah, we don't have much snow here but the wind makes it really chilly. It is very beautiful though. I had been camping here before when I was much younger. Wide open landscapes with very large boulder formations, which makes it a hot spot for rock climbers, and the signature Joshua trees make this a great camping destination year round in my opinion.

We loaded up my car with gear and food and headed out towards Joshua Tree National Park. We arrived at the campsite at dark so we had to set up camp using our lamp and flashlights. Erland made a fire and cooked us a dinner of beef stew. It was delicious but we had to eat quickly because the strong winds made our food get cold. We made sure to store most of the food in the car so that coyotes would't try to get to it. We saw one earlier as we drove through the park.



The next morning we had some breakfast and decided to relax a bit at our campsite. Later that day we went on a short hike that was right at our campsite of White Tank. It was still very windy and I was very cold but the hike was a lot of fun. We climbed all over a bunch of boulders and even climbed up to arch rock. An older couple followed us to it and explored it as well.



I would have taken video of our camp at night but I was too busy trying to stay warm. Erland is a great camp cook! We also had the traditional camping food of marshmallows! I like to have mine catch on fire then blow it out for that crispy shell and gooey inside. Yum!!(we brought graham crackers and chocolate but too cold to make them so we just roasted marshmallows)

We also went on two other hikes. Skull rock and one at Hidden Valley. Pictures of the hikes as well as our campsite are located HERE! This was a really fun trip. I may want to come back here when it's a tad bit warmer.

Crochet Cats!

 For my first crochet project I decided to make 2 cats. With school and so much going on in December it took me a bit of time to get them finished. This pattern was rated easy and not too difficult overall. I used white and brown worsted yarn with a G hook.

The tools

I started by doing all the small pieces first like the arms, legs, ears, tails and faces. I noticed that with the brown yarn it was sometimes tough to see where to insert the hook into the stitch but after a few pieces I got the hang of it. Once all the small pieces were done I started on the bodies. I had previously worked on a practice body to see how it would turn out before I did the actual bodies that I planned to use. The actual bodies turned out really nice and tightly crocheted. 

The Kitty cats!

 I haven't sewed in years so this part took some time and so did doing the embroidery on the faces. These two aspects were quite a learning experience. With practice I think I can improve. I ordered the cat safety eyes from a store on Etsy.com and got them quickly! I was dealing with a bit of a time limit and had to get these cats done as quickly as possible!(I was making them as a gift) I really like the eyes and will most likely order from that store again.

My sewing needs some improvement.

I see you!

I kinda wish I had used a lighter brown only because its a little tough to see the mouth and nose on the faces. Embroidery really is not my specialty haha. The pattern wanted me to sew the bottom of the body together, but I was having none of that. I didn't like the way it made the cats bottom all scrunched up. I decided to make a separate piece for the bottoms so that I could close it up nicely and so that the cats would sit without having to be supported.

Cat bottom all closed up.

This flat bottom makes it easier for the cats to sit.

I really like how he tails turned out. They were nice and stiff so that i could practically pose them a bit. I made them turn up so that they looked more like cat tails then just random tails hanging out from the back.

            The following are some other pictures of the cats.

Top view

Side & back view

Size comparison next to some lifesavers.

Overall I am pleased with how they came out and look forward to working on some more crocheted creatures!

See you next time!