Congratulations!

Last Friday’s blizzard hit pretty hard. Snowed in and bored, I decided to make a cake. I didn’t have exactly what I needed, but I made it work. I wasn’t going to decorate it, but I found some old (and not at all flowy) piping gel and colored it blue.

I didn’t have any of my cake decorating tools, so I had to improvise and I think it looks hilarious.

Anyway, yes, blizzard cake! It’s vanilla with cream cheese frosting. I sprinkled a whole thing of chocolate sprinkles in the cake mix so it came out like a chocolate chip cake. Kind of.

Cross Stitch WIP

This is the beginning of my most complicated cross stitch project ever. It’s not huge, maybe the size of a standard piece of printer paper, but there are 51 colors and over 16,500 stitches. I started it in November (2012) but only worked on it one time and didn’t touch it again until 3 days ago. So the pic was actually taken after 4 days of work.

It’s going to take a while. I’ve been experiencing pain in my elbows for a few years but it’s been getting worse. I found out pretty recently that it could be arthritis, but there’s a pretty high chance that it’s something a bit more serious, so I’m trying to take it easy for now. Crafting has become more and more painful (especially since I’m right-handed and the pain in my right elbow is more severe), but I can’t stop because I love it too much :)

Kindle!

I knocked my Nook Simple Touch off my dresser and into that cat’s water dish, which is less “dish” and more “large bowl of water.”

Of course, it died. Luckily for me, I had a 2 year SquareTrade warranty with 5 months left! Since e-readers are difficult to fix, SquareTrade just refunded my money so I could buy a new one. Instead of purchasing another Nook, I decided to make the switch and get a Kindle Paperwhite, and it arrived early this afternoon.

Long story short: I totally crocheted a case for it.

I used a variegated Lily Sugar ‘n Cream cotton yarn, just found it in my stash and thought cotton would be nice, maybe a bit stiff so it doesn’t stretch out too quickly.

 

 

Big pictures!

See the line of orange and white towards the bottom of the case? That’s part of 3 rows of slip stitches, which made the case tighter in that spot. So when I put the Kindle in, the case (which is already nice and snug), is a bit tighter in the slip stitch area. If I drop the case or, more likely, I accidentally hold it upside down, the Kindle won’t fall out because it’s being held in place by that one tight spot. I kind of discovered this by accident, and I think it’s awesome. 

I love it, it makes me happy.

And so does the Kindle, if you were wondering. I love it and I love the built-in light. Also, reading is the bomb.

SOLD!

Okay, I’m freaking out.

I sold some crocheted items. I actually received money for something I made.

Wow. It actually happened a week or so ago, but now I have the money and it’s more real and my head is exploding.

So here’s what happened! Nate’s mom offered to try to sell some things for me and I I gave her a baby blanket and a bunch of scarves, even though I was pretty sure nothing would come of it. She asked me how much I wanted to charge, but I had no idea. All I wanted to do was be sure I covered the cost of the yarn, so I told her how much I spent on each item and gave her permission to price everything however she wanted.

She actually decided to buy the baby blanket from me herself so she could give it to her grandson, and then she sold two scarves. The total amount for all three items is $100! I literally cannot believe it.

Here are two of the things I sold:

This baby blanket is actually a bit large, like something you’d give a toddler. The whole thing is one big granny square with a shell border.

I posted a tiny picture of this scarf last year when I started my blog. The little animal-thingies on each end are actually puppets! I hated making this scarf and will probably never make another one ever again haha

The third item was a ruffle scarf made out of a dark teal yarn that had sequins scattered throughout. I didn’t get a good picture, but I still have a lot of the yarn left. Since it sold so quickly, I’m going to make another one and I’ll post a picture when I do!

I’d had that puppet scarf since 2011. I got to see a picture of the little boy it was given to. He looked pretty stoked and it was so cute. I’m really excited about the idea of people enjoying the things I make :]

So there it is. Sold items. Finally!

On another, much less exciting note:
My first blogiversary (I lol at that word every time I see it) was the first of January. It’s pretty crazy (to me, anyway) that I started out with the intention of posting pictures of my crocheted stuff and ended up posting about a ton of other crafts too. Before last year, I didn’t know how to crochet with any stitch other than a single or double crochet, decorate cakes, bake, make candy, cross stitch, use perler beads, make anything good out of clay, or sew. Now I know how to do all of those things, some of which I have yet to post about! I’ve always wanted to know how to do stuff like that, but I lacked the motivation. I think having a blog and being able to look at other crafty blogs really inspired me and gave me the motivation I needed to learn new things. Rad!

Merry Whatever

First off, Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, or merry/happy anything else any of you may be celebrating this month or week. I hope that covers everyone. Also, happy new year :D

I had a tough year, and it’s ending in a strange way. I’m happy. Since November or so, I’ve been happier than I’ve been in years, and it’s all thanks to a doctor visit I was dreading. It turns out I’m not “just depressed” like I thought I was. I have an issue that’s a bit… crazier. But with the right medication (science!), I’m feeling so much better than I ever thought possible! It’s strange because I do have some things to be bummed about, but they just don’t bother me like they would have bothered me before. For example: my car died a few weeks ago. It’s completely dead. I don’t even come close to having the money for a new (used) car. I may have enough for a small down payment on a semi-inexpensive (under $10k) used car, but car payments coupled with new, higher insurance are going to be ridiculous. But I’m not super sad about it. It is what it is. I guess I’m just more accepting of life’s ups and downs now that I’m more normal. Yay!

Also! My mom is in town! I hadn’t seen her in 4+ years, not since I visited her when she moved from California to Texas. We had a bit of a fight before she got here, and I wasn’t sure if she was going to come or not, but she did, we made up, and it’s been really fun. She’s never been to the East Coast (aside from a trip to New York City in 2004) and I’ve been wanting to show her around Connecticut for a long time. Now I can! She’s been here since the 22nd and will be leaving January 2nd. We’ve been doing a lot of shopping and sightseeing in the area around New Haven, but I think we’re planning to drive to Boston at some point, which will be really cool because I’ve never been there either. Even if we don’t make it to Boston, I’m so happy she came to visit, it’s making the end of 2012 the best it could be.

I am looking forward to 2013, though. And with the new year comes a new craft! I’m going to learn how to make clothing, bags, toys, curtains, bedding, and anything else I can think of with a sewing machine! I’ve been wishing I could get one for ages, but on top of being broke, I’ve also been really intimidated by the whole idea. I mean, I definitely wanted to do it, but I had no idea what to do once I got the machine and I was a little worried I wouldn’t understand and it’d be a waste of money. But my mom wanted to buy me a Christmas present, and I couldn’t think of anything else, so I finally have a sewing machine! I’d been looking at beginner patterns/tutorials for about a week or so and I felt pretty confident that I could follow them without a problem. My mom has used a machine many times, so she can help me out. Any other time, she wouldn’t be here to help me, so her visit definitely had a hand in it. I feel less intimidated with her here to help. Plus, the machine came with an instructional DVD!

I’m really excited about making my own clothes, but I know that won’t come until I have more experience, which means I’ll be making lots of pillows, tote bags, and a bunch of other simple stuff. I have found a simple skirt pattern though, so that’s totally going to happen! While my mom is here, we’re going to buy some fabric and try to replicate a really simple shirt she has that she loves and wants more of, so I’ll probably be posting about that soon :)

I think my mom is about to wake up, so I’m off to hang out with her. I hope everyone else is looking forward to the new year as happily as I am, because it feels really good.