Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which I May Be A Night Owl
But Insomnia is Definitely A Bear.

I have mentioned my struggles with insomnia but boy howdy have I not had a bout like this in a while. I got up at 5:30AM with sore ribs (from sitting or standing upright for over 20 hours) and eyes so dry and tired that I was constantly dodging what I thought was my cat darting in front of me but uh... it was absolutely not my cat. It was nothing. There wasn't anything there.

Yeah, I finally stayed up so long I started hallucinating.

Don't panic! (I didn't I was more annoyed than anything else) I took care of it and now I'm seeing the world normally. My brain is only slightly molasses-like, too!

How, you may ask, did I resume functionality after nigh-destructive insomnia?

I tried this thing I never do because my body hates me and won't let me:

I took...

A nap.

Seriously. From about 10:45AM-2PM, conked and then dozed off & on for most of the day. Is that a replacement for sleep? NO. Will I get sleep tonight? Hopefully, yes.

But probably no, because again, my body hates me.

We've been at war for the entire century so far.

Such is life.

But what have I been up to besides sleeping?!

I've been drawing (a Big Piece for my guy, a few sketches for me as a treat), watching Red Dead Redemption 2 Lore Videos (I have not played RDR2 nor am I likely to lol), eating Cup Noodle (chicken flavor - I added fried garlic which I heartily recommend), and crashing my iPad for the first time because it hated the new update for Pokemon Masters EX (it's fine now, just was a pain).

Also my mom took the cat out for exactly ten minutes because it is cold and poor kitty hates having cold toes. She has been on a kleptomaniacal hot-streak ever since, stealing my mother's seat whenever my mom tries to sit down. As though my mother is responsible for the changing seasons...

We saw deer this week! A buck and a doe, separately. Both did the sensible thing and ran away from the road lol. I also saw a big hawk and I'm grateful that it hasn't committed birdicide (yet).

Next week, I'll be adding more to the mystery crochet project (hopefully a lot more, but we'll see!), and then I'll have more art to show off.

I didn't do NaNoWriMo, but I hope to do some really good work this coming month on my book!

So many ideas! So little time!

I also may be just as herky-jerky as in October/November when it comes to blog consistency - I've got a bunch of gifts to finish and only... 23 days to complete them in.

That's probably gonna do it for me tonight!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Fiber Monday

 

More Progress, though slow

So I'm very sleepy and this blog is very late. I'm sorry about that, but in my defense, I haven't had a decent night's sleep in a month. Blame anything you like - it really just boils down to "sometimes I don't sleep too good and nothing I do helps". I'm sure I'm near the end of this insomnia bout, though. I tend to start sleeping better and better as the temperature outside drops and the snow accumulates!

Speaking of which, yes, we had our first snowfall on Friday! It was a light coating that has mostly just made my deck icy and the yard look like it was lightly bussed by the Snow Fairy as she headed north for the winter lol. The squirrels are furiously hunting down food and it's all very quaint and very late fall/early winter.

But you're not here for insomnia or weather reports, you want to see the next part of the pattern! Here is where we're at for the pattern so far:

Round 1: sc 6 into magic ring (6 sc)

R2: 2sc around (12 sc)
R3: [2sc, sc] around (18 sc)
R4: [sc, 2sc, sc] (24 sc)
R5: [2sc, sc in next 3 sts] (30 sc)
R6: sc around (30 sc)
R7: [sc in next 2 sts, 2sc, sc in next 2 sts] around (36 sc)
R8: [2sc, sc in next 5 sts] around (42 sc)
R9: [sc in next 3 sts, 2sc, sc in next 3 sts] around (48 sc)
R10: [2sc, sc in next 7 sts] around (54 sts)
R11: [sc in next 4 sts, 2sc, sc in next 4 sts] around (60 sc)
R12-13: sc around (60 sc)
R14: [2sc, sc in next 9 sts] around (66 sc)
R15: [sc in next 5 sts, 2sc, sc in next 5 sts] around (72 sc)
R16: [2sc, sc in next 11 sts] around (78 sc)
R17: [sc in next 6 sts, 2sc, sc in next 6 sts] around (84 sc)
R18: [2sc, sc in next 13 sts] around (90 sc)
R19-21: sc around (90 sc)
R22: [sc in next 7 sts, 2sc, sc in next 7 sts] around (96 sc)
R23: [2sc, sc in next 15 sts] around (102 sc)
R24: [sc in next 8 sts, 2sc, sc in next 8 sts] around (108 sc)
R25: [2sc, sc in next 17 sts] around (114 sc)
R26: [sc in next 9 sts, 2sc, sc in next 9 sts] around (120 sc)
R27-30: sc around (120 sc)
R31: [2sc, sc in next 19 sts] around (126 sc)
R32: [sc in next 10 sts, 2sc, sc in next 10 sts] around (132 sc)
R33: [2sc, sc in next 21 sts] around (138 sc)
R34: [sc in next 11 sts, 2sc, sc in next 11 sts] around (144 sc)
R35: [2sc, sc in next 23 sts] around (150 sc)
R36-40: sc around (150 sc)
R41: [sc 2 together, sc 23] around (144 sc)
R42-47: sc around (144 sc)
R48: [sc 11, sc 2 together, sc 11] around (138 sc)
R49-55: sc around (138 sc)
R56: [sc 2 together, sc 21] around (132 sc)
R57-64: sc around (132sc)
R65: [sc 10, sc 2 tog, sc 10] around (126 sc)
R66-74: sc around (126 sc)
R75: [sc 2 tog, sc 19] around (120 sc)
R76-84: sc around (120 sc)
R85: sc around, sl st to first sc (120 sc)
R86: ch3 (counts as 1^st dc), dc in each sc around, sl st in top of ch3 (120 sc)
R87: ch3 (counts as 1^st dc), dc in next 10 dc; yarn over, insert hook into next dc, pull through 1 loop, yarn over, pull through 2 loops, yarn over, pull through 2 loops (does not count as 1^st foundation dc), foundation dc next 96 stitches, then (being careful not to twist) dc in the 12^th dc from the end of the round, dc to the end of the round (24 dc, 96 foundation dc = 120 dc); sl st to top of ch3, fasten off.

You should now have something that looks like a hinged ring or a handle attached to an odd, pear-shaped pouch. Now we’ll begin the underside of the lid (this is going to be weird, I’m sorry).

Form a magic ring from the same color as you’ve been using. I use a double-magic-ring for added security but you can start this in the round however you like.

R1: ch3 (counts as 1^st dc here and throughout), dc 11 in ring, sl st to the top of the ch3 (12dc)
R2: ch3, fpdc in same dc, (dc in next dc, fpdc in same dc) around, sl st to top of ch3 (12dc, 12fpdc = 24st)
R3: ch3, dc in next st, fpdc in fpdc (dc in next 2 st, fpdc in fpdc) around, sl st to top of ch3 (24dc, 12fpdc = 36st)
R4: ch3, dc in next 2 sts, fpdc in fpdc (dc in next 3 sts, fpdc in fpdc) around, sl st to top of ch3 (36dc, 12fpdc = 48st)
R5: ch3, dc in next 3 sts, fpdc in fpdc (dc in next 4 sts, fpdc in fpdc) around, sl st to top of ch3 (48dc, 12fpdc = 60st)
R6: ch3, dc in next 4 sts, fpdc in fpdc (dc in next 5 sts, fpdc in fpdc) around, sl st to top of ch3 (60dc, 12fpdc = 72st)
R7: ch3, dc in next 5 sts, fpdc in fpdc (dc in next 6 sts, fpdc in fpdc) around, sl st to top of ch3 (72dc, 12fpdc = 84st)
R8: ch3, dc in next 6 sts, fpdc in fpdc (dc in next 7 sts, fpdc in fpdc) around, sl st to top of ch3 (84dc, 12fpdc = 96st)
R9: ch3, dc in next 7 sts, fpdc in fpdc (dc in next 8 sts, fpdc in fpdc) around, sl st to top of ch3 (96dc, 12fpdc = 108st)
R10: ch3, dc in next 8 sts, fpdc in fpdc (dc in next 9 sts, fpdc in fpdc) around, sl st to top of ch3 (108dc, 12fpdc = 120st)

So here we are, at the start of the new pieces, and here's where it gets complicated.

Take your hook out of the disc you formed (which we will now refer to as the “Lid”), then choose a spot to attach it to on the weird flap/hinge part of the first piece (which we’ll now refer to as the “Body”). With the ridged pattern facing downward (towards the open mouth of the Body), insert your hook back through one stitch of the Body’s hinge/flap and back into the loop of the Lid. We will be making our stitches through the hinge/flap stitches and back into the Lid for this round.

R11: ch3 (pull the first loop all the way through the hinge/flap stitch to make your 1^st ch), dc in next 9 dc going through the corresponding flap/hinge stitches as you go; on the next stitch, do not go back through the hinge/flap stitch to make your fpdc in fpdc; (dc in next 10 dc, fpdc in fpdc) around until the last fpdc, which is basically impossible (if you figure it out, great!) so just fake it til you make it; sl st in top of ch3. (120dc + 12fpdc = 132 sts)

You Want to put your hook through both the lid stitch & the hinge/flap stitch!

Congrats, the hardest part of the bottom of this lid is now complete and you should have something that looks a bit like a sand dollar stuck in a ring. We’re going to go back to normal chs, dcs, and fpdcs from now on!

R12: ch3, dc in next 10 dc, fpdc in fpdc; (dc in next 11 dc, fpdc in fpdc) around, sl st in top of ch3 (132dc + 12fpdc = 144 sts)

R13: ch3, dc in next 11 dc, fpdc in fpdc; (dc in next 12 dc, fpdc in fpdc) around, sl st in top of ch3 (144dc + 12fpdc = 156 sts)

R14: ch3, dc in next 12 dc, fpdc in fpdc; (dc in next 13 dc, fpdc in fpdc) around, sl st in top of ch3 (156dc + 12fpdc = 168sts)
R15: ch3, dc in next 13 dc, fpdc in fpdc; (dc in next 14 dc, fpdc in fpdc) around, sl st in top of ch3 (168dc + 12fpdc = 180sts)

Top View

Interior View (with bonus hook oopsie I'll have to fix later...)

Now, you can take this as wide or narrow as you like, when you're making one on your own. This pattern is probably gonna be immensely customizable, but for now I'm going to try to make the Lid a couple inches wider than the mouth of the Body, which could take a few rounds. Yes, it's cupping a bit weirdly in places, but that will get straightened out with time (I hope).

Please note: I am making this up as we go along.

I am not a seasoned pro at patternmaking.

I am just as clueless about what this will really look like as you are.

Though you may be getting an idea by now what this is supposed to resemble ;)

With any luck we'll be done before Christmas at least lol!

Okay, it's time for this blogger to burrow under the fluffiest of blankets and conk the heck out, because I can barely stay awake lol.

Apologies for the lack of Thursday art, I'll talk about it tomorrow!

Er.. Today?

Yeah, sleep is good. I'll get some of that...

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which Today Was A Non-Entity

I had such high hopes for today after the victory over that lid on yesterday's crochet project, but alas, it was not to be. Not only did I squish my cat's paw trying to go to the bathroom and shower this morning, but I also wasted almost the entire day trying to figure out what to eat for dinner (overcooked chicken tenders and a largely-disappointing plate of cheese, tortilla chips, and low-sodium pepperoni...). All in all, not the most productive day.

I regret exactly nothing.

I got to cuddle my cat, enjoy my morning coffee, and stay in soft warm clothes today while the weather grew progressively grayer and colder. It never got above 35℉ (1.7℃) today and it's currently 26℉ (-3.3℃) and windy. My mom took the cat out and it was only about 40 minutes before the wind chapped the poor kitty's butthole and sent her scrambling up a tree! She usually makes my mom stay out for at least an hour and a half lol.

Even the cat decided from the moment she got back inside that today was a day for coziness and play. She "killed" her pullback mouse a few times tonight, yowling her victory each time, and she curled up on the sofa for a long nap. My folks went out of town to go shopping (so the only one to blame for my bland dinner was me - I just didn't feel like cooking for realsies), so I had the house to myself and did absolutely nothing with that privacy.

My only regret is that I didn't choose a warmer pair of socks or shirt to cozy up in. Then again, I sweated enough when I did my pitiful pushups and squats earlier. Gotta get my muscles moving again!

My plans for the rest of this week are simple:

Tomorrow - work on art (A Big Project)

Thursday - finish/post art, gorge myself on Thanksgiving dinner

Friday - start next week's art & crochet projects (gearing up for the Christmas season!)

Saturday - more art/crochet

Sunday - probably just chill with my boyfriend because that's when we chill

Monday - crochet blog

Next Tuesday - blather blog!

Seems pretty simple, right?

I'll also be guzzling mocha all week to keep from freezing my stupid little toes off.

Don't ask how that works, it just does.

I hope tomorrow is as cozy as today was, but considering my mother's determination to cook a full spread, probably it won't be lol. I may have to load up my Thermos and put my teapot into commission!

Might even have to sneak food into my room lol.

That will, however, do it for tonight. I'm sleepy from chasing the cat around (okay it's actually just from the exercise and from being up since 8AM) and I would like to go to bed soon.

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Fiber Monday

 

In Which I Have Had A Bear Of A Time lol

Yes, I am late again. No I have no regrets. I have been working very hard on a way to make a ribbed bottom lid for this project that didn't involve 1) overabundant rippling, 2) single crochet ribbing like on a cuff, and/or 3) too much math.

It took... an embarrassingly long time.

Like until literally 45 minutes ago.

But here is what we have so far!

Looks kind of like a jar from this angle!

A hinge?

A closer look at the hinge/freestanding crochet.

My first... bad attempt at a lid!

The Current, Much Better Lid!

Here is the pattern from start to current:

Round 1: sc 6 into magic ring (6 sc)
R2: 2sc around (12 sc)
R3: [2sc, sc] around (18 sc)
R4: [sc, 2sc, sc] (24 sc)
R5: [2sc, sc in next 3 sts] (30 sc)
R6: sc around (30 sc)
R7: [sc in next 2 sts, 2sc, sc in next 2 sts] around (36 sc)
R8: [2sc, sc in next 5 sts] around (42 sc)
R9: [sc in next 3 sts, 2sc, sc in next 3 sts] around (48 sc)
R10: [2sc, sc in next 7 sts] around (54 sts)
R11: [sc in next 4 sts, 2sc, sc in next 4 sts] around (60 sc)
R12-13: sc around (60 sc)
R14: [2sc, sc in next 9 sts] around (66 sc)
R15: [sc in next 5 sts, 2sc, sc in next 5 sts] around (72 sc)
R16: [2sc, sc in next 11 sts] around (78 sc)
R17: [sc in next 6 sts, 2sc, sc in next 6 sts] around (84 sc)
R18: [2sc, sc in next 13 sts] around (90 sc)
R19-21: sc around (90 sc)
R22: [sc in next 7 sts, 2sc, sc in next 7 sts] around (96 sc)
R23: [2sc, sc in next 15 sts] around (102 sc)
R24: [sc in next 8 sts, 2sc, sc in next 8 sts] around (108 sc)
R25: [2sc, sc in next 17 sts] around (114 sc)
R26: [sc in next 9 sts, 2sc, sc in next 9 sts] around (120 sc)
R27-30: sc around (120 sc)
R31: [2sc, sc in next 19 sts] around (126 sc)
R32: [sc in next 10 sts, 2sc, sc in next 10 sts] around (132 sc)
R33: [2sc, sc in next 21 sts] around (138 sc)
R34: [sc in next 11 sts, 2sc, sc in next 11 sts] around (144 sc)
R35: [2sc, sc in next 23 sts] around (150 sc)
R36-40: sc around (150 sc)
R41: [sc 2 together, sc 23] around (144 sc)
R42-47: sc around (144 sc)
R48: [sc 11, sc 2 together, sc 11] around (138 sc)
R49-55: sc around (138 sc)
R56: [sc 2 together, sc 21] around (132 sc)
R57-64: sc around (132sc)
R65: [sc 10, sc 2 tog, sc 10] around (126 sc)
R66-74: sc around (126 sc)
R75: [sc 2 tog, sc 19] around (120 sc)
R76-84: sc around (120 sc)
R85: sc around, sl st to first sc (120 sc)

R86: ch3 (counts as 1^st dc), dc in each sc around, sl st in top of ch3 (120 sc)
R87: ch3 (counts as 1^st dc), dc in next 10 dc; yarn over, insert hook into next dc, pull through 1 loop, yarn over, pull through 2 loops, yarn over, pull through 2 loops (does not count as 1^st foundation dc), foundation dc next 96 stitches, then (being careful not to twist) dc in the 12^th dc from the end of the round, dc to the end of the round (24 dc, 96 foundation dc = 120 dc); sl st to top of ch3, fasten off.

You should now have something that looks like a hinged ring or a handle attached to an odd, pear-shaped pouch. Now we’ll begin the underside of the lid (this is going to be weird, I’m sorry).

Form a magic ring from the same color as you’ve been using. I use a double-magic-ring for added security but you can start this in the round however you like.

R1: ch3 (counts as 1^st dc here and throughout), dc 11 in ring, sl st to the top of the ch3 (12dc)
R2: ch3, fpdc in same dc, (dc in next dc, fpdc in same dc) around, sl st to top of ch3 (12dc, 12fpdc = 24st)
R3: ch3, dc in next st, fpdc in fpdc (dc in next 2 st, fpdc in fpdc) around, sl st to top of ch3 (24dc, 12fpdc = 36st)
R4: ch3, dc in next 2 sts, fpdc in fpdc (dc in next 3 sts, fpdc in fpdc) around, sl st to top of ch3 (36dc, 12fpdc = 48st)
R5: ch3, dc in next 3 sts, fpdc in fpdc (dc in next 4 sts, fpdc in fpdc) around, sl st to top of ch3 (48dc, 12fpdc = 60st)
R6: ch3, dc in next 4 sts, fpdc in fpdc (dc in next 5 sts, fpdc in fpdc) around, sl st to top of ch3 (60dc, 12fpdc = 72st)
R7: ch3, dc in next 5 sts, fpdc in fpdc (dc in next 6 sts, fpdc in fpdc) around, sl st to top of ch3 (72dc, 12fpdc = 84st)
R8: ch3, dc in next 6 sts, fpdc in fpdc (dc in next 7 sts, fpdc in fpdc) around, sl st to top of ch3 (84dc, 12fpdc = 96st)
R9: ch3, dc in next 7 sts, fpdc in fpdc (dc in next 8 sts, fpdc in fpdc) around, sl st to top of ch3 (96dc, 12fpdc = 108st)
R10: ch3, dc in next 8 sts, fpdc in fpdc (dc in next 9 sts, fpdc in fpdc) around, sl st to top of ch3 (108dc, 12fpdc = 120st)

This takes us to the 120 stitches necessary to attach this ribbed bottom-lid to our weird hinge/handle-looking flap bit next week!

Any guesses as to what we're making yet?

I'm really looking forward to the next few bits, since they should fly along (I'm hoping I can manage the math so it's not as big an issue lol), and soon we'll be introducing a second color!!!

I mean... you could do this as a monochrome, but I don't see why you'd want to...

You may have seen my twitter grumblings earlier today about this lid, by the way. I have struggled with this thing! I had no idea how to do it and it took several tutorials for different spoked-wheel-shaped things for me to wrap my head around it. The final tutorial I followed was what gave me the actual repetitions for the spokes, and it's the Knit-A-Square Wheel Spoke Square pattern! I just extrapolated what a bigger center for that square would look like and made the whole lid be that basic pattern!

That being said, I totally frogged that stupid lid about 30 times before I found that pattern and I was just about emotionally finished with this project lol. Thankfully it worked the way I wanted it to, and we'll continue next week!

Good luck out there everyone, and - 

Go Enjoy Something!!!

FC

Thursday Art Walk

 

In Which I Made Art I'm Very Proud Of!!!

I woke up late this morning. I usually get up around 9AM and do Serious Artist Things (drink too much coffee and argue with the cat before doing anything remotely like a productive task), but it rained again last night and I am still on High Alert from the Halloween Flood of 2021 so sleep wasn't really a thing last night (despite starting to doze around 11PM or so). This whole week has felt like I just couldn't get started, but when I look back, I've accomplished more than it feels like.

Today was especially rough, though, because not only did I get up later than I wanted, nothing went the way I expected it to!

Sure, I argued with the cat and made coffee, but when I sat down with my mug, Evie came stomping up to me and decided that, despite the fact that I was sideways-pretzeled on the couch, I must be sat upon. So up she hopped, but my mug was in the way of her sudden desire to sleep tucked under my chin and atop my chest like a fluffy facehugger.

I ended up wearing most of that cup of coffee and had to dislodge her before she settled in so that I could clean up.

Major bummer.

My second cup went better, though Evie was pretty mad at me and let me know by both yodeling and, more annoyingly, biting me. And of course she couldn't hop on the counter like a normal cat and bite my fingers, no.

She bit my foot.

She never bites feet, but she leaned down and took a mouthful of sock to air her fury.

She still decided that I was cuddle-material when I finally sat down after fully drinking my second cup. She tucked herself under my chin and kneaded little pinholes in my collarbone because she's an adorable little monster made of knives and cuteness.

It took until almost noon to get her off of me so I could do some chores - like pick up snacks. Unfortunately, my usual store was closed (despite multiple cars in the parking lot), so I went to the Food Service and bought bougie local chips (which are delicious, but kind of expensive) and Reese's Cups (which are delicious and not at all expensive). Also Unfortunate - the once-a-ceramic-shop storefront that has lain empty since mid-summer has now been filled with yet another "medical" marijuana dispensary.

I'm all for people combating their ills with whatever helps, but...

Come on.

If it was really a medical marijuana facility I wouldn't have been able to smell it from the church a hill and a half away. The other place in town is next to a bank and I never smell anything from them.

Pretty sure I got a contact high from that. 0/10 do not recommend. Also ended up with heartburn.

So I came home in a foul mood and probably a little toasted, but I was all ready to start doing my work...

Except I really didn't want to.

I was tired.

I was cranky.

The cat was yodeling again.

I just wanted to eat a bag of Cheez-Its and sleep.

So I ate a bag of Cheez-Its...

and zoned out.

Instead of working.

But then I realized I needed to do the damn work, so I put on my Big Artist Britches (okay, they're just a pair of plaid leggings bc all my pajamas are now in the wash) and dragged out my Good Sketchbook and my Good Watercolor Pencils and DID THE DAMN WORK!

And here it is:

"Stop, Thief!!!"; watercolor pencil on paper; 2021

Here we see a very happy groundhog escaping with a stolen pumpkin! It bounds towards freedom, not for a moment heeding the cries of dismay from the human whose edible lawn ornament has been snatched.

I want to thank my boyfriend for commissioning this one - it was so fun to draw, and even if groundhogs don't often canter like a racehorse, I love the motion it has! I am also inordinately proud of that pumpkin - it looks delightful!!!

There's one more commission to fulfill, but... that one will require quite the concerted effort on my part, as it's probably the biggest work I've ever tackled. Look forward to more updates on my Thanksgiving art in the coming week!

I think that'll do it for me today - I'm exhausted and excited and eager to rest up and start on the Big Commission tomorrow!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday

 

I'm Back From My Unannounced/Accidental Hiatus!

So... two weeks ago on Thursday was the last time I blogged. Oops! I promise, I haven't just been lounging around my house moping and scratching my ass.

It's not the *only* thing I do, no matter what Dedbert tells you.

I have, in fact, worked on crochet, but last Monday I was sick, and this Monday I got caught up on the workflow! I have a bunch of work to show off on the Secret Project, though... I'm not 100% sure how to write some of it down lol.

Tuesday was another "feeling crummy, constantly interrupted by cats & chores" kind of day.

As for art, well...

Last week on Thursday I was suddenly carried away on an adventure, so I didn't succeed in making any art, but I've got a lot of ideas I'm working on! Some for next month, some for this month!

I'm hoping that I can post a long Fiber Monday blog next Monday, but this Thursday I also hope to have a couple of finished pieces.

If I seem a bit fragmented, it's because I'm typing this while watching Adam Cole (Bay-Bay) play Outlast in another tab lol!

Okay, so what else is new with me?

Evie.

My cat.

I don't know if it's because she suddenly feels better or just because she's feeling her oats, but she has been relentless about wanting to go out lately. From dawn til midnight, it's just MEOOOOOOWWWWWW, MERRRRRRAAWWWWWW, MERRROOOOOOWWWW? MEW!

It's a lot.

She wants out so bad, but once she's there, she basically just parks herself under the birdfeeders and stares into space, wishing the birds and squirrels would come back so she can hunt them. She did manage to tumble the poor chipmunk, so now he squeaks indignantly whenever he sees me with her lol. He's fine, I don't think she batted him that hard, and he's been around since. She has slipped her harness, tried on a Kitty Holster (but the velcro was too stiff to be comfortable for her), and climbed two or three trees. She has also had to have her paws washed twice because they keep getting muddy!

I think I should probably get to work on my art so I have enough done for a blog on Thursday, so I'll let you guys go for now :)

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Thursday Art Walk

 

In Which I Show You My Sketches!

I have been busy this week (cats, trying to get the returnables returned, shopping, etc) so I haven't had a chance to properly paint or color or ink anything, but I still managed to do some sketches! These are going to eventually become finished works (well, two of them are), but before that happens, I'll have to take them from these initial sketches to proper compositions and then from there I'll make the finished art (which could also require multiple steps, depending on what I do for the medium for each).

So for now, here's what I sketched out, today:

The whole page of sketches

"Stop, Thief!"; sketch; 2021

"Thanks?giving"; sketch; 2021

"Dessert, Anyone?"; sketch; 2021

I'm not 100% sure how any of these will turn out, nor do I know if I'll be changing them up later, but I love how each one came out, even if the beaver on the right and coendou on the left of "Dessert, Anyone?" might be a bit nightmarish in sketch-form lol!

But this is why I do messy sketches like this - it allows me to assign postures, placements, and ideas to individual elements without spending too much effort and then hating it later. If I want to redraw any of these, it's not going to take the same effort as, say, reworking my logos would (though that's a potential January project...)

I haven't done an ensemble/character piece in a while! The last time I had multiple creatures was... huh... whenever the Pokemon/Dedbert crossover was! Quite a while ago! I hadn't even rediscovered watercolor yet!

I'm looking forward to all of this!

However, I'm also in that weird space where you're exhausted but you do not feel sleepy at all. Every pore of my body wants to sleep because I have a cold and I want to feel better, but... I'm also not in the mood to sleep. Maybe I'll binge some stuff lol.

Maybe I'll just relax and let my body tell my brain what to do for once?

Regardless, I hope you guys enjoyed my sketchy little sketches as much as I enjoyed sketching them!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which I've Been Awake Too Long

I'm not a daytime person, really. I've always skewed towards the nocturnal end of things and it's only gotten worse as I've aged, so waking up at 8AM today was... embarrassingly difficult. Part of that was how deliciously warm my thick, fluffy red blanket is, to be fair. It was 39℉ (3.9℃) when I got up, and I dressed for the weather in my thick black jeans and thickest sweatshirt. I chugged a quick cup of my morning mocha (or "gruel" as my boyfriend nicknamed it) and my mom and I headed out to do our civic duty.

Voting day is a shockingly easy affair where I live. If you haven't registered to vote yet (you only have to do it once after you're 18 - just re-register every time you move), you can bring a bill and your driver's license or state ID (they're only about five bucks and ship to you fast) and they'll sign you up right at the polls. If you have already registered, like my mother and I have, you just get into your line and wait your turn. Our wait was about five minutes, so that was pretty great. I'd have to say the only drawbacks are that the polling place is A) not the most accessible (there are stairs, though there are handicap elevators/entrances, the building is from before the ADA, so that doesn't help much...) and B) There's almost no parking. It was designed with a much smaller town in mind, after all!

They had COVID procedures in place - socially distanced lines, masks available at the door, hand sanitizer everywhere, and the poll booths were set up a good 6 feet apart from one another. The ballots were printed at about 14-16 font for the most part, and I could read everything even through my fogged-up glasses! After we filled out our ballots, we dropped them in the appropriate boxes and were immediately mobbed by the usual gaggle of Signature-Seekers. The petitions this year were pretty good, from what I recall - urge the govt to come up with a Universal Healthcare plan, encourage better utility competition with a public option, and an election fairness petition to remove the loophole that allows international and interstate funds to be used in local elections (which is apparently illegal at the national level but you could've fooled me...).

I'll confess I made the grabby-hands motion towards the Universal Healthcare and Public Utility Option petitions. Might have had a savage grin as I signed the one against dark funding as well...

Regardless, that took up maybe 15 minutes total of my morning. Then we went to the laundromat and threw in some huge sleeping bags we can't wash at home. That took about 20 minutes. We took the lumpy old things home to dry on the line. I'm super happy we could do that because Sunday was miserable.

That's right, sadly our Halloween up here was practically a bust. We had torrential rains on Saturday night, and when we woke up on Sunday morning, our basement was flooded. To be fair, pretty much everyone we knew ended up with a flooded basement, but if there's one thing you don't wanna see when you peek down into the cellar, it's a blue bucket bobbing along two inches above the floor.

We got lucky. Other people had a foot of flooding.

Even my poor guy got soggy - there was at least an inch in the basement there, too.

Fortunately, aside from a few grocery items and some already-deceased UPS's in my basement, not a ton was ruined. Some cardboard, some birdseed. Even more fortunately, nothing irreplaceable has been harmed. No one was hurt, the floodwaters have utterly vanished (unless you're walking around my yard in boots, then you'll have the mud around your ankles...) and the coast is once more at peace.

Until next weekend, of course >:( we're getting more rain.

I'm done with rain. I'd rather wake up to 39 inches of snow than three inches of rain (which is what we woke up to on Halloween).

Oh, and just in case you thought Halloween wasn't sad enough with everyone getting flooded? We got exactly one trick-or-treater here. Our next door neighbor.

On the plus side, I have more fun-size M&Ms than I know what to do with. Maybe some fun cookies are in my future...

I have some art commissions to work on, too!

And I've got a few crochet projects!

And my mom's mom wants me to make some doilies!

It looks like I'm going to be super busy with creative stuff, but don't worry, I'm also still writing.

Looks like I'm going to be participating in No-Burnout November (which I'm taking as a dare, it seems...)

Oh, and for lunch today I made some Nongshim K-Army Stew, which is very very spicy and available at Wal-Mart. I threw in a slice of American cheese for fun and it completely dissolved into the unbearably hot, delightfully spicy broth, coating the noodles in cheesy goodness.

Taken Seconds After Adding The Cheese

I think that'll about do it for me for today. My eyes are burning slightly and I've been working on my writing all afternoon, though I'm not convinced much of it's any good. My folks are recovering from colds, I've got hella allergies that might be segueing into the cold they've got, and I just want a nap lol.

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Fiber Monday

 

In Which I Had To Take A Break lol

So I did still work on the next part of the Mystery Project, but I paused on the Marvelous Marge because I had some birthday gifts to work on!

Holy Mackerel I made socks!!!

My oldest siblings' birthday is close to Halloween so I like to make fun fall stuff for them, but I've never had the guts to actually try a sock pattern before. I made these Candy Corn Slipper Socks based off of a pattern by Briana K Designs. They're 100% Red Heart Super Saver yarn in bright orange, yellow, and white (not sure of the color names, just that they're absolutely RHSS), and I used an H hook because my stitches are tight and if I didn't size up, they wouldn't stretch around a human foot.

Pieces of the second pair - the wonky lookin orange things are reverse-engineered heels!

We'll see if my detached heels work at all. If not, I'll have to frog those heels and hope I have enough combined bright orange yarn from the scraps I have left to make two heels. Otherwise they'll be a completely mismatched tone, which I'd really like to avoid.

But perhaps you're just here for the next set of rounds on the Mystery Project? Well, here you go:

Pen for scale I guess lol

PART 1:

Round 1: sc 6 into magic ring (6 sc)

R2: 2sc around (12 sc)

R3: [2sc, sc] around (18 sc)

R4: [sc, 2sc, sc] (24 sc)

R5: [2sc, sc in next 3 sts] (30 sc)

R6: sc around (30 sc)

R7: [sc in next 2 sts, 2sc, sc in next 2 sts] around (36 sc)

R8: [2sc, sc in next 5 sts] around (42 sc)

R9: [sc in next 3 sts, 2sc, sc in next 3 sts] around (48 sc)

R10: [2sc, sc in next 7 sts] around (54 sts)

R11: [sc in next 4 sts, 2sc, sc in next 4 sts] around (60 sc)

R12-13: sc around (60 sc)

R14: [2sc, sc in next 9 sts] around (66 sc)

R15: [sc in next 5 sts, 2sc, sc in next 5 sts] around (72 sc)

R16: [2sc, sc in next 11 sts] around (78 sc)

R17: [sc in next 6 sts, 2sc, sc in next 6 sts] around (84 sc)

R18: [2sc, sc in next 13 sts] around (90 sc)

R19-21: sc around (90 sc)

R22: [sc in next 7 sts, 2sc, sc in next 7 sts] around (96 sc)

R23: [2sc, sc in next 15 sts] around (102 sc)

R24: [sc in next 8 sts, 2sc, sc in next 8 sts] around (108 sc)

R25: [2sc, sc in next 17 sts] around (114 sc)

R26: [sc in next 9 sts, 2sc, sc in next 9 sts] around (120 sc)

R27-30: sc around (120 sc)

R31: [2sc, sc in next 19 sts] around (126 sc)

R32: [sc in next 10 sts, 2sc, sc in next 10 sts] around (132 sc)

R33: [2sc, sc in next 21 sts] around (138 sc)

R34: [sc in next 11 sts, 2sc, sc in next 11 sts] around (144 sc)

R35: [2sc, sc in next 23 sts] around (150 sc)

R36-40: sc around (150 sc)

R41: [sc 2 together, sc 23] around (144 sc)

R42-47: sc around (144 sc)

R48: [sc 11, sc 2 together, sc 11] around (138 sc)

R49-55: sc around (138 sc)

R56: [sc 2 together, sc 21] around (132 sc)

R57-64: sc around (132sc)

TODAY:

R65: [sc 10, sc 2 tog, sc 10] around (126 sc)

R66-74: sc around (126 sc)

The next block will see us reduce one more time and then we should be done with this section and ready to move to PART 2!!! I'm looking forward to part 2 because it's a very different shape (if I can get it to work) and it connects to PART 3, where we change to a different color!!!

We're getting there, people!

Anyway, my parents are being blasted by a bad cold (the first any of us have had since June 2019, I'm pretty sure!) and I have been getting obliterated by my allergies. See, that Red Heart yarn has been in my room for a loooooong time, and it got pretty dusty, so me using it close to my face meant I was basically breathing dust and tiny acrylic fibers for 18 hours and I hadn't used any allergy meds so everything got clogged. Tear ducts, sinuses, ears, all of it was burning and itchy and thick-feeling the whole time, which means that now I have to deal with the after-reaction, which is basically just me sneezing like Mt Vesuvius for a day or two lol.

That'll about do it for me today - keep up on my Fiber Mondays for the next rounds on the Mystery Project!!!

And Go Enjoy Something!

FC