Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which I Speak On The Week

Let's talk about what I've been up to since last Tuesday, shall we? I have done some crochet (as seen yesterday), and I have sketched a bit, and I've written so much! But I've also had a few fun little experiences.

Firstly, everyone survived the Polar Plunge as I'll call it. Yes, there are places that routinely get down to around -63℉/-52,8℃ with windchill, but this isn't one of those places. This place tends to stay around 10 to 25℉/-12,2 to -3,9℃ in February. Somehow no one in my county even suffered a cold-related injury! I'm very, very happy about that. Of course, that's not to say there won't be tragedies discovered later on in the quiet, tucked-away places that our unhoused population feel safest in, but for now, we don't seem to have lost anyone. I am unbelievably grateful for that.

No pipes burst, no windows broke, no cars failed to start. We were fortunate. Yes, the top step of our deck's stairs came off, but honestly? That deck's been rotting for years. I'm surprised it took that long.

Regardless, the weather was abysmal. And then yesterday got up to 41℉/5℃. And today was back down to about 25℉/-3,9℃. Yoyo weather.

Now that I've told you the weather, here's some storytime:

On Friday, which was the a bitter cold day hovering around -28℉/-33,3℃ with windchill, my boyfriend and I were hanging out in my parents' kitchen, enjoying some delicious brie and coffee when I saw something under the bird feeders. Something small was wriggling around and suddenly I realized it was a mouse!

Pretty much the second I pointed the mouse out to my mom and my boyfriend, a crow hopped down and...

Brutally killed the mouse.

Plucked it up into its beak and thrashed it around until it was limp.

And then ate it.

Nature! Nothing like it!

So guess what I'm drawing for Thursday...

I won't be graphic, don't worry.

Still, that was the most metal thing I've seen in a while. Our hawk hasn't been around to cull pigeons and doves, after all.

Death aside, I mentioned that I'm still writing!

I did miss a day or two of writing, including one day where I only got seven words down (ouch), but because I was on such a roll today, I still made my week's goal! This week, I wrote 1347 words! Guess how many I wrote today? No seriously, guess.

Okay did you guess over 100? Because you'd be right.

I wrote 948 words today.

Nine hundred forty eight!

That's over an entire week's expected wordcount!

More than that - I wrote an entire chapter in one sitting!!!

So that's the high I'm riding tonight!

And hopefully that will carry me through the sketching portion of my evening. I missed a sketch yesterday because I kept interrupting myself lol.

I may not be posting on time for the next couple of weeks, however, because I'll be helping some friends out on Mondays & Tuesdays. If I am overly distracted on those days, I'll try to write a Hybrid Crochet/Blather Blog on Wednesday, but I should still have my Art blogs regularly!

Speaking of art blogs - if you want a say in what I draw (besides my attempt to immortalize the intrepid huntscrow), feel free to send me a coffee over on Ko-Fi with a message attached letting me know your preferred category (Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Dedbert, Location, Geometric, Word), and I'll make your dream come true!

It might come true in a confusing fashion, but it'll somewhat come true lol.

As for me, I'm going to groove to Stuart Copeland's Spyro soundtracks and draw things.

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which I Have No Sleep Schedule...

So...

I don't sleep correctly. I try - believe me when I say I do my best to increase my sleep hygiene - but even the Military Method isn't reliable. Maybe it's the squirrelbrain thing I've got going on.

This means that I can't ever predict when I'm going to fall asleep or (more importantly) wake up.

Today I woke up at 10:57AM.

I have not felt awake at any point today, though I do otherwise feel pretty good.

This means that I have finished zero snowflakes today in my Snowmageddon 2022 endeavors. I haven't drawn, I haven't written, and I haven't even planned for anything. I just... flailed around doing self-maintenance (you know, eating and exercising and bathing, that kind of thing...)

It also means that my general cravings for caffeine have been off the charts.

I want coffee. It's 6:30PM. Coffee is a no-no. I will probably have coffee anyway and to hell with trying to sleep lol!

It was a lovely cold day today, too. Temperatures hovered between 30 to 40℉ (-1 to 4℃), the sun shone, the winds were still. It felt like a proper November day in the northeast!

So of course it's going to be anywhere from 40 to 50℉ (4 to 10℃) for the rest of the week with rains, heavy at times, and up to 65mph winds (105kph or so). Dandy.

At least Friday is supposed to be clear.

Speaking of the rest of the week, the plan is thus:

• Carry on with Snowmageddon by crocheting at least 1 snowflake/day until Monday!
• Art for Thursday. I have no plans but I have a new toy to play with so if you have suggestions for me to try out, feel free to buy me a coffee over on Ko-Fi (button in sidebar!) and leave a message with your donation telling me which category you'd like me to make art from. Categories are as follows:
• Animal
• Vegetable
• Mineral
• Dedbert
• Location
• Geometric
• Word
• Get pictures of all the snowflakes for Monday, possibly with some shots of them being blocked!
• Back again to blather on Tuesday :)

Hopefully I can rectify this sleep nonsense (Update: it's after 7 and I never got that coffee. I'm being kind to myself here), but until then, I hope you all...

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which Time Management Is Hard

So.

I've been up since 9AM.

You'd think, with about 10 hours spent awake and active, I'd have written this up already, right?

I... totally forgot it was Tuesday.

Several times.

My bad.

I will say this, though, I had a fairly busy day! Went for a walk and bought some treats for myself, then worked on more crochet projects, stripped my stack of blankets and sent them to the laundromat, worked on digital art!

I also contended with some shockingly seasonal temps! It was all of 36℉/2,22℃, there was ice on the ground, and I had to break out my big red blanket last night. That thing can easily keep me warm even when it's 10℉/-12,2℃ and the heat is faltering. Honestly, I'm stoked. It means I can break out my Star Wars or Buffalo Plaid Fuzzy Pants or my fox pajamas, wear thick socks, dig out my sweaters...

And shop for another winter coat because my plaid wool peacoat is maybe a bit threadbare these days.

We found a fairly affordable parka at the Mart of Walls, and honestly, it's the warmest thing I've ever owned. I put it on for a moment today and had to take it off because I immediately overheated.

Gonna have to wait for a 20 degree, cloudy, windy day to wear that sucker.

I do have one thing to say about this past week, though...

I may be developing arthritis. I say this because the other day, my left leg was in agony. It wasn't the same stabby pain I get when my sciatic nerve acts up, either, it was deep and stiff and it built with every pulse of my heart. I would have worried more that it was a DVT or something like that if it had been in my artery/vein areas. Instead, it was right at the ligaments, cartilage and bone. It felt like I'd wrenched my entire leg.

It was so terrible I had to take ibuprofen and lay perfectly still for 8 hours. The next day, Friday, had my leg fine, but since then, my hands and wrists have ached a bit.

It's mostly been my right thumb, right where it meets the palm. I'm right-handed.

Joy, joy.

I'll be okay. I just wanted to whine lol. 

Anywho, my plans for this week are to finish this digital art, post it on Thursday, and show what else I'm making for Christmas next Monday.

I'll be back to complain about the weather next Tuesday :)

If you'd like me to do something else in addition to the digital art (or in place of, depending on how much time I've got), feel free to buy me a Ko-Fi with a message telling me what category you'd like to see - Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Dedbert, Location, Geometric, Word.

I'm going to go run my dinner dishes downstairs and gently stretch my hands and legs and spine before changing into my coziest jammies and cuddling into my flannel sheets.

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which I Am Lump

Today was another sunny, windy, chilly day that reminded me that I live in a state that has half-seasons. Currently, we are not in either spring or winter. We're in Wing, which is kind of like spring, but it's freaking cold.

I confess, the only things I've done today are crochet, eat, drink coffee, and grump. I woke up later than usual and felt far less rested than I should have. Apparently my brain thought I needed a dream about getting abandoned on a road trip with strangers... how annoying.

So I woke up cranky, went downstairs and chugged a mug of mocha. After that, I talked to my guy for a bit, put on my sweatshirt and fuzzy pants, and went back to bed. I repeated that two or three times, minus the adding layers of clothing lol.

I did some more work on the Mystery Project (not a ton, just a round and a half with the new thread, which feels lighter than the old stuff...), ate some tuna on a burger bun, tried to nap, failed, read over my notes for the stories I'm working on, thought about art, then ate dinner (meatloaf & fried cheesy potato pancakes). All in all, not a bad lazy day.

Right now I'm listening to Mikey Chen exult a brunch buffet while I type. It sounds and looks incredible. I'd recommend his video on Zuma.

Anywho, the plan for this week is to sketch or paint something for Thursday, and then get more work done on the Mystery Project for Monday. I have no fancy plans because my brain barely functions lol.

I hope that my art this week is good, and I'm hoping that the area warms up a bit again. The day it was near 60 was very very nice, and I miss that.

That should about do it for me today. Not many tales of cats or nature, just a quiet day in for myself.

Go Enjoy Something,

FC

Fiber Monday

 

In Which I Experiment

Anyone remember way back in 2019 when I made a bean-stitch pumpkin for my mom? Well, because I am a masochist, had some leftover orange yarn, and learned a new stitch, I decided to make another lil pumpkin!

This one will be made using something called a "waistcoat stitch", which I learned via this video on YouTube (strongly recommend you watch it - it's so cool!!!)

I had so many false starts it's not even funny. Did you know that it's almost impossible to find the V's of your single crochets using a medium weight wool and an F/5 3.75mm hook? It is! And an H/8 5.0mm hook is too big, leaving unsightly gaps and feeling too loose!

So I compromised with a 4.0mm hook!

I tried a few different approaches to begin with - stitching a flat 60 stitch wide piece (too hard), chaining 2 sts and then putting 6sc into the first chain (looked like a butthole, tbh), and a single loop magic ring (kept falling out) - but I ended up with my usual 6sc into a double-magic-ring (plenty of places to look this one up, and it's so stable!!!)

Not gonna lie - the first couple rounds of waistcoat stitch are almost nightmarishly hard for me. I almost gave up and just single crocheted the first few rounds! But I persisted and now...

It's really cool looking!

It's harder to see in photos than in real life, but it looks... it looks knit! I know it'll look more and more knit the more I go along, but the V's of the stitches are all so nicely interlocked! I do have to wonder if a straight increase would have looked better than the staggered ones I do, though.

STRAIGHT INCREASE:

1. 6sc in magic ring or double loop magic ring (6 sc)
2. 2sc in each sc (12 sc)
3. *2sc in first sc, sc in next, repeat from * around (18 sc)
4. *2sc in first sc, sc in next 2 sc, repeat from * around (24 sc)
5. *2sc in first sc, sc in next 3 sc, repeat from * around (30 sc)
6. *2sc in first sc, sc in next 4 sc, repeat from * around (36 sc)
7. *2sc in first sc, sc in next 5 sc, repeat from * around (42 sc)
8. *2sc in first sc, sc in next 6 sc, repeat from * around (48 sc)
9. *2sc in first sc, sc in next 7 sc, repeat from * around (54 sc)
10. *2sc in first sc, sc in next 8 sc, repeat from * around (60 sc)

STAGGERED INCREASE

1. 6sc in magic ring or double loop magic ring (6 sc)
2. 2sc in each sc (12sc)
3. *2sc in first sc, sc in next sc, repeat from * around (18 sc)
4. *sc in next sc, 2sc in next sc, sc in next sc, repeat from * around (24 sc)
5. *2sc in first sc, sc in next 3 sc, repeat from * around (30 sc)
6. *sc in next 2 sc, 2sc in next sc, sc in next 2 sc, repeat from * around (36 sc)
7. *2sc in first sc, sc in next 5 sc, repeat from * around (42 sc)
8. *sc in next 3 sc, 2sc in next sc, sc in next 3 sc, repeat from * around (48 sc)
9. *2sc in first sc, sc in next 7 sc, repeat from * around (54 sc)
10. *sc in next 4 sc, 2sc in next sc, sc in next 4 sc, repeat from * around (60 sc)

Regardless of how you increase, you should end up with a 60 stitch-around disc. In my case, instead of single crochets I'm using waistcoat stitches (which are just single crochets that go through the v of the stitch instead of the top!). You can really make a circle with any kind of stitch using this pattern of increases, and by adding rounds of one-new-stitch-per-stitch-below (60 sc rounds), you can build this into anything from a basket to a sphere to a bolster or anything round or cylindrical, depending on where you begin your decrease rounds.

The decrease rounds will, of course, be the reverse of increase rounds, so you'll be single-crocheting in two spaces to form one stitch (or waistcoating in two stitches to form one waistcoat stitch). I'll cover that next week, I think, since it took me forever to a) get up and b) get to work today lol.

It's a rough transition to the ol' Spring Ahead, what with my state observing Daylight Savings Time and all...

And it was freezing today - we were at 50℉(10℃) not long ago, and today stayed around 14℉(-10℃)!!! WTH?!?!?!

Lemme cry ya a river, right? lol.

Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed today's lil peek into my deranged attempts at crochet :P

Go Enjoy Something!

FC