Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which Time Is Still Quite Fluid

I woke up around 9AM today. It would stand to reason that I've done things, right? Not so. I have been mostly in bed today. It was a warmer day today, 40℉/4,44℃ and sunny, but inside was a bit chilly for my toes, so under the Red Blanket of Sleep I curled.

I have been dealing with a weird headache all day, too. It's been swimming in a circle around my head, though for now it's stalled out over my left eye. I'm sleepy, yes, but I'm also trying to figure out a couple of crochet projects I've been working on.

Cat sweaters are shockingly complicated, it turns out. You wouldn't expect a pair of rectangles and a weirdly sloped third rectangle to be so complex, and yet I'm on my 8th attempt at making the damn thing. this time I need to add an inch or so to the neckband so it's easier to slip over my cat's head.

I will also need to find a nice chunky button to use for the belly band on it. If I get that far.

Gotta admit, this is the most frustrating thing I've made in a long time. And I just used trash to help connect eyes to a project after misplacing my o-rings.

The life of a crafter with zero organizational skills.

Maybe the biggest issues I'm facing with the sweater are 1) I have that headache and thus less patience, 2) the green I'm using is way darker than you'd expect, and 3) my lighting isn't too great and I can't really see the stitches.

Regardless, my plans for this week are primarily Thanksgiving/Christmas related. I hope to do some art for Thursday, but I don't have a topic yet, so if you want to tell me which category to paint from (Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Dedbert, Location, Geometric, Word) by donating a coffee on Ko-Fi with a message telling me which one!

Otherwise, I'll do my best just to do something.

Hate to admit it, but the post-Halloween letdown has been way harder this year than most. I just kind of want to hibernate. I might need to start eating more nuts & beets, apparently those can help boost your energy.

I want to say this, though - I'm not sad. Sure, I struggle with my usual ridiculous brain zaps and occasional bouts of despair (that's par for me, and I've taken to mocking the despairing voice in my mind mercilessly, which helps a lot), but mostly what I'm feeling is...

Sleepy.

I'm very sleepy lately.

And I can't help but feel like if I fluffed my blankets and wore thick enough socks and covered myself in softness and warmth, I could sleep forever.

But in a cozy, content, happy way.

Picture the fluffiest chipmunk you can imagine, dress it in the cuddliest pajamas you can find, and bury it in blankets next to a tall mug of cocoa.

That is how it be.

Instead, I have to be like the hilariously fluffy doe I saw yesterday under the bird feeders. I have to keep moving and doing and making. I have to nibble furiously at the millet of life and hare off into the thickets when the neighbors dogs bark.

That analogy kind of fell apart there.

Maybe I just wanted to talk about adorable over-fluffed animals?

Seriously, though, if you have never seen a white tailed deer's winter coat, look it up some time. They kind of look like those fluffy cows that went viral last year. All rounded and floofed up!

I just stood in front of the window, holding my cat so she could see. Evie was perfectly still in my arms, ears perked forward, tail swishing slowly and hypnotically. I was cooing at that deer the whole time she hoovered up the fallen seeds on the ground.

"You are so round! You look so sturdy! So chonky! So Thicc!" I kept giggling to myself.

Late fall/early winter is my favorite time of year because of this.

I may get cranky (who doesn't, when they crave coziness and instead have to do laundry?), but mostly I just muddle through days and cozy down into coffee and carbs and thick blankets. Do I sleep at night?

Absolutely not.

Nighttime is when I get to watch silly videos and slowly sink into sleep.

Daytime is for being sleepy lol.

Anyhow, how are all of you doing? I hope you're having a very comfortable November. I hope you're having a good time prepping for Thanksgiving (in the US) or just enjoying the week elsewhere.

And I hope you Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which I Am A Bit Scattered

Since I'm starting this at about 10:30pm on Tuesday, it'll probably be a Talk About Wednesday, for most of you, but hey, I'm trying lol!

Today has been a day of chasing my cat around, experimenting with yarn (new project? Maybe after the Mystery Project is done...), chastising deer, and eating delicious leftover boiled dinner. Doesn't sound like a lot when I say it like that, but trust me, today was a long one.

Now, I usually love hanging out outdoors with my cat - especially when she's chasing leaves and stomping them into crispy submission - but today was a surprisingly cold one. It was one of those days where the sun feels warm, but the wind is whipping around so hard that you end up being sandblasted by road salt and gravel. It may have been about 40℉/4,44℃, but it probably felt like maybe 32℉/0℃. And it wasn't even that sunny. It was mostly cloudy with a few moments of warmer sun. And Evie was... uncooperative when it came to wanting to go back inside. My hands are still a little chilly, and that was around 1pm!

We have had a lot of critters in the back yard lately, too! The deer have been... awful. They're raiding the bird feeders and they have zero fear of me, which is probably not healthy for them. They're heckin chonkers now, too. We've seen the hawk a couple of times, and it has probably been feeding better closer to Main Street, since that's where the pigeons congregate when they're not in my yard or copulating on the roof above my bed. Please stop that, pigeons. Please.

The ducks have been by a few times, and we have had two confirmed sightings of a chipmunk! Unfortunately, the chipmunk may be wearing out their welcome, because I found some awfully suspicious holes next to my house's foundation today when I was walking Evie around. Chippy, please stay outside. Evie did tumble you last year and if she catches you indoors, you will end up battered.

My dinner tonight was a rehash (badum tss) of the corned beef dinner we had on Sunday. It was kind of a deconstructed bubble & squeak, since my mom stir-fried the cabbage & onions together, but she used three frying pans total! She had one for the cabbage & onions, one for the mixed veg (rutabaga because there were no turnips left, carrots, and potatoes), and one for the slices of corned beef. They were truly just as delightful for a Tuesday dinner as they were for Sunday's dinner.

I have some idea of what I'm going to do this week, but we'll see. I also need to start planning out how I want April to go, so there's that, too lol!

Tomorrow/Wednesday is gonna be a day of me just scrambling around like a squirrel on a pallet of Red Bull, figuring out what to draw for Thursday.

Thursday will be me drawing and doing art. I have ideas, though I don't know if they'll work yet, that's what Wednesday is about lol.

Friday - Sunday will be me working on the Mystery Project, getting it to a point where I can share a new section of the pattern! (We shall see if that red thread actually works - sometimes it looks right by lamplight and then I take a photo and it's suuuuuuper different!)

Next Monday I'll have more crochet to share!

Next Tuesday, hopefully, I'll remember to post the blog before midnight lol!

Anyway, that's it for me today. I should go brush my teeth and go to bed so I'm not useless tomorrow!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which A Lot Continues To Happen

Man was I tired yesterday. I'm tired today, too, but I didn't sleep til noon again so there's that!

Instead, today started with me accidentally shrinking my mom's shirt in the wash (only a very little bit, but it's enough to be annoying... oops), then I went for a walk and picked up some chocolate to apologize, and as soon as I got back from my walk, my aunt showed up to drop off some crochet & cross stitch supplies that my great aunt was giving away. I now own my great great grandmother's crochet hooks, and you'd better believe I'll be making something for my aunt as a thank you using those hooks in particular.

And then there's the cat.

Bless her heart, she wanted love today. She was in everyone's faces, she's been meowing nonstop, and she desperately wanted to go out with my mom and aunt, so they took her outside. And then she got bored because it's warm (44℉/6,7℃) but there's no sun and no grass, so she begged to come back in.

No one noticed that I was back upstairs putting my new crochet stuff away.

Poor Evie decided she needed to pee and wasn't going to let a harness and leash stop her, so she dragged the plastic retractable leash across the kitchen floor and down the cellar stairs, and by the time I ran down to unhook her, she was already in her litter box, peeing. I let her finish, and she told me off for walking in on her while peeing (hypocrite) and let me take off her tackle so she could just relax.

What a goofy girl.

Also, good(ish) news about those watercolor markers I bought! By carefully pulling open the dark brown barrel and introducing water, I may have rehydrated the colors somewhat! It's... brownish again!

And! I shhhhhould have a blog up tomorrow about AEW Revolution! Though I will probably talk about the sad news of Scott Hall's passing, too.

And then there should be art on Thursday!

And next Monday I should have something to show you for art!

And then next Tuesday I'll be back to blather.

Update: The deer showed up again in my backyard and tried to empty the birdfeeders again! The cat was enraptured lol.

I think that should about do it for me today. I've got new/old crochet things to put away and a dinner plate to drag down to the kitchen.

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Fiber Monday: FINALLY

 

In Which I Have Finally Finished the Stocking
(Kind Of)

Despite all of my procrastination, seasonal depression, unrelated stress and anxiety, and just plain not knowing what I was doing 90% of the time, I have finally finished the stocking! Kind of.

The stocking is done! I have the whole body made up, just have an end or two to weave in, but I haven't even begun to think about where to put the name or just how I'll do it. Do I do a 5x5 stitch cross-stitch? 3x5? Serif or sans serif? Lots to think about.

But that's Tomorrow Me's problem because Today's Me is proud of what I've accomplished!

LOOK AT IT!

I'm so pleased with how the antlers came out, and I can't wait to add the name. It was suggested that I put it on the foot, and I may go with that :) Regardless, it's done and it's huge and I know there's nothing there for scale, but I measured it at about 32 inches (81cm) top to toe!

I'm thankful to you all for bearing with me, to my sibling and nibling for their patience, and to my joints, which have gamely stood up to several months of use for this project. I only have a handful of that original skein of blue yarn left now, though both the brown and white are much more plentiful.

I feel like I've earned a few days away from the hook lol

What do you guys think of this project? Is it too big? Should I have made it bigger? Should I have put less space between the borders and the snowflakes? Should I put the name on the foot or do I monogram it around each snowflake in a V formation (one initial to the upper left of the snowflake, another to the upper right, and one at the bottom center)? Whaddaya think? :P

For me? I'm just gonna....

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Fiber Monday

 

In Which I Continue With The Stocking

I'm... tired.

Okay, so I'm always tired. I'm over 30. We tend to be more tired after 29. It's just life.

But I'm pretty tired today - it never felt like the day started. It's 7:30PM now and I just feel like my day is now beginning which is not good since that always leads to overextending myself and staying up too late lol.

But yeah, I'm tired. Which explains why I only got about 4 rounds finished on the stocking :(

Did I take the picture before realizing that I shouldn't give away a pattern that isn't mine?
Yes. Yes I did.
Go To the pattern website, plz lol

Since it is hard to see the site on the picture, here's a link.

Now, I'm using a different width than the lovely pattern developer, so there's.... a lot of blue space. And I'll be cross-stitching over the antlers. And I added some snowflakes/geometric designs. I can't wait to show you the... mostly finished product! I won't be posting pictures of the name cross-stitched on (privacy is pretty important, yeah?) but I'll show you everything except that :) I may even show you how I do one or two stitches (but not the finished name).

Today, besides being sleepy, was also cold. It was sunny, the yard was completely blanketed in a marshmallowy pile of snow, and it was all of 19℉ (-7.2℃). It was also windy. It's certainly February.

Alright - it's almost 8pm and I feel a need for tea before I settle in with some silly videos for the night :)

Go Enjoy Something!

FC