Mixed Emotions....

...So I've had a bit of a shitty day today, and my first thought is to just say... "If you can't say anything nice...." But I will instead redirect my shitty mood to positive things.



...So I suppose a few holidays have happened since I last bored you with my pratter.... And Christmas means one of my favorite things--Homemade Gift Exchange with my awesome crafty girlfriends. The first pic on this blog is of what I gave this year. Judy and I, while taking a break from eating our way through Wisconsin, went to a craft mall, and found ideas galore... of which I've already spoken. The items in front are actually felt doilies. The first two from the left were started in front of Judy, so I knew I had to do something different for her. So that's why the third one is so different. For hers, I also used a Michael's coupon to get a deal on a circle Sizzix die. And, while not as economic, as the ones I hand-cut had less waste, it was nice to not have to worry about making them as perfect as could be... cos they were perfect! While at that craft mall, Judy inadvertently opened Pandora's Box for me. You see... I learned to crochet as a very young girl, but hadn't done it in YEARS. Judy mentioned, as we were using my camera to steal every idea we possibly could, that she would love nothing more than a stack of crocheted wash cloths. Well, I wanted to do something to completely surprise her, so I bought some yarn and the washcloths you see here were born. The girls were really surprised to open them!


....and this next picture is what I received from the girls. I MADE. OUT. LIKE. A. BANDIT!!! My girls are the most awesome bunch I could ever hope for. All handmade and all surprises. Even though we have all shared stress over what to make and feeling like it's adequate, we always love what we receive and I am washed over with warmth from the love that went into the project. Oh, and another fun homemade gift and complete spoiling by my friend Rebecca was a dozen homemade tamales. Though I don't think she helped with this year's round of them, she has helped her friend and her family make them in the past. And I can tell you that tamales are some of my favorite food...and that I have yet to meet one I didn't like. I've eaten them now... and they were AWESOME!

...and now back to the aforementioned Pandora's Box that Judy helped to open.... Not only did I make about ten or so washcloths over the holidays, I got my cousins started with crochet. And because of one of my cousins, I was able to get into touch with Stitches From The Heart, which provides hand-crochet and hand-knit items to both babies in long-term NICU care (like Erin & Griffin and other micropreemies) and those babies who might only go home in a diaper because their families are too poor to buy clothes for them. So, I emailed the leader and got information. While I was waiting for the information to be sent to me, I got a huge wild hair up my ass to crochet some scarves. The first one I did, and I'm not going to lie when I said that I ripped the entire first one out and redid the thing, was Aaron's scarf, which you will find on the far right of the photo here. Then, after I finished that one, Erin brought me her skein of yarn to make her scarf. Knowing I'd be in trouble if I didn't do hers next, I set to work. Then, tweedle-dum followed tweedle-dee and Griffin wanted me to do his scarf. Of course I bragged to my Facebook audience about my work, and my friend Christy wanted a red scarf made of soft material.... So over the course of three days, I made three scarves. And over that weekend of scarf-making, I received in the mail my information about Stitches From the Heart. Well, I'd bought some baby yarn, but hadn't really done anything with it. So I did the second work ever from a pattern.... And made a hat. I've now done two more that just need the final touches done to them. I'm quite excited to start this new venture... so much that I'm trying to start a crochet and knitting group with my friends. Our first get together is just a few weeks away, and I'm totally excited.

My wish for you is that your year be filled with more blessings than you can count!