I got an Omnichord! :,)

I AM SO ELATED! As I mentioned in my craft market post, I have been saving up for an instrument! I've been saving up since spring. Prior, I had been saving up to buy Time After Alice. I used part of what I'd been saving up to scoop her, and put the remainder immediately towards this, a Suzuki Omnichord OM-108, which is a really cool (and also really twee) synthesizer.

I first saw this instrument on Instagram when @blackforager posted a story of her playing and singing with her Omnichord; I'm not sure when it was because I believe the story's not been archived. If I recall correctly, the Omnichord wasn't much in-frame so I couldn't really see what it was. I was like, "That is so pretty." I scrolled away... Then I scrolled back, all, "What is that, though??" And Alexis mentioned in either a caption or a comment that it was an Omnichord. And I immediately looked up Omnichords to see how much they cost!

A lot, is the answer! ($500-1000, depending on if you are getting a vintage one from the 80s or the newer model, and whether it's new or used. It can also depend on the condition of a specific Omnichord and its location and the seller from whom you purchase it and whether it's an auction or direct purchase... I'm sure you can imagine the variation.)

For a while I talked myself in and out of saving up for an Omnichord. "It's so expensive. Do I really need it?" After I joined the band during the summer, I really started noticing which songs would benefit from a touch of synth, and this was really what made me feel more enabled in my desire.

It is a big purchase for me and feels pretty frivolous. It took me seven months to save up. Doing the craft market finally put me in the black, soooo I went ahead and bought it, and aaah!!! It was scheduled to arrive on December 22, but it arrived on the 16th! Way sooner than expected. I have been in absolute HEAVEN playing it! Like, I can hardly stop playing it!!

Here's a little video I took to send to my great-aunt:

It basically makes everything sound like sparkly fairy music!! (Pardon my voice, though. I wasn't warmed up! Do you recognize this song? It's from the Rankin Bass Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and is sung by Clarice.)

I would say that the Omnichord is very easy to play. It's nigh impossible for it to sound bad. Just developing that muscle memory regarding the placement of each button is going to take a bit of time yet. I still don't know what absolutely every button does in order to manipulate what I am doing in a timely fashion. But I've been playing it constantly. Especially Christmas music. It's perfect for Christmas music, since it has that bell-like tinkly magic-y sound, and often Christmas songs are fairly easy. Right now I prefer playing without any tempo or chorus accompaniment. I just want the strumpad flourishes for what I am doing.

Playing Christmas songs on both the guitar and Omnichord and decorating our tree recently has really made the season feel like, well, the season. I also have a small pink tree (which you may remember from past years) which I decorated and which looks real cozy at night. My mom and I take walks every day at 8 P.M., regardless of cold and rain, and have been enjoying the holiday lights so much.

To close out this post, some selfies. I attended church with my mom this past weekend and got maybeeee the most compliments I have ever received in my life?

So many people said, "I love your hat." Approached me specifically to say so! (And I love this, because while people have complimented my berets on rare occasions, I have moreso felt somewhat teased about them, and like I am somehow dressing in an eccentric way even though I don't think I am.) I also got compliments on my dress and shoes. One lady said, sentimentally, "You look so beautiful." WHAT??? I mean, dang. Make my day, why don't you! Validate my desire to wear berets even in the face of Prince references and being spoken to in French!!!

And then I posted one of these pics on my Instagram stories to be like, "wow I got so many compliments," and I got yet more compliments, on the clips in my hair and my mitts? Hahah!

Okay, I peaked for the year! It's all fug and slug from here on out.

No, but really: I feel really self-conscious about my silver hairs that stick up everywhere so I'm taking all the compliments about my beret to heart, so that I may gird myself against the self-consciousness I feel about that feature specifically.

And: Getting to make this big purchase, and it arriving early, and being able to enjoy it so much right out of the box really puts a gentle and soothing yet bright cap on what has been a challenging year for me. I want to recognize the moments of enjoyment I've had, remember the compliments and the gingerbread cake and the time spent with my mom this month.

Read More

craft market year 3

Saturday was the big day: the annual holiday craft market! The weather outside was frightful. By that I mean the fog was thick as peanut butter. ("You mean pea soup." "You eat what you like and I'll eat what I like!") It did end up affecting our foot traffic, I think. But I still feel like I did well for myself.

I didn't do the market last year, but in 2023 I did. Check out that table compared to this year's table! Aesthetically identical, yes -- I used the same shelves, signage, bunting -- but the table itself is longer, and my inventory freaking filled it.

In 2023 I had on offer crochet rainbow pillows, crochet mitts, crochet ear bands, barrettes with bear ears sewn on ("bear-ettes," if you will), beaded rings, and beaded bracelets. So I definitely had inventory! But I think I had maybe 25 pairs of mitts available, tops. This year, I had mitts on mitts on mitts on mitts! Over 70 pairs!

And this year, I had only crochet on offer! I didn't feel like doing other stuff. I didn't even feel like making a huge variety of crochet stuff, such as other mitt patterns, or ear bands, or charging cords -- or god forbid, scarves. (Did y'all know I'm a scarf hater?) I have plenty of rings and bracelets left over from 2023's inventory, but didn't feel like bothering with them. I could have made more "bear-ettes" but didn't feel like it. I just followed my crafting yens, basically.

I do think it would have behooved me to have ear bands or beanies in addition to just a scad of fingerless mitts. (I was asked about scarves too, but in all honesty, I don't really want to make scarves!!) At this moment in time I'm not super sure if I'll do the market again next year. But if I do, this is a note to self: maybe find a beanie pattern you don't mind making...

I also tend to forget men exist? 0:) But an old guy was like, "Oh! This stuff is perfect for this time of year. But it's all girly, huh." And I was like, "Well... yeah..." So it maybe wouldn't kill me to make some more masculine-leaning items.

ON THE OTHER HAND, I DON'T HAVE TO CATER TO BORING OLD MEN! THE WORLD ALREADY CATERS TO Y'ALL! This is for the girly-pops!!! The daughters and nieces!! The whimsical amongst us!

I want to share some more pics of some specific mitts, like I did in my last post!

I did a series of mitts with a trio of heart appliques on them. I really like these and so many people picked up the dark blue pair in particular to look at, but none of them sold! Wish I could go back in time and whisper, "Hey, don't spend so much time on these" in my ear. Because sewing on three separate appliques in a semi-neat row onto an unstable surface such as crochet was, for me, very time-consuming. I was so careful about the spacing of the hearts and sewed them on with a lot of deliberation and concentration. (But it's okay they didn't sell! No skin off my nose!)

I also did a series of frog/lily pad mitts that I am pretty pleased with! As with the apple series, each mitt in the pair had something different on them, which keeps it fun. I got the frog applique pattern from this YouTube video. I messed around with a couple of ways to do lily pads, giving some a bit of a scalloped edge.

I gotta say that the highlight of the market for me (besides speaking to a fellow lady who is also in a band -- a heavy metal band!! -- who was my biggest buyer) was selling the green pair of froggy mitts to a gal who had SEVERAL frog tattoos! A sleeve in progress of nothing but frogs! It felt like that pair went to the perfect person! Like kismet! So that made me happy.

Another thing that made me happy was that a couple of people said variations of sentiments like, "Oh, I have mitts I bought from you last time, and I get compliments on them all the time!" and "I was hoping you would be here this year!" The craft market is a small one, but it's been going on for a really long time, so we do have regulars who come to it every year to do Christmas shopping.

In all, I think I made about the same amount of money I made in 2023? Even though my inventory was much larger, and in my estimation we had less foot traffic due to the weather. It visually looked like I hadn't sold much just because my inventory was so large, but in fact, I did make lots of sales.

I can't remember the exact total I made in 2023, but it was enough to buy a Blythe!! Which I did, right when I got home from the market! I have been saving up for an instrument for the last six months, so I think this year's profits will go into that fund.

In all, I'm glad to have this year's market in the books, and to move out of the hardcore market prep mode I've been in. My room's still a crafting disaster, and all of my inventory and tabling supplies are in piles waiting to be stored away. I'm saving the chore of cleanup and the reassembly of my living space for a future day...

Read More

craft market prep post

I have ONE WEEK to get all my craft market stuff done!!! Well, six days, in actuality! And one of those days is a band day so it's otherwise fully booked for me. So I have been really working my butt off on my mitts. Just been in a total crochet stupor. I thought I would post some things I've made for posterity. Although I can't get decent pics for the life of me. It's too overcast and I just don't have the chutzpah to set up my filming lights. Please know these look so cute in real life/decent lighting conditions!!!

Pictured above: I made some cute freakin' teddy bear mitts! I used this pattern from Raji's Craft Hobby for the bear base and added a simple circle of 12 dc on top, embroidered lightly with a nose. I had mini pony beads on hand and was able to fish out some black beads for eyes. And as if that wasn't enough, I added bow ties (just chain stitches). I have enough black beads left over that I could make a couple more pairs of these if I have the time.

Here's a series of apple mitts! I got the pattern for the apple appliques from Raffamusa Designs, and used the apple portion of their apple granny square for the halved apples. I kind of like these because they're not entirely matchy-matchy. I decided to put different things on either glove.

Strawberry mitts! I already had several strawberries on hand from when I crocheted some last year. (This design is also from Raffamusa Designs.) It's funny because I'll make these strawberries in any color other than red... But I'm trying to have at least a few mitts with classic red strawberries on 'em.

In all I have about 60 pairs of mitts in this sort of tube style, some totally unadorned, some with just a little ruffle stitch added around the top, some embellished. (I have some with bows and hearts on them but ran out of light totally so the pics didn't turn out. Maybe next post?) I also have several pairs of flower-inspired mitts that need cuffs crocheted on, so I have the next couple of days to get those done. I am pretty much running out of time to make the vine/flower charging cords I intended to make, but that's fully fine. I don't really care. I just have been having a really great time making mitts. And if I'm not having fun, what's the point?

I'm not sure whether I'll have time to post more before the market itself, but I'll definitely try to get some pics of my table!

Wish me luck!

Read More