crochet pic dump

Crochet post! Been very hook-y lately, partially because I'm prepping some stuff for a craft fair, and partially because I've been trying to finish WIPs. First, I have lately finished this pastel rainbow ripple I've been making for ~2 years. Half of it is colorful stripes separated by a single white row, and the other half is white stripes separated by a single colored row. I made it with a bunch of leftover yarn from my rainbow pillow madness (still ongoing, but not pictured here).

I'm pretty whatever on it at this point, but I definitely enjoyed making it. I always love to make a ripple.

I have made a few pairs of these granny square mitts, and pictured is my fave pair. I don't really make wearables too much! At least, not human-sized wearables. And I'm not sure how I feel about acrylic yarn for these. They're super duper warm but feel bulky. And doing small ribbing can hurt my wrists easily, so I have to take breaks and do no more than about half a mitt a day. But it's always fun to come up with color combinations. I think I'll try another mitt pattern.

Lots and lots of ear warmers!!! Far more than pictured, in all kinds of colors and yarns. I want to have these on my table at the upcoming craft fair I'm doing.

Crochet pumpkins. Made these with bulky yarn left over from ear warmers. I think they're super cute. I free-handed the stems with tweedy yarn, so they're each a little different and a little wonky. But, as one of the ladies from my knitting club said, that adds realism. I have no use for these except as random autumnal decor, so I've had to cut myself off from making 45 of them.

Finally, some panels made with the tulip stitch. I followed this video tutorial for them and made a couple of panels. Not for anything in particular, but just to learn the technique. I might stitch them together into a little pouch or something. These work up ridiculously quickly and I loved the crocheting process, but weaving in the ends (of which there were manyyyy) took a lot of time. Ain't that just the way...

Not pictured: several rainbow bobble pillows, a miniature rainbow rug crocheted for my little dolly dressup sets, a Blythe beanie with a pompom on top!

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a doll clothes haul video

So relieved I finally had enough energy to make this haul video I've been meaning to make for literally months! Just been saving up so many little purchases for the video...

That's actually a bad habit of mine from my more active video-making days, and one of the many reasons I began to feel that doing semi-regular YouTube videos negatively impacted my doll hobby. I used to buy doll clothes and then save them, hoping to make a haul video, but then I'd just not touch my purchases for months. I felt irresponsible, spending money on doll clothes and then never unwrapping them, never enjoying them, never using them.

But, I really felt like making a haul video. It sounded fun to me, to talk about the clothes and appreciate them. Generally I don't save up purchases like this to share anymore because it so easily leads to me hoarding items instead of enjoying them.

I really enjoyed making this one though. Gingham and lace doilies and purple were the aesthetic staples! Used little sound bits from Animal Crossing games. Sourced so many little extra images to illustrate things I mentioned. Shot so much extra B-roll.

In other news, I got some storage boxes for my too-hefty-for-a-person-who-sews-so-little fabric collection. Time to organize!!

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some fall lists

Happy October! Which is almost over already. I've kinda missed it.

As usual when I neglect Cure Touch it's because I'm having A Time. A highlight reel:

• week-long power outage
• dad in the hospital
• sister having a scary medical ordeal
• weird dating/breakup experience
• COVID-19... after three careful years, I finally caught it 😥

Big sigh. I know this is just life. But I feel like I've not had much time to recover between each of these things. I felt really tired before catching COVID, so COVID's just exhausted me.

Really, it was rough. Not just because it knocked me on my ass, but because my bestie and I came down with it while we were having a much-coveted visit. Being sick as dogs together basically became the bulk of our visit. She stayed for a week and a half, and only two of those days were we functional. COVID hit us both so hard we couldn't stay upright. Even just eating took us both out. We slept a ton. It was really surreal, but also unfortunate and disappointing, since we only get to see each other every few years.

(That's my bestie's Daunting Drusilla with Vesper, Citron, Zasha, and Winny!!!! We got in a skosh of dolly time before taking to our beds like Victorian invalids.)

But, this blog is meant to be more of a place to blog about happy things and accomplishments and fun hyperfixations. I feel like listing some positive stuff too.

• I've made a new friend in the last few months. A rarity for me 🥰
• caught some Pumpkaboos in Pokémon Go (Pumpkaboo being my favorite, and I had only ever caught one before! I loveeee watching her on the AR camera!)
• made beef stew, so incredibly comforting while sickness dragged on
• finished up a big project I've been working on since December
• watched The Cat Returns and really enjoyed it
• went on a little 20-minute walk in the rain yesterday morning, and saw colorful foliage and Halloween decorations all over the neighborhood. The temperature was ideal, refreshing and cool, and the rain was mild. It did me sooo much good after three weeks of feeling dreadful!
• close to finishing a ripple throw

And my visit with my bestie wasn't a complete disaster, despite everything.

• As mentioned, she got a Blythe!!! Of her own accord! I can't believe it! We dressed our dolls together and it was so much fun. I also sent bestie home with a care package of socks, tights, and little crop tops I made! I loved doing this!!!
• we attended a concert together and made Swiftian friendship bracelets for it! Successfully traded 'em, even! And the concert was great
• we watched Over the Garden Wall together 🐸 (barely managed it, but we technically did it)
•  if I had to be that freaking sick with someone, she'd be my #1 choice. we both felt godawful but true comfort is being able to be in a bad state with someone without it being super awkward or damaging your friendship at all. New friendship level unlocked...?

I'm really behind on everything and that'll just have to be okay for a bit yet.

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