Powerpuffs save the day!

So I've taken a short break from my quilt to work on a simple dress. A powerpuff girl dress. Yes. I will be dressing as Buttercup. For Radcon. I really wish I had a black corset, because I just feel so unbelievably fat in this dress. Losing 7 pounds this month has not had any visual effect whatsoever. I can only hope in the next 2-3 weeks I will lose more! Haha. I am doing it for a friend though! We started watching Powerpuff Girls on Netflix and they're just really simple. Instead of doing a simple black band around the middle, we sewed the sash to the front and left the back long so that we can tie them into bows. The front of the dress is "modest", trust me it really bothers us to have such a high neckline! I seriously can't stand shirts touching me above the collar bone.

My friend is Blossom and made this amazing and giant hair bow. She just made it out of leftover dress fabric so it's pink instead of red, but it is still simply amazing. I love it and I want one. She said it turned out a lot better than she thought it would.

I'm going to add darts in the front and back of my dress because the sleeves are basically hanging on my shoulders and I'd like them to be closer together. There's definitely room in my dress to be smaller! Although it's not a stretch fabric at all so I shouldn't make it too huggy.

Speaking of losing weight, I believe I'm being more and more better (don't even try to correct that sentence) about food. At the moment I am making beef soup bone broth, using a slow cooker for the first time, and I am also cooking beans. Not canned beans, dried beans! They're really annoying with all the overnight soaking and now cooking for hours, but this is what a good woman does, right? Pre-plan meals? I also made rice, and plan on cooking up some ground beef and also making guacamole, so we can have burritos/tacos probably for lunch/dinner. We don't really eat at regular times, and I try to eat smaller portions while my boyfriend will eat until everything is gone. When I make enchilada's, I make 6 so there's 2 for each of us here. When he decides to eat 2 enchiladas I bitch constantly because he knows he shouldn't eat so much (I stuff them unbelievably full, it's like enchiladas you get at a mexican restaurant) but it's there and he WANTS it even though he already had one! He keeps saying that he's lost weight, and I don't really believe him because he keeps talking about when he's skinny and looks good he wants me to make him all of his clothes but he never bothers working out, he tries to get me to hand him things that are just out of arm's reach from him, but nooo he's losing a pound once in a while so why should he try harder? I'm pretty sure he is losing weight because of my trying harder to make us better food.

Sorry for the rant, but it's starting to get on my nerves! This is something that NEEDS to change and soon, because when I don't think and hand him something that required me to move more than he would have if he got it, that's just ridiculous and sad and pathetic. Sometimes when I say no I won't give him something he will explode saying how his hip will hurt like the old man he is in his early 20s, and that I can't expect him to do it and from now on I'm not going to listen to that bull.

Stop ranting. Stop it. I really needed it, though! I feel loads better. I'm just done being a maid!

Quilt Update!

So I spent 12 hours both today and yesterday, plus some time before that, and I'm still just barely done with half the quilt top! It's crazy, but seeing all the blocks I've made, especially after I've ironed them, is just so awesome. Looking at those crisp, clean lines... It's worth it! My hands and back don't even hurt at all. They were a bit cramped earlier, but I just shook them around a bit and that worked like a charm.

Here's a few pictures, this one is of the fabric choices:

Batik's, a few tie dies, and white. 

This below is the block I'm making. The pattern is called "Bento Box", where you make the same block but can put it in several different patterns for the finished top. Since I have so many colors, I might do one of the more random looking patterns, instead of the more organized ones. My friend is making the same block and her quilt is much more colorful. She is further along than I, and has already started sewing the top together. It's looking AMAZING! I can't wait until mine is finished! 

Bento Box Block

The colors look a bit washed out, I'll have to remember to bring my nice camera to take pictures soon. I love batiks and just can't wait to see what it'll look like all put together! 

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Quilting!

So I mentioned my "big project" on Facebook and forgot to give any details. I asked a few friends if they were interested in starting quilts this year. One is more experienced and has been helping us start ours, and it's proving to be much easier than I thought it would be... Probably because the ironing board is right next to us instead of downstairs, encouraging me to actually iron the fabric!

I choose to go with batiks for my quilt. We're doing a pattern called "Bento Box" that shows you how to make a block that can be arranged into many different patterns. Some don't look like anything to me, and other ones look really cool.

I also am going to start knitting a TON of these Trumpet Flowers for my sisters wedding! They're really pretty, and small. It shouldn't take to long to churn out a bunch, but I've got the time anyways, it seems. I'll need to grab up some needles that size, and matching yarn for the theme, but it shouldn't cost too much except time, which I've got plenty of!

So there's my 2 big projects this year. Yes, a lap sized quilt is a big project for me! I really want it to turn out beautiful. We are zipping through, honestly. I only got most of my fabric today, and I know that I'll end up need more anyways. Especially of the white. When I sew up a few blocks, I'll post a couple of pictures of the blocks so you can see my color scheme. It's mostly batiks, with a couple of tie-dies thrown in that sort of match the batiks.

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Homemade Xmas Gifts

Anyways, so here's some of the things I made for this past xmas. I didn't get a picture of the scarf I made, I liked how it turned out though... Oh well. I knit a lot, and made a few clay things... I wanted to make more clay stuff, but I just ran out of time. 

Here's a headband I made to match a hat that I didn't get a picture of. You can't really see the pattern, but it has rib knit along the edges and in the middle it's broken rib. I think if I make another one, I'll make sure the rib and broken rib don't line up. 

Dice bag! I love the stripes. The white yarn is fuzzy and the green yarn wasn't... But, whatever. We were supposed to fill it with all kinds of dice, but we never got the chance too. 

Back scrubber! This was like knitting a scarf with the smallest needles I've used. Ugh. Took forever. 

This is what took the longest out of the clay projects. I took the box apart in order to stain it all, and I also used sandpaper to make some worn areas. I was planning on adding more clay features, but the clay wouldn't stick to the wood. So, I painted it instead. After I made the dragon! It's the biggest dragon I've made. You can't really see but one eye is open and looking up. I think he turned out adorable! 

This was for my boyfriend's new friend at school. She mentioned how she really liked the unicorns that also had wings (alicorns), so he came home and asked me what they're called so he could tell her their name. Then asked me to make her one for xmas. The last pony I made was butt ugly, so I'm happy this one came out cute! 

Peacock! This is an ornament I made for a friend. I worked really hard to make it more color-accurate, but the beak ended up become much too long and I didn't want to try to make the wings. They'd be really complicated! 

A lizard! This was actually a request, and I had planned on making more desert themed animals but ran out of time. 

Rags. I actually haven't given these to their recipients yet but they know what they are getting anyways. 

Just a hand warmer. I stuffed some jewelry into it as well. 

These were fun! Corset shaped bags! I put hand soap, sewing kits, and jewelry in these. I wanted to put more, but again I ran out of time. 

Here are the sewing kits. Thread, thread cutter, pins, needles, a zipper in one and I think some velcro in the other. They're good to keep in cars for emergencies! 

2014 Goals

So I'm reading lots of posts on blogs and on facebook about people's goals and I have been thinking about my own. I only really have one big, long term goal that I want to get too: A self sufficient farm. There's a lot of smaller goals that go along with that goal, such as learning about raising and then raising all sorts of livestock, as well as gardening, and using the products from the garden and livestock. I'm in the process of learning a LOT right now, but the farm is a long way into my future right now, and I need to focus on smaller, short term goals that will get me to my future farm.

One of the more obvious goals is to get a job. However, I'm letting the job be interchangable with an education. If I can get financial aid this year and go to school, that will allow me to feel like I have a purpose to my life and that I'm being productive. I suffer from depression, and I think it's because I currently don't have anything to do all day. I AM productive, when doing crafts, but as I've said before I am living in a place where most of my crafting supplies don't have the room to be at. That last sentence could have been worded better, but that brings me to my next thing: Without school, or any stimulation, I can literally feel intelligence leaking out of my ears. I have been having trouble spelling, and a lot of trouble figuring out simple math in my head. Addition? Subtraction? I suddenly seem to be amazing at remembering random multiplication facts, but I can just forget about division. I literally missed learning it in school, anyways. So, I would prefer getting into school instead of getting a job, but again, money would be AWESOME.

I also would REALLY like to get a group of my friends to make enough things so by next February we could be a vendor at Radcon. With all of us together, we can make jewelry, knit items, chainmaille items, dice, carbon fiber boxes, plus lots more, so if we all pitch in I think we could make a profit.

I've also been thinking about getting German Angora rabbits. You have to shear them every 90 days, and you can use their fur to make yarn! Plus, they are also good for meat. So, it'd be jumping into the livestock that I'd like, if I started breeding them at least. I have to learn about rabbits still, plus this ties in to the fact that a job would be helping me move into a place where I could keep rabbits. I'm really excited about the idea of the rabbits, so here's what I've decided my goals this year is:

1. Get a job AND into school.
2. Move after accomplishing first goal! 
3. Focus on sell-able crafts. 
4. Get German Angora Rabbits. After moving. 

I honestly think that my life will be vastly improved by the first goal. I'd be doing something. So, that's the one I'll be working on the hardest. 

And of course, I'm an overweight woman, so I'll need to also lose weight for my New Years goal. I've already lost 3 pounds! What are your goals/resolutions this year? Do you think you'll accomplish them? 

No pics until AFTER xmas.

I planned on posting all of these pictures of the things I've been making recently, but then I decided against it because I DO post my blog posts on my blogs Facebook page and I don't want people seeing all these things, deciding they like it, then finding out it was for someone else. So I'll be posting them after xmas.

Meanwhile, I've been working my fingers off knitting. Scarves are always difficult for me, because they seem to take SO long to make. I've saved the hats for last, because they go so much more quickly and feel more satisfying. I knew I'd be burned out by now, and it's only the beginning of December! After all the knitting, I've got clay figures I need to make. One will be rather simple, and the rest I haven't even decided what exactly they'll look like.

So, sorry I haven't been posting, but all I have been doing is knitting, knitting, knitting for xmas. I'll make absolute sure to get pictures of everything before I give it away, because some of the things are nice enough that I wish I could keep them. I cut a lot of people out of my gift list this year (you know, the people I never see and who never give me anything anyways) and some people I won't see until summer, so I can concentrate on those gifts at my leisure. I really wanted to start making things earlier in the year, but I couldn't decide on what I wanted to make, because my gift list was a lot longer. I usually end up making everyone one small thing, and basically mass producing the same thing to give to a lot of people, and most of them time they aren't exactly happy with that. That's the big reason why I cut the list down. The other reason is the fact that I'm sick of giving people shit when they don't return the favor. If it's been a couple of years... You ain't getting anything anymore. Or is it you ain't getting nothing? Apparently "ain't" has been added to the dictionary, so what is the proper way to use it in a sentence? Honestly I think it's an improper word, so if it's an improper sentence, it should be proper. Two impropers make a proper, right?

So, here's a link list of some of the things I'm making, in case any of you guys need ideas:

Corset Shaped Hanging Bag

Graham Knit Hat

Very Plain Knit Hat

Starfish Knit Cloth

Knit Scrubber

Knit Troubador Scarf (I did a variation on this scarf)

Double Knit Soap Sack

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Baby Alligator

I'll hopefully be posting some pictures of xmas crafts soon, but I wanted to share a fun social media thing I just did. I usually don't do these types of things, but I figured, what the heck, it'll be fun. 

A friend posted that she was moving too a new country and I asked if it was true. She then sent me the following: 

"Its not Real! It's a game. You should have never commented or liked my picture. HAHAHA! You fell into the trap. This is a game. The person who likes/comments has to choose one of the following to post as his/her Status, Profile or Cover photo. 1. We eloped! 2. We're getting married.3. We're engaged 4. Wedding bells 5. Engagement ring 6. I'm moving to another country. 7. I'm expecting 8. Ultrasound 9. I just bought a new Ferrari. 10. I just got a pet Alligator. 11. I'm still in love with my ex. 12. I'm in love with a stripper. 13. I'm a stripper on weekends. Make it believable and juicy! Note: You cannot explain anything, just post and leave it up for a few days and INBOX only your victims. I'm also a victim lol"

Well, I didn't want to do any of the marriage type ones, or the ultra sound ones, or the stripper ones, and definitely not the ex one, so that left just a few choices that would definitely sound unbelievable with me posting about them. So, I went the MOST un realistic and tried to make it sound as real as possible. I posted a picture of someone holding a baby alligator and typed (Amiira is our hedgehog):

"Today we found a baby alligator and I guess we're keeping it for the winter. We're keeping him in Amiira's old cage right next to her new one, kinda scary but the room is warm enough. We'll have to get a heat lamp tomorrow. Here's a pic of the little guy."

Believe it or not, within a couple of minutes I already had 2 people ask where I found him. I think I'm just proud of how well I did tricking people! 

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What is the world coming too?

I automatically hit tab and it went from the title to the blog post instead of "publish" or any of the other buttons... THAT was a cool discovery...

I just read a blog post by another woman about how she is sick of children being spoiled rotten and babied. The post reminded me of a specific experience I had in High School.

Several of my teachers used their classes for experiments. One such occasion was when my Government teacher decided to give us 45 minutes in the computer lab to write one single spaced page on a subject. (I cant remember what subject it was.) Most students sat in their seats waiting for more information, and when he didn't give any, finally asked, "What are we supposed to write about?" He just told us to write a page on the subject. Again, the question: "Yes, but what about it?"

This was a normal sized class of 25-30 students and I am positive that I am the only, or at least one of the few students who wrote ANYTHING, much less the full page. I understood. I had no problem just typing for the full 45 minutes of anything I could think of, and making it a coherent report of some sort. All I could hear around me, and indeed I was asked, "What are we supposed to be writing?"

I explained several times that we just had to write whatever we wanted about the subject. Of course people only asked me after surfing the internet for most of the time. I am a fast typist, and I had trouble filling the full page with information in 45 minutes. In fact, most of my time in High School I noticed that when we had the computer lab for the full hour, most people only wrote a sentence or two. I spent my fair share of time NOT doing work in freshmen and sophomore year, but I finished my school work AT SCHOOL and never had to take it home.

A lot of people mention how independent they have grown up to be and how it's a result of being treated like we should be, with spankings and being grounded. I, however, don't remember being spanked. I simply stopped whatever I was doing if I was threatened with a spanking. I was also never grounded by my parents, (different story when I lived with my sister) but I'm sure I could have benefit from being grounded several times. I definitely went through a teenage angst stage. My younger brothers are a million times worse than I ever was, though. I attribute this to the fact that it's my dad raising them instead of my mom. They have selective hearing, are rude, do not stop talking regardless if you are on the phone or doing important work on the computer, they refuse to clean up after themselves, they cannot sit down at a table and eat their food without getting up several times to go back to the tv, which they NEVER turn off even when they finally go to bed. We don't have channels, just a Wii, therefore, Netflix.

Also, the WORST ideas come from my stepmothers family: They gave us the Wii, they gave my oldest younger brother an Iphone, not that it has minutes but it can still take pictures and connect to the internet and download apps. They gave us a leapfrog tablet, which has promptly been destroyed by my retarded brother who gets frustrated beyond belief when he cannot figure things out. (Yes, I call him retarded. He IS retarded, I don't consider it an offensive term.) Which they KNOW that he gets like that, yet they insist on giving these kids things that are making them not want to leave the house EVER. They don't want to go outside when kids come over to ask if he can play, or ride bikes. They are glued to multiple screens. They are no longer allowed on the laptop, since they broke 2 computers before, which turned out to be a good thing. These kids are being allowed and even encouraged to sit around all day. I can watch this happening and know that my generation is the last to be only HALF good. There are kids like me, who were sort of disciplined and took to it, then there are the other kids who were sort of disciplined and decided to forget that.

I'm sad to be a part of this last generation of some good people. I can only hope to give my future children a fighting chance in a world that is both too nice and too mean. There's a surprise at every turn, and whether it's a good thing or a bad thing is half the surprise. I've already lost hope in my brothers.

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Star Shaped Dishcloth

Hey, an actual project to show you guys! These will be happening more often as December is just around the corner and I'm make the majority of my xmas gifts. Here is one I threw together today:

This dishcloth still took me a few hours to knit, with the smaller needle size. I think the next one I make I will use a size up. It's a good size, probably will be better when it's wet.

I made a mistake, I thought that the pattern was to make each wedge individually and sew them together, but it's supposed to be knit in one piece and sewed along one edge only. I ended up making one wedge, cutting the yarn, and THEN checking the comments on the ravelry page to see if that was correct. It wasn't. So, I made one half, then took the wedge I made earlier and continued from it and made the other half, then sewed it up nice and neat up the middle. It really isn't noticeable!

Anyways, here is the raverly page for this project. It's free! Otherwise I wouldn't have done it... Haha. Maybe once I get that elusive job!

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Universal Studios

Well, we're back, and I'm positive about one thing: Universal Studios is WAY better than Disney World! At least for taller and/or older people. I went to Disney World when I was... 12? At the time, I was terrified of roller coasters but on that trip I learned to appreciate the large difference between permanently set up coasters and the kind they throw up in a day for the fair.

That said, I honestly think the best part of the trip was when we were watching a horror make up show and the guy was teasing a kid, and then said "See, this isn't Disney World... We don't have to be nice to the kids here." (There were two guys on stage, the other guy pretended to accuse the kid for throwing a rock, the second guy was pretending to yell at him for it.)

Now, the reason why I say that Universal Studios is better than Disney World? Sure, Universal may be half the size, but the coasters are WAY more intense! My favorite ride at Disney World was the Tower of Terror. (You're in an elevator that drops quickly. The rises, not so fast.) Universal's version of that was Dr. Doom's Free Fall. You lift about 5-10 feet off the ground, and then SHOOT into the air! The only bad thing about that was all the rest of the dropping and rising weren't nearly as dramatic. I'm not much of a screamer, but I definitely screamed on that one.

The Hulk coaster has to be my favorite, and I'm going to keep the reason a secret because it's a complete surprise. The Dragon Fight ride at Harry Potter was also a favorite. And the Mummy Ride... That one was also a surprise!

There were a bunch of rides that were pretty much a theater with seats/cars that jerk around and make it feel like you're on a coaster, with the added effects of a story plot, water, smells, fog, etc. We usually called these "4-D" rides, because some of the rides were described as 4-D (3D with the added benefit of the car/seat moving) but not all of them were 3D. We also called some of them Story Coasters, because some of them were more of a Roller Coaster, but not quite.

The biggest lesson we learned, though, was to wear very comfortable flip flops or sandals. The reason for this was because there are a few water rides in the Islands of Adventure park, (one of the 2 parks right next to each other) and our socks and hiking boots got SOAKED. I was very worried about getting foot fungus when we finally got back to the hotel hours later and the bottom of my feet were swollen with water. Our shoes STINK horribly.

The reason we even went alllll the way to Florida was for Universal's Halloween Horror Nights. They were basically mazes based off of popular movies/games, and they have REAL movie props and actors, instead of some broke teens trying to make a few bucks during the Halloween season. My favorite maze was based on the 3rd season of the Walking Dead. They had actors dressed up like some of the characters from the show, and lots of details as well. Resident Evil was a really good one as well, they had what I believe were the actual lickers props or at least full size replicas of the real movie props. Those were fun to see!

Well, all of the mazes we got to see were awesome. The details in every one was amazing. Like I said before, I'm not a screamer, but I definitely screamed a couple of times in those mazes, too!

Anyways, sorry to sound like I'm writing a long review. We didn't bother taking the camera, but we weren't allowed to take any pictures anyways of the stuff we would have wanted pictures of. I just had a GREAT time, and it was fun being there with just my boyfriend instead of a group of friends.

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