Category: Crafts

February/March Newsletter

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I’ve realized that, rather than strictly holding myself to writing about what has happened last month, I want to do a bit of look back and a bit of look forward. Still don’t know what I’m going to start titling these, but for now just going to title it with last month and this month. Anyway, on with what I’ve done that’s noteworthy last month:

YouTube:

Starting with February’s YouTube tutorial: Crocheted Button Flower Pins. It’s a rather simple pattern, so if you prefer a less than 1 minute run through, I also made a short version. Thank you to everyone who has watched so far.

Charity Project:

February’s pattern for my Knit the Rainbow donation project was the Simple Convertible Hat-Cowl by Rachel Sandler, and I managed to make # of them in the 28 days of February (plus a few days in January, but who’s counting).

Ko-Fi:

Finally, I added several capybaras, tapirs, and button flower pins (and a one of a kind hippo) to my shop this month. I think I’m going to go with a single monthly drop from now on, currently planned for the first Tuesday of the month (tomorrow if you are reading this the day it posts).

Which brings me to what’s coming up in March:

YouTube Tutorial: Fruit Slice Keychains
I’ve been planning to make a tutorial video and release a full pattern for a while and just haven’t. But now I’ve got a good filming setup and the experience of creating a simpler tutorial and I know what I’m going to do about it. The tutorial will be the general pattern for the shape, and then I will also release a paid PDF pattern with detailed instructions for the watermelon, citrus, and apple slices.

Charity Project:
I’ve picked (with my mom’s help in deciding) the Rainbow Waves Headband by Melanie Shovelski as the pattern for March. I’m alternating knit and crochet patterns each month just to give myself a good variety in what I’m doing.

Ko-Fi:
The cross stitched roses from my Tri-Color Rose pattern testing will be going up in the shop update on March 4. The PDF pattern for the Fruit Slice Keychains will go up with the YouTube tutorial, as well as going up on LoveCrafts and Ribblr.

That’s it for this month! If you want to get this delivered to your inbox, sign up in the sidebar. I promise these will only be once a month, so it won’t clog your inbox. If you want to follow me elsewhere, I’m most often on Bluesky, plus Ko-Fi and YouTube.

January 2025 Wrap-up

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Hello again!

I’ve decided that I’m going to use this platform as my newsletter of sorts. It didn’t really make sense to cross post everything from Ko-Fi, especially because I often forget to come back and post them in any sort of timely manner. Plus, I am planning to do a lot of things this year and I feel like taking the time to go back through everything I’ve done in the month will help me stay on track with a few of those plans.

What do I mean? Well, let’s start with the first project I’ve already gotten started on: How many things can I make to donate to Knit the Rainbow in November? I’ve explained the whole project, along with a roundup of the finished items in this Ko-Fi post, but basically I’m focusing on one pattern a month and seeing how many of that item I can make. January saw the creation of 27 “Crafting Change Wristers” by Melanie Shovelski.

A white square with rainbow colored semicircles in all four corners, trimmed out photos of blue, pink, and rainbow colored wrist warmers, and a rounded gray rectangle at the top with the words “January Charity Roundup” in black letters.

I’ve also started uploading to YouTube shorts, and am planning to start adding one full video per month. Here’s my favorite short of the month:

I also want to be better about adding finished items to my Ko-Fi shop (like the dinos featured in that short above), but I’m not sure if I want to just add as I go or do larger “drops” and gather everything for the end of the month. But as of right now there are finished items and patterns available, including some free knit, crochet, and cross stitch patterns, and more to be added in the coming weeks (like some cute little crocheted capybaras and tapirs).

That’s it for this month! If you want to get this delivered to your inbox, sign up in the sidebar. I promise these will only be once a month, so it won’t clog your inbox. If you want to follow me elsewhere, I’m most often on Bluesky, plus Ko-Fi and YouTube.

Finished Object Friday – 1/10

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This post originally appeared on my Ko-fi page in 2 parts on January 10 and 12, 2025.

When I originally finished the first version of my Biased Marie Sweater, I used the leftover yarn to create a tote bag (of sorts, I’m not exactly up to date in my knowledge of bag styles so let me know if it’s got another name) with a closing flap. I even sewed a lining for it and clipped it in, and then I set it down for a very long time. (You may start noticing a theme of that in these posts…)

A crocheted bag with diagonal stripes of pink, red, purple, blue, and green with a flap over the top and a granny square strap in the same yarn hanging on a white door.

Mostly I set it down because I originally planned to stitch the lining in by machine, but I don’t have a walking foot and it absolutely was not going to work without one. So I was going to have to stitch it in by hand, and I decided that was a job for later me.

The inside of the bag with blue and white gingham fabric with machine-sewn pockets, stitched in my band using black thread and a blanket stitch.

Honestly, it took later me all of maybe 10 minutes to do it. But that seems to be the theme with a lot of these that just need finishing. For next week, I’m planning to sew buttons on a sweater I finished at least a year ago. Probably a 5 minute job, that one.

Part 2: I completely forgot that I actually did finish something else this week: stitching Cookie Monster and framing all four of these.

Four framed cross stitches on black Aida fabric in black square frames. Clockwise from top left: Animal, Stitch, Cookie Monster, Garfield and Odie.

You may notice that I switched Stitch and Cookie Monster in the cover image. That’s because my mom pointed out that Stitch should go under cookie monster like he’s waiting for the crumbs. They are in this orientation because that’s how I stitched them and I’m using this image in a video, but that was too funny to pass up.

A finished cross stitch on black Aida held in a wooden hoop of Cookie Monster holding a cookie.

All of these patterns are by MotoRuxin, and I made them on 14 count Aida. They are in 4×4 photo frames, for a size reference.

On a semi-related note, I’m dusting off my old YouTube channel and adding reels from the past few weeks (basically anything not really time-sensitive that I’ve created in DaVinci Resolve and therefore can easily add YouTube-friendly music to). I’m also now on Bluesky which (at least for the moment) is where I’m probably going to be most active.