Long time! I'm still here!

    I have not blogged my last handful of crafting accomplishments, gosh! So slow! Most have been knitting and there's a couple of things I'm not ready to share yet (as they are gifts), but here's two items I am so happy about and proud of!

   I posted these photos to Flickr as well, if you want to follow me there. :P

   The first project, my knit bandana cowl, I started on the 17th and finished a couple days later, but that's just for this attempt. I attempted this same cowl three times until I realized I was reading the instructions wrong and that's why it kept coming out absolutely humongous.

   I am so in love with this cowl and wear it almost every time I go out! It doesn't help that I really don't have a collection of neck warming accessories, but I still just adore it. The pattern is Purl Bee's Bandana Cowl and the yarn is just some cheapo Simply Soft that I picked up at Walmart to use as props for my Christmas kitty portraits.

  

    Since I began knitting and crocheting, I have not been showing enough love to my first crafting obsession, sewing. But a couple days ago I started (and finished) a new pair of blue jeans. And I am so, so please! Not only are they the best I've made yet, but they were the fastest to work up as well!

    I think the reason these turned out so pleasant to make and lovely to wear is that these are the first pair of jeans I made a muslin for. All the rest I got the size closest to what I wanted from the pattern and worked them down to the size I wanted all on the finished piece. This time I found out exactly the size I wanted to be working with first before I even touched my denim fabric and I am so glad I did!

    This is still Butterick's B5682 pattern in boot cut, which is the only cut and only jean patterns I have tried so far, but I have plans to try out the skinny jeans cut from the same pattern soon. Maybe I'll work on the muslin today. ;)

    There's been a lot of improvement in my homemade jeans since my first pair, but still a few things I could improve. The only things I really messed up on this pair was the butt pockets not being spaced evenly apart and my waistband not being cut long enough, which resulted in some bunching when I sewed it on. I have some a problem with pants not properly holding in my butt-crack and underwear though (TMI? Sorry. :P) so it being a bit tight around the waist is not entirely a bad thing.

   Tomorrow or today I will be shipping out a couple of handmade items I made to participate in a Secret Valentine exchange, so once my recipient receives those you can expect a new blog post!

   Outside of crafting (but still inside my artsier endeavors) I have started taking self portraits again. In November I made it a goal to take one every day of the month. I didn't finish that goal because I ended up feeling very burned out, and it took two months to set up the tripod and load up EOS Utility again, but last week I took my first new one in a while.

   Then a couple days ago I took the ones shared above to show off my creations. Does it say something bad that the only thing I really take photos of anymore is myself? (Well, my cats too, but I don't really put a lot of thought into those shots.) I always veered more towards portraiture but I have been feeling pretty disconnected from people for a while now and that doesn't really fuel the spark I previously had for photographing others, and photography in general actually. I don't really consider any of it a bad thing, I'm pretty introverted and don't have that much of a social drive but it has made my photography a bit more boring. Anyways, that's all I have to share for now!

   I hope everyone is having a wonderful new year!

My Month in Instagram!

   Wow, this month flew by fast! And mine was great, I hope ya'll had a great beginning to the year as well. I spent a great deal of it knitting (mostly knitting gifts for a Secret Valentine that I am running out of time for! Oh no!

   But I finished my first knitting project, a pair of socks, then my second, then third, and I have a few works in progress as well.

   I am really, really looking forward to February, even though I currently have no plans for the month. Just hard not to look forward to it when this month so far has been so great!

   So here are some photos of my past month! Hope you like them! You can follow me on Instagram as well, it's linked in my sidebar.

My Year in Instagram Photos!

   I was very late on the Instagram game, so maybe this isn't the most exciting share... but I love when other bloggers do 'week/month/year in Instagram' posts, so I thought I'd share my own. :) Here's my partial year on Instagram!

• The first dress I've sewn that I liked (second dress I've sewn since I've picked up sewing).

• My mom taught me how to crochet when she flew up for my birthday and left me with some yarn and hooks!
• One of the things I made during my mom's trip up to Washington, some velvety leggings lined with thermal fabric.
• My first order of Spoonflower fabric, of my little boy Einstein of course. :)
• The pattern to my first jacket I've sewn.

• Just some delicious grilled cheese, haha.
• Starting my first ever crochet project.
• And finished my first crochet project as well, a slightly slouchy hat!
• My first ever yarn haul. :) I was just using the yarn my mom left prior to this.
• My second hat/project, I just had to make this. I love my old Jayne hat that I bought on amazon but it was simply too big!

• The results of a quite annoying trip to Jo Ann's. Not Jo Ann's fault though, I was not prepared for the cold weather. :(
• And the jacket that I finally finished with my little Jo Ann's haul!
• I decided I needed beautiful portraits of my kitties with yarn, so here's that!
• Portraits, of course, are not enough for a cat lady. I also needed to make a dress with my boy, Einstein's, face plastered all over it. :)
• I started (and did not finish, boo!) a project of taking a self portrait every day for a month. Even unfinished, I got some photos I really love out of it. Part one portraits, part two portraits, part three portraits.

•  Just a little festive cat beanie and my photogenic boy, Einstein, haha. :) I made the beanie for some Christmas themed pet portraits. :D
• My first buy from knitpicks, definitely not my last. :)
• A current WIP, a silver bobbled polka dot scarf! I've put it down in lieu of starting my first pair of socks, but I'll have to spend some more time on it soon.
• I got a TON of knitting needles as a Christmas gift, so now I have to make a new (neon pink!) needle case to fit them all.
• Last but not least, I wrote out my first pattern. I love my new double pom hat. :)

   Well, that's my year in Instagram. :) Happy New Year ya'll!

 

   Happy Holidays from my cat family to yours!

Self Portraits Part 3~

Hope no one is getting bored of these! Here are the latest of my self portrait project. I have been feeling sick lately, can you tell? :(

Self Portraits, Part 2

   Last time I blogged, I shared my project of the month with you. To take a self portrait every day for November! I'm almost halfway through the project now and really enjoying it. It has made me need to get a little creative at times (not at all a bad thing) and definitely has helped me learn a bit about photography, my own makeup and poses, lighting, and of course self portraits.

   I just finished editing the photos for today while watching Repo! (still watching, hehe). So here is the photos I've taken and chosen for portrait of the day since the last blog post.

   All the photos link to the same photo on my flickr, btw. :)

   So what do you think? Any favourites? ;P