Category: About Me

About Me

Easter

Autumn

I confess, Easter as a pagan is a lot more fun.

We celebrate the goddess Ostara, who reigns over Spring and fertility — hence eggs and rabbits actually make sense for us. At this point, I’m so wrapped up in my own little bubble, I have a hard time remembering that Christians also celebrate Easter; truthfully, I feel put off by all of the death symbolism slathered on a day that’s supposed to honor birth and renewal. But anyway, it’s a fairly big day for us, with baskets, egg hunts, and lots of food.

This holiday also typically falls in between some birthdays, which means that I’m busy baking, sewing, and trying to whip together enough magic to keep the kids dazzled. I love it all, but it sure keeps me busy.

So. Very. Busy.

About Me

Crochet Hanger Covers pattern

Autumn

Truth be told, this post is more for the anecdote than a crochet pattern…

Once upon a time when I was little, my mom taught me how to crochet hanger covers.

The white was the first one I ever made, and the other was after I had gotten a little bit better at crochet. They originally had pompoms, but those got lost somewhere along the way. Wasn’t I so cute back then? I didn’t have the slightest clue how to control the yarn, lol.

And this is what I can do now:

The funny part is, my mom actually hates making hanger covers. She’s quit for good, and has absolutely no interest in ever picking it back up again. As for me, I love it, through and through. I like how pretty the hangers are, and how clothes don’t slip off of them while I’m rummaging through my closet.

Now, I believe that the wood hangers used to make these are no longer being manufactured. I got mine from ebay, and there are usually a few in thrift stores, but the general consensus is that no one knows where to get them anymore. But hey, with some basic woodworking skills, you could totally corner the market!

This is the variation of the vintage favorite pattern that’s been passed down through my family:

Size H hook
Worsted weight yarn

Make 2

Ch 58
dc in third chain from hook, 4 dc in same sp (5dc)

*skip 2 ch, sc, skip 2, 6dc* across. In final ch sp, 12dc around to other side. Continue pattern across the bottom, mirroring the top.

In the last space with 5 dc, make 6dc then sl st into top of ch2.

Creates 10 shells total.

Place wrong sides together, and slip stitch the top of the two pieces together. Slide hanger hook in between stitches in the center, then continue slip stitching across the bottom with the hanger inside.

Weave in ends

Decorate!

Pompoms are more traditional, but they also look beautiful with crocheted flowers. Leave tail ends to tie around the hanger hook, then weave them in.

About Me

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

Autumn

Truth be told, I’ve been feeling extra stressed out about St. Patty’s Day.

Last year, the idea of making a quick jaunt to the grocery store to pick up cabbage and potatoes was abruptly shattered, and I still haven’t returned to any semblance of “normal” grocery shopping. PTSD.

But the most depressing part was realizing that my excessively dark worldview was actually justified. Just because I tend to be a cynic doesn’t mean that I actually want people to be that bad.

Anyway, my tradition is to pull out my Irish cookbook and make something authentic for St. Patrick’s Day. This year, I’m putting currants in the soda bread — I’m not actually sure if I’ve ever had currants before, so it should be fun. I know that at least one child will refuse to touch it on principle.

This year, we bought the barley well ahead of time.

Also starting the day off with Irish coffee, because fuck it.

About Me

Crochet Hangers and more

Autumn

You’re a hard core loser if you don’t own at least a dozen of these bad boys.

Also, I’m kind of addicted to spinning yarn. I made the green meself (I bought the cream online a couple years ago for some project or other i dont remember).

The pattern can be found here.

Also, because I know that you’re dying of curiosity, I finished making this out of the pink and yellow roving:

About Me

Creative Self Promotion

Autumn

When you’re a creative sort, the number one advice is always, “Use social media to promote yourself.”

I don’t.

(I have nothing good to say about social media, so it would be rather hypocritical.)

This blog is the closest that I get to that sort of thing, and instead of trying to encourage any sort of ‘community’, I’m content to post my musings to the void. Lurk as much as you want — it’s fine by me. Personally, I miss the days when I could sit down in a private corner and read something entirely for myself without having to taint it with everyone else’s opinions, so I like to imagine that I’m recreating that here. Feel free to not leave any likes or comments. You don’t have to share if you don’t want to. What you experience when you read my blog and stories belongs 100% to you.

Note: If you are interested in helping me build a community, then join us over on Discord! We can chat in a more intimate setting, free from the pressure of garnering ‘likes’ or looking cool. Not to mention, I share my plans for my stories over there before posting anything about them here, so you, too, can be among the first to know.

Of course, I can’t be too well kept of a secret, because then I might as well stuff everything in a drawer for all the good it does. Writing is my form on self-expression, and I have some idealistic notions about being a positive influence on the world. I know, I know, but my north node* is in Pisces, so I can’t help it.

So, the question of how to reach people is always on my mind.

I’m trying to be creative about it, especially because I have a very rich real life that demands an enormous amount of time.

I’m still very much figuring out what I’m doing — because it’s very much my own thing. I’m not going to get myself into something that’s going to end up sucking out my soul and destroying my creativity.

How would you do it? How would you promote yourself without using social media?

XD

*In astrology, your north node is your overall life purpose/goals. In this context, Pisces represents empathy and healing.

About Me

Piano

Autumn

I’ve been practicing the piano every day since we got one last October.

I’m totally hooked.

Heck, I was even tempted to write about Alice learning how to play in AatW, but I couldn’t get it to properly fit — that’s how much I’m loving it.

When I was a kid, I got through level three before quitting lessons, so I’ve been getting myself back up to speed over the past few months. Several days ago, I started practicing level 4 songs (oh ho ho!). They’ve also been getting stuck in my head pretty badly, so playing piano is becoming almost as compulsory as writing.

I’m doing this “mom style,” of course, with either a baby in the carrier, or a toddler on my lap — though occasionally I get to be free to focus on what I’m doing.

I’ve given myself the goal of being able to play every song in the lesson books that I’m following, but since I’m teaching myself, I’m definitely spending a lot more time on the songs I like while giving a cursory nod to those I don’t. I’m also skipping around a fair bit; that’s how I do things.

Photo by Elina Sazonova on Pexels.com
About Me

Scones

Autumn

I grew up in Utah, so to me, scones were something that you fried in oil and ate with honey butter. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I learned that scones were something completely different to the rest of the world.

For those who are curious about this “Utah scone” idea, you take some sort of white bread dough (I personally like to use a dinner roll recipe), shape it flat after letting it rise, then fry it in oil until golden (flipping them over to cook both sides). The bigger the better. Like, if you can make them as big as a dinner plate, you’ve mastered the art of Utah scones. Eat with lots of honey butter — and I mean lots. We’re talking sinful levels of indulgence here.

Anyway

The other day it hit me that I can’t remember ever eating a *real* scone. So I pulled out my big book of baking recipes, and found one for chocolate chip orange scones. Basically, any recipe that calls for citrus zest is a winner in my mind, so I went for it.

Not my recipe, so I’m not going to post it. 😛

Just imagine a basic scone with orange zest, orange juice, and chocolate chips added. Then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar before baking. In fact, you can take this recipe, and substitute the last three ingredients for everything I just mentioned, plus 1/3 cup milk.

I just dropped the dough down on the cookie sheet without doing any sort of shaping, ’cause I’m lazy like that. Consequently, my kids are pretty convinced that these are cookies, and nothing is going to change their minds.

And wow, these are so good.

About Me

Spinning Yarn

Autumn

Once upon a time, I bought some carded wool and a drop spindle, and made a bunch of yarn that I knitted into a baby blanket. Then the baby was born, and I never spun yarn again. True story.

That was 9 years ago.

The other day, our wonderful Amazon overlords said to me, “You want to buy this.”

I looked at it and exclaimed, “Yes I do!”

I absolutely love the color combination of pink and yellow, and the way they blend together into a scrumptious rose gold. Too irresistible!

So I placed the order and dug out my drop spindle for a revival.

For some reason, the camera on my phone is making everything more orange than it should be.

Last week I mentioned that I prefer working on fiddly crafts, and this is one of them.

I’ve also got a lace tee that I’m crocheting, a t shirt that I’m decorating with embroidery, and a button up shirt that I’m sewing for my husband. What can I say? I’m totally out of control.

I know what you’re thinking, and the answer is that housework is so 2019. That’s how I have time for all of this. Ha ha. (I also make the kids earn their screen time by doing chores)

Anyway

The real reason for writing this post:

As an author, I have a compulsion to spin yarns — in one form or another.

*rimshot*

About Me

Sanity

Autumn

Writing keeps me sane.

My usual tradition is to read a book after finishing a first draft, before beginning on the second. This time, circumstances aren’t quite usual.

In one sense, I’m barely aware of the world. Truth is, ten years ago I saw too much, and turned my back on society in disgust. I don’t like being a negative person, but there’s really no other way for me to describe why I live like a hermit in the middle of suburbia. Heck, we even tried going off grid several years ago, but that proved to be too difficult with the resources we had.

And yet, there’s a great deal that even I can’t hide from. I feel it every time I see a face mask littering the sidewalk. I know it’s out there, lurking just outside our fence line.

It’s seemingly taken away my ability to focus on reading. I can do everything else, but whenever I sit down with a book, I can’t follow what’s happening on the pages or remember who’s who. I can only finish short novellas if I read them out loud to my children (We’re currently reading The Fairy Rebel). I end up doing some sort of fiddly craft with my hands instead.

I can’t follow my usual ritual this time around. When I don’t spend my evenings re-centering my balance and exploring my fictional world, the noise from the children during the day gets inside my head too much.

So it looks like I’ll be plowing through the second draft of Alice and the Warden without “cleansing my mental palate” first. I have to work with what I’ve got.

About Me

…

Autumn

Sometimes I read a blog post.

I type a comment.

Then I think, “Wow. I am so triggered right now.”

So I delete the comment without posting and close the page.

No one will understand anyway.

Better to just write it into a story.