Hand over the coffee....

.... and nobody gets hexed today.

Bleh.

So I managed to be able to watch some television yesterday and on top of that, with the fiance too!

Mike Rowe's "Somebody's Gotta Do It" on CNN on Wednesdays.

I love you Mike.

I dearly love his body of work and the foundation that he's started to get people back into infrastructure jobs as those have suffered greatly at the hands of this "You have to have a college degree to get anywhere" bullshit.

Then it was several hours of Alaska: The Last Frontier on Discovery channel.

I seriously heart the Kilcher (sp?) family.  I love Alaska, I love that raw hard edge homesteading and I love the fact that so much of that show makes me either laugh from memories my parents told me of, I've been in that situation at one point or it was just amusing.

To be honest, I think most of you folks take being able to laugh for granted.

Like today, I woke up and my headspace is not quite right today.

I don't really know why, I didn't see anything that was even remotely a trigger, but I'm fighting the urge to crawl back under the covers and it's not because I'm tired.

But I have yarn and music and I'm chilling still in Phoenix.  The place is just that much better that I know I'm going to be all right in a few hours.

So it's just this today.  Enjoy being able to laugh.

Glorious

So yesterday was eight hours in the car.  We left, I chilled in the vehicle while he dealt with a court thing and then we grabbed some .22 and 45 and started driving.

This morning I wake up in a gloriously different place from LA.  Yeap, Arizona.

"How can Arizona be better that California?"

Ah my dears, that is because you might be forgetting that everyone has different priorities.  I'm a Witch, k?

Here in Arizona the vibe...it's the difference between stepping into cool water on a hot day and looking at dirty, muddy, been tramped in for weeks on end and knowing you can't get out of going in.  The latter being California.

The vibe is just better.  It's cleaner. It's less artificial feeling to me to be honest.  Plus there's constitutional carry.  ^_^

Now onto the gross bits...

Gross bit section begin:
An update on the ongoing project of using re-usable cotton pads.  Ever since I was started my periods, my right ovary has been the real cunt of the two.  Everything from when the cramps hit of collapsing at work and getting sent home to being violently ill for about four days.  My left one is not as bad.   Hell the left one is a little angel compared to this bitch of a right one. The left one about 75% only causes cramps for about a day and 100% of the time cravings for red meat.  (The rawer, the better!)

Well since using the cotton ones I made, the right one has been reduced from four days to two days.  This is a major improvement.

Another thing I've noticed is that the tissue lining (this is what you end up bleeding during the period) seems to be having an easier time of coming loose.  I've gone from 4-8 days of periods to 3-6.  Yes this means heavier periods, however that just in the first day or two.  This means I'm back on my feet and able to be fully productive again faster.

Read that last sentence again and understand that that is incredibly important to me.  If I'm not feeling close to 100%, I can't do my crochet work.... this leads to other problems.

End Gross Part

Another thing that has cropped up that is going to be crucial to address, is the fact that I have lost my familiarity with guns.  This pisses me off to no end.  Hence why grabbing a bit of 22 from storage and 45 was so damn important yesterday.

I'm one of the girls who used to work for Oleg Volk for fuck's sake, I knew guns and they were
merely objects.

Really fun to shoot objects, but pistols and rifles held no power.  Now, because of losing my familiarity with them...they bring back a few memories that I don't need.  Like the fact that one of my first firearms teachers was also treating me like a cumbucket ("You have no concept of how to easy on yourself do you?" Nope.) and was also one of my rapist when it was all said and done.  He was a lousy fucking teacher.  Can't handle shotguns because of it.  (Fuck him by the way.  Karma ain't done with him yet.)

This is going to be one of the harder projects to work on as I refuse to let this stand.  I will be pistol packing again full time once in Arizona full time and I'm not going to do it afraid.  I will not let something that helps me be able to walk unafraid of other piece of shit wanna be humans, be a fucking PTSD trigger.

I will not be afraid.

Fear is the mind killer....

Oh that's frustrating...

So I get messages from time to time on Etsy from friends of friends being sent to me looking for a particular crocheted thing.

Most of the time, after they hear/see the price they almost always "Thank you for your reply."

Which among us crafters is code for "Why the fuck would I pay that when I can get it from Wal*Mart for 3.99?"

The item in question this time was a beautiful crocheted cloche with flower embellishment.  22-25 bucks.

That covers the materials (which would need to a bit finer of a yarn for the flowers and leaves) and barely covers my time.

This is one of the most... derogatory things that happens on a weekly basis for all crafters I think.  Someone asks us to make something and for how much and then what happens?  The above.

Something else that coincides with this response is almost always the fact that the person who does this, 95% of the time is the same kind of person who bitches about "American jobs being sent overseas".  Here's a newsflash for you oh stupid one, stop fucking taxing businesses out of existence.
Here's a little background for those of you who aren't familiar with how hand crafts like mine work.

We'll use a beanie, as an incredibly simple example.

The basic beanie, can be down with one thread or two.   With any of the stitches know as single, double or treble and hell all the ones in between.

It takes 1-3 skeins of yarn, depending on how nice of a yarn or color variety you want. These range in price from 3.14 for 236 yards of thread (215 meters) to 8.99 for 174 yards.

Then the average crafting time is anywhere from an hour and 45 minutes to five hours (this is dependent on skill level and experience level).  I average an hour and 45 minutes on simple beanies.

Now, let's just say that for a really nice cloche I decide to go with a finer thread for the flowers.  This finer thread costs 6.99 a skein, and I get two in two different colors.  Then one skein at 3.14 for the main hat.

Now that puts me at 17.12 already.  And I haven't even started working on the hat yet.

So we'll say there's four flowers.  Each flower takes me 45 minutes for a total of 3 hours.
The cloche takes me 2 hours to make.

So that's five hours for this hat.  Now at the higher quoted price of 24 dollars minus the 17.12 leaves 6.88.

Now divide 6.88 by 5.

That is 1.376 an hour.

We won't go into any of the other things I make.

I put five hours of time into a hat, and am only asking 24 bucks for it.

Do the crafting community a favor: If you aren't willing to pay for quality and for the investment of our time, don't even open a fucking conversation with us.

In case you're wondering what it would cost if I put in the 8.75 min wage just to give you a baseline:
43.75 and that's just the cost of the time.  Plus material and shipping... try 60 bucks at least.

Do me and the rest of the crafting community a favor: don't get snotty, snobby, condescending, arrogant, snide, rude or belligerent with me when I give you a very reasonable price, when I'm the one who knows how much time goes into my work, not you.  I know my work is going to last you for several years when that junk you buy from some chain store is going to worthless in less than a year.

Stop your bitching about sending jobs overseas when you won't even invest in small business here.

*Stitch, stitch, stitch....*

"Just keep stitching, just keep stitching."

There are many days and times were this is the only mantra that I have going through my head.  It certainly was last week.  Concept called mindful knitting or crocheting.

I had stumbled onto this on my own a few years back but a friend recently pointed it out to me online, and a rabbit hole later I'd found a lot of information on it.

Why mindfulness is great?

Pretty simple actually.

You're are preventing events of that day/moment from draining you of energy you need for other things.  You're removing the power an event or memory has over you, by focusing on the yarn and project in your hand.

We are all aware of the significance of last week (9/11).  Being the passionate woman that I am (Yes, I heard that chortle) I decided for my sanity (what little of it that's left) would be better spent knitting or crocheting last week. As I had two personal anniversaries that make me cringe still that week, one of them being my first wreck ever at 26 (yes, I was pretty lucky to go that long, but there were a lot of things I could have done to avoid that wreck. No one was killed or badly injured, but it still bothers me a LOT).

And as we all know, 9/11 brings out the idiots of various conspiracy theories and just plain bullshit of people who can't seem to grasp the manner.  I hate that entire bullshit.  I repeat, HATE that bullshit.  It's one of the disrespectful displays of arrogance, bubble syndrome and plain naivete.  It spits on the graves of those who were lost when people quibble over what happened.

I still have the image seared into my head of them showing what used to be a dozen floors squashed into a space less than, if I recall correctly, four feet thick.  I'm still stunned by the news from friends who lost folks, that they are still identifying remains even today.

Those two reasons are part of why I won't engage in the endless roundabouts of what happened.  It's rude to the dead and disrespectful to the people who survived the events and the folks that the victims left behind.  Then you have the repercussions of those events, that increased all who were affected.  Which is a whole other kit and kaboodle of worms that need thrown on fishing hooks and drowned while sitting on the banks of a lake or river, while sipping cold beer and enjoying those who are with you.

So I put my headphones in or talked to my fiance or we went and watched the sunsets.  I just kept stitching.  Mindfulness extends to not just knitting or crocheting.  You can apply it to washing dishes, walking dogs, reading books, sharpening tools, cleaning guns, sitting with a cup of coffee and just watching the sunrise or sunrise or a thunderstorm move, etc.  It's healthy.  It counter acts depression.

It lets you have a few moments of just you. Of sweet, lucid, calming sliver of time that is just you and the world.  It lets you step back and reevaluate what's going on.  Re-establishes your boundaries, your balance, your center.  It takes the edge of this rape victim's PTSD flashbacks. It shortens them. Makes me lucid faster.  Yeah, the project ends up a bit wet from crying (yeah, I just admitted that), but I'm out of it faster.  It lets me work off the anger over careless from people who should know better and it let me work off the hatred over ignorant dipshits who don't know what the fuck it is they are talking about.

I've received a lot of criticism in the past year or so, over an increasing reluctance to commit to "pet causes."  There's been a rash of "warm fuzzy" causes, that you do for less than a minute and you get to brag you did for a couple of days and then what?  That was shallow, fleeting and you're back at square one with...well, I can't classify what for you as I'm not you.  And yes, this me criticizing several things all lumped together.

When you decide to champion a cause, you need to do it every day, even if it's just for a few minutes of sharing relevant information or laying out plans for the next event, etc.  You need to actually champion it.  You need to wear it like a tattoo.

So in response to a rather snide cunt, who may or may not be female, I'll listing out my causes again for all to see.  I don't really care if they are you "flavor" nor do I give a flying fuck if they align with your politics.  These are my babies, that I want to help as much as I am able to help. Many times, all I can do is help spread the word they exist but at least I'm trying to stay consistent.

The Battle Buddy Foundation  

Hats for Our Veterans

Right now, that's because I can't find the others or even remember which folders I have them bookmarked into.  Hats is run by a sweet lady, and donates several dozen (I think this year they managed a couple hundred hats) to organizations that work with homeless vets.  It's not much, but a warm hat, scarf and gloves is better than nothing, which is what I otherwise have.

For TBBF, it's sharing as frequently as I can and spreading the word.

So there.  That's my ramblings for today.  Now if you'll excuse me....*stitch stitch stitch stitch stitch...*

Older patterns (and the headaches they caused....)

"Good gods Evie... what is that???"

That, is what an older piece of a pattern that I'm trying to work from looks like.  My fellow crocheters will be recoiling in horror at the moment.

This confusing discombobulated mess, is from a pamphlet of crocheted table clothes.  The booklet is so old, I can't find a date anywhere on it.  This tells me at least the 40s or 50s, is the time period because I've noticed in a lot of the older publications that they didn't really think it was important to include dates.

Now, being the valiant and committed crocheter that I am (Yes, read that as stubborn and stop snorking...), I did attempt as per exhibit A, to your right to follow said instructions.

...

Yes, to you looks lovely my dears, but to me... I know better.  This is a part of the curse of knowing this... is nothing like the example picture, and that the person who made the example picture piece was a dirty rotten whore.

There's the concept called "Frogging".    No not frog hunting.  Basically means doing any stitch necessary to make it look right OR undoing the whole thing.   It's not a fun concept and one I try very hard to not need to do.

So, because I'd like to incorporate these concepts (many of which are Irish lace) into my work, I'm going to be working modernizing the language and terminologies used.  Along with fixing the mistakes.  This is going to probably be a year long if not multiple year project.

Worth it?

Oh totally!

Prototypes: They are a must!

A long long time ago, in what seems like another dozen lifetimes ago, a woman taught her eldest daughter how to crochet, and a few years later how to read a pattern.  Then after about a decade and a half, that now grown daughter began to freehand her patterns.

Yeap, I was probably around 6-8 years old when my mom took those first steps of introducing me to the world of crochet.

It was simple things at first.  Afghans and hats. Yes, actually afghans are incredibly easy and when they get to a certain size, you can curl up underneath of your work during the cooler months of the year.  I really really like making afghans and shawls.

In the last couple of years, I've stepping outside of the pattern books.  When I moved home with my parents for a time again, I was still struggling with being able to find a big enough comfort zone to be able to work a "normal" job again.  *shudder*

I had already been crocheting constantly at that point as it was an incredibly good coping mechanism for what I was going through. One day I got froggy, and decided that I was going to make a crocheted coat.

I had a large amount of yarn as well that I was trying to get used up, but this prototype was an incredibly important step in my creative endeavors.  I proved to myself that I could design something when I put myself into it.

Now I learned several lesson from this particular prototype:

1. Measure, measure, measure!  Especially the armholes.  The sleeves were massive on this thing.  Way too big for a lean critter like myself.

2.  Always double check my sleeve placements.  The sleeves on this piece were almost two inches, too far back.

3.  The neck was too small almost.  From this coat to the next one I made, the front pieces were made more narrow as I worked my way to the shoulders.  This allowed for the hood to fit better, and gave the next piece a very nice sculpted look.  I really wish I had taken a picture of it, but it was a late order that year and it needed to go out.

4. As you can see from the front of this, the bottom was almost too narrow.  It really doesn't sit well anywhere.  This lead to me making the bottom part a couple inches wider than the person's hips and once above the hips, taking it in just a couple of stitches.

5.  On the next coat, I learned the lesson of "Don't be afraid of an extra wide edging."

This summer I've ended up with three coat orders, and will be documenting their progress and if any new lessons are added to the ones above.  Two sized mediums and one size small.  I did the small one first, because that's my size and I can get better pictures of these coats now.

Without having done this prototype, I wouldn't have ever even considered making coats, nor would I be anywhere near where I am currently in my skills and the things I can offer as a crafter.

I have a large amount of scrap yarn ("Gee really?") that I use to test stitch styles before committing them to a project.  Color test swatches have also entered my toolbox so that I can get the colors right before I start work.

This prototype coat, I did in what's called a Shell Stitch and in Double Crochet stitches.  As you can see, it looks good... but not great. I wasn't pleased at all with how it wanted to droop because of how loose the fabric had ended up being.  It was too inclined towards stretching and didn't mold to a body properly.   These days, I use the very simple Half-Double Crochet stitch.

It creates an amazing look, gives the work a stiffer fabric and molds better.  Instead of drooping... it drapes. Almost all of my work that I present now via the shop, was preceded by a prototype. In some cases, several prototypes.

If you've not considered using prototypes in your work before (whatever your work might be), I would highly recommend trying the process out.  I do prototypes with even my cooking these days.  =)

My fascination with Shawls.

This is one article that is going to earn a weird look from some folks.  I dearly love shawls.  There are few other articles of clothing that can be functional, elegant and unique like the shawl.  And yes, I realize that one of those things pictured is actually in fact a shemaugh.  Well, on me it's big enough to be a shawl.  In fact I've used it as such on chilly mornings.

Shawls have intrigued me in that they are used for so many damn things.  I'm sure everyone at this point has encountered a Prayer shawl ministry or a recipient of such a ministry (which by the way, this Witch thinks are awesome ideas!)

History of Shawls:

Now this part is a bit muddled.  Some of the first citations of a shawl, are within Jewish history as prayer shawls, while as many dances done today by the First Nation remnants are "Fancy shawl" or "Shawl praying."  (Dancing is praying in many of the Tribes.)

One of the more interesting references in the Bible, to me at least, is the story of Ruth and Boaz.  Her shawl plays a small role in this story in revealing to Boaz that she was indeed true to her word, a daughter of Naomi and would be a daughter of Israel.

One of the earliest modern references to the shawls appears out of India and seems to link to a wide scarf that was (and I think still is) popular with Hindi women.

This is an example of the Pineapple Shawls I personally make.
If you'd like one click the picture, it'll take you
to my Etsy store listing.

Do shawls appear among other cultures?  Yes, it does seem that shawls were a simple enough concept of clothing that they do seem to appear in records and stories with the advent of fiber weaving.

Types of Shawls:

They can be squares, triangles and long rectangles. Circular or Half circle.

Shawls can be made from just about anything.

They can be simple triangles of fabric for covering your head from a dusty day or your face on a cold one.

They can be something elegant covering your shoulders and accenting a luxurious evening dress.

They can be a heartfelt gift to a grieving loved one.

For my christian friends, if you'd like to check this out further there is the Shawl Ministry.

For my pagan friends (was that small squee I just heard?), I have the Stitch `n' Witch  .  Those lovely folks work with Christopher Penczak (Macha forever bless and shield brother!) and I've had the privilege of donating shawls to them in the past, though I haven't been able to yet this year. (That will be changing.)

"Evelyn, that's pretty cool and all but why are you fascinated with them again?"

They are most likely one of the oldest pieces of clothing that is still in use to day all over the world.  Yet, it's one of the simplest things.  They intrigue me, because the bold variety of forms they've taken over the years.  From Irish lace shawls of yesteryear to today's simple Granny Stitch shawls, they are an example of the tenacity a good concept can wield.

Crochet Pattern: Re-Usable Women's Pads

I've been using these for over two months and decided it was nigh time to share the pattern I had gotten figured out.

This is a free pattern, that I'm sharing with you.  Please do not post this pattern as your own. If this looks a lot like a pattern you've seen before online, I'd like a link to that please.  I went hunting for a pattern like this back on this article and never found anything. If you decide to make and sell, please credit me.

If there are any problems with this pattern, please comment so that I can update either terminology or stitch count etc.

For your yarn I recommend using Lily Sugar'n Creme cotton and an F/3.75 hook.

Re-Usable Pads -
For heavy flows, make 2 ovals and one filler.
For medium flows, make 1 oval and one filler.
For light flows, make 1 oval.

Chain 24 foundation single crochet.

Row 1:
Chain 2 (does not count as hdc), 2 hdc in same stitch.  *1 hdc in next 22 stitches.*
In last stitch, 5 hdc to form the end. Repeat **.  3hdc in last stitch, slip stitch in first hdc to join.

Row 2:
Chain 2.
1 hdc in joining stitch. 2 hdc in next stitch.  *1 hdc in next 22 stitches*
On the end:
2 hdc in next stitch.  1 hdc in next stitch.  3 hdc in next stitch.  1 hdc in next stitch.  2 hdc in next stitch.
Repeat **.
On starting end: 
2 hdc in next stitch.  1hdc in next stitch.  3 hdc in next stitch.  Slip stitch join in first hdc.

Row 3:
Chain 2.  1 hdc in joining stitch and next stitch.  2 hdc in next stitch.  * 1 hdc in next 23 stitches*
On the end:
2 hdc in next stitch. 1 hdc in next three stitches. 3hdc in next stitch. 1 hdc in next three stitches. 2 hdc in next stitch.
Repeat **.
On starting end:
2 hdc in next stitch.  1 hdc in next 3 stitches. 3 hdc in next stitch. 1 hdc in next stitch. Slip stitch join into first hdc.

Last Row:
Chain 1, sc in each stitch all the way around, slip stitch join in first sc, fasten off and weave in ends.

Filler layer:
Chain 21 single crochet foundation

Row 1:
Chain 1, 1 sc in all stitches to end, chain 1 and turn.

Row 2:
Repeat row 1 until same width as ovals.

Assembly Notes:
Use a yarn needle and put two lines of stitching in the middle of the center stitch and edges.  Do not sew the edges shut as when you wash them, they won't be able to dry properly without the air flow.

"How does it stay it place?"
You can crochet simple ties using chain stitch, or even make wings. Fastening them with buttons or snaps.  That's up to you.