The Child Issue

At the risk of offending some people, I am going to share a positively hilarious blog post a friend sent me today. It was the Why My Netbook is Better Than a Baby post over at reasons i should not breed. I might have actually fully thrown my head back and laughed like crazy.

Not, of course, that I have anything wrong with children. I have actually worked for years in childcare and very much enjoy children. I can't wait to be an aunt, or for my friends to have children of their own. However, the choice to have children or not have children is a very personal, very huge and important choice. To many people make it because they "should" (you know, it's the next empty box on the great checklist of a "successful life"). Some people are flat out irresponsible and end up bringing unwanted babies into the world, rather than just taking the precautions--some of these children end up in the foster system, some remain with their birth families. Working in childcare, I have seen the extremes of both: the young parents who made a poor choice but got serious when they realized a new life was depending on them and turned out to be some of the best parents I met. The child who had been through tons of shoddy foster families who were in it for the money. The parents who maybe should have rethought keeping the child themselves. The children who were adopted by loving families who are the living proof that "family" is about more than DNA sharing. I've also seen tons of planned families, the good, the great, the less-than-ideal, the downright bad--none of which, by the way, have I seen to be dependent on economic status.

I think a lot of people who don't really want children have them because it's one life's "Shoulds". As a young woman who does not want children, I get a lot of questions, and a lot of judgements. And yet, I so rarely see people get judged for wanting to have children someday.
I have many reasons that I consider very good that fuel my choice. I have given it thought, time and time again, and I just don't want children. I'd be happy to share my reasons, if people were happy to listen. Instead, there's this automatic judgement factor: SOMETHING MUST be WRONG with me. No other explanation.
For the record: No, I don't have any bizarre biological anomalies that I am afraid of passing on or that will prevent healthy child bearing. No, I don't have mommy, or daddy, issues. No, I'm not mentally unstable. No, I am not single, and I do not have "issues" with my boyfriend. I'm not an alcoholic, a drug fiend or an uncontrollable party animal. I'm not afraid of getting stretch marks on my stomach (heck, it'd just match my hips and thighs then!), or of the pain of childbirth. I think I'd be a perfectly, passably decent parent, and I know my boyfriend would be an awesome dad. I'm not selfish (what a stupid comment, jeez) any more than the rest of the people out there, childless or not.
I just Don't. Want. Children.

And, in my opinion, that is perfectly okay. So hurrah for a woman who planned her blog on it!

A New Year

I realize that resolutions are supposed to start January 1, so you're off to a fresh start. Blame the procrastinator in me (who, by the way, is never affected by resolutions and therefore I've long since stopped trying and just embraced her), but I generally don't make them that early. I like to have a little time to think, to reflect and get a feel for 2011 before I decide what I want from the year.

So, without (any further) ado, here are my resolutions for 2011!

4.) Bake more. I actually love baking and the sense of making my  own food. It just always seems I don't have time or room to do so. I'd like to make more time to.

This is a scone from the Victorian Rose Tea Room, a pleasant little tea room with the most delicious food and 36 kinds of tea! I'd love to learn to bake scones like this.

3.) Relax more. I don't mean the lying-on-the-sofa kind of relax. I mean, take it easy on myself. Walk away when I get frustrated with something, come back when I have fresh eyes. Laugh more, smile more, worry less, take each day as it comes. Allow that I am human and will have grumpy days, days when my already crazy hair does exceptionally crazy things, when the cat will hairball on the carpet on my side of the bed, when I won't feel well and won't want to do anything. Also, allow that other people have those days too and be understanding of them. Get outside, enjoy the sun, enjoy life without feeling guilty if the laundry doesn't get done RIGHT NOW.

2.) Bask in my friends. When life gets crazy, it's easy to forget about what good friends you have around you. I have my fair share of truly amazing friends, although I haven't always made the best use of them in the past few years. I'd like to spend more time with friends, make some new ones, bask in the shared and mutual enjoyment and humour that grows with a good friendship. To all my friends, thank you!

1.) Appreciate more. Although this one does encompass some of the others, I wanted it standing alone. Like so many people, I take a lot of things for granted: my good friends, family, love, a warm home, a job, my eclectic collection of skills and talents and (of course) my healthy craft stash. I want to make a conscious effort to appreciate all the beauty around me more, the colours and sounds and smells and textures.

Those who know me will notice I don't have a single green change on my list. While thinking, I decided that I am still working with my Big Green Change for 2010 (going vegetarian) enough that I wouldn't pressure myself more by committing to something else right away. (And, to be honest, I am running low on ideas other than ones I am already working on).

Of course, I also want to keep up on my blog!So, in the spirit of catching up, here's some things I've been working on. Although these are not strictly new creations, I have made them recently.

I was a little hesitant about making a wallet, since my sewing skills are amateur at very best, but I decided to tackle it, and I am pretty tickled with the way it turned out! 

The outside of the wallet. Rather than embroider the heart (I really am that lazy) I just sewed it a few times on the machine. I kind of like the sketchy look it gives it.

I pulled some stuff out a bit to show where all the pockets are. It's got a fair bit of storage space! I love that it has a built in coin purse. If you like it, I adapted the Patchworky Bifold Wallet Tutorial  from Mel W on Cut Out + Keep.

Curious about my little hanging friend on the end? Here's a closer look:

Isn't it adorable!? It's actually a little cat, but his ears are hidden behind the gigantic button eyes. He's only about an inch and a half tall. A close friend brought him back from Berlin, Germany for me. I love it to bits!

 Remember all that yarn I got over Christmas? I thought it deserved a special bag. (OK, and maybe I was looking for a project to show off the beautiful fabric I got for $3 a metre). So I made a craft bag! It doesn't look very large on the outside, but it holds a surprising amount of yarn.

I used the Folklore bag pattern from the book One Yard Wonders. It was surprisingly easy. There is a LOT of ironing involved though, for anyone who hates ironing.

As usual, though, I couldn't resist adapting SOMETHING about the pattern. This time, I was disappointed by the single patch pocket on the inside. Instead, I added a slim cell phone pocket on one end (see it on the right?) and pockets with pencil/hook holders on each side. This way, I won't need to take my hook case with me everywhere I go, and can keep it to my scissors and the hooks I need.

I've also been working on my knitting, and have now taught myself the stockinette and seed stitch (HATE the seed stitch, by the way, moving the yarn back and forth all the time gets old very quickly for me). Look! I've started that blanket!

I also decided to make up one of Rose Hip's beautiful flower cushions from her flower square tutorial. It's not finished yet, but I hope it turns out as lovely as one of hers! (By the way, I highly recommend taking a browse through her flickr or blog if you are looking for some eye candy or inspiration!) 

Finally, remember my piles and piles of candy coloured hexies? I spent all summer and most of the fall hooking those little things up. When I finally finished, I was so tired of hexies, I put them away for a while. Now that I have had a little break from them, I thought the new year was a good time to bring them back out, and I have started stitching them together!

One row done, 18 more to go! But I have all year, right? ;)

Happy New Year!

I realize that I am a touch late with the New Year wishes, but I thought I ought to pop in and say it. I have many things to share, but I haven't had much time (or motivation--eep!) to sit down and take all the photos I might need.

My Christmas was wonderful--lots of time with family and even some crafting time in!
It was definitely a yarny Christmas-- my oldest friend took me to explore a yarn outlet store near our home town. They had wonderful prices on unlabelled mill end balls and I finally found all the colours I needed for that beautiful striped blanket I've had posted up on my cork board--all for about half of what I'd normally pay (yay!). The poor girl doesn't do any knitting or crocheting herself, but she was very patient with the excited squealing and dashing that myself and my sisters were doing, she even held my yarn basket. :)

As it ended up, she had gotten me a bit of yarn for Christmas already. 

And my sister had gotten me--quite literally--a gigantic box of yarn. 

And my darling boyfriend got me two balls of the beautiful Stitch Nation Bamboo Ewe yarn.

Needless to say, I am quite nearly drowning in yarn now. It's been a bit of a task trying to find comfortable spots for it all in my little apartment.  

Anywho, I will be back again soon, hopefully with more pictures and one or two more stories!

hope your New Year has been splendid thus far!

Share and Share Alike!

I've been on a web-stalking spree. I've been finding so many treasures too, all at once! It's like Christmas! (It is almost Christmas!) So, because I know I am not the only one who will be excited about this, I'd like to direct your attention to the sidebar! If you've been paying attention (I know you're out there, reading this, breathing away), you'll notice that I have a new list over there, dedicated to tutorials and patterns, or lists thereof. A lot of these I came across from Whip Up, which has everything for the crafty minded, from book reviews to interviews with successful crafters, from patterns to blog links. It doesn't look like too much, admittedly, but that's probably because it is jam packed full of content. Amazing, wonderful, inspiring content. If you do any kind of crafting, head over there and give them some love! They deserve it!

Little Things...

I love that we have snow now...It snowed all day yesterday and the night before. Not great clumpy flakes either, but those large, fine flakes that glint and shimmer as they fall and make the whole world sparkle.

I love the snow...and I love what snow does to the light, especially in the early morning. For some reason, the frosty early morning glow always warms my heart.

I've also been fawning over my new cushion cover...made to cover one of two old scratchy tweedish cushions that I inherited from a neighbor along with a matching couch when I first left home. They've followed me a lot of places, and seen a lot of my life, so I don't have the heart to get rid of them. So I prettified them instead! Here is the "before" picture:

See? Just not nearly as prettyful.

I didn't mean for this to be posted in the same entry as the cushion, since I made them at different times, but it's kind of suiting since they match...

My new cork board!

Recognize that fabric? Hahaha! I wanted to recover this old corkboard my mom had kicking around her house so I could use it to hang my favourite patterns and other little bits. When I got that orange fabric, I realized it was perfect for the job, probably more perfect than any other fabric I had.

All I did was cut a piece of fabric slightly smaller than the frame, and then poke it in under the frame with a butter knife (mine doesn't come out of the back like some, which would have been easier, because the frame actually wraps around the board and holds it in).

Isn't it wonderful?! I just love it. It does something to the space that just makes me smile. It actually attracts me to my craft room...which has thus far been something of a task, since it has been serving as half craft room and half storage room and is therefore not the most inspiring space ever.

Speaking of inspiration, though, how about a closer look at the first two patterns up?

Aren't they delicious?! I love them to bits. I've had a serious problem trying to find the big balls of Handicrafter to make that blanket, but I am thinking I can maybe adapt it to a scarf and just make do with the smaller balls. I think that pattern'd make a charming little scarf. Very fun and bright.

If you would like the patterns, the blanket can be found here (you might have to make an account or sign in if you have one) and the dishcloths can probably be found somewhere on the Michaels website (here)--it's acting up for me right now, so I can't look them up.

Thanks for popping in!

Is this a problem?

I have seen so many blogs--seriously, my blog list keeps getting fatter. And so many of them stick to the same template and style and rarely if ever change it up.
I, on the other hand, have the most bizarre compulsion to change mine around every 6 months or so. I don't know why, I guess I like change. I move things around in my house too, when I can. It's the same thing with my blog-- one day I just look at it and say "It's still pretty, but let's change it up!".

Today I decided I need to try giving something new a change...I stumbled upon Shabby Blogs and was just smitten with some of the stuff on there...perhaps I'll do some spicing?

At least with the blog I don't have to haul furniture. :D

New! AKA--Why I love thrift stores and making stuff

I had a couple of very productive days late last week, and am still very excited over the results. If it wasn't for the fact that I am not really in need of any new groceries, I'd be at the grocery store this minute, flaunting my makings.

Last week, my boyfriend came home with the bunch of green onions we needed for supper in a plastic bag (oh, horror!) because the woman at the supermarket scolded him for not using one. Apparently the conversation went something like this:

"SIR! You need to put those in a plastic bag!"

"But they're already tied together...I'm only getting one bunch."

"SIR, that is not hygenic. People put all sorts of things in the baskets, and touch them."

At which point he just grabbed the bag and ran.

Maybe not ran, but you get the point.

I laughed so hard when I heard the story. What on Earth do people do at that grocery store with those poor baskets?! I mean...I put groceries in my basket. Then I take them home and wash them before cooking them. Not hygenic? I'm afraid I just don't understand.

At that point, I decided to take on the project I had been putting off in hopes of finding the perfect fabric: reusable produce bags. I already have my grocery shopping totes, which I use everywhere, but those flimsy little whisps of plastic in the produce section get me every time when I am trying to buy more apples than I can carry with only two hands. I made four of them, one specially long and skinny for things like, say, green onions. ;) They're rather flashy, since the only really light fabric I had was some atrociously, wonderously tacky stuff I fell in love with a while back and haven't found a good use for yet.

While I was working, I had a brilliant inspiration for a well loved t-shirt my friend got me for my 18th birthday. It was the most wonderful, comfortable cotton, and I adored the silly innuendo on it. In short, I wore that shirt until it almost fell off of me. So it's been sitting in my pajama drawer, not really being used, but I still love it too much to get rid of it.

So, with some help from some polka-dot cotton...my shirt is now a charming little tote bag with a dirty sense of humour!

On Saturday, we went on a little adventure in a town nearby.

We stopped off in the Value Village to explore and see if we could find some materials for making soap. We found an old cake pan that would work, as well as a fantastic flour canister...

and the prettiest cup in the world, with some cute sidekicks!

I also snagged two Vonnegut books (Cat's Cradle and Mother Night) and Plato's Republic, some super fine yarn and some cute lemon yellow gingham print fabric.

After, we parked at the mall and headed downtown with the intention of just exploring, when we saw a sign for a "garage/estate sale". So we wandered in. Oh wonders! The woman of the house, sadly deceased a few years back, was a skilled crafter, and had a room full of crafty things--yarn, crochet threads, tatting threads, buttons, beads, fabric, knitting needles, embroidery floss...you name it, she had it. Her husband recently passed also, and her daughters organized it all beautifully, because she had always wanted to do so. I found some beautiful supplies there...

lots of delightfully coloured crochet threads...

some tatting thread...

a couple of pattern books (is that edging book not AMAZING?!)

a gorgeous stack of vintage fabrics...

some wonderfully light, bright fabric I have hopes of making into more produce bags for friends and family...

some quaint old buttons...

two charming little saucers and a bright blue bottle (that's one of the saucers holding two of the heart-shaped whole-wheat tea biscuits I made yesterday! Complete with homemade local crab apple jelly, mmmm!).

I also brought home two unfinished potholders that I found while snooping through a box of granny squares. I thought they were adorable, so I am going to finish them and hang them in my kitchen. Her daughters, who were incredibly sweet and friendly, seemed happy that someone was going to finish them. I hope I can make some beautiful things from everything I adopted. I'm planning on teaching myself to crochet with thread, so I can start putting edges on pillowcases and handkerchiefs (which I am planning on making and replacing disposable tissues with). I just love crocheted edging on pillowcases, and have fallen completely over for some of the ones over at You Go Girl!

Look at them! Aren't they just the prettiest things you've ever laid eyes on?! I just adore them, and I definitely want to learn how to do that.

Well, this has been a positively gargantuan blog post...thanks for stopping in! X3