surprise, I’m alive and stashbusting!

September 4, 2026 by Leave a Comment

Not because I’m quitting crafts or anything — quite the contrary — I need room for more, of course!

I hope you’ve all been doing well, and I really hope to start blogging more with the stuff I’m making and stick to it this time (cuz I know I say that every time, and I do apologize).  I’ve still been sewing, crocheting, knitting, cross stitching, embroidering, jewelry making, and even doing more “eclectic” type stuff with bones and bugs I find outside, I just need to share it with you guys!

I will say I have been busy partially due to the fact that my bestie (who is an insanely creative crafter) and I are now running a craft vendor booth called Hyperfixation Station (click here for the linktree, and you can see some of the stuff we have for salethrough Facebook as well as our Instagram if you feel like following or just taking a peek at some of the crafts we’ve been up to and markets we’ve participated in).

So anyway, stashbusting.  My yarn was overflowing my dresser, I bought another set of storage drawers, and I still had trash bags and baskets and storage ottomans full, so I decided it was time.  I got rid of a ton of my worsted weight acrylic yarn by thrifting a large wooden picture frame and filling it with pompoms I made with the medium and large Clover pompom makers (I just used hot glue to stick them on):

It’s hard to tell the scale but it’s pretty big — I feel like I’m carrying a large waitress tray when I hold it — and it got rid of SO MUCH YARN, it was so nice!  I’m hoping to sell it at a market, as I don’t really have a good place for this in my house, but I think it’s a pretty quick and cute way to use up scraps!  One lady at a market commented that she used to make things like that in the 70s, and I thought that was pretty cool, as well, how things always seem to come back around.

Another kind of addictive way I’ve found to stashbust smaller scraps is by making “wind catchers,” which is just to say I’m using spiral crochet to make pretty decorative hanging things!  Here’s what I’ve got so far (and I intend to sell these, as well):

They’re fun, quick, and pretty!  Here are some closeups so you can see a bit better:

You can see some of them have more rows than others, some of them have crab stitch outer rows (which is probably my favorite border stitch of all time, honestly), and some of them look wound more tightly than others (which is dependent on your stitch count choices), so there’s a lot of room to play with these!

There are other projects I’d like to share, too, but I’ll just stick with these stashbusters for now.

Do you have any go-to or favorite stashbusters you’d recommend?  I may be out of most of my worsted acrylic now, but I’ll eventually end up with more that I don’t know what to do with (as well as other yarn weights), and I’m open to other ideas, too!

I’ll try and come back soon with more of the stuff I’ve been working on, but until then, thanks for stopping by and I hope your day is full of beauty and peace!

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a finished project and a new one

August 22, 2023 by 1 Comment

Hello everyone! I hope you’re all staying cool this summer (if it’s summer where you are) — the temperatures here are in the 100s and I’m staying inside as much as possible.

In an effort to be more comfortable in the heat, I made a new linen shift using the historical method that includes only squares and triangles. I used this method on my brown one last year, but this one is entirely machine sewn to save time and I also gave this one short sleeves instead of long ones.

It hits just above my knees and is pretty comfy. I may use it as part of a ren faire costume if I decide to do something other than the swamp witch this year, although I think I may just do the same thing as last year and maybe just make a better skirt.

Anyway, I’m also in a redecorating mood, and I’ve recently bought some new household items to fit the dark cottagecore theme I’m going for in my bedroom (think lots of dark greens and teals and browns, with a few lighter accents here and there). It’s a good theme for me because I’ve already got a ton of old dark wood furniture, and I like the cozy, sleepy atmosphere.

I decided I need a new throw blanket for the bed, though, and I already have a ton of Paintbox Yarns Simply Aran in the shade Vintage Pink so I decided to use that for a crocheted blanket (yes, it matches the shift, and that was completely unintentional but kinda cool). I think it’s a good accent color with everything else, and I chose the Fenya Blanket pattern to use. It costs money and is very similar to the free Popcorn Blanket pattern, but I was willing to pay the small price to get the chart, which I often find easier to follow than patterns that are written out. Here’s my first square:

It’s only got 11 rounds but it’s larger than I expected it to be. Not that I’m complaining — that means fewer ends to weave in and fewer squares to connect at the end! I do wish the yarn wasn’t completely acrylic because acrylic blankets make me sweat at night, but I’m probably just gonna keep this at the foot of the bed for decor, and because of that I might not even need to make the recommended 16 squares — I bet I can get away with a smaller size blanket just fine.

I’m also working on sewing a cute linen summer dress with a strawberry and floral print, but I’m incredibly frustrated with it at the moment — I picked my size so carefully and even combined areas from 2 sizes to make it fit me perfectly, and the whole thing turned out too big. I’ve got to undo a ton of work and trim some of the pieces, but I’m worried it’ll look weird so I’m just kinda staring at the half-finished dress sitting on my sewing machine, not wanting to mess with it. I need to finish it though — the fabric was ridiculously expensive.

Sorry if this was a kind of boring post — I just wanted to share my projects and there’s not really anything else going on in my life to talk about right now. I hope you’re all doing well and staying safe and healthy, and I’ll try and come back soon with something more interesting!

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The Swamp Witch

July 13, 2022 by 3 Comments

Hello, hello! I’m back with a new project to share with you guys today: a shawl that I will be wearing for my Renaissance Faire costume this year! I’m going as a swamp witch, and since it’s in October and November I figured a nice wool shawl wouldn’t go amiss. Here’s what I’ve got so far:

It’s a knitted triangular shawl following the Lace Mess Shawl pattern (which is really more of a tutorial than a pattern, but it’s free!), and it starts from the top down and more lace (simple yo, k2togs) is added the farther down you go. It should look kinda messy and something like a swamp witch would wear if I do it right! In fact, I’ve made one before years ago in a different yarn (sorry for the terrible photo quality):

This time I’m using KnitPicks Muse Handpainted, an aran weight 100% superwash merino (on sale at time of posting), in colorway “Success.” It’s a decently soft and nicely squishy yarn with tones of grayish green, which is exactly what I wanted for the swamp witch costume.

I haven’t gotten far with the lace yet, but you can see a little here to either side of the “spine.” Also, note my skull stitch markers, which I thought were perfectly fitting for such a project. 😄 I’d link to them for you but I can’t remember where I got them and I’ve had them for years now, so my apologies for that.

The shawl is working up very quickly on size 10 needles (6.00mm), and I’m already on the second skein of the 4 I bought. I’m spit-splicing the ends together (since it’s not something I’m giving to someone else) so that I don’t have to worry about knots. If you haven’t run across spit-splicing before I recommend you look it up — it’s a great way to join wool yarns seamlessly (and it’s delightfully weird). 😁

For the costume I also plan on using a crocheted shawl I made years ago from the Recuerdos de Infancia pattern, a versatile shawl pattern that’s proven worth the $6 for me since I’ve actually made 4 of them. Here’s the one I’m going to use, possibly as a waist wrap (sorry again for the terrible photo quality):

There are many other components of the costume I need to put together, as well, so I’ll update with those and definitely with finished photos of the current Lace Mess Shawl.

Do you ever make crocheted or knitted items for costumes? If so, do you try to make it something you can wear again on its own later, or do you just make it for the one event?

I hope you are all staying safe and healthy. Please take care of yourselves, and thanks for stopping by!

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making stuff up

May 31, 2022 by 6 Comments

Hey everyone! Today I’m sharing a WIP that I just started today and am kind of making up as I go. It’s supposed to be a philodendron or pothos vine:

I’m making it to go in an indoor hanging pot, because apparently I can’t keep real plants alive to save my own life and yet I still really want something “natural” in my home. This is my solution, and I’m hoping if I make quite a few of these vines and stick them all in the pot it’ll look semi-realistic (other than the color, I suppose, but it was as close to green as I had, so that’s what I’m using).

You can see I’m crocheting around some random craft wire (which I bought about a bazillion years ago to stiffen the brim of a crocheted sun hat). The yarn is sock weight, and I’m using a size C (2.75mm) hook.

To make the leaves I’m just taking my single length of wire and making a loop, then twisting the loop to form the part of the stem (?) that attaches to the vine. I crochet over that, then work into the remaining large loop at the end of the twist to form the leaf. I pinch the leaf loop closed and slip stitch back to the main wire and continue. This way I don’t have to break the yarn and sew in ends for every leaf — it’s a continuous piece!

I’m still working out the best leaf shapes, but they’re all slightly different, just like a real plant would be (I’m trying hard for realism despite the colorway lol).

If this works out I’ll do another post showing the finished piece, but no guarantees about how soon that’ll be. I’m in the middle of re-watching “One Piece” during my free time and it’s over 1,000 episodes (and counting), and I can’t do much crocheting while reading subtitles (I’m too stubborn to watch the dubbed version — the voices are just not the same). Still, I do want to get this done and hung up in my home, so I’ll do my best.

As far as a life update goes, nothing much has really changed lately. I’m still at the same job (despite my many complaints about it), I’m still very happily divorced (and not looking), and I still live in the same place with my doggo. I still do kung fu, I’m still super into BTS and K-pop, and I still do other crafts.

I have sort of picked up a new craft, though: sewing! I’ve been hesitant to share things here since this isn’t a sewing blog and I don’t want to put people off, but my hands have been very busy. Since December I’ve made 2 different shifts/chemises, a tank top, a slip/underskirt/petticoat thing, two (and a half) different skirts, and I’ve done lace inserts to re-size some shirts that were too small. I’ve been using a combination of hand-sewing and machine sewing, but the machine I’m using is a 1929 treadle Singer (which I love way more than electric machines, btw, because I can go slow when I need to and I just feel like I have more control even if my options for stitches are just limited to the straight stitch). YouTubers with channels about sewing and/or historical dress have been fascinating and inspiring me; if you’re interested, check out Bernadette Banner, Rachel Maksy, Abby Cox, and Morgan Donner, just to name a few!

So yeah, that’s pretty much all for this post! I hope you’re having a good day, and thanks for stopping by!

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new pattern published: Amigurumi Potpourri! (and the importance of tech editing)

November 16, 2021 by 1 Comment

Howdy everyone! I’ve got exciting news — I’ve just published a new pattern for something I’ve been working on for a very long time (seriously, like, YEARS): Amigurumi Potpourri!

It’s is a unique set of instructions to make the components of a classic potpourri: cinnamon sticks, pinecones, dried cranberries, dried lemon slices, dried orange slices, and bay leaves. It could replace actual decorative potpourri (which can be toxic to pets), or if you like the smell of potpourri you can even add a few drops of essential oils to the wool to make it classically aromatic!

Using the recommended KnitPicks Palette yarn (fingering weight, 100% Peruvian Highland Wool, 50g/ball) and a US 2/C 2.75 mm hook, pieces will range from around 1.5 cm wide to around 9 cm long, and if you follow the recommended amounts of the components in the pattern you will have enough potpourri to fill a decorative bowl. You can see the exact colorways and amounts, as well as other materials needed, on the Ravelry pattern page.

This is the first pattern I’ve ever sold myself, so in celebration I’m giving my lovely blog readers a discount on the pattern, which is normally priced at $4.99. Ya’ll get a $1 discount through the end of November, 2021! Enter code NYAC1121 at checkout on Ravelry. Buy here!

I also need to mention something in regards to publishing patterns: YOU NEED TO HAVE IT TECH EDITED. I seriously almost skipped this step because I thought my pattern was okay, and thank goodness I didn’t skip it because my pattern was sooooo NOT OKAY. It is now, though, thanks to my amazing tech editor Marjan of Hobbydingen! She was super fast but still so thorough — she caught so many little problems and inconsistencies and bits of messy wording and math mistakes and was overall very helpful and patient with me (going through 4 versions of the pattern before it was ready to go), which I greatly appreciate! It’s definitely worth it to get your stuff tech edited, for realsies, so I’d recommend Hobbydingen if you ever need tech editing services!

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