Late last night, when I found myself bored and still very awake, I opened up Scrivener and just started writing. It was a vague plot that had popped in my head a few days ago, and I only wrote ~2,000 words, but it was very refreshing. I haven’t written in so long, and it was interesting to dip my toe back into that pool. Although today I’m too scared to open it back up and review what I wrote.

Anyhow, I’m done with finals! And I still have nearly two weeks of complete freedom before my online summer classes start, so I’m quite happy indeed.  I have some massive cleaning and organizing to do, and some knitting projects to post about,  but what’s the hurry when it’s so hot outside and my days are long? All in good time.

Perhaps I’ll take a nap for now.

Sometimes I think about what it would be like to have a secret alter ego. Especially musically. When I’m home alone and cooking (and by cooking I mean heating up chicken nuggets in the toaster oven), I tend to make up bizarre songs, using different voices and styles. At times I’m silly about it, and try singing random songs in the style of Bjork, because that’s just plain hilarious. But frequently I’ve been coming up with these strange, Peaches-like techno songs. And it’s fun. A lot of fun, actually. And if I wanted to record them, I have all sorts of kick-ass effects that my traditionally singer-songwriter style songs have never merited using. But that urge to compartmentalize creeps back in, and I feel like I would have to set-up an entirely different space to experiment with those sounds, instead of allowing them to simply be a continuation of my thoughts and creative inclinations.

I’m puzzled by this tendency of mine; why don’t I ever feel like I can present myself as a whole? When I am involved in activities or interests that have specific, receptive communities–like, say, knitting, or fandom–and I write about those interests outside of those communities–like, say, here–I feel like I’m infringing them upon everyone else who might not give two craps about them. Ideally, I’d like to be able to confidently say, “Hey, that’s cool if you’re not interested, but it’s part of my life, it’s what I’m interested in, and it’s my blog, so suck it up.”

And what makes these feelings particularly ridiculous is that I don’t exactly have a huge following of readers (if any), let alone readers that are complaining. Yet the feeling lingers. Sigh.

1. Round up some marathon worthy DVD’s; bonus points if they’re all for shows that have been cancelled. 

2. Whip out that swift and ball winder, and wind that yarn you’ve been dying to ball up, even if you won’t allow yourself to actually knit with it.

(Pictured here: Oceanwind Knits Suri Silk in Jardin) 

 3.  Post ball-winding, have a nearly-finished knitting project to work on during said marathon.

 4. Snacks are important. Chocolate chip cookies are a must.

5. Should you grow tired of either knitting or marathon-watching, have a back-up YA novel at hand. It must, I repeat, must fall under the category of “effortless reading.” If necessary, remove all potentially thought-provoking literature from your house to avoid the temptation of using your brain. This is not the time for challenges.

6. Sit back, relax, and enjoy your last few stress-free days.

Apparently, I only feel compelled to write in this blog when I have essays due, like, now, and a whole list of intimidating work to do before the end of the next week. In other words, at the most inappropriate times. Regardless, here I go.
My Christmas season saw some incredible crafty productivity. I hand-made nearly everyone’s gifts, and I was pretty pleased with how everything turned out. During the month, I churned out two knitted hats, half a knitted sock that got frogged, one cross-stitched shirt, a knitted (and lined!) purse, one pair of wristwarmers, one necklace, two earrings, and a bracelet. Whew. And really, the majority of these things were completed after my finals, from mid-December and on.
I think I managed to get photos of everything–though not the wristwarmers, unfortunately, but I’m sure I’ll make some more in the future, since they were such a quick, easy knit. Are they beautiful pictures, with meticulous lighting and crisp, interesting backdrops? Of course not. Some of them even are, dare I say it, dreaded webcam pics. Ay. Bear with me and pretend they’re pretty, okay?

A cabled purse for Friend K:

A Jayne hat for Friend Julie (appropriately modeled by Julie):

A Palindrome Hat for Friend Kimber (modeled by me, because I so wanted to keep this):

Jewelry for ol’ Mummsy, made with amethysts and hand-made glass beads:

(I was dying to keep these. Fortunately, I have enough of those carmel glass beads for me. Yay!)
A necklace for my sister (amethysts and hematite):

And a cross-stitched t-shirt for my sister as well (an up-close picture of it, with masking tape and chalk marks still on it because that’s just how I roll):

It says “Fuck the haters.” Unladylike, yes, confrontational, yes, but my angry teenage sister loved it (or at least pretended to). At the very least, it is a message that she certainly relates to. The idea came from the Sublime cross-stitch pattern that was hearts that spelled out “fuck,” which I extended and modified for my purposes.

Though I’m clearly belated and long overdue with this post, I still can’t help but feel proud of what I accomplished in such a short period of time. But this year, methinks I will start in the summertime to get these things done early. No, really. Stop laughing, that’s rude.