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get_knitted2023-12-28 08:11 pm
badly_knitted) wrote in get_knitted2023-12-28 08:11 pm
Entry tags:
Check-In Post December 28th 2023
Hello to all members, passers-by, curious onlookers, and shy lurkers, and welcome to our regular daily check-in post. Just leave a comment below to let us know how your current projects are progressing, or even if they're not.
Checking in is NOT compulsory, check in as often or as seldom as you want, this community isn't about pressure it's about encouragement, motivation, and support. Crafting is meant to be fun, and what's more fun than sharing achievements and seeing the wonderful things everyone else is creating?
There may also occasionally be questions, but again you don't have to answer them, they're just a way of getting to know each other a bit better.
Today's Question: No question today.
If anyone has any questions of their own about the community, or suggestions for tags, questions to be asked on the check-in posts, or if anyone is interested in playing check-in host for a week here on the community, which would entail putting up the daily check-in posts and responding to comments, go to the Questions & Suggestions post and leave a comment.
I now declare this Check-In OPEN!
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Also started another pair for my neighbour, but I'm only 2 rows in on the first one.
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It was for a Nerdopolis challenge entitled "New" - we were supposed to document something new about our lives, by crafting something that represented it. This is what I wrote.
It's fairly long, so I'll cut it
2023 has been a hell of a year for me. On Valentineâs Day, I started a *very* part-time job as a math tutor. It was my first job in twelve and a half years â I hadnât worked for so long due to depression and crushing anxiety. To be honest, I probably wouldnât even have started THIS job if *Final Fantasy XVI* wasnât coming out in the summer. I would need a PlayStation 5 to play it, and thus would need money to buy one. Perhaps weird motivation, but motivation nonetheless.
The first day of the job went terribly, but hey, nobody died or got hurt, so I persisted and showed up for the next day, which thankfully went better. Even so, I was already running on adrenaline that first week or so on the job because it was something SO NEW and different, after not having done any work for many years⌠and then the unthinkable happened on February 22nd: my beloved dad took a nasty fall in the garage, and suffered a traumatic brain injury. I spent the next three weeks shuttling between home, the hospital and work.
Dad passed away the evening of March 16th. To understand how close we were, I have to go back to my childhood. When I was born, my mom handed me over to my dad and said, âThis babyâs for you, Daddy!â And sure enough, I was. Iâd spend my childhood following Dad around, asking him, âWhat are you doing?â and heâd patiently tell me. He worked at IBM, and we were the first family in our neighborhood to get a computer at home. Iâd sit and watch him, and helped him build a circuit board so we could use a full-size keyboard on our PCjr. I also spent lots of time reading his computer magazines, typing in the programs in the back so I could play games. Thus, I had my first introduction to computer programming languages.
Returning to 2023: the year went on and I was still running on adrenaline, mostly numb to the changes happening. Mom and I settled into a ânew normalâ routine at home. Then all hell broke loose again: on September 30th, mom ended up in the ER. It turned out to be a very nasty case of gallstones, and she was in the hospital for quite some time.
I did not cope well with this. I broke into a stress rash. I feared I would lose mom as well, and then Iâd be up a creek because I live with her, and there was nobody to take me in should the worse happen.
It certainly was a wake-up call that I had to make changes in my life and return to work. So, with the help of a new therapist, Iâm making steps to do exactly that. I have spent part of my inheritance money from dad on some training programs: Iâm going after the Google Cybersecurity Certificate, and learning *Ruby on Rails*, a programming language.
Which brings me full circle, back to being daddyâs little girl. For this challenge, I crocheted a QR code. QR codes are a type of machine language, just like programming languages are. (Mine doesnât actually work as a QR code but does look like one. I am including the actual QR code chart as produced by Stitch Fiddle â when you scan it, it prints the message **Code 4 Dad!** - I know dad would want me to move forward with my life, and would be happy that I am pursuing a path that includes something we both enjoyed.)
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You've had a really rough and stressful year, so sorry for your loss. But kudos for pushing forward with training and trying to get back into work. I hope next year will be a much better one for you and your family *hugs*
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I'm thinking about making a hat for my partner's brother's birthday in Jan. The only problem is I don't have the color yarn I want and we don't have a local yarn shop. I can make a hat fairly fast but I don't know if there is time for me to order it, get the yarn, make the hat & ship it to him.
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Good luck, if you decide to do the hat.
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Well, you could always send a card to him to arrive in time for his birthday, and tell him his gift will follow, just in case it takes a while for the yarn to arrive.
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One thing I've been really determined to do is actually finish the 2023 Snowflake Challenges before the 2024 Snowflake starts. I've been doing the Snowflake since 2017 and I've never even come close to finishing. Right now, I am one away.
I've been practicing drawing with my fountain pens. It's been going pretty well.
I wrote a rough draft of a fic I already kinda regret, lol.
While at the discount grocery today, I got a new craft kit to try. It's called a Fluffables Plush Craft. As far as I can tell, its a little felt animal making kit, but its also a mystery box, so you don't know what you get. The possibilities seem to all be dogs, though the illustration showing he possible mystery accessory are clearly cats. There are three possible color combinations and at least 4 different possible accessories to attach to the face. I did open it. The color combo I got is called Sprinkles, which is neon green, purple, pink, and white for the body and yellow-orange ears and tail. My mystery accessory was one of the pairs of glasses. I had kinda been hoping for the mustache, but the accessories are thin felt fabric, I could make one. The glasses are also cute. I haven't started working on it yet, because of other things today, but the box predicts it should take an hour to do and is for ages 6+. So we'll see.
The cats have also decided that their new thing is attacking my knitting bag and chewing on the handles.
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Good luck with the Snowflake Challenge, and well done with your pen drawing.
LOL!
That kit sounds fun and fairly simple, hope you enjoy making your dog/cat whatever it is.
Hope the handles can stand up to the cats!
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Thanks!
:)
Thanks. I sent it home as I already have way more than enough to work on while I'm house-sitting, but I am looking forward to working on it. I'm leaning towards it's a dog. The ears are long and floppy, but it's clearly not a bunny. I have no idea why they drew cats to illustrate the mystery accessories. The completed samples look like neon shitzus.
So far, so good!
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LOL!
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