oh the huge manatee!

Life is so exhausting when you're a kitty. I've kindof felt like this all week, too. Work has been emotionally draining lately and by the time I get home theres no more room in my brain for creativity, only more nyquil.

But I am improving.

Today I sent off my Craftster package to my awesome awesome partner, and now get to play the waiting game until she gets it. I hope she likes everything, these swaps can be intimidating! As soon as she receives I'll post pictures of everything I sent (and what SHE sent!) I will give some clues in the meantime- the categories I fulfilled (we picked 5 out of 10) were:

something bumpy

something green

something cozy

something sharp

and sender's choice

the last one is kindof a freebie but I think she'll be ok with that.

Also I made the first item for my Dia De Los Muertos themed swap, but as my wonderful partner is now a follower of this blog (welcome!) there will be no hints! Starting on another item for her hopefully soon. Until then, I leave you with the following gratuitous cat photo, because I'm sickly and I can.

A couple things

1. Thor was excellent, I highly recommend it. Makes me excited for The Avengers, and I'm already thinking of some great fun things to stitch up from the movie. And Asgard was very pretty.
2. This design from Mr. X Stitch makes me want to try blackwork: (click the photo for a link)

3. Being sick and stuck in bed does not mean you get extra crafting time. (Though my next project is to craft Day of the Dead themed items, and I feel like death. So at least that's appropriate.)

4. I need to learn how to crochet so I can make this: (click the photo for a link)

That's all for now. I'll have a longer post in the week when I'm feeling better, but for now my bed and a cup of tea are calling me.

Weekend Update

Things I want/need/should do this weekend:

Work on my last knitted potholder

THOR
Craft something for Mother's Day (oops!)

Finish my swap on craftster

Laundry

Get some quality couch time with my boyfriend and cat

Celebrate not one, but THREE friend's birthdays

Sleep in

Taking out my frustrations

I have been really fed up with embroidery the last couple of days. A while ago I started working on a couple of mini hoops just sitting in front of the tv, working with the supplies I had right in front of me. I free handed them, expecting to just kill a little time and keep my hands busy. For whatever reason, I ended up being really inspired and worked on them diligently, loving the outcome. For a while anyway.

Now everything I stitch I pull right back out. Nothing looks right and the most frustrating part is it's not the stitches themselves, it's the design. I guess that's my punishment for not planning ahead.

So I've temporarily abandoned them for some knitting, in addition to the projects I made for my swap partner on Craftster (to be revealed at a later date). It's been therapeutic to feel the work progress in my hands as it grows, and working with a totally different color palette will hopefully help the creative juices flow once more. If not, I can always waste several hours a day on Pinterest.