My Apologies

I’m so sorry guys. I really feel kind of terrible for not posting anything for so very long.
For some reason, life really caught up with me and I just couldn’t find the time to blog. To be honest, I didn’t think there was an awful lot to blog about.

But now, I will take some time to let you guys know what I’ve been up to!

First off, as usual, I’ve been working a lot. Right now we’re smack in the middle of vacation season, so we’re missing co-workers and the ones that aren’t on holiday need to work a little bit more. So that’s pretty busy. Next to that, last month it was time for Animecon 2014, one of the biggest J-pop culture conventions in the Netherlands and I’m one of the lucky people who help to organise the whole thing. It was a blast, but also a very stressful time, which left me pretty much exhausted. Luckily, my duties are mostly during the convention only, so the rest of the year is more peaceful. But that one weekend a year can sure take a lot out of me.

Then, there’s some great news: Boyfriend and I bought a house! We will get the keys in a couple weeks, so I’ll be pretty busy packing up all our stuff and moving. It’s all very exciting and a little bit stressful, but I believe it’s amazing that we are able to take this huge step in life together ^_^ Sadly, it will cut into my crocheting and blogging time though, but it’s the best reason I can think of. Plus, I get my very own room to work in, so I’m trying to get lots of inspiration for decorating it.

More exciting news: I joined a Dutch crafts group called Tegendraads (Dutch site!). They sell different kinds of handmade goods and usually give workshops at different conventions in the Netherlands. This august will be the first time I will try to sell my work, so I’m trying to figure out what to bring and how to price the items. Thankfully, the girls are really helpful with giving loads of tips. But it will always be a surprise what will sell well and what I will have to bring back home with me. I’ll keep you updated.

I’ve gotten in touch with a new craft at Animecon as well. Needle felting! I find that it’s almost therapeutic to stick a needle into a bunch of felting wool until it gets the shape you want it to have. I bought a small starting kit at the convention and really enjoyed working on it. So when I ran into some kits at a local story, I just couldn’t resist. I’m working on trying to make some really small creatures. Not sure why, but for some reason it seems like more of a challenge to make things as tiny as possible, while still being recognisable. Here are the ones I’ve made so far:

Bunny made with the starter kit

Tiny piglet :3

And a teeny, tiny blue Totoro ❤

Next to that, I am still crocheting of course!
Right now, I’m working on a teddy bear for one of my little cousins and of course the items I would like to try and sell for Tegendraads.
Pics or it didn’t happen:

Hedgehog made using a pattern from Zoomigurumi 3 and a Stone Washed yarn

Another African Flower Owl, this one will stay with me (hopefully)

This one was a commission for a friend. It’s supposed to be the avatar from some YouTuber, but I wasn’t familiar with the little dude until my friend asked me to make her one ^_^”

Pokéballs! These are key-rings that I will try to sell 🙂 The ultra ball got cancelled by me though, it just wouldn’t come out the way I wanted it to

So yeah, busy times and I’m not taking the time I need to take to blog. But I will try to keep you all updated a bit more. As usual, if you happen to miss me for too long, check out my FaceBook page. It’s a lot easier to update, since I don’t feel the need to write long stories. I keep that one up to date with pictures of current projects!

So once again, my apologies for disappearing and hopefully I will be able to write to you guys a lot more in the future, with more original patterns to come!

Cheers, Lydia

Pin-cushion piggy

Yesterday, I decided it was about time to retire my old pincushion:

This little whale was my very first crochet creation, but because of that, the stitches aren’t very tight. The result? He tends to eat my needles ^_^”

Now he can spend the rest of his days safely on a shelve, not needing to worry about accidentally filling his belly with sharp objects.

A while back I got a nice goodiebag from Echtstudio. In it was a cute little pattern from DenDennis for a “porcupine”.

Being a combination between a piglet and a cactus, this little critter is just the perfect candidate for my new pincushion! I might even start using pins now that I’ve got them at hand instead of somewhere at the bottom of my big box of ‘stuff I might need while crocheting‘.

He can even hop out of his little pot, but he prefers not to (since he’s a bit unstable when he does, he still needs to hold on to the rim)

What do you use to hold your pins and needles? Just an everyday pincushion, your current projects or something you made especially for them?

Cheers, Lydia