crocheted totoro
Here’s another little guy I made back in December for a secret gift exchange. I wanted to make something fun for my giftee, Elissa, and thought she might like a little Totoro. While I’d only done a little bit of crocheting before (actually, this bow headband was my only completed crochet project), I’ve always wanted to make some amigurumi creatures. I was pretty amped to try out this Totoro pattern.
It was a really satisfying project and didn’t take too terribly long to crochet. The hardest part was the tiny ears since I would constantly lose count of my stitches and they would come out uneven and I would have to start over completely. Once all the limbs were stuffed, my cat, Meeme, kept trying to steal the pieces so I had to crochet a tiny ball for her so she would leave me alone. In the end he came out pretty cute and I sort of want to make the whole Totoro family.
child of the sun
A good portion of the country is covered in snow now. Storms are hitting places that only get sincere winter weather once in a blue moon. Other areas continue to be pummeled by cold. Meanwhile, here in Southern California it’s sunny and just a bit warm.
I often bemoan the fact that we don’t have seasons here, instead there are just subtle variations between all months that aren’t summer. Snow seems romantic, falling leaves beautiful and the rebirth of spring a joy. The seasons are natural markers of the wheel of life. Other places don’t live in one endless, dry medium with a few months of extra hot.
I realized this week that another place might not be so good for me. January can be hard, even without the cold temperatures. I feel like I’ve been wading through some murky darkness all year. I wanted to go in to hibernation. Even without being stuck indoors, it was hard to find the motivation to go outside or do much of anything. I imagine these feelings would only have been exacerbated by a real winter.
This week things took a turn, perhaps it was just a little bit more daylight or that I could have the office doors open during the day, but everything seems a bit brighter. I’m not so weighed down. I’m looking forward to more time spent in nature and more adventures and more daylight to spend doing whatever I want (even indoors).
new times
There’s been a lot of talk about what is becoming of blogging these days. It’s been something I’ve been struggling with for the past year, not so much in regards to comments or stats, but rather what I want this space to be and how I’d like to connect to readers. Balancing the personal with more creative stuff can be a difficult space to navigate. For the past year or so I’ve just been pushing forward, trying to do what I’ve always done. Only just in recent months I feel like I’ve figured out a better path for this blog in terms of what I’m comfortable with posting and what might still be interesting. I’m working on it in any case.
I find these days that the blogs I love the most are not the ones that show only pretty things or details on how to make something, but rather the ones that speak to the human experience and discovery in life. I’ve been blogging in this space for five and a half years (and writing random thoughts on the internet for longer still) and I find it increasingly hard to write candidly here. This is something I’m making an effort to change, so there is more substance here.
In any case, I’d love to hear what you think and would love if you wouldn’t mind taking a little survey I put together. Your thoughts on my blog are important to me; you’re the reason I don’t just write in a journal. I want to stay connected with you.
It seems only appropriate that a survey post should have a bathroom selfie as the previous survey I wrote did. This one was from a recent visit to The Autry.
catnap dress
A few months ago I started seeing glimpses of this catnap fabric on the web and couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. One night in January, I saw it was for sale and rushed the store first thing in the morning to snatch up some yards of it. I knew I wanted to make a cat dress. Coincidentally, Lizzy House, the designer of the catnap fabric, announced she was having a cat nap dress contest. It was the perfect motivation to get my dress made.
I used the Washi pattern again, like with my spiderweb dress but made some alterations this time around. I added some darts at the waist so the whole front wasn’t as flat, added a collar and sleeves. I’m still not 100% sure I love the sleeves so there is a possibility I’ll remove them later.
I’m officially starting a cat dress collection. It seems necessary. I also am going to to have to get more comfortable with having my photo taken if I’m going to keep making dresses since at the moment it’s a fairly excruciating process (unless I have a cat buddy to help).
favorite recipes
Apparently I’m in organizational mode here on the blog. First it was the PROJECTS page and now a roundup of favorite recipes. Truth be told, with the exception of the few regular visitors, most readers are here for a handful recipes that I posted years ago. I thought it would be nice to have everything in one place, particularly because I used some of these recipes on a regular basis and it would make finding them easier. Anyway, without further ado, here are some of the best recipes from Cute and Delicious history.
Then there are all the cookies. So many cookies
CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
CHOCOLATE PEPPERMINT COOKIES
MOLASSES SANDWICH COOKIES
MEXICAN HOT CHOCOLATE COOKIES
LEMON ICEBOX COOKIES
ESPRESSO BEAN SHORTBREAD
Looking back there are another handful of recipes I’d like to go back and retry, like the creme brulee and the white russian cupcakes. Things have come a long way though and where I used to have to make up vegan recipes, now many others have already succeeded in perfecting them. It means a little less adventure, but also more reliability.
