Dog Years🐶

Chuc mung nam moi everyone!  Today is the new year for many Asian countries.  We Vietnamese call it “Tet”.  It is the biggest holiday over there kind of like Christmas over here.  My family is celebrating tomorrow, we usually gather over at my parents.  There are also festivities at the Buddhist temple and some around town.  It’s funny because the only time I see so many Asians around here is during New Years.  There is not a lot of cultural diversity where I live but it is a lot better than it used to be. 

I made a sale on Etsy today so the year is off to a good start.👍  It is for this turquoise copper bird charm bracelet.  A good sign I hope.

I have more items to list maybe next week.  I’ve been really busy at work and also with stuff around the house.  Actually things have been really hectic in general this month.  Being caught in the middle of this tug of war with the family is emotionally draining and I just wish everyone could get along.  I try to distance myself by knitting and watching the Olympics.  The latest project I’m working on is this hat for my sister in law.  Her birthday was on the 1st but we usually celebrate it on New Years because it’s so close.  Her favorite color is purple, hope she likes...

That’s it for now.  Need to get this hat done by tomorrow.  I don’t have to work on Monday because of Presidents Day, yay for that🐶

All We Have is Time

This week went by so fast it doesn’t even seem like a Friday.  I added a couple new items on Etsy yesterday and will keep adding more to build up to at least 50 items.  Right now I only have 27 items.  I’m still looking for a good laptop.  I usually have a hard time deciding because I want to make sure I am getting the best quality at a reasonable cost.  This Sunday 14th is my Dad’s 73rd birthday.  I’m knitting him a beanie.  He likes dark neutral colors so I think he will like this one.  Hopefully I get it done in time.  

I can’t help but think about how much longer I have with my parents ever since my MIL died😢.  I love them both so much, it is one of my greatest fears to lose them.  I don’t want to see them suffer or be in any kind of pain or to never see them again.  Who knows if there really is an afterlife?!  I would like to think there actually is a heaven or some kind of spiritual kingdom once we cross over.  It just seems like there has to be something more after we die because of how complicated human intelligence and emotions are.  It just doesn’t seem possible that all of that suddenly ends after we die.  Maybe a discussion in a future post.  Have a great weekend you all!🧐

New Year, New Me??

Happy New Year!!  I love new beginnings and the opportunity to start over or start something different.  Yesterday I wasn’t feeling too well tho, one of those shut everyone out and isolate myself moods.  It always seems like there are million things running through my mind.  It’s just that I know where I’m headed but I’m feeling overwhelmed by how I’m supposed to get there.  I’m just ready for some positive changes.  One thing I’ve already done was cancel my individual gym membership to Crunch Fitness and instead got a YMCA membership for the whole family so that we can all get active together.  I was actually doing very well last year with my workouts until I started my new job the end of April but still kept active through October with daily walks on my lunch break.  Now it’s time to get back into it.  Then in the spring we can do more outdoor activities.  I really like this statement and it is so true.  

Another thing I would like to start doing more of this year is to fill up my social calendar a bit.  I don’t want to go overboard but I would like people to know that I still exist.  I feel like I’ve basically vanished from the face of the earth the past couple years and people have forgotten about me.  I am also thinking about getting back into selling at outdoor events this summer/fall but that’s a big maybe.  

For vacation this year we are planning a trip to Oregon to visit friends probably in the summer.  This will be my son’s first visit, he’s always super excited to visit new places.  The coast was actually the first trip J and I took together a month after we started dating.  Now it is like we will have our own tour guide.  

I’ll project recap next time.  I’ve made a handful of knitted stuff and found out some new tips and tricks as I was working along.  A lot of things are connecting and starting to make more sense.

Cheers to a great new year!🥂🍾

Run in Circles

Hello everyone!👋  Sometimes I wonder how many people actually read my blog.  What if I am really talking to myself??  Well Xmas is over for another year.  I had a great time with the fam last Friday.  Everyone thinks it is cool that I started knitting, they all love the scarf I made for John.  That’s great because guess what you’re all getting next year!  I’ve been experiencing some holiday blues this year.  There’s just this vibe of loneliness in the air.  It was nice to see my mom & John bond over their recent losses though. My mom gave me the most beautiful birthday card, she said she cried writing it because she was thinking of her sister that just died. 

I gave her a hug but didn’t cry until I read it again the next day.  I don’t know why my emotions usually hit me later on.  It’s almost like I need time to process what I am feeling if that makes any sense.

As far as projects go I haven’t done much because of the holidays.  I did start working with circular needles and I have to say that the ones I am using now are a dream to work with.  I started out with 29 inch circulars to make a hat but found it hard to work with because the wires kept twisting.  Then I read somewhere that it is better to have your work cinch up on shorter needles rather than spread apart with longer ones.  The ones recommended for hats are 16 inches.  Here is what I am currently working on:

It does cinch up a little but so much easier to work with than the longer ones.  For chunkier yarn I might go up to 24 inches which is the only size between 16 & 29.  

I feel guilty for not working on my Etsy shop.  I will again eventually.  The nice thing is that I can go at my own pace when I am listing things.  Right now I’m enjoying my knitting time.  I saw a video on FB the other day about this 91 year old elderly man that is living his final days knitting hats for those in need.  He already made 8000 of them!!  What an inspiration, I want to be just like him in my final days.

I will post one more time before the year ends.  Probably talk about some goals for 2018 or whatever and some ramblings of stuff that happened this year.  Until next time!✍️

Almost Christmas Already🤶🏼

Can’t believe there is only 1 more week until Christmas 🎄.  I had a good birthday.  It is always nice when people take time out of their day to wish me a happy birthday.  It means that they thought of you and that to me is really special.  This year our family Birthmas celebration is on Friday 22nd.  Earlier tonight we attended a Christmas choir concert at my son’s school.  I’m so proud of him for participating in this!  He’s been in choir since 7th grade and tonight he participated in his first high school concert in front of 1200 people.  He did great but wanted to sit the whole time, haha, but at least he did it!  Wednesday his class is taking a field trip to neighboring schools to do some Christmas caroling.  I can’t express how proud I am of his independence lately.  It has been hard for me to let go but I am starting to trust that he is capable of handling things on his own.  

I don’t have much to cover today except this lovely gray beanie that I made over the weekend.  It took me about 3 hours.  I used the Wool and the Gang yarn that I posted in a previous post.  I have to say that this yarn has been my absolute favorite to use so far and I am definitely buying more in the future.  It is so soft and easy to work with.  The stitch I used was a seed stitch which is an alternating knit/purl combo.  I love the way it turned out!

It seriously makes me giddy knowing that I can knit all these things.  It is not just a hobby but a true life skill that I can use in case of a crisis.  

And there is just so much to learn.  The next thing I am going to try is how to use circular needles.  I don’t know if I mentioned this before but my go to place to learn practically any new skill is on YouTube.  I will post a link with my saved playlist of knitting tutorials either in a future blog post or to my google+ page.  I also created a Pinterest board for knitting related stuff. Have a great week.  I get Friday & Monday off for Christmas🎄🎄🎄🎄

Knit knit knitting away

It seems like I have developed a knitting addiction.  Lately when I don’t have any plans or have to be somewhere I am usually knitting.  It’s been really good for me.  It reduces my stress and anxiety.  I am surprised by how much I enjoy it because usually any type of repetition drives me crazy!  I used to loom knit years ago but got tired of it after a few months.  There’s just something about using the needles that are more satisfying.  I finished a 60 inch/5 foot scarf today and even added on some fringe.

I mean if you look closely you can see some mistakes but oh well I think it turned out great for my first full length scarf.  I also finished my first hat but I am almost embarrassed to post it because I didn’t follow any guidelines so the proportions look kinda off😅.  I overestimated the width & underestimated the length!  The pompom was super easy and fun to make.  

And last but not least I am working on a nice cozy scarf for J’s birthday.  This one is turning out really nice.  I love the colors, it is made from the Isaac Mizrahi yarn I posted on my last post.  I will probably need to buy another skein to make the scarf long enough.  

So far I have only been using the knit/garter stitch.  My next project I am going to use knit/purl combo.  I just wanted to finish a project first!  I have also been taking notes as I go along.  Happy knitting!🧣

The Bigger the Better

I am still feeling kinda blah today.  I must of picked something up from being around a bunch of sick kids at the indoor gym I went to for my nefew’s 3rd birthday party.  So I think I am going to take it easy for the rest of the week because I have my work’s company Christmas party to go to this Friday.  

I bought some new yarn yesterday and some big ass knitting needles that could seriously double as vampire stakes.  I picked yarn colors that are more my style.  And more chunkier yarn because they are easier to work with and I like the look and feel of it better.

I feel like I have finally mastered both the knit & purl stitch and ready to start making things for a little while before I begin learning new patterns.  Can’t wait to start working on these.😍

Cleaning Up

Happy Friday🙋🏻‍♀️.  Today I spent a lot of time cleaning out and organizing my stash of beads, charms, crystals, etc. so that I can start making stuff.  I can’t believe how many things I found that I forgot I had!  I also bought some new crystals and gemstones yesterday.  

I am about a third way done with finishing a scarf.  I am getting really fast and developing a good rhythm.  It is starting to feel very therapeutic and is a great alternative to meditation if you are like me and cannot sit still for very long.  

I will be working on projects all weekend.  I go through phases of wanting to isolate myself to having a bunch of energy.  I am currently in isolation mode.  Next weekend I am going to a big yoga event that should be lots of fun.  TTYL!👩🏻‍💻

Project Recap Monday

Hello everyone!👋.  Hope everyone had a great weekend.  Mondays will be my project recap day and/or stuff related to my business.  Today I mailed out the bracelet I sold last Friday.  I always like to throw in a few extra goodies for my customers as a thank you.  Usually some loose charms, stickers, or pretty notecards.  For wholesale orders I like to include an extra item that is not part of the sale.  This gives them an idea of what else I offer and it keeps up good customer relations.

Last week I mentioned starting on the PURL stitch in knitting.  Well I pretty much suck at this!  It is the opposite image of the KNIT stitch so I found myself in utter confusion because I have a bad sense of direction.  I mean I can do it but it is going to take a lot of practice to get the hang of it.  My sense of direction sucks because I was born left handed but my parents didn’t think that was normal so I ended up being ambidextrous and use my right hand to write and my left hand for physical things like brushing my teeth/hair and using a knife.  I will continue to work on the purl stitch this week.

I have come up with a weekly theme to keep me focused:  Tuesdays I can review products, websites, or anything I’d like to share of interest.  I just got a couple of my monthly subscription boxes in the mail today that I can review.  Wednesdays I can talk about magical metaphysical supernatural psychic astrological stuff.  Thursdays I can post a quote or saying and share my thoughts or feelings about it.  Fridays I will leave open for whatever.  I probably won’t always blog every single one of those days but it is a guide I can follow.  Until next time!🧡

So What’s Next?

Yesterday I went to the thrift store so that I can buy some extra yarn to practice on & got a bagful of these for only $1.99.  What a nice selection!  I have been practicing on the KNIT stitch all week and feel like I’ve got the hang of it.  One of the hardest things about knitting at least for me is hand coordination.  I still feel a bit clumsy.  This weekend I will be practicing on the PURL stitch.  After I get the hang of that then I will be able to create many things.  According to the experts there are 4 basic techniques that are essential in knitting: 

1.) Cast on: The first initial stitch to get you started 

2.) Knit stitch: One of the 2 major stitch patterns

3.) Purl stitch:  The other major stitch pattern

4.) Bind off: The last stitch to close up your knitting.

I am going to try & blog at least 3 times a week, no weekends.  I want to talk about more than just my projects though.  Maybe one of the days I’ll update on projects, then another day I can write up product reviews, then another day I can share my opinions on a topic.  I can talk about anything and everything!  I wish Blogger was more user friendly.  This platform is so outdated!  Links are not working and missing pics, it’s disturbing.  I’ve been writing mostly from my phone so maybe I’m limited to what I can do.  I wonder if the blog hops still exist?  When I get my Etsy shop running again I will probably open up an Instagram account for my business.  Not anytime soon though.  That is the only major platform I have not tried yet as a marketing tool.  I don’t think it was around back when I started. 

Thank you to everyone who reads my blog.  Have a great weekend!

Reflecting Thoughts

Yesterday I touched up on my business journey through the years.  As with anything in life there will always be highs and lows.  I think when things got busy especially during the bracelet years, it started to feel more like a job and I started to lose interest.  I didn’t feel like I was doing it for me anymore, like the creativity part of it was gone.  But I wouldn’t change a thing about my journey.  I’ve always had it in the back of my mind that I would come back when the time is right.  It was and will continue to be a great experience as I continue to grow & learn.  I am very proud of what I have accomplished and how I used my gut instincts to make most decisions.  It has definitely made me more confident in myself as I discovered many skills/talents I didn’t know I had.  And to this day it still makes me very happy when I make a sale.  It just amazes me that someone would want to wear something I made.  I’m not talking down on myself, it is more like a “thank you so much for liking something that I made!” type of feeling.  I mean there are literally thousands of people out there wearing or have worn something that I’ve made.  It’s like a part of me is with all these people and that’s cool as shit if you think about it.  

So next entry I would like to come up with some ideas I would like to focus on.  I’m still enjoying my knitting projects but not quite ready to dig back into jewelry yet but I definitely will eventually.  Until next time!

I’m Back

Hello everyone!  I’m back on here after a 6 year absence.  I’ve been gone for so long that I don’t think anyone remembers me.  That is okay because I am pretty much starting over.  And honestly I don’t really know what I’m doing but I will figure it out as I head into this next chapter.  So much has happened in 6 years which I will touch on briefly in a future post.  But today I just want to announce that I am back for the time being.  This is a low key platform that I can document my progress at my own pace.  I want to add that my absence from my business has nothing to do with any bad experiences or lack of sales.  Almost everyone I’ve done business with as well as my family & friends have been great & extremely supportive.  It was just a combination of taking on more than I could handle and dealing with personal life challenges.  So the first thing I’ve decided to do is to focus on a project that will hold my interest long enough to get me back into the swing of things.  I chose knitting because I consider myself a beginner since there are still a lot of patterns I have yet to learn.  It also requires a lot of patience which is something that I struggle with a lot when I get frustrated.  Attached is a pic of what I started this past weekend.  It’s funny because none of this was planned, I just decided to buy some knitting stuff at the store last Friday and went along with it.  I am not much of a planner and tend to go with the flow with most things in life.  So that’s it for now.  I am going to finish off these 3 projects & then learn some new stitches.  I also need to clean up this page a bit & update any changes.  I don’t know why a lot of the pictures on my past posts are missing??  Until next time...