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I made a thing! Two things actually.

First, a bobbly baby blanket for a bouncing baby boy (Cassia and Pablo’s baby who is named Cedric!). I brought it to them when I went to Adelaide for Cassia’s baby shower, which I took no pictures, whoops.

I picked this design because it doesn’t have lots of holes to catch little babby fingers like a lot of other crochet blankets have. Plus the polka dots are soooooo cute!! They’re also really fun to run your hands over. So nubbly.

The whole thing. I used this pattern, which was quite easy to learn, especially since it had a video. My mom taught me double crochet when I was much younger but everything else since then I’ve learned from youtube.

Little Cedric nice and cozy in his Finnish baby box (Pablo is half Finnish). I used a super soft acrylic yarn that is completely washable. I’m so happy the blanket it getting used.

Second, a bunnyhug for brother Brett’s birthday. (OK technically not a bunnyhug but I just wanted to say something that started with B haha)

As usual, Scott picked the design and I executed. Brett is a big Wolverine fan.

I used waste canvas to do the cross stitching, like I did for Scott’s hoodie. This design was easier to do because it’s actually better when it branches out instead of being a big solid block.

Pretty pleased with how it turned out! And it’s also completely washable.

PS yes I can make one of these for you. Let’s talk.

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About a month ago I had a very bad case of analysis paralysis. As I often do, I frantically messaged Rosemarie.

She helped me solve all my little problems, and also figure out that in general I need to:

  1. Do more new and scary things.
  2. Meet some more people.
  3. Take more advantage of only working part time while it lasts.

Isn’t she wise.

So I did! I’ve got a few new things on the go at the moment.

First I signed up for a picture framing short course through Scott’s mum’s work. I thought it might be useful because all my cross stitch projects come out in random non-standard sizes, and as a result almost all of my finished stitches are rolled up in a box under my bed instead of displayed.

The first class we learned about materials and cut mat boards, second class we cut more mat board bevels, and foam core and mounted things together. This week we cut the wood for our frames and glued them together, and the last week we cut the glass and put everything together. It was fun! I finished two frames. The instructor is very knowledgeable and gave us a lot of info. The tools to do it on my own would be a bit of an investment though.

Have you ever seen 2.5 kg plates before?? Lol.

Second I joined an Olympic weightlifting club. It is very intense and scary there. Everyone is extremely strong. There are people training for the Commonwealth Games and stuff. The first night I went, THIS GUY was there!! He is so awesome. Anyway so now I have a coach who is teaching me snatch and clean and jerk from scratch. It’s very cheap and I can go as much as I want, which is pretty cool. And everyone I’ve met so far has been very friendly. I think it will be good for me to have some goals again, now that I don’t have skeleton in my life. Hopefully I can do some local competitions at some point.

I also thought maybe I could try and cook more elaborate meals? These were homemade pork and shrimp siu mai. They were yum. I got a library card too so I could get a bunch of fancy cookbooks for some new ideas. Any ideas for labour intensive but not cost intensive meals would be very welcomed! (Just typing that out makes me realize that I should make perogies v soon, especially since they don’t really exist here.) (brb crying)

So life is very busy these days. This is good.

Next weekend I’m going to Adelaide for Cassia’s baby shower. I don’t think they actually expected me to accept the invitation but flights were only $33!!! So… YOLO, I’m going.

And then a couple days after that we go to Ottawa!!! We are very excited to escape the cold here and get some quality family/friends/cottage/Canada time in.

PS fish and chip shop deep fried Mars bars are amazing. We shared a few at work the other day. :D

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Grated Expectations Cross Stitch is coming along! I sold two patterns last week! I still have a big checklist of things to improve, and many more new pattern ideas to actually design/stitch/list, but I’m pleased with how it’s going so far.

Here’s what is in my shop at the moment.

What’s your favourite Aussie biccie? Australia has so many types of cookies! I decided to document them. My favourites? Kingston, mint slice, and choc ripples.

https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/500979754/aussie-biccies-cross-stitch-digital-pdf

Continuing on in the Aussie food theme… Australian ice creams. L-R: Golden Gaytime (actual slogan: “It’s hard to have a Gaytime on your own!”), Cornetto, Bubble O Bill (he has a gumball nose!), and Magnum.

https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/501130482/aussie-ice-cream-cross-stitch-digital

How fancy? For the fancy person in your life (maybe it’s you!).

https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/523213927/fancy-af-cross-stitch-digital-pdf

Hang this up on the door when you need some recharge time. Extroverts just don’t get it.

https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/509403860/introvert-recharging-cross-stitch

Something different. All your favourite Neko Atsume cats and cat toys on one very cute pair of shoes. Meow.

https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/508515464/neko-atsume-hand-drawn-shoes

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Dad mailed me a really cool 3D paper project a few months ago and I finally put it together. It came with about 80 pieces of card that had numbered tabs and scored lines on them. I had to fold the pieces and then glue them together in sequence.

It was very confusing at first.

But then it started to come together and got very addictive. Just one more piece, then I’ll go to bed!! *does 12 more pieces*

It turned out HUGE!! I thought it was going to be about 1/4 the size!! It took me about 4 nights to put it together.

How cool does it look up on the wall! I love it!

Thanks dad! ♥

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Natasha takes loans seriously. She came all the way to Australia to pay back the $5 we loaned her on the last day in Mexico. Good thing the interest rate was favourable.

We did A LOT of fun things together. It was great.

We went for a swim and a photo session at Brighton Beach.

Baby’s first snot block. (And by “baby” I mean Natasha! Cripes people ;))

Melbourne has the best alleys. We did a lot of walking.

Top notch Melbs graffiti.

Our favourite work at the National Gallery of Victoria (which is free, by the way).

I tried a macaron from Maccas. It was a confusing experience.

We went to an AFL game at the MCG. The crowd was lively and Collingwood lost so it was a good night.

The view from Arthur’s Seat, on the Mornington Peninsula. You can see the tiny gap in the otherwise enclosed Port Phillip Bay, and the actual ocean in the very back.

Playing on the rocks at Cape Schanck.

At Yering Station in the Yarra Valley. That was a very cheese, chocolate, wine and cider filled day. Thank you Scott for driving us around.

All that was in the first week! The second week I kinda had to get back to my normal routines, and Natasha explored on her own. And then she found a ride to Adelaide and continued on her lap around Australia. I hope she comes back to visit again, or we are able to meet up with her somewhere!