devil’s decimals

I easily get sucked in to spending a majority of my time doing things I don’t really want to do. This especially happens in Summer. I have spent most of this year so far in this unproductive state, with a minority of exceptions.

Crafternoons were absent from my life for a lot of this time, after a minor case of burnout after so much Xmas pressure, and also due to the growth of my niece, and her new level of mobility, curiousity and tactile fascination, along with the increased ability to distract via cuteness. One of my Xmas projects still remains unfinished, but I am aiming to get it completed before next Xmas. I wouldn’t want to set an unachievable goal. Here are a few of my Xmas projects which were completed and gifted on the due date.

Recently, however, I have been easing back into it, with the return of Winter, and the help of a few friends and keen greenhorns, and have been enjoying the deadline-free element to the crafternoon. It begins again…

So, our plans for change and excitement have been postponed due to unfortunate global circumstances. However, to dwell on the fact would be to invite melancholy into this post, so I won’t.

I turn 30 next month. I am quite unconcerned about this, and am taking the fresh approach of looking forward to it, and using it to make some much needed changes here and there. The one thing I did promise myself, and phrased it as such knowing the unpredictable nature of things, is that I would not be in Brisbane for my birthday. Thanks to this promise, and the freeing up of some savings from the aforementioned plan changes, we are heading to Japan for 11 days! This is the most excitement we have seen in a while, and is keeping us occupied with planning and the making of many lists - one of my favourite things to do, of course.

Recent months have brought a welcome diversion. The crafternoon has always been with us, lying dormant, until we forget about the more important things we think we should be doing. The crafternoon is the coming together of friends in the post meridiem daylight hours, to participate in many kinds of art, craft or creative pursuit. The crafternoon has had many revivals over the years, passing down through an enthusiastic stream of like-minded friends, families and flatmates.

It has recently enjoyed a resurgence in my life. It began with a common need between Melissa and I to get back to our crafting roots. Melissa was dreaming of quilting, and I was coveting amigurumi. I already knew how to crochet, and Melissa knew how to sew, so we could skip the boring part and get straight into it. Thus began what may go down in history as our most prolific and enriching crafternoon period yet.

You probably already know what amigurumi is. If not, in short, it is the Japanese craft of making knitted or crocheted toys. To me, amigurumi means taking an animal, character, inanimate object, or something you just made up, and translating it in crochet to look super cute. Already super cute? Make it ridiculously cute! It’s simple, really.

So allow me to take time out from creating more amirugumi, thinking about amigurumi, and generally being consumed by amigurumi, to post about my first amigurumi. His purpose was to teach, and he succeeded. Now I can look at him and see all my mistakes, and things I could have improved. He is a great source of pride to me, being not only my first amigurumi, but the first project of any kind I have actually finished in ages (unfinished projects are a hobby in themselves). So, in all his flawed glory, I present to you, King Dingus!

The crafternoons are continuing, and more people are being infected. More projects will follow here, at a delay anyway, since many cannot be unveiled until after Xmas, and also, I’m lazy. I hope to get some pictures of Melissa’s quilt for the record too, and maybe the projects of the other infected crafters.

A tremendous boon from our crafternoons is that I also get to spend time with my delightful neice. So if you will excuse me, I need to go and get ready - I don’t think I need to spell out where I am going this afternoon…