Having a lot of time on my hands tends to open up my creative side like none other. I've been working on an afghan, based on the space invaders game...not too terribly original, (there are a ton of space invader themed projects on ravelry) but it was a lot of fun to make and is a ton of fun to look at. I'm halfway finished; the little "invaders" are all done but I still have yet to make the back of the afghan so that the loose strings on the other side of tha pattern don't show or get tangled up.
Its also a bit small for an afghan; its about the size of a crib blanket or a large wall hanging. If anything, it will sit and look cute on our couch for now untill it's completely finished. I'd love to start selling things like this on Etsy; my father has already taken a keen interest in helping me price it properly and market it properly; since there aren't many other "space invader" knit items or housewares on Etsy at the moment, it might be sold reasonably quickly, as long as I promote it properly.
My kitty loves the afghan. I've definately got to wash it before it's ready to sell; I've pulled some black kitty hairs from it already <3
Other than knitting, I've also started doing some more embroidery. I stinkin love embroidery, its so easy and full of instant gratification as a craft project. I ordered a reusable grocery bag a while ago from Sublime Stitching (which I ADORE), but haven't had the time to properly print and decorate it. One of my favorite patterns is the dutch/russian pattern, with the little matroyshka dolls.
They didn't come out all even, but I was too impatient to wash the bag and print it again. Done all in blue because I had an excess of blue embroidery thread <3
I also started another embroidery project. I've always wanted to get a little bit more in touch with my family's Russian heritage; and surrounding myself with Russian kitch doesn't always help create an accurate representation of where I come from. When my ancestors came here from Russia and Belarus, I'm pretty sure that a matroyshka wasn't exactly important or significant. However, I know that religion was very important to my ancestors; who were probably either Catholic or Russian Orthodox at the time. I found a lovely translation of the Lord's Prayer, and I'm transferring it to a nice rustic looking fabric. I'm still in the process of copying the letters onto it; My handwriting is terrible and I don't trust myself freehanding it just yet.
I have, however, had the privelege to become (somewhat) close to the Russian community in Seattle. I worked at a small Russian bakery/resturaunt for about six months, and working so close with my boss, who was from St. Petersburg, gave me a small insight to my family. She insisted that I not call myself a Russian girl untill I was able to make Piroghis and Pelmenis (little Siberian dumplings that are a Russian staple), which I have learned and have done. I've made a few myself, but they are nowhere as good as my boss's; seeing as I don't have a proper meat grinder or pasta maker. When I make them again I'll post pictures <3
I'd also like to learn some more of the Russian language. While working at the restaurant I learned a few words, "Thank you," "Welcome," "Hello" and "Good-bye", and such. It's been such a long while that I've certainly lost a great deal of it; I used to know "Can I sweep behind you?" or "What do you need?" from listening to my boss or the other fluent Russian-speakers.
Now that those are somewhat finished, I've turned my attention to a few other things: other than finding another job and volunteering at the hospital, I have found myself with a great deal of time on my hands. I'm probably going to just hunker down and properly study for the GRE, which I have been putting off for a while...my seemingly endless "Peter Pan" complex is rearing its ugly head, as it usually does when I'm faced with a significant life change...Mary Martin's unforgettable line , "I WANT TO ALWAYS BE A LITTLE BOY AND TO HAVE FUN!" tends to come to mind.
All the same, the simple truth that I need to stop pretending to be young and naiive in the ways of the world (and Psychology) in order to attain my long term goals in life tends to be louder than my inner Peter Pan.
No matter how seemingly mature I get in the world of Psychology or Academia, however, I still plan on retaining my love of all things goofy and adorable. My boyfriend and I have been watching the HBO series "John Adams" with Paul Giamatti, and I have been playing "Kirby's Epic Yarn" on the wii for the past couple days. This leads to some interesting dreams...
...Kirby adams?
No comments:
Post a Comment