Writing

I used to have high, high hopes for my novel Nevdroonia. Such as having it entirely finished by now. Such as having it edited by now.

Bah.

As many of you know, many things have been going on in my family, and in addition to that I have an incredible amount of schoolwork. Whoever said that homeschooling must be easy don't know a thing. I put in seven to eight hours of hard work a day-- no sitting in boring lectures or chatting to friends by the locker or watching movies in class. I've been escaping more-- reading or doing simple art/craft projects in my free time.

As a result, my writing has suffered. I am only 80% done with Nevdroonia. I finally got over a huge writer's block, when I couldn't figure out what would happen next. (You see, I started this project with no definite end or outline, something I'm not likely to repeat on a full length novel). I now know how the climax will work.

But it is so hard to find time for writing, and I wonder when I will ever finish. Oh, my big dreams still carry on. I have a sequel formed in my mind. I have another-- much better-- story planned, which may or may not take place in the land of Nevdroonia. (If it does, Nevdroonia would be changed around quite a bit.)

But if things carry on in the way they have been wont these past few months, I won't be done by next NaNoWriMo. Arugh.

Tapestry Crochet

I've always been facinated with Fair Isle knitting, where different colors are switched in and out of a project, often with facinating results. Through... well, I wouldn't call it stubborness, but for some reason or another, I've never actually learned to knit. And I really, really wanted to do this Fair Isle thing.

So I learned about Tapestry Crocheting! I used THESE INSTRUCTIONS. The website has some videos that I'm sure are helpful but that I haven't watched.

I first started with a little iPod case, but I did it in the round with a complicated knitting grid and it didn't really turn out.

What you see in the top picture is a (rather poor) second attempt. I followed a knitting grid for a Fair Isle bag with a Gryffindor design on it. Crocheting, apparenlty, is much larger than knitting. If I were to finish this, it would be a banner instead of a bag. :P

The nice thing about tapestry crochet is that switching yarns is easy (provided you twist before you yo!) and it is two sided.

New Gryffindor Scarf

I crocheted William a new Gryffindor scarf! I did it in double crochet (as opposed to the previous hat I made) and did it while watching the Olypmpics. Its five feet long!!!

After my first night of crocheting! Unfortuneatly I had to tear the bottom bit out, because it was too large (I had it sewed down in this picture). And I certainly didn't crochet as much the following nights.

 Why did I need to make a while new scarf when I had a perfectly good one I made last year? Was it because I wanted one for myself (which I kind do)?

No. The old one was stolen. We put it on our ginormous Mr. George Snowman. It was only supposed to stay on the snowman that day, but it got left out there and was stolen overnight. :(

Recycled Shorts

Rosie had the cutest pair of bermuda jean shorts. They had a little design on them with a palm tree. She decided she would practice the splits. While wearing them. They riiiiipped down the leg-- not even on the seam!

I thought it would be a shame to let those shorts go to waste. I cut the shorts along the jeans, up to the crotch. I had to cut a little extra where she tore them. Then I cut out two triangles from yellow material, hemmed it, and sewed it on the front and back of the jeans.

Maybe my sewing skills aren't so terrible, after all!

Self Portrait

After my last post, where everyone seemed to think I drew a self portrait, I decided to see if I could draw a self portrait. After all, my 'drawing-people-so-they-actually-look-like-themselves' skills are terrible.

Gahhhhh. *buries head* Why am I posting this? I spent, all of twenty minutes on it. Maybe less. And I'm not exactly a pretty model... its so much easier to draw nice sharp noses, you know!

I drew this picture at an angle-- I was in the bathroom (what you see is a mirror image!) and the counter was too wet to put my sketchbook on. The angle I drew it at looks better. Oh, if the glasses look cricked and falling down my nose, that's because they are. They are five years old and have been in too many volleyball games.

The next picture is a self-portrait I drew three years ago. You can see that I was so hopeful I'd be able to get thin, workable hair.... lolol

Ooooh, pitiful... I did draw a much better one a few weeks after this one, but that picture is packed up.

And this next one was not drawn by me at all! My friend, Yaviel, drew it based on the picture in my facebook profile. She said it was the best drawing of a face she's ever done. It was so sweet of her to send it to me! Let's all hear a round of applause for Yavi, shall we?

I didn't scan this... sorry for the picture quality.

There you go, dear readers. Pictures of me, since I don't really want to put photos of me on the public blog. :)