I plan on putting a thin cork bottom to it, because while they're great as is, condensation drips right off of them and sort of defeats the purpose of them being a coaster.

I am going to make a Charmander one to complete the Gen 1 set (My SO's favorite is Cyndaquil). I also want to play around with an Eeveelution set for the living room, because who doesn't love one or all of the Eeveelutions?

A co-worker of mine found out that I am a fiendish knitter and asked if I could make her a red hat with ear flaps to match her scarf and gloves. No real other description. I tried to pry out of her a color description similar to her gloves and scarf, but to no avail. She simply wanted a red hat with ear flaps.

I have made an ear flap hat once before, but it was plain and boring. I was tempted to scour the joys of my Japanese knitting stitch bible to find a cute, yet simple stitch to go with the ear flap hat I usually make, but I thought it would be fun to try something a bit different.

I came across the Gingerbread Icing Ear Flap Hat on Ravelry. It was the perfect ear flap hat with a simplistic repeat of cables and perfect for this little elderly woman that made this request.

The yarn is extremely soft and moves so well along the needles. I use the magic loop method when knitting hats, so I don't use a stitch marker, but I can see it snagging to a stitch when trying to pass the stitch marker between stitches. It does split very easily. I would not suggest using any type of wooden or bamboo needles with this yarn. One wash did cause it to shed. I did not attempt another, but I'm hoping the single wash did the shedding trick.



The pattern is so well written and easy to follower. I absolutely LOVE, and I stress, LOVE that the ear flaps are knitted first, left on the needle and then joined once the second one is complete. The ear flap pattern I made for myself is a knit the hat, pick up stitches, decrease to make ear flaps. Doing them first and then knitting the hat is so much easier! No stitches to pick up, worry of weird gaps or seams, it's PERFECT!

I was originally going to do an i-cord for the tie string, but opted for the pattern's instruction of just braiding strands together. I left a little tassel tuft at the end. It was adorable when my co-worker tried it on after handing it to her. I definitely plan on making a hat for myself or my daughter. They really are cute, and I'm sure would be even moreso with a pom attached.

One thing I definitely need to work on for my commissions is the wrapping. I'm thinking of making a custom logo for a cardstock wrap to go over all products. I do need to invest in a leather or cloth logo to attach to each of my pieces.



RANDOM BLOG CHANGE: Going forward I will be linking my Ravelry project page vs the direct link to the pattern. That project page will provide the pattern for you right there (if one was used). If it is my own personal pattern, the project page will have all steps listed.

Let me start this off to say, I still have not finished Kingdom Hearts 3. I am a bit of an achievement whore and aim for 100% completion. I am at the end, but currently searching for all the Lucky Emblems, Item Chests, and this missing ingredient I seem to just be missing somewhere to complete the bistro recipes.

My main reason for this post is my absolute annoyance with the disappearance of the Final Fantasy characters. I love Disney as much as the next person. My first ever Disney World trip is slated for September of this year, but the main reason, really the ONLY reason I even picked up Kingdom Hearts in the first place is because of the Final Fantasy world.

I really feel the pressure was on for the creation of the third game and it is rushed and so heavily funded by Disney that the only focus is Disney. From the attraction ride specials to the new Disney worlds, it is really shoved down your throat. All of this while you're expected to follow the convoluted plot, rip your hair out finding Lucky Emblems (what I'm currently stuck on), and not wondering where the Final Fantasy aspect of the game went.

I feel gipped, honestly. Fans spent years playing and replaying Kingdom Hearts 1 & 2, some more dedicated (I sure as heck wasn't going down that rabbit hole of insanity) played the various portable releases and re-releases to keep up with the story, and the third one seems like a Disney funded cop out to get fans to stop complaining about the lack of third game. So much left out, so many new characters they could have introduced. This was more than a Disney game, it was a Square Enix game. It just doesn't feel like it is Square Enix at all.



The battle system seems very linear, not much brain power or use of combos. I spent well over half of the game completely forgetting that I have equipment and armor to attach to help my stats and was able to get through even boss fights without a struggle. The only real stand out factor of the battle system are the keyblades. When you power up the keyblades and they change form, some of them are pretty amazing and entertaining. One thing I could do without, and ended up turning the animations off for were the "attraction combos". These combos mimic Disney World/Disney Land ride attractions. They pop up so frequently and you see the same ones consecutively, you become absolutely annoyed with them.

I will finish it eventually, but for the most part, I have set the game aside to focus on Assassin's Creed Origins & Odyssey, and occasionally check on my Sims family.

At some point everyone tells their tale of their craft, right? Why not share mine? I have completely revamped this blog, started a patreon, and opened up my commission page. It wouldn't be right not to delve into my never ending rabbit hole of a crafting gig.
WARNING: You are about to get not only a novel, but a plethora of terribly taken photos I had to go digging for on Facebook (I was convinced I was a professional), and ungawdly awful filtered Instagram pictures.

In March of 2007, I found out I was pregnant. After the initial shock, panic, and absolute fear of being a single mother, I became determined to become that picturesque Pinterest Mom. That meant knitting my daughter her first baby blanket. I had the whole image in my head, this would be her security blanket. She would carry it around like Lionel and sing to the world how her mother poured her heart in soul into making this blanket for her.

I learned how to do the garter stitch (a constant knit back and forth) and started plugging away at the blanket. I had no pattern and no earthly clue  the vast world of yarn squishy goodness that I would soon be introduced to me. I just had my pair of cheap metal straight needles and acrylic Red Heart Super Saver from Michael's.

The blanket was never finished. With  no pattern, I cast on way too many stitches (they frequently fall off the needles), and no clue what I was doing. As I progressed with the blanket, the needles could not withstand the weight of it and snapped the needles. I dropped almost all the stitches, and because I had no clue on how to pick up stitches, I wound it all back up and called it a day.

In all of that madness, I somehow deemed myself a knitting goddess and decided that I was going to shimmy my way to Amazon in search of pattern books. I would create all of the world's knitting things through garter stitch. My book of choice? "Charmed Knits" by Alison Hansel. I had the most logical reason behind it all, Harry Potter. I have always been such a huge fan and I was ready to rock that Weasley sweater and house scarf like a true knitting whiz I believed I became.



My first project of choice was the house scarf (Hufflepuff, of course). First year. This pattern alone taught me to knit in the round, change colors, the importance of counting stitches, and how to count rows. It was a hard lesson for a girl that swore she was a needle warrior after learning garter stitch. The scarf did end up turning out beautifully and I still wear it to this day.

I stuck with those scarves for two years, I refused to adventure into anything else because not only did that Hufflepuff scarf take me almost a year to finish (yes, there were long periods of just not working on it), but I had friends that saw me as the knitting goddess I once thought I was and asked for me to make them scarves as well.




In 2013, a series of life decisions left me with a broken heart and jobless. I needed to do something to keep myself busy and from stress eating and dove head first into the spiraling world of knitting. At this point, I learned how to knit hats, tested out my first pair of socks, and became the ultimate yarn hoarder, thanks to my home away from home, Bella Yarns (cannot link because they are permanently closed) and my straight to my door goodness of Yarnbox (another unfortunate permanent closing).



2014-2016 led to learning how to dye yarn (with Kool-Aid, mainly), perler beads, and more collecting yarn. I was not actively knitting much except for my daughter's Halloween costumes each year. My yarn collection grew to a five shelf bookshelf before its current status of an IKEA 16 cube organizer.

In 2017, I had some personal problem arise. I also made the decision to go back to school full time. With these problems and decisions, I needed extra cash. I started taking family and close friend commissions and selling down my stash. This ignited a new fire in my knitting craft. I was creating my own patterns, making charts, using a stitch and making my own work with it. None of which was written down to make a pattern (I still haven't attempted to dabble in that aspect of knitting), but it was so much fun to take all of these bits and pieces I learned along my knitting adventure and make something my own.

The fire of my knitting continued and I have become more and more dedicated to it, although my fellow didn't see it that way. He was not happy with the amount of yarn that I had and how I continued to purchase more. I am a girl of expensive hobbies, and the consistent yarn buying just wasn't something that flew with him. I made him a deal that I would not purchase any yarn for my own personal use (only if I absolutely needed to for commissions), until I used up the majority of the yarn I currently have.

THAT is where we are at now. My adventures of using up all of my yarn to be able to buy more. Makes perfect sense! I do still do commissions in between, and I will absolutely purchase new yarn for those commissions should I not have something in my stash. My story isn't very inspirational or meaningful, but it's mine. All of those happenings caused me to absolutely love knitting!

Stay tuned for future "How I Started" series when I dive into my other hobbies.

Who would've thought that one little baby cardigan, that I messed up on nonetheless, would drive me to complete my very first adult sized sweater! It's a glorious feeling and a great relief to have finally finished one.

I like to think of myself as an experienced knitter, but I would get so much anxiety when it came to making a sweater. A lot of local knitters always laughed at me because of the lace shawls and socks I would make, but I would freeze up when it came to sweater knitting.

After finally dipping my toes into the joys of sweater making, I am HOOKED! I've found my next sweater I want to make after I finish a hat commission for a coworker.

Let's dive into my sweater experience:

I say it every time I come back to this blog, I really need to get better with it. Instead of trying to make it something, I want it to just be for me. Somewhere where I can dump all of the projects I work on, express my frustrations, or celebrate my triumphs. Basically, my own bubble where I can talk to myself! Should a human or other choose to respond, YAY! Tell me what I'm doing wrong or celebrate my victories. Not interested? Hey, thanks for looking!

What have I been up to? After a long, long hiatus, I have finally started knitting again. What has started this up? My boyfriend of three years has banned me from purchasing anymore yarn until I use the copious amounts of yarn that is currently overflowing my 16 cube IKEA organizer. I'm sure any knitter reading this just scoffed loudly. Trust me, I did, too. I respect the man, though. He doesn't ask for much and let's me make all decisions with full control of money. Naturally when he asked this one favor, I have agreed. Aside from requested commissions that require me to purchase specific yarn, I have significantly cut my spending on yarn. I am weak to Wal-Mart Mandala sales! I skillfully hide all of that. He has yet to find it. If he has, he hasn't said a word.

I have been knitting ... SWEATERS ... ! Of the baby sort, and so far only one. After the terrible fail of my first sweater, I cowered away from the thought that I will ever be able to make a sweater. I still cannot figure out why I am so scared of sweaters, I knit socks, cables, intricate lace patterns for shawls. Sweaters should be a cinch. My biggest fear with a sweater is that I will end up with one obnoxiously long sleeve and one super small sleeve. I know, silly, but that has kept me from knitting sweaters.

My conquest, this beauty. Okay, not an absolute beauty. I had exactly 1 skein of the yarn, 350 yards of it. The pattern called for 360 for even the smallest size. I decided to play a game of yarn chicken. In doing so, I knitted to tight on some parts, and I still can't seem to grasp the sleeve gaps when attaching. Buttons where very foreign to me and probably spent more time than I should.

All in all, I was very proud of the outcome. I wish I knew a baby that fits 0-3 months to wear this.



My latest crafty feat! The Rainbow Pull Apart Cupcake Cake. My Girl Scouts End of the Year Party was today, and 7 of our girls were bridging. A rainbow is a symbol for a Girl Scout bridging and what better way than cupcakes shaped into a rainbow and frosted.

My advice for next time or anyone attempting to do this (it really is easy):

Less than 1/4C per: I went with what I typically pour into a wrapper, 1/4C, this definitely proved to be too much. It is extremely important that the cupcakes are level to the wrapper AFTER baking so the assembly is more asymmetrical. I had several bits of frosting cave in because there was nothing to frost.

Smaller piping tip: I usually decorate cupcakes with the largest flower tip that I have. I didn't take into consideration that several colors would be decorating each cupcake, which meant lots of frosting. I should have went with a smaller tip for a more even frosting to color spread. Some of those cupcakes had no cake at all it was so doused in frosting.


As of now, I am working on another sweater and watching lots of Netflix (All of the DCU shows have their new seasons).

For now, enjoy the new logo of mine! I am looking into a new layout, but for now, this one works!

Also, if you are playing Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, Add me! 3619 3012 9294

To no surprise, I have never really been to a baby shower outside of family (it's tough for gamers to travel to a friend's for every occasion).  The one non-family baby shower I did go to, I was at the very beginning of my knitting endeavors and was considered my first real project outside of the Harry Potter Year One scarves I was a very determined girl to learn to knit (thank you Charmed Knits).  I attempted the same blanket, twice!  I didn't understand the concept of color coordination, changes, or the craziness behind yarn overs and k2tog.  I still have that 1/3 finished blanket sitting in a project bag.