Another Bout of Craftiness

Okay, I am terrible at this whole blogging consistently thing. I have actually been meaning to make this post for a while now, but I kept finding things I wanted to add. But it is finally here! I have finished all of the projects I was working on and they are ready to be shared.

Whenever I want to do a craft project it turns out being cross stitch. A few years ago I decided I wanted to try something new and I discovered I loved cross stitch. I had tried it when I was little, but my attention span was not nearly large enough to complete an entire counted cross stitch picture--I still have the one I started all those years ago. Now I am more focused and able to complete multiple pictures, given some time.

I am currently working on a large counted cross stitch, which is taking me much longer than it should to complete. I am easily distracted and I do not work on it as much as I should. But when I do finish it  I am sure it will look amazing. It is a picture of a wizard fighting a dragon.

I like to work on smaller cross stitch projects that I am able to finish in a reasonable amount of time. I do not really know how to go about making my own patterns so I turned to the internet. I searched online for fun patterns and I have actually found so pretty nice websites. The first thing I found was a lovely blog called Dork Stitch. I discovered it when I was looking for some sailor moon patterns to make something for a friend of mine (which I finished a while ago and do not have a picture of). I found many adorable patterns there, and it also led to me making this:

 It is a small hand towel. I am quite fond of the Avengers so it seemed necessary to make something with them on it. I was very happy to find that she had posted patterns of them on Dork Stitch.

And after the Avengers towel, this happened:

 Key-chains! This is the first time I have ever made key-chains so they did not work out as well as I had hoped. Today, only one of these three is still attached to the ring. Sadly, I have been told that Sherlock is lost. He fell off into the unknown. Hopefully someone has found him and is enjoying a small cross stitched Sherlock Holmes. The other is still around, but in need of mending.

These two cross stitch projects actually came after another one. This first was from some patterns I found at The Leaky Cauldron. This website is a lot of fun and has many patterns that I have yet to try. This is what I made:

These are fun little coasters. I know it is not a complete set. I made these for a friend to complete her set. She already had Gryffindor and I told her that I would make her the other three. I altered the colors on Ravenclaw some. I did not like how the colors were on the pattern and I liked how it turned out. The cross stitch part of this was enjoyable, but making them into coasters was not the most fun and it is something that I will not do very often. 

And that is all of the projects I have to show for now. I will give an update if I ever make more progress on that wizard and dragon. And maybe someday, I will start designing my own cross stitch patterns. That may be a long time from now. I need more practice! 

Jumping Out of My Comfort Zone

Well first off, happy St. Patrick's Day. One of my favorite days of the year. 

Lately I have been feeling more adventurous than usual. I am doing stuff that is out of my comfort zone, which is a good thing, but it doesn't always lead to good experiences. 

My latest adventure was a date. Now I am sure that to most people a date is not an exciting new adventure. But I don't go on dates. I am not a very social person, so it is surprising to say that I did most of the talking on this date. 

So this date: it started with dinner (and I met this guy online so this was our first in person meeting) and he was awkward. I think at one point he said he was shy or something, I don't even know. He didn't know what to say to me when I met him at the restaurant (he got there before me and already had a table). I am actually surprised at how much talking I did the whole night. 

Back to dinner. 

It was nice. The conversation kept going and there were only a few moments of awkward silences. So I do not have much to compare this to, but he started at me a lot. Just looking while we were eating or walking around after we left the restaurant. I thought it was strange and really it made me feel uncomfortable. This date stretched out for a good three hours. 

I talked to a friend of mine before me and she made sure to tell me to never get into a car with a guy on the first date. Seems like common sense when it is said out loud, but I am a blindly trusting person. I never think the worst of people so honestly it wouldn't have crossed my mind that it was a bad idea until I was in the car with him. Luckily it did not come to that. She picked me up and that was when my date got to its peak of awkwardness.

We were standing outside the restaurant waiting for her to pick me up--and he was bummed that he was not going to get to take me home--I am so glad he didn't. While we were waiting he was staring at me, so much that he even commented that he kept staring at me. And I didn't really know what to say to that. Anyway, this whole time of waiting he was trying to get up the courage to kiss me. I knew it and I was avoiding it. Something I have noticed about myself lately is I can't stand still. I bounce around a lot (something else he commented on). And that probably made it more difficult to kiss me.  Well when she arrived in the parking lot he finally did kiss me. He was aiming for the lips, but I told him no. I was just not comfortable with that. And that was the end of our date. Not terribly exciting.

Over all, I am glad that I went on this date. It may not have ended well relationship wise, but I learned a few things about myself. It took me until last night to realize that I am perfectly happy with where my life is at the moment. I do not want or need to be in a relationship. I want to focus on my goals and living my life. I am content.

And this date led to a wonderful night with a friend. Sometimes all you need is to get drinks and talk with your best friend.