Valerean

To start off 2026 I finished the fifth and final project of 2025 for my day job almost exactly at midnight on New Year's Eve. I crocheted a big beautiful basket out of scrap variegated yarn to hold some thrifted skeins I want to work with in January. I crocheted a shelf liner basket out of thrifted bulky yarn to hold my blood glucose log and testing supplies. I completed my first big crochet project for 2026, this throw made from seven skeins of thrifted Mandala Ombre yarn in Serene, which really set the right tone for the year. Among other things during my annual spring cleaning I got my home office sorted, tidied up and reorganized. I discovered how many emotional support chickens I can crochet out of bulky and super bulky yarn in one night: three! I made a big beautiful crocheted basket out of variegated yarn in colors I'd likely never otherwise use plus some white to hold some yarn for Valentine's Day projects. Finally with one hour to sp...

My plan to have a no-spend year got off to a non-start when my health insurance premiums only increased $200.00 for January and February*. Hopefully that remains the case for the months that remain until I go on Medicare later in the year. Although I had no reason (yet) to curtail my spending, I still watched every penny, and did not spend as I usually do. Aside from the $418.23 I spent on food and medications, books for research for my day job (didn't think about that) pet supplies (ditto), and Sunpass funds for our car's transponder ($50.00 which was reimbursed by my guy), I spent $90.31 on yarn and fabric (I should note that half of that was paid in cash with money I'd saved from last Christmas.) Compare that ninety bucks to the nearly $2K I paid out in December for gifts, yarn bargains and other non-necessities, and I'd say I did a fair job in reducing my spending. What I discovered is that it's really difficult not to spend money. Even though by using c...

I'm currently watching the Chinese office romance drama series Shine on Me , which may teach you more than you ever wanted to know about the photovoltaics industry, and has possibly the slowest of slow-burn romances with a side of worrisome complications and major misunderstandings, but weirdly I didn't mind. It's nice to see Song Wei Long acting as a modern romantic male lead again versus all the historical and SF stuff he's been doing, as I think the former is where he shines best. Disclaimer: he's one of my favorite Chinese actors. Zhao Jin Mai plays one of the most realistic and grounded of rich-girl female leads I've seen in a while, and unlike most she's not super scrubbed clean or annoyingly wonderful. Both lead characters have emotional problems and (admittedly minor) character flaws, and the series isn't hesitant about showing that at all. I'm about two-thirds of the way through the 36 episodes, and I'll have more to talk ab...

While my guy and I were out wandering last week we stopped in the new Wildwood Antiques in Lakesquare Mall (which we also walked), and I used some of my leftover Christmas money to pick up a blind date with a book. I've been a little frustrated with myself over how slow I am at getting things finished this month, so I needed a little fun. I've bought several of these mystery bundles from the same seller and they're always good. I also like the little extras tucked in the packaging. This bundle was $8.00. Two Catherine Anderson novels! I do know of her (she got into the business about ten years before I did) but I've never had the chance to read her work. Now I will. :)

My spring cleaning is going so well I'm way ahead of schedule with that; last night I knocked out the sewing room in a few hours. I'm trying to keep myself restricted to having just one week of posts written and ready to publish for the blog, but I'm a day ahead of that as well. I think the new blog is helping me with my excessive need for online journaling. It's been fun coming up with posts just about crochet over there. A small yarn lot I thrifted came with 26 hanks of needlepoint yarn, and I don't own any at all, so I'll have to come up with an embroidery project or two for that. Another reason I'm so productive is the completely unexpected happiness that 2026 has brought me. I knew having our nephew living with us would be a delight, as the three of us get along perfectly, but it's turned out to be even better than I imagined. He's like a son to us, and such a good houseguest. My guy is so happy that he's here and they can wor...

I was cruising through my photo archives and wondered what I did during January over the past few years. In 2025 I also made a big beautiful basket out of scrap yarn -- obviously one of my favorite projects to crochet. In January 2024 I was working on an art quilted tote much like the one I'm making now for my calendar project, too. 2023 saw me repairing this Fabscrap sample sweater in January, which I later donated to the church thrift as I don't often wear sweaters. I have some trousers I thrifted that I'll probably alter this month, too. Finally in 2022 I took these two pieces from a cut-up crazy quilt and repaired them to make a pretty mat holder for my vintage brooches. I have another damaged crazy quilt piece that I want to use to cover some gift and storage boxes this month.s I often do the same projects over and over, I admit, which may seem boring. I am limited on the complexity of projects I take on; they usually involve making something usef...