Praise the Lord for our freedoms,
and God bless those who have lost the ones they love in defense of them.

So, I hope you all had a nice Memorial Day.
I did. It was lazy. My family watched the Land of the Lost marathon on TBS.
Then we went and chilled at Mema and Pepa's house for a while. I finished reading Bachelors Anonymous by P.G. Wodehouse. It was hilarious. The humor in it was fantastically sharp and random.

Today I shall take the Little People to Six Flags. Little People = Abby (12), Emmie (9), and Ben (6).
It shall be fun!

I finished the green vest thing. I sewed some buttons on it, and then didn't like the way they looked. So I gave in. I got my favoritest buttons and sacrificed them for the vest. It's beautiful now.

And I made a sale today! Huzzah!

I have nothing else to say. :)
Happy Tuesday.
CaitiJo

Becoming

This afternoon was spent tidying my room, having random, sporadic conversation with friends, and making chicken pot pie. Pleasant occupations, if you ask me. I decided to wash the sinkful of dirty dishes I had created, and as I began to scrub chicken and flour off various utensils, a contemplative mood came upon me. Weird, eh? Washing dishes does that to me sometimes.

Somewhere between recalling a conversation about how fast time flies and assessing my own personality, I remembered a statement I read somewhere. By the time you finish high school you will have become the person you will be for the rest of your life. Or something like that, anyways. I suppose it means that your personality, likes, and dislikes are pretty much cemented. Character flaws apparent, strong points developed. Maybe the fundamentals of who you are have been laid, but that can't mean you'll be at 80 the same person you were at 18.

But that got me thinking. I'm 19 - have I become the person I want to be for the rest of my life?
The answer was yes and no.

Ever since I was able, I've liked myself. Which sounds rather vain, doesn't it? People who acted like someone they weren't never made sense to me. Why would you want to go through the trouble of being someone other than yourself?!
(When I was about 14 and realized I wasn't "cool," it made a little more sense. I recall wishing I was a different person then.)

I like who I am now, but I don't want to stay the same. Of course, I doubt staying the same would be possible. People are bound to learn and change as time passes, for better or worse. But I don't want to just be shaped by what happens to me. I want to be the person climbing the escalator even it as it takes me forward (metaphorically speaking. ;-) I usally like to stand still on real escalators and watch the people go by).

It doesn't make a lot of sense to say that I'm happy with who I am, but I don't want to stay that way. I guess what I mean is that there can always be a better me. Being me is good. I want to always be the Caitlin we know and love, but working to be the best version possible. I don't expect to ever get there. Not on earth, anyways. Til I die, there will always be more to learn, and perfection being impossible, always some flaw to overcome.

Sometimes I think I could have made a little more progress by now, but I know I'm on the right path. Sometimes I like where I am and want to stop and dawdle for a while. Usually when that happens, I somehow manage to slip backwards a step or two before I realize I need to keep going. Sometimes I want to run, but I just can't become as good as I want to be as fast as I would like. (Sometimes I like using metaphors and then think they sound stupid. However, I don't feel like deleting this paragraph!) Sometimes I just want to sit down and cry because being good can get so darn hard. And sometimes I do. Then I get angry at myself. And then my Perfect Father reminds me that I can't do anything by myself, and if I would just look, I'd see that all my progress was because He was with me, not because I'm just that awesome.



And now I have that Switchfoot song stuck in my head.

This is your life, and today is all you've got now.
This is your life, and today is all you'll ever have.

This is your life
- are you who you want to be?

Crochet Foray

New things have been on the crochet horizon lately. On my quest to venture into making different sorts of wearables hence unexplored, I heard of a magical land called Ravelry and requested an invitation. (You have to have a code to get in) It's this cool community of knitters and crocheters, full of patterns and projects and tips and tricks. Yay! So, I found this neat free pattern for a cropped cardigan type thingy. The pattern calls it a capelet. Actually, the pattern is the crocheted version of a knit pattern inspired by a capelet somebody saw in Anthropologie. That was a tongueful. Or it would have been if I had said it.

Anyways, like I said, I found this pattern and decided to give it a whirl. I had the yarn lying about just waiting for this type of project, and everyone said that it worked up really fast. Fast projects are the only kind in my world.

True enough, a couple of hours and a skein and a half later, I had this lovely little blue ... thing. I don't think capelet is an appropriate term, and "cropped cardigan" sounds snobby. Bolero? Shrug? Whatever.After such success, I decided to try again with some Caitlinesque modifications. Some lovely green yarn I found on sale was also waiting for just such a project. Such was also the case with a pair of black vintage buttons - they're reserved until I find just the right project that deserves them. And this was going to be the one. With something more vest-like in mind, I set to work.

Exactly two skeins, a couple hours, and an episode of Good Eats later, I had this:

After taking this picture, I realized you could probably see it better against a not-so-similar shade. You might not can see them, but I safety-pinned the Favorite Buttons on. I'm very pleased with my result, but a little sad because it seems to be too small. Of course, it's supposed to be small-ish, but... yeah. I think I'm going to have to sell it or give it to somebody. And the buttons go PERFECTLY with it. Just like I'd envisioned. Problem: I want those buttons. Nobody else can have them. So if I can't keep this vest, the vest can't keep the buttons.And there you have it.
Should I make more for my etsy?

P.S. I put a poll on my sidebar. Take it! Take it!

I'm a Believer

Sightings of the Loch Ness Monster:

Nessie's fo' real, yo.

Favoritism

Hello! Happy Saturday.
I would like to take this moment to share with you some of my favorite items on Etsy.
Seeing as how I felt like blogging, and haven't done this in a while, it seemed like a good idea.
So, I opened up my page of favorite items, and picked a few to show you today.

Firstly, here are these great little heart earrings by Novadesigns. I am not going to hyperlink any of the text, because all of the pictures are hyperlinked and will take you directly to that item in the seller's shop.

Here's the lovely "Candy Girl" hat from BKMHattitude. (what a great name...) It's not there anymore. It sold. But I love it so much, I had to show ya.

These twig pins by4TheSparrowsNest are so lovely.
I want them.
They would make me feel like a woodland fairy or something... lol

And I'm not a huge fan of sparkly necklaces, but I think I'm in love with this one.
And I just gott a shirt it would go so well with...
from SoVeryCharming.

And I HAD to include something from PamperingBeki! Her shop is fantastically vibrant and fun.
So is she. I follow her blog religiously. She said she wants to adopt me. What's not to love?

I added this to my favorites because it makes me think of certain friends of mine.
The lovely artist over at sticknymph originally designed it as a wedding announcement for her friends.


And if you've known me very long, you probably know I'm a sucker for stuffed animals
- mostly bears.
I have 13 of them.
There are so many cute animas at ptitebaloue!
This little polar bear is all natural and all handmade.
And his name is Leo. How impressive.

And, one of my new favorites are these lovely little silk poppies. They're cropping up everywhere on Etsy. These pins brought to you courtsey of foundling.


And so, now I think it is time for me to be off. Me creative genius eludes me. I'm still trying to find it. I have made a few things, but they didn't feel creatively brilliant like they should have.
I don't even know what I'm saying.
lol

Happy Weekend, everybody!
CaitiJo

I'm still busy!

While absence of blog updates may lead you to the conclusion that I've not been up to much,
let me assure you that the truth is quite the opposite. I may not have been blogging, but I have certainly been busy. One thing with which I've been occupied is crocheting, of course.
Let me show ya:

Khaki and Brown Cabby.

Earthy Hippie Hat.

Blue V-Stitch Beret.

Happy Woolen Bird Friend.

These last two I conjured up last night. Blue hat was created while I was watching Kronk's New Groove, and Birdy during Pirate of the Caribbean.
All freehanded, as usual - straight from my little noggin.
Yay!

Wait, well, I did use a pattern for the cabby, but I'm the one who wrote the pattern,
so it doesn't really count as using a pattern. :P

In other news, I went to Savannah and had a lovely time. I've decided that I would like to live there for a summer and ride my bike around everywhere, frequenting coffee shops and parks with books and such. How very picturesque it would be.
As if.
haha.

So, anyways... what's new with you?

Caitlin

P.S. SCHOOL'S ALMOST OVER!
I love my job, but I'm glad next week is the end. ;-)

Compelling Guilt

Wow, that's a serious sounding title.
But really, I just wanted to post because I feel guilty for letting a week pass without posting.
I guess some of you are waiting for vacation pictures - it always takes longer than it should to post pictures from a trip for me. Dunno why.
I'm sorry!
Okay, actually, not really.

The reason I'm not really sorry is this: I've been doing more reading. Reading is good! Reading is fun! I'm back on a reading kick! Yay!

I made a couple of etsy sales. I wouldn't say sales have picked up yet, but it was nice to sell a few things. My poor little head - I'm racking it for ideas for new things to make, but nothing brilliant is coming.

I'm going to Savannah with some of my favorite people this weekend! Isn't that cool?

Tuesday I was doling out crackers during snacktime when Jesse pointed to my necklace and said "Das pritty, Miss Caitlin. You got it at the beach?" I didn't know he even knew I went to the beach. I guess they talked about it while I was gone. I told him that was a good guess - I did get it at the beach! What a sweetie.Here's a picture of him.
I think I could use a nap.

Every day when I check for new comments (self absorbed maybe?), I try to think of something good to write about. Obviously my creativity fails me. So for now, this post to explain the unusual silence.

Happy Weekend!
Caitlin