Making for yourself

I'm not sure how many crafters out in the world actually take time to make things for themselves. I know I have trouble in this regard. I am aware of a couple other knitters/crocheters who, like myself never manage to finish anything for themselves.

So,  to counter this issue I've decided to challenge myself to make a three season sweater just for me. I am using Berroco Comfort Chunky yarn in a lovely butter yellow shade. 

The sweater itself is a simple affair created by crocheting one piece of fabric. Using FDC (foundation double crochet), I created a first row that was the width of my chest plus about eight-ten inches more on either side to create a poncho effect. As of right now, I am working on creating a simple boat neck opening for my head.

I do not have a written pattern; however, I am enjoying the experience of designing as I go along. It has helped me hone some skills,  and develop new ones.

As I progress on this personal challenge, I will continue to give you updates. In return, I challenge you to make something for yourself! 

Working on stock

This week I am working on my stock for my upcoming Etsy store- originally going to be named The Purple Giraffe, but know known simply as S St John Designs.  

Today I made baby booties:

I have made several pairs over the last week or so, but this is the only pair that have been completely finished.  The others need some finishing- ribbons and so forth before they will be done.

Find me on Ravelry!

I thought I'd share a recent pattern.


I needed something to keep my neck warm at hockey games so I created the Garden Glen Cowl.

Yup! This is me!

This pattern holds two strands of yarn together throughout creating a thick dense fabric that is incredibly warm. If you prefer a lighter weight cowl, use a smaller needle and one strand of yarn. It is long enough to pull up over your mouth and nose and still keep your neck and throat warm. It is a fast pattern: I finished it in about three hours. The pattern itself works up in a spiral, building on the stitches in the previous row. There is no need to keep track of the first and last stitch, just continue knitting the pattern until it reaches the specified length, or the length you would prefer.

It is long enough for me to pull up over my nose and throat, but, as you can see in the picture, slouches down nicely.






It features a seamless style with a fun diagonal ribbing.

This cowl can be adapted to fit any size. If you would like a larger cowl, cast on more stitches. If you would prefer a smaller cowl, cast on fewer stitches. Just be sure you are using an odd number of stitches. Want it to fit up over your head? Keep knitting until the length is 20 inches, or as long as needed to suit your preferences. Add stripes, work the purls in a contrasting color, or add embellishments. Whatever you decide to do, wear it and be warm.

Who the hell am I?

A part of being a good writer is the ability to move outside oneself and see oneself as others do. There are days when I ask myself: Do they even know who I really am? Or do they see me as someone that I'm not?  Have they bothered to try to get past the first layer of my personality, or are they under a misapprehension that what they see is what they get?

These questions lead me to ask myself: Who the hell am I anyway? Who am I under all of the innocence, love, giggles and happy happy joy joy? Am I really a nice person, or am I a bitch in disguise?  Maybe I am somewhere in between. Under all the sweetness and light there is a darkness: a cold, cruel, and sadistic side of me that most people don't see, or don't want to see, or see, but don't want to admit is really there. 

I only look sweet and innocent.


I enjoy making people uncomfortable. Watching people squirm is satisfying for me in a way. 



Avenue Q labeled this schadenfreude

There is a Japanese term for this, called yanderi (spelling?).

The Purple Giraffe

Years ago I posted my last post here... I don't know why I stopped; maybe I had run out of things to say at that time.

Since then, many interesting and exciting things have happened:

1) I saved up enough money to move out of my parents house- after being forced to move home by my sudden illness (see: Just Another Day). 

2) I started dating a new guy.

3) I have decided to start a small business on Etsy.

The story:

At the beginning I had a roommate. It started off great, but ended badly. The problems were, in my mind, caused more by her and her eventual boyfriend (who creeped me out from the first moment we met, and eventually moved in with us. I agreed to it; I wanted her to be happy.), her lack of adequate house keeping skills, and her poor money management. When someone who was making $65,000 a year asks someone who makes $10,000 a year (I receive a small monthly stipend) for money for bills and/or gas, you know they have poor money management skills.

The first month was good: we got along like a house on fire. A month later the issues began: fruit flies and dirty dishes. She would not do any dishes. I would go away for a trip with family or friends, making sure that most if not all of the dishes were clean, and come home to a pile of food covered dishes hosting a flock of fruit flies. There would be pans of cooked, but half eaten food on the stove, and half drunk bottles of beer (full of flies) scattered through the whole apartment. The landlords were not happy with us, but knew that I was doing what I could from my end. We had words, and she began to get better about it, for about a month... Then her boyfriend moved in (despite the fact that he creeped me out) and things got better for a time. He cleaned up after her. There was peace, for a time.

Then her boyfriend and I began to butt heads. He has a foul sense of humor and would make remarks about rape, incest, and so forth and laugh about them. He would also talk about intensely biological sexual acts at the dinner table. He would bad-mouth our friends and/or ask them inappropriate questions. I fought back- there is a time and a place for some things, and other things should not be joked about.

Things became tense- I was holding on to my sanity by a string and began to vent to close friends who also disliked him.

Then, I exacerbated the situation by starting to date her ex-boyfriend (they had been broken up for over a year, and she was in a happy relationship). She was unhappy about this turn of events.  I made things worse by inviting him over. We sat in my room with the door mostly closed and watched TV. You would think the world had come to an end. She ranted about it on Facebook and began spouting nonsense that he was dangerous and she was afraid of him (despite the fact that she and he- I'll call him Metal Dan- would be at the same parties and they would have congenial conversations during the year after their break-up).  I had known Metal Dan longer than I had known my roommate, and knew that he was not dangerous- as did most of the people who commented on her post (She is now known as Dingbat- Ding for short, and her boyfriend is Dong). 

Soon after that my closest friend, Matt, came to visit.  Dong came into the living room where Matt and I were chilling and attempted to pick a fight, and instead left after badmouthing me. Matt refused to visit me at my apartment after that.  A week later, my friend (and ex-boyfriend- we are great friends, he is like a little brother to me now) Peter came to visit for dinner. Ding and Dong came home in the midst of a tasty pasta dinner. After Pete left, Ding informed me that having Pete over was a clear violation of the boundaries (I'm still not sure what these unspoken boundaries were) and he was henceforth banned from the apartment.

During the last three months they lived in the apartment with me, they isolated me completely from many of my friends, forced me to hide in my bedroom with my room shut- if I didn't hide, I was subjected to snide and nasty comments from Dong. I am sure Dong was trying to wage psychological warfare on me; he didn't win. They have been exiled, by their choice, to the lovely state of RI, and are no longer welcome or invited to events.

My world is a better place. I am happier, healthier, and can live life to the fullest (or to the extent that my budget allows). Oh, and things are going great with Metal Dan now that the "apartment war" is over.

Just recently, say two months ago, I have begun to knit and crochet in earnest with the goal of starting an online Etsy shop to make a bit of money to supplement my current meager income. The shop shall be called: The Purple Giraffe. This is the name of a former business that my mother had owned for several years.  The idea is to create, cute, unusual, yet useful, items for babies, children, the home, and so forth.  A kitchen sink of products all hand made by me.  I hope you will come and visit it when it is up and running.

Past unpublished posts #1

1.15.12

Last Christmas, for one of my gifts, I received an Asian Brush Paining class and all of the materials.  For eight weeks I learned all of the basic techniques and strokes needed to create simple paintings.  I truly enjoyed those eight weeks. So this year, I decided to give myself the same class.  My class begins on February 1, 2012. My plan is to write about each of my eight classes and share some of the successes and failures that I encounter along the way.

On a positive note, before I had even begun my class, I had posted some of my paintings on Facebook. My instructor, Sharon, saw my paintings on Facebook and asked if I would like to exhibit all or any of them during the Silk Road Art Guild's first art exhibit.  I was and am thrilled and prepared a few of my paintings for exhibit. So, for the month of February, three of my simple, novice paintings will be exhibited amongst the paintings of more professional and experienced painters.

Past unpublished post #2

2.4.12

those darn bamboo leaves

so difficult to paint them

will I ever learn

This week, we learned, or relearned, or perfected the techniques for painting bamboo. 

To start the class, Sharon brought us into the museum to view the Ron Rosenstock exhibit.  Mr. Rosenstock is a photographer who captures amazing images with his camera.  Most of his images capture nature in its most wild, serene, exotic or melancholy.  One image that comes to mind is of a house shrouded in fog. In front of it stands a horse, grazing. There is something about it that makes me feel sad. I could not locate the photo I am referring to online, but below is another example. This image makes me feel peaceful and whimsical. I find myself looking and searching the photo for tiny fairies. 

For more about Ron Rosenstock, and his glorious photography, check out this site. 

After we toured the Rosenstock exhibit, we came back to our class room and proceeded in painting our bamboo, or another Rosenstock inspired subject of our choice. 

I decided, despite the urge to try to paint a landscape full of fog and filtering light, to stick to bamboo.  I knew that I still needed some work on my leaves.  Sharon was more than willing to assist me in that capacity.  She instructed me on the technique and urged me to try it. She was kind in correcting my errors and told me to practice painting leaves over and over again. I must have filled five pages of paper with nothing but leaves. By the end, my leaves were beginning to look more uniform and bamboo leaf shaped.  

At the end of the class we shared what we felt was our best efforts with the rest of the class. Looking at my fellow painters, I realized that I had a long way to go. But I felt that I was making some progress.  My bamboo leaves were looking less like chicken feet and more like leaves. I vowed to myself to practice the leaves some more over the week to come.

Past unpublished post #3

2.15.12

 lovely grass orchid

strong leaves delicate flower

pretty in color

This week we learned, or were reminded, about how to paint a grass orchid. The grass or spring orchid is my favorite subject to paint.

Sharon started the class, as is her way, by reading a haiku about winter to set the mood. She then began to teach the new students the basics of creating bamboo leaves. I had shown up earlier before class to practice my bamboo leaves.  I am still working on removing the chicken feet from the leaves, so I watched her demonstrate, yet again. Seeing that I had improved the shape of the leaves, Sharon lent me a painting of hers and recommended that I copy it for practice. The painting showed the placement of leaves, and included numbers showing which leaf to paint at what time.  It was very helpful. I practiced with bamboo for about a half hour and by copying hers, was able to make some improvement in my bamboo. I have included some before and after photos below.

Before:

After:

After I had worked on the bamboo for a while, I decided to change over to my favorite subject: the spring orchid.  I painted several of these, each time trying to vary my grass and the size of the flower. Soon after I began working on my spring orchids, Sharon asked the class if anyone wanted to learn how to paint with colors. I raised my hand excitedly, and exclaimed, "I want to learn how to have fun with color!"  I realized after I said it that I sounded like a high school student, but I was so excited that I could not contain myself. =)

Sharon demonstrated how to put several colors on to the brush at one time, and how doing so automatically layers the colors onto the paper. As the paints dry, the variations in colors emerge and provide depth, energy and drama to the subject.

I took this newly learned knowledge back to my work area and proceeded to try it out on both bamboo, (see the results above) and spring orchid. See below:

We ended class by sharing our favorite piece. I chose the above subject.  I like the shape of the petals and the colors of the leaves.  In looking at the other student's paintings, I realized that I needed to work on my grass to create variation in the strokes. Doing so would make it look like the grass is twisted or we are looking at it from the side and the leaves are not all facing the same way.