After a short and bloodless battle, I admit defeat

I like to think of myself as an optimistic person, someone who believes in the power of an individual with a mission. My mission was to spread handmade goodness to the masses, starting with my niece and nephew. Alas, after crocheting my little hands off yesterday, I ended up with only 3 finished play food cookies. 3. Now, that's pretty admirable, considering that they are completely finished, ends woven in and everything; but there's still only 3. Had I thought about making play food last week, I probably could have finished in time. Yet, I have a plan.

That's right! I have lost this battle, but I have not lost the war!! I'm going to work on a complete play food set for Christmas! *cue inspirational music, preferably something with a snare drum and a fife and/or trumpet* It will be the single most gloriously adorable present in my family's history, possibly in all of human history. Do you hear me, crochet gods? *shakes fist* IN HISTORY! As long as I can hold yarn in my hand, there will be joy in this world. Small, fake pieces of play joy shaped like food.

With this, faithful readers, I leave you to dream optimistic dreams involving an overestimation of your abilities and no concept of time. Godspeed, dear friends. Godspeed.

Unreasonably cute

My sister's twins will be turning 3 in 8 days, which means it's crunch time for crafty presents. I have been desperate for an excuse to make play food, so I decided to take the amigurumi bull by the horns and crochet some! I found insanely cute patterns on Etsy.com from several sellers, and ended up buying:

Classic Cookies and Classic Muffins patterns from CandyPopCreations
Veggie tray and Breakfast patterns from NeedleNoodles
Beaut Fruit and Cute Fruit patterns from Crochet Roo

I made a test cookie (chocolate chip, of course) last night, and it's ADORABLE!!! It's just the right size for little hands, and I know they'll love them. Today's task is to make some sugar cookies. I figure if I can make a dozen cookies fairly quickly, I'll move on to the breakfast pattern. There's no way I can finish all these in time to ship them, but I asked my sister to prioritize them for me, so I'm aiming to finish cookies & breakfast. After that, I think I'll go for the veggie platter (It even has a bowl of dip!!!)

I can't stand the cuteness. I have to go.

Get more fiber!

Essentially a Super Facebook for knitters, crocheters, spinners, and dyers, Ravelry.com is quickly becoming a tour de force in the online craft world. This site has everything, including places to keep track of your yarn stash, your pattern library, and your needle/hook collection! The search features on the site are incredible, too; you can search for a yarn and see what projects other ravelers have made with it, or you can search for a pattern and see pictures, reviews, and yarn substitutions from other users.

If you are into fibercraft, you need to go sign up. The site is not totally public yet, but they are inviting several hundred people a day to join, so go get on that waitinglist!