Monthly Digest | August 2021

August 31, 2021August 26, 2021 bookishluna1 Comment

Hello and welcome to my monthly digest where I discuss the books I read and hauled, crafts and crocheting I completed as well as random life stuff I did or tried. I have to say my reading was really flying this month, I read so much and I am so happy my reading mojo is back in full swing. It really has been a struggle this year and I am not quite sure why and what changed.

Some of the books read this month, sock I was working on and a blanket I finished crocheting.

Reading

Read Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann
Read Evidence of the Affair by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Read The Last Negroes at Harvard: The Class of 1963 and the 18 Young Men Who Changed Harvard Forever by Kent Garrett and Jeanne Ellsworth
Read Dark Archives: A Librarian’s Investigation into the Science and History of Books Bound in Human Skin by Megan Rosenbloom
Read The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree by Shokoofeh Azar
Read Treasure by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Read Snowflakes by Ruth Ware
Read Women in Art: 50 Fearless Creatives Who Inspired the World by Rachel Ignotofsky
Read Assassin’s Quest by Robin Hobb
Read Tokyo Ueno Station by Miri Yū
Hauled Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy
Hauled Fresh by Margot Wood
Hauled The Book of Accidents by Chuck Wendig

Total TBR Count: 33, Last Month: 35

Crochet & Crafting

This month I tried something new, something I didn’t think I was going to be capable of. I knitted a sock! I have never knitted before, but I signed up for a sock class and I actually did it! I didn’t think it was possible, but I did it! I am really proud of myself because for me knitting is much harder than crocheting. I think I am going to continue to knit socks or little things along with my larger crochet projects because I have found they use different muscles in the arms and hands and it gives them a break while I still get to work on stuff.

I am almost done with my poncho, I am loving how it is coming out, but it is starting to annoy me. Four hundred stitches per row! I only have 6 or 7 rows left of the body and then the little sleeves. I also started and finished a blanket that I LOVED how it came out.

As for other crafting I didn’t do to much this month, learning how to knit took up too much of my brain power. I am thrilled with that I accomplished though! Organizationally, I bagged up all of my yarn and labeled them by project so they are protected from things that love to eat yarn. But, also great for when I want to start a new project everything is easily organized and I don’t need to dig through all my skeins.

Life

I tried making a London Fog Latte for the first time. I took a recipe from Gimme Some Oven. It is a really yummy latte, I have made it quite a few times since the first one and a great one to have instead of a cup of coffee. This month I focused on relaxing mornings and then productive days. I have done a lot of cleaning and getting rid of things I don’t use. I mainly focused on the storage bins under my bed, I ended up emptying an entire one. I also deep cleaned my office and got rid of about two bags of things and was able to donate one of the bags and the other was shredding since it was paperwork. It felt good to finally tackle those projects.

Sign Off 2020 — Thanks for Reading! Sincerely, Luna

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Let's Talk

Let’s Talk | My Favorite Etsy Shops

December 3, 2020December 2, 2020 bookishluna3 Comments

Hello and welcome to a post where I want to take a moment to shout out a few lovely etsy shops I just adore. I know this time a year many are looking for gifts for others and maybe pick themselves out something so I thought this would be the perfect time to do this. Also, at the time of writing this I am not affiliated with any of these shops.

ArkCreationInc, their bullet journal stickers are great quality and I have loved all of the ones I have ordered.

kbkilnart, has wonderful ceramic pieces. I have ordered multiple yarn bowls from them and I have loved each one. They have held up wonderfully and the colors they use are just great. Plus, they have great non-crocheting items as well.

ArtisanalAne, I have purchased multiple ereader covers for them. I love their funky patters and their quality.

TheHomebodySociety, I have purchased a bookplate stamp and a personalized postcrossing stamp from this company and the quality is amazing as well as their customer service.

daisyfarmcrafts, if you have seen a few of my crochet posts, you know I have mentioned them a few time they have free and paid crochet patterns that are clear and wonderfully written. I learned a lot from them over this past year.

What are a few of your etsy shops?

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Knitting, Crochet, Crafting, Art & More

Crochet Talk | September 2020

October 7, 2020October 4, 2020 bookishluna13 Comments

Hello and welcome to another little post about my most recent crochet adventures. This past month I started to work on some presents for the holiday season so I have been hard at work and may have already broken one of my hooks! But, I am so happy with how things are coming out and the progress I am making because before we know it, it will be time to give these items away! Any who, here are the ones I have been working on and completed this past month.

Easy Crochet Velvet Twist Headband by Daisy Farm Crafts, here you can find the Written Pattern and Video Pattern. So, this one was a spur of the moment project I was just going to make a scarf, but I came across this pattern and I have never worked with velvet yarn before so I wanted to give it a try. This was so simple and easy and it has the best little detail if you ask me. I might even make myself one when I am done with all my other crochet plans.

This was created by Grace Forthefrills, you can find the patter here for free, Easy Boho Placemats. I am making 2 sets of 6. I had to stop after two because I ran out of yarn, but thankfully as I write this I got a yarn delivery and I will be able to continue today or tomorrow. I am really loving how these are coming out and I am so glad to be working with cotton yarn again. I really love it more than the synthetic ones, but sometimes those are best suited for the job.

This was created by Daisy Farm Crafts, here you can find the written pattern: Crochet Velvet Infinity Scarf. This is the scarf I am pairing with the headband pictured above. Originally aI was going to do this pattern in wool, but I had enough of the velvet yarn to make it a matching set instead of just complimentary colors. While this yarn was the most soft I have ever worked with, be aware, it is so slippery! It was a really nice challenge and I felt myself actually getting better with crocheting after this project since I tried quite a few new things.

What have you be doing to pass the time as of late?

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Crochet Talk | April 2020

April 22, 2020April 11, 2020 bookishluna5 Comments

Crochet Talk

Hello and welcome to another post. This time around I am going to be sharing some of my more resent crochet projects. I don’t know about you, but I have a bit more time to work on my other hobbies with everything going on. I have done a few of these posts in the past, Crochet Talk | January 2020 and Crochet Projects | July 2019.

This first project I have totally completed is a baby blanket for a friend of mine having a baby in the summer, I thought since I had the time I would be proactive and finish it now. I am so thrilled how it came out, it is actually my first blanket with a border so I was a bit worried at first. This pattern was developed by Daisy Farm Crafts it is called Crochet Even Squares Baby Blanket, which you can find on their website. I really love their blanket patterns because they usually have a youtube video along with it to help. While I can get their patterns for free, I tend to buy them off their Etsy site to be ad free and support them.

Now, this second one has been a project I have been working on for about a year, but I have not touched it in about 10 months or so? I can’t fully remember the last time I worked on it, but I decided to pick it back up again. This is also another pattern by Daisy Farm Crafts. This one is called Modern Double Crochet V-Stitch Blanket, I modified this one a bit and have chosen colors that match my own room since this blanket is just for me. That is the main reason this has gone on the back burner. Since picking it back up I have added about half a foot, so I am working at a good pace. I am hoping that past me has boughten enough yarn to finish this project, but time will tell.

What have you be doing to pass the time as of late? Sign Off 2020

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Knitting, Crochet, Crafting, Art & More

DIY | Enamil Pin Display

June 26, 2019November 3, 2020 bookishluna8 Comments

So, I recently realized I have a ton of enamel pins, but they are all sitting in the bottom of a drawer or in a cup of some sort. I love pins and have since I was young. I started my collection when I was in 3rd grade…. so it has been a LONG time. I personally really enjoy collecting them because they are small and compact since I don’t have a ton of space. But, at this point I hide them away. I would prefer to display them and have the ability to look at them.

The main reason I would love to look at them is because I only buy them when I am visiting a new place or on a special occasion. I would love to be able to walk into my space and look at the happy memories. So, I went to google and typed in “Enamel Pin Display” and found the following inspiration.

This turns out to be from the Etsy shop PinnyslugDesign. So, if this DIY does not workout for me, I will be buying them. But, I am hoping it does work out because I can actually say I have everything I need think I need to make these myself! How often does that actually happen?

Divider 2

Materials needed

Embroidery Hoop
Fabric
Exacto knife

Optional

super glue
needle
thread

Progression Images

Divider 2

I am so happy with how these come out. I ended up leaving the ends raw until I fill them up until I am satisfied. When I have all the pins I want on them I am going to sew the edges in with some embroidery floss that I have laying around as well as put some glue around the edges so they don’t shift to much when I sew them.

I love how simple and cute these are and how I can easily add different sized hoops as my collection grows. I also don’t have to worry about finding the exact same frame or whatever. Raw hoops are always around and don’t really ever change.