Eco-friendly considerations and the surreality of job hunting

I'M BACK!

And I'm employed!

Sorry it had been a while (A long, LONG while). I have a passable excuse, namely job hunting which eventually led to job...attaining? I am scheduled to start at a real live four-year-degree-requiring job on the 12th of July. Getting the call was definitely something like a sequence out of my daydreams where I land the job I want, but I act all cool and collected and begin expertly negotiating the terms of my employment. That all happened for reals! After ending the call I shrieked so loud my husband's grandparents heard it over the phone from the next room over ^-^; After the seemingly endless resume sending and interviews I can finally rest my head for a little while...and get back to crochet!

I kind of sort of abandoned the project I mentioned in my last post to focus on job hunting, although it is still in the back of my mind. I may resume it with modifications and hope to post pictures of the projects I have managed to complete in between interviews. I just have to remember to take the pictures during the day when the light is still good!

To congratulate myself for the job offer I went out to buy some yarn (which can be a REALLY bad habit- all of a sudden everything becomes an occasion for celebration). I decided to try out a little skein of pink purple, and white cotton yarn since my experience with that particular fabric was nil. And I absolutely LOVE it. The way it feels, the visibility of the stitches, and the fact it is not as processed as acrylic (this was not labeled as "eco-friendly" but from what I have read non-organic cotton yarn is still less cringe-worthy than acrylic in terms of production).

So what I expected to be a brief fling has turned into a full-blown love affair with cotton yarn. This has me pondering other alternatives to acrylic, including recycled silk (which I actually have a bag of somewhere in my apartment) and bamboo (which is woefully expensive). I have an entire stash of acrylic yarn which I will still use, but I will have to consider the facts and options very carefully before I replenish it next. I love being able to find affordable yarn, but if the amigurumi and skirts I make are helping screw up the environment what is the point?!

If anyone has suggestions/recommendations I am all ears!

Pokemon!

I finished up the Oddish for my friend today, much to the grief of my left hand.



The **pattern** is compliments of the amazing WolfDreamer, who has many awesome Pokemon and Nintendo related patterns available on her site.

Also, as promised, I have a slightly better photograph of the Totoro amigurumi I finished a few days ago.



I currently have plans for another project, which will be kept secret for now. The only hints I can give are "anime", "pirates", and "avatar". You think I would get back to working up some pandas, but the design is still undergoing modifications!

Psuedo Update

In lieu of substantial content I instead present to you this picture of a Totoro amigurumi that I completed last night:



The ears are different sizes and I did not stuff any of it all the way and the picture stinks, but I still think it is cute. The pattern is totally not mine at all and is found **here**.

I have an Oddish amigurumi commission to finish up tonight, and then I will be back with better pics and more yarny goodies!

Graduation Zombie

Wow, I have not posted in a loooooong time!

I have been dealing with final projects and papers and other school insanity for the last two weeks. Now begins the mad rush towards graduation which means fielding relatives and arranging places to eat and hoping to God flights arrive on time and AAAAAAAAH!

Once this is all over I will lay comatose for a few days. Then I will focus on crocheting and applying for jobs.

Well, kinda. I did not think that I would have a job after graduation, but the lovely ladies at the preschool I conducted my work study at petitioned the director to hire me as an actual employee until I find a "job job." I was touched, especially considering that it made the thank-you card and cake they bought for my last day a but premature ^_^

So once this is all over I will lay comatose for a few days before returning to work at the preschool then crochet and apply to jobs in my free time.

I am also rethinking this business of selling amigurumi online. I am always super psyched when someone asks me to do a commission, because I love the thought of someone else enjoying my work, and just having it out there in the world waiting to be animated as evil minions constructed solely to do my bidding.

But mainly I get happy about people liking my work. Mainly...

I am just dubious about certain aspects of online commerce. There is the issue of venue. Depending on who you ask Etsy is THE place to sell anything and everything handmade, or it can be the devil. Then there is Artfire, which is supposed to have excellent customer service but affords no where near the levels of exposure that Etsy does (providing you are willing to spend the money to re-list things). Maybe I am just feeling this way because I am tired in general and everything has been looking hazy to me. I will have to decide on this after doing the comatose thing.

Etsy Dreams...or Artfire Dreams...or...?

I completed the panda bear amigurumi commissions!



My husband selected the colors for the orange and blue panda amigurumi. I was unsure how a little girl would react to such a pairing, but he is insistent that it looks good. ^_^;

Now that I have this out of the way and have enough copies of my resume circulating in the world, I figure I can get to work on crafting some Saffron Pandas for my Etsy shop! Or Artfire shop...or whatever I start up here in a few weeks...

The Joys of Unexpected Commissions

The other day I brought Onigiri to a game of Risk and a friend thought so much of it, he asked me to make two panda bear amigurumis for his "kinda-sorta nieces". My first ever commission! He left the color choice up to me, the only information given is that they are 4 and 6 years old. I suppose I could go the girly girl route and stick to pinks, purples, and oranges, but the thought of feeding the stereotype makes me itch. I am kicking a few color combos around but am not decided as of yet. Any suggestions?

I am doubly glad for the commissions because they give me something to focus on besides job hunting. Graduation is in three weeks and I am about to break into hives due to employment anxiety! First there's the pressure to get a job that pays decent money, then the pressure to get a job in your field (communications, or journalism, in my case). Then there is the anxiety that you may not get a response from anyone at all! I do have two interviews this coming week. One job I already know I will not accept. It is in radio, which is "cool" (though not really, my husband worked in radio and it was thankless). But it is a sales position, which is double-plus bad. The other position is with a public relations firm and may not pay very much, but the fact I am called in for an interview at all is a confidence boost.

With all the job hunt pressure I have been escaping by fantasizing about going into business for myself, selling panda bear amigurumi and a clothing line I have been designing in my head for the last few weeks. Who knows? Maybe I'll go off the deep end and really take a crack at it ^_^

Safety eyes revisited

Just when I had nearly convinced myself that eyeless pandas aren't THAT terrifying, I produce this:



This is Onigiri! Named after the ever popular Japanese rice balls, Onigiri sports snowy white "fur" representing rice and "dried seaweed green" markings. The color change on the body isn't perfect, but I have found a pretty decent tutorial to troubleshoot that (why didn't I refer to a tutorial before completing Onigiri, you ask? Well...I don't know...).

I am left to ponder if I like eyes so much better than no eyes:



Yeah, it is kinda cute. I am not hardcore enough for eyeless amigurumi -_-