Of the New Obsessions

Well it's been awhile so I figure an entry on my latest obsessions is in order. Namely, my new found love of yarn-craft and makeup.

We all need creative outputs. I'm very excited to add crochet and makeup to my first creative expression, cooking. Over winter break, which was longer than usual this year (about 1 month), I had the time to really dig into crochet. I've dabbled in crochet in the past, but in high school there was literally no time for it. Last summer, however, I had a lot of time. So, faced with tons of time, I picked up Crocheting for Dummies. I found that I'd been crocheting all wrong! Using a basic pattern from the book I made a  scarf for my mom, which she's worn a lot this winter. I decided that I'd work on a blanket for my brother. At first I was going to do a simple, continuous granny square with colors that reminded me to the ocean. I talked my mom into taking me to a yarn shop (it was a little out of the way) and bought some awesome yarn. Before I started though, I thought that he'd like a Tetris Blanket instead. So instead of one really big granny square, I'm going to sort of quilt together smaller granny squares to make the Tetris blocks and possibly a black background. I've got a handful of squares, but it's going to take a while.

Also, last semester I made a new friend who knits and crochets. She also introduced my to Ravelry, an awesome resource for knitters and corcheters. We also found two LYS (local yarn store) that we've visited quiet a bit. It's really amazing. There's nothing quiet as satisfying as making something beautiful, soft, and practical. Over break I made myself a newsboy hat made of awesome baby alpaca wool. The yarn is so soft and the hat is wonderfully warm. The best part, though, is that I made it. I feel so industrious when I crochet.

I'll probably rave more about crochet later. Now on to makeup!

I never would've guessed that I'd ever be into makeup. I'm not very feminine and I'm not very stylish, so it never occurred to me to think about makeup. But after watching Lauren Luke on Youtube, I realized how creative a person could be with makeup. I wear a lot of black, grey, and dark blue, so makeup, particularly eye makeup, is a great way for me to add color to my general appearance. Despite the darker colors of my clothing, I really do love bright and vibrant colors but I can never seem to find clothes in colors I like in styles I like too.

So recently I've bought a bunch of makeup, probably more money than I should've spent. I'm going to do a vlog on all my makeup soon. I just got to do it when my roomies aren't around, don't want them to think I'm obsessed or anything...

I've found a lot of inspiration on the web lately. Between Ravelry, with all its members, and Youtube with its huge community, it's an amazing overload of creativity. I found another beauty girl on Youtube, Michelle Phan. Lauren Luke and Michelle Phan are, well, inspirations. They're not only creative artists but down-to-earth, successful entrepreneurs. They're able to take a passion and make it into a profession. How often does that happen these days? That's the true capitalist spirit and they give me hope that one day I'll be able to make my own living off something I love.

On another note I can't wait for Lauren's makeup brushes to come out! She said they'd be coming out in late January but they haven't yet.