Hi Friends!

I love my career choices, I really do, but having more than 5 ten page essays in Arial 12 is going to end my mental health, the good thing is that like three are in groups, still with all the work load and everything is quite slow, and more with all the information I need to make a good presentation.

Calling all chronic creatives - here's how to up your crochet game!

I'm an avid crocheter, but holding the hook for long periods of time became exhausting and painful. Being chronically ill, losing the ability to enjoy my hobbies was tough for me accept.

My husband took me to the craft store and we purchased a ergonomic crochet handle. This handle needed to fit my criteria;

able to hold a variety of hook sizes

hold up to high tension crochet projects (I do a lot of amigurumi crochet, which you need to complete with tight tension)

reduce my wrist/hand pain

reduce the amount of grip strength needed to hold the hook to avoid fatigue

This ergonomic crochet handle *seemed* to tick all these boxes. It was quite an expensive purchase and to be honest, I was disappointed in it in all aspects.

The purchased handle uses small rubber stoppers to hold the crochet hook in place, but as you are crocheting the hook works loose and spins around inside it. The handle itself was too small, making it painful to hold. I had to use a lot of grip strength to keep it in my hand, which is what I was trying to avoid by purchasing the darn thing. The little knobbly bit at the end really dug into my hand and hurt. It was so annoying to use and I gave up on it altogether after three days of using it (not to mention one of the rubber pieces broke apart within hours).

I expressed my disappointment to my husband, and he decided to come to my rescue! Over the course of a week, he designed me his own ergonomic crochet handle in a computer program called CAD. He then printed it out using his 3D printer. I can't even begin to tell you how much I love this new handle - its a game changer!

During the design process, he took into consideration all of my complaints about the disappointing handle and my criteria that I had listed. The handle he designed is bigger, so it uses less grip strength to hold it in place which also reduces my pain.

Instead of using rubber stoppers like the other handle, he designed a 'lock and key' system for keeping the crochet hooks in place and it works fabulously! The hook never moves and I'm really rough with my crochet hooks. It holds up to my high tension crochet projects and I have completed many amigurumi with it, even small, intricate items. Since it is designed with the lock and key system, my husband was easily able to print different keys to be able to hold multiple sizes. I've got keys ranging from 1.25mm all the way up to 6mm!

I can now crochet for hours on end and I swear my crochet skills have gotten so much better.

After expressing my delight at the crochet handle my husband designed for me, both him and I want others to be able to experience the freedom that I now have when crocheting. With chronic illnesses, its important for you to be able to continue with your passions as much as possible, so we have decided to make this crochet handle a sellable physical item for others to enjoy.

Here's the link to purchase one if you would like to give it a go!

Ko-fi

Ergonomic Crochet Hook - Lolliepop Crusader's Ko-fi Shop

A 3D printed ergonomic crochet handle with interchangable hook sizes. The design uses a 'lock and key' system for keeping the crochet hooks

Each crochet handle will come with the hook sizes;

1.25mm

2mm

3mm

4mm

4.25mm

5mm

6mm

If you want other hook sizes, send us a message and we can design one.

The cost of the handle and keys covers the cost of the 3D printing material, we are not making a profit off of this because we want as many people suffering from chronic illness to be able to enjoy crocheting again. We are happy to post internationally as we are based in New Zealand, send us a message before purchasing so that I can get you the cost of shipping.

I hope you will love this crochet handle and hook set as much as I have!

Hand painting

Finished another piece last night. For the portraits I was actually tracing over the base silhouettes, but with this one I drew it without tracing. It's so weird that it's easier to draw a hand - the scourge of all artists - than it is to draw a face, the thing I spend the most time drawing. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I still take the colours directly from the photo though.

Anyways here's the finished piece, with the reference below it.

So, I'm finishing studying for my final test, in which I need to know the different laws in history that protects the art of each country. Is interesting but intense, since I also need to know the different types of concepts and the history between those movements and why they did it.

Okay, so this week has been intense, in the worst sense, and it's only Tuesday. First of all on Sunday I had to stop working because I fucked up my wrist, I'm a butcher, and cutting/hitting the piece of meat wrong can lead to a sprained or broken wrist, lucky it is just sprained, and today I had to go to class because of some important assignments I had to show my teacher and I got a major panic attack, which ended in me in my towns hospital and some medication that made me drowsy, so I didn't go to class but I got some sleep I actually needed.

Probably the rest of the week is going to be better, but right now it has been like a loony toons episode.

WHAT'S GOING ON IN SPAIN AND HOW YOU CAN HELP even if you live in a different country

Please read!!

Since October 29, Spain has been going through one of the worst flash floods of this century. The Community of Valencia has been the most affected, but the cold drop also passed through the south-west and is moving now to the north-east.

So far, 211 bodies have been found, and more than 2000 people are still missing. Most fatalities are from Valencia, entire towns are ravaged and isolated as they don't have electricity and the roads have been destroyed. A lot of people has lost their home, more than 15k homes don't have eletricity and they are in need of food, water and hygienic products

The reason Valencia was the most affected is because, despite given a warning 5 days before from the AEMET (Spain's official meteorological agency) of the possible mass floodings due to the cold drop, and the same morning of the catastrophe, it's authorities didn't warn it's people. Valencia's government waited 12h after the last warning from the AEMET (and it's president even said it would subside 2h before the floodings) before declaring the red alert, at 8pm. By then, many people was already caught in the flood while going or coming back from work.

Although politicians must be accountable, our priority is to help those in need, most which have lost their house, belongings and means to live. Because of this, here are some fundraisers and non-profits you can donate to help both people and animals that have been affected (these are from the thread I've just posted, but I'll add more if I find them!):

Horta Sud is a county in Valencia that has been the most affected by the floodings. People are leaving their houses because they're scared of the infrastructure getting damaged and even walking by foot to Valencia capital to get food.

gofundme.com

Dona a DANA - Ayuda a las familias de la Horta Sud de Valencia, organizada por Horta Sud Comunidad Dana

FORMULARIO AFECTADOS DANA: https://forms.gle/sfJhps4ovWby5btL… Horta Sud Comunidad Dana necesita tu apoyo para DANA - Ayuda a las familias d

Letur (Albacete) is a town that has been destroyed by the floods. You can help rebuild it by donating to this gofundme that's directly coordinated with the town hall.

gofundme.com

Donate to Letur volverá a brillar con la ayuda de todos , organized by Esther Martinez Junyent

Necesitamos la ayuda de todos para los vecinos y el pueblo de L… Esther Martinez Junyent needs your support for Letur volverá a brillar con

Hambre Cero is a Spanish food bank non-profit that was founded after the earthquakes in Indonesia. They're currently active in Palestine and Lebanon but they'll also be giving food to those who need it in Spain.

El Refugio de María a dog shelter in Sueca (Valencia), is completely flooded, leaving the dogs visibly distressed and without a proper place to sleep. You can donate to their PayPal: maria.g.may@gmail.com

Protectora San Antón is a shelter for cats and dogs in Jerez de la Frontera. It's flooded and the animals don't have a comfortable place to sleep in. If you live in Spain you can bizum them @ 635011715 If not, PayPal protectorasananton@hotmail.com

Help Sara and her family rebuild their home in Valencia.

gofundme.com

Donate to Apoyo para nuestra familia tras la inundación de Valencia, organized by Sara Gonzalez de la Mora

(English text below) Somos Sara, Steven y Bruno. Hace ape… Sara Gonzalez de la Mora needs your support for Apoyo para nuestra familia tr

Refugio Minipow was home to 50 rabbits and guinea pigs. Thankfully, the owners were able to move all the animals to their homes and those of their neighbors, though the shelter itself has been destroyed right after recent renovations. They accept help through PayPal, Bizum or a transference to their bank account.

refugiominipow.blogspot.com

DONACIONES MONETARIAS

Las donaciones monetarias son aportaciones muy importantes para nuestra labor,ya que con ellas nos aseguramos un resguardo para casos gr

Una copa por Valencia ("a drink to Valencia") is a campaign organized by Spanish influencer David Aliagas. The idea behind it is to donate the amount of money you would spend on drinks on a night out. He'll be joining effort with local non-profits.

gofundme.com

Donate to UNA COPA POR VALENCIA, organized by David Aliagas

(Scroll down for the english version) Hey! Me llamo David y este es mi granito de arena para a… David Aliagas needs your support for UNA

Help the people of Mira (Cuenca) rebuild their hometown.

gofundme.com

Donate to AYUDA INMENENTE A LA CATASTROFE DE MIRA, organized by Jose Vicente Terradez Garcia

Hola, somos la Asociación Juvenil MIRA Nos dirigimos a … Jose Vicente Terradez Garcia needs your support for AYUDA INMENENTE A LA

This group of artists is giving away drawings to people who donate at least 5€ to any of the fundraisers listed in the thread!!!

You can donate to Valencia's food bank by making a transfer to this bank account: ES86 2100 2806 6402 0009 8998

Thread of artists that are accepting comissions for Valencia:

This artist has been directed by the floodings. He just opened emergency comissions

I'll add more fundraising campaigns I find on Twitter/Bluesky, but until then, please consider helping in any way you can! Even if it's just by sharing!

My now regular photo dump of kitty induced serotonin before I hide it in the ever growing Pinterest Board from my therapist. Enjoy!

not to be rude but some of y'all need to look on the bright side sometimes. like, yeah sure the world is fucked and people suck and we all die whatever, sure, but like. go outside.

For one of my classes I'm having to do a replica of an object, and I'm doing a bell, which had to menguante due to technical problems, but no problem because it's still cute.

23.04.2024 // some affect theory and writing on a fairly warm day. i'm taking it slow this week, mostly because i feel lazy and kind of...blah.

affect always escapes any attempt to explain or understand it because it lies outside of language or cognition. perhaps that explains why affect seems so vague and abstract. im trying to figure out if affect theory will be useful for my research but I won't pursue it if it continues to be beyond my grasp.