The Stitch Book: Week 45 (October 27-November 2)

 "Look it! Look it! It's freaking bats! I love Halloween!" 

This week's piece is inspired by two legends: the freaking bats girl and Doth the Doth (or Instagram), one of my favorite Twitter accounts. I saw Doth's tweet about practicing self-care like bats in 2020 and saved it to stitch one day. It didn't quite fit into my previous 365 projects, but I knew it was perfect for this year's project. I saved it for Halloween (obviously). Then I just had to learn to draw a bat and figure out how to embroider said bat. Easy. 

The freaking bats girl is a more recent inspiration. I've watched several videos on Instagram that use the audio from her video and it makes me laugh every time I hear it. It's so perfect. I also love Halloween, and her video is one of my favorite things. 

So how did I learn to draw a bat? I've drawn other bats for other projects, but they were mostly bats in the sky, so they're much easier to draw. This one needed to have a face and paws (are they called paws for bats?) and detailed wings. I did what I normally do when I need to figure out how to draw something: I looked at drawing tutorials for children. What I took away from these tutorials is the shapes I needed for drawing a hanging bat. It's a circle, some triangles, and some swoops (that's the technical terms for the edges of the wing...probably). The paws were the trickiest bit because paws, like human hands, are hard to draw. They turned out okay, so there's that. I'm pleased with the end result. He is absolutely goofy looking and I love him. I've decided to name him Waffles. He'll join Bernie the Bee as another regular character in my work. 

Here's this week's piece:

October 27

October 28

October 29

October 30

October 31 - look at his goofy face! So good. 

November 1

November 2

Week 44

Weeks 1-44

Week 45's color is mineral.

Halloween Fun and Random Things from the Week

I started celebrating Halloween last Sunday with my parents. I made a tomato soup cake for our little celebration. The cake turned out better than I anticipated; it's been years since I last made it. The Halloween sprinkles really made the cake. 

I also wrote a short story about this cake back when I used to write short stories. 

My brother surprised me with a Stranger Things embroidery kit. It's a really nice kit. You never know with pop culture stuff. Sometimes the company producing the kit does a great job and makes it accessible for all levels and sometimes (most of the time) it's a mess. This one comes with 10 patterns, the materials to make two of the patterns, and a lovely instruction book. 

I'll probably make my brother the Hellfire Club one that's featured in this kit and make "Coffee is for contemplation" for myself. It's one of my favorite Hopper quotes. 

We celebrated Halloween at work too. I wore my bat sweater and bat tights despite the fact that it's 80 degrees out (I hate it so much). Freaking bats, man.

I finished the toadstool kit. It's super cute. I'm going to paint the hoop and make it and the bee wreath one into Christmas ornaments. I think they'll look good on the tree. 

I also found a PopLush pattern of the Bride that I forgot I had. I watched The Bride of Frankenstein on Wednesday night, so I wish I had gotten it out sooner. I'm going to work on it this week and add the Bride to my creature wall. I have a few more patterns left from this designer including a kraken, some ghosts, and a phoenix. 

So I'm filling my time. I guess that's what this week was all about. I planned out movies to watch every night. I had some events to go to and I had projects to work on. Today I'm taking stuff to the animal shelter to donate. I think that will help too. If I plan things, the quietness of my house isn't as bad. That's what I figured out. Do I want to go on a walk? Not particularly, but I go anyway. Look at this wonderful little wooded area I found in my neighborhood because I did go on a walk. 

It's magical looking. 

Remember - Election Day is next Tuesday. Please make sure you have a plan to vote if you didn't vote early. Be patient, be alert, and be nice to election workers.