Ten days ago we lost our cat Lupa. She was eleven years old, and she had cancer that had moved into her lungs.
Lupa loved making the bed with us when we took freshly washed sheets out of the dryer. She was shy and liked having her cheeks rubbed. And she was sneaky in her lifelong quest for yogurt and cheese. Continue reading
Today I offer a personal post ( … with a library tie-in, of course!).
Last month, Aaron and I decided to teach ourselves how to crochet and checked out Creepy Cute Crochet: Zombies, Ninjas, Robots, and More! from our public library. A few days later, we were chaining, single crocheting, double crocheting, half-double crocheting, treble crocheting, and more. We have YouTube Donna to thank for showing us how.
Together, we crocheted 31 tiny devils, ninjas, aliens, vampires, robots, knights, clerics, grim reapers, Amazon warriors, skeletons, and Cthulhus between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Affectionately, we have called these our “Creatures,” and we hope you like them as much as we do.
Ever since our felted piggy incident two Christmases ago, we’re addicted to giving DIY gifts. We like that it makes gift-giving a little more personal, and we get to have fun spending extra time together in the weeks leading up to the holidays, too.
I think I’m partial to the tiny Cthulhus, maybe just because I really like their wiggly eyes. I’m also fond of the devils’ curly tails. To see photos of all the creatures we made, plus close ups, click here to head over to the Flickr album. Merry Creature!
The winter holidays are nearly upon us. At the library, we realize a lot of our patrons are trying to save a little cash this year. And because we are tuned-in to those needs like aliens to the mothership, we’ve put together a lovely display of DIY Holiday titles for their crafting pleasure. I had a hunch that this would be a popular display, but I wasn’t quite anticipating the crowd of young ladies and their mothers that formed a huddle around the felting, crocheting, knitting, quilting, beading, card-making, origami, leather-working, and basket-weaving books this afternoon, and then stayed planted there until the library finally locked its doors for the night. Readers, they would have made more formidable opponents than the KU football team.
Here in our little home, we’ve also been trying to work in more thrifty DIY projects. Going out on a limb last year, we typed into our Google browser: “what to give everyone for Christmas,” and the Internet gave us this brilliant gift: a pattern for Martha Stewart felted pigs. Amazing!! Continue reading
Whoa! So April came and went, and I now have my MLIS degree, live in a new state, work at a new public library, and Aaron and I are in mega high-gear getting ready to move to our new (bigger) place and planning our September wedding. Lupa the cat is handling this all surprisingly well!
This weekend we had the amazing opportunity to visit the Chicago Public Library (it was literally right around the corner from our friend’s loft where we were staying). Aaron is sweet and humors my desire to visit libraries (instead of, you know, other more exciting tourist attractions) when we travel to major metropolitan areas. It was tons of fun actually seeing CPL’s famed YouMedia space, IRL (I’m just a dork like that who really <3s teen library spaces).
It feels pretty awesome to come out of my final-days-of-grad-school stupor, although I’m sure I will miss it too. Starting B Sides was an amazing experience, and I’m stoked to see what the new editors will do with it next year! Coming soon… expect more (frequent) “Reader’s Advisory” posts (aka “things i like that maybe you’ll like too”), tales from my new public library job, and perhaps even a few academic-ish pieces from my final frothy-mouthed semester.
It’s good to be back!
Rachel Smalter Hall 