Practice Better Make Perfect

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For about six weeks now, my goal each and every day has been to get the above baby loaded onto the longarm so I can practice and get the below baby finished and sent to the now three-month-old baby.

There have been moments, perhaps hours or even days, when I thought perhaps I should just quilt the pink baby quilt on the domestic sewing machine.

Ringo the Longarm was serviced back in about September because I hadn't touched it in several years. I remember having trouble with skipped stitches when moving backwards. I remember thinking it was a timing issue. I was ready to use the longarm again, so I took it in for routine maintenance and the skipped stitches problem. It's been more than 90 days, which is all the service warranty covers. So I'm sort of stuck with what I've got for now.

I finally got the practice quilt loaded onto the longarm this week, and I'm SO rusty! I'm having to relearn everything. So thankful for YouTube help videos, which I didn't have access to back when I bought the machine. It came with a DVD. Now all the DVD tutorials are online. And I've been making good use of them.

I'm still skipping lots of stitches, so I probably still have a timing issue. But I'm relearning everything about upper and lower tension, and these are important lessons. I may have to quilt the pink quilt on the domestic machine, and I may have to make lots of practice quilts before I get the longarm running properly. But eventually, I'm going to get Lizard going on art therapy again, and that's pretty darned exciting.

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Wordless Wednesday

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Oops, I Missed it Again

I checked my blog stats on 22 November 2025, and I was close to 12,000,000.

I was backing up my 895th snowflake pattern after 10 p.m. on 13 December 2025 when I noticed I'd crossed the zeroes line again. I missed the turning again!!! (It apparently turned two days earlier, on 11 December 2025.) I had calculated how many days it might take, based on the number of hits I was getting per day in November, and I thought it would be about 6 January 2026. Ha ha.

On the very bright side, it took less than a year to hit the next milestone, back like it used to in the early days. On the dark side, because you know I'm a Star Wars fan, right??? I'm not entirely sure all those hits are real. There may be a lot of bots in there. I should give them a name. Darth Vader bots. Darth Maul bots!!! Naaaaa... R2D2 is my favorite character. R2D2 bots!

I think the reason my counter doesn't show on my blog anymore (at least for me, on my computer) is because of that 8th digit. I'm not entirely sure, but I think I had to do screenshots from my phone the last couple of milestones, too. On my phone, the total visitors is broken into two lines. I briefly looked into other counter options, and I just don't have the time, or interest, really, to set up another account with another provider to use a third-party widget that may or may not work. (And that could come with all kinds of undesirable underlying tech/ad/scam stuff I don't want on my blog.) I can see the totals on my (non-public) stats page (when I make the time to look), and for now, that's good enough for me.

Another interesting little tidbit is the number of people still using blogger. Here's the AI overview... "Yes, people still use Blogger, but it's mainly for simple, free personal blogs, hobby projects, or niche communities, rather than for professional businesses or large-scale monetization where platforms like WordPress dominate due to Blogger's limited features and customization. It remains a reliable, easy-to-use, and completely free option for those who don't need advanced tools." That made me giggle. It describes me to a T. AI actually got it right!

Which brings me to another interesting little tidbit. Many creators these days don't create. They use AI to create. I use AI to generate images sometimes because I don't always have time now as a full-time caregiver to go out and shoot photos to illustrate my blog. Like I used to. For more than 10 years! But every single Snowcatcher blog post, every single pattern, every single photograph, comes from me. I feel for people who don't get absolute joy out of writing their own content. And my heart grieves for people who are unable to write their own content. But I'm also extremely thankful I get to write my own blog posts. And I'm grateful for everyone who takes the time to read what I write. THANK YOU!!!

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Snowframe Monday

I've had a list of snowflakes I want to use as frame patterns for a few years now. Snowframes would be the perfect belated gift for a few loved ones who, thanks to financial constraints, didn't get a calendar from me in December. My Farmington Temple snowflake makes such a cute frame!

You may do whatever you'd like with snowframes you make from this pattern, but you may not sell or republish the pattern. Thanks, and enjoy!

Finished Size: 5 inches from point to point
Materials: Size 10 crochet thread, size 7 crochet hook, empty pizza box, wax paper or plastic wrap, cellophane tape, water soluble school glue or desired stiffener, water, glitter, small container for glue/water mixture, paintbrush, stick pins that won't be used later for sewing, clear thread or fishing line

Bridal Snowframe Instructions

Ch 42. Taking care not to twist work, sl st in starting ch.

Round 1: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), 5 dc in next ch, [1 dc in each of next 6 ch, 5 dc in next ch] 5 times, 1 dc in each of next 5 ch; sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 2. Pull magic circle tight.
If you're not reading this pattern on Snowcatcher, you're not reading the designer's blog. Please go here to see the original.

Round 2: [Ch 3, 1 dc in each of next 2 dc, ch 3, in next dc work (2 tr, ch 3, 3 dtr, ch 3, 2 tr), ch 3, 1 dc in each of next 2 dc, ch 3, sl st in next dc, 1 sc in each of next 4 dc, sl st in next dc] 6 times; bind off. Weave in ends.

Finish: I've been stiffening my flakes with undiluted, full-strength water soluble school glue for quite a while now, and I've been squishing the glue onto and throughout each flake with my fingers (yucky mess!!!) instead of gingerly painting the flakes with glue. Yes, it's a mess. But it's faster. And stiffer.

Tape wax paper or plastic wrap to top of empty pizza box. Pin snowflake to box on top of wax paper or plastic wrap.

If using glue, mix a few drops of water with a teaspoon of glue in small washable container. Paint snowflake with glue mixture or desired stiffener. Sprinkle lightly with glitter. Wash paintbrush and container thoroughly. Allow snowflake to dry at least 24 hours. Remove pins. Gently peel snowflake from wax paper or plastic wrap. Attach 10-inch clear thread to one spoke, weaving in end. Wrap fishing line around tree branch (or tape to ceiling or any overhead surface) and watch snowflake twirl freely whenever you walk by! Snowflake also may be taped to window or tied to doorknob or cabinet handle.

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Shaking Shadows

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Sleepsalotl

He's a bit top heavy, but I think I have a new addiction.

I must be totally crazy. I want to make an axolotl from every shade of my hand-dyed crochet thread now!!!

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Wordless Wednesday

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