Sunday Post/Mailbox Monday 1/23/2022: Updates and Crochet

the bookworm crochet, discussion, ,


The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists….

Hello all. I hope you are doing well and reading good books. I’m glad January is almost over with because January through March are the dreary cold winter months here and my least favorite time of the year. The weather lately has been bitter cold. I’m grateful I am working fully remote again through next month at least so I don’t have to venture out in the cold.


onto my updates…

recently on the blog:

I shared my thoughts on 1984.

reading now: (both are very good)

Our Trespasses: A Paranormal Thriller by Michael Cordell


The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

in my mailbox:

I found a next to new hard cover copy of Sleeping Beauties by Stephen King at a local used book/record shop.


watching:
 I’m hooked on I Am A Killer on Netflix. We watched Don’t Worry He Won’t Get Far which is based on a true story and is very good.

crochet: (with ranting)
 I made a unicorn. The curls took the longest to make, nearly 4 hours to make and attach. I’ve named him Lafayette (from Hamilton).





After sharing pics online, a few people messaged me wanting this unicorn. I am flattered that people like my work but it gets to a point where it’s a bit much sometimes. I didn’t want to sell this item to begin with, I worked on him a full week and I work full time as it is. But I did message a price out of guilt to one person who is distant family.
Basically I quoted the price to cover the materials and little else. Materials for this alone cost me about $25.00 and the price I quoted meant I’d get paid maybe $1.25 per hour which is absolutely ridiculous anyway. In the end, they seemed to think I was just going to quote the shipping cost. As low as I quoted they didn’t even expect to pay for the price of materials let alone for my work. I don’t understand some people. Do they work for free? Why should I then? I didn’t want to sell this item to begin with is the irony of it.

If you crochet or knit or create has this happened to you? Where people either expect you to make them items for free or expect to underpay you?

I crochet for my extended family all the time and for my close friends also and I love seeing them enjoy what I make for them, it comes from my heart. That’s one of the things I love about crochet, it makes people smile. And I do take commissions, when it’s worth it because again, I don’t work for free.
But for people to expect me to make things and for either free or for pennies, I find it insulting.

If you’ve made it this far, sorry for the rant and thanks for listening. Happy weekend from Lafayette. 🙂




That wraps up my updates this week, what have you been up to? Stay well and happy reading!

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Disclaimer: Nothing in this post is available for download. Some of these links are affiliate links. If you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission. The photos here are my own and not be to be removed from this post.

31 thoughts on “Sunday Post/Mailbox Monday 1/23/2022: Updates and Crochet”

  1. We are all back to work normally over here now and next week apparently, all restrictions are being lifted, including mask wearing – so watch this space – we still have over 80,000 cases daily and almost 300 Covid deaths, but I guess they are right in that at sometime we are just going to have to learn to live with it!

    I love the unicorn, but I know exactly where you are coming from about making any money from craft work. There are only so many hours in the day, so if you cost yourself out at an hourly rate, then you know exactly how much you need to charge for an item. With the job Dave does, he sees people day in day out, who believe they are self employed and when he actually sits and does the calculations with them , are totally surprised and unaware that they are only making a couple of pounds an hour, and that is just not a sustainable business!

    I love the sound of ‘The Great Alone’ and I am still mulling over ‘Our Trespasses’ as I can’t decide if I could cope with the paranormal aspects of the storyline – I am sorely tempted though!

    I have some excellent books in my TBR pile right now, although I am going to be keeping that down to a reasonable level this year and have even decided not to set myself the Goodreads challenge of books I want to read. I don’t need the stress of getting into some kind of race against both myself and other people. I just want to focus on reading for fun, the same as my charity crocheting

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  2. Hi Yvonne, wow! Back to “normal” then. The cases are sky high here again and many businesses are closing up early again. I noticed our local supermarket cut their hours back like at the start of the pandemic. I’m just grateful I can work remotely full time right now but it’s all hard to avoid anyway.
    Exactly that about having a sustainable income, you need to really do the math with something like that.
    The Great Alone and Our Trespasses are both very good. I’ll be sharing my thoughts. You’ve just reminded me I need to update my Goodreads challenge lol. I know what you mean though, it’s good not to pressure yourself and just read for fun also.
    Enjoy your books this week and thanks for stopping in!

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  6. That unicorn is adorable and the person who wanted to buy it/not buy it is ridiculous. They should consider how much it costs to buy a mass-produced toy animal like that and then realize one produced at home is worth a lot more than that. Sheesh!

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  7. Yeah. I made Harley quilts (from Harley T-shirts) which we auctioned off for $5 a ticket to raise a couple thousand for charity. The guys donated shirts which didn’t fit or the armholes were worn out or whatever. I had to buy the batting the sashing, backing, thread, etc which was about $150-200 for a king size quilt. It took me 2-3 months to make them. Then guys wanted to pay me to make up a quilt with their shirts, a lot of them. But you know for work I made $250 per hour and I was willing to make them (free) for charity but the guys didn’t really want to pay the amount even for supplies to get a quilt. So I know exactly. I made 6 for charity over a couple years. I didn’t make any other than the charity ones. Sorry for my rant.

    And when you lived in Minnesota as I did for years, this isn’t cold. At all. I like all the seasons but I’m glad the snow in my area of NC is only a couple days a year. Most of the year is 50-80 which is perfect.

    Anne – Books of My Heart This is my Sunday Post

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    • Oh wow! So you understand the amount of work time and effort with handmade also.
      I remember being surprised when I realized it snows in some states down South. Ugh with the cold already. It was zero degrees the other morning when I got into my car to run errands. Funny how 50 degrees sounds wonderful now lol

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  8. I am glad you are staying warm at home despite the cold outside. The temperatures here don’t compare to yours, but I still find myself constantly wrapped up in a blanket. Your unicorn is so cute! I hope you have a great week and enjoy your reading!

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  9. Same here with the weather. And that would be hard to part with something you didn’t really want to sell anyway! Can totally understand that. It is so hard for artists and craft people to make what their work is worth anyway- very true.

    Anyway… be well this week!

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  10. It’s been insanely cold here at times as well where just popping out for a few minutes makes my nose feel like it’s frozen off! ‘The Great Alone’ looks great (no pun intended), It’s outrageous people would message you trying to buy something off you and then get annoyed at you quoting a price that isn’t even the full price of you valuing your own time and work? It’s a beautiful piece and you should be able to enjoy it yourself as well! Thanks for sharing and I hope you have a lovely week 🙂
    Juli @ A Universe in Words

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    • Yes! I feel like my nose will fall off too some days lol. The Great Alone was great…lol pun intended. about the crochet, thank you so much. It is frustrating sometimes, it won’t stop me from creating but definitely makes me reconsider even answering random inquiries from now on.
      Happy reading this week 🙂

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  11. The unicorn is adorable! I don’t think non-knitters/crocheters understand what it takes to complete a project (time, costs, etc). Very cold at my house too. We’ve had some snowfall the past few days which makes it seem even colder. I try not to wish time away but I’ll be happy to see spring this year 😊 Have a good week!

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  14. Lafayette is wonderful! And your work is worth payment even when it is a work of love. The materials and time are minimum.
    I think I would be happy to work from home if it was cold outside.
    Stay warm and have a good week with happy crocheting and reading!

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  15. I love that unicorn. I know of only one other crafter who sells her work, a knitter of cowls and scarves that are really lovely. $50 each, and she does get orders, but I think she has the time. Good luck working indoors. I’m stuck indoors too because of the cold and the times.

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  18. I made a pom-pom rug with extra yarn. It wasn’t enough to complete it so, I had to go out and buy some more yarn. At first I thought about giving it away then I change my mind. I spin so many hours making this rug there no way I’m giving it away.

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