Update on Life

I have been bow free since Saturday night. It is strangely liberating not to have my head confined in a headband. I feel more sophisticated and more adult-ish, which is good considering I am going on 2 years of adulthood.

I feel as though my six months of bows, despite not being an entire year long bowstravaganza, was still immensely successful. I have blossomed a lot since I first put on a the orange rose on that first day of EnWeek. Pun only slightly intended.

I am at peace with so many things that I thought I would never be at peace with. And I thought that these gains were contingent upon me wearing a bow. When I took it off and saw that very little changed (and very few people could figure out what HAD changed other than me looking "really different"), I was glad to see that while my bows are fun and spunky and reflect my crocheting talents and zest for life, those qualities didn't fade when the bow came off.

I definitely want to wear bows a few times a week, but I think establishing myself as a serious, goal-oriented adult will be much less of a challenge now that I look more mainstream.

I am slowly chugging away on my crocheting projects. I just had some exams, homework, etc. that had been making crocheting an afterthought.

I also want to make my teddy bears overalls/jumpers at some point. I guess I am always a child at heart. Pictures to come soon!

Bow Love,

Bow Girl

Ending Early

I feel like the purpose of the bow has been served, and that I am starting to use it like a crutch.

So the bow is coming off. Tonight.

I will always be Bow Girl on the inside!

After 6 months of bow wearing in public... I wish you so much bow love!

- Bow Girl

Creating

Inventing a new bow can be scary. I disliked this bow at first, and it is made of precious Paco's wool... I felt guilty somehow. But then it grew on me over night. Here it is. My newest flower. I hope you enjoy.

I decided to wear it tonight.

Bow Love!

-Bow Girl

Going into business...

I am stalled in so many ways right now. I want to break through this brick wall that is halting my crochet progress (and every other aspect of my life too). I think I am shying away from anything other than school and extracurriculars at the moment. Kind of typical of me, I guess. I am craving a creative surge. I want to invent a new flower in my head so badly... I feel like I haven't done it in forever.

I was talking to a bunch of people recently about starting a(n Etsy) business. I honestly don't think it is a good idea right now. First of all, I don't want to have to put a time limit on things... Second of all, everything I make is obviously custom... Thus there is a lot of creative pressure. Third of all, lots of people already sell similar stuff. Also, I have been sleeping more lately, which has taken a lot of time away from my crocheting (as of right now the blanket and the giant doily are taking up most of my crocheting time).

I want to go into business in theory... I can't do it in practice. However if anyone ever wants something... feel free to let me know.

Notice: if you just say "I really like that!" or "I want one of those," do not expect me to make you something. "I want one" doesn't mean "Please make me a _______." I just take "I want one!" as a respectful form of admiration. If you want something you can message me privately and we can meet to design something and discuss colors, etc (I love the mental outlining process prior to making a bow).

Thanks and Bow Love,
Nicole, Bow Pattern Maker and Crocheting Instructor (Bow Girl)

Happy Day

Today was super happy. I have 3 quizzes and an exam tomorrow. Something is wrong with that statement, but I will take it! At least I am pretty free after that.

Bow Love,
Bow Girl

Dear Eli:

I made you a bow tie, as requested. I just have to attach it to a band. Here it is.

And it really loops around, unlike my bows (more masculine, in my opinion; however, bows are not that masculine).

Bow Love!
-Bow Girl

Cream Cotton

I had a hectic day today, but I still managed to do some work, go to the gym, and crochet. That is pretty cool, if you ask me. Also, I got my cream cotton yesterday, so I was able to continue working on my doily. Here is where I am at... I just finished the first casing around the pineapple style leaves, so that is pretty exciting!

It's kind of dark, but I think you can still appreciate my progress thus far.

Bow Love!
-Bow Girl

Well begun is half done!

More than half way through my year... So weird. Thank goodness I made so many bows at the get go, or this would have been a lot more difficult to pull off. Being so prudent initially also allowed me to branch out.

My Aunt Lydia's cream cotton came in today, but I didn't get the email notification of the delivery until after 5 PM, so I will pick it up tomorrow. That means I can finally finish my doily from the other day.

Bow Love,

Bow Girl

9/11/11: Ten years later...

Today I bawled... The 9/11/01 Memorial at Wash U was moving... The phone calls between dispatchers and victims I listened to the other night moved me... and made me ill.

I felt moved to make something. I didn't have time to finish... The outer stripes were supposed to be red, white, and blue.

I wanted to somehow show that I remember... where I was when I heard... the feelings of panic... The moment is embedded in my head forever. And youtube has immortalized the media frenzy that ensued. It was just... horrific. Words can't capture it. I was just a little girl at the time, but I remember thinking that the world would never be the same. I could just tell.

I remember the tragic stories, the heroic actions of civilians and first responders of all types. And I appreciate that the inhumanity of the terrorists brought about so much unification in America. Even if only ephemeral. I am not sure I will ever see such public patriotism and neighborliness again in all of my life. I hope if I do that it is not brought about by terror...

The black of the piece I made is to represent the gravity of what happened that day... The white light behind is to represent a sort of heavenliness about the towers, and the red, white, and blue will represent the overwhelming patriotism that the event brought about.

Bow Love,

Bow Girl

Becoming Bow Girl and Half-Way Bow Day

Sometimes I have confusion about this whole Bow Girl thing... Am I becoming Bow Girl, or am I already Bow Girl? Obviously am a bow girl of sorts, because I always have a bow on. However, in my head there is a lot more to being a Bow Girl than just wearing a bow. I capitalize Bow Girl to mean the confident, fiercely-independent, self-improving type I set out to be when I started the journey. A lot has transformed in my life since I set out on this yearlong Bowstravaganza... almost all of which has been positive. However, there is still so much for me to learn, both in life and in crocheting.

Like any person, I have days that I don't feel like I've made that many gains in this project in terms of internal progress. However, last night was one of those times I could definitely feel the improvement. Wearing bows (for whatever crazy reason) helps me to feel comfortable in my own skin... Whatever it takes, right?

In happy news, Monday, September 12th is Half-Way Bow Day. I am 182/366 (it's a leap year) done with my mandatory sentence for today... I am aware that usually "mandatory sentence" is not a phrase with a positive connotation... However, I am not really sure what to do after this whole thing is over. I am a bit lost about what I will do on that 367th day...

Even if I do become Bow Girl internally... I don't know if taking the bow out of the equation will throw me off kilter. It's hard to predict. I am a bit nervous that it's becoming like my long hair: a security blanket that I am scared to do away with. I also have a bump in my hair where the bow sits... and I don't think anyone would recognize me without it. The other day I wore a black bow in honor of Dean McLeod's passing, and some people didn't see my bow at first. The response was pretty dramatic. There were some gasps. None of the freshmen (and many others at college) have seen me bowless... The thought kind of gives me a weird feeling... like that dream where you go to school in your underwear.

Anyway, I realize this is writing heavy and that most people prefer picture heavy posts, but I haven't actually been analytical/verbose in a while on here (I just finished my first college paper tonight, so maybe I am just in a writing mood.).

Bow Girl

Bow What?

Guess what? Today I wanted to wear a bow that didn't exist... So I picked out the best existing bow to go with the outfit and set out on a mission: to make the bow in my head this morning, and to make it today. And as you know, I haven't been churning out bows like I did last semester. I was kind of a factory back then. Recently I have been doing more long-term work such as my blanket.

However, I am back in Bows-ness, people! And just in time for Half-Way-Bow Day, which marks my half way mark through my yearlong Bowstravaganza. The bow that was IN my head is now ON my head.

Behold:
A blue flower that doesn't look super ridiculous (in my opinion).
A new headband of cluster stitches that I really wanted to try.
A better view of the whole thing. I like the tufted sort of appearance of the headband.

Hope you enjoy this increasingly rare treat!

Bow Love,
Bow Girl

Free Time

Hi Bow Peeps! From the appearance of this blog, it probably seems like I have a lot of free time. This is not exactly true. I realized today that I have so much occupied time, that taking some bow/crochet time for myself has become a really important break. Time I didn't used to take for myself prior to my bowstravaganza, and time that has helped me improve both my sanity, my productivity, and my ability to manage my time and increase my amount of breaks. So if you know someone who seems overwhelmed or is confused by how Wash U kids pack so many activities into a 24 hour day, I can reassure you, I slept 7 hours or more every night this week, I have multiple crochet projects happening at once, and I go to class, extracurriculars, the gym, etc. Taking breaks is awesome and you should take 10 minutes for yourself at least twice a day. If not more.

On a more somber note, one of the Deans at Wash U passed this afternoon, and he was surely one of the nicest people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. Rest in peace, Dean McLeod.

Life is certainly TOO short not to take time for yourself.

Bow and Break and Dean McLeod love,
Bow Girl

25 weeks and one day. 19.5/33 of a doily

Too many numbers in my title. Today is day 176. Wow! I have been a bow girl quite some time now. I feel as if I were born in a bow. There WAS a bow on my birth announcement... But that is completely unrelated. I am working on this doily I found on the internet. The one I showed a sneak peak of in my "Taking a break" post. Well. I have done about another third of the project, and I am almost out of Aunt Lydia's cream cotton (the thread), so I am going to have to wait for my new shipment to arrive. Luckily I ordered it during Labor Day weekend so I got the Labor Day Discount! 50 cents off each spool! But really, every little bit helps when you're a poor college student living on your measly savings and your parents' generosity.

Regardless, here is the 19.5/33 doily:



Doily and bow love,
Bow Girl

The Lost Panda

Okay, so if ANY of you can remember back to a long, long time ago, I started a making a stuffed panda. Well, if you can remember back then, you can also probably remember me putting ON his ears and putting OFF sewing on arms and legs. Truth be told, I really don't like the arms and legs and think he looks cutesy and perfect as is. So I am going to call him done!

Here are pictures:

Closeup.

My hand for size.

On display in my window.

Alpha and Bow Love,
Bow Girl

Taking a break

Taking a break from studying/homework is a good thing. Today I did so in a few ways. Let me elaborate.

1. Starting a doily. Photo below.

2. Going to the gym.

3. Eating Dinner.

4. Blogging about that doily.

I like the little shells on the edges. It doesn't look like much yet, but there is much more in store for this little doily.

I have been taking few breaks in general this week. To make up for yesterday (having nearly 6 hours of extracurriculars and meetings, etc.), I decided to spend Friday night working and taking microbreaks (listed above).

Bow Love!

Bow Girl