zomgmad

   
I've been making amigurumi ponies, such as the above, for a little while now, and I'm finally confident enough in my skills and my pattern to sell them. Here's some basic info if you're interested in purchasing one.

Specs
Each pony is about 5 in tall and 5 in long (not including mane and tail).

Ponies are made from acrylic yarn, acrylic felt, and aluminum wire. I occasionally use one yarn that is a wool/mohair blend. If you have any allergies or sensitivities to these materials, let me know beforehand and I will do my best to accommodate, though I cannot make any guarantees. If you let me know of allergies/sensitivities beforehand, I will not sell you a pony containing those materials, but I cannot promise that I will be able to make a pony that meets your requirements.

Character Options
I do not have every color of yarn and felt under the sun, so I cannot make every possible character. In fact, my yarn selection right now is a bit limited.

Additionally, the pattern I made currently only allows for earth pony, pegasus, and unicorn mares with a body shape like that of the mane six. I could also make an alicorn mare with pegasus wings and a mane six-like body shape. I am working on a pattern for show-style alicorn wings. I do not have a pattern for folded pegasus wings. Eye shapes can also be tricky. If the pony you are interested in purchasing has an unusual eye shape, ask me first and I will let you know whether or not I will be able to make it.

Here is a list of some canon characters for whom I do have yarn/felt in the appropriate colors and who have features I can crochet:

• Applejack (I do not have tan yarn for her hat, but I do have tan felt. If you purchase Applejack, you will get a removable felt hat.)
• Fluttershy
• Rainbow Dash
• Twilight Sparkle
• Suri Polomare
• Spa ponies (Aloe and Lotus Blossom)
• Lyra Heartstrings
• Sunshower Raindrops
• Golden Harvest (AKA Carrot Top)
• Daisy/Flower Wishes
• Apple Honey

If you are interested in purchasing a different pony or an OC, please ask me and provide me with a colored image reference and I will let you know if I have the materials to make that pony. If you are interested in purchasing a pony sans cutie mark, you will probably have a wider range of canon ponies to choose from and I will offer a 10 USD discount (so you would pay 90 USD + shipping).

If there is a pony that you would be interested in purchasing with a physical feature for which I do not currently have a pattern (for instance, Flutterbat wings, or the body type of a filly or stallion), please comment. I will determine which features I create patterns for first based on interest.

This is another one of my Asexual Awareness Week journals. I was going to talk about asexuality in the media (AKA rant about the House, MD episode, but there’s plenty of those tirades out there already) but then I watched tonight’s episode of The Big Bang Theory (oh, by the way, don’t read ahead if you don’t want vague spoilers. You have been warned. ;P).

Overall, I really like The Big Bang Theory. A couple of days ago, I read on cbs.com that tonight’s episode involved Amy, Bernadette, and Penny discussing female scientists’ sexuality. I thought, ‘okay, a show featuring a character implied to be asexual in a romantic relationship with a character implied to be grey-asexual* that has, so far, done a pretty excellent job portraying the complexities of these character’s sexualities, though I do wish they would explore the topic in greater breadth and depth (and actually use the word ‘asexual,’ that would be nice. ‘Has no deal’ just isn’t enough sometimes), is airing an episode during Asexual Awareness Week in which the possibly-grey-asexual character discusses sexuality. AHH THIS IS GOING TO BE AMAZING!!!’ (and yes, I think in run-on sentences. ;D)

Anyway, long story short, I was sorely disappointed. It wasn’t a bad episode, just lacking. Maybe I got my hopes up too high? I don’t know. I just wish the portrayal of asexuality in popular culture consisted of a bit more than amoeba jokes and dancing around the subject with characters who are just ‘too cool and distant for pedestrian things like sex and emotions’ but then find the right person to ‘break down their walls’ and get frisky ’til the cows come home. (But I’m not omniscient. If you know of an instance, any at all, of asexuality being discussed frankly in fictional/non-journalistic media, please please direct me to it.)

So, to everyone involved in the creation of The Big Bang Theory, I would like to offer you a sincere thank you for your depiction of asexuality. I really appreciate that you didn’t make Sheldon an emotionless robot (as much as he would love that. ;D), and that it is implied multiple times that he masturbates (because, yes, plenty of asexual people masturbate, and it doesn’t make them any less asexual and it doesn’t mean they’re sexually attracted to themselves), and that he has a romantic relationship with Amy that involves mutually-enjoyed physical affection (because lots of asexual people can and do have functional romantic relationships and lots of asexual people like kissing, cuddling, and/or other forms of physical affection). However, I would really like it if you could go a bit further. Asexuality is so little-known, and a lot of what people do ‘know’ about it is inaccurate and misleading. Because you’ve done such a good job displaying it so far, I feel you have a bit of a responsibility to continue to ‘enlighten the masses,’ if you will. And I’m a hopeless hoper, so I’m assuming that you decided it was too much of a cliche to show an episode that discusses asexuality during Asexual Awareness Week and are saving it for next week (or maybe it’s an elaborate Halloween prank? /shrug).

_{On an unrelated note, can anyone tell me why all my paragraphs end in parenthetical statements? I think there’s something wrong with me. /sob}

* Is Amy grey-asexual? Is she demisexual? Something else? I don’t know. Personally, I don’t think she’s demisexual, based on her reaction upon first seeing Zack in ‘The Alien Parasite Hypothesis.’ I think grey-asexual fits her best, so it’s what I’m going with.

The first time I came across the word ‘asexual’ (aside from amoebas and stuff in my seventh grade biology textbook, but that’s not what I’m talking about ;)) was actually on deviantART. A deviant I watch used the term to describe herself in a journal. I saw it, wondered about the meaning, and looked it up in a dictionary. Just the unhelpful gamete-free reproduction junk (pun not intended). I didn’t look any further than that and didn’t think about it, either. A few months later, I saw the word ‘asexual’ again on that same deviant’s page. I googled it this time, and did a bit of reading on the subject. I had never realized before that not being sexually attracted to anyone was a real thing. I just figured I was a ‘late bloomer’ (I was only 19 at the time), or hadn’t met the right person (I had only really had one romantic relationship in my lifetime and that had ended over five years previously), or had a low sex drive, or was misinterpreting what sexual attraction is. Ironically, these are the sorts of things disbelieving people say to asexual people all the time. At first, I didn’t identify as asexual. It was still new to me, and I figured my sexuality didn’t need to be explicitly defined if I wasn’t going to have sex with anyone. After a while, and more research, I decided I was, in fact, asexual, and that having a word for it didn’t change anything. It still took a few more months before I told anyone (even now, I haven’t told anyone outside of the internet, but I think that’s mostly because I don’t really have anyone in my life right now to tell. That’s another story, however), but I feel a lot more comfortable with my sexuality now. I did draw a black ring on my finger today and will continue to do so for Asexual Awareness Week, and if someone asks about it, I’m going to tell them.

I think the first sign of my asexuality was when my classmates started talking about people being ‘cute’ or ‘hot’. I could understand the ‘cuteness’ of certain people (though I didn’t always agree with my friends’ assessments, but that’s to be expected. Different people have different tastes.) but ‘hotness’ always baffled me. I understood that there was a difference between being ‘cute’ and being ‘hot’, and that being ‘hot’ had something to do with sexual attraction, but I had never felt that way, about anyone. If I did consider someone ‘cute’, it was because of their personality, not their looks (for example, the boy I had a crush on at this time had a rattail and wore Spiderman sunglasses everywhere, even indoors). My friends would look at celebrities in magazines, and say how ‘cute’ or ‘hot’ they were, and I didn’t get it at all. How can you consider someone attractive if you’ve only seen a photograph, have never met them and have no idea what they’re like? (I did have a poster of Zac Efron in my locker in seventh grade, but that was because everyone else in my class did, too, and I thought it was just one of those ‘things’ everyone does.)

I’m not aromantic, but I do have different views on romance than most people (I think). I’m very uncomfortable verbally expressing love (though this probably stems from my emotional issues, and not anything related to asexuality). Even something as simple as ‘I love you’ seems overly sappy to me. I have absolutely no interest in stereotypical romantic gestures or traditions, such as flowers, marriage/weddings, or Valentine’s day. I have mixed feelings on physical affection. I’m not a fan of kissing (on the mouth, at least. I enjoy cheek and forehead kisses), although I will admit I have very limited experience with that. To me, kissing (or any other form of romantic affection) is a Very Big Deal and I wouldn’t consider doing it with anyone I wasn’t in love with. In my mind, carnival kissing booths are equivalent to a legal form of prostitution. I do like cuddling, and, to a slightly lesser degree, hugging and holding hands.

I should probably make it clear that this is just my personal experience, and is in no way a generalization of asexuality. I’m sure there are plenty of asexual people out there who could take any sentence in this journal and it wouldn’t apply to them in the least. And that’s fine.

Again, happy Asexual Awareness Week! Please take some cake on your way out. ;)

Personally, I think it should be Asexuality Awareness Week, but that's probably just me nit-picking again.

So, what is Asexual Awareness Week? It's a week to call attention to asexuality and raise awareness (of course, these things can and should be done every week of the year, but it's good to have a specific time to focus on it). There are a lot of common misconceptions about asexuality, and many people have never even heard of it or won't acknowledge that it exists.

Here are some links with more information about AAW and asexuality in general:
Asexual Awareness Week
The Asexual Visibility and Education Network (AVEN)
Asexuality Archive
Asexuality: A Brief Introduction (written by the creator of Asexuality Archive, this book is extremely informative on many aspects of asexuality. I highly recommend it for anyone, ace, questioning, ally, allosexual, who wants to learn more about asexuality. There's a free PDF, or you can buy it on Amazon.)

What I'm definitely doing for AAW2014:
- Use an avatar with the asexuality flag on it.
- Use a comment signature that shows my support for AAW.
- Write this journal.
- Wear a black shirt to work on Monday, a grey shirt on Tuesday, a white shirt on Wednesday, and a purple shirt on Thursday. I'm still not sure what I'll do on Friday. Suggestions appreciated!
- Eat lots of cake. ;D

What I'm considering doing:
- Filling out the asexuality meme. I'm really not a fan of meme questionnaire things, but it seems a lot better than most of the ridiculous ones out there. xD
- Drawing a black ring on my finger. I can't wear an actual ring because a) I don't have one and b) rings make my hands feel very uncomfortable and I need to be able to write and type and do other things that require manual dexterity. I'm conflicted on this, as I don't particularly want to announce my sexual orientation to the world. It's one thing to show support, but I think the ring is a bit too much 'HEY HEY LOOK I'M ASEXUAL'. When I do tell people, I want it to be a conversation, I want to tell them personally, and I want to choose who I tell and when I tell them.
- Writing a journal every day this week with my thoughts on asexuality-related topics (topics I'm considering are: asexuality and the ace community as it relates to the LGBT+ community as a whole; snarky comebacks to use when people are ignorant and/or rude about asexuality; asexuality in the media; my personal experience; and that's all I've got. If there's a topic you'd like to see me rant about discuss, please please let me know).

Are you planning on doing anything for AAW? (no pressure, just wondering ;)) Do you have any questions about asexuality? (I'd be happy to try and answer)