Cross stitch pattern of a family of frogs. Thanks to larsenv for the sprites. Download the PDF here: Frog Family Pattern

Grid Size: 94W x 42H
Design Area: 6.57″ x 2.86″ (92 x 40 stitches)
Colors: 9

When my Patron Helena M Norton was little they did the two kids in a trench coat trick in order to get into a singing competition. Now that they’re older the other kid is threatening to go to the tabloids about it. It’s true!

I’m back from the gun show. We didn’t sell too much, maybe $900, but it covered the tables and my plane ticket with enough left over for my brother to buy modern armor plates, something that sounds much cooler than it looks, but who am I to judge. I had a good time looking into something I wouldn’t normally be interested in. You get in some good people watching in a place like this. I noticed that about %1 of attendees were what I would call “quest givers”, someone who, if this was a video game, would definitely have a quest for you. There was an old man who I swear was cosplaying Professor Porter from Tarzan, and an old lady who looked exactly like a 1950’s housewife with plastic orange jewelry and everything.

This isn’t my first time going to a right leaning event, but it’s certainly the biggest. I’m seeing a worrying trend though. Even though Donald Trump isn’t a gun rights supporter, there were a lot of booths selling political merchandise at the show: pins, shirts, mugs, plush toys of Trump that say phrases when you squeeze his tiny hand. I’ve been to a pride festival bigger than this gun show and there was almost no political presence apart from some mayoral candidates and maybe some Bernie 2020 bumper stickers. You can be gay and Republican, but it’s clear that you aren’t welcome if you’re a Democrat gun owner. The merchandise was clearly anti-liberal with cups that say liberal tears and t-shirts that say find a cure for liberalism. It’s strange that a big part of your identity as a gun owner is about hating Democrats when this doesn’t happen with other hobbies or even with other political issues. No one says you have to hate Republicans to be a feminist or pro-choice. It’s just really awkward that even if I owned a gun and loved guns, a good amount of the people at the show would still exclude me even though we have a shared interest in guns. I don’t know how people deal with the cognitive dissonance of loving America, while hating half the people in it.

Sorry this got really political. On a lighter note, I saw a lot of booths selling cool handmade knives. There was one that the guy who made it said was made out of fossilized mammoth tusk. At first I didn’t believe him but my brother said that it probably was true since mammoth ivory isn’t considered poaching and is legal to import because the animal has been long dead. It’s actually the most humane ivory you can buy. Neat isn’t it?

Also I’m tickled pink by the fact that the dealer wristband that tells security not to hassle you was rainbow colored this year. I can’t prove it was intentional, but I’m still wearing it and I hope it’s rainbow next year too.

Also also, this lemon tea scented soy candle in a mason jar that says conservative tears on it’s brown paper bag label is hilariously over the top. Just like this liberal tears bacon scented gun oil. I can really get behind this kind of stupid superficial rivalry, but I feel like sometimes it’s taken too far by people who take it too seriously.