~Matrices

Hi everyone!!!
I am sorry for my absence, I figured I was overdue for an update somewhere since I have been spending less time online. I've been met with quite a few challenges this past year.

First I'll share the accomplishment!! then I'll share the other news.

I've still been active a few places online, posting art to https://t.me/MatricesArt and working hard posting goodies to my patreon https://www.patreon.com/Matrices those have been important outlets for me where I can share what I've been up to. I also still ship orders from my shop https://matrices.bigcartel.com/ every week, and my etsy shop is going strong https://www.etsy.com/shop/Matrices with patterns and premium tutorials that I've been working to release on a somewhat regular basis!!

My newest one I am extremely proud of, it is my cherished handpaw pattern that I have developed over the years. Its an extremely comfortable pattern with shaped digits (puffy and slim options!) and a book's worth of guidance on how to put it together. In time I may look into getting it published down the line as its own physical book perhaps, its 40-pages afterall! which might work out in a magazine sort of format. You can find and purchase the digital version of it here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/116980.....shaped-5-digit

Now for the other news --

In my hobby time I've been doing a LOT of hiking and spending time in the forest. At home casually learning Blender and Unity so I can enjoy playing VRChat. I am sorry for my absence from many group chats and convos on Telegram and my lack of participation in Twitter. Last year's December I had experienced an elbow injury, but this year I also managed to tear a ligament in that same arm in October. x_x The injury was minor but it was along my ring finger on my right hand. I had to wear an immobilizing brace and reduce a lot of my typing and spending-time-online, since I needed to aggressively rest my dominant hand. Which was extremely difficult, you don't realize how often you use your ring finger until you aren't supposed to move it. Ack.

I acknowledge that my break from typing and by extension the internet, did contribute to less frequency of contact with people I care a lot about. As well as missing the mark on some of my own goals I had really hoped to finish, missed sending out correspondence to my friends who reached out, and missed sending letters and surprises to my penpal folks who I miss a lot. But honestly -- healing was important and resting my arm worked so well!!! The rest period also resolved the lingering tingling that I kept experiencing from last year's elbow injury. I'm really excited both issues are feeling much better now! I'm still trying to be careful about how much time I spend typing and making sure I take frequent breaks, too.

I sadly have some even less good news, this time about my doggy Turbo. He is just not doing well lately. This year his old age caught up with him quite quickly. He is 14 now. He started exhibiting and after several vet visits he was subsequently diagnosed with quite a few things happening to him. The biggie has been Canine Cognitive Decline (aka dog dementia) which has been quite disruptive. We have figured out a routine for him now, but many sleepless nights have happened trying to help him through his "night weirds" before we could get to that point (though he still wakes us up a few times in the night). More recently he has been also seeing the vet over a nasty tumor we'd like to get removed and some heart disease symptoms (a worryingly low heartbeat) preventing that. The heart stuff is preventing him from having safe surgery for the concerning lumps he needs removed and we have a test with the vet coming up to see if a treatment can sustain his heartbeat thru the potential surgery. So stuff is a bit scary for our lil pal right now. Our goal is to keep him comfortable and make sure he still has good quality of life. So a lot of my energy has been dedicated to cherishing the remaining time I have left with our favorite and only dog. :'(


Anyways, I hope that fills the gaps in what happened and where I went for a while. Thanks for thinking of me, still faving and commenting on my work, mentioning me. Its extremely treasured even if I haven't been able to reach out for reply as often as I have done in the past.
I wish everyone an awesome day, and happy crafting!

--Matrices