Hey, folks. Everyone was super considerate and kind about my post the other day. I took the advice to heart, and started asking around of friends who had tattoos where they got theirs done and such.
A good friend's son's wife turned out to be a professional tattoo artist who agreed to do it for free when I told her why I wanted to get one. I just got it done today and I'm very happy with it so far. I know things change about as it heals, but I'm very happy with it. Unfortunately, I jumped at one point because it hurt unexpectedly bad in one little spot, and there's a wobble on one of the letters, but I'm okay with that for a reason:
My mom was a crocheter. Amazing work. But the thing is, when you're making thousands and thousands of stitches by hand, there's also going to be some mistake. I read once and told her, and she then lived by a rule: that mistake is where the stress escapes. If you'd crocheted a perfect blanket, you'd be afraid to use it. Can't use that! You'll mess it up! It's perfect! One little mistake makes the whole thing better sometimes.
