More doom on a cup!

Went with something of an unintentional Smurf theme today:

It started off as just a cat stalking something in grass, then I thought that the cat sort of looked like Azrael, and decided that the subjects of today's doom would be a few hapless Smurfs - perhaps a branch village of political dissidents, striking out on their own against the patriarchy of the main village, and about to discover that there was, in fact, safety in numbers.

Now all I can think of is that scene from Snatch:

"The hare has to outrun the dogs."
"So what if it doesn't?"
"Well, the big rabbit gets f*cked. "
"Proper f*cked?

Only with Smurfs and cats...
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Now playing: DeVotchKa - Head Honcho
via FoxyTunes

Reorganization, and the unluckiest city ever built on styrofoam.

So I'd been planning on entering a local knitting contest, all gung-ho to show off a lace entrelac pattern idea I've been kicking around for a bit, but after realizing that
A) I'd have to buy tickets to the festival to get in to even submit my piece and
B) that the prize was just a gift certificate to go buy yarn someplace I DON'T get an employee discount, I decided that my time was better spent taking on some custom orders I've had nibbles on (who would pay me in something a little more useful like **cash**).

One of the jobs in particular sounds like fun - a big project, but pretty mindless pattern-wise. I just have to get a decent estimate together of how much yarn it's going to take, so I've been doing some gauge swatches and math. Thus, I present to you: the teeniest gauge swatch ever!
Ten stitches to the inch, awwww yeah. Probably won't end up going with this needle size in the end, but it was fun to swatch.

Also, I've been getting a bit bored with just writing my name on my cup every day at work, so the last few days I've been getting a little creative with the Sharpies.

Friday's cup:



And today's:











I like to imagine that this is all happening to the same, extremely unlucky, city. My lunch is well seasoned imagining their tiny cries of 'What the hell? Again?'. (it would seem the population of my tiny imaginary city is surprisingly jaded....)

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Now playing: Scissor Sisters - I Can't Decide
via FoxyTunes

Catching up on things.

I was kind of operating on silent running for a while, as there were some birthday and swap projects I was working on that I needed to keep quiet until the big reveal. My two favorites out of the batch:

OCTONINJA!!!


Made this little guy for my friend's birthday - she likes squid/octopi, her boyfriend likes ninjas, so I figured it was something she could proudly display anywhere in the house. He's made mostly out of black denim, with a square of Amy Butler's Full Moon Dots for around the eyes.












And from the swap, PAMCAKE APRON!



I was discussing how awesome this came out with a co-worker, and she suggested a tutorial. There is a small problem with this, however, as you soon shall see:
Step One: Draw 'lil Hellboy on apron
Step Two: Color in drawing with acrylics mixed with fabric medium.
Step Three: Heat set.

Yeah....

Latest kick has been embroidery - got two projects going there, bunch of knitting projects, both for myself and as samples, knitting contest I'm gearing up for, soldered pieces I'm working on as a commissioned job, the new fabrics the store just got in are inspiring me to do some more sewing, and I found an awesome plushie contest I want to enter...

What's that? Sleep? Never heard of it.

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Now playing: The Apples In Stereo - Energy
via FoxyTunes

5 Impossible Things I Would Like For My Birthday.

My birthday is coming up soon, and as usual, I can never decide what I'd like. I'm terrible about talking people out of buying me awesome stuff because I get all 'reasonable' and ask for something I need instead of something I want. So, in that vein, just in case anyone I know has suddenly developed magical wish-granting powers and has been holding out on me, there are five completely impossible (well, not IMPOSSIBLE, but very very unlikely and improbable) things I would love to see for my birthday:

1. Through some odd, previously unnoticed surveying error, it would turn out that my house is not actually part of the subdivision, and thus, not subject to the homeowners' association rules (or dues)

2. A trip to Paris to go to the Depeche Mode concert there the weekend of my birthday.

3. A lifetime supply of beer. Good beer. If someone tried to give me a lifetime supply of Bud Light or Coors, I think I'd punch them. (I say as though this is somehow more likely than anything else on this list)

4. My computer upgraded to the point that it might be in danger of being classified as a sentient being.

5. A way to get to my laundry room without having to go through the garage.

That last one seems a little out of place, I'll admit, but it really really bugs me, and I just can't figure out a way to do it without inventing a teleporter or losing a closet.

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Now playing: DeVotchKa - Ocean Of Lust
via FoxyTunes

Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow.

Went out roller skating for a friend's birthday Sunday night, and realized three very important things that I should have thought of earlier:

1. I cannot skate on regular roller skates, only on rollerblades.

This was quickly remedied, as the rink had rollerblades available at no extra charge as long as you left your shoes with them. Of course, the rental rollerblades were missing a wheel and had gum in one (prompting me to announce to my friends "and for my next trick, I shall order a piece of cherry pie with a pit in it!").

2. I have mostly skated on pavement, not wood.

Wood is a lot smoother. And faster.

3. I have mostly skated on hockey skates, leading to two sub-points:

a. Hockey rollerblades lace up, they don't have those weird bindings that always seem to work loose because I don't really know how to adjust them properly.

b. I used to skate WITH SAFETY PADS ON!!!!!

As I sit here on a heating pad, covered in Dragon Balm, I realise point 3(b) is really the one I should have remembered...

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Now playing: Duke Chapel Choir - 08 - Lacrymosa - Mozart Requiem
via FoxyTunes

Just a quick nerd check-in.

I finally managed to get to see the new Star Trek. I confess, I was sort of putting it off because I was certain it couldn't live up to my mental picture, but I was more than happy with it. I was actually tempted to go kill some time until the IMAX showing started at ten, but I have work tomorrow, so probably not the best idea... It combined three of my favorite things: Star Trek, Simon Pegg, and the possibility that Voyager never happened.

Seriously. I don't know where Voyager went wrong, but it did it fast, and it did it HARD.

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Now playing: Nena - 99 Luftballons - German
via FoxyTunes

Look on my scarf, ye Mighty, and despair... (part 6)

It's been slow going between various injuries, new pattern ideas, and generally a metric shitload of other stuff that I needed to work on, but the scarf is up to 26 inches. On the one hand, I want to see just how fast I can get this thing done (is there a record for fastest Dr. Who scarf ever knit?). On the other hand, since it's all garter stitch it makes a great breather from my more complex projects.

The Endpaper Mitts in particular require frequent breathers. The pattern isn't hard, but since I hold both colors and work the fairisle pattern in German and English style with one color in each hand, I can only work on them for about a half-hour at a time before my left arm starts killing me. (Granted, at the moment both arms are killing me from all the yardwork lately, but even so...)

Of course, I just got my partner assignment for the Venture Bros. swap on Craftster, so everything will be going on hold for a little bit while I get my craftin' on for that. I've got a full sheet of paper covered in ideas, I just need to go stalk my partner for a bit and get the list pared down.

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Now playing: Depeche Mode - The Sun & The Rainfall
via FoxyTunes

Hooray for Multitasking!

Taking a little break from the Scarf to do a few swatches for some other projects:



The tri-color one is just an actual gauge swatch so I can get some sizing into the mix, but the brown striped swatch is giving me fits. I'm not sure if the colors are quite right, and I know that the 3x1 rib pattern isn't what I need. I thought the two variegated browns would get the right feel to the piece, but I'm wondering now if solid colors will end up looking better in the end.

I...I may have officially played too much Psychonauts...

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Now playing: Rock Plaza Central - Anthem for the Already Defeated
via FoxyTunes

Look on my scarf, ye Mighty, and despair... (part 5)

I've re-started the scarf, this time in a mix of Wool-Ease and Signature (mostly because there was a KICK-ASS sale on it). I was originally going to make it about 3/4 the width the pattern calls for, because last time it seemed really wide, but in the better quality yarn, it's so much softer that it really does need to be that wide.

Just updated the laptop to Ubuntu, BTW - very very happy with it in general, but I haven't found a music player I really like for it yet. Just a matter of trial and error, I suppose. Grand scheme of things, I suppose it doesn't really matter, as the whole reason behind getting the laptop back up is so that I can watch TV and generally be sociable while I'm on the computer.

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Now playing: Depeche Mode - Never Let Me Down Again (2006 Remastered)
via FoxyTunes

Fresh Out of Armageddon...

Neil Gaiman asked the people following him on Twitter to tweet pics of ourselves with tea and armageddon, but all I've got is a stockpot full of tea:



Hopefully, someone has some leftover armageddon they'll be willing to share in exchange for the recipe:

2 cinnamon sticks, broken into pieces
1 heaping tablespoon of loose black tea
1 heaping tablespoon of whole cardamom pods
1/2 tablespoon whole cloves

Toss everything into a stockpot, fill with water, and bring to the boil. Keep it boiling for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat, strain and serve with milk and sugar. I like to keep the pot on the stove all day, just ladling it out straight through the strainer into the cups and adding more water to the pot as needed to keep the tea level up. The leftovers are also good cold.

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Now playing: Depeche Mode - Martyr
via FoxyTunes

Look on my scarf, ye Mighty, and despair... (part 4)

Well, the time may have come to start the scarf over. Turns out that what with having used up a fair amount of the cheap acrylic on other projects, there's probably not going to quite be enough for an entire second scarf. I suppose I could just make it narrower, but I'll be damned if I'm buying any more of this particular yarn (the best comparison I can think of is that it's the Coors Light of yarn). I do have most of the colors I need in Lamb's Pride, though. I did the math today, and realized that it would only take about $20 worth of yarn to make up the missing colors. Technically, the goal *was* to use up the stash acrylic so I could justify buying the yarn to make myself a nice version....

I suppose I could just use the acrylic to whip up some little plushies for Etsy, or hold it back for a stash-clearing swap...I was really hoping that this would be a fairly cheap project, though.

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Now playing: Depeche Mode - Miles Away / The Truth Is
via FoxyTunes

Apparently, I do not know how to use spray paint.....

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Note that there is little, if any, paint on the finger actually used to trigger the can. Was my hand in the way somehow, like an accidental photograph of a thumb? Was I using some odd technique that others would want pictures of to illustrate the 'don't' section of an informative "Spray Paint Dos and Don'ts" pamphlet? Was it a faulty nozzle that was leaking? (I lean towards this explanation, as the paint was dripping everywhere as well) Was the can itself leaking?

I do not think I will buying this brand of paint again, regardless of its dirt-cheapness. Whatever the price difference was, I think I used up enough soap and nail polish remover to make the pricier paint worth my while if it sprays better.

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Now playing: DeVotchKa - The Clockwise Witness
via FoxyTunes

Look on my scarf, ye Mighty, and despair... (part 3)

The soldering class this morning went fantastic, but I started to lose my voice about halfway through. I thought at the time it was just because I'd only brought a cup of tea that lasted barely a half hour into the 3-hour class, and I was talking pretty much the entire three hours straight, but it really didn't improve even after I got a soda. Then I went and got some more painting done, and the cool breeze picking up really didn't help. I'm thinking I may have caught a touch of the sore throat one of my co-workers had a week or so ago.

Regardless, feeling a bit out of it has slowed progress on the scarf a bit. I'm only up to 20 inches, though I think I can get it to a full 2 feet before bed. I was really hoping to be further in by now. At least this time I'm remembering to go through and sew in the ends as I change colors. Last scarf, I'm pretty sure it took me longer to sew all the ends in afterwards than it did to actually knit the thing.



I should get all my yarns together and print out another copy of the pattern so I can bring it along to work on during the traditional post-holiday dinner couch coma. I wonder what the record time for knitting a Dr. Who scarf is?

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Now playing: Alice Cooper - Clowns Will Eat Me
via FoxyTunes

Look on my scarf, ye Mighty, and despair... (part 2)

Huh...was scrounging around for the next color in the sequence for the Scarf, and discovered that apparantly I'd started another scarf some time ago. Long enough ago that I didn't remember having started it...or these two single socks...or this other scarf...or that hideous sweater out of Lion Brand Homespun...

It seems I need to keep a better eye on my stash/projects. This is where Ravelry comes in handy, I would've forgotten about half the projects I have going at the moment without it.

I've just reached the one foot mark...I think 20 feet finished length may have been underestimating a bit...

(no FoxyTunes sig today - iheartmusic.com has a preview of Sounds of the Universe up!)

Look on my scarf, ye Mighty, and despair... (part 1)

Well, I was browsing the yarn stash, trying to think of some way to clear some of it out, and I came across the leftover yarn from my Dr. Who scarf. And I looked at it, and I thought to myself 'huh - I probably have enough here for another one'. And so I am...

Not sure if I'll keep this one, or if it'll end up being another present. I suppose it really just depends on when it gets finished.

4 inches down, 19 feet, 8 inches to go.....

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Now playing: Jonathan Coulton (Portal) - Still Alive
via FoxyTunes

More random lists...

The five words that clear out most of my spam:

Replica
Oprah
Diet
Acai
Facebook

I'll take "Things That Can Go F*** Themselves" for $500, Alex.

Because I didn't have enough projects...

I realized recently that the 'play count' on iTunes isn't quite as useful as I'd like it to be in determining how much I actually like a song - a song that I've had on my playlist since January and have listed to 20 times isn't necessarily as popular as one that's been on there for three days and has 15 plays. What I need is an average plays/day count. Ideally, there would be something I could just plug into iTunes to accomplish this. I've found lots of iTunes add-ons, but none of them seem to do quite what I want (though the one to categorize your music by assigning colors to each song was interesting - a little synaesthetic, but interesting.). Thus, I go forth to fix up something in Excel to import my iTunes data into. In a perfect world, I'd have the time to write an actual plug-in (correction: in a perfect world, someone would have already written such a thing for me). And then I want to make some shiny little charts, and sift out little strange bits of data to play with. Because I'm just weird like that.

Also, we're now three days into Script Frenzy, and as you can see, I am busily coming up with anything and everything possible to distract me from actually writing something...

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Now playing: Marilyn Manson - Personal Jesus
via FoxyTunes

More teeny tiny painted things

Or more accurately, more paint on the teeny tiny things.

Fronts:


Backs:
Next time I buy a figure, I'm going to set something up so I can do time-lapse pictures of me painting it. Now if I could just get my hands on a Witchalok mini...

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Now playing: The Clash - London Calling
via FoxyTunes

Go Forth and bask in the Awesome

My article detailing the awesomeness of Dr. Strange is up:

http://www.gamingangels.com/2009/03/made-of-awesome-dr-strange/
Go forth, read, comment, go out and buy a few back issues, petition Marvel to hire me as a writer.

(Also, I think it says something about me that I already had 'Dr. Strange' as one of my tags...)

Edit:(link to article changed)

...sigh...

Why do I do this to myself? I despise pineapple, I dislike ham, and Im not really all that fond of cranberries. So why am I sitting down to eat a slice of ham on toast covered in pineapple, cranberry sauce, and melted cheese?



Okay, so I know perfectly well why. But I'm going to blame sleep deprivation and go work on tomorrow's comic.

Update: I have discovered why pineapples were placed upon this earth. I think I should use a straight cranberry relish next time though, rather than the cran-raspberry stuff I had on hand. Maybe a slice of the canned stuff? Regardless, canned pineapple now going on the grocery list as a standard feature.

Head Clearing

In the middle of trying to convey to others the awesomeness that is Dr. Strange. I need to take a step back and do something else to clear my head for a bit, so I thought I'd randomly share the current ten most listened-to songs on my iTunes playlist:

10. I'm Yours - Jason Mraz
9. Everywhere - Fleetwood Mac
8. The Oblivion - DeVotchKa
7. 500 Miles - Peter, Paul, and Mary
6. Ashanti's Letterbomb - Dean Grey
5. My Dear Acquaintance - Regina Spektor
4. Curbside Prophet - Jason Mraz
3. Leaving on a Jet Plane - Peter, Paul, and Mary
2. John the Revelator - Depeche Mode
1. At My Window Sad and Lonely - Wilco and Billy Bragg

Very surprised. I was expecting a much higher Depeche Mode/Peter, Paul, and Mary ratio...

General whatsits.

Went to check out a new game store today, and decided to splurge and get a couple of new minis to represent the cleric and warlord in our current D&D campaign. Got a good start on them tonight, here's a pic of all the in-progress minis:

Somehow, I managed to stumble upon the female mini showing the least amount of skin out of any sculpt Reaper makes. Seriously - the two bulky fighters behind her are more naked. Hell, the male cleric has more skin showing. Regardless, this makes our party look a bit more representative of the actual characters:
The Munchkin figure just seems awesomely appropriate for the halfling thief, so I've no plans to replace him. Ideally, though, I will eventually find a better figure for my dragonborn fighter, and will be able to stop using an Abe Sapien capsule figure...

I've also got a good start on my Endpaper Mitts. Finally. The first attempt had a few problems. The biggest one was that the grey marl yarn I'd chosen as the main color and the self-striping green that I originally wanted to show off with the mitts had absolutely no contrast. The fairisle pattern just faded together into a grey-green. Then, when I took it off the needles, it turned out that the large in the pattern was going to be a bit uncomfortably tight anyway, so I've started over with a hair thicker black yarn as my main color, going to just use the larger needles called for, and we'll see how the green self-striping looks now. Fingers crossed.

Spring Cleaning

Managed to get some projects finished this week - finally. Got mom's socks all done, got a few store samples ready to go, and I think I could make a granny square in my sleep now. I've been trying to go through my Ravelry notebook and get some old projects a bit farther along, as well as getting photos on everything.

The big thing has been getting good photos of all the projects I've done for work, since my boss gave me permission to start a store Ravelry group. Turns out I've made a lot more of the displays than I realized. Ended up getting her to finally sign up for Ravelry, as well.

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Now playing: Modest Mouse - Bury Me With It
via FoxyTunes

I have officially ruined the mailbox

When I painted the mailbox yesterday, I started to get all panicky that I couldn't find the stencils to replace the house numbers on the side of the box. My panic was proven correct today, when we got a slip of paper in the mailbox from the postman saying we needed numbers. This really pisses me off because, well, it should have been pretty obvious that we'd just painted the box and needed to wait for it to dry before adding the numbers.

Then I discovered today painting the box that A) I have no f**king idea how to use spray paint with stencils, and B) if you paint that hammered metal stuff over regular spray paint, it bubbles up and makes the basecoat peel off in big chunks. Apparently I will have to sand and repaint the whole damned thing, and get it all done tomorrow, between going to work and everything else I have to do tomorrow. because the postal carrier can't be bothered to, oh, I don't know, LOOK UP AT THE SIDE OF THE DAMNED HOUSE?!?!?!?!

I really wish we could just switch over to some other method of getting all our mail, like how we can just use cell phones instead of dealing with a house line. FedEx should look into that, maybe.

The main point here though, is that I was right. Which makes me feel a little better.

General Updates

Started in working on the outside of the house today. The backyard in particular is going to take some doing. Two hours outside, and I only just got the patio cleared off and got a dead branch cut off of one of the trees. I really need to do something about the side yard, too. Maybe just till the whole thing up and cover it with pea gravel to make a nice path to the backyard that'll be a bit easier to haul all the tools and stuff I need from the garage without having to drag stuff through the house.

Going to set Tiwaz to work tomorrow on prepping the house for painting on Friday when I have the day off. We don't have a particularly tall ladder, but we should at least be able to get a decent start. I think I'll paint the mailbox, too. Just to make it stand out a bit. Don't know what the homeowner's regulations regarding mailbox color are, but hey, after two attempts to get a copy of the freaking rules, I say the hell with it - if they don't want it an interesting color, they should have told me when I asked.

Also starting work on a couple of apron designs that I think will go over well on Etsy. Haven't decided whether to screen them, or embroider them just yet. Grand scheme of things, I think that once I take my time into account, the two methods will cost about the same. I may have to do some tests as to washability, though. I've only really ever embroidered decorative items before, so I'm not sure how the floss will stand up to the sort of washing a BBQ apron's going to have to handle. Shall have to test it out on a kitchen towel.

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Now playing: Depeche Mode - Enjoy the Silence
via FoxyTunes

My day thus far...

Woke to the sound of birds singing and the first ice-cream truck of the year driving by. Then I hopped out of bed and brightly started in on a fun art project.....

....Then the weird 'no no no' noise started coming from the cat.....

I managed to whisk her out the door in time to keep the kitty spew confined to the doormat...where I didn't see it and put my foot in it tossing her out...

Foot scrubbed, gonna go clean the carpet, get some food, and see if I can manage to get back in 'project' mode. I think on days when I wake up with a project in mind, I need to just make putting the cat out the first 'to-do' on my list.

Funny, or sad?

So, my boss made this pendant that said 'Yes We Can'. It was only after she asked which color represented Democrats that I realized it was an Obama reference. Hand to God, I thought she'd made a Bob the Builder necklace. I have no small children (yet), I have no excuse. Other than being Libertarian. Is wanting to have an excuse for being completely out of the pop-culture loop an acceptable reason for having kids?

Somewhere, Ford Cruller is crying.

So...yesterday, I put on a pan of bacon to cook, set the timer for ten minutes, and went upstairs to grab my camera to take some pics for Etsy.


Good news is, apparently if something catches on fire, my oven shuts itself off and locks the door until it cools. It must have happened pretty fast, because the timer never actually went off, and the pan is perfectly fine, since I'd thought to line it with foil. The top three inches of the oven are not quite as happy:














Not to mention the door:

Thankfully, it's just the inner glass that's cracked, and as it turns out, this house has one seriously kick-ass attic fan.

It was only as the house was clearing out that we realized 'Wait, the house was so full of smoke, it looked like an 80's hair band music video...why is it so damned quiet?'. And thus we went out and bought new smoke alarms, having remembered that ours are wired into something that no longer works and we couldn't just slap new batteries in them.

In other news, I have had this German Technopop cover of 'Take Me Home Country Roads' stuck in my head for four days now. I've even managed to get it stuck in other people's heads. It may be the audio equipment of a computer virus. And it is made of awesome.

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Now playing: Die Inselfeger - Country Roads (Tränen-in-die-Augen Mix)
via FoxyTunes

Making a note here - HUGE SUCCESS

*whew*

Yesterday afternoon I got a call that one of the knitting teachers at work had needed to cancel, so I stepped in for her. (since I'd knit the sample and made the adjustments to the pattern anyway...) Fun, but a bit exhausting after a full day of work. I think it went well, though. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, and more importantly, seemed to get the hang of fair isle okay. And heck, a little extra money here and there never hurt.

However, the 10-hour day at work on top of the furniture moving yesterday means that about all that I can move right now is my fingers. Fortunately, that's all I really need to be able to move to eat and knit.

Good on you, Ann Norling!

Well, the handwarmer pattern is almost ready to go forth into the wide world and bring pack some spare change. I had a friend do a test-knit, and she pointed out a few things I'd kind of skimmed over (like the dimensions of the different sizes...oh, details), so I just need to fix those and get my little hand up to be added to the list to sell patterns through Ravelry.

The Top-Down Raglan class at work got me in the mood to start back in on the cardigan I put on hold to finish the Christmas knitting. I really prefer the Woolworks free fill-in-the-blank pattern I'm using to the Ann Norling pattern the class is doing, though. I made the kids' version as a store display, and there were a few bits where I really had to re-read the pattern a couple of times to make sure I was doing what I was supposed to. Not a bad pattern, just oddly phrased in places. Most of her patterns are like that - there's just something a little odd. Like the one we have where the picture has the camera datestamp on it. My boss is convinced that Ann Norling is just printing these patterns out at home and assembling everything on her dining room table. You know what? If she is, more power to her. I just wish my dining room table was clear enough to pull off something like that.

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Now playing: Peter, Paul and Mary - 500 Miles
via FoxyTunes

Next coat...

Almost forgot, got the first coat of actual colors on the minis the other night:

Tiwaz says that so far, the beetle is looking disturbingly life-like.  I give full credit to the mica topcoat.  I've mostly been focusing on the creatures, as they're the most urgently needed (in the sense of 'someday when everyones schedules aren't totally fucked over, we might need those'), but I've got a nice base coat on the shield and the sorceress's cape as well.

Knit, knit, knit, CROSS-STITCH!!!

I'm finally starting to reach the end of the knitting backlog.  Got both of the remaining pairs of handwarmers done, and the socks are coming along nicely.  I really need to get the handwarmer pattern all polished and posted - it's not going to be a free one, though.  Assorted reasons lead me to believe that I should charge a little something for it - not much, probably only 50 cents to a dollar.  I'd feel a little silly selling them if I was handing out the pattern for free, and well, quite frankly, I could use the ego boost of people buying something I've designed.

(Yes, I know I designed and/or wrote several patterns for sale at work, but I don't actually get credit for those.  Or more importantly, money.)

However, as the Christmas crafting winds down, other holidays loom before me.  Namely, a shitload of birthdays.  I've got ideas for most of them, it's just a matter of gathering the necessary time and/or money.  In particular, I've got a couple of very interesting cross-stitch/embroidery ideas in mind. (wow, I'm getting some mileage out of my forward slash in this post, aren't I?).  There's a couple of neat things I ran through Dark Lilac before they took their pattern generator down, and the rest I should be able to cobble together okay, as they're mostly text.  

All of this, of course, being dependent on getting the last of this Christmas stuff finished up soon.

Sigh......

New Year, New Stuff

Well, got my first comic of the New Year posted.  Hopefully, I can keep this up as at least a weekly occurrance.  I've got my next two weeks done too, so that's a good start.  I figure I can manage to come up with 52 funny things to say within the space of a year.  I could probably do more in terms of ideas, but unless I become an overnight success with merchandising and such, I don't think I can  afford the time to do more than one a week.  Now I just need to get my website looking a little more user-friendly, maybe integrate this blog into it.

Also used my Christmas money to get started on a new hobby - soldered jewelry.  Here's my first two pieces:

Nothing overwhelming, certainly, but I really enjoy it and it seemed to come pretty easily to me (with some help from my dad, Mr. Certified Welder, of course.)  Each one seems to come out better than the last, so while I've got some stuff now that I'd feel pretty good about wearing myself or giving as gifts, I think by next week I should be up to a point of feeling like I can sell them.  I know that sounded odd, but what I mean is that I've got the framing down but I'm not feeling secure in my soldered jump rings - stuff for myself or people I know, I can fix if the ring fails.

And I got the first coat of primer on the minis I (well, we technically, but they're basically all mine until they're painted) got for Christmas:

Now I just need to figure out where the hell I put my X-Acto, remove the flashing, and I can get really dug in.  I'm thinking of doing the dungeon vermin first, as it's the monsters that we need the most for our campaigns.

Race to the finish line

Caution - I don't think anyone's going to have time to read my blog until after Christmas, but just in case, I've made certain parts a bit hard to read as something of a spoiler protection.

Well, I figure there's no time to get every project done in time, so I've finished the ones for the out-of-towners, and I'm going to make sure all the others are at least started, so I can wrap the projects with a picture of the pattern and everyone will know I didn't just flake, and know what things are going to look like.

So I'll have a pair of socks, two hats, a two and a half pairs of handwarmers, a pair of slippers, a couple of plushies, a small pile of cellphone charms, sleep pants, possibly some more earrings, and a sweater that the freaking yarn hasn't actually arrived for yet (seriously - this is two years running!  I order the yarn to make the sweater back in October, and it just never arrives.  Last year's was discontinued, I can't wait to hear the excuse for this one)

Then there's also rewiring the plug that fell off of the tree (shouldn't be too hard, but it's the downside of the pre-lit tree), wrapping everything, and I think I was supposed to make cookies. I don't know anymore, my caffeine level has dropped slightly below rational thought, but still holding above motor control.

Christmas Looming...

Bleh.

Eight days of crafting time left.  I sort of hope we get more snow tomorrow so I can just tuck in for the day and get some quality crafting time in. (of course, I'll probably need to go get a few extra supplies, so....)

There are ends to sew in, knitting projects to finish, bits to be sewn together, jewelry to finish, prints to be made, inks to be heat-set, items to be pre-washed before wrapping, patterns to finish, etc, etc, etc.  I'm a little glad that not all of the relatives are going to be able to make it in for Christmas, since it gives me until New Year's to finish up their stuff.

I'm supremely confident that I can get everything done, but there's gonna be one hell of a crash Christmas evening when I fall over from exhaustion.

Updates

I added my twitter to the sidebar - I do tend to talk to myself a lot, I feel a bit less silly talking to the internet rather than sitting here talking to the cat, especially as the cat has a tendency to wander off a bit.

The pickles are all done.  And nearly all eaten.  Needless to say, they turned out well.  We're already planning all the vegetables we'd like to plant to pickle for next year.

We need to plant some onions, too.  I keep running out, and it's so nice and snowy outside, onion soup sounds so very very tasty.

NaNoWriMo Fail

Once again, I did not complete NaNoWriMo.  November is really never a good time for me - it's usually when I start panicking about getting the Christmas crafting done, not to mention that I had a craft show to prepare for this year and the brief possibility of hosting Thanksgiving.

However, on a brief spin through Wikipedia trying to recall if James Bond works for MI5 or MI6, I happened to read up on all the other MI agencies.  Most of them were wartime sort of things and are now defunct, but....there was never an MI13.  At least not one anyone knows about.  I think I have next year's NaNoWriMo idea.  Or a kick-ass Hellsing fanfic.  Or Torchwood. Must...resist...fanfic...save...good ideas...for original works...and stop...talking like Captain Kirk.

Hello, Winter!

Yay!  First snow of the season.

Looked very crisp and snuggly this morning, too bad I had to go to work.  Fortunately, the pavement was warm enough that the roads were just wet rather than icy.  Meant a nice slow day with plenty of time to work on the store samples, at least.

Got some pickles started, as well.  They were the leftover radishes from the Thanksgiving relish tray, and I'm hoping to have the pickles done in time for the Christmas relish tray.  I'm doing tsukemono-style pickles, sliced thinly and pressed with salt.  If everyone likes them well enough, I may be able to get a bit of a subsidy to buy a proper tsukemono press instead of using two stacking tupperware containers with weights in one.  

In progress

Thought I'd post a few in-progress paintings that I'm working on for the show next week:

This one is going to probably be the most heavily reworked.  I don't know what the hell I was thinking here, trying to just paint a checkered tablecloth without doing a few sketches first.  The perspective problems just make me cringe.



This one is just an abstract, it's almost done, I just have a few details to add.  I found an entire package of metal leaf that's going to be going to a good cause  - my painting instructor would be so proud.

I think this one's self-explanatory.   He may get a friend looking for his bucket depending on my time constraints.

Novels and Knitting

Well, NaNoWriMo is going fairly well so far.  It helps that this year I had a setting planned out.  I'd actually started to write a story in this setting several years ago, but I'd been writing it all longhand between classes, and and some point the envelope I was keeping my pages in kind of vanished somewhere and is still probably floating around campus.  I still had all my setting and character notes, though, so I'm using them to start over from scratch.  

I'm also coming along well on getting some stock together for the craft show next weekend.  I have high hopes of actually selling some of my paintings, and I've got some jewelry pieces I'm pretty proud of, too.  I'm thinking that I'm going to change my policy and go ahead and put stuff that I'm working on to sell in my Ravelry notebook.  After all, most of them are original patterns, I could be selling the patterns through Ravelry, or be getting some attention focused on my Etsy store.  which reminds me, I need to get to work finishing up my tags and business cards for next weekend.  I'm pretty excited about the whole thing - every now and then I need a little validation that my college degree is somwhat useful.

And now a brief political message...

That is all...
(images CC from wikimedia, poster generated by diy.despair.com)

And this is why I waited to register to vote.

In the last two hours, I have had THREE political poll phone calls. They've got four minutes, and then the next one gets immediately answered with "I'll vote for whoever will shut the hell up and let me get back to what I was doing!"

Updates all around

Well, I just finished going through my Ravelry notebook and taking some fresh pictures to update my projects in progress. The big one to update is the hat I'm working on - it's an original design, and I'm really very pleased with how it's turning out. Took a little while to get the hang of the shaping in double-knitting, but it looks pretty good, and I think I've explained it nicely in the pattern. I'm actually pleased enough that I think people might be willing to pay money for it.

The felted satchel for Tiwaz is coming along nicely as well - I'd hoped to have it done for our aniversary, but I don't think I'll quite have it done by then. Definitely before Thanksgiving, though. Now that we have a washer and drier, I have a bit of a backlog of things that need felting anyway - best to just set aside a day for it.

And, of course, we're heading dangerously into NaNoWriMo time again. I'm thinking this year I'll actually prepare a bit, try working up some character profiles and such. I've got two pages of a comic that I drew as part of an art project, and I'm thinking that might be a good jumping off point for me this year - I essentially drew a trailer, no plot really involved, just a hook. I don't even think there was any dialog, just character introductions. I've got my author page all updated, though, and I just need to grab this year's badges and fix my sidebar links.

Another thing to add to the list of things I can only do when no one is watching...

Seriously, since when can I make an omelet? Without fail, every time, it turns into scrambled eggs. I don't even know what possessed me to try today. Perhaps Cooking Mama really can improve your cooking skills...or maybe it's that I've simply never tried when there was no one else home to whom I could show the perfect, perfect cheese omelet.

Starting the Christmas Crafting

Well, the Christmas crafting has begun in earnest. So far I've got one original pattern I'm working on, and two more projects I'm working on from other patterns. I'm trying to do smaller projects and not take on too much, possibly famous last words.

The Triumph of Planned Obsolescence

Last week we were getting ready to leave the house, and the garage door opener wouldn't work. This has happened before, and turned out to be a broken spring that time, but we could tell all the springs were intact this time. So, we tried running it again, paying closer attention to the actual opener, and found that while the motor was running and the chain was hooked in properly, the chain was not moving. A few days later when we had the time, we opened the opener up and had my dad take a look at it, thinking that it was just a gear not catching...


And by 'not catching', of course, we mean 'made of nylon and shredded to bits where it rubs against the metal gear'. There is no way to fix this gear, and replacing it would be exceptionally awkward - assuming we could find or fabricate the right gear to begin with.

The next step, then, was to look up the model and see what sort of warranty it might have had on it. As it turns out, this model is no longer made, so no one would have been able to do anything for us even if the warranty still applied, but here's the kicker - the opener originally came with a ten-year warranty....

Ten years exactly. On the one hand, I am incredibly pissed off because we have had rain every day but one since this happened . On the other hand, somewhere out there is an engineer/industrial designer who really knows their estimated material lives.

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Now playing: Jonathan Coulton (Portal) - Still Alive
via FoxyTunes

Best laid plans of mice and men are all f***ed up by cats.

So I woke up this morning all "I'm gonna write, and do some painting, and clean the kitchen, and get that hat pattern posted", but then I opened my bedroom door and found this:

So the cat got dumped out on her fuzzy little butt, I cleaned up the trail of shredded toilet paper, found where she'd hidden the toilet paper roll holder, and now I'm going to eat and play World of Warcraft, because it's all gloomy outside and that just sucked up my will to do something productive for the next few hours.

Recipe: Caprese Salad Extreme

A deli near my house makes a truly awesome caprese salad, but it doesn't seem to be something they make every day, so as my contribution on the Fourth, I sort of reverse-engineered it and added a few touches of my own:

1 1/2 lb mozzarella (the nice fresh squishy stuff or the little balls)
3/4 lb cherry tomatoes
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
6 whole sundried tomatoes, chopped
5 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (or about one-third to half the tube if you buy the stuff I always get)
1/4 large onion, very thinly sliced
2 cloves roasted garlic, chopped (or a big heaping spoonful of the pre-chopped stuff)
1 teaspoon"Italian Seasoning" (I like the Paul Prudhomme Pizza and Pasta Magic)
1/4 teaspoon salt
Oregano and red pepper flakes to taste

Whisk together everything except the onion, cheese, and cherry tomatoes in a large NON-METALLIC bowl (found that out the hard way with previous tomato-based salads). Cut the cheese into cubes and stir in thoroughly, letting rest for a moment. Cut the stems out of the cherry tomatoes and add (if that hard little stem part doesn't bother you like it does me, just stab them a couple of times before tossing them in), followed by onion. Mix thoroughly. For best flavor, cover and let it rest in the fridge overnight before serving.

Of Heroes and Villians

When Heath Ledger died, I went 'oh, that's too bad.' Having seen The Dark Knight, I now feel his death as a great personal loss. This was not campy clownish Joker, this was pure Frank Miller-esque chaos given human form Joker, and it was amazing. I honestly don't think that the next Batman movie can possibly be as good, simply because the Joker is really your classic top-shelf Batman villain, and I don't think anyone else could play him. Honestly, if you define a superhero by his villains, then Batman really is near the top (I'm sorry, but Dr. Strange still wins the villain contest. I mean, Shuma-freaking-Gorath!)

The whole movie was amazing - we went to see it at this awesome theater that's pretty small but very 'golden age of Hollywood' themed and serves actual food and booze. It was like watching it in a big room full of friends - we all cheered and laughed out loud and screamed and when it was over the whole audience burst into applause. I'm kinda glad we didn't go to the IMAX theater for the opening, because I think it just would have been too much for me at that time of morning -I would have been too shaky to drive the half-hour home. (Though I do look forward to going out there to see it again, as I've heard that some scenes were actually filmed especially for IMAX)

And then we went to IHOP, and the waitress asked as we'd finished off our pancakes and waffles, were we interested in dessert.....

The fruits of my rummaging

So excited about the results of my thrift store rounds - the big winner of the day (not counting the furniture at my friend's garage sale) was an old ammo case I found at Salvation Army. It smells really strange inside - sort of like fireworks, but not quite. I thought maybe it was some other kind of munition, but the only one I could think of was cordite, and I've been informed that a) it smells more like marzipan, b) was mostly used by the British army, and c) doesn't seem to have been used since WWII. I seem to have just been reading too many pre-1940 books lately.

As a co-worker pointed out, it was probably used in Vietnam, so someone may have been storing 'smoking materials' in it as well as the ammo. But it doesn't have that 'art professor's office' smell, either. Doesn't really matter, since it's getting scrubbed out to within an inch of its life so I can use it as a lunchbox.

The other big 'woot' moment came from the cheap-ass Scrabble game I got. At first I thought I'd make something cool out of them for my Etsy store, but then I got to thinking, and I honestly think they'd sell better to just sell the tiles as supplies.

Oh, and someone from Geek Crafts spotted my Mona Kitty t-shirt on Craftster, and they're going to feature it on Wednesday! Happy happy joy joy! There's my ego satisfied for at *least* the rest of the week ^_^

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Now playing: Beatles - Across The Universe
via FoxyTunes

Odd thoughts...

Where does the government get those markers to black out documents? Because the brand-new Sharpie I'm using can only do the tabs on three file folders, tops, before I have to let it sit and rest. Are they using special markers, or is there some technique I don't have down?

Always nice to feel like I've added a little awesome to the world:

I'd made a painting of Hello Kitty as the Mona Lisa for my latest swap, and everyone loved it so much that I cleaned up one of my concept drawings and made a screen at work. I now know what every girl I know is getting for Christmas ^_^. It looks a little blotchy because I had some glow-in-the-dark screenprinting ink that came with the kit I bought off the clearance rack that had sort of congealed too much to be usable on its own. So, I mixed it in with the opaque white in hopes that the glowiness would still work - which it does, but I can't get a decent picture of it in the dark. Now to go find my iron and heat-set this baby so I can wear it tomorrow!

I hope my partner finds her camera cable soon so she can post some pictures of the rest of her package - I wasn't able to get very good pictures before I sent (I was in a hurry because I thought I was running late, but it turned out I sent two days early)

"Get your car in the basement..."

I kid you not, the weather girl honestly just said this. I mean, there's a big storm, hail, gas storage facility hit by lightning and on fire (which is why I just came back from running out into the storm to fill my gas tank up), and this weather girl is currently in the process of warning people on the OTHER SIDE OF THE STATE about their weather. I know damn well and good that none of them get this station. And she always makes a point of breaking in on CSI, too.

And don't think I'm being condescending referring to her as the weather girl. I looked up her qualifications once, she's not actually a meteorologist. I've actually signed a petition to get this woman pulled off the air.

Memorial Day Goodies

Ah, it was nice to have a day off. Lots of things I'd been meaning to get around to. Between all of us, we managed to get the living room cleaned, new fan installed (I can't believe what a difference a better light makes - I'm all pumped to start painting the living room now!), bought fabric for dining room curtains, and made some truly fantastic burgers.

I'm actually so pleased with how the burgers turned out, I'm glad I wrote down everything I put in them. I'm going to try to work out some more specific measurements than 'some' and 'a couple of splashes', and maybe post the recipe in the next few days. I think with an egg and something to act as filler (my first thought is bread crumbs, my second thought panko or crushed bagel/pita chips) it would make an incredible meatloaf as well


I'm really loving the fabric I got for the curtains - I'm starting to wish I'd maybe gotten a little more to re-do the chairs, but I don't know that it would be sturdy enough for that purpose. It looks wonderful with the curtain rod (pictured), and it's going to go really nicely with the cobalt blue I've got picked out for the final coat on the walls. I'm starting to think maybe I should just do the cobalt as a wash over the cadet blue I've got going in there at the moment. Something to maybe try out on a piece of scrap wood, see how it turns out.






I also found some nice fabric for some 'around the house' shorts for Tiwaz. It's hard sometimes to find a nice masculine looking fabric that isn't obviously for someone under 12. (Not that I don't think he'd wear Star Wars or Transformers shorts, - hell, not that I wouldn't - I'm just saying...)



I also got a few things for the latest swap I've joined. I'm pretty excited about the projects I'm working on, trying out a few new techniques and such. Don't want to go into too much detail in case my partner is checking my blog, but I've got the supplies for all but one of my projects, and I'm really looking forward to finishing up the big project. I'm trading a friend some shrinky-dinks for the supplies I need to get it done, as I discovered this weekend that somehow she has managed to get through life thus far without never knowing the joys of shrinky-dinks. This is a state of affairs that I simply cannot allow to continue. I'm sure she will enjoy them thoroughly, and promptly use them to create something far cooler than I could have come up with, just because she's kind of awesome like that at times.

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Now playing: Dean Gray - Ashanti's Letterbomb
via FoxyTunes

Potayto, Potahto

So my assignment at work today was basically 'fit ten pounds of potatoes into this five-pound bag'. Turns out it's an easy enough task to accomplish, but when you're done, a lot of potatoes are going to be very pissed off at you. Fortunately, enough of the 'potatoes' have given me crap that I don't care quite so much if they're pissed off anymore. After all, you can't make an omelette without breaking a few potatoes...er...eggs. I probably should have had a better lunch.

You get what you pay for...

So I found out today that GameTap is offering Psychonauts as a free download. My first thought was 'great! I almost paid $15 for the XBox version'. My second thought, about an hour into the game, was 'oh yeah...I really hated trying to play the demo on the PC'. I just can't find a comfortable button layout to play this game using the keyboard, I really need to get it in a version I can play with a controller. Oh well, something to add to my Wists.

I've been doing good on non-jewelry items for Etsy as well, got a few notecard sets lined up, and a few scarves and hats are ready for their close-ups. If time allows this week, I'm thinking of maybe putting a pattern up in pdf format - although Ravelry added a function to sell patterns through them. I'm going to have to do a little research into their shopping mechanism to see which way I want to go with that.

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Now playing: Vampire Weekend - Oxford Comma
via FoxyTunes

I Miss Coffee...

Well, that drawing I wanted went up on eBay today - I got the first bid in, and was instantly outbid all the way up to my limit. I honestly didn't think for a moment that I'd be able to get it, but at the very least I was hoping to keep the lead for a full minute. And this is why I don't buy much off of eBay. Believe me, it's not for lack of trying some days.

Regardless, I've been on an Etsy restocking spree lately. Mostly jewelry, which I love making, but I really don't feel like that's what I want to focus on - it seems like such a large percentage of Etsy is jewelry. Ideally, I want a variety of types of items in my store until such time as someone actually buys something from me. I just don't seem to be able to get a good grasp on what exactly Etsy shoppers are looking for, I guess. I'm thinking of putting a few strategic ads out on Project Wonderful, but I want to get my shop a little fuller first. I've got a few knit items I'm finishing up, another painting I'm working on, and a cute linoleum block that I'm planning to use to print notecards, but it seems like there should be more I could get together.

And that's where the lack of coffee comes in. I love coffee so much, and somehow other forms of caffeine just don't seem to give me the mental energy, just physical. Of course, I don't know that I'd feel quite so strongly on the matter if I wasn't allergic, but still, every time I hit a creative block, I find myself thinking 'well, one cup wouldn't hurt...I've got antihistamines...'.

Oh well, I'll just drown my sorrows with yarn - I'm nowhere near having used up enough to fulfill my New Year's resolution yet.

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Now playing: Electric Light Orchestra - Turn To Stone
via FoxyTunes

multi-talented cat

As I awkwardly type this, all eleven pounds Miss Minerva is carefully perched on my kneecap, cleaning her own butt. I have no idea when she suddenly developed a sense of balance, as earlier today, she tripped over a rug in the living room. I shall attempt to get the hell off of me and continue later...

A faint glimmer of garden...

In hopes of actually having a garden this year, I picked up one of those little greenhouse thingies at the grocery store and seeded it Sunday night:

The chamomile has already sprouted nicely, and it looks like the basil is close behind. I'm hoping that at some point in the next couple of weeks, it'll stop raining long enough for me to get out in the backyard and actually get a place ready to transplant these guys when they get big enough. I maybe should have thought about that before I started the plants, but if worse comes to worse, I can always transfer them into larger pots for a bit to buy some more time.

Except the catnip...somehow, it doesn't seem like that great of an idea to have a big pot full of catnip anywhere inside, unless I wanted potting soil all over the carpet and the cat permanently stoned.






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Now playing: Jill Tracy - Evil Night Together
via FoxyTunes

Little touches of awesome

Several random bits of minor awesomeness this week:

Yesterday I went to the Sonic near my office for lunch, and the carhop that served me was actually on roller skates! I've never actually seen a carhop on skates before.

I have had several random people at both jobs tell me I have a very nice voice. I feel like I should finish those flash lip-sync tests now >_<.

I've been using Google Maps' Street View to make note of particularly awesome houses in the name of working up a house plan of my own. I wish I'd known when they came by to do my street, I totally would have put a 'Hi, Google!' sign in my front yard or trimmed the bushes into something vaguely obscene.

I heard about Doodle Day (a fund raiser for Neurofibromatosis), and would really like to bid on this Sandman doodle. I know there's no way I could afford it, but it's one of those things that I just have to try for or I'd be kicking myself later. Seriously, it's because it sounded like a good charity... *shifty glance*

And the new Weezer CD should be out in time for my birthday!

So Far, So Good

Well, the new job is going well so far - I don't seem to be suffering from any reduction in crafting time (although sleep has been another matter - it's going to take me about a week to adjust to having 'grown-up job' hours). We'll see how long I can keep up the full seven-day workweek between the two jobs, though. I do dearly love me some employee discount on crafty goodness...

It may not have been the brightest idea, but I think I can at least keep up the two job situation long enough to get together the money to get my car fixed (I got the insurance payment, but with the monthly paychecks, it ended up having to go towards other bills). I just can't seem to shake this odd feeling, though, and I can't really pin down just what the feeling is to figure out the source other than just another bout of low-thyroid induced paranoia.

I have a few more goodies to go up on Etsy when I have a moment and a charged camera battery and some clue on how to display them. Actually, I've had a couple of ideas, just a matter of getting the shots set up right. And then there's the waiting with bated breath to see if any of my bids on Alchemy are accepted - someone actually needs a cat bow-tie! I may have to make a batch to put up for sale and take the opportunity to really proof the pattern.

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Now playing: "Weird Al" Yankovic - White & Nerdy (Parody of "Ridin'" By Chamillionaire featuring Krayzie Bone)
via FoxyTunes

New/Old project

So we were over at my parents' for Easter, and discovered that Little Kitty Dude has seriously outgrown his Kitty Pi. Even all curled up into a ball, he still sleeps on top of it rather than in it anymore. If I'd known he was going to turn out to be Humongo-Cat, I'd have made it larger to begin with, but as it stands, I suppose I'll just have to make him a new one. Fortunately, I've got two skeins of Kureyon in colors that'll go with their living room, and I've got a few other assorted shades of green wools that I can stripe in if it looks like the Kureyon's not going to be enough. If my calculations are correct, I'm going to have to make this thing the size of my kitchen table (pre-felted - he's not quite *that* big....yet...)

Fortunately, my cousin picked up her cat from her folks, so the new kitty will be needing a bed and can make use of Kitty Pi Mark I. I'd thought about grabbing it for Miss Dummy-Fuzzbutt, but she seems to insist on pink.

Damned girly-ass cat.

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Now playing: Bright Eyes - First Day of My Life
via FoxyTunes

a difficult choice...

So, the new DeVotchKa album came out Tuesday. I have enough money in my iTunes account to buy the whole album, but on the other hand, I really want to have the physical disk, with all the bookletty goodness. Is it a little sad that I'd kind of like to buy both? I suppose I shall just skip lunch for a few days and use the money to run out and pick it up...ever hopeful that a store around here will have it, now that I think about it, since the only way I've ever been able to get any of their albums has been at their shows.....

If I could just figure out how the hell to redeem my credit card points since they decided to go fuck around with the rewards program, I could resolve the dilemma in nothing flat. Oh well, I suppose I'd snap if I didn't have minor things like this to get all my worrying out of the way over.

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Now playing: Vampire Weekend - Oxford Comma
via FoxyTunes

Holy crap, yes!

Sometime in the dark of the last two days, Etsy brought Alchemy back up!!!!!11

Woo-hoo, I'm off to browse for potential shoppers!

There's a reason I had eye surgery...

So today I got a cute little metal bead of a skull garlanded in roses. I don't have a picture, but you can see the bead here. So, seeing as how it's lead-free pewter and miniature, my first impulse is to paint it. It's seriously tiny - maybe 10mm, tops - but it's not like I've never painted little tiny whites and pupils on a tiny pewter head before ;)

I'm not going to paint the whole thing - just the roses and leaves. Then a clear coat, and I think it'll look really cute as a cellphone charm. Either that, or I'll have to buy another one and turn them into earrings.

The topic of painting small pewter things of course brings to mind the recent passing of Gary Gygax. It's odd to think what an influence someone I never actually met in person has had on my life. Hell, my friends and I played D&D instead of going to prom, and it was my quest for a decent gaming group in college that led to meeting my husband. Kind of scary to think that tabletop gaming may actually have *improved* my social skills.

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Now playing: Marlene Dietrich - Lili Marlene
via FoxyTunes

In like a lion and a lamb?

Interesting weather this week - we've started March off with sunny clear skies and temperatures suddenly in the 70s - with straightline winds topping 30 mph. I honestly don't know if that counts as 'lion' or 'lamb'. I lean towards 'lion', since it's supposed to snow tomorrow. Yeah, 70s one day, snow the next. Gotta love midwestern weather.

So the satchel for her nibs is just about done - I just need to find my ironing board and put in some interfacing in the flap to reinforce where the snap is going, then attach the handle and it's done.

Hooray!

So happy - I need to go through my calender and start writing in all the awesome movies I want to see this summer.

Hellboy II Trailer


I'm just so freaking happy Johann is in this one - he's my favorite BPRD character (though I've heard rumours about Lobster Johnson in the next movie...)