Something for the Bigger Girls

The BJDs have been getting a lot of love lately, but now it's time for the American Girl dolls to score something.  I made a cute, lilac beret for Serafina to model.  It's newly listed in my shop. :)

I'm going to make some more AG sized stuff, and maybe some Sasha goodies, too!

New Goodies for SnootyCow!

I've been having so much fun knitting, sewing and crocheting tiny things for the shop.  Also, I was really excited to get my first commission about a month ago.  Unfortunately, after I spent about 20 hours making the blankets, the woman who ordered them had an emergency and couldn't pay.  She was supposed to be able to complete the transaction by the end of the Feb, but hasn't done so yet.  I guess I could prompt her, but honestly, I don't want to be that pushy, because I understand that sometimes stuff just happens, and although I spent a lot of time making the blankets, I can still try to sell them in my shop if she just can't buy them.  I think what I'll do is ask her if she wants me to break it up so she can buy one at a time as funds allow, and take it from there.  All I can think is what if it were me?  I'd be so embarrassed that I couldn't pay, you know?  In the grand scheme of things, not making the sale is certainly something I can shrug off.  I sure wish I could get more sales, though, and more great feedback.  (EDIT - Just heard back from her!  She still wants the order!! :D  Hooray!)

Anyway, here are some of the things I've made and listed recently:

A lacy hooded scarf for MSD sized BJD

A set of knit and crocheted cushions
The big one works nicely for a floor pillow. :)

 

Another set of cushions, this time sewn from cherry blossom fabrics. Again, the large one makes a great floor pillow:

 

Some sweet slippers for Spring to fit MSD dollies.  The centre photo shows them on both Durango and Pippa so you can see how they fit both a manly foot and a more dainty one. ^_^ 

I've also been practicing with Shrink Plastic, because I would eventually like to roll out a line of kawaii happy snail items, and some snail flair, too.  Playing around with the plastic, I found that it gets much smaller than I'd anticipated.  Kiki scored a fun new necklace!

My only complaint is that the stuff I'm using has a rough finish when it's done.  I can solve that by doming with Diamond Glaze or Triple Thick, but I think next time I'll purchase a different brand.  The clear stuff I got comes out nicely so far, but I've only made one project with it.  There's definitely a learning curve to the shrink plastic, as well as decisions to be made.  What do you want to use to colour the images?  Pencil?  Marker?  I just got some markers from Dick Blick that I'm loving!  That's what I used for Kiki's snail necklace.  They're just the store brand, and are basically a generic Copic from what I can tell.  I got a great deal since we went to Blick on their 20% off day, and the markers were buy 4 get 1 free in addition to the sale price!  

Once you choose your colouring medium, you need to decide how to shrink your project.  Oven?  Heat gun?  Lately I've been using the heat gun for more control, but it does tend to blow the project away if you're not careful.  I've been using wooden chopsticks to help with that, but ideally, I think a little metal mesh screen would be handy.  I think I have something in our Chemistry equipment that I can use.

That's probably more than enough for now.  This evening I get to go pick up Mollusc in Detroit for SPRING BREAK!!!!!  Hurrah!!! :D  Happy March, everyone! :)

Knitting Sweet Nothings

I'm having a lot of fun doing knitting for people both small and large.  I'm making these mitts from a Ravelry pattern for my friend Claudia in Germany.  I have a lovely Crystal Palace yarn in a blue gradient that I'm using for these.  It's a really fun pattern so far.

I got some good pics of the Strawberry Sundae Afghan for MSD-sized BJDs.  I just adore this yarn!  It has shades of Chocolate, Strawberries, Vanilla and Cream, and it's soft and easy to care for.  On top of that, this stitch is super smooshy and wonderful!  I'm seriously considering making a Big People-sized one for myself with bulky yarn.  Pippa really enjoyed modeling for this one:

I made a little tufted mattress for her (complete with buttons!)  as well as a top sheet, pillow and pillowcase so that I can use them for photoshoots for blankets and afghans.  Oh yeah, and so that she'll have a bed.  Of course.

I've been listening (quite a lot!) to Marianas Trench's new album, Astoria.  It's everything I've come to expect from them.  I think each time they release a new album, they outdo themselves a little more.   Forget Me Not is just heartbreaking, but oh so good, and there isn't a single song on the album that I want to skip or rush through.

I must dash - I have an Epistle to write, Etsy stuff to post, and, yeah, maybe I'll even finish my rewrite. :-P

Remember, Remember

I'm not sure how it came to be the 5th of November already, but that's what the computer says.  I've been watching Black Butler lately and REALLY enjoying it.  I wish I'd watched before we went to Youmacon last weekend, since we met Vic Mignogna and Todd Haberkorn there.  They were super friendly and sweet. :)  The con was a blast!  I'm really looking forward to the next one. :)  We are looking at hitting Shuto Con in the Spring as well.

One of Mollusc's clay birds sold, and the buyer was delighted!  I was really relieved, because I gave it a last-minute glazing and was concerned about my Triple-Thick being too dry.

I have some new items to list in my shop.  I made a beret and an afghan from that lovely ice-cream parfait (as I think of it) yarn.

 

There's also a LOVELY, chunky (Big People-Sized!) scarf  that I made, but I really need to get good pictures of everything.

Most of my Blogging has been over at Estrangement Epistles, lately.   I need to find bogging balance. ^_^  And the latest book that's been cooking in my head is coming along really well.  I have to get back to Random and send it off, but honestly, I'm so sick of it that it's hard to do.  First World Problems, LOL! 

Sweet Lolita and a Free Pattern

I am a closet admirer of Lolita fashions.  They aren't something I could ever get away with wearing, but I would love a world where you could see fabulous dresses like that as a matter of course.  Fortunately, my BJDs *can* get away with it, and I'm having fun making sweet little things for them.  I just put some new hair clips and a scarf in my shop.  Here's what the clips look like:

There are a few more shown in my shop, but you get the idea.


And here's the scarf: 

 

 I'd never tried the "cross stitch" before, but I adore how it looks, and I'm in love with this yarn, too.  Here's how you can make your own:

Needles: #2 (2.75mm)
Yarn: Bernat Softee Baby Little Bo Peep (or any #3 / DK yarn)

CO 7 stitches
Row 1: Slip the first stitch Kwise, *Knit into the BACK of the 2nd stitch on L needle.  Without dropping the stitch from the needle, Knit into the BACK of the 1st stitch on L needle and let both drop from L needle.*  Repeat steps between *s to end.
Row 2: Slip the 1st stitch Pwise.  *Wyif Purl into the 2nd stitch on L needle on the side NEAREST you.  Without transferring stitch, Purl into the 1st stitch on L needle on side NEAREST you, then let both drop from L needle.* Repeat steps between *s to end.

Repeat rows 1 and 2 until your scarf reaches the desired length.  Add fringe to both ends! :)

In case my description is tricky to understand, here's a good video.

The One With All the Shameless Plugs

July was a month of creating and rewriting.  Though I missed the June mark on my self-imposed writing deadline, I did finally finish up the rewrite in July.  After some reader comments, there are a few things for me to consider, but I'm actually very happy with the book as it stands. :)

I've just returned from Wisconsin, where we visited our families for a glorious week.  It was there that I procured my copy of Bellatopia, the newest CD from The Getaway Drivers.  It.  Is.  Awesome!  I think it's my favourite album so far.  Bob and Sheila were over the moon to learn that it had been accepted by Pandora in under 24 hours, as the process can take up to 2 weeks, and many bands are turned down outright.

 


I also finished up a BJD afghan I've been working on for my Etsy store.  Here it is with my new Doll-Love Yoyo.  She came right before we left on our trip, and she still needs a name, but she is ADORABLE!  She's a great poser, too!

 

I made her a sweater (which you can sort of see here) and some bloomers as well, which I'll have to take some nice pics of later.  I LOVE the sweater pattern so much!  I'll definitely be making more!

And last, but by no means least, when we came home and sorted through all the mail, Mollusc found that she'd gotten a very nice intro letter from her college's new department head for Entertainment Arts, Tim Flattery.  Pretty cool, eh?

Tiny Knitting Time!

I know that I once said that this wasn't going to become a knitting blog, and it hasn't, OK?  Just so that's out of the way. . . ^_^

I do enjoy knitting, and I enjoy tiny things as well, so I've been knitting, well, tiny things.  I've just put some slippers up in my shop that are knitted especially for ball-jointed dolls.  MSDs (1/4 scale) to be exact.  I use really tiny needles and baby yarn, but I find it relaxing nonetheless.  Here are some pics of Pippa modeling them:

 

I didn't mention Pippa before??  I got her from The Junky Spot, and she is LOVELY! She's a Mystic Kids Lillian 1/4 scale BJD (her type is also known as a slim MSD.)  She was quite a bit less pricey than Dreaming Doll's Airi, AND she was on sale.  How could I say no to that face?

I'm still working on the wardrobe. She helped me make some socks for my shop the other day, too, but she wouldn't let me list them until she had an identical pair of her own. :)

She did mention that she'd like a friend someday.  Oh boy.

A Dalliance with Dolls

There is this REALLY slippery slope you may have heard of.  It's called hoarding collecting.  I have 3 Sasha dolls from my youth, and they are still alive and well.  Two were bought with hard-earned baby-sitting money when I was about 15 (and feeling REALLY self-conscious about buying dolls!)  The third was one my mom bought, and later gave to me when she was paring down to move into a smaller place.  Here's one of them sporting a dress I knitted from this Ravelry Pattern:

After buying them, I left the precarious slopes of doll-collecting (but not doll-enjoying, LOL) and managed to stay away for a few decades until last month when I bought Päivi to be a model for some of my Etsy creations.

She does a fabulous job of showing off my wares, and I just love her! (She's actually a J-Doll, called Esplanadi Katu , and I bought here there at Pullip Style, which is an awesome site!)  I then discovered that there's this whole WORLD of collectors out there, and that many of the really serious ones are into ball-jointed dolls, or BJDs.  BJDS are VERY well-articulated, well-crafted dolls, usually made from resin and internally strung.  Most have hair and eyes that can be easily changed.  I find it astounding how many different looks people can get out of the same sculpt.  And these dolls are MEANT to be used - dressed, re-wigged, re-painted, you name it.  Unlike most collector dolls, they are NOT meant to stay in a box. They are more about art and expression, which I think is fabulous.

 If you want 1/6 scale (roughly 20-30 cm range), there are plenty of child-like sculpts, but for a teen or adult in that scale, you'll most likely have to build your own from an Obitsu body or the like.  For those more mature sculpts, the more readily available dolls are in 1/4 and 1/3 scale.  They are A.  Maze.  Ing.  At about 40-45cm for the 1/4 scale, they would be a lot easier to sew for, too.  I really mulled this over, because I didn't want to take the plunge precipitously, you know?  Even though I did a driving gig at MuNKi's company which paid rather nicely (here's where I casually drop in how much fun it was to drive military convoy simulators through mountain desert settings while under fire) I just didn't know if I could truly justify such an expenditure.  Except at least half of my kids want to work in video-game design - possibly 3/4 of them.  And they could really benefit from access to a FABULOUS model, who is MUCH better articulated than Mr. Twisty. Right?

So I'm starting with a more modestly priced doll, but when I've made enough on Etsy and craft show sales, I plan to buy my "grail" doll from Dreaming Doll in Korea.  They very graciously gave me permission to use her photo here.  Isn't she gorgeous?  The Prawn is in love with her, too.  More lovely pictures if you click the pic, so feast your eyes, and dream with me. :)
 

Food for thought

Last night I made Nigella Lawson's Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic. OK, so it's the recipe in one of her books, not a recipe she invented or anything, but it was awesome. Tonight will be her Tarragon Chicken. Yum. I love tarragon. Even though they're hard to find around here, I plan to get more tarragon seeds/plants for the garden this year.

Current activities include:

- stocking up for inflation (I started to do this just over a year ago, but with my short attention span, I didn't follow through.)

- planning a bigger garden

- making more soap to sell

- knitting an entrelac scarf

I'm tutoring a boy in math right now, and making a little money for things like soapmaking and school stuff, so that's great! It's been a challenge finding methods that will work for him, but in the last week or 2, his progress has been really encouraging. I think we're on to something. :)

I still make soap, but I need to make more as stocks are low right now. I recently got some new fragrances and EOs to try, but my new big WANT is to try some of the awesome M&P projects in the Soapy Love book I got on sale at a closing Borders. I used to be something of a M&P snob, but no longer!! Fortunately, there's a place not far away that sells M&P base for a good price, and I can pick it up so there's no shipping.

The kids are going to a friend's birthday party tomorrow and she's asked for no gifts, just canned food because she's doing a food drive. She really likes upcycled/recycled goodies, so the "wrapping paper" will be this bag that I made today from one of our old rice bags. I didn't take the time for optimal photogenicicity (new word!) but you can get the general idea.



Fishy thought it needed "bunny ears."




The zipper part is now a functional pocket. :)


And here it is with some towels stuffed in to show expandability.



And, finally, my entrelac scarf. I'm not working on it very often right now, but it's still growing. The good news is that I can tell now that the right side will be straight after blocking. :)

Alive.

Believe it or not, I'm still rewriting my novel. Now that's just embarrassing. Sometimes as I work on it, I'm very encouraged, and other times not so much. For the most part, though, I'm happy. I'm making little connections (a bit like a developing brain sending connections back and forth between the hemispheres), ironing out inconsistencies, and trashing useless scenes. I suppose if I devoted a little more time to it, things would go faster. And I think I'm at the point where I need to do that now, because having it unpolished is bottling up other stories that want to come out.

In the meantime, look for upcoming pics of knitting and soaping projects - my excellent timewasters! (Or not wasters, since it's stuff I enjoy doing.) I made a batch of salt soap today, and it's AWESOME! I think it's going to be an excellent shaving bar.