Knitted Amigurumi

I finished and sent this ages ago and forgot to post it. It's a little lightbulb for a friend who needed a bit of light.

He is also the first entirely knit in the round on DPNs I've done.

Loot

My birthday was on Wednesday. There was loot.

The Oreos are already gone.  I have to find something to attach the "Beware of Attack Ferret" sign to.  And I'm fiddling around trying to figure out a way to send only some of my news from Google Reader to my Kindle.  

Xmas Morning

Heeeee!

Most hilarious moment - ripping wrapping paper to see this:

I screamed "WHYYYYYY!!?!?!?" for quite some time after I stopped laughing.  It's a SodaStream, by the way, and should be super awesome.

I also got a scarf and more sock monkey jammies!  Eeee, sock monkeys!!!!

Oreo got a goose toy.  And some other stuff, but he's mostly interested in killing the goose.

And Tom got a new money clip and I got him a starter pack from the Art of Shaving.

Really delayed gifts involving scorpions

Late one night in Sudan I was getting ready to go to bed. I headed off to the latrine with my trusty headlamp turned on, pulled the plastic tarp nailed to some boards that we euphemistically referred to as a "door" open and had my heart stop for a few seconds. Camped out right next to the toilet paper (on the ground) was a scorpion. A big one. Probably of the deathstalker variety.  It was late and I had been and continued to be sick and weak, so I went in search of someone with sufficient upper body strength and testicular fortitude to kill the nasty thing with a shovel.

Eventually most of the team wound up hanging around the latrine to peek at the scorpion.  Finally Tom wanders by along with another male member of the team - Scott.  A debate ensues regarding whether we should kill the scorpion, chase it off, or catch it and release it somewhere else.  Mostly, I really need to pee and I was almost asleep on my feet so I finally snarled something to the effect of "get it the hell out of there so I can pee, dammit."

Scott went off to fetch a tin can and somehow got the scorpion into it.  I got Tom to stand guard outside the latrine while I used it as though that would somehow protect me from scorpions.  Then I went to bed. 
Meanwhile, Scott was showing off his new friend, "Pinchy."

Image by shovelingtom via Flickr

After a while, Scott took Pinchy off into the desert and let him go.  The villagers were less than pleased by Pinchy's reprieve - scorpions are serious business.  While a scorpion sting usually kills only the very young, old, or sick, the pain is supposed to be horrific and nearly maddening and often there isn't much that can be done but wait it out.  Thus, they kill the little bastards on sight. 



Anyway, several months later after we'd all come home and Tom and I wound up moving to a different apartment, Scott sent us a lovely housewarming gift and I decided he needed to have a memento to remind him of Pinchy and his 2 months in the Sudanese desert with a bunch of crazy people.
So, I crocheted a scorpion.  I think I borrowed the claw pattern from a free lobster pattern and made up the rest as I went along.  And found a can to put it in.  And then let it sit on my desk for a year because procrastination is cool or something.

So, after staring at it and thinking "hrm, I should put together the package of stuff for Scott and mail it" for the thousandth time today, I decided to actually, you know, do it.  Yay!
I made sure to document Pinchy too.

Re-enactment of discovering Pinchy in the latrine

Recreation of Pinchy's temporary home.

Pinchy, hanging out where he blends in like the sneaky little bastard he is.

Close-up.  He can smell your fear.

Fairy Wand

One of the groups I belong to on Ravelry for people with chronic illness decided we should have a fairy wand swap. The idea was to make something fun and sort of whimsical to cheer each other up and maybe have to take to doctor's appointments and hit people with.

Every one who participated got assigned a random recipient and we had some basic information about likes, dislikes, allergies, etc.

My recipient is a fan of ribbon and feathers and pink, blue, and teal.

I started with a wooden dowel cut down to size and made a marbled polymer clay handle. The handle was sealed with Mod Podge and polyurethan sealant. I painted glitter Mod Podge onto the rest of the wand and sealed it as well.

I found the rose on top in the $1 section of Michael's crafts - it was supposed to be a sort of bath poof thing. I cut off the hanging loop and glued it to the end of the wand.

I drilled a hole near the end of the wand and ran some beaded cords and various types of ribbon through, along with the pink maribou feather boa thing.

Then I made the grip decoration. I dyed some white feathers with food coloring to get the blues and teals and made some bows with more ribbon. And I made a little polymer clay brooch sort of thing and stamped it with some meaningful initials.

Amazingly, I had this done well before the due date and managed to send it off.

The recipient seems to really like it. I had a blast making it. I definitely went for the nearly ridiculous level of silly fun with it.

Finished Pug

Last night I finished making a pug amigurumi using a pattern from the wonderful June at Planet June. Despite her wonderful pattern instructions and equally wonderful on-line tutorials, I think the color changes in the eye-mask area turned out a little wonky, but she's still a cute little pug baby. I'm hoping she'll be loved by her recipient. As it is, I think I may have blisters on my fingers from all that crocheting. :P
I'm ashamed to admit I've barely used my zafu since finishing it. It seems every time I'm about to move from the couch to it Oreo decides he wants to climb in my lap and I can't resist doggie cuddle time.

Post-birthday awesomeness

First, thanks for all the wonderful birthday wishes, everyone.

Secondly, being 30 is pretty awesome so far.  I have my new sewing machine, which is awesome!  I set her up the other day and went through the manual and tested all the stitches on some scraps.  I even made my very first buttonhole.
I picked up reference book Sew Everything Workshop which has already come in handy for some basic tips and have started working on some curtain panels I've been meaning to make for 6 months.

We had a pajama party last night and an ice-cream cake from Cold Stone Creamery.  Mmmmmm, ice-cream cake.  We also tried teaching people to play Wii - that was hilarious in its own way.  Also, boxing is *exhausting.*  Lots of fun.  Also, I got chocolate and tea and a lovely gift card.  Sweet!

The past few days, especially when I've felt crappy otherwise, I've been shopping online.  I placed most of my orders today:
Some sock yarn (some for Tom and some for me), a chart keeper, some more stitch markers, needle protectors, and the book Respect the Spindle: Spin Infinite Yarns with One Amazing Tool  from Knit Picks (all their books are on sale for 40%, so it was actually less expensive than Amazon).
After much hemming and hawing and research and dithering, I decided to get a Schacht Hi-Lo 1.1 oz spindle and 8 oz of undyed wool roving from Paradise Fibers, half in Blue Faced Leicester and half Norwegian.  Both seem to be recommended for beginning drop spinners.  The Hi-Lo can be used as a high or low whorl which is also cool and is nice and light which seems to be a highly recommended feature as it allows spinning of finer gauges.  Interestingly, as I was looking into historic spinning techniques, it seems that the ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians preferred high whorls spindles while the Anatolians and Greeks tended to use low whirl and Levantine peoples, being in the middle, perhaps used either as it suited them.
Both types of roving are amenable to Kool-Aid dyeing, so I should be able to have some fun once I get the basic hang of things and play with color as well.  I am already drooling over other types of wool, other fibers, and various colors.
I also ordered  two skeins of  Super Kydd from Elann, one in red for a gift and one in green to make something for me.  The red is to make Wisp from Knitty as a first lace project and as a gift (yes, I know, using mohair may not be the best idea, but I'm planning to do some practice swatches/wash clothes with cotton before I jump in.  The dark green is to try Ice Queen, also from Knitty, for myself.

I think I should have plenty to do for the foreseeable future.  Now if I can get going on my motivational problems, I'll really be doing well.  :P

It's My Birfday

It's one of those vaguely important ones - I'm 30.  This might explain me running around being annoying.

Tom bought me a beautiful string of vintage pearls and a chocolate bunneh.  Awesome!  My husband, aka GIGAMESH (long story), rocks!

And I have birthday money burning a hole in my pocket for new a low-end sewing machine to augment Betsy my vintage workhorse who, while awesome, does only straight stitches, and yarn and fabric.

Pearls as they are meant to be worn - with jammies and a Snuggie.  Hells, yeah!

I should shower and get out of my jammies at some point today, but who knows when.  Hoping to spend the day knitting and nibbling on the chocolate rabbit.

I also get to start my Plaquenil today, finally, after all the nonsense over getting my insurance to cover it. It usually takes several weeks or months to make a significant difference in symptoms, but here's hoping it helps with some of my fatigue and arthritis and skin crap.  Also hoping it doesn't make me want to puke.  You're supposed to spend your 21st birthday dangling over a toilet, not your 30th.  :P

Something finished!

One of my very best friends left for a 6-week season in Egypt today. I was feeling too badly to see her off, but Tom took her to the airport and presented her with this gift.

She's a fellow Egyptologist and her research interests include mudbrick, palaces, and the reign of Amenhotep III and the Amarna Period. Soooo, I thought I'd make her a pendant with a reproduction of a stamp frequently used on mudbricks from the reign of Amenhotep III.

Mud bricks were often stamped with the names of the people or institution responsible for the construction of which they were a part. In this instance, I chose a stamp with the prenomen of Amenhotep III (Neb-maat-re), which is on the right and his Great Royal Wife, Tiye (on the left). This particular stamp was used on mudbricks used to construct a portion of the royal palace of Amenhotep III near modern Luxor (Malqata).

I decided to do an imitation of faience instead of a miniature mud-brick. I thought it would be a bit more attractive as well as easier to pull off.

So, I carved a rubber block with the stamp. Then rolled out some

polymer clay, mixed it to the faience color I wanted, and stamped it.

The impression was not fantastic as you can see in the top photo.

Stamping into clay is far less forgiving than stamping with ink. The

three-dimensional nature of the impression catches all the edges that

I didn't carve cleanly, the variation in depth of carving, etc. But, I

think it still worked reasonably well.

After baking I cleaned some edges up with my lino carving tools and

some sanding.

I did a light wash of paint to catch some of the edges and give it more

of an faience appearance and then I used some satin-finish glaze, which

you can see in the last two photos.

I'm giving some thought to producing more pieces like this for sale.

Any thoughts? Requests?

I figure I may as well try to combine my training as an Egyptologist

with my fiddling around with clay and see what comes of it.

Presents!

To the right you can see the product of my hard labor with the sewing machine: a laptop sleeve for Tom's new MacBook Pro. I used the really awesome pattern from Sew Mama Sew with a few modifications. I couldn't find fusible fleece, so I would up using double-sided sewable fusing to stick quilt batting to the appropriate pattern pieces. I used a cigar patterned quilting cotton for the lining and black twill for the exterior.

It's a nice, snug fit and pleasantly soft without being too fluffy.

For the motif on the exterior I found a photograph of a bannerstone, did a basic automated trace of it in Inkscape, printed it out, traced it onto half of a manilla file folder using graphite paper and then cut out the outline using an Xacto blade to make a stencil.

I stuck a good-sized book inside the finished case, put a washcloth over it just in case there was any bleeding from the paint, and then pinned the stencil to the case with a multitude of pins.

Then I used white textile paint and a sponge brush and filled in the stencil and went over it with some pewter textile paint and a smaller sponge brush to get the look of veining in the stone.

I really enjoyed this project and am very happy that Tom likes it and it turned out so well.

The only major snags were the lack of a free arm on my sewing machine, which made stitching around the opening a huge pain and the fact that the basting spray I bought to stick the batting to the lining wound up not having a spray nozzle. I wound up with the double-sided fusible, though, and I think it worked out much better in the end.

For my presents, I got more sock monkey jammies and matching slipper socks (aren't they fabulous?) and one set of double pointed knitting needles with the instruction to buy a set of multiple sizes of my choosing. I went with these from Amazon. This means I'm a step closer to knitting socks!

I also have cash to do something with. I'm considering a new low-end sewing machine with a bit more funcitonality - buttonholes, more stitches, more presser foots, and a free arm. Nothing particularly fancy.

Oreo got some new treats that are supposed to be good for his joints and a rubber squid thing with long felt tentacles.

So, a wonderful Christmas all around.  I hope everyone else had as nice a day!

Oooh, the weather outside is frightful...

(And I accidentally it "Enter" after typing the title, resulting in a blank post...)

Should have grabbed some photos when we were out with Oreo earlier.  We got a few inches of snow yesterday and today has been snow, sleet, and rain.  The sidewalks are a lovely mess.  I broke out theYaktrax and my Ice Grip on the cane for the first time this winter.  I am very grateful for both when I have to be outside when it's slippery.
Poor Oreo may have had negative reinforcement for asking to go out.  I mean, we honestly expect him to walk in stuff that is not only wet, but cold, too?

I have been plugging along on Tom's present.  Oreo has been "helping" by keeping me company on his pillow near the sewing machine.

Progress and a Christmas Announcement

Well, I got all the fabric cut for Tom's Xmas present today.  Then I went to use my spray on adhesive basting spray and discovered that the aerosol can had no nozzle.  And no tube for the nozzle head.  Suckage.
So, Tom kindly took me on an emergency run to Michael's this evening where I acquired replacements for the stupid-ass basting spray that will probably be less annoying to use anyway.
We've also decided we're just going to send everyone their stuff for Little Christmas.  Long live the Irish and the Gregorian calendar.  Anyone who doesn't like it can suck it.  I haven't had a day below "moderate" on the pain scale in at least 10 days and most of the pain has been in my hands (which are sort of vital for crafting).  It's cold.  I'm exhausted.  Tom has a job and other things to do and Oreo has no thumbs.  So, Xmas presents will be late.  So will cards.

:P

Napkin Stamping

These were made as a wedding gift for some friends and I just finally finished and delivered them last week. They didn't turn out exactly as planned - stamping with textile paint on dark fabric is much, much harder than I had anticipated.

I made the napkins myself from a dark brown twill. I also carved the stamps - the ones you can see here are papyrus and lotus columns drawn from ancient Egyptian motifs. I also had adorable golden flies, but didn't get a photo.

For the green metallic paint I would up sponge-brushing the paint onto the stamp, which is why they're a bit blobby.

For the blue, which was not metallic, I cobbled together a stamp pad with some papertowels. This used quite a lot of paint and wasn't really saveable for future use, but worked resonably well.

Using a brayer didn't work at all. I'm not sure if that's because I have a cheap-ass brayer, if it wasn't suited to working with acrylic paint, or if I just suck.

For the golden flies (no photo) I sponge-brushed again.

I did discover that re-carving some lines helped with the blobbiness.

In the future I don't know that I'll do long, thin motifs, especially with long straight lines.
I will probably also stick to lighter colored fabrics in the immediate future as I've had much better results with them.

I also plan to get some screenprinting ink to experiment with to see if I can get a better result on a variety of colors.

The battery in our digital camera died, so unfortunately the only half-way decent picture we were able to get was with my phone. :P

Stash enhancement

Michael's is having a big sale on yarn this week, including on Thick and Quick, which means that I went and scored enough in the beautiful cranberry color to make this cardigan. I also got some worsted acrylics to experiment with for some amigurumi patterns I'm thinking of attempting to write.  I also scored a brayer.  Excellent.

While looking at sweater patterns for myself, I thought it might be a good idea to start off with something smaller, so my nephew and/or niece may be winding up with sweaters for Xmas.  Unless I get too impatient to do the little ones and just start on my own.  :P

I actually got some crafting done today

I finally got myself going working on a long over-due gift.  It's not working out quite how I had hoped, but I think it's still fairly nice.
I'm working with stamps and having a bit of trouble getting good coverage without it being overly gloppy. I'm also using textile paint, which may well be part of the problem.   I have been sort of painting it on with a sponge brush, but that's not so hot.  I'm tempted to try hacking a stamp-pad based on this wicked cool tutorial, but I'm a little hesitant for fear it will waste a hell of a lot of paint or that it won't work with the paint I happen to be using.  Anyone have any tips?

Amazon Amigurumi

Now that it's been delivered, I can post about the Amazon from Creepy Cute Crochet: Zombies, Ninjas, Robots, and More!
Top photo shows her bald and nakey! Oooh, amigurumi pornography (this should get some interesting Google hits).

Once I figured out how to get the hair going, with the help of tutorials by the author of Creepy Cute and aided by finally breaking down and getting some tiny steel crochet hooks - it worked out very well.

I decided that an Amazon needed a bow as well as a spear, so she wound up with both. It's a recurve bow, because I am that much of an archaeological nerd. If I'd had appropriate stone or some broken glass handy, I may well have tried knapping a tiny spear-point, too. As it is, I made a bunch of little notches on the edges to make it look as though it had been re-touched.

I used an ombre yarn for a more "natural" looking bikini. The stupid thing was too big, even after I remade the amigurumi using a larger hook, so I did some alterations, making decorative loops in the bands of the top and skirt.

The whole thing is made of various acrylic or acrylic-wool blend worsted weight yarns. I know that the patterns call for cottons, but they can be a bit harder to find in a variety of colors and I have tons of acrylics handy. Yes, baby-melting acrylics. Suck-it, yarn snobs.

I think it all turned out pretty well.