Blah

I didn't finish the hat I'd promised my folks for Christmas. Sigh. I really wanted to make that hat, too. I feel badly.
On the plus side, I ended up getting a lot done on the Adrienne Vittadini Lace & Ruffle cardigan in the rides up and down 95. Yay.

Two swap products:

Yarn: Lion Brand Chenille in Black and Gold
Needles: #10 bamboo circulars
Pattern: A 2x2 rib, winged the decreases.
This is for a nephew of a craftster who was a steelers fan--I tried to get the colors right, and the chenille seemed a nice soft choice for a hat.


Yarn: Some light blue from the stash, Fun Fur Stripes in a blue colorway, and lavender ribbon from the stash.
Needles: #11 bamboo circulars.
Pattern: Simple drop-stitch.
This was sent to a craftster that wanted a fluffy scarf, whose favorite colors included blue, aqua, and black. I tried to take one of those artsy, well-lit outdoors shots, but what do you know, it wa sjust too sunny and my camera is just too crappy to make it come out quite right. Sigh. Better Luck Tomorrow.

Stationery Goodies!

Look at all the cool stationery/paper goodies I got from an unconditional swapper!
-a stack of snowflake print paper
-a stack of dried flower print paper
-a stack of (my favorite!) green paper with dots and circles!
-a stationery set with flowers
-a set of 12 HILARIOUS notecards.
This unconditional swap is the best! Not only can I make stuff (and foist it off on people, yay!), but I can get awesome stuff in return!!

Will it never end?

The latest cast-on. It's going to be a modified Shedir. The yarn is one of the nicest ones A.C. Moore has to offer (how I wish I knew where a "real" yarn store was down here!)--a merino/microfiber/cashmere blend (light on the cashmere, of course) which is actually very soft and snuggly. My parents more or less commissioned this one. The mother of one of our old family friends is losing her hair due to chemotherapy, and this is going to be a gift for her.

T's hat

Yarn: Blue and white brushed acrylic from the STASH
Needles: #10 clover circulars (from the set I scored at A.C. Moore for $25)
Pattern: Fun Flapper Hat from Marnie MacLean
I made this hat for a fellow princess of a classmate who joked about how her mom would make her sweaters with her name on them. This hat pattern was the first one I've ever used and I really love it. It's a quick, simple knit and the 4x1 rib makes for a nice sleek fit. On the down side, the flapper hat shape doesn't really flatter my head, but it makes great gifts!

Celtic Knot Earrings

These earrings are my first try at making something with somewhat...shall we say "better quality" materials? Everything is sterling silver except for the beads, which are garnet.
Honestly, I have to say I have more fun just making things out of base metal. I'd only gotten 10 head pins so I was all worried I'd mess them up (this is partly because I'm 500 miles away from when I got them) and worrying about messing them up sort of made me enjoy it less. Hmm. I'm a cheap bastard.
Here's a picture that's blurry, but shows the color a bit better (stupid lack of natural light):

Thalassa Necklace

I originally thought of making this necklace because I had all these gorgeous glass beads in different shades of blue, and I wanted to make something really big and bold with them. So I strung them up.
And here they are...
Thalassa is something to do with the sea in Greek or something like that. I'm such a nerd.

I went out and had a little mini-photo shoot yesterday (instead of studying for finals). I like this picture because it's got one of my cats grooming herself in the background.

Gemellae Earrings

Gemellae is greek or latin or something for twins (there are also muscles that rotate the hip called gemellae--yeah, I'm a huge nerd.), and I thought it was an appropriate name for these earrings made with green double-beads. Umm. Yeah. So this whole Etsy store thing is more work than it seemed--I have to write names and descriptions and all.

(And this is why I don't work in advertising...)

Swap Info

I've been doing a lot of swapping on Craftster (love making things for others, don't want to inundate everyone I know with crafted crap) and figured I might as well post a little list about me--since I know I find it very useful when others have a swap info page:

random things
do you keep a journal/art sketch book? I have a journal or two. I'm not much of an artist, though.
do you have any pets? I have two cats, an old orange tabby and a young black cat (who is a demon!)
do you have a portable CD player, mobile phone, or ipod? I have a motorola cell phone and a creative labs zen, but I don't need any cozies or anything like that
do you need another random trinket box? Of course!
do you need something to carry your knitting/sewing with you? Yes. I usually have each of my projects in its own little WIP bag, and...erm...I have a lot of WIPs
do you need another purse/wallet? Always.
what crafts do you do/want to do? I knit, crochet, make jewelry, and have been dabbling with Fimo. I'm the type that will get really obsessed with learning how to do something and pick up a new craft at the drop of a dime. These are just the ones that have stuck, so far.
do you collect anything? I hoard yarn, but that's not really the same thing.

jewelry
do you wear earrings? yes! they're my most-worn jewelry
do you wear bracelets/cuffs? not really.
whats your wrist size? 6.5/7"
do you wear necklaces? yes
do you wear rings? not really.
do you want gold or silver findings? I like silver-colored stuff.

clothing
shirt size: small (34")
anything else, ask me for measurements--I have funky proportions!

favorites
what is are your favorite color? I like green, red, pink, orange, blue, brown, black, white, and most shades thereof other than hunter green.
do you have a favorite animal you would like something made with? I like kitties, but I find most animals quite cute.
do you have a favorite TV series you would like something made with? I like the Simpsons, The Oblongs, Family Guy, American Dad--pretty much all the child-inappropriate cartoons out there!
do you have a favorite book you would like something made with? I don't really know how they would translate into a craft, but I love Lolita, The Mandarins, and Anna Karenina
What is your favorite food? I love all foods. Meat, veggies, fruit, rice, ice cream...EVERYTHING. Food rocks.
What is your favorite smell? vanilla, gardenia, peony
What are your favorite images? I like things with clean lines. e.g. Edward Hopper > Van Gogh. Polka dots > paisley. Pin-up girls >...ok, I just like pin-ups, who doesn't?

allergies and aversions
are there any colors you hate? I don't like hunter green or yellow, really.
would you dislike receiving items made from animal products? no, I've no objections to that.
is there anything you would rather not receive because of religious references? I'm a liberal democrat atheist/agnostic, so...nothing counter to that ;-) despite this I find the sacred heart motif really fascinating.
do you have any actual allergies? none that I know of.


personality
what are your favorite movies? Secretary, Donnie Darko, Dogville, Moulin Rouge, The Ring, Dancer in the Dark, Huit Femmes, Chunking Express
who is your favorite person from those movies? James Spader, Nicole Kidman, Ewan Mcgregor, Bjork, Virginie Ledoyen, Faye Wong (I realize this might not be all that helpful, actually.)
who are your celebrity crushes? Jude Law, Pierce Brosnan, Cillian Murphy, Viggo Mortensen (but only in LotR!)
who is the best cartoon character? Buttercup, from the Powerpuff Girls
what are your favorite music/bands: Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald, Beth Orton, PJ Harvey, Tori Amos, Ben Folds Five, Jump, Little Children, Placebo, Guster, Cibo Matto
who is/are your favorite authors: V. Nabokov, L. Tolstoy, F. Dostoyevsky, Simone De Beauvoir, Kurt Vonnegut, Nadine Gordimer

Penguin unconditionality

I made these for the Craftster unconditional swap for someone who wished for a christmas stocking and a surprise. She liked penguins so this is what I came up with:

This little guy is made of fimo with instructions from the Sculpey site. He was just a little trickier than they made him sound (mostly, I think, because my clay-working implements consist of a toothpick and a pencil) but I'm pretty happy with the way he came out.

I used a boring old red-and-white christmas stocking as a base (and for the fake fur trim). I found some cute fabric of penguins doing wintery activities and made a sheath for the original stocking. The most time-comsuming part was probably making the penguin applique--he's made of felt, his eyes are beads, and his beak is (poorly) embroidered. It was the first time I've ever tried to make an applique (as you might be able to tell), and I'm not actually even sure that "applique" is the right term for him. He hides a little secret pocket behind his body.
Just because the person said they liked purple, I made her a pair of purple earrings. Unfortunately it seems that she doesn't wear any jewelry, so I hope she has someone she can pass them on to.