Cat VS Shark

Mally breaking out the bunny kicks

Picture it:  Another day in the carpeted jungle, smellovision (aka an open widow) is wafting the seductive scent of catnip throughout the apartment.  Creeping around the forest of chair and table legs is the majestic and predatory fluffy panther.  Her prey?  The Land Shark.  It's call?  The high jingling sound of small bells just like the call all birds and small rodents make. Ok, so rodents and birds don't jingle.  Mally apparently did not get that memo.  To me it's adorable, but to her it's serious business.  She'll pounce and wrestle with it, and if she's feeling particularly saucy she'll throw in a few bunny kicks so that Mr. Land Shark knows who is boss.

We came to acquire our version of the SNL Land Shark after I made her those little blue balls.  I noticed that occasionally when Mally gets especially fired up her back legs begin pumping in unison.  Alas, these devastating attacks met no purchase with those too small spheres of yarn.  This tragedy had to be rectified, and quickly.  Her next toy needed to be something long enough for her to sink her clawed (and tufted) back toes into while being able to bite it in order to achieve maximum cat satisfaction.  Honestly, I think I was influenced by this:

Land Shark - still looking pretty good despite months of abuse

Onward to Ravelry!  Here, amidst my fellow fiber friends I found Erika Olimpiew's Sharky Stuffed Toy.  While being a delightful and fun pattern to follow, I was not able to complete the embroidery details due to intervention of an impatient pet.  Mally's lack of self control might have been influenced by the stuffing being 10% fiberfill with the remaining 90% being catnip.  As a sidenote, I acquired an embarrassing amount of catnip by going to Amazon.com and searching for "Catnip Herb" - it's not as potent as the more expensive stuff, but I received about 1 pound of it for around $15.  The jingle bells also came to the front door via Amazon prime and were rather inexpensive.  These things plus a bit of previously purchased acrylic yarn have made for hours of serious (very serious) fun.

Little Blue Balls For Felines

The Mallymkun in my life is most certainly not a foil wielding mouse from Underland (like in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland); instead she's my brother's cat.  I'm not sure exactly why he picked the name.   Aside from them being near opposites in physical description (The mouse has tidy white fur, while Ray's cat has black fur that grows so abundantly we have to trim the tufts of fur that grow between her toes), they also lack similar personalities.   Tim Burton's character is brave to the point of stupidity, and our dear sweet cat is frightened to... well... the point of stupidity.

Alas, I digress.  Currently my hubby and I are living within walking distance of his work.  We share a three bedroom with my brother and one of my husband's coworkers.  Fortunately we all agree that the internet was created for the purpose of sharing cat videos, and as such we should have one around in case the internet goes out.  Cue Ray's adorable, manipulative, brilliant, loving, strange little cat - Mallymkun (though for our kitty I prefer the spelling Maliumpkin).  Doesn't she look absolutely terrifying as she roars?  Wait... you're right, she's probably just yawning.

While the humans inhabiting the place are just fine with the square footage, the resident feline thinks that there's a bit to be desired.  Dare I say that without opposable thumbs she might even be driven to boredom?  Of course this wouldn't do.  How can our entertainment be left unentertained?  Fortunately this occurred about the same time that my fingers started to get that itch to play with yarn.

In this position she is known as "Bellyumpkin"

First I made her a few small ball toys, the knitted and crocheted ones have the advantage of not sending you flying if you step on them.  Since they're not made of hard plastic or rubber they also don't give unwary feet 'Lego syndrome' that is slightly preferable to walking on fire.  Another added bonus of making your own toys is that you get to determine what you stuff them with.  Why settle on mere fiberfill when you could instead pack it with psychedelic plant matter?

The larger ball in the foreground was made using the free Tiny Crochet Ball Pattern by Julie-K.  Kudos also go to Julie for staggering the increases thus making it less spiral looking with a more natural spherical shape  The eeeensy-weeensy one behind the mountain of fuzz was made using the Crochet Small Ball Pattern (also posted for free) from Isabella's Stitches.

Some trivia concerning Maliumpkin; endearments include:  Umpkin Pumpkin, Bellyumpkin, Mally-cat (sounds like Alley-cat), fluffyumpkin, Madame Fancy Pants, and other disgustingly cute names.

Can we get there from here?

I have a problem.  I've been commissioned to do a baby project for a brand new person that's scheduled to join humanity sometimes this summer... in southern California.  Knitting doesn't quite lend itself to crafting summer things as well as it does to warm winter snugglies.  Added to that is my personal inexperience with infants.  Booties are adorable, but really impractical, causing most mommies to forgo those little accessories.  Oh, and the parents are choosing to wait until the birth to find out the gender.

So, let me ask the question to any readers willing to comment; any suggestions for cool (denotative cool... not cool as in "cool beans") knit/crochet baby items? 

We're ready! Now what?

I don't know if I can accurately describe how much courage it took yesterday for me to cut off dangling ends of yarn.  It's ridiculous, but it meant being finally done with my Hobbes project.  I've been done with the individual pieces for months now; but whenever I finished sewing on an ear I immediately looked at it, and unsatisfied, I'd rip out the stitches.  To give you an idea of how long Hobbes has been on my slab in Frankenstien-esque parts, here's a blog post from early August when we began our little journey together.

Calvin would be ashamed of me.  Probably more accurately he'd be hovering near my elbow peering over my shoulder fretting that I wasn't working quick enough.  Then again, Calvin would probably relish his Franken-Hobbes while pretending to be a Mad Scientist.  Alas, I digress.  Hobbes came together while I was visiting California last month, not surprising considering he was the only project with me.

I'm afraid that this horrific neglect will continue, and may even get worse now that the tiger's all put together.  Daniel asked me yesterday what I was going to do with him now that he was done.  Honestly, I don't know.  I no longer have space adventures, go back in time or even play my own version of Calvin ball.  The kind of magic required to spark life into my little FrankenHobbes disappeared before I was 12.  Somewhere out there, Spaceman Spiff is exploring the universe, laughing in the face of peril, and missing a side kick who can be his best friend.  Where are you Calvin?

Thanks again to Sukigirl for providing a pattern to all us Waterson fans.  Thank you for making my first amigurumi project something so memorable (and good to learn on).

Perfectly good enough

At least it's done.  This is the idea I should focus on considering that I'm a perfectionist.  I suppose being a perfectionist might be a good thing if I had more motivation; but, as it stands now, if I don't think I can do something perfectly, I won't even try.  Now, this is absolutely no way to live a life.  That being said, being any different seems to be just this side of impossible.  What can I say?  When I try to do something, "good enough" I usually end up feeling like a failure.  Like the Frondly Yours pattern.  People have been kind enough to correct me on the number of errors I made while writing the pattern.  Stitches left entirely unmentioned, or given the wrong number for repeats.  I wasn't sure about publishing it when I did, and probably should have waited until I completed it once more; but I had been sitting on it for months, shouldn't it have been at least good enough by now if not perfect?

Then there's the other side of the coin.  This week I've been over watching Daniel's sisters.  Remember the heirloom blanket I was asked to mend from my post 'Out with the Old'?  Well, I found the pattern; and if you're interested in making one like it, it's available for free on Paton's website, though you do have to register with their site.  Anyway, after much hemming and hawing, and a bit of swatching, I got out some matching yarn and gave it a go.  It was surprising how little that hole actually took.  I had to recreate a few stitches and one popcorn with the new yarn, but it was mostly just figuring out what stitch came from what row.  Don't get me wrong, it's not like the end result is flawless, far from it; but unless you're looking for it, the mending isn't blatantly apparent.  Despite my perfectionist streak, I'm actually kind of happy with the way it turned out.  It's not gorgeous, but this time I'm more than satisfied with good enough.

 

Out with the Old?

Since it's timely I almost feel the obligation to post something about New Year's resolutions; especially since those that follow the Mayan calendar suspect that this might be my last opportunity to do so.  This is usually the time of year when people start fresh; and along with organizing priorities it's not unusual to resolve to get more organized in a tangible sense.  Time to clean up your life as well as your living space.  So, a number of people throw out old clothes, papers, broken items along with their old calendars.  But what about those things we keep?

This year I spent the last day of 2011 with my boyfriend and his family.  About an hour before the ball dropped, Daniel's stepmother, Judy, was doing her Wonder Woman-esque feat of managing sleeping arrangements.  Before you think I'm exaggerating, I should probably mention that a number of relatives were in town, bringing the total of butts needing beds to a delicate 15.  Not surprisingly, this was an opportunity to  find throw blankets that aren't used on a regular basis.

One such blanket was a wedding gift when Daniel's father and Judy got married.  This lovely antique white afghan was lovingly crocheted by hand, with fringe and bobbles.  This blanket had been in the family long enough to predate the addition of their two girls, as well a number of pets.  One member of the family, Buster, an Australian Shepard, wanted to make his impression on this heirloom.  Buster busted a hole about the size of a snout in the wedding afghan.  Fortunately it wasn't torn asunder; just a little too loved on.

And now back to New Year's eve.  As we sat around alternately gaping and giggling at Kathy Griffin and Anderson Cooper, Judy came down with the wedding afghan.  She knows about my addiction; that I knit and crochet and figured it never hurts to ask.  Knowing that washing would have helped unravel what Buster had begun, she refrained from doing so.  After studying the pertinent area, my mind unhindered by liquid holiday cheer, I told her I thought I might be able to fix it.  I hope I can actually deliver!

I love that I've been given an opportunity to mend something special.  In our society of disposable goods, it seems wonderfully fulfilling to fix something instead of chucking it out and getting a new one.  The lines from Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World keeps coming back:

"But old clothes are beastly," continued the untiring whisper. "We always throw away old clothes. Ending is better than mending, ending is better than mending, ending is better …".


"Ending is better than mending. The more stitches, the less riches; the more stitches …"


Eerily prophetic, considering it was first published in 1932.  Despite the dismal similarities between the world of 2012 and the dystopian future Huxley presented; I'm grateful that it's not completely the case.  I'm finding personal riches in stitches, and I'm certainly not ending my mending.  The thought of heirlooms still being used and loved warms me more than this afghan ever could.  So for me it's in with the old and new; old heirloom new stitches and a new lease on life for this piece of family history.

Pan Handling

Kevin and his bro at Knott's

Oh such an appropriate title for the post considering my wanton advertisement at the top of this blog.  Yes, that's right, I am offering up my services (well, where knitting and crocheting is concerned).  Thus far, dear Kevin (if you want to see him modeling butterball's fugly hat, click here), has been the biggest supporter (enabler) of my efforts to do commission projects.  He hired my needles for three sets of fingerless gloves.  Three cheers for this good man!

Wait, where was I?  Oh yes!  Pan-handling.   Well, speaking of begging, my boyfriend was practically on his knees entreating me to make something that would keep his delicate fingers safe while he was slaving away in the kitchen.  Yes, I like that version far better than the boring truth:  namely, that he casually mentioned that it might be nice to have something that would go around the handle of the skillet, and I immediately became a blur as I rushed for my cotton yarn and crochet hooks.

might fit more than just the boyfriend's skillet handle...

Though I made this months ago, the reason it came up this evening was because it was taco night.  As I stitched away (I'm working on a new hat pattern), Daniel was in the kitchen making us dinner (he does it right too... tortillas heated up in the oven, covered in a damp dishcloth so they don't get dried out 'n everything!). We kind of have this unspoken thing, where one person makes dinner, and the other person does the dishes.  So, after our meal I got up to do my duty... and what do I find?  My dear boyfriend has once again been using the handle cozy I made for the skillet.  He has no idea how happy this makes me; the idea that someone actually uses something I made because they genuinely like it, not just because they love me.  I squealed with delight after finding it saying "Awww, you used the thingie I made!"  I like how he just looked over at me with this 'duh' look on his face and responded, "yeah.  I don't like burning my hands."  Who said romance is dead?

Celebration and a civilizing influence

Need a napkin after greasy Chinese take out?

Words cannot describe how giddy I felt at watching the reaction after posting my "Stalwart Staghorn" pattern onto Ravelry.  Let's just put it this way, I took a screenshot of how many people "favorite"-ed the pattern and sent it to my mother.  I don't know if she's going to print it out to hang in the gallery (the gallery referring of course to the refrigerator door).  However, she did make time to forward my email full of glee onto her sisters.

This evening when Daniel got home (and after he learned that I thawed some fish for dinner), he suggested we celebrate by ordering in.  That may not sound like a big thing, but for us it is a rare occurrence (like less than 10% of the time).  We finally decided to try the Chinese place nearby that delivers.  As we sat down, it occurred to me that another of my "nesting" projects was here on the table, namely a napkin holder.  Don't knock it!  Up until I crocheted this little bugger, we were daintily blotting our mouths with paper towels.  Hey, I count myself lucky, not only was he aware of napkins, but he was using a substitute on a regular basis.  Sorry ladies, he's taken.

And thus, Brawny man rejoiced.

The napkin holder itself is crocheted, and was really easy.  It's increasing two double crochets on each side, with a V stitch at the corners.  This makes a nice square, and since it's only holding napkins, I figured it didn't have to have the same attention to detail as Kate Middleton's wedding dress.  After it was a little wider than the napkins, I did a few rows of singles for a firm edge.

Incidentally, I just want to thank everyone who visited for the warm fuzzy feeling.  Right now, less than eleven hours after posting the pattern, 83 people have labeled it as a "favorite" on ravelry, and 22 people have it in queues.   My little old blog here has received 136 hits.  In this weird way, I feel like a knitting rock star (though I'm probably only a groupie).  So... THANK YOU EVERYONE!

Works in progress aka WIPS

This Hobbes wasn't built in a day

Most knitters are aware of the acronym "WIPS" (work in progress) and they are not afraid to apply it.  Me?  I am irrationally terrified of it.  Usually I'm actively working on something, otherwise I've just scrapped the project and stoutly refuse to think of it and my failure to complete it.  Even if I'm slowly nibbling away at a project, I practically get an anxiety attack at the thought of announcing I'm doing "X" only to find that whatever it is doesn't work out.  Remember when Sasha Cohen got the silver medal in the 2006 Olympics and the general murmer from the American public was, "awww.... that's too bad".  Nice.  Being a silver medal Olympian is a pitiable situation?

It's cute, people talk about "fearless knitting".  Trying something new, a technique you're not familiar with.  Still, with each stitch, you're investing yourself, your time, your effort.  I know I care FAR too much about the outcome of my endeavors instead of the process.  I suppose this accounts for me spinning my wheels in life for so long, partially at least.

Fingerless gloves for Kathy

Today for example, I was mulling over what to post.  Sure I have one finished project, another pair of Vancouver Fog fingerless gloves, this time for Kevin's mom, Kathy.  But other than that I've only got a number of WIPS.  First, I've got my little crochet amigurumi Hobbes.  It's my first attempt at amigurumi, and I'm also learning how to do "jogless stripes" at the same time.  Second, I've begun the first stages of experimenting in order to make my own patterns.  Finally there's the project that I've been so hopeful and fearful of, making my own site where I can sell things that I've created.  Figuring out what to put where, the subtle nuances of googlecheckout, potential policies, and what in the world I'll actually put up have been most of my focus.  Somehow I'm making small steps in each direction.  Wish me well?

Right turn in one quarter of a mile

Once upon a time, I crocheted a cozy for my Dad's portable radio.  He's unimpressed with Ipods and mp3 players in general; though he did admire the ipod armbands that people had at the gym.  I ended up making him one of his own and it's currently MIA or else I'd post some pictures.

However, this is just the precursor to another request from my father.  After some ham radio related excursion with my mother, he found that the cover to the Magellan GPS had disappeared.  I imagine that it was tired of the overly soothing voice always telling it where to go, and so the cover decided to escape in order to pursue fortune through whatever fate threw its way.  Of course, I may be wrong and it merely fell out somewhere.

Getting back to the request made by my father, he wanted a replacement cover to keep the screen nice and pretty.  Why is the Magellan cozy a shocking red that not even a lady of the night would consider for lipstick?  Easy, it will be far harder to -NOT- know where this thing is than it would be to lose it.  Making it was deliciously simple and didn't take much time.  I just started with a crochet chain that was just as wide as the GPS.  Then I went around and worked the backloops until I got to the start of the chain, then turned and did it again.  Since it wasn't wide at all, I think I may have done that widening round once more before I began working it evenly in single stitches.  Row after row of spirals and far too quickly it was done.  After the finishing touches of a slip stitch and weaving in ends, and I handed it off.  My father is not easily impressed, except of course with my crochet and knitting.

Pineapple Swirl

Right now (and whenever I'm between projects), I sorely miss having Lexi within reach.  While I really dislike knitting things for myself, there seems to be no larger warm fuzzy than crafting for others.  Ok, and Lexi especially, she looks good in everything.  A year or more ago, I grilled her for ideas on something that I could make for her that she'd actually wear and like.  She probably first suggested a sweater, which I would quickly nix since I've never completed one before and my courage for new things tends to run thin.  Eventually she mentioned that she loves skirts that swirl.  Full luscious skirts.  Poor thing, after I had considered the idea and began to run with it, I practically chained her to the computer and made her pour over Ravelry's wealth of patterns looking for a good fit between her desires, my skills, and the craptacular yarn stash on hand.  Thus we settled on the lacy look of the Den-m-nit Pineapple Skirt or Poncho by Flora Yang (incidentally to use this link and get the pattern, you need to be a registered member of Elann.com - registration is free; however I don't recall having to go through this silliness to get the pattern).

Again, Lexi chose the color.  She wanted a GREEN kinda green. You know, the kind that makes you look like you stumbled into an Irish pub on St. Patrick's day and sadly I had it ready and waiting in my stash.  Even though crochet is certainly not my strong suit, and I'm still not completely comfortable with reading crochet patterns, it wasn't too bad for a beginner like myself.  We measured her up, and I started hooking for her (wait... that doesn't sound right).  When I had finished, the skirt was so heavy there was simply no hope of a mere drawstring cord holding it up.  Fortunately, we had supplies on hand:  an exceptionally wide length of elastic, and some 2" wide folded satin blanket binding (in the right color no less!).  Lexi wears it over a few of her skirts, and the good news is that it requires no special care when washing.   Oh, and bless her heart she told me that every time she wears it, someone compliments her on it.  Even if it's not the truth, she's sweet to tell me such an uplifting lie.

Imagine a Green Lantern crocheted baby blanket

BrandXsketch

A friend of mine is expecting a son sometime in the VERY near future.  His love of comics, and is astonishing ability to create them (just check out some of the things he does on his blog:  Brand X Blog, where he is a smokin' pencil for hire).  Not only is he exceptionally talented in creating images with pencil, ink and paper; he also delves into the digital arts.  Here's sort of a self portrait he created (I love it):

This seemed like the perfect opportunity to create a project for one of my favorite audiences:  BABIES!  They can't tell you they don't want to wear it, they are at the mercy of their parents sense of style.  If an infant doesn't like wearing something you've knitted, the crying exhibited can be easily blamed on 1) gas, 2) dirty diapers -perhaps an active display of displeasure towards a project that no sane person would considering wearing- 3) general fussiness.  In short, you can torture small humans with knitted and crocheted gifts and there is nearly nothing they can do about it.  Meanwhile, if they happen to smile while wearing or touching one of these handcrafted disasters, it is clearly as sign that they adore what you made for them... nevermind the dancing stuffed animal that they're looking at.



Considering the source of the new bundle, I started to look for something with the Green Lantern logo.  I found a chart for a tunisian crochet (and interesting technique that I have yet to try) by Maria Merleno on Ravelry.  It cited that the pattern was available on associated content website, but I couldn't find it.  After some tedious counting on the image they provided I duplicated it and have posted it here (with some graph lines).  Still, I wanted to do single stitches, but my gauge wasn't exactly 1:1.   I decided to double all of the numbers, so that it was twice as high and twice as wide.  I had to tweak the rows between for a smoother transistion on the curves, and it seems to have come out pretty decently. The finished project, complete with scalloped edging, and slip stitch finishing where color changes take place has already been shipped!  I'm such a procrastinator, it is astonishing to think that this blanket will be delivered before the little man is!

Click here for link to google doc graph

Crossroads

I must say there is so much that I love and hate about being unemployed.

There are some people that don't do well with too much free time. I think that if I had a little more security with my life I could see myself being rather content pursuing my passions. I love that right now I am able to indulge in my hobby of knitting. I've made a number of projects, done some serious brainstorming and planning on future endeavors of yarn, and have promised a number of hand knitted items to friends and family.  I've also learned how to crochet; and it's a great feeling to learn something new. In fact, here's a picture of my Aunt Trish with my first completed crochet project:

I adore the sense of accomplishment that comes from handing off a finished project to someone. Lately I've been also getting a sense of accomplishment from my walks. Almost everyday I go on something that is more like a hike than a stroll in my neighborhood. It takes about fifty minutes and I work up a sweat doing it. Fortunately aside from leaving me sweaty, it alsogives me a sense that I'm doing something good and healthy for myself.

Though I'm going through an existential crisis, it seems thatquite a bit of it is due to me coming to grips with who I am andb having it not mesh with what society expects from me. Alas, more on that later.