Store Updates… and a survey.

Some items of business….

Item the first: Spilled Paint Scarf.

Stats: 6″ wide by 72″ long. 100% acrylic worked in 2×2 rib. Neither terribly original nor difficult, but I needed a brainless project during exams.

Asking price: $25

Item the second: Winter Camouflage

Stats: Fits an average-sized head (Assuming you don’t have a ponytail or something; then it doesn’t fit so well.) 100% acrylic, my own pattern.

Asking price: $15

Item the third: well, it’s not new, but it is news. All anime tricolor scarves, Timcanpy keychains, and Mokona hats are not for sale in the store. This is because I am planning to go to Matsuricon this coming fall and don’t want to have to make a ton more. Please don’t commission these items from me either, at least not right now.

Item the fourth: the survey.  I want to add some diversity to the anime merchandise, and I’m thinking about expanding the number of scarf designs.  There are already three designs for FMA and two for d. Gray Man, so I’m looking at some other series.  My question is, what would you guys like to see?  Evangelion?  Fruits Basket?  Something else entirely?  Toss out some ideas please; leave the name of the series and a rough description of the design.  Links to pictures would also be helpful; I’m not familiar with a lot of series.  Thanks for the input!

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…And a happy New Year.

Wow.  Back after a very long break.

First: I plan to review Empire of Ivory and Victory of Eagles soon.  Just so you know.

Second:  I’m currently planning to be at Matsuricon at the end of August.  CJ and Janette should also be there.  This means I need to get back on the knitting-for-conventions wagon.

Third:  New items will be in the store soon.  Well, there’s only one tam right now, but the green scarf is still there and commissions are now open.

That’s all for now.

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Halloween Party

So… Friday was pretty epic.

For starters, I carved this kick-butt pumpkin…

 

Yeah.  You know it’s cool.  (It’s a unicorn, if you can’t tell.  See the mane on the left side?  I did a dragon last year and wanted something different.)

Then we had a party at Mike’s house.  And we all went in costume.  This is Carly, myself and Brother #1 as Lou Fa (d. Gray Man), Zelda a la SSB Brawl, and a vampire respectively.  Note the pointy ears.

(And for the record, don’t go bashing me about how I’m missing bits of the costume.  I only had about 10 days to cobble this together.)

Alex went as Duo Maxwell from Gundam Wing.  This is an impromptu “DO NOT WANT!!!” picture, thanks to the %^*(^@#&) long delay on my camera:

This one’s a little better (he was wondering whose Monster that was and if he could have it).

Later we headed downstairs, where epic sword battles took place.  Al managed to smack Townsend in the face within five seconds of picking up a sword:

(Note how he’s managing to laugh and look apologetic at the same time.  Takes skill, that does.)  The battle raged on:

Then Townsend went up against my brother:

I take no responsibility for the facepaint.  All I said was “I think he needs snaggle fangs” and Matt went berserk.

Later there was approximately 4 straight hours of SSB Brawl, with contestants switching out every other game or so:

The sock enjoyed.  (Yes, I’m following in the Harlot’s footsteps here.  Be quiet.)

And a good time was had by all.

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Well, this stinks.

Um… Long story short, it looks like I won’t be going to Ohayocon this upcoming January.  Why?  Well… SNAFU/FUBAR-ness on the part of the staff in charge of moderating AA requests.  (Note: closing the submissions forum after a week is not good protocol, guys.)  And since only Janette got a submission in, we didn’t get a table.

That’s okay, though.  It means I can devote more time to senior year and all the wonderful stress involved in that.  (Just recently found out I’m tied for second in my class.  The guy in first… well, I’ve known he would be there since third grade.)  I plan to do Sugoicon and Matsuricon next year, God willing, but I think I’ll let Ohayocon be for now.

This also means that there will be a huge influx of items into the store!  Yes indeed.  Tricolor scarves, Mokona hats, and Timcanpy keychains, all ready-made and ready to be shipped out.  Scarf themes include: Fullmetal Alchemist (Edward, Alphonse, and Roy), d. Gray Man (AKUMA and Black Order), Neon Genesis Evangelion (soon to come!), Witch Hunter Robin (soon to come!), and Fruits Basket (soon to come!).  There are also two dragonscale scarves already in the store that would love new homes!

I plan to post my latest adventures in yarn (and maybe a review or two… Dark Knight was AMAZING) in the next few days/weeks.  As I said before, Livejournal is going to be my main mode of communication.  You can find me there and on DeviantArt as Lady Temeraire.  See you all soon!

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FO: Roy Scarf… and a single sock.

Mood: Peppy
Currently Listening To: Take it All (Hillsong United)

Yes… I finally finished my last tricolor scarf.  (Well, I had it done a while back, but then our server went down again.)  So, here it is finally!

(AAAAAAAHHHH!!! THUMBNAILS WORK NOW!!!  *explodes*  WordPress, I apologize for anything I said about the new format.)

So while I was doing this one (stranding the two colors… much fun), I noticed that the orange area was puckering.  None of the other scarves had ever done that before.  After ripping back three times (and coming very close to frogging the whole darn thing), I realized – maybe it’s not a bad thing.  And after I knit up the whole thing, I realized I was right.  Now the flames have a 3D effect to them that adds a little interest.

Why flames, you ask?  The only other option was the symbol on Mustang’s gloves.  There is no way I am going to attempt that in worsted weight yarn.  Sock yarn, maybe.  Remember, I only have nineteen stitches to work with.

Methinks Roy likes.  😉

STATS
Pattern: Original pattern by me
Needles: US 8 (5 mm) straight needles
Yarn: 3 skeins worsted weight – 1 each Red Heart Light Grey, TLC Essentials Persimmon, Bernat Navy Blue
Length: 43″, plus 6″ fringe on each end
Width: 3.5″, double-thickness
Mods: Got the number of rows wrong again… for someone in Honors Precalc, you’d think my math skills would be a little better.  I think I also need to move the motif over a stitch. 

Feel free to commission one!

And as the title implies, I also finished a single Colleen sock!  So how long is it?  Well, it is a knee sock, so it’s long… Each pattern repeat is 24 rows, okay?  That’s about, oh, 3 inches or so.  So how many repeats do you think it took?  Take a guess.  You ready for this?

Eight repeats.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you read that correctly.  Mother of Lessa, my fingers have never hurt so badly in all my life.  And I’m actually working on the other one.  I will not be overcome by second-sock syndrome.  I’m about 4.75 repeats in, which means the heel is turned and I’m onto the leg.  Think the hard part’s over?  Think again.  Now I only have a mind-numbing length of leg to do.  I just want to finish the darn thing so I can stop knitting in green.  (Oh wait – then I’m going to use the other two skeins of yarn to make a dragon-scale scarf.  *weak laugh*)

Still, there’s something addicting about socks.  (Quoting Stephanie on this one…)  It’s not just because they’re [usually] easy, or they’re small, or they can be done so many different ways.  That all goes into it, but it’s not the main reason.  Honestly, socks are a labor of love – in my opinion, more so than sweaters.  Granted, sweaters take time, but they last forever.  Plus, you only wear them a third of the year.  At most.  Socks, though – socks are necessary.  Socks are intimate.  And socks – perhaps this is most important – wear out.  Only with this piece of knitwear does the recipient love them, gush over them… and then proceed to walk big honkin’ holes in them.   That’s why socks are special.  And that’s why I plan to make myself a pair of FMA socks to wear to Ohayocon next year.  (Don’t ask.  I’m still in the planning stage.)

I apologize for the lack of reviewing and copious amount of venting recently.  The thing with Bible Teacher really disturbed me (and my parents, classmates, and church friends), and it’s still not resolved.  Very frustrating.  That’s okay, chapel this week (Spiritual Emphasis week) more than made up for it.  Monday and Thursday, we totally had a mosh pit thing going up front.  (I mean it.  Hillsong United is great worship music.)

There is now a Black Order Scarf on the needles.  My goal is to always be working on one.  Always.  That way, I’ll be sure to have enough done for Ohayocon.  Should I do more?  I’ve been debating about doing one that has the skull on it from the gloves in Bleach.  Yes?  No?  Other suggestions?

Aaaand… I think that’s about it.  Long post.

Please respond to my survey!  (Doggone it, I’m putting that up until someone does.)

EDIT 4.27.08: Okay, one gripe about the format.  When you insert a picture, it will not automatically link to the file.  I had to go back and do that myself. (Sorry, CJ.)  Hope I linked to the right ones…

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All Colleened Out

Okay, I did the Colleen picture in colored pencil… which my scanner promptly screwed up.  So, with exasperation, I decided to do it in Photoshop.

I am not an expert in the software, nor do I claim to be.  But after an afternoon of working on it and having it turn out like this, I was pretty darn proud.

 

I did get the question “Is her leg supposed to look like that?”  Um, yes.  If you’ve ever watched traditional Irish dancing, they bend their ankles like no other.  And the traditional dresses really do look like that, with the thick pleats and all. 

In other news… it has been raining in the Valley since yesterday midmorning.  About twenty minutes ago, however, it stopped raining and started snowing.  Big, thick fat flakes that have already covered the deck.  Also, Brother #2 woke up today sick.  Like, throwing up sick.  It’s been an interesting day; I’ve either been doing housework or taking care of him most of the day.  Except for about three hours doing Photoshop.  But still… I didn’t even bother changing out of my pjs.  Tomorrow looks like more of the same, except perhaps with a book review.  And knitting.  The heel has been turned on the Colleen socks, but I had to stop yesterday and never got to pick it back up.  Ja ne!

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What Type of Angel Are You?

~What Type Of Angel Are You?~ created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Angel protectorYou’re a protecter, and angel who protects others, keeping them safe from evil. You’re kind and giving but hopefully someone doesn’t make you too mad… You would sacrifce yourself to save other inocent people, you are brave and strong in will. Secret Angel 100% Angel protector 100% Human 75% Broken Angel 75% Wrath Angel 13%

Huh.  Interesting.  Pretty accurate, actually.  Does the last one mean an angel of vengeance or something?

Disagree?  Leave a comment with explanation!

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FO: Alphonse scarf (plus socks)

Finally!  Something I actually freaking finished!  Presenting the FMA-Alphonse tricolor scarf!

 So sometime during Ohayocon, I decided that my Ed scarf needed some companions and my stash needed some diversity.  (Why?  I don’t know.  I was hyped up all weekend long.)  Armed with graph paper, a pencil and eraser, plus good photo reference, I began creating an intarsia pattern.  The time-consuming method of duplicate stitching daunted me, though, causing this pattern to go unused for a long time.  Finally, though, about two weeks ago, I got onto knittinghelp.com and watched some free videos (!) on intarsia and Fair Isle/strand knitting.  After I worked it out in my head, I pulled out the needles and gave it a try.  Surprise, surprise – it actually worked!

 FMA-Ed and Al Scarves1

Oh, this was such a great project to try intarsia on.  (Actually, it was closer to Fair Isle than intarsia because of the rapid color changes, but that’s for the knit-savvy among you to appreciate.  :D)  The graphed pattern was beautifully symmetrical and so logical, and the color changes were sequential, and oh, it was just great.  Granted, the center panel was closer to intarsia because it was large blocks of color.  However, I still only used one ball of each color for the whole scarf.  Let me tell you, intarsia takes up waaaaaaay less yarn than duplicate stitch.  Plus it looks really cool when you have two or three strands of yarn coming out of your bag instead of just one.  😉

 FMA-Ed and Al Scarves2

STATS
Pattern: Original pattern by me
Needles: US 8 (5 mm) straight needles
Yarn: 2 skeins Red Heart Super Saver – 1 each Fire Red and Black (okay, so I got the wrong color red for the Ed scarf, but it turned out great)
Length: 43″, plus 6″ fringe on each end
Width: 3.5″, double-thickness
Mods: Well… when I first wrote up the pattern, I counted the rows wrong, so it’s a wee bit too short (it’s actually closer to 38″ or so).  Now, though, it’s fixed, as are the other scarf patterns, so they’re all the same length as the Black Order Scarf.  Joyous!

Disclaimer: I am not a witch/Satanist/heathen.  The fact that there is a blood array on this scarf does not make me one.  I am doing it as a form of fanart in relation to a series.  Do not bash me on these grounds, I will make you regret it.  (Granted, I couldn’t work on this scarf at school; the higher-ups would have been crapping kittens for a week.  XD)

As the title indicates, I am also trying socks.  Knee socks, to be specific.  Here’s the story: at DCS, we have chapel every Thursday.  On chapel days, we are required to wear chapel dress.  (I’ve since been informed it’s actually “Thursday dress”, since that’s the day we can have visitors at school.)  For guys, this is tan or navy pants, an Oxford shirt, tucked in, and a tie.  For girls, this is a tan or navy skirt and Oxford shirt, tucked in (unless it’s below freezing, in which case we are permitted to wear pants).  Oxford shirts come in white, baby blue, and pale pink.  Well… we all get pretty bored with this outfit.  I’m not gonna lie.  So the girls have decided to jazz it up by wearing the wildest knee socks you can imagine.  Argyle, patterned, striped, you name it and we wear it.  I’ve worn my black socks with aqua dragons and pink flames several times and never gotton complaints.  However, I’ve decided to make my own; and being a huge Celtic nut, I just had to find something to fit that desire.

So when I found this pattern, I was ecstatic.  (FYI, “Simple Celtic Panel” is a 3-word oxymoron.  It doesn’t exist.)  Today, during chapel and the subsequent classes, I swatched this panel on size 2 needles using worsted weight yarn.  It’s a gorgeous shade of forest green that fits the Celtic motif perfectly.

 Celtic Knot Cable Swatch

Unfortunately, I had to rip it all out so I could actually start the socks (which hasn’t been done yet, ha ha).  But I was glad to see it worked, and I’ll take copious notes so I can post the pattern for you once it’s complete.

This Saturday is West District Science Day, and I’m oddly not stressed at all.  I really just feel that what will be, will be.  I don’t even know if I want to go on to state, honestly.  Oh well…

Read something in Reader’s Digest the other day that made me pause.  Apparently, modern-day employers are taking to looking at MySpace, Facebook, and blogs to find out about prospective employees.  If there’s something unpleasant on there, there’s a good chance you won’t get hired.  Just food for thought.  This blog is pretty tame, I have to say, though I need to run through the Quotes pages and make sure those are all kosher.  If some of them vanish in the near future, now you know why.  Ja ne!

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Scarf Metamorphosis #3

Sorry, no “before” picture this time, but the effect is still the same.

On Friday at Ohayocon, we were still setting up when some guy came up to me to look at my stuff.  He immediately bought a Timcanpy plushie and noticed my AKUMA tricolor scarf.  Excited, he asked if I also had a Black Order scarf.  I honestly told him I did not, but I was working on a pattern for one.  He commissioned one in advance, leaving me with his email address.

 Well, Michael, it’s finally finished!  Presenting the Black Order tricolor scarf!

 (Shown with AKUMA scarf for comparison – they make a nice pair)

This scarf was actually a lot of fun to do.  I had a great time working on the pattern and tweaking it so it looked just right, and I had a ton of fun actually making it.  (Can you sense I’m being a little facetious?  Like all my original patterns, I had to guess on everything.  Sizes, rows, fringe length…)

 (Detail of the cross and stars)

Still, it was definitely a learning experience.  I now have a more solidified idea of how long each panel needs to be and how to organize the colors for the fringe.  This is good, because I have patterns for two more tricolor scarves to write.

  (Closeup of the lettering – sorry, this one’s not reversible)

STATS
Pattern: Original pattern by me
Needles: US 8 (5 mm) straight needles
Yarn: 3 skeins Red Heart Super Saver – 1 each white, steel gray, black; 1 roll metallic lame (pronounced LAH-may; this is metallic thread used as accents)
Length: 43″, plus 5″ fringe on each end
Width: 3″, double-thickness
Mods: I think there needs to be one more stitch at the bottom of the cross, which means the length needs to be adjusted accordingly.  Other than that, not bad for a first try!

The cross was definitely the most difficult part of the entire scarf.  I ended up having to rip out thirteen rows of duplicate stitching because I was one stitch off-center.  One freaking stitch.  Do you have any idea how frustrating that is?!

All that aside, I’m glad I did this.  Now I can do these for Ohayocon 2009, as well as for commissions.  You can commission one on my knitting commissions page; they’ll be $28, not including shipping (just like the AKUMA scarves).  Or, you can order both of them for $50, so you’ll have one for each side.  🙂  So, Michael, if you could be so kind as to respond to my emails, I’ll get payment over with and ship this baby out!  And Morgan, your commission will be in the mail tomorrow.  I promise.

I also went online today and learned how to do Intarsia and Fair Isle knitting correctly!  Now I’ll hopefully be able to do scarves that way instead of the time-consuming duplicate stitch.  Plus it looks cooler when you have three colors of yarn streaming out of your bag.  😀  The two other scarves I want to do are FMA tricolors – one with a blood seal for Alphonse, and one with flames for Mustang.  However, considering the sheer amount of UFO’s I still have to do, I shall resist the call of the new project.  Now to finish that dratted prayer shawl…  Ja ne!

For pictures of the first two scarves, click here and here.

P.S. Please respond to my survey!

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Shameless Shipping: RoyRiza

Warning: Mild spoilers ahead.  No like, no read, or at least don’t highlight.

This is perhaps one of the most recognized/flouted/championed pairings in all of Fullmetal Alchemist.  It’s also the only one I can (in good conscience) support.  It honestly makes sense, and there is a great deal of subtle interplay between the characters that seems to support this shipping.  (After seeing the end of the movie, I have come to the conclusion that this is the only canonical shipping.  EdWin doesn’t work for obvious reasons in the anime; however, *Mustang and Hawkeye get NO ending whatsoever*, so this isn’t exactly Word of God yet.)

Mustang is a colonel (and later, general) in the Amestrian army; Hawkeye is a lieutenant who serves beneath him to help him reach his goals.  She is extremely devoted to him and even acts as an informal bodyguard in several circumstances.  For example, in episode 14 (manga volume 4), where they’re fighting Scar, Riza knocks him out of the way so he won’t get killed.  Of course, she then promptly informs him that he’s useless in the rain and should stay out of her way.  Way to ruin the moment, Hawkeye.  But then, she’s not very emotional anyway.

What the heck was that for?!

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