Fathom starts his long distance swim to Tennessee

Whew, I'm finished! I couldn't decide whether or not to paint/color his lips, but in the end, I decided not to. Here's the Flicker set of all the photos a snapped if you're interested. And here's just a few if you're not:



Close up of his creepy eyes:

Amazing Parade of Mermaids...

Zan of Wild at Heart Art organized a wonderful doll swap called Under the Sea Swap. Today she posted the Finished works of those participants that sent her images of their completed works. Although mine isn't quite finished, it's prettty darn close, so I snapped and sent her a poorly shot photo from my mobile phone. Take a look at the dolls, they're all so different, but all so very well done.

Sign ups for this swap were a while ago and for some reason (uh, doi now...it's called LIFE) I was waiting for that crafting inspiration to hit me and would allow me to hit the ground running with this swap. Well, it didn't hit until a few nights ago and so, this weekend I'll be putting those final OCD touches on Cynjon's merman. I think I'll name him, Fathom. What do you think of him so far?

l RUV MARU the CAT!

He's got his mention on Boing Boing!

You can obsessively watch ALL of his antics on YouTube.

Here's a little tidbit to get you hooked:



How can you resist his cute little hind legs poking out of the box? i RUV Maru!

yep, genetic predisposition to all things cute

surfing the craft blogs the other day i came across alleluja's work and then went to her etsy shop to purchase this uterly adorable porcelain cat with a pin stuck in its heart (cute and sick at the same time). gotta love it. she sent me an email that the kitty was sent it off from tokyo japan today. check her work out. it's totally great!

Two more birds have landed in Berkeley

OhThat & Lukenlarry's & birds have joined Avesthel & Amaryllisroze's birds in relocating to Berkeley, California. All four birds are enjoying the temperate climate here and are aquainting themselves with each other.

Thanks gals! I'm waiting for one more bird...

Sabine is OFF hold. Hoping to finish it this weekend!

I'm on the last few rows of the right sleeve on Sabine. I have to review my notes and figure out where I am on the body. It seems long enough when I tried it on, but I don't recall where I am on the pattern with respect to it's increases and decreases. It seems there are more people showing/discussing their issues with the pattern on Ravelry. Maybe theyv'e been there all along, but I'm just noticing them now. View the peeps in process/have completed Sabine for an idea of how varied the results can be on this 'little' sweater. I would have preferred to see the author of the pattern show her garment on a person as opposed to the mannequin. It may show quite a different story.

As fellow Raveler, Susan points out, there seems to be a "new math" with this sweater. I too had/have similar experiences as Susan knitting this up. Although I was getting row gauge the length was all wonky and too short. My fix was to add several rows to lengthen the body and sleeves. Most others are getting or purposely knitting to 3/4 sleeve lengths. I prefer a little below the wrist and added enough to the length to achieve this. I also added stitches so the circumference of the sleeve was a bit bigger as well as omitted the decreases that come before the cuff portion of the pattern. The result is a sleeve that does not bell out as much.

The pattern uses Filatura di Crosa’s Superior (70% cashmere, 30% silk). I find that this yarn results in a fabric that is way too "sticky" to put on. You have to re-adjust and be careful not to pull or break the lace fabric when putting on the sweater. This is just too fussy for me to deal with. I like sweaters one can just throw on and not spend 10 minutes each time adjusting the sleeves and body because it's sticking to the t-shirt underneath. It's not a kind of sweater that can go without something underneath as it's so sheer and lacy. I'm not even sure if I'll wear this when all is said and done. Sure looks good on it's hanger though.

I've been notating my pattern mods and comments in the project notes section on Ravelry and will continue to update it as I finally approach getting this baby off 'er needles!

Birds coming in from all points to roost in Berkeley

I've received two of the five birds so far from my swap partners in the Craftster Handmade Bird Swap I'm currently participating in.

Here's #1 from avesthel (Florida):

Here's #2 from amaryllisroze (StL, Mo):

Thank you both! The birds are wonderful and I've placed them on a display shelf in my living room for all to see.