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.

The next swap

So I decided on my next swap...it's the Underwater Sea Swap hosted  by WildAtHeartArt. There are a bunch of amazing artists participating in this swap. To be honest, I'm a bit intimidated and hope I didn't get in over my head, nor will disappoint my swap partner, which is yet to be determined. I believe sign ups are until May 8th, so there's still a few days yet for you to sign up!

Check out the participant's blogs and websites in the righthand column of WildAtHeartArt's site. You will not be disappointed!

 

Managed to finish ONE knitting project...Almeara Gloves is finally FINISHED!

Well, they're finally done. The knit-a-long group that I did the Jared Flood Almeara Gloves with finished theirs long ago, but I didn't get the right glove finished until last night. Oh well. I'm fairly happy with the way they turned out. I kind of want to rip out the thumbs and do them over as they are a little big around the thumbprint area and the cables look a little wonky for some reason. I modified the palm and instead of garter stitch as the pattern called for, I did stockinette. I prefer the stockinette. I also swapped around some right cables for left and/or vice versa to make the cables have a mirror effect from the left to the right. Now, to change my in progress status to finished in Ravelry!

The birdies have flown the coup

All five birds set off in flight to their various destinations (1-california, 2-ohio, 1-texas & 1-finland) yesterday, April 30. My favorite of the 5 turned out to be Erdos (above). He was the first one I completed too. He's headed on a long flight to Finland! I hope he makes it there OK. All of my swappees received the "green" light, so I got clearance to shoo the birds out of their nest all at the same time. Now that I've successfully completed my first Crafter Swap what should I do next??? I looked on swapdex and found these two swaps that piqued my curiosity:

1. Under the Sea Swap
   
2. Secret Monkey Swap

What do you think? Under the Sea looks a bit intimidating, but I'm up for the challenge. Take a look at all the fabulous participants/artisits that are joining the swap! Whew! The Monkey Swap looks totally fun too. All these swaps are seriously putting a dent in my knitting time...

and then there were five...

I finally finished the five birds for the Handmade Bird Swap I signed up for through Craftster. I made four of them a while ago and for some reason the fifth one took me a few extra weeks to complete. I pretty much used the pattern/tutOWLrial I found online by Moonstitches, but added a few of my own mods like a little pouch/pocket in front of each owl and made a different base for each owl as well. I tried to take in consideration each recipient's likes and dislikes based on the questionaires we were all asked to fill out. Each one was made with different recycled/upcycled materials, different buttons and styles of eyes and wings. The stuffing used is made of bamboo. Initially I was going to construct little softie tree logs to house them in, but then stumbled across bamboo boxes below made by Numi the tea company. The company must have donated them to the East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse as they had hundreds of them. I decided to go the easier route and use them instead. I figure my recipients can think of creative reuses for them as well!

Here's hoping my recipients like the birdies and bird stuffs I'm sending along with them. Bye bye birdies! <:

Mindful knitting with the Dalai Lama

Well, I just picked up my three "freebie" tix for two friends and myself from another friend to go see the Dalai Lama tomorrow at UC Berkeley's Greek Theatre. I was planning on bringing my Jared Flood Almeara glove project along, but upon reading the security info on the UC site, I'm not sure if it's such a good idea. I wouldn't want my knitting to be "perceived as weapons" and I'd be pretty bummed if I had to give up my right glove to gain entrance to the event. Here's a pic of the right.

Italy earthquake: 98 year old woman knitted as she waited for rescue

This story has hit every knitting/crochet blog out there, but in case you haven't seen or heard about it here it is a few more times...

There's some question as to whether she was knitting or crocheting and some say a bit of both. It doesn't really matter, I just think it's a great story.

Huffington Post:
98 Year-Old Woman Found Alive In Italy's Earthquake Rubble

The Daily Telegraph UK:

Italy earthquake: elderly woman knitted as she waited for rescue 

YouTube:

spoiler alert for handmade bird swapees...don't peek if you want to be surprised

here are four of the five birds i'm sending to my swap pals for the craftster handmade bird swap. each one was created using their color and fiber preferences. hopefully, they'll be happy with what i've made. i added little pocketses and plan on putting little tidbits in each one. we've got until the end of the month and i could keep on obsessing on the additional things i'd like to add to each one, but i really want to send them off asap and not wait until the 11th hour.

oldie but goodie, the cuppycake song

You're my Honeybunch, Sugarplum
Pumpy-umpy-umpkin, You're my Sweetie Pie
You're my Cuppycake, Gumdrop
Snoogums-Boogums, You're the Apple of my Eye
And I love you so and I want you to know
That I'll always be right here
And I love to sing sweet songs to you
Because you are so dear

I first heard this little girl's voice on an animation of a kitty that looks like a loaf of bread on www.e-thug.net. The domain is no longer but you can find it on YouTube.

Latest haul from the The Alameda Point Antiques and Collectibles Faire

I try to make the The Alameda Point Antiques and Collectibles Faire held every first Sunday of the month. I just call it the Alameda Flea Market. I've been going on and off for several years now and have found some wonderful things for my home, art/craft supplies, etc. Here's my latest find:

According to this website, it's a 1938 Underwood Universal:
Billed as the new Typemaster portable, the Universal/
Champion line was a popular portable that embodies the latest development in personal writing machines of the late 1930s. Noticeable improvements of the new line include Sealed Action Frame, Champion Keyboard, Dual Touch Tuning as well as an array of features that one would expect to find only in higher priced portable. Available in Charcoal gray or tan matte finish. The early version had metal ring key tops while the later version had improved plastic key tops. (A carrying case with folding stand was also offered at the time as an optional accessory for the line).

Mine has the carrying case and folding stand. It's in excellent shape, but I think I'll still bring it in to Berkeley Typewriter for a tune-up. Isn't she a beaut? I also picked up some vintage french fabrics that I'll use for some of my bird softies. Ok, off to work...

Birdspiration

Well, I should be finishing up my Jared Flood gloves, but instead I've started playing around on the old singer sewing machine figuring out what kind of bird(s) to make for the Handmade Bird Swap. I stumbled across Soto Softies blog where she points out a few wonderful bird softie makers in an old post: Ann Wood, Abby Glassenberg (while she naps), and a familiar site...Stephanie Congdon Barnes (little birds).

Wow, do I have a lot to learn regarding construction of softies, let alone creating original works and getting my own style down. I don't wanna go to work...

when crafters go bad...

on ocassion, i peruse the best of on craigslist. this one had me cracking up:

Lost small crocheted robot

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 2009-02-06, 1:23PM PST

I have lost a good friend due to alcohol abuse.

I got blackout drunk at the commodore last weekend (Fri Jan 30) and misplaced a small crocheted robot with a lot of sentimental value.

I need this back.

If you see this doll either laying around or in a crackhead's shopping cart please alert me because I need dexter back.

See the below picture, please hook a sister up.

Text 778.239.6844 if you have any information regarding the whereabouts of dexter.

das vadanya from mr. b :(

Looks like Coraline's Mr. Bobinsky's blog posts have come to an end. He's gone back to Russia with his mice and posted a farewell message. Heavy sigh...:(

whimsical little knits arrives in berkeley

Ysolda's hot off the press booklet of patterns arrived from Edinburgh in my mailbox today. Pretty darn fast shipping as I ordered it last week. Thank you Ysolda! I love every pattern in this book and would like to start off by knitting the little slippers pictured first. I discovered her fabulous patterns where else, but on Ravelry and there's even a Ysolda group on Ravelry too.