Knitting
As most of you probably know (I think), I do a lot of knitting and crocheting. Last year I made my first venture into crochet design with the ponies, and this summer I made my first knit design. In all my years of knitting and crocheting, I honestly thought I would never get into design work, but I really love it. It’s kind of like with writing where I read tons as a kid and so of course I wanted to make my own stories. And now I knit and crochet tons of stuff, too, and eventually there’s that drive to create something.
I was inspired to make this when I saw a hat with the NYC skyline on it. It’s supposed to be one of the most recognizable skylines in the world, and I thought, “Maybe, but the Seattle skyline is MORE recognizable.” (Though I admit I may be a bit biased…) So I sat down with a piece of graph paper and a Google image search on the Seattle skyline and got to work.
Rainy Day Seattle Hat:
Reminiscent of a cool, rainy morning in the Northwest, this beanie-style hat has everything you need to show off your love for the Emerald City. The hazelnut and cream ribbing represents warming up with a hot mocha on a cold day, while the Seattle skyline rises against a typical drizzly gray backdrop. (The dark green yarn carried in the back shows through the gray a little, creating the perfect rainy look.) Washington apples form a ring above the city, alternating between solid green and heart-shaped outlines, and snow-covered evergreens top off the ensemble.
You can see more pics (or buy the pattern) on Ravelry. Also, if you have a Ravelry account, feel free to friend me!
I have meant to post a million times these last couple weeks, but it kept getting away from me. Blog posts are always skittering away as soon as I turn on the light. Or, in a less creepy metaphor, they’re like Lucy and the football.
Anyway, I relaunched my Etsy shop this past week and applied for my business license! Applying for a license was actually pretty easy–I just filled out a form and paid a small fee–but it felt pretty cool to declare myself a business. Here’s a screenshot of my Etsy shop:
If you live in the NW, I got an artist’s table at GeekGirlCon, August 11th and 12th. Come stop by and say hello!
I also went to Comicon a few weeks ago, and it was amazing! I hung out with author pal Karen Kincy and got to meet Tara Strong, the voice of Twilight Sparkle (and Batgirl in Batman: the Animated Series, Timmy in Fairly Oddparents, Rikku in FFX, Bubbles in Powerpuff Girls, Harley in Arkham Asylum and Arkham City, and she’s been in about a million other things, too). She was so nice and great to see in person! I gave her a stuffed Twilight Sparkle I made her and she was amazed and hugged it and let me take pics!
John DiMaggio, the voice of Bender on Futurama, was in the next booth over, leaving voicemails for fans from an angry Bender. I got to go to the Futurama panel as well as the Batman panel, and everyone was amazing. I’m definitely hoping to go again next year!
As some of you probably know, I crochet. A lot. And in the last two months I started doing design work, which before then I thought I kind of hated. Because it was hard and I wasn’t passionate about anything enough to *want* to put in the work to get past that stage. And then along came My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. I LOVE this show! I’m a proud brony. Or, well, pegasister. I’d been obsessed with this show for some time, and then a friend showed me some pics of crocheted ponies on eBay. And at first I was like, “It would be cool to make stuff like that, but I don’t like designing things.” But I couldn’t stop thinking about them and got really excited about trying my hand at it.
And I did! And it’s been going really well! Designing was hard at first, but now that I’ve learned the basics it’s become super addicting. I’m at the point now where I can sit down with and idea and start making it and have it actually turn out how I pictured. I even made sea ponies from the old 80s show (which I also LOVED, even if, sadly, it doesn’t hold up for me as an adult).
I also got over my laziness/annoyance about uploading and posting pictures, so here are some of my creations (you can see the rest at DeviantArt).
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic characters Rainbow Dash, Pinky Pie, and Rarity as sea ponies:
Fluttershy in her gala dress:
And my newest creations, baby versions of Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy:
And I promise I’m still writing, even if ponies have kind of taken over my brain, or at least my apartment, which is now full of pony-colored yarn.
Last night I took pics and documented all of my yarn as part of the Yarn Diet. In the past 5 years or so I’ve accumulated 199 skeins of yarn. O__o Some of them are quite hideous. I’ve bought bundles of cheap yarn at thrift stores and stashed them away, I’ve inherited stashes from friends and relatives who didn’t want theirs anymore, and I’ve bought tons of new yarns for projects that I may not have started or finished.
The first step (besides admitting I have a problem) is counting out all the skeins and taking pics. I did mine by drawer, which is why most of them are sorted by color. Here goes:
The first drawer is the variegated yarns drawer. These are kinda hideous, except for that one in the middle that reminds me of birthday cake but that I have yet to figure out what to do with. Also the three skeins in the top left are pretty, but, again, no idea what to do with them.
Lots of pinks, reds, and purples! I think a giant ugly blanket may be in order. That I will then pick an unsuspecting relative to send to. P.S. Do you see that little ball of purple at the top under the fuzzy red yarn? I dyed that myself with Kool-Aid!
Ah, yes, the drawer of yarns that are currently part of projects I’m actively working on. Like, a year or so ago… The red, black, and blue yarns are for a gigantic Kingdom Hearts blanket I’m slowly working on. Each row takes me about an hour and a half, but one of these days I hope to make some serious progress on it. It will be amazing when it’s finally finished.
The greens. Note the cone on the side there–it’s got A LOT of fingering weight yarn on it. Also note the giant skein of sparkly green Christmas yarn at the bottom. It seemed like a good idea when I saw it at the thrift store.
Blues. I like most of these, and I have plans already for the three at the top. Also, you can’t tell from this pic, but the one in the center is sparkly. I’ve already used quite a bit of it, but it’s still giant.
Why is there so much peach and orange? Who thought that was a good idea?
The off whites! I actually like most of these, though I don’t know what to make with them. My only regrets are the two fuzzy spools on the left. They’re kind of coarse, despite being so fuzzy.
Black and white drawer. I have no doubt most of these will eventually get used up, as black and white come in handy pretty often.
UGHHH. Those four skeins of brown in the bottom center are WEIRD. The yarn is, like, maybe lace weight (really thin) and crimped. What the hell was I thinking when I saw these at the thrift store? Just because there’s lots of one yarn for cheap doesn’t mean I’ll be able to find something to do with it. Same goes for that giant blob of gray. It’s nice yarn, but holy cow, that’s a lotta yarn.
And finally the mismatched drawer of supposedly current projects (since the other drawer filled up a long time ago). I’m hoping to find something cool to do with the red ones.
And that’s it! Er, except for the five skeins I have coming in the mail. And the one ball of red tweed I forgot to take a picture of. To do the yarn diet, I’m not supposed to buy yarn more than five times between now and June 1st. Unless of course I manage to use up half of my stash in that time. I’m torn between finishing the projects I’ve already got going or just making some quick but ugly afghans to get rid of some of those. Must finish the commissioned piece I’m working on first, and the hat I’ve started. And maybe the scarf I started. And, um, write some novels or something.