The Crafty Cattery

Doll: Maurice Moss from The IT Crowd

2012-01-16T19:01:00.001-07:00

Moss from The IT Crowd

I have to admit that I didn't like the British sitcom, The IT Crowd, the first time I watched it. Actually, I didn't like it the second time either. It took three tries for me to get in to it, but once I did I was in love.

Moss, a geek who still lives with his mom, is my favorite character from the show. He's naive, sweet and not at all embarrassed by his geekiness. This is one of my favorite scenes from the show:

To make the doll, I drew a picture of what I wanted (below) and then just winged it. There wasn't really a pattern beyond that. If I could do it again, I'd make his pants a bit higher-waisted but other than that I am very happy with it.

The only real change I made from the pattern was his shoes - I tried to follow the pattern in the photo above but it just didn't look right. Here's what I came up with instead:

To make the shoe I sewed the two edges marked "sew" together, turned it inside out and then sewed the sole to the bottom.

If you'd like to make your own doll, here's a blank body you can use as a starting point:

I'd like to make dolls of Roy, Jen and Douglas from the show too. We'll have to see if I get around to it.

Update: Free Pattern for Anatomy Doll

2012-01-06T14:14:00.001-07:00

I've put together a free pattern for the anatomy doll I made a few years ago. You can find the link to the PDF at the top of the original Anatomy Doll post.

Free Christmas Craft Instructions 2011

2011-12-06T08:33:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd do a quick post reviewing the Christmas craft instructions and patterns from The Crafty Cattery. If you're looking for gifts to make for yourself or someone else, consider these!

Amigurumi Nativity Crochet Pattern. So far it's just Mary and baby Jesus and Joseph but I plan to release a new pattern each year for another figure in the Nativity.

Felt Advent Calendar. Includes instructions for making the calendar and ornaments. No patterns for the ornaments, unfortunately. You're on your own with those!

Christmas Card Holder. Instructions for making a very simple string and clothespin card holder.

Peppermint Felt Tree Skirt. Instructions for making a simple tree skirt.

Instructions for furoshiki, the Japanese art of wrapping gifts in cloth. Great for reducing wrapping paper waste.

Not really Christmas themed but these still make good gifts:

Big Bad Wolf Amigurumi Pattern. Crochet a little friend for the wolf lover in your life!

For, um... that person who always wanted a knitted saguaro cactus keychain?

Instructions for a crocheted kimono-style baby sweater.

Printable Office paper dolls. Free PDF paper dolls of Michael Scott with desk, Dwight, Pam, Jim, Kelly and Creed. Make great stocking stuffers!

My Five-Year Craft Blogging Anniversary

2011-11-29T14:16:00.001-07:00

My first craft post

With all the craziness of NaNoWriMo this month, I missed my five-year craft blogging anniversary on November 14th. I will have to go buy myself something made of wood (the 5th anniversary gift) to celebrate!

I counted it up and discovered that I have made 128 posts over those five years. It doesn't seem like much, but I never set out to be a high-capacity blogger. My goal with The Crafty Cattery has been to make every post useful (or at the very least, interesting) and I think I've accomplished that goal.

If you're curious, my first post was instructions for carving a pumpkin using a real photo, which I did with Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean (as you can see in the photo above).

Arrested Development, Parks and Recreation Paper Dolls by Kyle Hilton

2011-11-18T08:12:00.000-07:00

Who would win in a fight: Gob Bluth or Ron Swanson? (Ron, obviously!)

I thought I'd take a break from NaNoWriMo to let others like me, who enjoy paper dolls based on TV shows, about Kyle Hilton. Kyle has made several dozen free printable paper dolls from shows such as Arrested Development and Parks and Recreation. I also noticed that he has The Office paper dolls listed as "coming soon." He's an amazing artist so I can't wait to see them!

And, on a not unrelated note, if you haven't seen my Office paper dolls yet, here they are all in one place:

Dwight, Michael, Pam, and Jim Paper Dolls (no accessories)

Michael Scott Paper Doll with desk (PDF)

Creed Bratton Paper Doll (PDF)

Kelly Kapoor Paper Doll PDF

National Novel Writing Month

2011-11-05T15:24:00.000-07:00

It's National Novel Writing Month again, which means I won't be doing much crafting (though I do have a mystery crochet project I'll share some work-in-progress photos of soon!). You can follow my progress on my other blog, CatCarlisle.com.

One of the most fun time-wasting (but also crafty!) parts of writing is coming up with titles and mock covers - you can see this year's attempt above. Based just on the title and cover, what do you think my story is about? Post your guesses in the comments. I'm curious to see what you all think!

Shrek Puss In Boots Costume

2011-11-01T19:55:00.001-07:00

My only opportunity for dressing up this Halloween was at a friends "Trunk or Treat" event (that's where you trick or treat out of the trunk of your car). She and her husband were going as Shrek and Fiona so I decided to throw together a Puss in Boots costume. It only took me an afternoon and I think it could be easily adapted to put together a costume for a child. Here's what I did:

Hat - Purchased from a costume store. I sewed one side up and stuck in a yellow feather (you can't really see it in this picture). I also sewed on felt cat ears, though in the cartoon you don't actually see Puss' ears when he's wearing his hat.

Shirt - I got a cheap orange sweatshirt and used iron on adhesive to attach a yellow fleece patch to the chest and yellow stripes to the arms. It probably won't hold up to machine washing, but I only needed it to last for a night. The black cape was borrowed from an old costume belonging to my friend's child.

Gloves - I sewed peach "paw pads" on to some fuzzy white gloves. In the movies Puss often wears over-sized black leather gloves so those could be substituted.

Belt and Tail - The belt was my husband's, the sword was purchased from a costume store. To make the tail, I cut a long strip of the yellow fleece I used for the stripes on the shirt and used iron on adhesive to attach stripes of brown felt. I folded the fleece so the stripes were on the inside and sewed it shut, leaving one of the short ends open and rounding the other. I trimmed the edges, turned it right side out, stuffed it then sewed it to the belt.

Pants and Boots - The pants are khakis and the boots are left over from my Jack Aubrey costume.

My Texas Saguaro: Two Years Later

2011-09-29T13:20:00.002-07:00

(This was supposed to be posted here two days ago but somehow I managed to post it on my writing blog instead. Oops! Apparently I'm not too good at juggling two blogs.)

I went back to Texas for another visit a few weeks ago and got a chance to check up on the saguaro in my parent's backyard. My how it's grown!

Here's how tall it was in 2009:

Quite a few inches short of the fence line

In 2010:

At the fence line

In 2011:

Above the fence line

Looks to me like it's grown at least a foot, maybe even a foot and a half. I guess the weather in Texas is agreeing with it!

Simplicity Reissues Titantic Dress Pattern

2011-09-08T12:15:00.001-07:00

I was cruising Simplicity's costume patterns today and squealed like a little girl when I saw this pattern. Simplicity 8399, Misses Titanic Inspired Costume, was originally released after the Titanic movie came out in the late 1990s. I remember wanting to make the red dress for prom but at that point it was way beyond my skill level. The pattern went out of print so by the time I got back in to costuming, it was no longer available.

I wasn't going to let the opportunity to get this pattern pass me by again, so I bought it immediately. It would be great to make it for Halloween this year though I'm not sure I'll have the time. Even if I don't, I'll still have the pattern for when I do find the time!

According to Simplicity.com, this pattern is only available on their website, so don't go to the fabric store and expect to find it. It's being reissued for the "100th anniversary of the Titanic." So the anniversary of its sinking, I guess? A bit morbid but I'm not complaining!

Buy Simplicity 8399, Misses Titanic Inspired Costume at Simplicity.com

New "The Office" Paper Doll: Kelly Kapoor

2011-09-02T11:45:00.004-07:00

Kelly Kapoor Paper Doll PDF

The stylish Kelly Kapoor (played by Mindy Kaling) is my favorite character from the US version of The Office and I am so happy that I finally got around to making a paper doll of her. She comes wearing the pink polka dot dress from the episode "Dunder Mifflin Infinity" (Kelly to Ryan: "Well, I hope you're still committed because I'm pregnant and guess what buddy, I am keeping it!"). Her additional outfits are a blue and gray work outfit, the white dress she wore to Phyllis's wedding ("I look really good in white") and the pink salwar kameez she wore when applying for the minority executive training program in "Body Language." Her accessories are a framed photo of Ryan Bailey Howard, a stylish magazine and the customized nameplate she got from Stanley in "Christmas Party."

All you need to do to get the doll is click on the link to open the PDF, print it on heavyweight paper, cut everything out (you might want to use an X-acto knife to get the fine details) and enjoy! I've also made dolls of Michael, Dwight, Pam, Jim and Creed - you can find them here.

How To Make Amigurumi Hair: Wig Method

2011-08-16T15:51:00.001-07:00

Dumbledore's fluffy hair

Here's a tutorial for the method I used to make the hair for several of my Harry Potter amigurumi dolls. Be aware that it can be very time consuming - I think I spent about three hours on each wig. I have also added a tiny bit at the end about amigurumi beards as well.

Supplies needed:

Your hairless amigurumi
Yarn in the color you want for their hair (use same weight yarn as the amigurumi)
Crochet hook (size depends on weight of yarn)
Scissors
Felt glue (or other non-washable fabric glue)
Plastic yarn needle
Sewing pins
Sewing thread that matches the hair color
Sewing needle

Step 1 - Make a wig cap.

Crochet wig cap

Spiral crochet a wig cap that is slightly bigger than your amigurumi's head in the color of yarn you will be using for the hair. The simplest way to do this is to recreate the top of the amigurumi's head to the point at which it stops increasing and then add one more increasing round. For example, if the amigurumi's head has this pattern:

Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring (6 sts).
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each st around (12 sts).
Rnd 3: [2 sc in next st, sc 1] six times (18 sts).
Rnd 4: [2 sc in next st, sc 2] six times (24 sts).
Rnd 5: [2 sc in next st, sc 3] six times (30 sts). < last increase
Rnd 6: sc around (30 sts).
Rnd 7: sc around (30 sts).
Rnd 8: [sc2tog, sc 3] six times (24 sts).
Rnd 9: [sc2tog, sc 2] six times (18 sts).
Rnd 10: [sc2tog, sc 1] six times (12 sts).

Then for the wig cap, crochet up to the last increase and add another increasing round like this:

Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring (6 sts).
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each st around (12 sts).
Rnd 3: [2 sc in next st, sc 1] six times (18 sts).
Rnd 4: [2 sc in next st, sc 2] six times (24 sts).
Rnd 5: [2 sc in next st, sc 3] six times (30 sts)
Rnd 6: [2 sc in next st, sc 4] six times (36 sts). < add one more increase

Bind off and leave the tails - they can be used as part of the hair.

Step 2: Add the hair.

Adding loops of hair

Starting at the center of the cap and working outwards in a spiral, use a crochet hook to pull loops of yarn through the holes between stitches. The length of the loops depends on how long your character's hair will be, but be sure to make them a bit longer than necessary so you have some extra to trim off at the end.

Unless you want your character to have a crazy-thick head of hair, don't put a loop of yarn in every single hole. Experiment by skipping one or two holes and see how you like the thickness. As long as you haven't glued or cut the hair, you can always pull it out and start over. Make sure that your skipped holes don't clump together or you might end up with bare patches on the wig.

It's a good idea to mark the front of the wig (see the red piece of embroidery floss in the photo above). Hair at the back of someone's head is usually shorter than hair at the front, so I made my loops longer when I was close to the marker.

Adding loops in outside stitches

After you've filled all the holes, do an extra round by pulling a loop through the outside strand of each of the outer stitches (see photo above). Do not skip any stitches.

When you're done, the wig will look like this:

Outside

Inside

Step 3: Glue the hair.

Glue the hair

On the inside of the wig cap, liberally apply glue to each strand of hair. Use felt glue or some other sort of non-washable fabric glue. Be sure not to miss the outside row of hair you added on the last round. While it is important to make sure every strand is covered, don't go overboard and slather every millimeter with glue or the wig cap will lose its flexibility when the glue hardens.

Let the glue dry.

Step 4: Cut the loops.

Once the glue has dried, take a pair of scissors and cut each loop on the outside of the wig into two strands of hair. Be sure to straighten out each loop and cut it at the longest point so both strands will be the same length.

For straight hair, skip to Step 6. For curly or bushy hair, go to Step 5.

Step 5: Separate the plies and brush if desired.

This is the part that will probably take you the longest. Each strand of yarn is made of several smaller strands twisted together. These smaller strands are called plies (3-ply yarn has 3 plies, 4-ply yarn had 4 plies, etc.). Start on one side of the wig and take each strand of hair and carefully separate the plies. I did this by using a plastic yarn needle to pick the strands apart. When the plies are separated, use a spare piece of yarn to tie them to the side so they won't get tangled or mixed in with the unseparated hair.

Unbrushed hair

When you're finished you will have a wig of curly like Hermione's. If you want bushy hair instead of curly, then use a wire brush (I used a wire slicker cat brush) to gently comb the strands. I recommend taking a clump of hair and holding it by the root while you brush it so that the strands don't get pulled out. Be aware that large amounts of the hair will end up being brushed out, so only do it if your wig already has very thick hair. Hair that has been brushed out will be bushy like Hagrid's:

Hagrid's bushy hair

Step 6: Sew the wig on.

You marked the front of the wig in Step 2, right? Line up the front of the wig with the middle of the amigurumi's forehead. Make sure it looks how you'd like it to then pin it in place. Use a double strand of thread on a sewing needle and sew the wig to the head. At the end, put the needle in the middle of the wig, tie off and trim the thread (that way the end bits are hidden in the hair).

Step 7: Cut and style.

Now that the hair is on your amigurumi character, it's time to cut and style it how you wish. Brush out the hair with your fingers (a real brush will mess it up) and trim any uneven ends. Cut the hair to the length you desire then style it. Congrats, your amigurumi has hair!

Beards

To create Dumbledore's and Hagrid's beards, I used the same method as outlined above except instead of creating a wig cap in Step 1, I crocheted a flat triangle , the bottom of which would become the top of the beard. After following Steps 2-5, I sewed it underneath the amigurumi's nose (or where their nose would be if they had one) and the whole thing was trimmed in to a beard shape.

Confessions of a Cat Mommy Blogger on CatCarlisle.com

2011-08-15T14:39:00.000-07:00

Last week at CatCarlisle.com I finally admitted the jealousy I feel toward mommy bloggers. If you're a crazy cat person, you may find it amusing: Confessions of a Cat Mommy Blogger.

Crystals in a Bottle

2011-08-01T01:00:00.062-07:00

My husband and I collect minerals. One day while we were browsing in a rock shop we saw this cool old bottle full of crystals. Apparently someone had left a liquid in the bottle for too long and it evaporated, forming crystals. We though it was really neat but way too expensive so I decided to try to replicate it.

We found a packet of crystal growing powder (available at places like Hobby Lobby) and an inexpensive bottle from an antique store. The crystal growing powder was fairly simple to use, though it is poisonous and requires use of the stove so adult supervision is needed.

We mixed up the solution, poured it in the bottle and let it sit for several days.

When we poured out the remaining solution, we had a nice blanket of crystals at the bottom. They were pretty small so we repeated the procedure a few times.

I wish the crystals were different sizes; I'd like some longer ones mixed in with the short ones. Actually, we accidentally grew some long crystals at the bottom of the pot we were using to store the extra solution. Maybe if we try again with a new bottle we can grow some long crystals in the pot first, then place them in the bottle and grow the short crystals around them.

Homemade Clam Chowder

2011-07-20T15:08:00.002-07:00

Clam chowder in a bread bowl

We were looking for something different to cook one weekend and because we're now in a place where we can actually buy fresh seafood, we decided to try clam chowder. We used a low fat clam chowder recipe from Food Network.

Getting the clams was a bit of an adventure. Most of the big fish markets were closed because it was Sunday, but we found a tiny Asian fish market on the other side of town that had them. Of course when we got home and went to pick up a few ingredients at our local grocery, we discovered that they had clams too so we had wasted a trip.

The chowder was good but I have to say that the clams were probably more trouble than they were worth. It probably took an hour outside the rest of the soup to soak, clean, cook, clean again (once they opened) and chop them and in the end we couldn't really taste them except as a few meaty bits in the soup. The recipe we used had potato and bacon in it which made up most of the flavor. If we made it again, we'd leave out the clams and make it a potato bacon chowder. Bacon makes everything better!

Harry Potter Amigurumi Dolls

2011-07-07T12:31:00.001-07:00

Harry, Dumbledore, Ron, Hagrid and Hermione

I made these five Harry Potter amigurumi dolls for a friend and her kids who all love the series. I had a lot of fun making them though they took much longer than I expected. Part of that may be because I was trying to made a duplicate set of dolls for myself at the same time because I knew if I didn't make them then, I never would. Unfortunately when we decided to move I had to rush to finish them and didn't get to make Dumbledore or Hagrid for myself.

Since I don't own the rights to Harry, I can't post a pattern. However, I will explain some of the basic techniques I used to create the dolls. I ended up doing a few new things for these dolls that I had never attempted before.

The bodies: I used a basic mushroom body shape, like the body I made for my Nativity dolls. Hagrid needed to be bigger so I added stitches to make him fatter and added extra rounds to make him taller. For Dumbledore, I didn't add extra stitches but I did add extra rounds.

The hair: This was my biggest challenge as I had never done hair on an amigurumi doll and it took a lot of experimentation. I think I will do a separate post with photos of the methods I used, but for now I will summarize by saying that for Hermione, Dumbledore and Hagrid's hair as well as the two beards, I crocheted a "wig cap" then threaded yarn through the spaces between stitches. I put glue on the underside of the cap so the hair wouldn't get pulled out. I pulled apart the strands of each yarn then used a wire brush to gently brush the yarn so it got fuzzy (except for Hermione, I didn't brush her hair out). I then attached the cap to the head. For Harry and Ron, I embroidered the yarn directly on to their heads.

The robes and Hagrid's vest: I started with my pattern for Joseph's robes and just added sleeves by picking up stitches around the arm holes and then crocheting in a spiral until they were long enough. Hagrid's vest was a short version of the robe without sleeves.

Scarves: I experimented with crocheting and knitting ties and scarves out of embroidery floss but when nothing turned out how I wanted, I switched to regular yarn and a homemade four-stitch knitting Nancy to make the i-cord scarves (this could also be done by using the double pointed knitting needle method, see this video).

Details: The faces and details were embroidered with embroidery floss. The eyes were safety eyes. Dumbledore's hat was a simple cone.

Hiatus

2011-05-17T01:00:00.011-07:00

View of the mountains near our home. I sketched it from the cemetery.

We're moving! There are about a million things I have to do so The Crafty Cattery is going on hiatus until we are settled in our new home, probably in a couple of months. See you then!

Work In Progress: Harry Potter Amigurumi Dolls

2011-05-09T12:23:00.000-07:00

A quick peek at the Harry Potter amigurumi dolls that I am making for a friend. I've finished the "trio" of Harry, Ron and Hermione and am starting on Hagrid and Dumbledore.

Because Harry Potter is a licensed property I won't be able to post a pattern for any of the dolls, but when I am finished I will detail some of the techniques I used while making them.

Thirty-Second Needle Holder

2011-04-25T01:00:00.001-07:00

I'm a bit obsessive about dropping a needle or pin in the house because I'm afraid that I'll step on it or worse, my cats will try to eat it (I've caught one of them trying to eat screws so it's a possibility!). To keep my needles safely organized and away from my cats, I've made a simple needle holder.


Supplies

Supplies needed:

tube-shaped candy or pill container
felt
marker
scissors
needles or pins


Step 1

Step 1: Use the marker to mark the height of your container on the felt. I've decided to use the pill container since it has a childproof lid.


Step 2

Step 2: Cut out a length of felt that is the height of your container and about 4-5 inches long. Roll up the felt and see if it will fit inside the tube. If there's too much, trim it off.

Step 3

Step 3: Put your needles in the felt. Make sure they are all pointing the same way.

Step 4

Step 4: Roll up the felt and put it in the tube. Be sure the needles are always pointing towards the bottom of the tube so you don't poke yourself when you pull out the felt.

That's it! If you like you can also decorate the tube (I used stickers). I recommend labeling it so it doesn't get thrown away by accident.

Big Blue Amigurumi Bear

2011-04-11T01:00:00.000-07:00

This is the fifth bear I've made using the Beary Jackson pattern from Rheatheylia.com. It's perfect for a baby gift since it's so quick and easy to make. This time I used Bernat's Baby Blanket yarn in baby blue. It's very thick and soft, sort of like a chenille. Because the yarn was so thick the bear ended up being twice the size of the other bears I made using regular weight yarn. He's almost as big as the baby!

You can see the bears I've made previously here, here and here.

A Quick Note: Writing Blog at CatCarlisle.com

2011-04-04T01:00:00.002-07:00

I'm trying to get serious about writing so I've started a new blog that I hope will help motivate me at CatCarlisle.com. My plan is to alternate my posts between the two blogs - one week I'll do a craft post here and the next I'll do a writing post there. If you have an interest in books or writing, please take a look!

"The Office" Paper Doll: Michael Scott with Desk and Costumes

2011-03-28T01:00:00.004-07:00

Click here for printable PDF

I've made a new Office paper doll! Well, actually it's the Michael Scott doll I made a couple years ago but I've given him costumes and accessories.

Costumes include Willy Wonka (from "Golden Ticket"), magician's straight jacket, Prison Mike doo-rag and Michael's second head Halloween costume. Michael comes with his chair and desk, complete with monitor, Dundie, nameplate and World's Best Boss mug. Click here to download the PDF (Note that the file is somewhat large so it may take a little while for it to load). Download it, print it on heavyweight paper, cut everything out and enjoy!

I want to say thanks to tanster for featuring this doll on Officetally a few weeks ago. Thanks tanster!

You can find the Dwight, Pam, Jim and old Michael dolls I created a while ago here, and my Creed doll with accessories is here.

Here are some photos of the assembled doll and desk:

Fingerless Knit Gloves

2011-03-14T01:00:00.002-07:00

I spend most of my time working on the computer and this time of year that means my wrists and fingers end up painfully cold. I've tried wearing gloves but they make it hard to type. I bought fingerless bike gloves but they only covered a tiny bit of my fingers and none of my wrist.

At the store today I saw a cheap pair of knit gloves with long wrists, So I bought them and decided to cut the fingertips off. This way they would keep my hands and fingers warm but would still allow me to type easily.

I found a great tutorial by Annie Spandex that was pretty close to what I wanted to do, though I ended up doing a few things differently. Here's what I did:

1. I put on the gloves and marked with pins where I wanted to cut them.

Since knit gloves are stretchy, always cut off less than you think you should. I marked them about a quarter inch above the top joint in each finger and after I cut them and tried them on again, they ended below that joint. If I could do it over again, I'd just cut off the very tip. Remember, you can always cut off more but you can't put back what you've already cut off.

2. I took off the gloves (carefully so didn't get poked by the pins). Using sharp scissors, I cut off each finger tip of the glove above the pin.

3. I took out the pins and tried on the gloves to make sure I didn't need to cut off more.

4. I stuck a marker in each finger then put each glove in a glass and arranged them so the fingers weren't touching. This is so the fingers won't stick together when I put the Fray Check on them.

5. I put Fray Check on each cut edge. It doesn't take a lot, but the fabric should be saturated.

Looking around the web, lots of people recommend different things for finishing the raw edges: fabric glue, regular glue, even Shoe Goo! I already had Fray Check so that's what I ended up using. It does end up being a little stiff when it dries but it will soften with wear.

I let the Fray Check dry then tried them on! Sophie helped me test them out:

How I Did It: The Office Ypsilanti Bobblehead Movie

2011-02-28T01:00:00.054-07:00

This is a follow-up to my post of 2/18/11. Here's the film again in case you missed it (FYI it's 12 minutes long):

This project has been in the works for years. In 2007 I joined NBC's fansite for The Office, Dunder Mifflin Infinity (it's now called Dunder Mifflin Sabre). I met a bunch of cool people who loved the show as much as I did and we had fun geeking out and playing games on DMI.

In the spring of 2008 I created this puppet video for a contest on DMI. It made it in to the top 5 entries but didn't win. However, I had so much fun making it that I started to look for something else to film. I worked with a friend from DMI and we came up with a story idea then wrote a script. But it seemed too complicated for puppets so we ended up sitting on it for a few years.

In 2009 I ran across an animation program called Anime Studio Debut 6. It was cheap so I bought it and played around with it for a while. Once I had a general idea of how it worked, I picked our script up again and decided that it would be possible to use Anime Studio Debut to film it. Here's what I did.

Actors and Lines

The different expressions I asked my actors to photograph.

The actors in this film are my friends from The Office fansite and are located all across the country (one is even in the UK!). So everything we did had to be done over the internet.

The first step was to get photos of my actors' faces. I went through the script and figured out all the expressions that the characters would need to make during the film. I then asked my actors to take photos of their heads making each of the expressions as well as a photo of the back of their head for when the character was facing away from the camera. Even if I wasn't sure if a character needed that expression, I had them do it anyway. This was a good idea since I ended up needing some of those expressions later.

At the same time, I sent each person a numbered list of lines for them to record. They recorded the lines and emailed them to me. This was actually one of the biggest headaches for me because there were so many different file types and often my computer didn't want to read them. However, my dad recommended GoldWave, a downloadable audio editing program (it's free to try, $49 to buy). Not only did it read all the file types and convert them into .wav files for me, it also allowed me to increase the volume in the clips and clean up a lot of the background noise.

Creating the Bobbleheads

Before and after: pencil sketch to shaded color body.

I had the lines and the actor's photos so now it was time for me to make the bobblehead characters. I drew by hand a body for each character then scanned my drawing into Photoshop where I cleaned it up and colored it. I purchased a cheap USB tablet that was a huge help when it came to working in Photoshop. It made drawing, coloring, and cropping much easier.

Next I cropped out each head and put them in the same Photoshop file as the body, resizing them to fit on the body. I had a layer for each head and one for the body.

Now I needed a way for the mouths to move when the characters talked. In Photoshop I cut out the lower lip and jaw of each face that needed to talk then made additional layers and moved the mouths in to five different positions, from closed to open wide.

I saved each mouth, face, and body layer individually as a .png file then imported all the layers for a character into an Anime Studio Debut file. I rigged the figure and saved it so that I could import it in to any other Anime Studio Debut file and it would be ready to "act"!

Backgrounds

I combined two photos I took at Wiard's Apple Orchard to create one long background for a scene.

Most of the backgrounds are photos. I put them all through Photoshop's "Cut Out" filter so that they would look more cartoonish as well as to compensate for the fact that some photos weren't the same quality as others. If there was a piece of furniture or other object that a character would need to stand behind, I duplicated the background in to a new layer then cut out the object. In animating the character layer would be between the furniture layer and the background layer and thus would appear to be standing behind the furniture.

Props

Goat photo (actually from the petting zoo at Wiard's Orchard, not Domino's Petting Farm), before and after Photoshopping.

Props were pretty easy, I just took a photo then I cut the object (such as a phone) out of the photo then put it through Photoshop's "Cut Out" filter. The hardest props weren't really props at all but characters - the animals at the petting zoo. It was not easy to get that goat to move!

Animating

Animating in Anime Studio Debut

Once I had the bobbleheads, backgrounds and props I could finally start animating. Though I had done a few test animations before starting, I went into this with almost no idea how to use Anime Studio Debut. Consequently there was a lot of frustration and more than a few tears before I was done. That's probably one explanation for why it took me ten months to animate this thing!

I wish I had the time to explain how to use Anime Studio Debut but it is so complicated that I don't think there is any way I could do it. I learned by fiddling around with it, using the tutorials provided with the software and going to the Anime Studio forum when there was a question I couldn't answer elsewhere.

While I can't go through everything, I will mention a few things I did to make the animating easier:

- Instruction Sheet. I made an instruction sheet for myself. If I figured out how to do something complicated I wrote it down so I wouldn't have to figure it out again the next time.

- Scene Chart. I created a spreadsheet with each scene listed. I broke down the scenes by shots (parts of the scene that require a different angle or background) then gave each shot a number (1-1 would be scene 1, shot 1). Next to the shot I copied from the script the description of the action and any lines spoken in that shot. I then named my animation files with those numbers so I could keep track of what I was animating.

- Keep Clips Short. Anime Studio Debut can slow down if a scene has a lot of layers and action so I tried to keep each clip to about twelve seconds. If the clip went longer, I often would break it up into two different clips.

- Use Sync Switch Layers Feature. The ability to sync switch layers to an audio file in Anime Studio Debut is awesome! I used it to make the characters talk. All I had to do was import the audio file then sync the mouth switch layer to it and the program would automatically make the mouths flap according to the loudness of the audio. It's not perfect, though, so I always had to go back and clean it up a bit.

- Mix Audio with Goldwave. Anime Studio Debut only allows you to have two audio files in the program at once. This wouldn't work for scenes where I had several people talking at once. I solved this by first pasting together the different audio clips in GoldWave then importing one big audio clip into Anime Studio Debut. I synced all the characters' mouths to that one file then went in and cleaned it up so that the characters only talked during their lines.

- Watch Out for Popping Audio. Be aware that if you have two audio files in Anime Studio Debut and they are producing sound at the same time, you may end up getting a popping sound. For example, in the raining picnic scene I originally had one audio file for the thunder and another for speaking, but I found that whenever there was thunder at the same time as someone was speaking I would get the popping sound. I solved this by removing the thunder audio file and adding it back in when the animating was done using Windows Movie Maker.

- Watch Out for Spatial Positioning. Another sound quirk that Anime Studio Debut has is called spatial positioning. It is turned on automatically for every audio file and changes the loudness of the file and which speaker the sound comes out of depending on where your "camera" is relative to the position of the audio clip. I didn't notice that this was a problem until one day when I was animating using my headphones and realized that sometimes the sound would come out one earbud but not the other. At first I thought something was wrong with my headphones, then with my sound card, then with my audio file...it took me forever to realize that it was all due to an annoying check box hidden in the audio file properties in Anime Studio Debut!

- Making it Rain. This wasn't easy. In the more expensive version of the software (just called Anime Studio, without the "Debut") there is something called Particle Effects which apparently make it much easier to animate things like rain. But I had the cheap version, of course, and Particle Effects doesn't come with it. What I did was draw some diagonal lines in a layer, then replicated them over and over using the Scatter Brush tool. I then animated the layer to move from top to bottom across the screen and when it reached the bottom, to jump back to the top and cycle back to the bottom again. I duplicated that layer and animation a couple times and moved their timing around so that there would always be rain on the screen.

Putting It All Together

Editing in Windows Movie Maker

By the time I was done animating, I had about 60 video clips of various lengths that needed to be edited together. To do this I used Windows Movie Maker which came free with my computer.

I got some flack from my husband for using Movie Maker. Apparently a lot of people find it lame, fit only for putting together vacation slideshows. But I liked that it was simple and would easily produce a file in the 16:9 widescreen dimensions that I needed for Youtube. I did take a look at another program, Adobe Premiere Elements, and while it had some neat stuff and would let me mix more than one audio track at a time, it was also extremely limited in the choices it gave me for what file types and sizes it would produce. It didn't have an option in the dimensions I needed so I chose not to use it.

Like Anime Studio Debut, Windows Movie Maker gets very slow and unwieldy with larger files so I first broke up my movie into four parts. I edited each part together, removing any extra footage, adding in scene transitions and extra audio files like the thunder. Next I published and saved each of the four parts in the highest quality format I could. Finally I put the four parts along with opening and closing credits in a new file and published the final file. I was done!

I hope this helps explain how I created this film. Though it was a lot of hard work I also had a lot of fun and enjoyed pushing myself to learn something new.

As I said, I'm no expert when it comes to animating but if anyone has a specific question about how I did something in the film, I'll do my best to answer it. Thanks for reading!

The Office Ypsilanti Bobblehead Movie

2011-02-17T19:06:00.001-07:00

Success! The crazy project that's been taking almost all of my spare time for the past ten months (alluded to here) is finally finished. Behold: a 12 minute animated homage to The Office!

Description: The employees of the Ypsilanti, Michigan branch of Dunder Mifflin are forced by their manager to participate in "mandatory fun" - skipping work to visit local attractions like the apple orchard and petting zoo. But when each visit ends worse than the last, would they have been better off staying at the office?

Thanks for watching! In a few weeks I'll do a follow-up post explaining how this film came to be and how it was created. Update 2/28/11: Follow up post is here.

Amigurumi Nativity: Crocheted Joseph Pattern

2011-01-31T01:00:00.003-07:00

Every Christmas my goal is to come up with a pattern for a new nativity figure.

Last year was Mary and baby Jesus and this year is Joseph!

Joseph Amigurumi Pattern

Notes on this pattern:

This pattern is intended for personal use only. Please do not reproduce or repost this pattern without my permission. Never sell my patterns or items created from my patterns.
There are a few color changes in this pattern. Aside from that, the most complicated part of the pattern to crochet is the headband which is crocheted in the round (as opposed to in a spiral which is the traditional amigurumi way). There are also a few pieces that are crocheted flat.
The finished size of the figure is 5 inches.

Materials needed:

Bulky weight yarn in a flesh color, blue (for headcloth and robe), red (for body and headband) and brown (for beard and hair). I used Lion Brand Jiffy.
Size H (5.00 mm) crochet hook
Yarn needle
Stuffing
Optional: Bean bag plastic pellets. Putting some of these in the bottom of the Joseph figure can help it balance better. Make sure the pellets are large enough that they won't work their way through the crochet stitches. Pellets are not recommended if small children may have access to the figure.

Abbreviations used in this pattern:

Rnd = round, when doing continuous crochet
Row = row, when doing flat crochet
sc = single crochet
st = stitch
sts = stitches
ch = chain
slp st = slip stitch
sc2tog = single crochet two stitches together, aka a decrease. (I recommend using falwyn's invisible decrease.) sc3tog = single crochet three stitches together.

The pattern:

Joseph's Arm
Make two using spiral crochet. Begin with flesh color:
Rnd 1: 4 sc in magic ring (4 sts).
Rnd 2: [2 sc in next st, sc 1] two times (6 sts).
Rnd 3: sc around (6 sts).
Color change to red:
Rnd 4: sc around (6 sts).
Rnd 5: [2 sc in next st, sc 1] three times (9 sts).
Rnd 6: sc around (9 sts).
Rnd 7: sc around (9 sts).
Rnd 8: sc around (9 sts).
Rnd 9: sc around (9 sts).
Rnd 10: sc around (9 sts).
Bind off, leaving tail to use to sew arm to body. Stuff arm.

Joseph's Head and Body
Using spiral crochet. Beginning with flesh color:
Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring (6 sts).
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each st around (12 sts).
Rnd 3: [2 sc in next st, sc 1] six times (18 sts).
Rnd 4: [2 sc in next st, sc 2] six times (24 sts).
Rnd 5: [2 sc in next st, sc 3] six times (30 sts).
Rnd 6: sc around (30 sts).
Rnd 7: sc around (30 sts).
Rnd 8: [sc2tog, sc 3] six times (24 sts).
Rnd 9: [sc2tog, sc 2] six times (18 sts).
Rnd 10: [sc2tog, sc 1] six times (12 sts).
Color change to red:
Rnd 11: sc around (12 sts).
Rnd 12: [2 sc in next st, sc 3] three times (15 sts).
Rnd 13: [2 sc in next st, sc 4] three times (18 sts).
Rnd 14: [2 sc in next st, sc 5] three times (21 sts).
Rnd 15: [2 sc in next st, sc 6] three times (24 sts).
Rnd 16: [2 sc in next st, sc 7] three times (27 sts).
Rnd 17: [2 sc in next st, sc 8] three times (30 sts).
Rnd 18: [2 sc in next st, sc 9] three times (33 sts).
Rnd 19: sc around (33 sts).
Rnd 20: [2 sc in next st, sc 10] three times (36 sts).
Rnd 21: sc around (36 sts).
Rnd 22: sc around (36 sts).
Sew arms to body underneath head. Stuff head and upper part of body (stuffing it partially now is easier than trying to stuff the whole thing as you are closing it up).
Rnd 23: [sc2tog, sc 4] six times (30 sts).
Rnd 24: [sc2tog, sc 3] six times (24 sts).
Rnd 25: [sc2tog, sc 2] six times (18 sts).
Rnd 26: [sc2tog, sc 1] six times (12 sts).
Stuff the rest of the body. Add plastic bean bag pellets if desired.
Rnd 27: [sc2tog] six times (6 sts).
Bind off, closing hole and weaving in tail.

Joseph’s Headcloth
See the pattern for Mary's Veil for photos on how the headcloth is crocheted. Crocheted flat. Using blue:
Row 1: ch 11. sc in second chain from hook. [sc in each chain] eight times (with first sc, a total of 9 sc). In 10th chain, 4 sc. Work back down the other side of the chain doing sc in each chain (total of 9 sc), ch 1 turn (22 sts).
Row 2: sc 9, 2 sc in next 4 sts, sc 9, ch 1 turn (26 sts).
Row 3: sc 9, 2 sc in next 8 sts, sc 9, ch 1 turn (34 sts).
Row 4: sc across, ch 1 turn (34 sts).
Row 5: sc across, ch 1 turn (34 sts).
Row 6: sc across, ch 1 turn (34 sts).
Row 7: sc across, ch 1 turn (34 sts).
Row 8: sc across, ch 1 turn (34 sts).
Row 9: sc across, ch 1 turn (34 sts).

You can stop there, but I like to run a chain of single crochet across the bottom to even out the edges. Here’s how to do it: After Row 9, ch 1 then sc across bottom (about 18 or 19 st). When you reach the end, ch 1 then slp st in first stitch on other edge. Bind off, weaving in tails.

Unfinished bottom edge on headcloth.

Single crochet across the bottom edge.

Finished bottom edge on headcloth.

Joseph’s Headband
Crochet in the round in red:
Rnd 1: ch 26. Join by slp st in the first st (so you will have a circle)
Rnd 2: sc all. There will be a gap at the end so close it by slp st in the first st in the round.
Bind off, leaving tail to use to sew on headband.

Chain 26.

Join chain using slip stitch to form circle.

Single crochet around circle.

Close circle using slip stitch.

Joseph’s Robe
Crochet flat in blue:
Row 1: ch 11. sc in second chain from hook. sc in each chain 9 more times (for a total of 10 sts). ch 1 and turn.
Row 2: sc across, ch 1 and turn (10 sts).
Row 3: sc across, ch 1 and turn (10 sts).
Row 4: 2 sc in first st, sc 8, 2 sc in last st, ch 1 and turn (12 sts).
Row 5: sc across, ch 1 and turn (12 sts).
Row 6: sc across, ch 1 and turn (12 sts).
Row 7: 2 sc in first st, sc 10, 2 sc in last st, ch 1 and turn (14 sts).
Row 8: sc across, ch 1 and turn (14 sts).
Row 9: sc across, ch 1 and turn (14 sts).
Row 10: 2 sc in first st, sc 12, 2 sc in last st, ch 1 and turn (16 sts).
Row 11: sc across, ch 1 and turn (16 sts).
Row 12: sc across, ch 1 and turn (16 sts).
Row 13: 2 sc in first st, sc 14, 2 sc in last st, ch 1 and turn (18 sts).
Row 14: sc across, ch 1 and turn (18 sts).
Row 15: sc across, ch 1 and turn (18 sts).
Row 16: 2 sc in first st, sc 16, 2 sc in last st, ch 1 and turn (20 sts).
Row 17: sc across (20 sts).

Joseph's Robe Edging: Note that the stitch counts in parenthesis in this section are approximate and may vary. If you don’t end up using exactly the same number of stitches as I did, it’s okay.

1. Chain 1 and single crochet up the side, stopping about 2/5ths of the way from the top (9 sts).
2. To make the arm hole, chain enough stitches to be even with the top row (6 sts).
3. Use slip stitch to join the chain to the last stitch in the top row.
4. Chain 1, turn and single crochet back down the side (15 sts).
5. At the bottom corner, chain 1 and single crochet across the bottom row (21 sts).
6. At the end of the bottom row, repeat steps 1-4 for the next side. Then chain 1 and join it using a slip stitch into the first stitch in the bottom row. Bind off and weave in ends.

Here's a slide show showing how the edging on the robe is done:

Joseph’s Beard
Crochet flat in brown (leave long tail for sewing to face):
Row 1: ch 8. sc in second chain from hook. sc in each chain 6 more times (for a total of 7 sts). ch 1 and turn.
Row 2: sc across, ch 1 and turn (7 sts).
Row 3: sc2tog, sc 3, sc2tog, ch 1 and turn (5 sts).
Row 4: sc across, ch 1 and turn (5 sts).
Row 5: sc2tog, sc 1, sc2tog, ch 1 and turn (3 sts).
Row 6: sc3tog (1 st).
Bind off and weave in tail.

Final Construction
Put headcloth and headband on Joseph and sew them down. Sew beard to Joseph's face. Add hair if desired. Put on his robe by sticking the arms through the arm holes. If you want his arms to be down instead of sticking out, you can hold them down and use some yarn to sew them to his sides.
Pair Joseph with Mary and baby Jesus and enjoy your nativity!

Short Stories on the Droid Kindle App

2011-01-17T01:00:00.032-07:00

I have not yet jumped on the Kindle/Nook/e-reader train, but I am warming up to the idea. I've played around with my friend's Kindle and while it's nice I'm not ready to buy one yet. I don't think I would prefer an e-reader to an actual paper novel - I can't take the Kindle in the bath with me, can I? Well I CAN but it probably wouldn't be a good idea!

But what I do have is a Droid smart phone:

While I wouldn't want to read an entire novel using the Kindle app on my phone, I have found that many people are now selling short stories through the Kindle store and they are the perfect length for reading in those few minutes while I'm riding in the car or waiting at the doctor's office. And many of them are only $0.99!

This is great because, for the most part, you won't find these short stories anywhere else. Sure, some of them have been published in magazines or short story collections but many of them are out of print or hard to find.

My favorite short story Kindle author so far is Kristine Kathryn Rusch. She has lots of short stories, varying from mystery to fantasy to science fiction. My two favorites are The Case of the Vanishing Boy (a mystery set at a sci-fi convention!) and The Secret Lives of Cats (a mystery solved by cats!). She also has several collections, such as Five Fantastic Tales where you get five fantasy stories for $2.99.

These are short stories so most can be read in twenty minutes or so. Short stories don't often list page counts so it's hard to judge their length, but most of Rusch's stories are between 20-50 KB. Many will let you preview a certain percent of the story and that can give you a bit of an idea as to how long it is.

Treasure Island on the Droid

The picture above gives you an idea of how the text looks on the Droid. It's easy to read and if you have bad eyes like me you can make the text larger. And the Droid is backlit unlike the Kindle, which needs an external light to be read at night. That means I can read it in bed or in the car after dark without bugging my husband with a light.

Again, I wouldn't want to read a whole book on my Droid (I think I'd go blind) but for short stories it's perfect!

Books I Read in 2010 - Part 2

2011-01-02T01:00:00.001-07:00

This year I decided to keep track of the books I read by listing them in the sidebar. Now that the year is over, I thought that I'd give some of the highlights and lowlights of the books I read this year. All books have an Amazon link. There were a lot of books so I've split it up into two parts - Part 1 is here.

My Favorite Non-Fiction Books: Yes Man by Danny Wallace and Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

Most of the non-fiction I read is humor. These two guys are at the top. Danny comes across as a bumbling, well-meaning idiot when he decides to say "Yes" to everything asked of him for a year. By the way, do NOT bother with the Jim Carrey movie, it is nothing like the book. Conversely, if you've seen the movie don't judge the book based on it! Danny's other book, Join Me, is excellent too (he accidentally starts a cult).I have never heard or read David Sedaris before this year. We picked Me Talk Pretty for book club and I ended up reading it while staying with my grandma as she recovered from a shoulder replacement surgery. I was laughing out loud almost constantly! Finally she asked me what was so funny and I read a portion of it to her. Thankfully it was one of the "clean" stories, about David and his non-French classmates trying to explain Easter to another classmate in French. We both laughed ourselves silly over it.

Most Depressing Book: The Boat by Nam Le

First, let me say that I am the kind of person who likes a happy ending. Or at least a not-unhappy ending. I read to escape and have fun so I tend to avoid books that aren't fun. The Boat is a book of short stories recommended by a friend to a member of my book club and they are all very depressing. Every. Single. One. It's just my opinion, but it seems to me that some writers think that sad endings automatically make a story better. It doesn't. I was more than happy to put this book in my give-away pile.

Here are the rest of the books I read, each with a sentence or two summarizing my thoughts.

The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson

I've been sucked into this series like the rest of the country. Liked this one okay, liked the first one better.

Brooklyn by Colm Toibin

Irish girl moves to Brooklyn by herself in the 1950's. The main character was dull, she just did whatever anyone else told her and by the end hadn't changed. I don't recommend it.

The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker by Leanna Renee Hieber

I heard the author of this book speak at Phoenix Comicon. It sounded good (a Victorian fantasy) so I picked it up. I liked it, even thought the main character is a "damsel in distress" (she's always having to be rescued or protected) and I generally like my MC's a bit more independent.

Wings by Aprilynne Pike

Also heard this author speak at Phoenix Comicon. A teen discovers she's a fairy. Good, but it was written more for teens than for me so I think I'll skip the rest of the series.

Sunken Treasure by Wil Wheaton

Enjoyed Wil's (Wesley Crusher, Star Trek) various short stories, though I wouldn't recommend the print version unless you are a big fan (it's print on demand so it's kind of pricey).

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See

Typical Lisa See, struggling Asian women in historical settings. Good but not my favorite.

There's No Place Like Here by Cecelia Ahern

Good, light, chick-lit fantasy. A woman ends up in the place were all lost things go.

Plum Spooky by Janet Evanovich

Honestly I don't remember the plot of this one - I can't keep the Stephanie Plums apart. I think there was the Jersey Devil, maybe?

Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella

Another entertaining chick-lit book. Woman gets amnesia and has a chance to start her life over.

Inglorious Basterds: A Screenplay by Quentin Tarantino

I loved this movie. Loved loved loved it. So I wanted to read the screenplay to pick up a few tidbits that didn't make it into the movie.

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Browne and King

I'm sure this is a great book but for a first time novelist (I got it to help with my 2009 NaNoWriMo story) it was overwhelming and I gave up on editing my book.

How To Write Mysteries by Shannon O'Cork

Checked this out from the library and found it very helpful. Went back to check it out for 2010's NaNoWriMo and found that the library had gotten rid of it! Makes me feel less sorry for them when they complain that they have no money for books - if you can't buy new books, why are you getting rid of ones that people are still using? Ended up buying it used from Amazon.

Ford County Stories by John Grisham

My husband loves Grisham so I read this one on a whim. It was good but I wouldn't have bought it for myself.

Rumpole and the Reign of Terror by John Mortimer

Found this at the dollar store and got it more for my dad than myself. Having never read Rumpole before there were a few things I didn't follow but overall it was worth the dollar!

Star Trek by Alan Dean Foster

A direct novelization of the 2009 movie. Only recommend to obsessive fans like myself!

Books I Read in 2010 - Part 1

2011-01-01T01:00:00.007-07:00

This year I decided to keep track of the books I read by listing them in the sidebar. Now that the year is over, I thought that I'd give some of the highlights and lowlights of the books I read this year. All books have an Amazon link. There were a lot of books so I've split it up into two parts - Part 2 will be posted tomorrow (it's up now - here).

My Favorite Fiction Book: Storm Front by Jim Butcher

"Harry Dresden--Wizard
Lost items found. Paranormal investigations.
Consulting. Advice. Reasonable rates.
No Love Potions, Endless Purses, Parties, or Other Entertainment."

Yes! An urban fantasy series that's not a romance! No hot vampires! No sexy werewolves! And it's funny to boot - I want to read more!

The Book I Wasn't Expecting to Like But Did: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Two things made me think I would not like this book. First, it is completely written as letters from the characters to each other - when I started reading I thought that would be annoying but after a while I got used to it. Second, the title of this book reminded me of the cutesy books about ladies getting together over some sort of hobby (cooking, knitting, etc.), discovering themselves and whatnot but thankfully Guernsey is nothing like that! It's about the people on an isolated British island that was occupied by the Germans during WWII and what happens to them after war. But it's not dry at all - the characters are interesting and there is quite a bit of romance.

The Book I Couldn't Finish: Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris

This book isn't officially on my list of books I read this year since I didn't actually finish it. It was another book club pick. It's supposed to be a workplace comedy which sounded perfect for us as we all met through a fansite for The Office television show. The book wasn't awful, exactly, but it was only mildly funny and the fact that the author writes page-long paragraphs made me give up on it before I came to the end (ha ha?).

Here are some of the other books I read, each with a sentence or two summarizing my thoughts.

The World According to Clarkson by Jeremy Clarkson

Somehow I have become a fan of Top Gear (a BBC car show) and Jeremy is the show's lead presenter. He can be rude and offensive but also very funny.

Tongues of Serpents by Naomi Novik

Dragons in Napoleonic England (or Australia in this book) - love this series!

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

Interesting premise (ghosts), awesome local (Highgate cemetery in London), but the characters are dull and act unbelievably and the story just gets weird at the end.

Unbearable Lightness by Portia de Rossi

Portia gives interesting insight into eating disorders; enjoyed it though the anorexia stuff made me squirm and I would've liked to know more about her life after the disorder.

Mysterious America by Loren Coleman

About "cryptids" - stuff like Bigfoot and skunk apes - in the US. Interesting if you are in to that sort of thing, though it does get a bit repetitive (What? Someone claims they've seen something but no one believes them?).

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

Another book club book, about a mysterious English family and their long-lost daughter. I'm middle of the road on this one, it was good but way too long.

Nightschool Vol 1-3 by Svetlana Chmakova

Did I only read one graphic novel series this year? Guess so. This one was okay but not as good as Svetlana's other series, Dramacon.

Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich

Standard Stephanie Plum but that's not bad. A quick, entertaining read.

One for the Money by Janet Evanovich

Went back to read the first Stephanie Plum for book club. We all loved it - it's still as good as it was a decade ago. I'm not a Katherine Heigl fan so I'm not looking forward to the movie.

Not a Girl Detective by Susan Kandel

Got this for a dollar at Walmart. It was worth the dollar.

Free Christmas Craft Instructions

2010-12-07T11:39:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd do a quick post reviewing the Christmas craft instructions and patterns from The Crafty Cattery. If you're looking for gifts to make for yourself or someone else, consider these!

Amigurumi Nativity Crochet Pattern. So far it's just Mary and baby Jesus but I plan to release a new pattern each year for another figure in the Nativity.

Felt Advent Calendar. Includes instructions for making the calendar and ornaments. No patterns for the ornaments, unfortunately. You're on your own with those!

Christmas Card Holder. Instructions for making a very simple string and clothespin card holder.

Peppermint Felt Tree Skirt. Instructions for making a simple tree skirt.

Not really Christmas themed but these still make good gifts:

Big Bad Wolf Amigurumi Pattern. Crochet a little friend for the wolf lover in your life!

Printable Office paper dolls. Free PDF paper dolls of Dwight, Michael, Pam, Jim and Creed. Make great stocking stuffers!

It's NaNoWriMo Time Again!

2010-10-27T10:08:00.000-07:00

NaNoWriMo is less than a week away! What's NaNoWriMo, you ask? It stands for National Novel Writing Month, which is a world-wide event that takes place every November where folks attempt to write a 50,000 word novel in a month.

I'm participating again this year (see this post for more information on what I did last year) and have been busy this week with my novel planning. It's going to be a challenge with my brother's wedding this month but I think I can do it. It helps that we don't have any plans for Thanksgiving so I can stay home and write!

If you're one of those people who has always wanted to write a novel but never got around to it, NaNoWriMo might be for you! Before NaNo last year I had never finished writing a short story, much less a whole book. Since then I have started writing more, including two short stories (one of which I entered in a contest and is posted here). I am very excited about my story this year and can't wait to start writing!

If you decide to attempt NaNoWriMo, look me up on the NaNo website so we can be writing buddies! My username there is Clockwise.

Happy writing!

P.S. I try not to make excuses for not posting new projects, but the reason I haven't had anything new for months is that I have been working on a very big project: an animated short film! Though I've been working on it since May I am only about halfway through and now because of NaNo it is getting pushed to the back burner. I hope to get it finished before the end of the year but that might be wishful thinking. Here's a teaser trailer I made to show to my friends who are the "actors" in the film (I felt bad about making them wait so long to see the finished product!).

Tea Lovers' Roundup on Muffins and More

2010-09-11T09:23:00.000-07:00

Ms Muffin of Muffins and More is doing a Tea Lovers' Roundup this month where she features a different tea-related project each day. I'm happy to say that today's project is the Knitted Tea Cozy I made for my dad! Check it out, and while you're there take a look at all the other Tea Lover's projects. My favorite so far is the first one - cupcakes baked in tea cups. How adorable!

Makin' Bacon: A Short Story

2010-08-19T08:53:00.003-07:00

A couple months ago I wrote a 2000 word short story for a contest, the object of which was to describe what was happening in the above "fanart" showing writer John Scalzi as an orc and writer/actor Wil Wheaton riding a unicorn pegasus kitten (I named it Purrgasus!). The results were announced today and, big surprise, I didn't win. I don't feel too bad about it since it's my first short story and there were over 300 others entered in the contest. Since there's no chance that my story will ever be published I thought that I would post it here. Enjoy!

MAKIN' BACON

Somewhere on Mount Fail, late morning.

“Is someone making bacon?” The lone Scalzi orc gave several sniffs and abruptly abandoned his pursuit of the Evil One to search the human soldiers’ camp for any sign of the savory meat. He paid no heed to the gagging sounds the soldiers made when he passed into their sight, nor to the Evil One and his feline monstrosity, who were rapidly making their escape.

The captain of the soldiers groaned and hid his eyes from the green-skinned orc, lest he be sick again. How could he have been foolish enough to let the Evil One go? He even cheered for him as he flew away! Vainly he tried to rally his company. “Prepare another net! Bring him back down!” he ordered. The soldiers pulled themselves up and gave it their best but it was far too late. In the end, they could only watch helplessly as the Purrgasus and the Evil One disappeared into the distance.

“Curse you, Wil Wheaton!” the captain screamed, tears of hate and frustration escaping from his eyes. Though the object of his anger had vanished from sight, an obnoxious cackle was carried back to the captain on the foul-smelling wind. It was followed by the Evil One’s parting words: “Yes, I am that gooooood!”

Fifteen minutes earlier…

Mount Fail spewed its ash and cinders over the burning land for miles and filled the sky with stinking clouds of sulfur and ash. Below all this, in a slight hollow halfway down the volcano’s side, hid six dirty and weary soldiers. They had camped there for days now, holding their heads low and covering themselves with fireproof cloaks to guard against the flaming debris that floated down from the volcano’s mouth. It paid to be cautious on Mount Fail. Only that morning the seventh member of their company had rushed to be first in line for breakfast and neglected his protective cloak. The sight of his crimson uniform bursting into flames would give his fellow soldiers nightmares for years to come.

Their captain flicked away a small pile of accumulated ash from his cloak. “Not long now, eh lieutenant?” he said to the fresh-faced young man crouched next to him.

“Sir, are you sure this is a good idea?” asked his second-in-command, pulling his cloak tighter around his shoulders. “How can we possibly be a match for so much evil?”

“Oh come now! Have I ever led you wrong?” replied the captain. “The Evil One will come and we will capture him, I give you my word! As I always say, ‘He who is on the side of rightness…should watch out for his left!’” The captain laughed and clapped the lieutenant on the shoulder. The younger man spent a moment trying to understand the captain’s proverb before deciding that it was impossible.

“Something’s coming!” the lookout called from her position near the top of the hollow. She pointed to a creature emerging from the ring of smog that hugged the peak of Mount Fail. With a single deadly horn, two foul brown wings and a mouth crammed with cruel, needle-sharp teeth the legendary Purrgasus was unmistakable. On its back was a rider – the Evil One.

The captain jumped to his feet. “Ready the net!” he ordered. The soldiers scrambled to comply while their leader kept his eye on the man riding the flying beast. “Steady… Steady…” He watched him draw closer, waiting until he was just within range. “Now!”

The soldiers flung out the net and trapped the Purrgasus and its rider, pulling the struggling pair down to earth. The lieutenant and the lookout dragged the man out of the net while the others rushed to lash the hideous feline creature to the ground. Though it mewed pitifully, the captain was not moved. He knew that if given half a chance the Purrgasus would gleefully disembowel him. Ignoring the creature, he turned to the human prisoner.

“Let me go!” cried the bestubbled man, struggling against his captors as they removed a golden spear from his hands. Once the shining weapon was freed they passed it to the captain, who examined it briefly before responding to the prisoner’s plea.

“I think not, my friend,” the captain said. “The Traykee Purity Guardians will pay us a pretty penny when we deliver your head to them!” He poked the golden spear at the man’s neck.

“What?” The prisoner gulped.

“Are you hard of hearing?” asked the captain. Moving closer to the man he loudly replied, “I said, the Traykee Purists will pay us well for your head, Wil Wheaton!”

The man’s reaction surprised the captain. Instead of cowering in fear, he laughed. “Wheaton? You think I am the Wheaton?” He laughed again and shook his head, albeit carefully to avoid the spear still pointed at his neck. “I’m afraid there has been a misunderstanding – I am not Wil Wheaton.”

The soldiers looked at the man in confusion. Had they made a mistake? But their captain was not so easily swayed. “You’re a silver-tongued devil, Wheaton. How can there be any doubt that you are the Evil One? You’re just as the tales describe - riding on that feline monstrosity, carrying the golden spear of Epicosity and wearing the legendary Harlequin Sweater, knitted from finest mithril!”

The man nodded in agreement. “Yes, yes! And were I in your position I could only conclude the same. But please, let me assure you that in truth I am but a lowly orc. They call me John of the Scalzis, and my clan has been at war with the Evil One for eons. Why, it is only because of the trickery of the Wheaton that I appear before you thusly!”

The captain narrowed his eyes at the man and asked, “An orc? Do you take me for a fool?” He spat in disgust and pressed the spear tightly against the prisoner’s neck, causing the man to gasp.

“But I tell the truth!” he begged. “Only minutes ago I was battling the Wheaton at the pinnacle of Mount Fail. He was nearly defeated – all that remained was for me to remove his impenetrable Harlequin Sweater so I could stab him through the heart and utterly destroy him. However, no sooner did I pull the garment from his body than did the Evil One knock me to the ground and make his escape on foot! I was disheartened until I realized that, in his haste, he had left behind his creature, spear, and sweater. I took these things for my own and set off to find him.”

The captain shook his head and scoffed. “If you are a Scalzi orc, why do you look like a man? Where is your mossy green skin? Your pointy orc ears? Your splendid orc armor?”

“I see you are very observant!” the man replied. “It is obvious why you are the leader of this band.” The captain unsuccessfully tried to hide the smug grin that crept across his face. The prisoner continued, “Since you are such an intelligent man, I will let you in on one of the Wheaton’s greatest secrets. This enchanted Harlequin Sweater not only protects the wearer, but also disguises their appearance. When I removed the sweater from the Wheaton’s back he reverted to his true form – a horrible, putrid golem. And when I put the sweater on myself to replace my armor that the Evil One threw into Mount Fail, I was changed from an orc to a man!”

The captain pondered the prisoner’s story. Enchanted garments did seem to be packed with multiple magic powers these days. Why, just a few weeks ago he had come across the Mystical Mittens of Mott, which not only made the wearer invisible but also protected their fingers from frostbite. Perhaps the prisoner was telling the truth after all. He lowered the spear and the man gave a sign of relief.

The lieutenant noticed his superior’s change in attitude. He waved for one of the other soldiers to take his place holding the prisoner and came to the captain’s side. “Sir, should we not make him remove the enchanted sweater?” he asked. “That would prove beyond a doubt whether he is a Scalzi orc.”

The captain gave a great sigh. “You have much to learn, lieutenant. Of course we cannot.”

“But why?” the lieutenant asked.

“Tell me, have you ever seen a shirtless Scalzi?”

“No sir, I have not.”

“Then pray you never do!” The captain shuddered. “Now, please stop wasting my time and bring me the leftovers from breakfast.”

“Sir?” The lieutenant was bewildered.

“Don’t ask questions, just do as I say!” The lieutenant scurried away and returned several moments later carrying a platter filled to the brim with crispy, greasy bacon.

The captain took it from him. “Watch and you’ll see why I’m the one in charge here.” He stepped forward and offered the platter to the prisoner, saying, “Here friend, you must be—” but before he could add ‘hungry,’ the platter had been snatched from his hands and the prisoner was quickly devouring every last crackle. The captain gave a satisfied smirk. “You see?” he asked the lieutenant.

“See what, sir?”

“That you should never doubt me!” the captain answered. “Do you remember this old rhyme? Things made of meat, the Wheaton won’t eat…”

“But things made of pork are like catnip to orcs!” finished the lieutenant. “Of course!” He smiled for a moment, then frowned when another thought occurred to him. “But could not the Wheaton be acting? Pretending that he enjoys bacon so that we will believe his story?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” the captain replied, watching the prisoner greedily lick the platter clean of grease. “Nobody’s that good.” He turned to the soldiers guarding the Purrgasus. “Cut it loose,” he commanded. To the prisoner he said, “I am deeply sorry for the misunderstanding, John of the Scalzis. You are clearly telling the truth and are free to go. We too wish to see the end of the Evil One, so may the gods shower good fortune upon you and your noble quest!” The captain held out the golden spear.

The man took it and replied, “Thank you, friend.” He mounted his feline steed and raised the spear in a salute. “I shall not fail!” At that, the Purrgasus beat its wings and the pair rose up into the burning sky.

“A cheer for the heroic orc!” the captain shouted and led the soldiers in a passionate “Hip, hip, hurrah!” They were so intent on their celebration that not one of them noticed when a real Scalzi orc appeared at the top of the hollow, wheezing and snorting in exhaustion from his run down the side of the volcano.

“Hey! Stop that guy!” the orc gasped between breaths. “Don’t let him get away!” Startled, the soldiers turned to look at the newcomer. That was a grave mistake, however, because the orc was wearing no shirt. Upon beholding that repulsive sight every last man and woman retched, heaving up the contents of their stomachs until the entire company lay weak and dazed on the ground.

The captain struggled to his feet but fell again when he caught another eyeful of the Scalzi orc’s chest. “In the name of all that is sacred, clothe yourself!” he cried.

The orc rolled his eyes. “Gee, I’d love to! But that jerk in the clown sweater stole my armor and threw it into Mount Fail!” The green monster roared in frustration at the departing Purrgasus and its rider, but stopped when his attention was caught by a smell rising from the stomach-churning mess in the camp. “Is someone making bacon?”

The End

Printing Your Own Book

2010-08-06T10:04:00.006-07:00

Last November I participated in National Novel Writing Month, an event held online every year where thousands of people attempt to write a 50,000 word novel in one month. I "won", which means that I did write a 50,000+ word novel in 30 days. One of the perks of winning was a free proof copy of my book from CreateSpace.com.

CreateSpace is an online self-publishing company affiliated with Amazon.com. It's free to get a basic account and publish a book as long as you do all the work yourself; you only pay for the actual printed copies. You upload a PDF of your book to the site, formatted exactly how you want it to appear in the final book including page sizes, numbers, etc. You create a cover for it, either by yourself or using one of their pre-formatted covers. For my book cover, I took a photo in my backyard (an antique key on some grass) and inserted it into one of CreateSpace's covers.

Next, someone at CreateSpace checks to make sure that your book will print correctly. It's a very basic check - mainly just to be sure that your PDF is the right size and nothing is going to be cut off on the edge of the page (they don't check for typos, missing pages or anything like that). Once your book has been checked you can order a proof copy. The cost depends on the size and page count of your book (mine was free thanks to NaNoWriMo, including free shipping!).

Your book is shipped to you, you check it over and if you're happy with it you can make it available for others to purchase at CreateSpace.com and Amazon.com. Or, if you're like me and you only want to have a copy for yourself, you don't have to make it available to purchase at all.

The hardest part of this (besides writing the book!) is formatting the PDF. It took me several days to get my book set up correctly. CreateSpace doesn't give you much help with the formatting, probably because they would prefer that you pay them to do it for you! So I used this website from self-published author Lisa Shea which goes through pretty much everything you need to know about printing your own book. She also gives her thoughts on the other two big self-publishing sites out there, Lulu and CafePress.

All in all I was happy with my free copy from CreateSpace. It was 224 pages long, which included my NaNoWriMo story plus a 43-page short short I threw in to make it a bit longer. I think the cover turned out nice, though you can see in the top photo that the front didn't turn out centered like it was in the second sample photo - it's cropped closer on the right side. Finally, the copy I got was a proof copy but the only place it said "proof" was on the very last page of the book. That's a good thing, because I was worried it was going to say it on every single page!

New Website Name: www.craftycattery.com

2010-06-17T11:17:00.003-07:00

I've been meaning to get a real (non-blogspot) domain name for this blog for a long time and I finally broke down and did it today. Now the web address matches the blog name!

www.craftycattery.com

To celebrate, I've made a new banner starting one of my kitties (Sophie this time). I was hoping to put both Sophie and Lucy in the photo but couldn't get them to pose together.

You can still get here using the old web address (countingclocks.blogspot.com) if you need to. Why was it ever called Counting Clocks? I started this blog way before I got in to crafting and originally posted a couple of movie reviews and random rants about Dear Prudence and Dante Basco. I'm not sure why I decided to name it "Counting Clocks" then, I think it might've had something to do with liking that Coldplay song "Clocks". I think I wanted to name it "Ticking Clocks" after a lyric but that name was already taken, so I did "Counting" instead. When I decided to start a crafting blog, it seemed like a waste to create a new one from scratch so I just re-named it "The Crafty Cattery" but kept the original URL.

If you've been wanting to get a "real" domain name for your Blogger blog, I say go ahead and do it! Blogger makes it pretty painless, you can get everything done without even leaving the site and they took care of all the DNS pointing and other stuff I didn't understand. If you want to do it, just go to Blogger Help and search for "custom domain name".

Simplicity 2884 Halter Dress

2010-06-15T14:56:00.003-07:00

Project Name: Halter Dress
Time Taken to Finish: 3 days
Pattern: Simplicity 2884
Fabric Used: Turquoise paisley cotton, orange cotton for lining.
What I Did: I followed the pattern pretty much to the letter. The only thing I did differently was use cable ties for boning instead of the featherweight boning the instructions called for, because I don't have easy access to the featherweight boning where I live.
What I Liked About the Project: The fabric was very cute. Actually it's the whole reason I made the dress - I saw the fabric and had to find a dress pattern for it!
What I Didn't Like About the Project: The zipper is on the side instead of the back. If you look in the photo above you can see a funny bump in the dress at the waist on one side. That's the zipper. I don't know if I attached it wrong or if it's just bulging because the zipper doesn't want to lie flat. Either way, that really bothers me and is keeping me from actually wearing this dress. The only way I can think of to fix it is to move the zipper to the back or add boning to that side of the dress to keep things straight.

New "The Office" Paper Doll: Creed Bratton

2010-06-14T16:54:00.008-07:00

Last year I made paper dolls based on characters from my favorite television show, NBC's "The Office" (go here to print out dolls of Michael, Dwight, Pam and Jim).

Creed Bratton Paper Doll (PDF)

Now I've added a new doll: Creed Bratton! And unlike the other dolls, Creed has two alternate outfits (his Joker Halloween costume and Casual Friday clothes) as well as three accessories (peach cobbler, fake I.D. laminator, and guitar).

Here are the instructions for the doll:

1. Open the PDF file containing the paper doll (above) and print the page out (the stiffer the paper the better - cardstock would be the best).
2. Cut along the outline of the stand, around the paper doll and around the outfits and accessories (you may have to use an X-acto knife to get all the details). Cut two slits in the stand along the lines that say "cut".
3. Fold the stand back along both lines that say "fold" then slide the two slits into each other.
4. Stand the paper doll up. You may have to gently bend the figures and the stand so they'll stand upright.

Knitted Saguaro Cactus Pattern for Keychain

2010-06-08T13:16:00.004-07:00

I knitted up these saguaro cactus keychains to give out at a geocaching event held in my honor during a visit to London in May. They were a big hit and so was the event - I didn't make nearly enough for everyone! This very simple pattern can be found below.

Knitted Saguaro Cactus Pattern

Yarn: Medium weight, green
Needles: US size 3 double-pointed needles

Note: You can use any size yarn, just make sure to adjust your needles accordingly. I used very small needles because I didn't want any stuffing to show between the stitches.

All pieces are knit in the round. All stitches are knit stitches.

Body of the cactus:

Cast on 3 stitches and divide them evenly between your double-pointed needles (3 stitches).
Round 1: Increase each stitch 2 times (6 stitches).
Rounds 2-21: Knit all stitches for 20 rounds, stuffing as you go (6 stitches).
Don't cast off. Instead, run the tail of the yarn through the remaining stitches and tie off. Weave in tail.

Arms of the cactus (make 2):

Cast on 4 stitches. I found it easiest to use only two double-pointed needles, with two stitches on each needle (4 stitches).
Rounds 1-7: Knit all stitches for 7 rounds (4 stitches).
Rounds 8: Knit 2 stitches together twice (2 stitches).
Don't cast off. Instead, run the tail of the yarn through the remaining stitches and tie off. Do NOT weave in tail.

Construction:

Using the yarn tail left on the arms, sew them to the body of the cactus. Tie securely and weave in tails. Attach keychain if desired.

"The Office" Peeps Contest

2010-04-22T09:02:00.003-07:00

Update 4/29: I can't believe it, my entry won first place! Thanks to everyone who voted for it and thanks to Officetally for holding this awesome contest.

I'm a big fan of the TV show "The Office", so this year I decided to enter Officetally's The Office Peeps Contest. The goal was to recreate a scene from Season 6 (the current season) using marshmallow Peeps. Here's my entry:

And the scene from the episode "Sabre" it was based on:

This scene was suggested by one of my friends at dundermifflininfinity.com and I thought it was a great idea. Michael goes to to the home of former Dunder Mifflin CFO David Wallace to complain about Sabre, the new company that bought them out. But Michael finds out that joblessness had hit his former boss hard when David invites him into his hot tub and gives him a pitch for his new invention "Suck It" (a vacuum for kid's toys). I think a lot of us liked this scene because we got to see David without his shirt! :D

I thought I'd quickly detail how I made the diorama. It's sort of for my benefit, so I can remember how I made everything the next time I try to make something like this.

The Hot Tub. The hot tub was a plastic food container. I spray painted the back side white and hot-glued some foam "dials" on it. To keep the Michael and David Peeps in place I hot-glued nails to the inside of the container. The water is normal water with a little bit of blue food dye. To create the bubbles I had my husband standing off-camera with a straw. The straw had one end closed and I punched holes with an ice pick in the sides so it would make a lot of small bubbles.

The David Wallace Peep. When I tried to draw David's chest hair directly on the Peep it didn't work too well. The ink wouldn't come out easily and I ended up digging holes in the marshmallow. To fix this I dabbed some clear nail polish on the area and let it dry, then drew the hairs on.

The Michael Scott Peep. I used acrylic paint to give Michael a white shirt. I was bad and didn't let it dry before taking the photos so it quickly began to wash off. Oh well!

The Beer Bottles and Whiskey Glass. I found photos of the actual beers Michael and David were drinking in the scene, resized them to Peep size then printed them out on cardstock. I cut out the bottles and went over the fronts with hot glue to make them look three-dimensional. On the back I painted some clear nail polish so the paper wouldn't dissolve when it got wet, then glued on part of a paper clip so I had a way to attach the bottles to the peeps. I did the same thing for the whiskey glass.

The Greenery. These were all parts of plants and weeds from around my house. I thought using actual plants would look a lot better than trying to make fake plants.

The House. The walls were cardboard. The windowsill was made of popsicle sticks, the muntins (crosspieces) on the windows were plastic cable ties, and the siding is strips of construction paper that have been painted over.

Mrs. Wallace Peep. Her blouse is made of felt and the necklace is an actual necklace that I wired on to her.

Kitchen Backdrop. I drew the backdrop and colored it in with markers. If you look closely in the lower left corner of the window, you'll see a jar of marshmallow fluff that David used in an earlier scene to make a fluff sandwich. There's some sort of weird sculpture of little brown things in the original scene so I recreated it using seed beads painted brown.

The photo was taken outdoors. We had to do it in a rush because once the water went in the hot tub things started falling apart. I wish that I had noticed that there was a shadow of the top of the wall on the back of the kitchen backdrop, if I had I would've easily been able to fix it. Oh well! I'm pretty happy with my Peeps and I hope you liked it too!

Sewing Project: Antique Wire Hamper Liner

2010-04-15T13:50:00.005-07:00

My friend bought this wire hamper years ago. She's been using it for laundry but didn't have a liner for it so socks and other small items were always falling through. After seeing a similar hamper being sold at Pottery Barn with a liner, she asked me if I could make one for her. Above is a photo of what I came up with.

Project Name: Antique Wire Hamper Liner

Time Taken to Finish: 2 days
Pattern: Hand-drafted.
Materials Used: striped fabric, thread, twill tape for the tie
What I Did: Basically I made a cylinder out of fabric. The bottom is a circle and the sides were made of two flat panels sewn together. I folded over fabric at the top to create a space for the drawstring and so that the "good" side of the fabric would show when it was folded over the lip of the hamper.
What I Liked About the Project: It was fairly simple and didn't take much time to do.
What I Didn’t Like About the Project: The hardest part was matching the stripes on the vertical panels so that the pattern would look continuous.

Crocheted Amigurumi German Shepherd

2010-04-13T14:56:00.003-07:00

I made this amigurumi for my brother who wanted one that looked like his black and tan German Shepherd:

I used my Amigurumi Wolf pattern to create this doll and only had to make a few color changes to the paws and chest to make it look like my brother's dog. :)

Raised Vegetable Garden

2010-03-18T15:03:00.004-07:00

This year I've decided to attempt a vegetable garden for the first time. We have a gopher problem so an in-ground garden was out of the question - I'm not going to spend months babying my veggies only to have a gopher get to them first!

I built this 95% by myself (my husband had to help with some of the heavy lifting) so I'm pretty proud of it. The frame is redwood. You can't see it, but before filling it with dirt we stapled hardware cloth (like chicken wire but with smaller holes) to the bottom so the gophers couldn't get in.

The instructions I used were from Sunset.com. They were perfect because the size, 4 feet by 8 feet, meant it fit very nicely in the space I had. The only problem I had with the instructions were that they told me to buy 1 inch galvanized tube straps to attach the 1 inch PVC to the sides of the bed. However, I discovered that when I tried to use the 1 inch tube straps they were not big enough to go around the PVC and reach the sides of the bed, so I had to go back and use 1-1/4 inch tube straps instead.

I'm spouting seeds inside and then transferring them outside. So far I've planted squash, green beans, and strawberries (those were bought already grown). I'll probably post some updates as things (hopefully) grow.

Crock Pot Carne Guisada Recipe

2010-03-09T12:54:00.003-07:00

Carne guisada is one of my favorite Tex-Mex dishes. It's basically beef in a gravy and is usually served with flour tortillas. Now that I live in Arizona I can't find carne guisada in restaurants so I have to make it myself. I tried to use a pre-made spice mix but it always ended up too salty, so I've come up with my own recipe. As it is, it's pretty mild so if you like things a little spicier feel free to substitute hotter chiles or add more chili powder.

Crock Pot Carne Guisada

Ingredients:

- 1 pound stew beef (chuck or round steak cut in to cubes)
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 1 green chile deseeded, deveined, and chopped or 1 can green chiles, drained
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp salt
- water

Dump beef and veggies into the crock pot. Mix spices and flour in 1 cup of water until mostly dissolved, then pour the mixture into the crock pot. Add more water until the meat is nearly covered. Put the lid on the crock pot and turn it on. Cook on high for 6 hours or low for 8 to 10 hours. Gravy will thicken as it cools, but if it is too thin you can a little more flour.

Serve with flour tortillas.

Single Crochet Kimono Style Baby Sweater

2010-02-16T10:23:00.009-07:00

A friend requested a baby sweater for her little boy who will be showing up in March. I decided on a kimono-style sweater since it doesn't have buttons. It was crocheted with Lion Brand Homespun Yarn in Apple Green with a little bit of Colonial (blue) as edging.

It was very simple and easy to crochet. The back panel and two front panels are crocheted flat in single crochet and the sleeves were crocheted in a spiral (I couldn't figure out how to crochet "in the round" correctly but I think that spiral crochet works just fine).

I don't have a pattern for it, but it's so simple that I don't think it really needs one. I bought a cheap long-sleeved baby t-shirt in the size I wanted the sweater to be (1Y, one year), measured it, then used those measurements to make the sweater.

The measurements I took from the comparison shirt were the height of the shirt (H), the width of the shirt (W), the width of the sleeves at the shoulder (WS), the length of the sleeves (LS), and the distance from the shoulder seam to the edge of the neck (N).

The body of the sweater consisted of three pieces: two trapezoidal front panels and one rectangular back panel.

The back panel was the simplest. I used single crochet to make a large rectangle that matched the measurements of the comparison shirt. I figured out my stitch gauge and then crocheted enough stitches in a row to equal W. I then crocheted enough rows to make the height of the rectangle equal to H.

I started crocheting the front panels at the shortest edge, N. I increased gradually every few rows, always on the same edge so that one side would slope and the other side would remain straight. I continued increasing until the width of the front panel was equal to W and the height was equal to H.

This is what I ended up with:

Next I placed both front panels in position on top of the back panel with their right sides together and sewed the fronts to the back along the shoulder seams (N):

On each side of the sweater, I started at the shoulder seam and measured down the amount given by WS to determine how much space was needed for the sleeves. I marked that with a stitch marker and then sewed from there down to close up the side seam.

This left me with what was basically a vest. To add sleeves to it, I crocheted around the edge of the armhole and then just kept going in a spiral until my sleeve was as long as the comparison sleeve (LS).

After finishing the ends, I turned the sweater right side out. Using a contrasting color of yarn, I added a row of single crochet to the ends of the sleeves. I did single crochet around the edge of the body of the sweater as well, and while doing that edging I made the four ties that keep the kimono shut. Whenever I reached one of the shoulder seams or the bottom corners of the front panels, I made a chain of about 20 stitches, slip-stitched back down the chain and then continued on the with the edging:

That's it! Hopefully it will actually fit the baby, I won't get to find out until next winter when he will be old enough to wear it.

Amigurumi Nativity: Crocheted Mary and Baby Jesus

2010-01-06T12:51:00.005-07:00

For Christmas this year, I made this amigurumi Mary and baby Jesus for my friends and family. My plan is to make a new pattern every year for a different figure (Joseph, shepherds, wise men, animals, angel, etc.) so that after several years they will have a complete amigurumi nativity scene. This is the first year I'm doing it so this is the only pattern I have come up with so far.

Amigurumi Pattern

Notes on this pattern:

This pattern is intended for personal use only. Please do not reproduce or repost this pattern without my permission. Never sell my patterns or items created from my patterns.
There are a few color changes in this pattern. Aside from that, the most complicated part of the pattern to crochet is the swaddling, where you must switch from continuous crochet to flat crochet, and Mary's veil which is crocheted flat.
The finished size of the pair of figures is 5 inches.

Materials needed:

Bulky weight yarn in a flesh color, white (for veil and swaddling), and blue (for Mary's dress). I used Lion Brand Jiffy.
Size H (5.00 mm) crochet hook
Yarn needle
Stuffing
Optional: Bean bag plastic pellets. Putting some of these in the bottom of the Mary figure can help it balance better. Make sure the pellets are large enough that they won't work their way through the crochet stitches. Pellets are not recommended if small children may have access to the figure.

Abbreviations used in this pattern:

Rnd = round, when doing continuous crochet
Row = row, when doing flat crochet
sc = single crochet
st = stitch
sts = stitches
ch = chain
sc2tog = single crochet two stitches together, aka a decrease. (I recommend using falwyn's invisible decrease.)

The pattern:

Baby Jesus' Head
Using flesh color:
Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring (6 sts).
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each st around (12 sts).
Rnd 3: sc around (12 sts).
Rnd 4: [sc2tog] six times (6 sts).
Bind off, weaving in tail.

Baby Jesus' Swaddling
Using white:
Rnd 1: 3 sc in magic ring (3 sts).
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each st around (6 sts).
Rnd 3: 2 sc in each st around (12 sts).
Rnd 4: sc around (12 sts).
Rnd 5: sc around (12 sts).
Rnd 6: sc around (12 sts).
Rnd 7: sc around (12 sts).
Rnd 8: sc around (12 sts).
Rnd 9: sc around (12 sts).
Switch to flat crochet:
Row 10: sc in each st for 8 sts, ch 1 turn (8 sts).
Row 11: sc2tog, sc 4, sc2tog, ch 1 turn (6 sts).
Row 12: sc2tog, sc 2, sc2tog, ch 1 turn (4 sts).
Row 13: sc2tog, sc2tog. (2 sts).
Bind off, weaving in tail.

Swaddling, showing flat crochet at top:

Stuff the head and the swaddling. Put the open end of the head just inside the open end of the swaddling and sew them together.

Mary's Veil
Crocheted flat. Using white:
Row 1: ch 11. sc in second chain from hook. [sc in each chain] eight times (with first sc, a total of 9 sc). In 10th chain, 4 sc. Work back down the other side of the chain doing sc in each chain (total of 9 sc), ch 1 turn (22 sts).
Row 2: sc 9, 2 sc in next 4 sts, sc 9, ch 1 turn (26 sts).
Row 3: sc 9, 2 sc in next 8 sts, sc 9, ch 1 turn (34 sts).
Row 4: sc across, ch 1 turn (34 sts).
Row 5: sc across, ch 1 turn (34 sts).
Row 6: sc across, ch 1 turn (34 sts).
Row 7: sc across, ch 1 turn (34 sts).
Row 8: sc across, ch 1 turn (34 sts).
Row 9: sc across, ch 1 turn (34 sts).
Bind off, weaving in tails.

Here are some photos detailing how to start the veil.

Row 1 - Chain 11:

Row 1 cont'd - sc in second chain from hook. [sc in each chain] eight times (with first sc, a total of 9 sc):

Row 1 cont'd - In 10th chain, 4 sc:

Row 1 cont'd - Work back down the other side of the chain doing sc in each chain (total of 9 sc), ch 1 turn:

Row 2 - sc 9, 2 sc in next 4 sts, sc 9, ch 1 turn:

Keep working back and forth according to the pattern. Here is the final result:

Mary's Arm
Make two. Begin with flesh color:
Rnd 1: 4 sc in magic ring (4 sts).
Rnd 2: [2 sc in next st, sc 1] two times (6 sts).
Rnd 3: sc around (6 sts).
Color change to blue:
Rnd 4: sc around (6 sts).
Rnd 5: [2 sc in next st, sc 1] three times (9 sts).
Rnd 6: sc around (9 sts).
Rnd 7: sc around (9 sts).
Rnd 8: sc around (9 sts).
Rnd 9: sc around (9 sts).
Rnd 10: sc around (9 sts).
Bind off, leaving tail to use to sew arm to body. Stuff arm.

Mary's Head and Body
Beginning with flesh color:
Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring (6 sts).
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each st around (12 sts).
Rnd 3: [2 sc in next st, sc 1] six times (18 sts).
Rnd 4: [2 sc in next st, sc 2] six times (24 sts).
Rnd 5: [2 sc in next st, sc 3] six times (30 sts).
Rnd 6: sc around (30 sts).
Rnd 7: sc around (30 sts).
Rnd 8: [sc2tog, sc 3] six times (24 sts).
Rnd 9: [sc2tog, sc 2] six times (18 sts).
Rnd 10: [sc2tog, sc 1] six times (12 sts).
Color change to blue:
Rnd 11: sc around (12 sts).
Rnd 12: [2 sc in next st, sc 3] three times (15 sts).
Rnd 13: [2 sc in next st, sc 4] three times (18 sts).
Rnd 14: [2 sc in next st, sc 5] three times (21 sts).
Rnd 15: [2 sc in next st, sc 6] three times (24 sts).
Rnd 16: [2 sc in next st, sc 7] three times (27 sts).
Rnd 17: [2 sc in next st, sc 8] three times (30 sts).
Rnd 18: [2 sc in next st, sc 9] three times (33 sts).
Rnd 19: sc around (33 sts).
Rnd 20: [2 sc in next st, sc 10] three times (36 sts).
Rnd 21: sc around (36 sts).
Rnd 22: sc around (36 sts).
Sew arms to body underneath head. Stuff head and upper part of body (stuffing it partially now is easier than trying to stuff the whole thing as you are closing it up).
Rnd 23: [sc2tog, sc 4] six times (30 sts).
Rnd 24: [sc2tog, sc 3] six times (24 sts).
Rnd 25: [sc2tog, sc 2] six times (18 sts).
Rnd 26: [sc2tog, sc 1] six times (12 sts).
Stuff the rest of the body. Add plastic bean bag pellets if desired.
Rnd 27: [sc2tog] six times (6 sts).
Bind off, closing hole and weaving in tail.

Final Construction
Sew veil to Mary's head. Add hair if desired. Sew baby Jesus to Mary's hands. Enjoy!

Mini PVC Greenhouse for my Chiltepin Plants

2009-12-01T14:21:00.004-07:00

Last winter my chiltepin plants had a bit of a rough time - they all froze and only half of them came back in the spring. So this winter we thought we'd make them a mini greenhouse to help keep them from freezing again. It's made out of PVC pipes and old shower curtain liners, which are attached to the pipes with 2 inch lengths of vinyl tubing which have been split down one side*.

It has a hinged lid so we can get inside it and so we can leave it open during warm times. And since the shower curtain liners are translucent we can leave it shut if we go on vacation and the plants should still get enough light to survive (Christmas vacation is what did them in last year). Hopefully this will help my chiltepins make it through the winter!

* Update 12/4/09: The vinyl tubing does NOT work! Not in Arizona at least. Either the temperature change during the day or the strong wind pops the vinyl tubing off of the PVC pipes. For now we have replaced the vinyl tubing with duct tape (lots of it!) and we are looking into a product called Snap Clamps, which are made for holding plastic/fabric on to PVC pipes.

Related Posts: Quail Nest and Chiltepin Seeds, Chiltepin Plants Update 1, Chiltepin Plants Update 2

Amigurumi: Crocheted Fruit Keychains

2009-11-29T17:05:00.004-07:00

Ever heard of geocaching? It's a game where you use your GPS to find "caches" - containers of varying sizes - that have been hidden outside all over the world. Inside the container is a log where you sign your username to show that you've found it, and also sometimes there are trade items. You can take an item out of the cache as long as you leave another item of equal or greater value. Generally the items are small toys or random dollar store items. I thought it would be fun to come up with something different to leave in the caches that I visit, so I made these amigurumi crocheted fruit keychains.

They were a little difficult to photograph, but the fruits are (clockwise from left): cherries, orange, apple, lime, and lemon. The shapes are so simple that you don't really need a pattern for them. The cherries, orange, and apple are all simple spheres and the lemon and lime are spheres with a few extra rounds in the middle and the first and last rounds of six stiches repeated to give their ends the points. I did use a pattern for the leaves, it can be found on the blog Crochet and Other Stuff. You will also find a pattern for a crocheted apple there; I didn't use that exact pattern (my spheres had 24 stitches in their largest round) but what can I say, a sphere's a sphere!

I couldn't find any keychains for sale in my area so I just ordered some online. I got 50 of them for $13.50 which was a pretty good deal.

I also made little tags out of shrink plastic (aka Shrinky Dinks) to put on the keychains with the name of the website (geocaching.com) and my username (blacked out for privacy):

All in all, these were easy and quick to make and will hopefully be a fun thing to find for the next person who visits the cache!

Wicked Costume: Glinda's Yellow "Emerald City" Dress

2009-11-04T12:43:00.005-07:00

My Halloween costume this year was one of Glinda's dresses from the musical Wicked. Specifically, the yellow dress she wears to the Emerald City during the song "One Short Day."

First off, I have to give a big thanks to Corbyjane at the blog Pink Goes Good With Green! for her detailed post about this dress. Her collection of photos of this costume was a huge help! If you're not familiar with this dress, check out her post to see what I was trying to replicate.

Of course many of the trick-or-treaters that visited us on Halloween didn't recognize the costume. At first I tried to explain who I was but after getting a few odd looks I just said that I was a fairy!

The costume isn't a perfect match for the "real" Glinda dress but I think it's a pretty good replica considering I only spent about $30 and two weeks on it. It's missing the rhinestone and flocking embellishments of the original. I did buy rhinestones but ran out of time to glue them on and I couldn't figure out how to do the flocking. Hopefully if I figure it out, I can go back and add the embellishments to it later.

I'll cover each part of the costume in detail below.

***

Project Name: Glinda's Yellow "Emerald City Dress" - Gathered Top
Time Taken to Finish: 2 days
Pattern: McCall 5380 Unfortunately this pattern has been discontinued, but I was able to find it on eBay for a pretty good price.
Materials Used: Yellow fabric with a sheen. I got lucky and found this fabric for $1.50 a yard in the clearance section at Wal-Mart. Here's a photo of the fabric up close:

You can see that the fabric has tiny little lines sewn into it. Cute!

What I Did: I followed the pattern closely (view A). The only change I made was to not connect the straps on the back - I tied them behind my neck instead. There is a zipper in the back of the dress, it continues down into the handkerchief skirt.
What I Liked About the Project: Having an actual pattern made this part of the costume easy to sew.
What I Didn’t Like About the Project: I really wanted the gathered part of the dress to be made of the same yellow organza that I used to make the outer layers of the skirt. I thought that was closer to how it was made in the original costume. Unfortunately after three attempts to make it with that fabric, I just couldn't get it to work. If I just gathered the amount of organza specified in the pattern it wasn't enough - the gathers were too far apart. I calculated that I would have to gather 8 yards of organza to get it the way I wanted and I didn't have that much fabric to spare! I made a few attempts at using an amount somewhere in between but it still didn't look right so I gave up and used the fabric I was using for the rest of the dress.

***

Project Name: Glinda's Yellow "Emerald City" Dress - Layered Handkerchief Skirt

Time Taken to Finish: 3 days
Pattern: I modified these instructions from the Weekend Designer blog
Materials Used: Three layers of yellow organza ($2 a yard at an odds-and-ends fabric store) and two layers of the yellow fabric that I used for the gathered top.
What I Did: Cut out the fabric into squares of different sizes and marked the center of each square. Piled them up with the smallest square on top and the largest on bottom, matching centers Rotated the layers around the center so they overlapped each other. Pinned the layers together at the center. Marked a circle on the top layer with a radius as suggested by Weekend Designer. Sewed a basting stitch through all the layers along that circle and then did it again about 1/2 inch outside that circle. Cut out the center of the circle, gathered the layers along the basting stitches and sewed it on to the gathered top.
What I Liked About the Project: This is a surprisingly easy skirt to make, it's just a lot of squares!
What I Didn’t Like About the Project: It's a little shorter than I would've liked but the length was limited by the width of the fabric I had (45 inches). If you wanted a longer skirt you would have to sew two widths of fabric together to make a bigger square.

***

Project Name: Glinda's Yellow "Emerald City" Dress - Underbust Corset

Time Taken to Finish: 4 days
Pattern: Hand-drafted using these instructions from the Necromancer's Palanquin blog
Materials Used: yellow fabric, middleweight interfacing, 3/8" cable ties for boning, 5/32" gold eyelets
What I Did: After drafting the pattern, I cut out pieces from the yellow fabric for both the outside and the lining. I used some fusible webbing to attach the outside pieces to the interfacing. I sewed all the outside pieces together and all the lining pieces together. With the right sides of the outside and the lining facing each other, I sewed the two vertical edges together (along the edge where the eyelets will be going) and then turned it right side out. Next I basted the edges and then sewed 1/2" channels around each of the seams between the pieces. I inserted the boning and then used bias tape (made from the yellow fabric) to complete the unfinished edges. Finally, I put 10 eyelets on each side at the back.
What I Liked About the Project: This is the first corset I drafted by hand. It was pretty easy, it only took me about two tries to get the pattern right.
What I Didn’t Like About the Project: Making the bias tape myself was annoying but it was the only way to get it to match. I would definitely recommend using starch if you can when you're ironing the tape - it makes things a lot easier!

***

Glinda's Yellow "Emerald City" Dress - Accessories

The Wig:

Originally I wasn't planning on wearing a wig, even though my hair is dark brown. But I got a haircut right before Halloween and my hair was way too short, I couldn't even curl it. I found this wig for sale for $6 at Wal-Mart. The color wasn't perfect (it was a little too white) but the price was right! I brushed it, cut it, and styled it with a curling iron on very low heat. You can see the difference this makes in the photo below. The hair on the right has been fixed while the hair on the left has not.

The Glasses:

I didn't have $20 (plus shipping) to shell out for the authentic Emerald City glasses from the official Wicked store so I picked these up at a costume store. They're not the greatest, the lenses are far apart so they look kind of odd when you're actually wearing them.

Other Accessories:

I looked hard for some light-colored Mary Jane heels like Glinda wears but fall is just the wrong time of year to look for light-colored shoes! Instead I wore some old ivory heels that I bought to wear to a wedding a long time ago. I also tried to find a necklace and a purse like Glinda's but couldn't find anything close enough. I'll probably keep an eye out for all these things so I can eventually complete the costume.

Anatomy Doll Pattern

2009-10-22T09:00:00.007-07:00

Update: I've put together a free PDF pattern for this doll that you can download and print. It hasn't been tested so please let me know if you find any errors. And of course I would love to see any dolls you make, just post a link in the comments!

Well here it is, the top-secret project I've been working on for months!

A little morbid, isn't it? It's an anatomy doll, made for a friend who is a medical student. Here's the doll wearing her hospital gown:

A close-up of the insides:

Here are all the organs:

The organs are the lungs, heart, liver, stomach, spleen, pancreas, small intestine, kidneys, large intestine, and bladder.

A close of up the face:

The back of the hospital gown:

Project Name: Anatomy Doll
Time Taken to Finish: 5 months, off and on
Pattern: Made it myself, you can find it here
Materials Used: body and organs are made of fleece, hair is yarn, hospital gown is cotton
What I Did: I've been working on this doll intermittently since June. I started out with the organs since I needed to know how much space they would take up before I could make the body. Once I had them made I created the body to fit them. There are magnets in each of the organs and the inside of the body was lined with metal washers so the organs would stick to it. There are also magnets in ends of the stomach, small intestines and large intestines so they would stick to each other.

I haven't ever sewn a doll of any kind before so this was a challenging project for me! With all the experimenting I did, by the end I had created every part of the body at least two or three different times. But the final product turned out well and the medical student who got it seemed to like it so it was definitely worth all the effort. :)

Word Cloud for The Crafty Cattery

2009-10-01T16:48:00.004-07:00

A word cloud showing the most used words in my blog

Thanks to Costume Queen for recommending Wordle.net! It lets you make these cool word clouds from your own text or blog. I started out making my word cloud using the Wordle's option to paste in your blog's URL but I found that it only picked up words from my most recent posts. So instead I copied all the text from my blog and then pasted into Wordle's text box.

It looks like "make", "used", and "one" are my most common words with "pattern", "made", "knit" and "stitches" close behind. It also looks like it picked up "sc" and "sts" from my crochet patterns, which I guess makes sense since those abbreviations are repeated a lot.

My blog has been quiet lately because I'm in the middle of a pretty complicated top-secret project! I'm trying very hard to finish it up in the next couple of weeks because I want to get started on my Halloween costume. Once it is done I will of course post photos here, so stay tuned!

Yet Another Amigurumi Bear

2009-08-17T20:33:00.004-07:00

I've crocheted yet another amigurumi bear using the Beary Jackson pattern at Rheatheylia.com. I've made 3 bears prior to this one - they are awesome baby gifts and only take a few hours to make! You can see my first bear here and the other two here. This one was crocheted out of Red Heart Baby Teri yarn in Medium Pink. I love this yarn, it is so soft! The eyes and mouth are embroidered on with blue yarn and pink embroidery floss. I have several other friends who are expecting so I see more Beary Jacksons in my future...

Anime Cosplay: Canal From "Lost Universe"

2009-08-14T22:25:00.008-07:00

This is an older costume, I just finally got around to posting it here. I wore it to A-kon (a Japanese animation convention in Dallas, Texas) in 2005. It's based on the character Canal Vorfeed from the television show "Lost Universe":

While I designed the costume and helped find the patterns, I can't claim any of the sewing - my amazing mom did it all! Afterwards she said "Never again!" which is why I began sewing my own costumes. :) Overall it took us about four years off and on to complete it. Part of the reason it took so long was the wig. We actually had the rest of the costume ready to go for A-kon 2003 but I waited until the day before the convention to work on the wig and it was a disaster! I decided not to wear the costume until I had enough time to fix the wig properly.

Here are the details on the different parts of the costume (to the best of my recollection - it has been 4+ years since we worked on it).

Dress - front

Dress - back

Project Name: Canal's Dress
Patterns Used: Top - Butterick 3187 (out of print); Skirt - McCall's 2890 (out of print)
Materials Used: pink fabric with slight stretch; white tulle; white satin/satinette
Notes: The top and bottom are one piece, though they were created from different patterns.

The top was created using Butterick 3187, a Victorian bathing costume. The only major alteration was to the neckline, which was modified to include a fold-down collar. Since this pattern is out of print, I suggest McCall's 4948 since it has long leg-of-mutton sleeves.

Dress - skirt detail

The skirt was created from McCall's 2890. As you can see in the above photo, there were four layers: an underskirt of white satin/satinette, a layer of white tulle, another layer of white tulle with some white lace stitched to the edge, and an outer layer of the pink fabric. Since this pattern is out of print as well, I suggest Simplicity 3618 or 4015 as substitutions (but any short poofy skirt pattern will do).

Apron

Project Name: Canal's Apron
Pattern Used: McCall's 2947
Materials Used: heavy weight white cotton
Notes: The apron was created using McCall's 2947 apron pattern. It follows view D pretty closely with a few alterations: the skirt was shortened and the bottom ruffle and pockets left off, the shoulder ruffles were enlarged, and the ties in the back were made smaller since we would be using a separate bow (see below). I added some small pieces of wire into the outer edges of the shoulder ruffles to help them stand up.

Bow

Bow detail

Project Name: Canal's Bow
Pattern Used: none
Materials Used: heavy weight white cotton
Notes: This was worn over the apron - the bow went in the back and the rectangular piece of fabric (on the left) wrapped across the waist and was tightened using the D-rings (on the right). The two large triangular pieces of fabric were the "tails" of the bow. They were folded into pleats and ironed down. Unfortunately I don't have a good photo of the bow being worn, you can sort of see it behind me in the two top photos.

Tie

Project Name: Canal's Tie
Pattern Used: none
Materials Used: purple cotton
Notes: The tie is just a piece of purple fabric, sewn into a tie shape and pinned to the neck underneath the folds of the collar.

Here are some details on the other parts of the costume:

Wig - This was purchased from Amphigory's Wigs. The style was "Enchantment" and the color was "Daydream" (sky blue). As it was the wig was too thin in the back to part and make into two braids - the mesh and elastic inside the wig showed through (this is what I unfortunately discovered the day before A-kon 2003!). To fix this problem, I purchased hair extensions in the same color and used a tutorial from a wig artist named Katie Bair to add extra hair to the back of the wig. I then parted the hair into two braids and finished them off with rubber bands hidden under some purple ribbon. The whole thing was then coated with loads of hair spray to keep it all in place. The braids made the wig very heavy, after wearing it all day I had a massive headache! If you need some tips on how to put on and wear a wig, check out this page on Katie Bair's site.

Garter and Stockings - It's difficult to tell in the photos but the opaque white thigh-high stockings I am wearing are being held up by a garter belt. I purchased the garter belt at Victoria's Secret and the stockings were pantyhose that I cut off at the thigh.

Shoes - These were probably one of the most expensive parts of the costume. The shoes were ballet flats that I purchased at a bridal store and had them dye to match the purple ribbon. I then sewed two pieces of ribbon into each shoe. The ribbon on my calves was attached to the stockings by a few small pieces of purple duct tape.

Neck band - Just a ribbon with velcro sewed at the back.

Forehead Decoration - I made Canal's forehead decoration using yellow craft foam and plastic rhinestone "jewels" purchased in the jewelry-making section of a craft store. They were attached to my forehead using eyelash glue.

A few final thoughts on the costume: Once I actually got to wear it to the anime convention it was a blast! I got asked to have my photo taken many times but unfortunately I hadn't thought to practice any poses beforehand so I don't think I did the costume justice! You might feel silly striking a pose for some stranger but it really does improve the photo.

The only major problem I had with wearing the costume was the heavy wig. By the end of the day it had worked its way back so that some of my hair was showing underneath. If I had realized that and had brought some extra hairpins I probably could've fixed it but unfortunately no one pointed it out to me! I guess the lesson is to find a mirror and check your appearance every now and then.

Bisquick Caramel Apple Desert

2009-06-10T10:36:00.002-07:00

We had a few apples sitting around and I wanted something different for desert so I found this recipe: Bisquick Caramel Apple Desert. I liked this recipe because it doesn't have eggs - we don't eat them that often so I almost never have any in the house. It took a while to bake (nearly an hour) but it was worth it! It was great served right out of the oven with a little bit of Cool Whip.

American Idol Cake: Adam versus Kris

2009-05-22T06:47:00.003-07:00

I wanted to do something special for the American Idol finale, so I made little fondant figures of Adam Lambert and Kris Allen to top a cake I ordered from the grocery store (my homemade cakes never taste nearly as good as store bought). This is the first time I've made fondant figures so they don't look much like the actual people but they were fun to make!

Amigurumi Raven

2009-05-19T12:42:00.004-07:00

I crocheted this raven back in March as a birthday gift for my dad. Unfortunately I was in a hurry and I "freehanded" it so I don't have a pattern. If you want to make your own, the shapes I used were fairly simple (except for the feet):

Body: A pill shape - just an amigurumi ball with a few extra rounds thrown in the middle to make it longer.

Beak: I think I started out with four stitches in a circle, then increased twice in each round, putting the increases opposite from each other. I stuffed it a tiny bit.

Wings: Also started with four stitches in a circle. I then put all the increases on one side so that the wing would be curved. I didn't stuff the wings.

Tail: I did the tail a little different. I chained several stitches (6 or 8 maybe) and then started crocheting "in the round" up and down both sides of the chain. Once I had one round finished, I decreased twice in each following round, putting the decreases opposite from each other. I stopped when there were only a few stitches left in the round. This made a flat trapezoid shape. I did not stuff the tail. I sewed the open end (the less-wide end of the trapezoid) to the raven's body.

Feet: I'm a little unsure how I made them. I think I made a small circle (maybe 4 or 6 stitches) and then did the toes by making a few chains away from the circle then turning and stitching back down the chain until I hit the circle again. I repeated that for each of the three toes.

I hope this helps explain how I made it. If I still had the raven I would try to write up a pattern but it is now in Texas with my dad so I'd have to start from scratch and I don't have time for that at the moment. Please feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions and I'll do my best to help.

Simple Apron

2009-04-28T15:16:00.004-07:00

I made this apron as a gift for a friend's bridal shower. I made a similar one for myself a long time ago (I think it was my first sewing project ever) and really love the style - it covers everything! The pattern is Simplicity 5525 which is unfortunately out of print but Simplicity 4987 and McCall 5690 are similar. The only modification I made was to leave out the elastic waistband - I don't like the way it looks and it works just fine without it.

Make Your Own Lawn Markers

2009-04-14T11:27:00.003-07:00

If you need a way to mark your lawn or garden that's cheap and won't interfere with a mower, try something like this:

It's a plastic cap from a milk (or water) container and a large 8 cent nail from the hardware store. I used an icepick to poke a hole in the center of the milk cap and pushed the nail through (if your nail is sharp enough you probably wouldn't need to use an icepick).

Then you can just push it into the ground to use as a marker.

We were looking for some way to mark where in our lawn we wanted to set our sprinklers so we don't have to figure out where to place them every time we set them out. Flags would be in the way when we mow but plain stakes or nails would be hard to spot when they're pushed all the way down. So my mom came up with the idea to use the milk caps and a nail - since they're brightly colored they show up in the lawn but they're flat so they won't get in the way.

My Texas Saguaro

2009-04-03T10:55:00.005-07:00

So I am 98% sure that this cactus is a saguaro (pronounced sah-wah-roh). If you don't know what a saguaro is, it's one of those giant cacti that have the big arms. I had no idea that they were called saguaros before I moved out here to Arizona. The saguaro is pretty much the mascot of Arizona and the southwest - there's even one on the Arizona quarter.

The interesting thing about my saguaro is that it is not in Arizona. It's at my parent's house in south Texas. Back when I was still in grade school I got one of those little greenhouse cactus seed kits while on vacation at Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. I'm not sure exactly when that trip was but I am guessing it was between 10 and 15 years ago.

This cactus was the only one to survive from the kit. It finally outgrew the little pot we had it in so we re-planted it in the back yard. I never really given much thought as to what type of cactus it was - I thought it was some type of barrel cactus until I noticed that it getting taller but not wider as a barrel cactus should. It's shape made me think of a saguaro, so I started researching them online.

After a few days of searching, I was almost convinced that it wasn't a saguaro because many sources said that a ten year old cacti would only be 1.5 to 6 inches tall. As you can see from the photo above, mine is between 2.5 to 3 feet tall! But after doing some more research I found that those heights were for wild cacti in the desert. Since Texas is slightly wetter than Arizona (and since my parents probably watered it occasionally) my saguaro probably grew faster than it would have in the wild.

I compared my cactus to pictures of saguaros and to saguaros I've visited in real life here in Arizona - I couldn't find anything that made me think that my cactus wasn't a saguaro. The main identifying trait that I found mentioned online was that in each group of spines, there is one spine that is much larger than all the others and points downwards. You can see this on my cactus here:

So all these things together have led me to the decision that my cactus is a saguaro! After living here in Arizona where saguaros are a big deal (a full grown one can cost thousands of dollars), it's fun to know that I grew one without really trying! And that's even more special since it's in south Texas, which is not really it's native habitat (there are no wild saguaros in Texas or even in New Mexico). It's kind of cool to think that my parents are probably the only people in my hometown with a saguaro in their yard!

(By the way, if anyone who has some cacti knowledge thinks that this might not be a saguaro, please let me know why not and what you think it might actually be. I'm no expert so it's very possible that I'm wrong!)

Update 9/29/11: I've posted an update with photos of how the saguaro has grown over the past two years.

"The Office" Party Decorations and Activities: Throw a party themed around the TV show!

2009-03-25T14:41:00.004-07:00

As part of (another!) task at DunderMifflinInfinity.com, my branch (Ypsilanti) came up with a bunch of printables that can be used by anyone wanting to throw an "Office" themed party. We won the task so I guess our items must be worth something! Here they are:

Jell-O Mold Placecards and Butt-Kisser Game

"The Office" Paper Dolls: Dwight, Michael, Pam, and Jim

Not pictured: Who Said That? "The Office" Quotes Game and our Party Recipes.

- Jell-O Mold Placecards (PDF) To decorate your table.
- The Butt-Kisser Game (PDF) Played like Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Donkey, but with Michael's butt as the donkey and Dwight's lips as the tail!
- Who Said That? "The Office" Quotes Game: Questions (PDF) and Answers (PDF) Quiz yourself or your friends by identifying quotes from "The Office".
- "The Office" Paper Dolls (link) I posted these here before, they can be used as decorations or party favors.
- Party Recipes (link) These were also posted here before, there are 14 party recipes submitted by the members of DMI Ypsilanti.

Chiltepin Plants Update 2

2009-03-05T14:26:00.005-07:00

I've been trying to grow some chiltepin plants (a tiny pepper) from seeds taken from a plant that has been growing at my parent's home in Texas for more than 20 years. Unlike most pepper plants, their chiltepin stays alive during the winter so they don't have to re-plant it every year. My goal is to also get a chiltepin to survive year round here at my home in Arizona. I started growing my plants indoors last May and ended up with 31 seedlings (all the seeds were from one tiny pepper, I might add!).

Eventually they started to attract pests so in early fall I moved them outdoors. They grew much faster outside and were just beginning to develop peppers when it started to freeze. I worked hard to cover them up when it got too cold, but I had to leave for two weeks over Christmas and, well, they didn't make it. Since I had been working on them for 8 months I was pretty upset (I have to admit I cried a little). I couldn't bring myself to pull them up and throw them out so they've been sitting in my backyard for two months.

I was making plans to have my mom send me some more seeds when I happened to look at the plants and I was surprised to find that there were tiny green leaves shooting from the bases of many of my "dead" chiltepin plants!

I guess they were just hibernating! The chiltepin seeds can take a month or more to germinate so I was very happy that I didn't have to mess with trying to get them to sprout again. Since I had let them grow too tall while they were inside (they had to be held up by stakes) I decided now would be the best time to prune them a little. Even though they looked pretty dead it was still hard for me to cut them back. I left them all at about 6 inches.

There are still about 1/3 of the chiltepin plants that don't have any new leaves, but the stems of all the plants were green on the inside when I trimmed them so I'm hoping that those will come back too. And as soon as the plants have recovered enough, I'm going to put them in the ground - no more messing around with plastic buckets! Hopefully they'll have enough time this year to make some peppers so I can try cooking with them.

My 31 chiltepin plants, still looking nearly dead

"The Office" Paper Dolls

2009-03-02T13:08:00.006-07:00

"The Office" Paper Dolls - Dwight, Michael, Pam & Jim (Dundie in the background for scale)

My friends at the Ypsilanti branch of Dunder Mifflin Infinity (an online game based on "The Office") recently held a Regional Manager Appreciation Day for me. They even had our "Office" Christmahanukwanzakah poem printed up in a book and sent it to me. Aren't they awesome? :)

As a way to show my appreciation for them, I made these paper dolls based on Dwight, Michael, Pam and Jim from NBC's "The Office." Well, I guess they're not really paper dolls since you can't change their clothes but I'm not sure what else to call them. Mini standees, maybe? Anyhoo, my friends on DMI really seemed to enjoy them so I thought I would share them with you all. Update: I've added three more dolls with accessories and changeable outfits: Creed Bratton, Kelly Kapoor and Michael Scott with his desk.

Here's how to get the dolls on this page:

1. Open the PDF file containing the paper dolls (see below) and print each page out (the stiffer the paper the better - cardstock would be the best).
2. Cut along the outline of the stand and around each paper doll (you may have to use an X-acto knife to get all the details). Cut two slits in the stand along the lines that say "cut".
3. Fold the stand back along both lines that say "fold" then slide the two slits into each other.
4. Stand the paper doll up. You may have to gently bend the figures and the stand so they'll stand upright.

4 Inch Paper Dolls (PDF)

5.5 Inch Paper Dolls - Michael and Dwight (PDF)

5.5 Inch Paper Dolls - Jim and Pam (PDF)

Enjoy, and let me know if you have any problems downloading the files or printing the dolls. :)

White Chocolate Recipes

2009-02-20T10:16:00.001-07:00

The husband and I usually don't spend much on Valentine's day since February is the month of the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show and we blow all our money there. So this year I decided to save money and surprise him by making three different cookies using his favorite sweet, white chocolate. I made Oreo balls dipped in white chocolate, sugar cookies with white chocolate icing, and white chocolate chip cookies (which turned out oddly shaped since I didn't space them out enough). I made them early, the Thursday before Valentine's, so he could take the extras to work on Friday.

Kevin's favorite were the white chocolate chip cookies. The recipe I used was from FoodNetwork.com (Emeril Lagasse). It was supposed to be a giant cookie cake (I left out all the nuts and bittersweet chips and put in extra white chocolate chips) but it was so thick that it didn't get cooked in the middle so I had to start over. I decided not to risk under cooking them again so I just made small cookies.

My favorite were the sugar cookies. The recipe was also from FoodNetwork.com (Alton Brown this time). I had to bake them slightly longer than the time given in the recipe but I took them out when the edges were just barely brown and they were perfect - soft and not overly sweet. I melted white chocolate, put it in an icing bag and drizzled it over the top of the cookies.

The Oreo balls were also good, though I think that dipping regular, non-balled Oreos in to white chocolate would taste just as good. And since they have cream cheese in them that means you have to keep them refridgerated which was a hassle. The recipe I used was from Allrecipes.com.

Party Recipes

2009-02-02T14:04:00.005-07:00

DMI Ypsilanti Party Recipes (PDF File)

I thought I'd share some party recipes that my team at Dunder Mifflin Infinity Ypsilanti came up with to help us celebrate the Superbowl. I arranged all the recipes in a PDF file so you can just print them all out at once. Each recipe is in it's own 4x6 box so you can also cut them out if you'd like. We had a vote to pick the top 3 recipes - the winners are indicated by a "1st", "2nd" or "3rd" place graphic next to the name of the recipe.

Here are all the recipes included in the PDF file:

Bar-B-Que Smoked Sausage
Buffalo Chicken Wings
Chips and Salsa
Cream Cheese Salsa Dip
Deviled Eggs
Guacamole
Ham Delights
Man Meat Minis
Quick and Easy Brownies
Sherbet Fruit Punch
Snickers Pie
Spicy Cheese Dip
Tater Tot Casserole
Tomato-Basil Tart

I made the "Man Meat Minis" (lil smokies wrapped in bacon w/ brown sugar) for a Superbowl party yesterday and they were a hit!

'Twas The Night Before Christmahanukwanzakah: A Poem

2009-01-12T11:31:00.003-07:00

For over a year now, I've been involved in an online game sponsored by NBC's "The Office" (previous posts here and here). I'm the Regional Manager of the Ypsilanti, Michigan branch of Dunder Mifflin Infinity, which basically means I'm the leader of a group of about 100 fans (most of whom are from the Michigan area). We play the game together and compete against 99 other teams from different parts of the country. As you can probably imagine, with that many competitors it's hard to win, but last week we finally managed to make it happen!

We were competing in a contest to submit the best idea for a holiday party and to include photos and descriptions of the location, food, activities, etc. for the party. To make our party idea stand out we decided to make it into a poem we titled "'Twas The Night Before Christmahanukwanzakah". It describes a party that Michael Scott from "The Office" throws to celebrate all 3 major holidays (Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa). You can read the entire poem (with illustrations) here.

Amazingly, our poem was picked by NBC as one of the top 16. The top 16 were then put up to be voted on by people world-wide and, even more amazingly, our poem won the vote! We got twice as many votes as the first runner-up so it was a landslide. And while there isn't any "real-world" prize for winning (it would have to be split between all 100 people in my branch!), I'm still ecstatic to know that we were able to come up with something that so many people enjoyed. :)

Wrap-around Bookcases

2008-12-02T20:54:00.002-07:00

Just a quick post to show off the bookcases we finally put up in our spare room. You might remember this room from this post I made back in April - at the time I was attempting to sort all my books and make room so we could install the shelves. Well, it took more that 9 months but we did it! We even moved my futon and my old dorm TV in so it's really a guest room now. If you were wondering, the shelves are the Billy system from IKEA.

I'm going to be pretty busy this month so I can't promise that I'll get to post. I still have my dad's cowboy costume to sew and I've agreed to make several more of my Advent calendars. Fun fun!

Halloween Update 2: Saloon Girl, Bar Maid, and Chef Gordon Ramsay

2008-11-17T17:17:00.005-07:00

This is my second post about the Halloween costumes I made this year - you can see my first post about the Witch, Princess Leia, and Jedi costumes here.

...

Project Name: Saloon Girl
Time Taken to Finish: 3 weeks
Pattern: Simplicity 2851
What I Did: This was by far the most challenging costume to make. It was constructed from satinette which I have no experience sewing. That made the bodice very challenging because it was difficult to get the satinette to lay flat and match up with the lining pieces. I actually ended up throwing away my original pieces cut from the satinette and buying more fabric, which I then attached to some fusible interfacing before cutting out the pattern pieces. That made everything much easier!

...

Project Name: German Bar Maid
Time Taken to Finish: 1 week
Pattern: Simplicity 2789 (Update 9/8/09: This pattern is now out of print. The closest I could find is Simplicity 4015, View B, Little Red Riding Hood. Take off the hood and change the colors and it would resemble this costume, though it doesn't have the bloomers).
What I Did: This costume was quick and easy (just what I wanted!). I followed the pattern and didn't have any major problems with it.

...

This is my husband as Chef Gordon Ramsay (or just a chef to those who don't know who Chef Ramsay is!). I had planned to sew the chef's jacket myself using this pattern but I ran out of time. Happily, I was able to find a reasonably priced jacket at Chefwear.com. Also nice was that 2 day shipping was only a couple more dollars than the standard shipping so I was able to have it well before Halloween.

...

And are some photos of the costumes from my last post being worn (I've also added them into that post):

Witch

Princess Leia

Princess Leia and Jedi

Halloween Costumes Update 1: Witch, Princess Leia, Jedi

2008-09-30T21:07:00.005-07:00

Update 11/17: I've added in photos of the costumes being worn. You can see my second post about the Saloon Girl, Bar Maid, and Chef Gordon Ramsay costumes here.

I've been a little busy lately because of my attempt to sew seven costumes for Halloween this year (only one is for myself, the rest are for friends and family). So far I've finished three, all of them for friends: a cute witch dress, a child's Princess Leia dress and belt, and a Jedi outfit. Here are some preliminary photos and descriptions of the projects (I'll have photos of the costumes on their wearers after Halloween).

Project Name: Witch Dress and Hat
Time Taken to Finish: 1 week
Pattern: Simplicity 2803 (Update 9/8/09: This pattern number has changed to Simplicity 2521)
What I Did: This costume was sewn pretty much according to the pattern. For the peplum (the black thing around the waist) I ended up having to put an extra layer of black under the outer layer to keep the printed inner layer from showing through. For the hat I sewed a little orange belt and attached a buckle, then sewed it to a standard witches hat.

...

Project Name: Child's Princess Leia Dress and Belt
Time Taken to Finish: 4 days
Pattern: Simplicity 4797
What I Did for the Dress: I started with an angel costume from the Simplicity pattern to figure out the size. I altered it so that the body of the dress was all one piece with the only seams being under the arms (there were no shoulder seams). I altered the neck to add a Mandarin collar with a velcro closure and a keyhole opening below the closure to make room for it to go over the head. I made a hood and sewed it into the neck seam on either side of the closure. The sleeves had to be shortened a lot and the extra angel "flaps" were removed (I probably should've started with the standard sleeves, it would've saved me some time!). I left the side seams of the dress unsewn from the knee down to make slits (I did do a little hem on the raw edges).
What I Did for the Belt: I made a pattern out of newspaper for all the pieces based on the belt information at Obi-Wan's Jedi Academy. For the body of the belt I used two pieces of white costume satin with a thick piece of interfacing in between and velcro sewn at either end for closure. For the metal octagons and petagon I used silver fabric attached with fusible webbing. I then hot-glued 3/4 inch button blanks on top of the silver shapes.

...

Project Name: Jedi Costume
Time Taken to Finish: 1 week
Pattern: tunic: Simplicity 5840 pants: McCall 2233
What I Did: This is sort of an "early Obi-Wan" costume (no robe!). The Simplicity pattern did not come with a pattern for pants so I borrowed one from a McCall pattern I had handy.

...

Sewing so many different costumes has been hard work but I'm also learning a lot. I have four more costumes planned: saloon girl, Chef Gordon Ramsay, Heidi/German bar maid, and Gary Cooper from High Noon. The last one is for my dad and might not get finished before Halloween, but he's said he can wait.

Crochet Pattern: Amigurumi Wolf

2008-08-22T15:12:00.009-07:00

I've created my first original amigurumi pattern - a wolf. I wanted to crochet a wolf for a friend who was going off to school at the University of Nevada - Reno (their mascot is the wolfpack). But I couldn't find a wolf pattern online that I liked, so I decided to write my own.

Coming up with my own pattern was easier than I thought it would be - I just started crocheting and if I didn't like the way the it was going I just ripped the stitches out and started again. As I crocheted I kept a log of how many stitches I used in each round and made notes if I used any special increases or decreases. This type of pattern was easy for me to read, but when it came time to post it online I realized that many crocheters would have no idea what to do with my crazy list of numbers!

To find out how an amigurumi pattern should be written, I looked online at other free patterns created by bloggers and picked the three that I thought were easiest to understand: Ana Paula's, Planet June's, and Nimoe's. I then used the writing style of these patterns as a guide to how mine should be written. After writing up my pattern properly I tested it by using it to create another wolf.

I hope you enjoy this pattern and I'd love to see photos of any wolves you make using it. If you have any questions or find any errors please let me know in the comments section.

Update 8/16/09: Cissi of Amigurumi på svenska has translated this pattern into Swedish!

Wolf Amigurumi Pattern

Notes on this pattern:

This pattern is intended for personal use only. Please do not reproduce or repost this pattern without my permission. Never sell my patterns or items created from my patterns.
Probably the most complicated parts of this pattern are the muzzle and tail. The head and body are the typical amigurumi "mushroom" shape and the paws and ears are pretty simple to crochet.
The finished size of the wolf is about 5 inches sitting, 7 inches standing.

Materials needed:

Bulky weight yarn in grey, white, and black (I used Bernat Softee Chunky)
Size H (5.00 mm) crochet hook
Yarn needle
Optional: Safety eyes and nose (if the item is intended for children over 3 years)

Abbreviations used in this pattern:

Rnd = round
sc = single crochet
st = stitch
sts = stitches
ch = chain
sc2tog = single crochet two stitches together, aka a decrease. (I recommend using falwyn's invisible decrease.)

The pattern:

Muzzle
Using white:
Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring (6 sts).
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each st around (12 sts).
Rnd 3: [2 sc in next st, sc 3] three times (15 sts).
Rnd 4: sc around (15 sts).
Rnd 5: sc around (15 sts).
Rnd 6: sc around (15 sts).
Rnd 7: [sc2tog, sc 3] three times (12 sts).
Rnd 8: [sc2tog, sc 2] three times (9 sts).
Bind off, leaving yarn tail to sew muzzle to head.

Blaze
The blaze is crocheted flat. Using grey:
Row 1: ch 2, 2 sc in second chain from hook, ch 1 turn (2 sts).
Row 2: sc across, ch 1 turn (2 sts).
Row 3: 2 sc in each st, ch 1 turn (4 sts).
Row 4: sc across, ch 1 turn (4 sts).
Row 5: 2 sc in 1st st, sc next two st, 2 sc in 4th st, ch 1 turn (6 sts) .
Row 6: sc across, ch 1 turn (6 sts).
Row 7: sc across, ch 1 turn (6 sts).
Bind off, leaving tail to sew blaze onto muzzle.

Sew blaze on top of muzzle, with short end of blaze positioned just above the point of the muzzle. Use black yarn to embroider nose over end of blaze or attach plastic safety nose. Stuff the muzzle.

Blaze - short end at the right

Blaze sewn to muzzle

Nose embroidered on muzzle

Ear
Make two using grey:
Rnd 1: 4 sc in magic ring (4 sts).
Rnd 2: [2 sc in next st, sc 1] two times (6 sts).
Rnd 3: [2 sc in next st, sc 2] two times (8 sts).
Rnd 4: [2 sc in next st, sc 3] two times (10 sts).
Rnd 5: [2 sc in next st, sc 4] two times (12 sts).
Rnd 6: [2 sc in next st, sc 5] two times (14 sts).
Bind off, leaving long tail. Use tail to sew open end of ear together so it is flat (do not stuff). Leave excess tail to sew ear to head.

Head and Body
Using grey:
Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring (6 sts).
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each st around (12 sts).
Rnd 3: [2 sc in next st, sc 1] six times (18 sts).
Rnd 4: [2 sc in next st, sc 2] six times (24 sts).
Rnd 5: [2 sc in next st, sc 3] six times (30 sts).
Rnd 6: sc around (30 sts).
Rnd 7: sc around (30 sts).
Rnd 8: sc around (30 sts).
Rnd 9: sc around (30 sts).
Rnd 10: sc around (30 sts).
Rnd 11: sc around (30 sts).
Rnd 12: [sc2tog, sc 3] six times (24 sts).
Rnd 13: [sc2tog, sc 2] six times (18 sts).

Sew the ears and muzzle to the head, using grey yarn to attach the ears and top of the muzzle and white yarn to attach the lower part of the muzzle. Embroider or attach plastic safety eyes. Stuff head then continue crocheting:

Rnd 14: [sc2tog, sc 1] six times (12 sts).
Rnd 15: [sc2tog] six times (6 sts).
Rnd 16: sc around (6 sts).
(Optional - Rnd 16a: sc around (6 sts). If you’d like a floppy head, do this extra row. If you don’t want a floppy head, leave this row out.)
Rnd 17: [2 sc in next st, sc 1] three times (9 sts).
Rnd 18: [2 sc in next st, sc 2] three times (12 sts).
Rnd 19: sc around (12 sts).
Rnd 20: sc around (12 sts).
Rnd 21: [2 sc in next st, sc 3] three times (15 sts).
Rnd 22: sc around (15 sts).
Rnd 23: [sc2tog, sc 3] three times (12 sts).
Rnd 24: [sc2tog] three times (6 sts).

Stuff body. Bind off and close hole.

Front Paw
Make two using grey:
Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring (6 sts).
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each st around (12 sts).
Rnd 3: sc around (12 sts).
Rnd 4: sc around (12 sts).
Rnd 5: [sc2tog, sc 2] three times (9 sts).
Rnd 6: sc around (9 sts).
Rnd 7: [sc2tog, sc 1] three times (6 sts).
Rnd 8: sc around (6 sts).
Rnd 9: sc around (6 sts).
Bind off, leaving long tail to sew paw to body. Stuff paw and sew opening shut.

Back Paw
Make two using grey:
Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring (6 sts).
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each st around (12 sts).
Rnd 3: [2 sc in next st, sc 3] three times (15 sts).
Rnd 4: sc around (15 sts).
Rnd 5: sc around (15 sts).
Rnd 6: [sc2tog, sc 3] three times (12 sts).
Rnd 7: sc around (12 sts).
Rnd 8: [sc2tog, sc 2] three times (9 sts).
Rnd 9: sc around (9 sts).
Rnd 10: sc around (9 sts).
Rnd 11: [sc2tog, sc 1] three times (6 sts).
Rnd 12: sc around (6 sts).
Bind off, leaving long tail to sew paw to body. Stuff paw and sew opening shut.

Tail
Note: The tail is crocheted with most of the increases on one side of the tail and most of the decreases on the other so that it will have a curve.
Rnd 1: 4 sc in magic ring (4 sts).
Rnd 2: sc across (4 sts).
Rnd 3: [2 sc in next st, sc 1] twice (6 sts).
Rnd 4: 2 sc in next st, sc 1, sc2tog, sc 2 (6 sts).
Rnd 5: 2 sc in next st, sc 5 (7 sts).
Rnd 6: 2 sc in next st, sc 6 (8 sts).
Rnd 7: 2 sc in next st, sc 2, sc2tog, sc 3 (8 sts).
Rnd 8: 2 sc in next st, sc 2, sc2tog, sc 3 (8 sts).
Rnd 9: 2 sc in next st, sc 2, sc2tog, sc 3 (8 sts).
Rnd 10: 2 sc in next st, sc 7 (9 sts).
Rnd 11: 2 sc in next st, sc 8 (10 sts).
Rnd 12: 2 sc in next st, sc 3, sc2tog, sc 4 (10 sts).
Rnd 13: 2 sc in next st, sc 3, sc2tog, sc 4 (10 sts).
Rnd 14: [sc2tog, sc 3] two times (8 sts).
Bind off, leaving long tail to sew tail onto body. Stuff tail.

Sew front paws on to body below the head. Sew back paws near the bottom of the body. Sew the tail on the back side of the body between the back paws. If wanted, use black yarn to embroider claws on to each paw.

My test wolf (left) and my prototype wolf (right - smaller because he was made with a lighter-weight yarn)

"The Office" Charity Fundraising Video

2008-08-12T09:06:00.002-07:00

The United Way and DunderMifflinInfinity.com (aka DMI, NBC's online game for "The Office") are running a Summer Fundraising Initative to help bring in donations to a number of worthy charities.

Each branch of DMI is sponsoring a charity - my branch, Ypsilanti Michigan, has chosen St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. St. Jude's is a world leader in researching and treating cancer and other diseases in children, so I think it's a charity that everyone can get behind (that's what she said!).

I made the above video hoping to inspire people to give as generously as they can. If you'd like to give to St. Jude's through our fundraiser, you can DONATE HERE. Thanks for your support - every little bit helps!

Chiltepin Plants Update

2008-07-14T08:31:00.001-07:00

My chiltepin plants are doing surprisingly well! Out of the 32 I planted so far I've only lost one. Now some of them are outgrowing their tiny potting cups so I'm starting to replant them into large containers. Pots are expensive! I went to every garden center I could find to try to buy large containers that were less than $1 a piece but no luck. I was hoping someone would sell the cheap plastic pots that the nurseries use but I couldn't find them anywhere. I ended up having to order them online from GreenhouseMegaStore.com - they had a bundle of thirty 2.5 gallon containers for $17. Plus $15 shipping that ended up being $32, a little more than $1 a piece.

So far I've replanted eleven of the chili tepin plants in the 2.5 gallon containers today. Right now they're sitting inside my patio door - hopefully they'll get enough sun there. They probably would get more sun outside, but it's the monsoon season here in Arizona. So in addition to surviving the desert heat the plants would also have to make it through the strong winds and heavy rain of the monsoon storms. I think I'll try to keep them inside as long as I can so they can grow big and strong!

Here are some photos I took about once a week of one of the chiltepin plants to track it's growth:

May 31st

June 3rd

June 11th

June 21st

June 30th

July 9th (in the new big pot!)

Update 1/15/09: Unfortunately I had to leave my chiltepin plants outside while I was gone for two weeks over Christmas. We had several hard freezes (and one snow!) while I was away and since I wasn't able to cover them up, they didn't make it. I'm still watering them, hoping maybe they can be revived but it's probably a lost cause. :( I'll just have to start over once it gets warm.

Two More Amigurumi Bears

2008-07-11T08:26:00.003-07:00

I've crocheted two more Beary Jackson amigurumi bears. They're so cute! You can see the first Beary I made here and you can find the pattern at Rheatheylia.com.

I crocheted this blue Beary Jackson as a baby gift. The pretty yarn (Caron Simply Soft Baby in Powder Blue) was originally used during the mother-to-be's baby shower to play the game, "How Big Is Mommy?" (each guest cuts a piece of yarn that they think is the diameter of the mother's belly; the closest to the real thing wins). I acquired the leftover yarn and used it to make Beary!

I made this Beary for a friend who fell in love with the first Beary I crocheted. The yarn used was Lion Brand Jiffy in Caffe.

From the back view you can see that I've been adding tails to my Bearys (they're not in the original pattern). His head is pretty big and makes him unbalanced so the tail makes it easier for him to sit without falling over. Here's the pattern for the tail piece for a small Beary:

Tail
Round 1: crochet 4 stitches in a ring (4)
Round 2: increase every stitch (8)
Round 3: stitch across (8)
(If you want the tail to be a little longer you can stitch across another round)
Stuff and sew to Beary.

Since the bears are going to be around small children I decided to make the eyes and nose out of yarn (or embroidery floss for the smaller blue bear). For the eyes, I crocheted little circles then sewed them on; for the nose I just did a little bit of embroidery.

Garter Stitch Baby Blanket

2008-07-09T16:05:00.002-07:00

I just finished knitting this baby blanket for a friend who's expecting. It was simple garter stitch, but man, it seemed to take forever! This is my third baby blanket, you can see the first here and the second here.

Project Name: Garter Stitch Baby Blanket
Time Taken to Finish: 2 months
Finished Size: 27 inches by 33 inches (not including fringe)
Type of Yarn Used: Red Heart Soft Baby in Powder Yellow
Amount of Yarn Used: 1 skein (I needed a little extra for the fringe)
Needles Used: US size 10.5 needles
What I Liked About the Project: Since it was garter stitch the knitting was easy.
What I Didn't Like About the Project: It seemed to take forever to knit - I think it was because I was using such thin yarn (it was sport weight). For my previous two baby blankets I used bulky weight yarn which obviously knitted up much faster.

Instructions: Cast on 100 stitches. Knit all stitches until blanket is as long as you'd like (I stopped at 33 inches). Add fringe to two sides - there's a good tutorial for adding fringe at Fiber-Images.com.

Here's a photo of the finished blanket, spread out so you can see the whole thing:

Beef Stroganoff Recipe

2008-06-26T16:41:00.000-07:00

I made beef stroganoff for the first time last night. It was yummy and very filling - I could barely finish my plate! I got the recipe from my mom and it wasn't too hard to follow. The only problem I ran into was when I was at the store trying to buy the ingredients. The recipe called for 1/2 pint of sour cream but ounces were the only measurement listed on the sour cream tub. I had no idea how many ounces were in a pint so I ran around the store trying to find something that had both pint and ounce measurements on it. After looking through what felt like half the aisles I finally found a pint can of beer labeled 16 ounces. That meant that I needed 8 ounces of sour cream. It wasn't until I got home and started to cook that I remembered the old saying "A pint's a pound the whole world round." Wish I had thought of that earlier!

Beef Stroganoff
Serves 2-3

- 1 pound round steak cut into 3/4 inch pieces (you can substitute 1 pound of ground beef if you'd like, I think it would still taste pretty good)
- 2 Tbsp shortening
- 1/2 cup chopped onions
- 1 clove minced garlic
- 1-6 ounce can mushrooms (I couldn't find a can that was exactly 6 ounces, I just got the closest I could)
- 1-10 3/4 ounce can cream of mushroom soup
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 6 drops Tabasco sauce
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp pepper
- 1/2 pint (8 ounces) sour cream
- flour for coating meat
- egg noodles or rice to serve with the stroganoff

Dip meat into flour and brown in hot shortening. Add onion, garlic and mushrooms. Cook until onions are transparent. Add all other ingredients EXCEPT sour cream. Simmer on low until meat is tender, about 1 hour, stirring occasionally (if the sauce gets too thick while simmering you can add a small amount of water). Add sour cream just before serving. Serve over egg noodles or rice.

Amigurumi: My First Attempts at Crochet

2008-06-18T13:44:00.005-07:00

I haven't tried very hard to learn to crochet in the past, but last week I discovered something that made me want to pick it up: amigurumi! Amigurumi is the Japanese word for knitted or crocheted stuffed animals. I LOVE me some stuffed animals and they're great gifts for kids but I've only knitted one before and it was a pain. But it didn't seem like it would be that hard to use crochet to make an animal so I though I'd give it a try.

These are my first attempts. I started out crocheting plain balls using the instructional videos at hookandneedles.com. I experimented with different weights of yarn and various hook sizes. Next I tried my hand at following an animal pattern: a mouse designed by KristieMN of the Crochetville.org forums. I successfully made a large grey mouse and a tiny white mouse:

I was going to continue making little animals but I got an invitation in the mail to a first birthday party for the son of one of my friends. Ambitiously I thought I'd try to crochet him a teddy bear. It was a lot of work but I managed to finish it (about an hour before the party!). The pattern I used was the adorable Beary Jackson at Rheatheylia.com. But since that bear was only about 6 inches tall sitting, I decided to try an enlarged version of the pattern that the creator posted on craftster.org. Here's the result:

I was pretty happy with how he turned out! The only thing I didn't really like was the size of his legs - if I crocheted him again I would make them a little shorter and skinnier. I also had a problem with huge holes appearing where I did normal decreases (mainly around the bottom of his head). I solved this by using an invisible decrease that I learned from a tutorial created by a helpful blogger named falwyn. I can't wait to make some more amigurumi! :)

***

On a different note, there have been a ton of summer projects that have been floating around in my mind lately. I want desperately to start on one of them but sadly there are always other activities that have a higher priority. To keep myself motivated I'm going to list some of them here. Hopefully I can get to everything before fall!

Summer Project List

- Make some of my old t-shirts into tank tops. I live in Arizona so my required summer uniform is a tank top and shorts - otherwise I'd be sweating all day! I have a ton of old t-shirts that I hardly ever wear so I'm hoping that if I can make them into tank tops then they'll get more use. I'd like to find a free pattern that shows how to finish the cut edges so they don't roll (which t-shirt fabric always does).

- Make black-out curtains for our bedroom. Perhaps to give us more time to be out of doors during the cool morning hours, Arizona has decided not to observe Daylight Savings Time. Unfortunately this means that in the summer it starts to get light about 4:30 AM, making it really hard to get enough sleep! I made curtains for the bedroom last winter but they aren't much help since they aren't lined. Right now we are making due with heavy blankets thrown over the curtain rods but we really need some black-out fabric!

- For one week, design a new craft item each day and then blog about it. I've been making things but not designing much of my own stuff lately, plus I'd like to see how hard it is to do a blog entry every day.

- Make another puppet video for The Office. I'm hoping I can get the help of my DunderMifflinInfinity.com branch with this because I am fresh out of story ideas!

- Paint our guest bathroom. I'm thinkin' orange. This probably won't happen because I'm too chicken to commit to any color but white!

***

Finally, for those of you who managed to read all the way to the bottom, here's a funny video I recorded of my cat reacting to my attempts to play the ocarina. Enjoy!

My First Commission: Three Knitted Scarves

2008-06-10T14:22:00.000-07:00

I knitted these three scarves for my mom - she's going on a trip to England and will be staying with some friends for a few days so she wanted to give them a gift. I guess the scarves aren't technically a commission because she's not paying me with money. Instead she's promised to get me an awesome souvenir - I can't wait to see what she picks out! :)

Project Name: Simple Scarves
Time Taken to Finish: about 2 hours each
Materials Used: 1 ball each of Lion Brand Homespun Yarn in: Barley, Granite, and Edwardian (left to right in the photo)
Special Tools Used: Size 13 knitting needles
What I Did: Cast on 10 stitches. Knitted until scarf was about 5 feet long. Cast off stitches and weaved in ends.
What I Liked About the Project: I love projects that only use knit stitch, I can just knit without having to count or think about it.
What I Didn't Like About the Project: I can't think of anything, it was easy and fun! :)

Quail Nest and Chiltepin Seedlings

2008-05-29T16:53:00.001-07:00

I was very excited to discover that quail have built a nest in the middle of a cactus in our yard!

They chose a good spot! It would be impossible for a cat or dog to get through cactus that encircles the nest. It took me a long time to get a good photo of the nest because the mother quail is usually sitting on the eggs and all you can see is a few feathers. I can't wait to see the chicks; hopefully she'll take good care of them and keep them out of the street!

I've been on the hunt for chiltepin plants (aka chili tepin). It's a chile plant that has tiny little peppers that are super-hot and can grow year-round in the right conditions. My parents have had one in their backyard for years and I thought it would be nice to have my own. I especially like that it can survive during the winter since I'm not too keen on having to re-plant vegetables every year!

The chiltepin plant is very similar to the chili pequin so initally I wasn't sure which one this was. The only difference I can see between the two is that the chiltepin peppers are round while the chili pequin peppers are elongated. Since the peppers on my parents' plant are round, I'm assuming that it's a chiltepin.

I stole a few peppers from my parents' plant a year ago and, after drying them out, spent a week attempting to sprout the seeds from one pepper but had no luck. I then tried to find the plant at a local nursery but no success there either. Finally I sat down, did some research and discovered that the seeds can take up to 12 weeks to sprout! I decided to try again since I hadn't given them enough time during my first sprouting attempt.

On April 30th I cut open one of the peppers and soaked the seeds in water overnight. On May 1st I put all the seeds (there were more than 30!) between two damp paper towels in a plastic container. I sprayed the paper towels daily with water to keep them moist. Nothing happened until May 20th - I got home from a short vacation and found that several of the seeds had sprouted!

Once the seedlings were free of the seeds, I planted them in plastic cups. I used two cups for each seedling, one inner cup with holes punched in the bottom and an outer cup to catch any drained water. I put a thin layer of pebbles at the bottom of the cup and filled the rest with a 4 to 1 mixture of potting soil and perlite.

I've been planting 2-3 seedlings a day since May 20th and I now have 17! They seem to be pretty slow growers so I'm guessing they won't be big enough to have peppers until next year. Here are some photos I took of one of the first plants to show its progress:

May 20th:

May 21st:

May 23rd:

May 29th:

You can see more "growth" photos of my chiltepin plants here: Chiltepin Plants Update

Master and Commander Movie Costumes

2008-05-23T11:35:00.008-07:00

This past weekend we took a little trip over to San Diego. Because of my obsession with Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World I couldn't miss the HMS Surprise at the Maritime Museum! I wasn't too sure what sort of exhibits they had on the Surprise but I had my fingers crossed that they would have some costumes from the movie. I got lucky! Behind Plexiglas in a tiny room they had four uniforms, belonging to Jack Aubrey, Mowett, Blakeney, and a marine. Sadly they seemed a little forgotten. There weren't any signs or labels to indicate that they were from the movie and they were all crowded in a corner. Jack's costume was hidden behind all the others; all that could be seen was his hat and collar!

I took advantage of the opportunity and spent about an hour sketching what I could see of each costume. I also took a few photos but the glare on the Plexiglas kept them from turning out very well. I thought I'd post my photos and sketches here in case anyone needs some reference material when trying to make their own costume. FYI, I've left all of my notes on the sketches including my spelling mistakes and some stuff that's unrelated (like the names of the guns on the Surprise!). If you need me to translate any of my writing please let me know.

(By the way, if you're serious about making costumes from the Master and Commander movie, you need to buy The Making of Master and Commander by Tom McGregor. I just bought it and I wish I had it when I made my Jack Aubrey costume because it has lots of great reference photos! *See the update at the bottom of the page for another great reference book.

Second Lieutenant Mowett Uniform

This appears to be a Lieutenant's uniform, and I decided it was Mowett's because he's the only Lt. I remember that wears a top hat. You can see a photo of Mowett in hat and uniform on page 102 in the Making of M&C book.

Midshipman Blakeney Uniform

Since this midshipman's uniform had the right arm pinned up it could only be Lord Blakeney's!

Blakeney and Mowett Uniforms

Blakeney and Mowett Trousers. Mowett's have stirrups at the bottom (you can see them better in my sketch).

All that can be seen of Captain Aubrey's Uniform

Royal Marine Uniform

Unfortunately the hat is about the only thing that can be seen in detail on Jack Aubrey's uniform. I don't know which character wore this Marine's uniform. It's not Captain Howard because he wears a different hat. The edging on the Marine's uniform is cool, it's white with a red stripe and a blue stripe (I put asterisks on the sketch to mark where this edging was used). There's a good photos of a bunch of Marines in uniform on page 86 of the Making of M&C book.

Sailor's Outfit

This sailor's outfit was not in the same room as the other costumes. I don't recognize it so it might not be from the movie (it could be a real antique outfit for all I know!). I thought it was interesting that the edges of the jacket weren't turned under and hemmed. Instead they've completed all the edges with an oversewing stitch (I couldn't think of what it was called when making my sketch so I called it a blanket stitch).

*Update 7/12/09: When visiting the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich this summer, I ran across this amazing book: Dressed to Kill: British Naval Uniform, Masculinity and Contemporary Fashions, 1748-1857. It's written by Amy Miller who is a curator at the NMM. The book describes a number of uniforms in the museum's collection with front, back, and detail photos of each as well as line drawings showing their pattern construction. I remember seeing it on the internet while researching my Jack Aubrey costume but there was no indication in the very brief Amazon description that it contained all these amazing reference photos and drawings. If you are interested in making an authentic Royal Navy uniform you definitely need this book!

Update 8/16/11: I was checking the Amazon link for Dressed to Kill and saw that it is out of print, with resale copies going for over $400. Ouch! Same thing over at Amazon UK. The price I bought it at was £15 (so about $30). It is still listed at that price on the National Maritime Museum's list of publications but with no option to buy. If you are desperate to have it but can't pay the insane resale price, my only suggestion would be to contact the museum to see if they still have any copies.

(Oh and thanks, Amazon, for offering to buy back my copy of Dressed to Kill for $5.52 so you can resell it at $424.99. That sounds like a great deal!)

PB&J Jell-O Shots

2008-05-12T10:26:00.000-07:00

What's a PB&J Shot? It's a grape Jell-O shot topped with a peanut butter whipped cream. If you're feeling adventurous you might want to give it a try!

Cathy's PB&J Jell-O Shots

Ingredients
- grape Jell-O
- boiling water
- cold water
- vodka (optional)
- heavy cream
- peanut butter (soften by stirring quickly)
- powdered sugar

1. Make Jell-O according to package directions. For alcoholic shots, substitute vodka for half of the cold water.

2. Pour Jell-O mixture into small plastic Jell-O shot cups. Chill in fridge until firm.

3. Beat 1 cup heavy cream with beaters until soft peaks form. Fold in 3 tablespoons softened peanut butter and 1 1/2 tablespoons powdered sugar. Beat a few more seconds until well mixed. Give it a taste, if it's not sweet enough add some more powdered sugar.

4. Top firm Jell-O shots with a dab of peanut butter whipped cream. Serve.

(This recipe was created in honor of Pam Beesly and Jim Halpert from NBC's "The Office." Their nickname as a couple is "PB&J"!)

Behind the Scenes: "That One Night" Music Video

2008-05-07T14:48:00.007-07:00

I took a few pictures before I dismantled the sets from my "That One Night" video that I thought I might share. If you have questions about anything feel free to leave me a comment!

This is the drawing I made of Schrute Farms (at nighttime, hence the pathetic-looking moon!). I based this drawing on what I could see of the farmhouse during the episode "Money" so I probably didn't get everything right. I drew the house on a white sheet of paper, colored it, then cut it out and pasted it onto black construction paper.

Here are all the puppets I made. It took me a long time to create each one so I cut corners when I knew a body part wouldn't be in the shot (Sandals Michael's legs, Dwight's left arm). The Jan puppets were the hardest to make because both their fronts and backs were appearing on screen so both sides had to look good. On the other puppets I was able to glue everything to popsicle sticks on the back which made it a lot easier. If you're wondering about Jan's censor box, there isn't actually anything under there (she's not anatomically correct, as they say). It just felt wrong to post a picture of her topless!

The America room at Schrute Farms. I randomly picked this room for Michael to stay in (we had already seen Irrigation in "Money" and Nighttime sounded a little dull). I was so excited to learn in a deleted scene from "Chair Model" that he actually did stay there! The bed is missing in this photo but it was the same one that appears in the next photo, just with a different bedspread.

Michael and Jan's bedroom. The bed is a stack of books, covered with a facial tissue and a square of brown fabric. The pillow is made of folded facial tissue too. The bench, camera, candles, and picture are all craft foam and the curtain is ivory fabric.

The front of the elevator set. Only the red portion made it into the shot.

The back of the elevator. This was the most complicated set to build and shoot in because of the sliding doors. I made tracks out of popsicle sticks to keep the doors in place but they didn't slide very smoothly. It took lots of practice to get them to close at the same speed (and without hitting the Michael puppet!).

The other difficult scene to film was Michael crying in bed. I started out trying to drip water on his face to make a tear but the drop would either just sit there in the middle of his face or it would fall off too quickly. So I switched to a construction paper tear and used stop-motion animation to make it appear to move. It was frustrating because every time I tried to scoot the tear into the next position with tweezers I would push too hard and the tiny piece of paper would fly off of his face! I then had to hunt it down and start the animation all over again.

Favorite Craft Projects

2008-05-07T14:30:00.004-07:00

Just a quick post to highlight some of my favorite craft projects from the past few years:

Blog Post: Severus Snape Pumpkin Carving

Blog Posts: Jack Aubrey and Dr. House costumes

Blog Post: Fleece Bag and Cell Phone holder

Blog Post: Felt Advent Calendar

Blog Post: Knitted Bunny

Update: My Video in "The Office" Contest

2008-05-06T12:00:00.002-07:00

Unfortunately my video didn't win, but thanks to everyone who voted for it! I am pleased to report that my video is one of four "runner-ups" that are featured alongside the winning video on the official Office website. Being picked as one of the top 5 out of 134 makes me pretty happy!

Update 2/17/11: I've removed all the links to the videos that were here because NBC took them down. You can still watch my video here.

My Video in "The Office" Contest

2008-04-30T08:04:00.003-07:00

I entered this video in a contest sponsored by NBC's "The Office" and I've been chosen as one of the finalists! I made all the sets and popsicle stick puppets from scratch - it took me 3 days to make and film everything. If you like it, please vote for it here! You don't have to join or anything, just click on the "vote for this entry" button. But hurry, the deadline to vote is Thursday May 1st at 3pm Pacific, 6pm Eastern!

Blue Jean Windsock

2008-04-25T11:41:00.007-07:00

My second entry for "Ugliest Craft I've Ever Made"! In case you're curious, the first entry was the Ugly Blanket I knitted last year.

I decided to make this windsock because we've been having a problem with birds flying into our sliding glass patio door. After we moved in last summer, I put out feeders in the backyard. I had a ground feeder with mixed seed, a hanging feeder with sunflower seed, a hanging finch feeder with thistle seed, and a hummingbird feeder. Originally I had all the feeders at the edge of the patio but when I discovered that some of the doves were flying into the glass I moved everything except the hummingbird feeder out into the yard. Unfortunately that didn't solve the problem so I got rid of the feeders that the doves could use (the ground feeder and the hanging sunflower seed feeder). However that hasn't completely stopped them - they still show up every day and pick at the seeds dropped from the thistle feeder!

So instead of trying to keep the doves out of the yard I thought I'd try to keep them from approaching the glass by hanging a windsock in front of it. I've had little luck finding windsocks locally (not fashionable anymore, I guess) and even if they were available I doubt that cheap nylon would last long with the strong Arizona winds. My grandmother has made windsocks out of old blue jeans before so I thought that would be my best bet.

Project Name: Blue Jean Windsock
Time Taken to Finish: 2 hours
Materials Used:
-old pair of blue jeans
-matching thread
-plastic cylinder 3-4 inches tall, about same circumference as the upper thigh of one leg of the jeans (maybe an empty bleach bottle or 2-liter soda bottle with the top and bottom removed)
-1/4" metal eyelets
-reflective decorations
-fishing line
-fishing snap swivel
Special Tools Used:
-sewing machine
-eyelet tool
-drill
What I Did:
-Cut one leg of the jeans off, perpendicular to the outside hem and as close to the crotch as possible.
-Drilled 4 holes in the plastic cylinder for the eyelets (didn't put them in yet).
-Placed the cylinder inside the jeans leg, folded the fabric over the plastic cylinder, and then hemmed the cylinder inside the jeans.
-Cut holes in the jeans to correspond with the eyelet holes in the cylinder. Attached eyelets.
-Cut the rest of the leg into ~1" strips, stopping about 2 inches away from the hemmed-in plastic cylinder.
-Sewed reflective decorations onto every other strip and in the space between the bottom of the cylinder and the top of the strips.
-Tied one end of 4 lengths of fishing line into each eyelet and attached the other ends to the fishing snap swivel.
-Tied a longer length of fishing line to the other end of the snap swivel. Put a hook in the patio ceiling and hung up the windsock.
What I Liked About the Project: It was easy and will hopefully save some birds.
What I Didn't Like About the Project: Not the prettiest thing to look at, but it's in my backyard so no one's going to see it!

A hummingbird visiting my feeder

Charcoal Scarf, Home Library, and "The Office"

2008-04-15T11:35:00.000-07:00

I've been busy lately but not doing a whole lot of crafting. I finally managed to finish a charcoal scarf my mom requested:

It's just a basic garter stitch scarf, knit with double-stranded Lion Brand Homespun yarn on size 13 needles (the color is "Edwardian"). My mom has asked that I knit 3 more as gifts and she's even offered to pay me for them (*gasp* my first commission!).

I have also been working on our spare room, aka "the junk room" as evident in this photo:

About 70% of the junk is boxes of books and about 9/10ths of those books are mine (I have a book problem). We would really like this room to be a library as well as a guest bedroom. We've found some bookshelves at IKEA but it's going to be a pain to get them here from the Phoenix store. The boxes containing the shelves are too big to fit in my truck so we'll have to rent a trailer (buying them online is out of the question - the shipping charges are more than the price of the shelves!).

With the way the room is now there would be no where to put them! So unfortunately I have to clean it out before we can buy anything. My first task was to drag out all the books and sort them by genre. I made a lot of piles in our hall:

There were so many books that I decided it would be a good idea to catalog them. To make it easier, I signed up with an online home library website called GuruLib. I picked them over other similar websites because they're free and they have a cool feature that lets you scan in UPC codes with a webcam. The UPC feature was really helpful though it only works on newer books and it requires a high-quality webcam. So far I've added 642 books to my online library and I still have more to do!

The other thing that's been eating up my time is this website: dundermifflininfinity.com. It's an online game created by NBC to promote their show, "The Office." You play as an employee of the online company Dunder Mifflin Infinity (DMI) and you do different tasks (usually related to that week's episode) to earn fake money. The DMI employees are divided up into different teams called "branches." Each branch is based in a real town and is led by another employee who is called the Regional Manager.

Well, I recently got elected as the Regional Manager of the Ypsilanti, Michigan branch. Consequently I've been spending a lot of time on DMI.com fulfilling my managerial duties. I'm probably taking my job too seriously (Kevin thinks so) but I can't help it when I know that other people are relying on me. Here's me with a shirt and mug with our branch logo on it:

It's not all work though. I've been having a lot of fun getting to know the other employees - we all love "The Office" so it's fun to geek out about it! If you're interested in joining please drop me a line. I'd love to have you in our branch!

Pretzel Day!

2008-03-31T20:18:00.000-07:00

I've been craving a soft pretzel for weeks now! I've always been too afraid to attempt making them myself - having to "use yeast" and "boil dough" seemed intimidating. But last night we caught a pretzel episode of Throwdown with Bobby Flay on the Food Network and it really didn't look all that scary. I hunted down a recipe online (from the illustrious Alton Brown, no less) and made my attempt. It wasn't as hard as I thought! Using yeast was easy (just a lot of waiting, basically) and boiling the dough wasn't any more difficult that boiling pasta. Unfortunately we couldn't find any pretzel salt to go on top so we used table salt which didn't taste quite right. I also wish that I had made them thinner so they wouldn't be as doughy in the middle. Anyway, they tasted pretty good for a first attempt and I also got to use the stand mixer I received for Christmas. Win-win!

Recovering Deleted Photos from Memory Cards

2008-03-18T12:38:00.001-07:00

I neglected to mention in my previous post that I had a crisis when I returned home from my trip to the Arizona Renaissance Festival and tried to use Picasa (Google’s photo management software) to upload my photos. Picasa was supposed to copy the photos from my memory card, paste them into a folder on my computer, and then delete the photos from my memory card. Instead, it copied and pasted nothing, then deleted my photos anyway! Let me tell you, when I realized my photos were gone there were a few tears and a lot of yelling (aimed at my poor husband, who had the bad luck to be calling me at the time). I’m not sure whether I should place the blame on Picasa or my memory card, which every once in a while has given me a read error (but nothing that couldn’t be solved by taking the card out and putting it back in again). Regardless of who’s to blame, I know that from now on I’m not going to let Picasa automatically delete my stuff anymore!

To attempt to fix this, I first tried to get ahold of my computer-genius brother (doesn’t everyone have one?). But due to some St. Patrick’s Day partying he was not available so I resorted to Google. It took me a while to sort through all the recovery programs out there and I found that most of them weren’t free or looked untrustworthy. Finally I ran across an article in the New York Times that recommended a free downloadable program called PC Inspector Smart Recovery. It’s just for recovery from memory cards though the company, Convar, also offers other file recovery programs. I was a little worried about some of the poor English in the instructions (the company is based in Germany) but I tried it out anyway and it was able to recover all but one of my 40 photos!

I was so pleased that I then went on to see what pictures I could recover from the memory cards belonging to my husband’s camera. We lost all our photos from our Galveston, Texas honeymoon in a laptop crash over a year ago and I was hoping that some of them might still remain on the memory cards. I got lucky and did find a couple, though they were mostly blurry fish from Moody Gardens and moon rocks from NASA - unfortunately not the ones I really wanted. But they’re better than nothing!

The one key thing to keep in mind if you accidentally delete photos from a memory card is to not save any new photos on that card until you have done your recovery. With most memory cards the data from the photos is still there after you delete them. It’s only permanently gone when new data is written over the old data. So if we had tried this recovery soon after we lost our honeymoon photos we probably would’ve found more, but instead we waited until we had taken lots of new photos which overwrote the old ones. :( Oh well, I’m working on recovering the data from the crashed laptop’s hard drive so maybe I’ll get my pictures back that way!

Scottish Wench Costume - Completed

2008-03-16T19:35:00.000-07:00

We had a fantastic time at the Arizona Renaissance Festival! I was worried that we might be the only ones in costume because I’d heard from several sources that not too many visitors dressed up. But thankfully that was not true - we saw a large number of non-employees in Renaissance garb. Here’s a shot of me in my completed Scottish wench costume:

There was some discussion as to whether it was correct for me to lace the bodice from top to bottom instead of from bottom to top (apparently the way most wenches do it). But top to bottom was the way they had it in the pattern and, anyway, I didn’t want to bother trying to re-lace it during the festival.

I added a few features to the costume to help everything stay in place. I sewed two snaps at each of the shoulders to attach the bodice straps to the shirt. This kept the weight of the shawl and buckles from pulling the straps off of my shoulders, though instead it pulled on the the shirt. To keep the waistband of the skirt from slipping below the bottom of the bodice, I sewed a hook (from a hook and eye) to the inside of the bodice near each front side seam and sewed the eyes onto the waistband of the skirt.

This shot of the back gives you a better view of the shawl. It was an quick and easy sew. The way I’m wearing it is not the way the pattern suggested - they wanted it to be worn longways, with a belt at the waist to keep the excess from dragging on the ground. It just didn’t look right that way, so I ended up wearing it shortways instead.

For the details on how I made each piece of this costume, see my previous posts: Skirt and Shirt and Bodice.

Scottish Wench Costume - Skirt and Shirt

2008-03-12T12:10:00.004-07:00

I’m in a rush to finish my costume because we're now going to the Renaissance festival several weeks earlier than planned! I’ve completed the skirt and the shirt; I still have to make the shawl and sew the final seams on the bodice/vest. When it’s all done I’ll post a picture of the completed outfit.

Project Name: Scottish Wench Costume - skirt
Time Taken to Finish: 2 days
Pattern: Simplicity 3623
Materials Used:
-brown 100% cotton quilting fabric
-matching thread
-9 inch brown zipper
-1 hook and eye closure
Special Tools Used: Viking Platinum 755Q sewing machine
What I Did: Pretty simple, just followed the pattern. I did have to hem the bottom more than they suggested or else I would’ve ended up walking on it!
What I Liked About the Project: Very quick and not too many pieces. And I finally learned to sew on a zipper correctly!
What I Didn’t Like About the Project: Again, I had problems in fitting the skirt. The first waistband I attached to the skirt was too small and I couldn’t zip it up, but when I made a second waistband in the next size up it was too big and won’t stay at my waist. I gave up and stuck with the second waistband though I may have to cinch it up somehow to keep it in place.

Project Name: Scottish Wench Costume - shirt
Time Taken to Finish: 3 days
Pattern: Simplicity 3623
Materials Used:
-cream 100% cotton sateen fabric
-matching thread
-2 do-it-yourself fabric-covered buttons
-fusible interfacing
-seam tape (itchy stuff!)
Special Tools Used: Viking Platinum 755Q sewing machine, buttonholer attachment, buttonhole knife
What I Did: Exactly what the pattern said, except I left off the lace/ruffles at the collar and sleeves and I again hemmed a bit more on the tail than they suggested.
What I Liked About the Project: Um, it’s not too small?
What I Didn’t Like About the Project: I’m not super happy about this shirt. There is way too much excess fabric, considering I have to tuck most of it inside a vest! I’m annoyed since this shirt was DESIGNED to go under the vest I made. Look at the size of the armholes and sleeves! I think it’s going to end up looking silly when I try to cram it under a vest and everything ends up poofing out the sleeves. But since the fabric to make this shirt cost more than all my other fabric supplies put together, I feel like I have to use it. Plus I really don’t have time to research and sew a new shirt. We’ll see, maybe it won’t end up looking so bad.

Links to the Bodice and the Completed Costume

Scottish Wench Costume - Bodice

2008-03-04T13:38:00.002-07:00

I've never been to a Renaissance festival before though I've always wanted to go. Luckily enough, I've I found out that a friend who just moved here would like to go and she already has a costume! I'm always one to take advantage of any opportunity to dress up so I jumped at the opportunity to make another costume. The first piece I've finished is the bodice/vest. In the photo I'm wearing it over my Jack Aubrey shirt but I'm planning on making a new shirt in a cream color. Right now the shoulder and side seams are just basted so that I can make sure the bodice fits over the new shirt before I sew the final seams.

Project Name: Scottish Wench Costume - bodice/vest
Time Taken to Finish: 1 week
Pattern: Simplicity 3623
Materials Used:
-olive 100% cotton quilting fabric (couldn't find any colors or textures that I liked or could afford in the garment fabrics)
-matching thread
-1/4 inch eyelets
-2 inch belt buckles (to attach a tartan shawl to the vest - that's where the Scottish part comes in!)
-brown ribbon or leather (for lacing)
-3/8 inch plastic cable ties (for boning)
-muslin (sewn to lining to hold boning)
Special Tools Used: Viking Platinum 755Q sewing machine, eyelet tool
What I Did: For the most part I followed the pattern directions. Here's where I strayed from it:
-Instead of real boning I substituted 3/8 inch plastic cable ties which can be found at home improvement stores. I found this substitution suggested many places online for people who don't have access to specialty sewing shops.
-The pattern said to sew the side and shoulder seams before putting in the eyelets and lacing but I ended up doing the reverse because there was no way to keep the bodice tight while fitting it without the lacing.
-After fitting the bodice I had to take in more at the shoulder seams than was suggested since they kept falling down, and I had to take in the back seam a bit because it kept gaping.
What I Liked About the Project: Substituting the cable ties for the boning worked out well. I think they're actually stronger than real plastic boning (which seemed flimsy when I finally found it in a store) and it's washable unlike metal boning.
What I Didn't Like About the Project: This is the kind of project that makes one see the necessity of a dressmaker's dummy or at least a competent fitting assistant! It took me two days to get the bodice properly fitted because I had trouble holding it in position and pinning it at the same time. I'm still unsatisfied with the wrinkles in the fabric on the back of the bodice but I'm not sure what's causing them. I also would like to use leather for the lacing instead of ribbon, but the leather I originally used smeared dye onto my Aubrey shirt (thankfully it came out) so I want to find some that will not make a mess.

Links to the Skirt and Shirt and the Completed Costume.

American Idol Fantasy Draft and "Who’s Getting Kicked Off?" Game

2008-02-25T11:44:00.000-07:00

I've been watching American Idol off and on since it first aired (the off times usually due to my attempts to save money by dropping my cable). I even got my husband into it by watching the season 5 finale (with Taylor and Katharine) in the hotel during our honeymoon! Since we have quite a few friends who watch Idol too we thought it would be fun to have dinner at someone's house every week and watch it together. We watch on the last day of singing - right now that's Wednesday but soon it will switch to Tuesday. We rotate houses each week and the host provides the main part of the meal and the guests each bring a topping or side dish. For example, when we had pizza the host provided the crust and sauce and everyone else brought their favorite pizza topping.

We wanted to make things a little more exciting, so we decided to play two games. The first was an American Idol fantasy draft. It's sort of like a sports fantasy draft, except the way you win is by drafting the contestant who becomes the American Idol. Since all you do for the draft is wait and see if your contestant wins, we play another game weekly where we get points for correctly guessing who's getting kicked off that week. I set up a website where we could keep track of our results: http://ai-ptc.pbwiki.com/ (in case you're wondering, PTC refers to the place where most of us work). The site also has the game rules and a calendar. I then made a poster that I could take to each of the meetings (I've covered up our names for privacy):

There were eight teams so we each got to pick 3 American Idol contestants. I attached the contestants' pictures with spray adhesive so I could peel them off and put them in the reject column when they got kicked off. My team is Danny, Robbie, and Luke (at the lower right hand corner). I was the last person to pick so I didn't get any of my top choices and I got stuck with Luke since no one else wanted him. Happily, he somehow managed to survive the first cut so maybe he'll do better this week!

If you want to play these games yourself, here are the rules (pulled from our website):

1. The Fantasy Draft

A fantasy draft will be held after the final 24 contestants have been announced. Each person participating will draw a number which will determine the draft order. To make it as fair as possible it will be a snake or serpentine draft. This means the draft order will go like this: Round 1 - 1,2,3,4. Round 2 - 4,3,2,1. Round 3 - 1,2,3,4 etc. Each person will get to draft one AI contestant per round, and no contestant may be used more than once. Once all the contestants have been drafted, the moderator will arrange a chart so that the contestants' progress can be tracked over the course of the season. No trading is allowed. The winner of this competition will be the person who drafted this year's American Idol.

2. "Who's Getting Kicked Off?" Game

In addition to the Fantasy Draft there will be a weekly competition to see who can guess which contestants will be in the bottom group and who will get kicked off. Each week after the performance episode, participants will be asked to give their guess as to who will be in the bottom group and of that group who will be eliminated. The winner of this competition will be the person with the most points at the end of the season. Here's how the guesses will be made and the points awarded:

Top 24-Top 16 weeks: Guess the 2 men and 2 women who will be kicked off each week. Two points for each correct guess, for a possible total of 8 points each week.

Top 12*-Top 6 weeks: Guess the contestants who will be in the bottom 3 and of those three, which one will be kicked off. One point for each correct guess for the bottom 3, two points for correctly guessing who gets kicked off. For a possible total of 5 points each week.

Top 5-Top 4 weeks: Guess the contestants who will be in the bottom 2 and of those two, which one will be kicked off. One point for each correct guess for the bottom 2, two points for correctly guessing who gets kicked off. For a possible total of 4 points each week.

Top 3-Finale weeks: Guess which contestant will be kicked off. Two points for a correct guess, for a possible total of 2 points each week.

*After the final 12 contestants have been announced each participant will be asked to guess who they think will be the American Idol winner. If that guess is correct, they will be awarded 5 additional points.

Note: This schedule is based on the way eliminations have been handled on the show in previous years. If they decide to change something this year, I guess we'll wing it!

Tucson Gem and Mineral Show

2008-02-20T08:56:00.001-07:00

My husband and love to collect rocks and minerals, so instead of buying flowers and candy for Valentine's Day we spend our money at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show! Here's a couple of things we purchased this year:

Chrysocolla with Druzy Quartz from Chile

A tiny sample of Wulfenite from the Rowley Mine in Arizona

And a couple of things we've purchased at other shows:

Wulfenite with Druzy Quartz from the Finch Mine in Arizona (my favorite wulfenite locality - doesn't it look yummy?)

Some purple Fluorite on Calcite from Illinois

This year we also purchased two fantastic prints from paintings of minerals by artist Fred Wilda. One was of rhodocrosite and the other was wulfenite. We liked them so much that we're thinking of buying one more, maybe a fluorite.

This year our mineral haul was a little disappointing as we had trouble finding specimens that we liked at a reasonable price. The satellite shows at the hotels in Tucson generally had good prices but they all seemed to have the same stuff. The best selection was probably at the Inn Suites hotel. But the biggest disappointment this year was at the main show at the convention center - the prices were RIDICULOUS! I would say that out of the hundreds of booths present there were only 4 or 5 that sold minerals at a reasonable price. For us a reasonable price would be up to $20 for a decent display sample and up to $50 for something super nice. The minimum prices at most of the mineral booths were in the $100s and some had nothing under $1000. I would understand the prices if the minerals were actually spectacular, but we saw many examples of specimens similar in quality and size to ones we had purchased elsewhere for under $20 that were selling there for over $100. Next year we may skip the convention center and spend all our time at the hotels!

Cell Phone Holder with Fleece Applique

2008-02-15T11:56:00.002-07:00

I just finished this fleece cell phone holder that I made to match my fleece goldfish bag. Instead of outlining the details in orange as I did on the original bag, I did them in black. Right now I can't decide whether or not that's an improvement! To attach the applique I used the same technique as the elephant pillow I made a while back, except I used a straight stitch on the edges instead of satin stitch.

It's lined with plaid baby blue flannel and has a button and elastic loop for closure. I really like the flannel and I'm thinking about making another holder using the flannel as the background instead of the blue fleece. The problem with using fleece for an entire item is that after it gets used for a while it starts to pill. They do sell expensive no-pill fleece, but it's really meant for clothing and would probably be a waste to use on the things I make. Also, if I make any more of these I'll probably look into dying the elastic to match - I don't much care for plain white.

On the back I attached some strapping so that it could be attached to a belt, and I also sewed in a D-ring with a carabiner so it could be hung from a purse strap or belt loop.

Since t was a pretty quick sew, I'm thinking about trying to make some in different colors with different applique images. I'd also like to make other small items that matched them, like maybe a clutch or coin purse.

Window Seat Cushion

2008-02-07T11:53:00.000-07:00

Not a very exciting picture, but it's the only thing I've finished lately! I helped a friend make this window seat cushion for her daughter's room. It's just a long piece of foam padding with a cover (which has an overlapping slit in the center of its underside so that it can be taken off and washed). It took about 3 hours to make and most of that time was spent carefully cutting out the pieces so it would be the right size (we didn't have enough fabric to make mistakes!). Since I always do projects by myself, it was fun getting to work with someone else for a change!

"Drunk, Divorced and Covered in Cat Hair"

2008-01-24T14:40:00.000-07:00

Whew, the past three weeks have been crazy! The first week we spent entertaining one of our former college professors who was in town for work, the next week I flew to Texas to visit my family, and this week we've spent several days helping a college friend move into town so she could start her internship. Thankfully everything seems to have settled down now and I can get to work on my next sewing project (once I figure out what it will be...).

In the meantime, I'd like to recommend a book I stumbled across in my local supermarket. It's called Drunk, Divorced and Covered in Cat Hair: The True-Life Misadventures of a 30-Something Who Learned to Knit After He Split (see it at Amazon). The author is Laurie Perry, aka Crazy Aunt Purl. I was so surprised to see her screen name on the front of a book - I've visited her website a few times to view knitting patterns but I had no idea that she had written a book!

As you can probably tell from the title, the book isn't really about knitting. Instead knitting is a common theme throughout the chapters as Laurie discovers that learning to knit helps her recover from her divorce. Divorce self-help books aren't something I would normally find myself reading (especially considering what kind of message that might send to my husband) but her funny stories and humorous writing style really kept me entertained. She also has 14 "Knitting Recipes" at the back of the book, including the pattern for the first hat I ever knitted (her Easy Roll-Brim Hat). You can view an excerpt from Drunk, Divorced and Covered in Cat Hair at Amazon by using their Search Inside feature, so give it a look!

Fleece Bag with Goldfish Applique

2008-01-10T14:46:00.002-07:00

Here's my first attempt at a full-sized bag (see my Elephant Fleece Applique Pillow post for the technique I used to attach the applique). I started it months ago but my old Singer couldn't handle the multiple thicknesses of fleece and interfacing so I had to quit. I tried again when I got my new Viking and it couldn't handle it either! So I talked my dad into letting me "permanently borrow" his 1936 direct drive Singer. He had been using it to repair flags and the guy he bought it from had used it to sew leather so it seemed like it would be able to handle a few thinknesses of fleece! I finally got around to trying it out this week and I was able to finish the bag, but there were still a few extra-thick areas that I ended up having to sew by hand. Oh well, at least it's done!

Elephant Fleece Applique Pillow

2008-01-07T11:40:00.000-07:00

Happy New Year! Here's an applique pillow I made as a Christmas gift for a friend. She's recently joined a sorority (Delta Sigma Theta) and their unofficial symbol is an elephant. Since I'm just learning how to use my new sewing machine this project was probably a little over-ambitious (and I think it shows!). I did all right designing and cutting out the applique shapes but when it came time to sew them down with the satin stitch, things ended up getting a bit messy. Hence the wavy outlines and wobbly letters! Hopefully with more practice I'll get better at the stitching. Here's some close-ups:

Here's how I did the applique:

First I traced my design on to paper-backed transfer webbing. The final shape will be the opposite of what is drawn on the transfer webbing, so the image must be reversed. I forgot to do this while I was taking the photos so that elephant ended up being for practice!

Next I trimmed the transfer webbing, leaving about an inch around the design. I ironed the sticky side of the transfer webbing to the wrong side of the white fleece.

Then I trimmed the fleece to the edge of the transfer webbing. Next I put the design in my sewing machine, paper side up, and sewed along the outline of the design:

This transferred the design to the right side of the fleece:

Next I removed the paper from inside the outline on the back of the applique, leaving the transfer webbing. Then I trimmed as close to the outline as possible (without cutting the thread in the outline). Note: On my first try, I trimmed close to the outline and then removed the paper. This did not work so well since the thread was less secure and tended to rip out when I pulled on the paper. So it's better to remove the paper first, then trim.

I then placed the applique piece on the background, covered it with a damp towel, and ironed it into place.

Last I went over the outline stitch with the satin stitch. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be because of all the tight turns in the elephant. I did two practice elephants before I did the final one and I still made quite a few mistakes!

"Eight Bells" - Montague Dawson

2008-01-02T12:02:00.000-07:00

I found this great framed print over the holidays in an antique shop in Fredericksburg, Texas. It's a huge print (the frame is about 30"x40") of the painting "Eight Bells" by the nautical artist Montague Dawson. While I'm always on the lookout for prints or paintings of ships, this is the first time I found one that I liked enough to buy.

Before I purchased it, I wanted to make sure I wasn't getting ripped off by buying something that could be found online for a lot less so we ran back to the hotel and jumped on the computer to look it up. While several online shops had prints of Montague Dawson's more famous works, we found only vague mentions of this particular print in a few places (and they were mostly from people wanting to buy it!). I decided that it was worth it so we ran back to the store, bought it, and somehow managed to bring it safely back to Arizona.

Another interesting thing I found on our trip was in a book I purchased a at used book store in Llano, Texas. It's an Agatha Christie paperback printed in the 1970's. The odd thing is, there are pages of full-color ads scattered throughout the book!

I have two other Christie books from the same publisher and time period and neither of them have ads like this. However, those books originally cost $1.50 and $1.95 while the book with ads was only $0.95. I guess they were experimenting to see if people would go for cheaper books if they contained advertising. Thank goodness that didn't catch on!

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-23T23:03:00.001-07:00

Just a quick post to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! It took 30+ shots, but we finally managed to take an acceptable photo of our first real Christmas tree. We haven't collected many interesting ornaments yet so we just bought a lot of balls (not very exciting, but they do the job!).

I've been working on my first major project with my new sewing machine and I think I've bitten off more than I can chew! I can't say more than that right now since it's a gift for a friend but, assuming I'm able to finish it (and I'm not too embarrassed by the finished product!), it will probably be my first post of the new year!

Non-crafty website of the day: The Flick Filosopher. This is the website of MaryAnn Johanson, a film critic from New York City. I'm always on the lookout for critics who share my taste in movies, and when I read her review of Master and Commander I knew she had excellent judgement! We only seem to differ when it comes to Judd Apatow films - she hates them, I like them.