Green sweater: DONE!!!!!!

The green sweater is done! And I think in general it looks better than it does in this picture, but the light hitting my patio at this hour makes everything look a bit odd.

Anyhow, I'm quite pleased with how it's turned out. It's very warm and cozy, and while I've heard some people say that Wool of the Andes is scratchy, I think it's very soft. I'm wearing the sweater right now with a tank top and it isn't bothering my arms at all. And I say that as someone who has fairly sensitive skin.

Most of the expansion that came with blocking disappeared once the sweater was fully dry, leaving it just a bit bigger than before. The only part where the size isn't perfect is the hood. And the hood isn't a blocking issue. The hood is a Jessie getting overly enthusiastic about a deep hood issue. I went a little overboard. As you can see in the photo, I can pull the hood all the way over my face. Even that has it's advantages. This will be a very good sweater for taking naps.






In other news, I left the market basket on the floor once I emptied it of Farmer's market goodies yesterday. I was in a hurry to make lunch, and I thought I'd return it to its shelf later on.

When I came back though, someone else had claimed it. Indeed, Rusty spent the rest of the day in that basket, and did not appear to mind if we picked it up and carried him around in it. As our friend Jack said, he appeared to be a very Zen cat all of the sudden. Very at peace.

Still damp.

It was stupid of me, wasn't it, to think the sweater would be dry in time for me to wear it tonight? I mean, I've had things dry that quickly before, but they were small things. Not big ones, like the sweater of enormity. I've moved it to the patio, in the warm, dry air of Southern California, and it's helping, but not enough. I've gone out there several times, laid out on the sweater, and whispered into the damp fibers "Dry. Dry." But you know? It is not working.

So I think I am going at it with the blow drier.

Sleeves of DOOM!

So the green sweater is still a little damp, but I had to update on it's blocking issues. It's close enough to dry that I was able to try it on. The body has grown a little, mostly in width but a bit in length as well. The hood has grown.

However, most impressive are the sleeves. Preblocking, they were about midway down my hand. They're about the same width as before, but the ends of the sleeves are now several inches past the ends of my fingers. All I can do is laugh, and keep thinking of how cozy it will be. And I still love it.

Anyhow, pictures will hopefully follow in not too long.

Big!

I have errands to run, so I'm just popping in quickly before a longer post later. In large part because I want the big post of today to be the finished sweater, but it's just a little damp still. Also, the blocking of the sweater has been moved to the floor of my studio, and since it isn't a big room, I've had to move my office chair out of the way. So I'm standing up in front of the computer, trying not to step on the sweater, and it's a little awkward.

But I wanted to record the observation that wow did this expand a lot more in blocking in sweater form than it did in swatch form. It's going to be a very roomy sweater. Not that this is really a problem. I was planning on a roomy sweater, for coziness if nothing else. That said, if I had known, I would have worked in more length and less width. But whatever! It's still a great sweater, and it's mine. I'm very proud of how it's turning out.

Green Sweater: Blocking

See that. That is the green sweater blocking on my bedroom floor. Tomorrow, presuming it is dry, I will sew on the buttons and it will be DONE! Hooray!

The blocking is being a bit of a miracle blocking in some respects, as it seems to be fixing an issue with the button bands not stopping the edges from curling in. We'll see if this holds once the sweater is fully dry, but I'm thinking it will.

The only downside is that my bedroom currently reeks of wet wool. And while some wool smells nice wet, and while this wool smells fine dry, this wool wet smells like a great big fart that won't dissipate. It isn't the best thing. But at bedtime I'll gently transfer the sweater to my studio to finish drying, the bedroom window will be opened, and I think all will be well in the world of odor.

So tired

So I had some amusing things to share today, and I may still later, but right now I am so incredibly tired. I took myself to the Pie and Burger for lunch today, and when the waitress asked me if I wanted another Coke, I just sort of stared at her in confusion. I am that kind of tired. I am shaking a little with the tired.

It is because Charlie was at work until midnight, thus pushing bedtime to about one am., which was followed by getting up at a normal weekday hour. This has been happening a lot lately, and it's starting to take it's toll. Which is to say, if it was just last night I would be tired but not dying tired, but it's sort of been compounding for awhile. I realize that I could theoretically go to bed before he gets home, and sometimes I do doze, but I can't really sleep. It isn't the being alone. It's the fact that the dog is very antsy if we reach a certain point in the evening and the entire family isn't home. This leads to a lot of him going from dead asleep to barking hysterically. It doesn't lend itself to resting.

Which is to say nothing of Charlie, who can't even take naps. He looks so run down. It really worries me. I'm trying to take the best care of him that I can when he's home, making his coffee for him and such. I'm so lucky to have him. I love him so much.

Anyway, I'm going to take a nap, and hopefully that will revive me enough to post more later. And if it doesn't, at least I've popped on and done a post for today.

Oh! And my green sweater is nearly done! In fact, all of the knitting is done. All I need to do now is weave in the last few ends, do the two inches of sewing needed, wash it, dry it, and sew on the buttons. I'm hoping to do most of that today, and when it's dry and has buttons, I'll get some finished pics up.

One day in, and I'm already going stream of consicousness.

I woke up this morning and was so thrilled that it was Friday. I was about to roll over and give Charlie the good news (because apparently my morning brain thinks he can't figure these things out for himself) when I realized that it was Thursday. Then the alarm went off, and the dog started rolling around, and glasses were put on, and we were not nearly as close to the weekend as I had thought anyhow.

So it isn't Friday. But it is November 1st, and that means it is the first day of me trying to do this blogging thing here every day for any entire month. We'll see how well this goes. I'm excited about it, and theoretically it shouldn't be difficult. However, I have this fear that it will turn out like my plan to have pen pals. Which is to say, not so well. If someone I am supposed to be corresponding with is out there reading this, please know that I am incredibly sorry that I haven't written in awhile. I'm easily distracted. But I will write. At some point.

In completely other news, for the second Halloween in a row, I have gotten zero trick-or-treaters. I was really hoping some of the kids in my building would come by, so I'm disappointed. The two giant bags of candy will have to console me.

This is also the second year in a row that nothing really happened in terms of Halloween excitement of the party variety. I'm sure I could have sought something out, but I had an awful head cold, and everyone seems so busy. I hate to bother people to spend time with me. I know that's a ridiculous attitude to take, but I just feel so guilty that all of the people I know have such limited free time and to ask them to do something with me. I, um, have self esteem issues.

But hey! I went to knitting, which was great fun, and I went in my costume!



I went as Charlie. It was a remarkably easy costume of a homemade fake mustache (felt and double-sided poster tape) and wearing one of his t-shirts. Oh, and I brushed my hair straight back when I got out of the shower, just like Charlie does. The mustache would only stay on for a few minutes at a time before my lip got sweaty and it fell of. But the overall effect was great. I will hang on to this costume for when Charlie and I need to switch places to insure wacky hijinx.

NaBloPoMo

Just a reminder (I think I've talked about this before. I'm very tired.) that I'm going to be posting every single day in the month of November. Or at least I'm going to try very, very hard to post every day. If my internet dies for a whole day, I probably won't go seeking out an internet cafe, although I might try the library. But anyway, that's the plan. Please come by! Say hello! Make me feel like I'm not talking to myself. Not that I wouldn't keep it up anyhow. I talk to myself all the time anyway, or to the dog and cat, which is practically the same thing.

So um, come by. I talk to my dog and my cat. I must be exciting!



(If this is all a little incoherent, please forgive me. I've been knitting for over three and a half hours straight. But hey! My green sweater has a hood now! Only stupid button bands and hood band to go!)

ETA:Okay, I've tried my damnedest to get the badge to be in my sidebar. It should work. I've done this before. But it isn't. I give up. There's a text link instead.

Ravelry

Yo! I'm popping in quick like to say that I've gotten my Ravelry invite. My handle in there is JessieMae! Come visit! There isn't much up yet, as I have a nasty cold, but I'm hoping to add stuff soon.

For tonight though, it's more work on the green sweater hood, redoing the ribbing on a hat for my sister so that it will actually stay on her head, and bookmarking recipes for later. Charlie's off having a boy's night with a friend, so I'm going to make up some soup and hunker down with my projects.

It's turning into a real sweater!

I can get over how this has become a real sweater. I almost typed "looks like a real sweater", but it doesn't just look like a real sweater, it is a real sweater. An unfinished sweater, but it's getting close. I've got the hood under way, and after that I'll do the bands, give it a wash, than sew on the buttons and it'll be ready to wear.

The magic of a string looping around it self to form whole, recognizable objects is one of the big appeals to me with knit and crochet. It isn't just with this sweater. It's ever sweater, every sock, every hat, ever toy, and so on. They're all just an artfully arranged ball of string. It makes me feel very clever and powerful, that I can get the string to arrange itself that way. Never mind that it's pretty easy and something many people can do. It just means that a whole lot of us get to feel clever and powerful. And that makes it even better, because the more people who realize how awesome they are, the better.

Safe!

So, tomorrow I'm hoping to put up pictures of the green sweater progress. It has two arms now, the same number of arms that I have! Convenient! And the beginning of a hood. But it's getting dark, and I want nice daylight to take pictures. So you have to wait.

But! I wanted to check in and say that I have not been consumed by fire. Not that I was in any real danger. The closest of the fires to me was about 30 miles away, and I think that one has been contained. Also, the LA Times historical map and a variety of friends who grew up in Southern California assure me that Pasadena doesn't really get the fires. It's still scary, and our air quality sucks, and I'm incredibly sad for all of the people who've lost their homes, and in a few cases their lives. But I, personally, am safe. Freaked out, but safe.

One other thing- I'm the only woman in the 20-40 age range who doesn't like Say Anything, aren't I? I just don't like it. It always feels sort of creepy and stalkery to me, and John Cusack spends the whole movie being so whiny. I don't begrudge other people their love of it, but it really isn't my thing.

Green sweater! Now with half sleeve!

Sweater shots! Now with hot sleeve action! Or at least hot half a sleeve action! The sleeve is going fast. I'm really digging it after slogging along on the body. Plus I should be able to make both sleeves with four skeins total at most, leaving five skeins for the hood and bands. So I'm good. I have enough yarn for this sweater to reach full awesomeness potential. And I think it just might.

Body: Finished!

The body of my green sweater is done! I'll do pictures tomorrow; I finished just in time for the sunshine to be dying down. It took a little more yarn than I had expected; the end count for the body being just short of eight skeins. But that still leaves nine for both sleeves, the button bands, and the hood, so I should be fine. I'm in the home stretch!

Green sweater progress!

Hoo boy am I tired. Charlie didn't get home from work until midnight, and I'm always totally on edge until he gets home. It's not the being by myself, it's the worrying about him that gets me. I can only imagine how exhausted he is right now.


The upside to an evening alone is more sweater progress! The body is almost done. In fact, I could declare it done right now, but I think it'll look a little better with an inch or two more on the bottom. I'm doing a seed stitch border, and it's slower going than stockinette, but I'm enjoying the change of pace. That said, I actually really enjoy long stretches of stockinette. I like how it looks, and I enjoy doing it. It's nice to have my hands busy without really having to pay attention to what they're doing.

It's turning out well in general, and I think when it's done I'll wear it a lot. Plus, I think I have enough yarn that I'll be able to make a hood. I'm almost done with body, and when I am I think that part will come to about 7 and 1/2 skeins. What I'll have let to do then are sleeves (I have long arms) and button bands. So the 9 and 1/2 skeins I have left should totally be enough for those things, plus a generous hood, right?

Four new faces! Buttons!

Four new faces today! One will be for the last of the secret Christmas commision, but the rest don't have specific fates. Mostly I'm just really enjoying working on this style of toy guy again. For whatever reason, I was stalled on ideas for them for quite awhile. All of the sudden, for the past few monthes, I'm really on a roll. And I'm extra excited now, because after one more secret toy, I can start showing them off again! I'm really interested to see what people think of the ones I'm working on now.



Plus the buttons for my new sweater came today! I got them from The Button Shoppe, and I really like them! The sweater is progressing nicely, so I should get to put my buttons to use soon. Now I just need the needles I ordered for the sleeves to come. I tried to buy them at the yarn store near my house, but she doesn't stock the brand of needles I started with. And while my Clovers are the same US size as the ones she stocks (6), the metric size is different (mine are 4.25mm, everything she had was 4mm). The difference probably isn't enough to be a problem, but I'm not risking it with that much work involved.

Also of note today- I gave the stove a good scrubbing, which it was really needing. It looks good now though. It also took forever.

And for anyone still reading, I leave you with this- I went to the kitchen this morning to get a cup of tea, and there was Rusty, my tiny little cat, eating the dog's dry food. Which is a mystery of sorts, since the cat has plenty of his own food, and this is dog food that the dog isn't even interested in. Rusty is a weird little cat.

My sweater progress continues! It is now a discernible garment. Granted, if I stopped now it would be a remarkably unflattering and unfinished cropped vest type thing, but still! You can pretty much tell now that it is becoming a sweater. I'm deeply impressed with myself. I would put up pictures, but it's quite overcast today, and I suspect pictures would not turn out well.


Not that I've actually been knitting today. I will, but at this point it's been housework and reading, emphasis on housework. The big task of the day was mopping Rusty's bathroom. Rusty is missing some of his brain (not literally, to my knowledge, but he's probably never formed certain neural pathways due to malnourishment and neglect early in life (which is to say before we or the rescue group got ahold of him)) and he is a little sketchy on litter box use and etiquette. This isn't as big of an issue as one would think, as all of his "accidents" are in the bathroom, on the vinyl floor. (And yes, he has been checked over by the vet. Nothing is wrong with him other than being temperamental and a bit dim. I've has cats in my life die of kidney problems, and I'm very conscious of that possibility.) There is, however, the matter of the cat pee smell in the bathroom (which is also where his litter box is.). (Wow am I all over the parenthesis today.)

The odor had gotten rather pronounced, so today I buckled down and started cleaning. This is a drawn out process, because beyond the normal sweeping and then a mopping, I had to give the room a few additional moppings. One mopping just made the bathroom smell like cat pee AND orange soap, which isn't significantly better. But with some efforts, and way more time than you would think such a small room could possibly warrant, it now smells like orange soap. And maybe a tiny tiny bit of cat pee. But the litter box is in there, so I'm not expecting miracles.

And I signed up for NaBloPoMo, so you will hopefully be seeing a lot of me come November. We'll see how well that works, the posting everyday, what with Thanksgiving and a wedding anniversary, as well as the possibility of guests and travel. I'm optimistic though. I want to start writing more, and I'm hoping this will give me a kick in the pants.

I continue to make toys I'm not at liberty to share right now, and my current paintings are sitting less than 1/2 done in the living room. So I bring you knitting! Both finished and in progress! I joined a knitting group here in Pasadena recently, and it's been really great. Everyone has been super nice, and it's so great to get out of the house and interact with people. Working alone can get a little lonely sometimes. Plus the concentrated weekly knitting time has really made me more productive, knitting wise at least, and I suspect more productive in general.

And so we have:



Black socks for Charlie! Plain black socks for Charlie. Really, really plain black socks for Charlie. Luckily, he has smallish feet. Plus I loves him.

They're basic top down socks, on US1/2.25mm needles, in Knitpicks Gloss.



A top down hat made from the Noro Iro I bought from Michael Levine when the knitting group made our field trip downtown to see the Yarn Harlot.



A pink top down hat, made from yarn I got by unraveling a thrift store sweater.



And finally, a green top down raglan cardigan, made in Knitpicks Wool of the Andes. It's still very much in progress, but I'm enjoying it. It's dead simple, which makes working on it very relaxing.

Anyhow, I should get on to more of my secret sewing, for the secret toy making project. Secret secret secret!

I'm such a dork.

I am awake. I would prefer not to be. Thus, rambling.

So I'm awake. Not voluntaraly I might add. It was not a good night for me getting sleep. First there was the drunken young people jambaroo outside my window. To which I say, young people, it is (or was, anyhow) Thursday night. Thursday. If you want to have a drunken jambaroo, do not have it in a quiet residential neighborhood full of working adults and families.

[A sidebar- at 27, do I still count as a young person? Considering that I'm all married and tax paying and pay close attention to things like eating lots of whole grains? Probably I do. Huh. That's fine actually, as I still sometimes feel like I am playing an extremely involved game of house that I am taking deadly serious.]

Then the dog got restless. There was a lot of kicking and squirming and snoring going on. Also, he really wanted to sleep smashed against me with his head under the covers. Which is fine, and is in fact how he usually sleeps, but last night sleeping under the covers caused the dog to inhale the sheet, and thus would need to be saved before he stopped breathing.

The dog did finely settle down, but by that point my brain, the autonomous part of my brain, had given up on sleeping. Which meant laying in bed for hours, thinking confused thoughts about sweater design. And eventually it meant giving up, and coming into the studio/study to play with my good pal the internet.


The odd thing I'm finding, as I sit here writing this, is that my fingers are making many sleepy typos, but there is still a part of my brain supplying me with words like autonomous, and even supplying them correctly (I checked). Which I think sums up a lot of my existence rather nicely. Even when I am a bit useless or slow with things, I always have a rather nice vocabulary.

Anyhow, I ought to stop rambling. As it is, I'm not entirely sure how much sense this will all make when I come back and look at it after a nap. But I hope to be back later today! I have exciting knitting progress!

Two paintings, a mask, and a toy you can't see.

I just finished the most super cool toy, and I want to show it off so much right now. Except I can't, as it's a commission piece that's intended as a Christmas gift for someone who might see this. So it'll be here eventually. But not yet.

But in the meantime, paintings! And a mask!





I'm so glad to finally have time to get back to art again. I feel so much more vital when I'm working. And the work I'm doing is coming out well. So it's all good!

Hey! I have new paintings! And I'm further along on the mask I was showing in progress in that last post. Except I can't really show any of this off right now, as I didn't get good pictures of them when the light was good. So lets all hope real hard that it occurs to me to take those pictures tomorrow. During the day. The way I've been meaning too.

In Progress

This is what I've been working on today and yesterday. It's part of a larger project. More about that soon, and with better, less in progress photos.

Let the calm begin!

Wow, I really let August get away from me, huh? If anyone is still out there, or comes back, I apologize for that unplanned hiatus. It just got really busy here, is all. There was a visit from my parents, the rest of moving stuff over to the new place, going to Portland for a wedding, a visit from Charlie's parents, and so on. Plus I have only this week started even doing any considerable art again, what with the busyness. Also what with the having no idea where the boxes with my supplies are. (I labeled them, but there are an awful lot of boxes.)

But I'm back! Um, again! And I think I should be a lot better about this consistent blogging thing now that I'm staying in one place for an extended period of time. This is really the first time that my life has settled down since around April 2006 or so, and I'm very, very excited.

Plus I'm getting a decent amount of art stuff done this week, on account of I am staying indoors to hide from the heat. Today, it was 100 degrees Fahrenheit before noon. Yesterday it was 101 for awhile. I realize this is to be expected in Southern California, especially now that we've moved inland, but I don't have to like it. I've never really been a big fan of heat. So I'm indoors with the curtains closed, and I'll turn on the A/C in not too long.

Also, I noticed yesterday that when it started to get dark out, I kept avoiding turning on lights. As though the heat would see the light on and know I was home. Because I'm awesome.

In retrospect, perhaps boxing up all of my toy making supplies was a stupid idea. Granted, they're in labeled boxes, and I think I even might know where those boxes are. But that where would be behind other boxes. Boxes not currently at the head of the unpacking list.

But I am so desperate to make more toys. And to paint too, and while I have a lot of my painting supplies out, a lot of them aren't, including the canvases. Plus I need a drop cloth to protect the carpeting.

So I am thinking that I will stop by Michaels this afternoon. I'm not usually inclined to by art supplies from them, but for the toy making stuff it will probably be fine. Plus, it's only a few blocks from my house! Not to mention that I haven't ever been to this particular Michaels. For all I know, it may be great.

And it's on the way home (sort of) from the hair salon. That's right. After years of cutting my own hair, I've decided to let a professional have a go at it. I don't know that it's something I'm going to make a habit of, but my hair is at an awkward growing out point that could use some help. Also it's cheap.

Enough Already.

Alright, seriously, this is getting ridiculous. So, earlier this week there was the people gunned down, one dead, in front of our old apartment. Then tonight we were going to the grand opening of the Panorama. Except we never got out of the car, because on the same block as the Panorama, at the other end, was a dead body. Covered by a white sheet. Surrounded by police. So we turned around and went back to Pasadena.

There better not be more dead bodies tomorrow. I've really had my fill, thank you.

Dodged Bullet

We went back to the old house last night to get some stuff, and discovered that a 14 year old had been shot in front of our old house Wednesday night. Apparently he fired into a crowd of people in some gang related thing, hitting two people. When the police responded, he turned the gun on them and they shot him.

Needless to say, Charlie and I are both freaked out, Charlie to the point where he vomited in his sleep from nerves last night. We just moved out on Saturday. We had originally been planning to look for a place that started August 1, but some lucky bit of instinct and intuition told us we need to get the hell out of there, as soon as we could.

And obviously, we're fine. Shaken, but unharmed. But this wasn't a surprise. It was a long time coming, and up until this incident the police more or less ignored the constant cries for help from the community.

Our front neighbor is terrified, and is trying to get out of her lease. She has six and a half months left, and the landlords aren't sympathetic to her justifiable fear. I've told her to get a lawyer, and that if necessary we will help her find one. Because we may have had our issues with her, but no one should have to live with that, and as a young single woman she's especially vulnerable.

We'll still have to go back, to get the rest of our stuff and to clean up at least a bit. We're going in the mornings only, and bringing friends. And for today I'm making Charlie stay home from work, and we're going to spend time together. I feel so, so lucky.

Oh Internets, I Missed You So!

And I'm back. Nothing deeply exciting here, at least nothing that would be deeply exciting to other people. I'm totally in love with how I can walk my dog with out feeling uncomfortable or endangered. My new place is even bigger than I first thought, now that there's furniture in it for scale. Um, Trader Joe's has started selling dried mangosteen, and that's pretty awesome. That's something that would be exciting to other people. Attention people who are not me! Trader Joe's has dried mangosteen. Go get some. You'll probably like it!

Not much art stuff getting done the past few days, what with the moving. A little sketching. And I have plans to make little diorama type sets to photograph the dolls I make in. That should be fun.

Oh, and we have a Wii now, so I will now have to allocate time to that. It's a great big wonderful time suck. Even just sitting around making miis is deeply amusing.

The Moving is Rotting My Brain.

Tomorrow is the big moving day! Hooray! I am so ready to be done with this. It's been 24/7 work for about two weeks, and a lot of work for the two weeks before that, and I am absolutely spent. I was starting to hyperventilate this afternoon when the woman from the moving company called to tell me they had to change the time frame for the pick-up from the 11am-2pm she told me earlier to 7am-9am. Which is bullshit really. Yesterday she tried to get me to change the day from Saturday to Monday. It's too late to do anything now, but needless to say, I am not hiring these people again.

There was also a panic earlier today when I realized my credit card was over the limit, and how did it get over the limit? I mainly just buy groceries, and for two people. A bit of thought and some conversations with Charlie (but not looking at my transactions online, because Capital One was being a butt today), and we realized that I had booked two plane tickets, a hotel, and a rental car. And those are all expensive. Mystery solved, although I am still waiting for the payment I made on my card to clear.

Now I am kind of half packing, half chilling. My brain is mostly shut down. And in about four hours I'm heading out to see a puppet show and eat Indian food. Which I thought was going to be what I did yesterday afternoon, until I realized that the fact that every email and invitation to the puppet show said July 13, and Friday, and that those were good signs that showing up on Thursday, July 12 was going to get me a lot of staring at nothing. Because I'm a genius like that.

The stuff dreams are made of.

I had a dream last night that I was waiting to buy a bus pass. Really. I am so boring.

I am at the worst bit of packing right now. The time when all of the easy to pack, easy to catagorize things are done, (books) and we are left with the difficult (cast iron pans) and the odd (knick-knacks). Plus I've entirely run out of patience for this, not to mention energy. I hate moving. Hate hate hate. Before I came to LA, I lived in the same place for six years. And I hate packing most of all. It ties in to my other big hatred, putting things away. If you want laundry washed, dried, and folded I'm your woman. If you want that laundry to live in drawers instead (neatly folded) in the laundry basket, that would be a job for someone else. Left to my own devices, I keep my home clean in the sense that it's sanatary, but it's always cluttered. So the fact that I hate packing should not be surprising.

That said, it's worth it. I hate our old neighborhood. I don't feel safe here. It keeps getting worse, and the police have only recently gotten interested, and then only barely.

Hey! I am not dead, nor have I given up on blogging. I'm just super busy, with the trying to move very quickly (I hate our old neighborhood. I hate it. I'm so tired of firecrackers all the time, and graffiti, and kids breaking in to houses, and constant, constant noise), and also the working with Pete on some stop-motion stuff. (Speaking of Pete and stop-motion, check out this spot he did on his own a week or so ago. It's awesome.)

Also, it's hot. Actually, that's the main hang up against real content today. I've been working on moving stuff at home, packing boxes and calling utilities. But honestly, the packing and dealing with utilities is not holding me back. I could find time. But I can not deal with heat. I just can't. I am not a hot weather person. I'm more of a brisk to cold weather person. (I know. I moved to Southern California. I'm a genius.) Fortunately, the new apartment has central air, but until then, expect me to be a little less comprehensible than usual.

Ah well. Back the box mines for me!

Finally, My Dream of Two Toilets is Realized.

We got the apartment! Which I now realize is not actually one I have described in detail here, but was the one we wanted most of all. It's one level (everything else we looked at, oddly, were townhouses) which isn't a plus, but isn't a minus either. Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, two huge patios, a working fireplace, a dishwasher, washer/drier in unit, parking, and a nice big kitchen. Plus space to set up a living room area and a good sized dining room area too. Finally I'll be able to throw proper dinner parties, instead of having everyone eat pasta off of their laps. Not that eating pasta off of ones lap is a bad thing, but it'll be nice to have the option of serving things that are best eaten at a table.

And I am dead serious about the two toilets being a dream come true. It isn't that sharing one has caused any problems, but there's something nice about having the second one. I'm drinking water constantly (the whole eight glasses a day thing has never been a problem for me), so you can draw the natural consequence. Plus we can have the cat's litter box in the bathroom that isn't our main one, which is a really pleasant thought.

Oh! I am so excited. We're going down to sign the lease tonight, and any moment in the next week or two that we aren't working, we'll be packing. The plan is to move as soon as possible, perhaps in a week or two.

It would be faster, but we both actually are doing a decent amount of work. Charlie's got his Astro Boy job, and I'm helping a friend make a commercial. Combined with art stuff, we're pretty busy. But happy! I don't want to jinx anything, but things are finally looking up.

Five New Heads!

Yesterday was all about new heads. I worked on these five lovelies from before noon until nearly 6pm. Which was perfect timing, because I then had to get dressed (I had, um, worked in my pajamas all day), because we had been invited to a special screening of a forthcoming movie. And the score for that movie, done by a friend of ours, was great! And um, yeah. We really liked the part our friend did.

But these heads! I'm pleased with them. They already have perspective identities in my mind. There's prospector head, and swimming girl head, fancy pants girl with her beehive (which was originally going to be more Marge Simpson curly, but didn't end up as such), and the shy girl who's maybe a little chubby, and her weird, goofy brother. I think about them a little too much; it maybe isn't healthy. I have a hard time parting with them by the time they're completely done. I've spent so much time with them, and assigned them personalities. It's something I need to work on.

We're still waiting to hear about the dream apartment. One couple turned it down, and there's still one couple ahead of us. But they haven't communicated with the people at the building in awhile, so we have a good chance. I'm really hoping. I think we'll know today though, one way or another.

Still no official new apartment. We've applied for three, but we're down to two possiblities at the moment. Our choice- Charlie decided he wasn't as crazy about one place once he had thought about it, and since it was the most expensive of current options, it wasn't a big sacrifice. I'm still anxious to here from the places we do want, and I'm not making a big effort to seek out new possiblities right this second. It's just as well, as looking at apartments during the work week is tricky.

No new art to show right this minute. I have a few sketches around and a sock I've been knitting (I've been knitting it for awhile. It's not even the second sock. It's the first sock. This doesn't bode well for the pair getting done in a timely fashion). There are some new model prototypes I made today, but they're for an commercial job, and not really all that interesting out of context anyhow. Plus most spare time has been taken up by apartment hunting, errands, and yesterday's much need spa trip. (The spa trip was a belated birthday present from Charlie. He went too. We had massages. It was lovely.)

Since I don't have art to share today, here's a close-up of Smee, waiting patiently as I hold his Kong over his head.


And as an added bonus, Rusty helping Charlie sit on a chair!

We've just started apartment hunting, and I'm so antsy. I know that technically we have time, but we've been itching to get out of this place for months now. We saw a place that was pretty great last night, and applied. We haven't heard back yet, and I don't expect we will until late today or tomorrow, if not until Monday. Neither of us could sleep particularly well, and now I'm all jangly from tiredness, but still to hyper to rest.

And it's generally hard, because even with the move into the suburbs (we're planning to move to Pasadena or there abouts, from our current LA home), there's very little that's both in our price range and allows pets. Add in the fact that as we get older and more financial stable we're also getting a lot pickier, and choices get ridiculously scant. Los Angeles is just a very expensive city. And it's suburbs likewise.

Anyhow, I really do hope that this is all resolved soon. I feel like I'm going to be on edge for months to come.

My world is lovely

So I tried out some new things with this doll. Her feet have flat bottoms, and she has removable shoes. I also used some little brass colored glass beads I got this weekend as buttons down the front of her dress, and on the cuffs. And her skirt is paneled, so that it goes outward in all directions. I'm really pleased with how she turned out!

I pleased with a lot of stuff lately. I've been working out regularly, and even if it's only been a week, I'm still really proud of myself. It isn't something I love, but I know that it's good for me. That said, now that it's starting to make me feel healthier, it's easier to go to the gym.

And I love all of these toys I've been making! It was a little bit of a gamble, as I'm making a lot of it up as I go along. But I really think they look good. They're cool! The one I have up on my store isn't selling, and I feel like there's a good chance that future ones I put up won't sell either. My luck isn't great, and I need to push myself to promote more. But at least I love making them.

Plus I'm starting a new series of paintings this week. A loose narrative told in scenes across four or five small canvases, it will portray a girl's trip through space to a strange new place. Sort of an allegory for my move to LA, which has been wonderful and bizarre and terrifying all at once.

And hats! I'm making hats again. I sold a hat a few weeks ago, and I'm working on more. There will be teapot hats and peacock hats and tree hats!

Yeah, art is making my world lovely.

New Doll! Plus Bonus Body Issue Digressions

Another doll, done! She came together relatively easily. I think I must be getting the hang of my doll making process. She'll be up in the shop soon. Watch for updates!

In other news, I started going to the gym yesterday. When I lived in Chicago, I walked a lot. It was my main mode of transportation. Sadly, walking everywhere in LA just isn't possible, and even where you can walk, it frequently isn't pleasant. So I've gotten out of shape, and it wasn't feeling very good. And I wasn't feeling super great about how I look. Which I feel guilty about, the being down on my chubby self. Especially as I frequently think other girls look extra cute when they're chubby. But for myself, it doesn't match up with how I look in my head. Probably because I was a tiny kid, and most of the women in my family are wee. The realization that I would never be a tiny, lithe little thing, at least not as a healthy person, was not really a bad thing, but it was sort of a surprise to me. At any rate, the fact that my health will improve with working out is my bigger concern, along with generally feeling good. And I'm going back this afternoon. I already feel more awake than before. I realize that's mostly a psychological thing, but whatever. I'm feeling good!

This picture represents how I'm feeling right now.

Nothing I'm doing is working particularly well today, and it's terribly frustrating. The little felt robot pouch I want to make to hold my business cards has come out crappy twice in a row now. The handle for the teapot hat I'm crocheting is all lumpy. My head hurts, it's too warm, people are doing loud construction type things in the neighborhood, and everytime I get a leg up on housework the dishes fill the sink again and the clothes are back in the dirty laundry bag. In other words, nothing is really wrong, I'm just in a colossal grump today.

I think I'm going to go draw more. That, at least, is working today.

Weekend of Awesome!

Taking a break from washing the mountain of dishes from last night's Sopranos finale party (kind of liked the end, perhaps precisely because it pissed so many people off). I have to take a break for a few minutes to give my finger a few minutes to heal, as I cut it on one of the pointier of the dirty things.

So I will point out highlights of my weekend!

Friday was my birthday, which was spent reading, working on hats to sell, hanging with the dog and cat, and fielding phone calls from well-wishers. In the evening Charlie took me to Los Balcones Des Peru, our favoritist LA restaurant. After a trip to the cd store and the comic book store, we came home. And not a moment to soon! We were going to watch a dvd, but when Charlie flipped on the tv, there was a police chase. And newscaster was saying "They've just rounded the corner of Adams on the Washington". And we remarked to each other that that was awfully close to our house. (You know where this is going, yes?) So we settled in to watch the chase, which went in circles around our neighborhood. It was all "hey, there's the Trader Joe's" and "hey, there's HD Buttercup". And then they turned on to my street! And it was all "hey, there is our house" and "hey, there is our car." It was kind of scary, but we kept watching to the end and it came to a peaceful conclusion.

And Saturday it was off to Pete and Caroline's house for a Pete's birthday party. Which was enormously awesome. There were tons of great people, lots of good food, and a bouncy castle! I'm now firmly of the belief that basically every social event needs a bouncy castle. For that matter, ever gym needs a bouncy castle, as that may be the most exhausting cardiovascular exercise ever.

But yes! Good weekend! And please excuse any typos, I am having trouble typing with a band-aid on my fingertip. Also, my brain is a little stupid today.

Stuff in Shop! Stuff in Shop!

This little fellow has been added to my etsy shop!

Sew Excited (that I'm making awful puns)

Tada! I have finally set up my new sewing machine! And despite the copy on the box (and my deep fears) it did come with a foot pedal. It just gives you the option of using a start/stop button on the front instead. Which is actually kind of cool, that my machine could be used by someone with out good use of their legs. It's an inclusive machine!

I was seriously afraid to set it up. I hadn't used a sewing machine in a few years, and I really thought I was going to mess it up. Now that I've set it up with no trouble, I have to laugh at myself. It's not like driving a car, where messing up could hurt or kill someone. The worst that could happen is I'd sew through my finger or break some machine part. Fortunately, it set up with out issues, and sews quite nicely. Sews pretty quietly too.

In a bit I'll have to put it away for the day (the perils of having no designated work space and having to use the kitchen table), but I'm really excited to put this baby to heavy use. I'll have to name it, I think.

On an unrelated note, this weekend was fully of greatness! Friday night we went out for dinner at Sushi Karen, one of my favorite restaurants in LA (well, technically Culver City, but same difference). The food is great, but because it's not on a super main drag it's never super crowded.

Saturday we were off to the LA Arboretum, which we somehow had never been to. I can't imagine how we'd gone so long with out visiting it. It's amazing. Lots of leisurely walking, lots of trees and plants, and there were peacocks and turtles everywhere.

And yesterday I went to my very first baseball game! It was great. I was afraid I would become horribly bored, but I didn't. I actually had tons of fun, and the game was really close. So close in fact that Charlie went to use the bathroom, and when he came back a minute later the game was over.

Okay. On to some online pattern browsing, and then to conquer the mountain of weekend dishes.

New Little Lady! And Dog Update!

Tada! She was a bit on the complicated side, but I like how she turned out. She isn't quite done yet (I'm going to make her a little messenger bag, and little books to go in it) but I was eager to get her picture up here. Hence the lackluster photos. Although even if I had waited for tomorrow morning to take the pictures, it probably wouldn't have been that great. It's been really gray here lately.

In other news, Smee the dog is feeling all better. Right now he's sitting on the sofa, chewing on his foot. Which is another thing I wish he'd stop doing, but I'll take it over him being sick. I'm pretty level headed with this sort of thing, but I was really worried about him yesterday. I was about to get in the car and take him to the vet when he finally started getting better. He's my little guy. I'm glad he's back to his old self.

Poor Puppy

Dog is vomiting on everything, hope to be back to art tomorrow.

All Better!

A little bit of paint, and the heads and faces I burnt earlier are as good as new.

Accident at the head and face factory

Apparently at some point the timer went off, but I did not hear it.

Little Hoodie Guy!

This may be the best one yet! I'm really proud of all of the little details (the hood, the sweatshirt pocket, the drawstring tie on the pants, the shoe laces). He kind of reminds me of my sister's husband, although there isn't much resemblance. I think it's the clothing.

built in clothes=good!

Okay, built in clothes are definitely the way to go, at least until I get my sewing machine. This little fellow took a few hours of work, but it was worth it. And I can feel my handsewing getting faster again, so the time spent should improve over time.
Anyway, I really like how this one turned out. I'm not sure how easy it is to tell in the photo, but I embroidered the details on to his little jeans.

clothing failure

Thus far, my attempts at clothing the dolls has been lackluster. I've realized that sewing little tiny clothes without a sewing machine takes more patience than I have. Also, it may not be with in my skills to make removable pants that don't look really stupid at that size. I did make (most of) a little doll-sized sweater, and it's turned out beautifully. Unfortunately, putting the sweater on the doll put way too much stress on her shoulder joints. I'm going to finish the sweater and hang on to it for some other toy, but for this doll I'll have to try again. I'm thinking a little thread crochet sundress may work quite nicely.

New Work!

Back to work with me! I've been painting and making toys again, as I'm giving self-employment another shot. Today I'm putting up pictures of some of the toys and toys in progress (the more conventional dolls are going to have clothes soon). As soon as I get good pictures of the recent paintings, I'll post those too.
And soon I'll put a whole bunch of it up in my long neglected etsy shop, in the hopes of pulling of the money-making part of self employment.

Things I've learned today:

1. It's worth spending an extra $5 to buy a mop that doesn't suck ass. Oh my god is our new mop better than our old one! I can wring it out. I can get around corners. The floor is clean but not soaking wet. I love you new mop!

2 I learned how to darn socks! Sort of!

A month or two ago I noticed that one of my pink socks, the very first pair of socks that I knit (the only pair I've finished thus far, although that will change soon) had a hole. Not able to throw them away, I set them aside for a bit. And today, armed with many printouts of online darning instructions, I gave it a go.

So far as I can tell, there is a pretty but difficult way of darning socks, and an ugly but easy way of darning socks. After a go at the former, I gave up at went for the latter. And it worked! It looks like crap, but it worked! As it feels fine on my foot, and seems to be holding the hole from expanding, I'm considering it a success.

The young people of the neighborhood have all decided that the cool place to hang out today is the unpaved alley behind my house.

Young people, I am all good with you hanging out back there. You seem like nice kids. I don't really mind the constant chatter. But for god's sake, stop hanging out with the kids that shriek. They sound like happy shrieks, but still. Please stop shrieking. Please

Back to comics!

So. I used to do a lot of comics. And I'd like to again. I'm working on one that I've been playing with on and off for years now, about a fishperson (mermaid seems like the wrong term, considering it's a more fish like affair, and not all stars and sparkley goo-goo) (not that there is anything wrong with stars and sparkley goo-goo, it just isn't my style).

But I'd also like to do auto-bio comics again. Except I sometimes feel like I'm not interesting enough. Which is how I suspect is how most people feel, but still. That said, I'm still going to give it a go.

Bathroom Fun!

The cold continues, although it is starting to fade a bit. I don't feel nearly so much like crap, but I'm sneezing constantly. I've been using old dish towels to wipe my nose, as I'm finding it helps avoid the horrible nostril chaffing that tissue leaves. Then I'm washing the towels, because I'm not gross.

Today was also fun because the toilet decided for no particular reason to overflow all over the place. Right as Charlie was about to get in the shower before heading into work for a few hours. Right as I was starting to make lunch. Charlie called me into the bathroom to help. It was then that we realized that we did not own a plunger. Because we rock. So Charlie went off to buy a plunger, I made lunch, he fixed the toilet, took his shower, we ate lunch and he went off to work. I got to mop the floor (and I am buying a new mop the next time I am at the store, because our mop sucks), wash the towels that we used to soak up the overflow, and wash approximately seven hundred million dishes. Which was fun. That said, I'm all appreciative that Charlie is the one going into an office on Saturday instead of me. I'd much rather deal with our messy household stuff.

All toilet mishaps aside, it's actually been a good day. In the mail today we got an Amazon gift certificate, a paycheck for me, and a suprisingly large amount of money back from the DMV for overpayment of fees. So that was pretty cool.

Also, we learned yesterday that Charlie is allergic to dustmites and cats, but not dogs. As in, Smee is not the problem. Somehow, this makes me feel vindicated.

French cartoons!

I am currently keeping myself entertained with this site, which I discovered via Drawn. The site is entirely in French (I think you can actually get parts of it in English, but it doesn't really matter for my purposes), and has several animated shorts.

I am needing to keep myself entertained because I am full of snot. Very full of snot. Although it is all in my head, not my lungs, which if you are familiar with the way I tend to get colds, is unusual.

I've also been doing a lot of painting and drawing this week. Charlie and I decided that since he's got a well paid job now, it would be alright if I worked on my own art at home until my internship making stop-motion puppets starts. Because while I am very good at temp work, especially reception work, it was causing me massive anxiety. That said, I'm actually glad to still have the option of temp work open to me in the future. If finances make it necessary, I can do it. It's just that right now, since I don't have to temp, I'm going to work on my own art while I have the time.

And yeah! The internship! I'm going to be working in Puppetry department of a stop-motion animation company. A million thanks to Pete, who helped me get this position. It isn't a paying gig, but it's a foot in the door for doing something that will be fulfilling. I think this may lead me on a career path that I'll actually be excited about and engaged in.

Pear Sorbet

The pear sorbet worked! And it was ultra tasty! I've been eating it with slices of manchego cheese, which it goes with very, very well. It was also very much enjoyed Friday night, as dessert for our weekly dinner with Jed.

And yesterday was fun as well. Charlie and I met up with Pete, Caroline, Nigel, and Megan to go to the new fashion/architecture exhibit at MOCA. The exhibit itself was fascinating, although the fun for me was brought down by the guards, who were yelling at people for even looking at the pieces too closely. There was sort of a jail for art atmosphere going on. That said, I haven't felt that at past exhibits there, and I suspect I won't in the future. I think it was a combination of big crowds, and the fact that sadly, those dresses and architectural models are worth way, way more money than any paintings they would display.

But anyway! It was still really fun and really interesting. And afterwards, everyone came back to our house for dinner and board games. Everyone met Rusty, and played with Smee. It was a great evening.

-Pear Sorbet-
5 red anjou pears, peeled and cored
19.5 oz. pear nectar
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp brandy (optional, but don't leave it out if you're worried about tasting the alcohol, it's more of a flavor enhancer it this case.)

Combine pears, 11.5 oz. pear nectar, sugar, and vanilla in saucepan. Cook over medium heat for 40-45 minutes.

Puree in food processor until smooth.

Stir in remaining pear nectar, and brandy.

Chill in refridgerator for at least three hours.

Freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.

Blueberry Ice Cream

Well. I have not been so good of late on my promise to myself to update the blog more. In my defense, it's been really busy here. Not even fun busy. Temp work busy.

Fortunately, it should transition into non-temp work busy soon. I'm hoping that in two months time or so, I should be hard at work on something in my field! My current career path plan is to balance a combination of puppetry, painting, and illustration/graphic design. And it's actually looking like I'll be able to do that.

My other project of the moment is cooking. Not that I'm not always cooking- the vast majority of our meals are at home, and are made from fresh ingredients right before we eat. But I'm trying to create more of my own recipes. I have a hope to someday publish a cookbook. It could be self published. That would be fine. I'm mainly interested in getting more people cooking more often. I think it's something a lot of people are afraid of, and I want to get the word out that it isn't that hard. Even things that people think of as tricky, like souffles and custards, are actually pretty easy.

Anyway, we've been really into homemade soups and homemade ice creams at our house. The picture above is the blueberry ice cream I made on Monday. That one isn't my own recipe; I got it from William-Sonoma Ice Cream, a book I highly recommend. Everything I've tried from it has been wonderful. Today's project is a pear sorbet. I couldn't find a recipe that was quite what I wanted for that, so I've made up my own. If it turns out well, I'll share it.

cupcakes!!!

I came home today to the most wonderful surprise. No, not the pillow the dog had torn apart or the puddle of urine he left on the bathroom floor. I came home to those too, but they weren't that big of a surprise. No, the surprise was that while I was off working a temp job, my husband went to the store and bought a strawberry cake mix and chocolate frosting,and he made me some cupcakes! They are very tasty, and so very, very pink inside.

And last night we had a fabulous time! Between our friend Pete and Charlie's work, we were able to see The Animation Show, and for free! The shorts were really good this year, for the most part, and we got to see a lot of friends. One of those friends is Shane Acker, the director on the movie Charlie has been working on most recently. The short that the feature is based on, "9", is screening at the festival, and Shane did a little Q&A afterwords. It was actually one of the better movie screening Q&A's I've been at. People actually asked decent questions, and Shane had excellent answers. Anyhow, if you get a chance at all, go see The Animation Show, and definitely go see the 9 feature when it hits theaters.

After the screening, a big bunch of us went to a bar in Santa Monica. I got to talk to some people I haven't seen in awhile, and I got to meet Shane's wife Sibyl, who's very nice. Charlie got up and did Led Zepplin for karoke, and as always, really got into it. It was fun.

Then we got home, and weren't in bed until around two, and then it took me awhile after that to fall asleep. So of course today was the day the temp agency called me, after not calling all week, and not calling last week except for Monday. Fortunately, it was the office I worked in the last time, which is a slight pain in the ass the get to with the traffic, but is filled with extremely nice people and an office that is set up incredibly well. So it was an easy, quiet day, and the only bad thing I brought away from it was a big blister on my foot.

Now I am hanging around at home, while Charlie is off helping a friend with a possible project. I had planned to go to the West Hollywood Stitch and Bitch, which I've been going to most Thursdays lately. But between a full day's work and a late night last night, I'm wiped out. So it's off to read my new book about getting started as an illustrator for me.

Rusty!!!!!

So. I did not get back to the blogging so fast as I intended. I meant to. Really I did. But a certain Charlie got pulled back for a week's additional work on a movie he had been with most of last year. Which meant limited computer access for me. Also, since it was a very last minute deal and on a tight budget, I ended up being Charlie's defacto unpaid assistant. Lots of flagging scripts and running off to buy things at Office Max. It was actually kind of cool, if a bit tedious. And now he's off cavorting with movie stars for the day while I work on art related business.

Also! We got a cat! A cat named Rusty! He's five years old, and cute as a button. He talks constantly.
As cats often are when the first come to new homes, Rusty is still a little shy. He's coming around, but he still likes to hide under the bed and behind the washing machine for hours on end. Also, yesterday, I couldn't find him for about seven hours (impressive in a house this small) and by the time Charlie came home I was getting a bit worried. We ended up in full on panic mode, taking the house apart, when Charlie heard a little mew coming from the kitchen. Rusty had not only gotten into a cabinet, he had burrowed behind several layers of pans.

And I've been busy with the art and the craft. There's been a lot of painting, and a good deal of crocheting as well. I'm making myself a queen sized blanket, in the skinny stripe style that seems to be sweeping the crafty internet these days. I figure I get a nice blanket at the end, and with the added bonus of clearing up lots of yarn stash clutter.