GOOD NEWS EVERYBODY!

       

        This past Christmas I made a pair of mitten for a friend's daughter. The daughter is a little younger than me, just so you know , these were adult sized mitts. Well apparently I did an amazing job because she has been flaunting them around my workplace and I now have two orders for a total of 5, count 'em, 5 pairs of mittens. And 3 have to be done by the end of February. So basically 1 mitten every 5 days. Some designs are going to go faster than other for sure, but that is still super crazy.

I started today and have a good amount done. But I am really excited about seeing how much I can get done this weekend. I guess I am going to have to add them to my list cause otherwise I will never be able to get 52 works done by the 31^st of December. I will be using a pattern I used previously. And a pattern I have designed myself. I am using browns, navy blues, white, deep red and grey/black mix. I know this is a super short posting, but I have to get knitting.

THE PLAN

        I have decided to start selling my stuff on Etsy again. It didn’t go very well last time as I didn’t have the time to commit to it, but now I do and this time I am going to be smart. I have a plan. Well a rough plan.  I am going to pick two or three items. Make several but not too many. Like 5 or so of each. Then start posting two a day until I run out. That way I will be at the forefront of the search pages for a while. And I will keep doing this. Make a stock pile, list a few at a time, all the while making more, possibly different items. Hopefully this will generate some interest in my store and in my blog. I have also noticed that some store have news headers... ?, Feeds...?  That keep you updated. I will likely start that so that I can keep people up to date on what is coming out and when. But who knows.

        I have several Items I have to choose from and have come up with a small list. Which since I have so few fans I feel I can list. A penguin doll I have designed will go up. With a punk coat, yeah they are really not in the same realm at all eh? And a bunny doll. Easter is coming.  Hearts, punk hearts, if I can make them in time but I think I have missed the Valentine’s Day market to be quite honest. My future goals will be to have a stock pile at minimum 6 weeks before the holiday, longer for Christmas and Hallowe’en, the two awesomist holidays of them all. Two months. This means I have to start planning now what I will be making for the whole next year! Pretty daunting eh? (Please note I like saying eh? Remember I am Canadian). So I have to start thinking next Christmas, New Years, Easter, Hallowe’en, summer, fall, spring, winter themes, back -to –school, Thanksgiving, Mother’s/Father’s day, Canada day, May 24 (pronounced  May two –four for all non-Canadians) Ground hog’s day etc.... Let me know if missed any holiday you enjoy.

What am I doing with all the projects?

I was recently asked by a friend what I am doing with all the projects I finish. The answer is simple; I’m not 100 % sure, yet. Some are gifts, the sweater coat, the Gir doll, the crocheted star pillows, obviously the 3 pairs of dress socks. Some are for personal use, the clothing and mittens. The red socks I am wearing right now. But others are just for the fun of it, and may end up in a closet somewhere. If you have a better suggestion for them let me know. I appreciate any feedback, good or bad. 

 

I might try selling them. I have an Etsy shop but I am not fixed on anything just yet. Some I will not be able to sell because I am using a few patterns I bought. And you cannot sell other people's work. I will however make several items I design myself, and those if popular will go up for sale. I am working on a penguin dolls and a mittens pattern that should be super cute. I may even set up a poll to see what are the most popular items I have made so far. 

Side note: I realized that when I posted pictures of the completed Gir doll that I never posted a picture of what he is suppose to look like. So here it is.

 

And here is Invader Zim dressed as a bear just because. Just because he's so cute!

My Avocado Plants

        Have you ever seen the movie RED? Well if you have been reading my blog you should know I love Bruce Willis and his movies, ever since I saw Die hard when I was ten. So when RED came out I was obviously excited and went to see it. Here is what I the movie taught me. You can grow an avocado plant from the pit. It took a few tries, I learned through trail and error and the internet that avocado roots do not like direct light. At first I tried using a clear drinking glass but it didn't work, nothing grew. I am now using a small, blue plastic one and the results are much better. I also discovered that the root growth works best if the pit is fresh from the fruit with the bottom skin scraped off. Simply use 3 to 4 toothpicks to suspend the top (pointiest part) of the pit out of the water and stick it in a window that has shade. 

My first Sucess!

It make take a month, but after the seed cracks a root should grow out of the bottom. A shoot will grow out the top. You should get sets of three leaves. Here are a few pictures of my two avocado plants. They are kind of a side project of mine but I don't really count them on my list. 

My roommate thinks it is kind of creepy how quickly the big plant is growing. I hope to have a real tree by spring. 

          I started the big one in August. This is the biggest the first set of three leave got.

         The second set that grew have gotten alot bigger as you can see.

        I am expecting the third set of leaves to grown to be even bigger. We will have to wait and see.

        I re-potted my big avocado plant today. The root base had come out the hole in the bottom of the pot. See the long fat toots at the bottom? The re-potting was way overdue. I ran out of potting soil so the little one is still in it's cup. But hopefully it can hold out a little longer til I can pick some up.

Creepy eh?

I started the smaller one in October. It took forever for the little one to grow leaves but the roots had no issue. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

 This is what the big one looked like before it got big and strong.

Skills I wish to acquire (Hopefully this year)

Besides posting on my blog and taking a picture daily I am determined to acquire new skills this year. So far I have decided on the finer arts of knitting (sock and cable knit sweater making) as well as complex baking. A 3-D cake seems complex to me. What I have also always been interested in is jewellery making. I am not talking about looping beads on a string I actually mean silver smiting. I adore handmade silver work and would honestly love to create my own pieces. Etsy is a fountain of such works and I will tell you I am jealous. I will link several of my favourite artists below. 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/PassionateJewelry?ref=seller_info 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/LuttrellStudio 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/lulubugjewelry?ref=seller_info 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/JesaJewellery 

So here is my thought, how does one learn? There certainly no classes at the university I went to. There are some course you can take at Algonquin College. They are for beginner and intermediate silversmithing. You end up with a pendant and a few rings, some of your own design. It cost at least 425$ plus some additional supplies, per course. The Ottawa-Carelton District School (OCDS) also provides classes. They are between 95 – 160$ (all prices before taxes) per 4 week course, . There are 6 courses in total, and hey seem to cover more than the Algonquin College ones. 

Quilting is another thing I would like to work on. I made this beautiful butterfly quilt when I was about 20, it was perfect, then I washed it. It fell completely apart, I hadn't used a overlock stitch on the edges. It was before I had a overlocking sewing machine (serger) you see and I guess my seam allowance were not wide enough. I ended up making a quilt last year for my Aunt's 50^th birthday. It worked out quite well. It was one of those family picture quilts. The main part of the squares were white with a bunch of family photos in them. It was then surrounded by three strips of colour on each side. It was in fuchsia, purples and burgundy. My aunt, who also sews, loved it and wants the pattern, I didn't have the heart to tell her it was mostly free hand. 

Anyway, my point is I would like to do a more involved, detailed quilt. Plus , the last quilt I made I considered a puff quilt, I attached the front to the back with four buttons. Not really professional eh? The OCDS also provide courses for this, 3 priced between 109-125$ per 7-8 week course.

Another thing I would like to learn would be stain glass making. I would really like to make a lamp at some point.

Actually I would like to make a hanging lamp to go over an island in a kitchen. I have always wanted one of those. (Either that or a metal frame that you hang stainless steel pots from.) But since I don't have a kitchen or an island right now, that one can wait. But when I am ready 2 courses are also available through the OCDS, they range in price from 95 -175$ for 6 - 8 weeks long. 

So if I want to take them all I guess I am going to have to save up.

A Tale of Two Zoidbergs

          I have been working on the blue, alternate Zoidberg, for the past few days. While making him I decided to try a new technique. One where I would sew less. When making the limbs it totally worked. Perfectly. But when I was crocheting the body, even though I used the same amount of stitches and increases/decreases at the same rate it doesn't look right. I am not sure if it is because of adding the limbs or because I reversed the order. The pattern with sewing starts at the bottom, where I started at the top. That could be why there is a difference. I really don't know at this time. Since this is such a new technique to me, it may take me a while to figure out where I went wrong. Here is a picture comparing the two.

Front

Back

 

Kinda looks like they were arrested eh?

Side

        Now we do have to take into account that the doll is not completely done yet but at the same time, you can clearly see that something has gone horribly, horribly wrong. (Woo hoo my first failure. I told you it would happen.) Pink Zoidberg, Rouge, is more rotund, he has a beautifully rounded belly. The slope of the blue Zoidberg's backside is not as curved, as full. It is just not as appealing, as cute as the Rouge one. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can fix this? I would love all the help that you guys want to provide.

Crochet vs. Knitting – A Common Crafter’s Point of View

          For those of you actually following this blog know, my mother-in-law is helping me with the finer points of my knitting development. We have thus far worked on tension, yarn holding techniques, fair-isle wrapping and touched on machine knitting, which is to be revisited this summer when there is more time. Due to this fact I have spent many hours in the past few months at my in-laws and thus observed by my father-in-law. Recently, while he was watching me finish one of Gir’s arms, he has shared his thought with me about crochet vs. knitting.

Knitting was a talent, an art-form of finesse. Knitting has a cleaner, more elegant finish on projects, obviously. Knitting in his mind is superior in almost every way, except when it comes to speed. In this I will have to disagree, not completely but in part. Yes knitting is more elegant, lacework and shawl are almost always finer and more delicate when knitted but at the same time that is what knitting seems to be, delicate, too delicate. I have worked with many different yarns and needles and it seems no matter what the knitted work is finer, if you try to increase thickness by using smaller needles and larger yarn the work can get stiff. The stitches are so closely woven that it can make the project cumbersome. I do not find this with crochet. But then again have never made a thick crochet sweater. I would say I prefer crochet when making dolls and toys; it seems sturdier then with knitting, where I would worry about pulls in the yarn. Even with thin yarn it always seems more durable. The way crochet stitches are constructed they do not pull or pucker like knitted pieces can. That’s a major plus. But in being sturdier the stitches do tend to be chunkier, in my opinion; even a shell pattern is not as level and delicate as a simple stocking stitch. 

That being said the speed of crochet, depending on the project, often out weights the minor drawbacks. When making an Afghan for example, I will likely never knit an entire blanket, although I have started one but I have crocheted 4 Afghans. The crocheted blankets are worked as one piece; you can do that when you only have 1 needle to worry about. The blanket I started will be made up of about a hundred small squares that I will have to patch together. A dishcloth blanket as my friend calls it. It’s pretty but taking forever and currently sitting in a Rubbermaid container under my sewing table. Just saying. Agree? Disagree? Let me know here or chubbystar.blog@gmail.com .

MY RED SOCKS ARE DONE!!!

Fourth project of the year completed. Woo hoo!!

10 years of Persistence

          Let me preface this posting by saying, I was given the go ahead to share this story with you from my best friend Sandra (also not her real name). I was musing out loud last night about what I should write about for my nightly post, as you can see I came up with very little, when my best friend said "10 years of Persistence". You see this is how long we have know each other and how long I have had some projects on the go. Projects I promise myself I will finish one day and haven't gotten around it yet. She was also talking about the boxes and boxes of material I have collected over the years. (I have a whole storage room full, not kidding). Now she isn't just talking about me, for she is also a very guilty party. May I introduce exhibit A?

          Here is a blanket Sandra started crocheting before I met her. It is going to be a blanket for her brother. A very belated Christmas gift.

          Exhibit B. Her second attempt at the Christmas Blanket. Still in progress.

         She is also in the middle of knitting a blanket for herself but only have one 4" X 4" square done. She has a full sized bed so you can guess how long this is going to take.

         But anyway it got me thinking. What do I have left unfinished. A few things that I listed in my first post and I am making some head way. I finished two pillow. But what else. Not on the list but still unfinished. Well, the first thing that comes to mind is this wool coat . Started about 8 years ago. I tried to make it thicker by putting a layer of fleece between the wool and the liner but all it did was make it super puffy and the shoulders looked wrong. But I would like to finish it.

         Then there is this paisley button-down shirt. It doesn't suit my shape. A leather skirt. My current machine can't handle it. I have material for cargos, but never designed the pants. I also have a pin-strip for another button-down shirt. You know how that goes. I also have a washcloth blanket I have yet to finish that is about three year old. I need more wool. Sweater purses, I have the sweaters but no longer need the purse.

         The last thing I would love to make but put off is a pair of gunmetal sky pants. I bought this beautiful sliver sequin material (it looks kind of like a cloudy sky) and promised myself when I perfected making pants I would make myself a pair. Please note I am a self-taught seamstress. My mother started me off with the basics and I have learned on my own since. I want to make a great pair of skinny pants to fit with all my knee high boots.

         I have more skill then I did a few years ago and it might be time to revisit some projects.

Zoidberg Part 2

        I woke up this morning with a huge headache, I felt like absolute crap. So I went back to bed and slept in til 10:30ish. I really did nothing much except lounge on the couch and surf the internet. I found another project and I am adding it to my list. I crocheted a bit.

         As I mentioned yesterday, I wanted to make a new coat for Zoiberg. I finished that today and started his blue twin. Here are the pictures. 

       

        Besides that I have very little to report. Except I miss Keith. He will be out of the country on business til the end of the week and I miss him. I know this post is quite short but hopefully I can make up for it later in the week.

Now Zoidberg's naked! It's about time!

          As I previously mentioned the Silver Hook have given me some tips about garment making for my stuffed animals. I have decided to try making another coat for Zoidy. So I took his coat off and I think he got a little too comfortable naked.

Here he is watching TV naked.

Ever lean like this?

      

        I finally decided on the Satin Bernat medium worsted weight acrylic yarn in Snow. Obviously Zoidberg likes it. I am also going to try and make him little pants and sandals. I will be using Impeccable medium worsted weight acrylic yarn in Cadet. I will post pictures when I am done.

Another day, Another dollar

        I know people mean it as a compliment when they tell me I am wasting my talent at my current job. That they can see me doing something else, being my own boss, owning my own yarn shop, writing for a magazine. Maybe just not working for the government. I know they mean well and aren't trying to be insensitive. It is always said in the best possible way, as encouragement. Its always meant to bring me comfort or maybe joy. Almost a “hang in there” cat poster in the flesh, meant to motivate. And it does but at the same time it's a constant reminder that the discontentment with my job continues to grow. Pointing out to me that people would pay good money for my goods is no longer a compliment to be treasured but a sore spot of “Where the hell are these people and why are they not paying my rent yet?”

         Okay I know I am whining. But I am frustrated and could use some inspiration on how to make a change. Several people are supportive of me trying to start my own business but I am even not sure how to do that right now. I guess I will have to start planning, see what I can come up with.

Stitch and Bitch

        So I sat down today with the Sliver Hook for a real stitch and bitch this morning. Sitting at a food court in the mall near my house she was more then generous, showing me some different crochet techniques. How to cut down on my sewing, making garments flow better and front loop/back loop tactics. You can view her creations and patterns at http://thesilverhook.ca/. I watched her whip out a duck rattle, damn is she fast. 

         While we were talking, I was able to start my alternate Zoidberg. I am finished his head, except for the tentacles. The blue I am using looks like it will work well. I am glad I was able to at least do this because I have gotten absolutely nothing done on the Sweater Coat. Well not absolutely nothing, I almost finished the hood, and the hem is done but the belt and front closure still need finishing. I kept procrastinating this weekend, I've heard it said that when you keep putting something off it may be for a reason. Basically, its because there is so much work involved to get it the way that I want it. I was given a tip today, treat my crafting like a job, that way it moves up the my list of priorities. Then maybe I would put it first over other things. Well see if that helps. I didn't even knit my sock today. Oh well better luck the rest of the week. Keith is going out of town on business so my evenings will be free. Hopefully this will lead to some real crafting strides this week. I guess we will see. 

For your viewing pleasure a head.

Alternate Universe Jessica

      My Futurama fan mentioned recently that the only thing that could make his Zoidberg collection complete is an alternate universe Zoidberg. For those of you that have no idea what or who I am talking about meet Dr. John A. Zoidberg. 

      
        A Decapodian, a sentient species that originate from the planet Decapod 10, which are lobster-like in appearance. He is the staff doctor for Planet Express, a delivery service in the 31^st century. He is wretchedly educated and even more wretchedly poor, homeless and often disliked, yet still has a mostly sunny disposition taking abuse well. As gullible as he is lovable, he is my favourite Futurama character, yes even more than Bender, who can bite my shiny metal ass.

        Now an alternate or parallel universe Zoidberg is a character that shows up on the episode “The Farnsworth Parabox”. He is pretty much the exact same as regular Zoidberg but a little more devious, and blue. To be honest, a little more of a jerk. I picked up some beautiful blue yarn yesterday and now alternate Zoidberg is on my project list.

        Now that got me thinking, what if there was a parallel universe, with a parallel Jessica? What would she be doing? Would she have made different decisions? Would she look different? Well we would look basically the same but height, weight and possible hair colour could differ. But beside aesthetics, how would we differ? What choices would she have made? Would her life differ from mine?Would she still be married to Keith? Or a previous boyfriend? Or one I had never met? Would she have given up her dreams of acting to go to University and become a cog in the government machine? Would she have the same feeling of insignificance? Would she be a famous writer? I couldn't handle that. If she super successful, doing what I would kill to do for a living, it would drive me absolutely crazy trying to figure out what decision she made that resulted in her success. What she did differently that I missed out on? It would absolutely kill me if she writer for a living, and I fear she should be because she might not have my problem, namely fear. I fear I am not a good enough writer, that my ideas would not be interesting enough. But maybe she wouldn't let that stop her. Maybe. And that thought makes me not want to meet alternate Jessica and if alternate Jessica is anything like me she wouldn't want to meet me either. 

        Here's one more picture of regular Zoidberg, just because he looks so happy eating that fish. So very cute and chubby. 

Tacking on another sock update 

Productivity and Procrastination, the fine line!

         Since I work for the government, I have the opportunity to work a compressed work week, meaning I have every second Friday off. This Friday off. And with having Fridays off every so often you really don't want to waste the day. Actually to be completely truthful, when I get to stay home while Keith and my roommates are all at work I start to feel guilty. Honestly, like really guilty, like if don't do something productive, scrub a floor, get some groceries, do the dishes, clean the bathroom, run some errands, laundry, something, I feel super guilty. I know it is my problem, no one else feels like this on a day off, just me. So I was productive today, God was I productive. Groceries, check! Errands, check! Laundry, check! Dishes, check! Craft supplies pick-up, double check! (Note there was sock knitting today!)

         Today my productivity, my domestic productivity got in the way of my crafting productivity. It was almost a form of procrastination. I have often found that when I want to dedicate my time to personal projects, I can find almost any little domestic task to get in my way, especially when it is a dauntingly large project such as the Sweater Coat. Which I still have to dig out of one of my project storage boxes. I think I can be my own worst enemy honestly. Anyways I hope tomorrow will be more productive craftwise. But only time will tell.

Tackity Tack Tack Tack

About to turn the heel and I am excited!

Nesting Dolls

         My mother gave me some really beautiful nesting dolls for Christmas. (A nesting doll is a actually a set of dolls, minimum 3, that decrease in size so they can be stacked on inside the other. )Well her and my brother. Props Jay. They are penguins. My favourite animal. I really love them and had never seen any nesting dolls besides the traditional ones, let alone penguin ones.

         So that got me inspired. After a search of the internet I came up with a dozen or so penguin and penguin oriented nesting dolls. They vary in price 10$ to 100$, depends on how many in the set starting with 3 going up 5. But then I saw this site where they sell blank ones and I really got inspired.

The blank ones come in pairs up to 20 pieces. Some are short and chubby, others are taller and slip, cone shapes, houses with dolls to live in it, all kinds. It gave me some new ideas for a few projects. This is something I have never done before, thus adding to the appeal. It's going on my list.

When I have more completed items off my list, I will order some and document my progress. I want to make a few different ones. I like the idea of five dolls but also want to make a very large set. I would like to do a 20 set but thus far I have only found ones that cost 325$ or more. I will have to look into it more.

      

Here are a few websites that sell blank dolls, my faves so far.

http://matryoshkastore.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=37&sort=20a&page=1

http://arussiansouvenirshop.com/STORE/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=7&sort=20a&page=2&zenid=dc0e677395d55477dc0bb51f898e1ce7

http://www.goldencockerel.com/en-us/nesting-dolls.html

        Let me know what you think.

Tack!!!!

        Here is my sock progress. I ran out of wool today. There will be no more updates, tacked on or otherwise, until I get more. I am out of stuffing as well, sounds like a trip to the craft store is in order. 

Previous Projects

        Today I decided to showcase a few previous projects that I have completed in the past year. I think I will do this once a month. I decided to focus on stuffed animals. I have made so many of them. One for each of my nieces and nephews. Plus a few for friends and I have sold a couple. I have sewn a few and crocheted the rest.

         First up is our most recent addition, Zoidberg. He was made for a Futurama fan. I gave him the plastic Zoidberg doll for Christmas last year. So I made this dolls as a companion to last year's present.

         I love Ireland and have a special place in my heart for sheep. I was trying to make a miniature sheep and this is what came out. I think he is pretty cute but not exactly perfect.

         Halloween is one of my favourite holidays. I made a few friends to share the day with. A vampire from the book Creepy Cute Crochet by Christen Haden. (A birthday present from my husband last year). 

I also made this little ghost from a free pattern off Lion Brand Yarn website. 

 

        I always wanted a hippopotamus for Christmas!!! (My fave holiday of all time!!!!) The first crochet animal I ever made.

Last but not least, Pudgy Penguin!!! 

 

         He is the only sewn project I have for this post. I designed this little guy and have sold 4 so far. He is my favourite and I hope he will be yours too.Keep an eye out for more next month.