Poor poor readers.

You’re going to have to put up with my shit photography for a while. But at the moment I have a lame 3-year-old digital camera that will just have to do. The lameness of my camera frustrates me when I get in picture-taking mode, and so I settle for taking one shot of a piece, and not really even looking at the screen to see how it worked out.

Anyway, this is a lovely piece. You’d never know it by this picture, but it is lovely. Sure, the neckline and shoulders are so unflattering, but it’s lovely

Favorites

1. word1_final03_o, 2. Praying Mantis, 3. aran hat, 4. “brights 2″, 5. that which we call a rose, on a vintage button might look as sweet, 6. another green hen, 7. TIF May, 8. e sem o laço……, 9. Jeans recycled., 10. White Garden, 11. tree sweater, 12. Earthly Fae Hood in Wheat, 13. 5 of 12 2008, 14. tropique, 15. Knitted Felt Bracelet, 16. Mellow Yellow, 17. Green and Brown Clutch!, 18. crochet-covered suitcase

Tragedy.

Two days ago I went a-thrifting, and the loot was golden. However, the original purpose of the thrifting wasn’t to spend, it was to kill some time. So I brought no money at all. It really makes me sick to my stomach.

Good things come in threes

This one comes straight from my lovely sister Jenn.

3 jobs I have had in my life:
1) Life editor at the college paper (whatever, I AM getting paid for it. Sort of.)
2) Tax Preparer
3) Personal assistant Receptionist

Places I have lived:
1) Orem, Utah
2) Lindon, Utah
3) Springville, Utah

3 Shows That I watch:
1) 30 Rock
2) Whichever of the following reality shows are on (presented in acronyms): ANTM, SYTYCD, DW:BvC. Sheesh I’m cool.
3) Dexter

3 places I have been:
1) Japan
2) Guatemala
3) Up and down the California coast

3 People who e-mail me (regularly):
1) My life writers
2) Jenn
3) Dover, Bond, and WordPress

3 of my favorite foods
1) Potatoes
2) Flavored ice
3) Sandwiches

3 Places I’d rather be right now:
1) Someplace where I could be a superhero
2) San Francisco
3) Some island

3 things I am looking forward to this year:
1) School starting again
2) Voting for president (and the end of campaigns!)
3) When corn and cherries are in season.

I tag YOU.

Surprise, surprise.

-39 As a 1930s wife, I am Very Poor (Failure) Take the test!

But I can make a mean veggie burger!

Tada!: Perfect hat.

This isn’t a regular Tada post, because I’ve made about ten thousand of these hats. I love them. I love the yarn, I love the bare-bones construction, I love the finished product. The yarn is Noro Kureyon. This particular one is for a friend’s sister’s baby.

Catching up.

I really miss this cat. I’m constantly seeing him out of the corner of my eye, turning excitedly, and then realizing that no, that isn’t Winston, it’s a patch of sunlight on the carpet or my pile of dirty laundry. So if anyone wants some very nice corgis, please come and take them away so I can get Winston over here.

I’m thinking of starting Finished Object posts a la Kathryn Ivy. So I’ll probably be writing a bunch of posts, and then pre-dating (is that a sufficient opposite of post-dating?) the posts to the day the project was finished.

Did I mention how much I miss this cat?

WHAT IS THIS? (Not the barn, the blurry thing in the front.) I know that it has something to do with fibers, so I bought four of them. This is the smallest, the largest is about three feet long, and kind of octagonal.

These aren’t nearly as cool as they’re cracked up to be. I’m really disappointed by them, actually. They take up three times the space of a normal hanger, and if the garment has any sort of sleeve, they make the silhouette very Frankenstein.

I don’t know if I told you this already, but here is my car. I just passed the 600 mile mark a few days ago. And I still love it more than ever.

I just found the group Silly String on Ravelry, and I’m really excited about it. The challenge for June is to make words out of crochet, and then crochet around them. I’m going to put this above the door from my apartment to the backyard. I filled in most of the gaps while watching America’s Best Dance Crew (which is hilarious) last night, and I’m getting more and more excited about it. It’s a great way to boost your crocheting chops. I was going to create a tutorial, but then I remembered how lazy I am.

This is the best part of summer. We have about fifteen different kinds of peppermint in the front yard, and they make the most tingly tea ever. Also, I highly recommend this coffee/tea press from Ikea. This also made me realize that there is no granulated sugar OR honey in this house.

I hate blocking. I. HATE. BLOCKING.

Tada!: Gir.

Pattern: Gir by TChemGrrl (Ravelry)
Finished size: About a foot, if you straighten his antennae
Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease Solid in Grey Heather and Patons Classic Wool Merino in Blue
Needles: Size 6 dpns (they were a bit too large, but I was in a hurry)
Date started: Ravelry says it was in January, but I really got started on it on June 2, 2008.
Date completed: June 3, 2008.

This pattern is so kindly written – it would be great for someone’s first amigurumi. There is only one buzzword in the whole pattern (“at the same time” – eek!), but it’s only for the intarsia block on his chest, and it’s not hard at all. Of course, parts of it are going to be frustrating – especially the eyes. You pick up stitches in a circle on the head, and then knit from there. Of course, you won’t be able to tell if your stitches really were a circle until the last row, so if you make any mistakes you’ll have to rip back the whole thing.

Luckily, I didn’t make any mistakes on the eyes.

I really loved working with both of the yarns. But honestly, if I had to choose, I’d pick the Wool-Ease. Don’t bother stifling your ghasps, I know it’s appalling. But really, it’s hard to tell that it’s acrylic-based. It doesn’t squeak, it has great memory … perfect for a toy! I wouldn’t want to make any sort of garment out of it, however. The Patons was smooth and nice and generally unremarkable.

The pattern says you’ll use about 200 yards of the gray yarn, but I’d be surprised if I used more than 125. Of course, you need a very small amount of the blue.

I made this for my lovely nephew Jack, for his fifth birthday. They sure are fans of Invader Zim at the Tullis house. Next? Maybe a green-dog-jacket for Gir, or a stuffed Zim!

Mods I made:

• I ignored her advice to stagger my increases and decreases, and I actually really like the pinwheel effect that it made on this particular toy. Especially the top of the head. I also steered clear of kfb’ing, because I just don’t like it. I think all of my increases were M1R.
• I stuffed as I went along, and really think that’s a better way to do it.
• I skipped the last row on the eyeballs, because my flat circular knits always have a tendency to go pointy. If anyone knows the cure to this, PLEASE tell me. It drives me crazy.
• Because of the aforementioned problem, I didn’t stuff Gir as much as I stuff most toys. I didn’t want his head or feet to get pointy.
• I purled his shoulder joints. It was kind of an accident, but I wound up liking it.
• I omitted the mouth, I just didn’t like the look of it. And I’m lazy.

Mods I should have made:

• I think I should have put some sort of spine in Gir. His head is SO floppy.
• I should have been patient and bought a smaller set of DPN’s, especially for his belly.