Yes, some blogs are islands nowadays

Teaching keeps me mostly out out trouble on das intertubes, I have very little time for anything except a limited circle of flickr, facebook, and the blythe forums. I sometimes add ravelry or livejournal in for good measure. But really Ravelry and Goodreads are just for my own record keeping, for the most part.

Of course, during breaks, I have limitless time to not only surf around but ponder the diaspora that all the  c h o i c e s  online has caused. For a couple that met on livejournal, Omar and I have been out of the same blogging circuit for ages now, and we let our joint knitting blog be crushed under a huge torrent of spam, which is kind of sad and maybe should be remedied. He is on Vox and mostly posts about obscure music shit I don’t care about, and I mostly post about dolls which he gets quite enough of by living with them. It’s weird to think that a few years ago we were blogging together, read 99% of our blogs on LJ, plus over 100 RSS knitting blogs and otherwise. Plus I was sort of half-heartedly on myspace, always, and friendster (!) before that. Now I’m doing my microblogging on facebook like most of my age bracket. I do not reliably read anyone’s blog at all except the one about our new baby niece, except when someone tells me “Hey I updated my blog, check it out.”  Really, wtf? Weird, sort of sad, but inevitable. Most of my kids do nothing but text and use myspace, which is in some ways a very poor substite for social blogging.

There is no point to this except to say, wow I have time to contemplate such matters and wonder if I would prefer differently. I’ve come a long way, baby, to the girl who pioneered blogging by updating my web page “Shut up, Betsy!” on my college server and then be oh so traumatized when I found out my parents were reading it.

In other news, a bad cat in a elf hat:

My EZ garter blanket is finished! I really do affirm that it is baby blanket Zen. I used the cast on and bind off tails to sew up the final seam, so I had ONE end to weave for a big 800 yard baby blanket. Awesome! I also love this pale, beige-y pink which does not add to the glut of pinky-pinky for girl babies.

I love the eyelets! No yarn overs!

The deets on Ravelry.

Doll news is slow, except Omar got a Hujoo for Xmas, who we’ve named Gambrol, aka Gams McGee, private eye. I had a crisis of gift faith after I gave him to her, but he had been admiring them. I swear I don’t have to share all my hobbies with my huz. Does me calling him Huz rather than DH or hubby make you think I am hipper, more original, and less annoying than other old married biddies on the internet? I thought so!

We hope to find some time to get some more dolly photos, Omar got me a knock-off Gorilla pod for xmas so maybe they will be better quality!

Please note the inclusion of another blog islander, Michael McRomance in my blogroll. That blogroll is maki! Ladies, he is single!

the date of up

I’ve slowly been trying to find some more time for my dollies. Since the update has been so long in coming, I’ve realized that there’s been some shifting of dolls since I last joined you. I now have 9 Blythes, 2 Pullips (one in pieces), 1 Taeyang, and 1 Dal. 2 Blythes were sold and went to live elsewhere (ADG MM and MSR)

Here’s the current B-fam.

1. Garnet 2. Clever 3. Alonza

4. Dell 5. Cade 6. Fisk

7. Pollen 8. Florrie 9. ?

Florrie and my Veronica Lace arrived this month and I love them both so much. I now have as many RBLs as SBLs. I’ve been feeling a bit overwhelmed by 9 girls but I’m not sure if any will be up for adoption or not. If so, it would probably be Dell and/or Cade. But they are Garnet and Alonza’s BFFs, so what are you going to do?

I keep wondering who Alonza’s true twinnie is. She tells me she has one. I thought for sure it was Aubrena but now I’m not so sure. I think it’s more likely it’s another hybrid RBL with an Aubrey scalp.Alonza needs some love, and perhaps a new spring.

What to name Veronica Lace? She is my fairy tale girl with her crazy gleer (glitter deer) Ram and Jam. My two options thusfar are Grimm or Rampion, which is Francais for Rapunzel.

I’m so thrilled about Florrie. She is the CUTEST doll, no contest. I’m not rushing them, but I think Clever might finally, finally have a BFF. I’ve always wanted a custom Ebony since I saw dolli*fever’s Piper. I thought I would trim her bangs but now I think it’s part of her personality to have slightly shaggy hair.

And for the days that I just have to say F-the-world! there’s Brea and her dolly Molly Weasley to watch over me.

I do love my Jun Planning dolls…I adore Bax and Minou the Pullip/Taeyang couple, they are fun to dress up and have such a style. Brea, likewise, is like no other doll and has her own personality, no contest. However, the quality of the dolls is just disappointing. I hate their floppy bodies and fragile appendages and I don’t have money/time to waste in getting them new bodies.  I have another Pullip I kind of accidentally won on ebay. She’s gorgeous but her limbs are all fractured and I just want to sell her and not deal with having to fix it. Plus what i like about my other Pullip is that she’s so quirky and not just pretty pretty, so having one who is so traditionally pretty would take away from that. I also hate hate their wigs and the poor qualitiy of them. I wish they had rooted hair.

So close to being done with baby blanket Zen!

Baby blanket Zen

Honestly, Elizabeth Zimmermann continues to outdo herself, even in death. The baby surprise jacket is one thing, but this amazing footnote of a pattern from the Opinionated Knitter is pure geometric, mind-numbing heaven, especially when done in this lovely yarn: Mary’s Little Lamb.

Here it is on Ravelry…note very few version of the baby one…with no seams! If that link doesn’t work for you, you probably don’t care anyway You can see the pale, Banana Republic-esque pink of the “Lobster Bisque” colorway below. However, since this photo I ripped out the wrong-facing triangle, and knit 1.25 more. I would LOVE to do this blanket in lots of colors!

In doll news, my family is larger than ever. I got a MSR who I am not bonding with and might sell. But I also adopted a Pullip and Taeyang couple who needed to stay together and they’re quite happy haunting our bookshelves in their thrift-store style. Bax and Minou:

All I want to do is knit on my baby blanket (not the impending Halloween deadline pumpkin hat for said child) and not think about the huge pile of administrative paperwork, grading, and extracurricular nonsense that is associated with teaching!
My newest love is my DRTA Dal Brea. Pics soon. She HAITs u.

here she is

She needs a name….I wanted Fenchurch, but someone else is using it, and I don’t want to be lame. and I also like Fisk, but it’s not quite right. I am leaning towards an F name but that can change.

AAAAAA I love her!

Life in August

Everything new is old again.  I love my new job but it’s of course as exausting as any teaching job, although second-year teaching is NOT first year teaching by any means and I have a bag of tricks now that make everyday things much easier.

My OMGZ!!1! Full time job blythe arrived from Hong Kong. She’s an EBONY! I love her mucho! (will I be able to speak Spanish by the end of this year?) Michelle of course has cornered the market on Ebonies, so I’m just a copycat at this point, but I still think she’s grand. I haven’t though of name for her yet. When I ordered her I thought I’d customize her a bit, but now I doubt I will do anything except switch her chips and gaze correct her. I have a bunch of the new ixtee chips in the mail.

Name ideas: Zyta, Avenue, Tierra del Sol (the name of my new school in Spanish), Osprey, Gambrel, something german, an F name, a M name, an L name…? At one point yesterday I was delirious with tired and trying to come up with an a name and suggested “Jazz Hands.”  Omar suggested a few good ones which I forgot, one being WiFi.

She is doll number seven and I think Fable wants to be her BFF. Poor Clever is just not loved.

I have NO idea where our camera is, so there won’t be any pictures for awhile. Honestly, this place is a huge, huge mess. We have not settled at all from moving and there’s too much stuff here with Omar’s mom’s stuff and ours.

There’s so much to do for school and we are months behind with laundry and everything else. Sigh. I wonder if we will ever acheieve any sort of balance again.

new job

I have a brand new, full time teaching job. I got hired two days ago, and it starts Monday. As a result, I am not sleeping well.
Maybe someday when I can’t sleep I’ll have a rocking chair with a big squishy butt cushion and a giant free trade handmade basket full of Malabrigo. I will stitch myself from one place in my life to the next. I will “Knit on” EZ style and not waste hours tossing and turning and mulling things over, trying to smooth them down to collectible dorodango.
But that time is not now, when our move is scheduled for Tuesday, things are half packed, there’s no food here…ugh.
But it’s good news, after all, if it doesn’t kill me with its big good-news-bear-hug-and-maul.

in my header, L R, Top: Mimi in the morning, Ebony dresses I have STILL not seen in action, clouds on our wedding day, helicopters in my grandparents driveway, goth pinwheel blankie, label from my grandpa’s shop, Mandy’s painting of MiMi
Bottom: Entrelac Noro Silk Garden neckwarmer with vintage button, Engagement kiosk–I mean gazebo, what I’d grab in a fire: computer and Charlie, wedding fascinator, Zeke (L) and Tessa (R), Garnet–first Blythe, woven placemats for my mom (cotton, silk ribbon, wool)

Little things

I wonder why we like little things so much. I love how many crazy aunties by girls have who can’t resist the temptation to make something small. Even smaller than possible for hoomans. Life reduced in scale, it’s poignant, precious. The doll laundry doesn’t pile up, the doll dishes never need to be done.
I made a wee cardigan that needs some serious perfecting, from this less than lovely (imho) colorway of fixation. (I love orange and pink and purple, just not together in this form, I don’t know. It’s like Kureyon 102 without the blue and yellow, but that takes away something). I started with 24 stitches on 3s, and then just kind of fudged it.
Here’s Garnet (with a haircut) modeling it:

Here’s a mental-visual list of things I’d like to learn to sew for Blythe:

A trenchcoat like these lovely ones on etsy

A high-necked halter dress like this.

A dress with wide waist like this. I’m getting one of these dresses from dear froggymonkey, who is lucky enough to have them at her local Walmart, so I’ll be able to study it.

Now I need one of my girls crazy aunts aka my unsuspecting sewing mentors to step up so I can actually do some of these.

Introducing…

She was the hardest to name. I gave up on Aven “Aventurine” because I just didn’t think it fit.

This is Fable. I have cut her weird tendrils and dressed her in some sketchy Blythism jumper from M. that seems to fit her name

What must it be like…

to be a dolly, waiting at the post office? There you are, twist tied into your box, all stiff in your stock clothes, the only clothes you’ve ever had! You have no idea whether you are going to be someone’s first doll, or their 30th. You have no idea if you’re going to be rudely yanked from your cozy package and have your scalp torn off, or if you’ll be gently hugged and treated to a spa day of hair washing and wardrobe choice.

You don’t know if your name will be Toad or Petronella. Are you going to have sisters, or girlfriends? Will you be treated like a 5-year old or a Sex and the City star? Are you going to have to live with stuffed animals, Dals, Pullips, Bratz, Barbies?

Are you an ADG going to be the first custom of a bipolar Kenner-addict who will rip you limb from limb? Will you have a bed, a kitchen, a bathroom? Will you live on a shelf standing up forever? God forbid, will you be NRFB?

Will cats paw at your pullstring? Will you have your arms chewed off by a dog? Will you live with a disapproving spouse who cusses at your when your mistress isn’t home because of the extra expense you cause?

Are you going to have lots of shoes? Are you going to have any at all? Will you star in photos all around town, or will you never see the light of day? Are you going to be a 1972 mama or a punky goth lolita? What if you don’t like your first dress?  What if your jeans stain your legs?

Today we’re going to pick up Blythe #6 from UPS. She’s an ADG Medieval Mood named Aventurine, Aven for short. We don’t much else about her, but we will try to assure her we will make her as comfortable as possible. Right girls?

Here’s a shot of our small shoe collection. It’s a start. Click through to flickr for notes on brand and fit.

Four out of five

I have actually opened four out of five of my dolls. Here’s the rundown.

1. Alonza. RBL. Easy Peasy gaze correction, boggling. Wow, I thought, this is great. I can do this to all my dolls.

2. Garnet, ADG. A little scary. Involved cutting the back of her scalp open (jaggedly). I then clipped too much off her t-bar and now her eye mech doesn’t click properly. M. figures she has an EBL t-bar, so it needs to be replaced. Also, the ADGs don’t seem to gaze correct quite as dramatically as the Takaras. Their eyemech looks pretty much the same, but it has a much softer click and seems to just naturally rest lower despite how long the t-bar is.

3. Clever, SBL. Since she’s a STA and I heard the later SBLs are easier, I went for it with the pry method.  Her faceplate came off pretty easy with minimal cutting. I needed to re-spray matte her and swap some eyechips.  I managed to chip her grey eyechip, and over-boggle her so that her lower eye mech shows. I’m waiting for advice to figure out how to correct this hopefully without carving the lower eye mech.

4. Cade. SBL. She’s got that notorious PWP downward gaze plus a very loose neck. I tried my hardest to open her head but it just wasn’t happening. I cut away her scalp on the back of her head for basically no reason at all. I finally ended up gaze correcting her without having her head all the way open, I just wedged her open, swiveled her t-bar around, and clipped it with a animal nail clippers. Then I wrapped a little clear rubber band around her neck to create friction. Her gaze is more blythe-normal (not totally corrected, but oh well) and her neck is nice and snug. All in all, a sucess, but she does have some marks around her face plate from prying.

(5. Dell is looking at me like “Don’t you f’ing come near me, crazy lady. I really do think I will leave her alone because there are no further issues.)

6?? what??