This is Halloween!

So lately I've been contemplating Halloween in order to make kick-ass costumes before October 30th!  The plan Dalekettes!  So the plan and what it requires:


Bronze Dalek
Dalek Head:

Brown Headbands (CVS)
Clear/Translucent Dixie Cups (Retifer Commons)
Small Battery LED lights (dollar store?)

Dalek Top:

Brown Tank Top (Closet or store)
Gold/Bronze Tape or Fabric Belt (JoAnn's or Hardware store)

Dalek Bottom:

Bronze/Gold Fabric (JoAnn)
Skirt Pattern (Basement)
Dark Brown faux leather to weight down bottom of skirt and trim (JoAnn's)
Elastic or Zipper (JoAnn's)
Brown Thread (JoAnn's)

Dalek Bumps:

16 plastic ball pit balls (Toys R Us)
X-acto knife (Drawer)
Gold/Bronze Spray Paint (Lowe's)
Crystal Clear Spray Paint (Lowe's)

Dalek Accessories:

Wisk (Bring Your Own)
Plunger (Dollar Store)
Black Spray Paint in case plunger isn't black (Lowe's)
Black Boots or Black/Gold Flats (Bring Your Own or a pair that can be spray painted)

Silver Dalek
Dalek Head:

Black Headbands (CVS)
Clear/Translucent Dixie Cups (Retifer Commons)
Small Battery LED lights (dollar store?)

Dalek Top:

Black Tank Top (Closet)
Silver Duct Tape or Fabric Belt (JoAnn's or Hardware store)

Dalek Bottom:

Silver Fabric (JoAnn)
Skirt Pattern (Basement)
Black faux leather to weight down bottom of skirt and trim (JoAnn's)
Elastic or Zipper (JoAnn's)
Grey Thread (JoAnn's)

Dalek Bumps:

16 plastic ball pit balls (Toys R Us)
X-acto knife (Drawer)
Silver Spray Paint (Basement)
Crystal Clear Spray Paint (Lowe's)

Dalek Accessories:

Wisk (Bring Your Own)
Plunger (Dollar Store)
Black Spray Paint in case plunger isn't black (Basement)
Black Boots or Black/Silver Flats (Bring Your Own or a pair that can be spray painted)

Now I included the Silver option because I think it will be cheaper than the bronze option.  Most people already have a black tank top and the black headbands are sold a few to a pack at CVS not one brown headband in a pack with a few other unwanted colors.  Also I know we already have 2 bottles of silver spray paint at the ready.  Also then we wouldn't be copying the original Dalekettes exactly and we could add our own little flair to the project by going old school. This however will need to be discussed before a discussion can be made.

The last structural elements that need to be considered are fitted skirt (zipper) that looks really good or easy to make one size fits all skirt (elastic).  Find an appropriate skirt pattern among the masses of possibilities. 

Also considering how to attach the dalek bumps to the skirt:  I believe thread and needle will be able to puncture the plastic balls so that they can be easily attached to the skirt.  OR we could test out the riveter I have in my basement and make small holes along the edge of the plastic balls and sew them to the skirts using that.  I think the thread and needle version would look more authentic although the riveter version has the opportunity to look like what I would consider steam punk.

Also since we are all women we might want to consider if we want to make a Dalek-ish type of purse to go along with our costumes!

That's my thought of the day!

"It's Been a Long Road, Get'n From There to Here"

So in the words of the Enterprise theme song (or more accurately how I inaccurately remember it): "It's Been a Long Time" since I last posted.  What's been going on with me?  A lot actually K-9 and the Supernatural Penguin Army are 100% complete (although I really want to add more penguins!)  Right now I'm just too lazy to take pictures and I want to find a decent backdrop instead of my dirty carpet.

My new project was suggested to me by my friend Ash who said "Where in the world are you going to put all of that stuff?!  You crazy crocheter you should slow down or make a net or somethin'."  Yes, I'm paraphrasing.  But anyway I have this cute crochet book full of different stitches and one of them is the net stitch!!!  So I picked the diamond variation grabbed my rainbow colored yarn and started crocheting a multicolor net on the way to the Ren Faire on the 24th!  I've got a few inches worth done and it looks pretty good but it is slow going.  *5ch, sc* over and over again isn't very fast no matter how much I like chain stitching!  also it it over 30" wide so that I can throw K-9 in it if I want.  Hopefully it will be near completion soon so I can attach it to my ceiling out of sight and mind until the army chooses to attack any annoying people who enter my room.

Exciting News Everyone!  I just came back from JoAnn's and I have all the yarn I need for my next afghan!  Now that I have all the yarn I can make my brother a surprise Settlers of Catan themed Afghan for Christmas!  More info latter when I can be more secretive!   *Plot, Plot, Plot*

Oh and I've also been working on organizing all of the crochet and knit patterns that I've been collecting and using!  They're all cute and saved in paper protectors in a three ring notebook.  I've been trying to keep track and credit my online patterns as I go along.  This way I have the original cited pattern on the right side of the spread and my variations, spare yarn, completed pic are on the left side of the open notebook spread.  Very exciting!  Can you tell I love organization?!  XD

Henna the Art of Dyeing Oneself!

Today I've spent the entire day playing with henna and reading.  Hopefully my hand takes the plant dye but its really old stuff so I thought I'd try it out one last time before deciding whether I should just chuck it  :(   But anyways I used one of my favorite patterns (it's now my banner) and then I had fun decorating my fingers in different styles.  I really hope this turn out well but my expectations aren't high.  So in a last ditch attempt at making the henna really stick to my hand and dye it darker I looked on the internet... which recommended to make a hairspray and regular white glue mix and apply it over the dried henna.  Since I don't have "hairspray" I decided to mix the mousse and glue instead... it seems to have worked in some degree.  There is now a shiny sealant keeping my henna from drying out (although I think it has already and it didn't seem to do much except for keeping it from flaking off)  Also I tried out the process of "wrapping your hand" to make your hand sweat and moisten the dye and heat things up.  It makes sense but after a couple of hours of reading outside in the heat with my hand wrapped (minus the saran wrap) almost every OTHER part of me was sweating... just not my hand.  So I pulled off the toilet paper and old sock (some of the toilet paper stuck to the dried glue covered henna which is supper annoying).  So the henna is still on my hand and has been there since 11:30 and due to the glue I have no idea when I should just give up and rip it all off.  The few times that I've "peaked" in a place that already seemed to be coming off there was little to no visible stain... which sucks.  But luckily I've been enjoying not having to clean my house and my new book which is fantastic!  I mean really how can you not laugh your ass off when San Francisco is plagued with Vampire Cats?

Back to the art:  So in the anticipation of a really sucky henna temporary tattoo I'm going to post some older pics of my fab-tastic skills!

(This one is my favorite pattern)

and the inside of my hand which I did a little bit differently and also takes the dye better... the palm's skin is softer and a better absorber.  Negatives are that you generally wash the palms of your hands more often and thus it has more wear and tear damage.  Also you can do less when your hands have henna on the palms of your hands waiting for it to dry.

Anything and Everything

Crochet
This week has been very productive for me as I have finished the Supernatural Army and each Penguin has its own unique characteristic!  Pictures coming soon of all the penguins together and whatnot.  However all of the penguins have proved their aerodynamic abilities to hit targets and conduct surprise raids on unsuspecting prey!  Huzzah!

Knit
I am a compulsive knitter and nothing shows this more then when I started putting the finishing touches on K-9 my electronic made squishy dog from the Sci-Fi tv show Doctor Who.  Anyway I started the embroidery for his top control panel at 1am with the intention of making 4 stitches just so I knew where to start on the following day.  BUT I couldn't stop until it was finished... and it didn't matter how tired I was or how early I had to wake up!  Also I finally made his ears a long struggle since I didn't think the pattern's directions were big enough.  K-9 ears double as his satellite sensing receivers--clearly not just the average ears! So after knitting a couple of demo ears varying the number of stitches and size needles I simply gave up!  I picked up my E-hook and whipped up the perfect sized ears on the first try!  Then to incorporate some of his metal personality I bordered the ears with a quick blanket stitch with silver wire... hopefully its the non-tarnishing type!  So all K-9 needs now is his plaid collar and dog tags.  I already have some dog tags but the collar means I need to take a run to JoAnn's with all of my coupons and pick up some ribbon.  I'm also thinking of adding the red buttons that double as his probe which I can also pick up at JoAnn's...

Yarn and Books
So I was really excited when I got my weekly email from JoAnn Fabrics saying that there was a 30% off all yarn with free shipping was going on!  I didn't get any new yarn (yet) but I did order a TON of crochet and knit books from the library.  One of my favorites tells me all of the neat tricks to crocheting with wire, another is about traditional quilt patterns that have been translated into crocheting terms, and my last new favorite book is all about crocheting purses (my next project)!!! 

Afghans
Really I originally got all of these books out so that I could help my mom pick a stitch she wanted to make an afghan with.  I think we finally picked the basket-weave one it has really nice texture and after I realized "FP" meant "Front Post" it looks pretty easy... the difficulty lies with that it was written for alpaca yarn not Homespun and the hook size is pretty big... an L-hook!  So we'll have to do some gage checks and increase the number of stitches and decrease the hook size... basically just play around until we have a pretty sweet afghan going... I just hope we have enough yarn!

I'm also working on an afghan... I've raised my collage afghan back from the dead and have started knitting the borders for it.  Now that I have new yarn things were looking up... that is before I realized how different variegated yarn dye lots could be!  It looks like I can NOT just continue with the new yarn on the border I already have half done (that's about 200 rows of knitting on a size 8 needle O.o)  So I started the other border with the new yarn... which knits up to look mighty stripy... that's been going swell (but a long process given the size of the needle) I'm hoping that I can kit one border with one skein of yarn and then I can rip out the old stitches on my existing border and knit that all up again with my new skein of yarn... I only have two new skeins so hopefully that will be enough to make the two long borders... I hope so or that means I have a lot more work in front of me than I thought!

Basically the situation with my college afghan is its going to take me a long time.  I started this afghan in the summer of 2007 (I think) and it has progressed in bursts until last year when I ran out of the variegated yarn I used for the borders and sashing after completing all the borders except the two, long vertical ones.  So this summer I finally ordered some more yarn... but the dye lot was different and you could definitely tell... the yarn knit up in stripes instead of a few stitches in the same color before changing.  So I'm starting both vertical borders from scratch with the new yarn so they match.  One of the horizontal borders has been completed and attached for some time while the second one has been gathering dust waiting to be attached.

Dyeing and SewingI'm plotting again... I want a pillow cover for my dorm room body pillow and now that my quilt is done I think it should be a matching pillowcase!  I have a lot of hand dyed fabric left over so it will look realllllllllyyyyyy cool but I just need to make a pattern (taking in mind how much fabric I have left)  I'm debating between something curvy like my quilt or something more like a starbust rainbow of color comprised of diamonds.  Either way I don't think I'm going to do more convergence quilting for the body pillow... That might be a little too much considering that's how my entire quilt was created.  Well I'll have to plan this out in advanced especially if this is going to be the project I'm going to take on the Quilter's Getaway in September!  One whole weekend quilting with the family and other enthusiasts!  So far I think my grandmother, mother, aunt, sister and I are all going... with a little bit of luck we might even be able to rope in my Great Aunt!  It looks like it will be a lot of fun and I'll even bring my quilt for show and tell!

Wow that was a longer update than I thought it would be!! That about sums up all (?) of my projects for now (and longer).  Although I think I might take a break today (or tomorrow) and play with henna and read a GREAT NEW BOOK by Christopher Moore!!!!! *REALLLLLLLLYYYYYYYY EXCITED*  BITE ME  I mean really, how great does that sound!  :D

80% ... Still

So I've been siting around looking at Nessie the Loch Ness Monster/ Dragon/Dinosaur Thing and I just have to finish his legs (so that he can stand upright properly) and put his face on (eyes and nose)  But I now have a good idea of what I'm going to do so hopefully now that I've got a new G-hook I'll be able to finish my fuzzy reptile!

The Penguin Army... So Far

This is my picture status update for the Penguin army... it also helped that I remembered that I had a webcam on my computer so I didn't have to find my camera or camera cords and that what-not...

So in order left to right: John Winchester (minus beard), Meg (evil), Chuck (twitchy eyed drunk), Pastor Jim (minus crosses on wings), Bobby (his hat looks better in real life), Sam (extra long wings), Dean (Big Eyed Big Brother <3!)

Stage 1: Day 3

Currently Lacking brainpower that was the best title I could come up with.  I just sort of ran around wearing the hat I'm mid crocheting.  Right now it looks like one of those fur Russian hat things but in a couple of days I think I'll be able to pull off the desired beard mustache combo.  I'm a little worried that since I've been circular crocheting for a while the fuzz will lay differently when I suddenly started straight crocheting.  Also without a head model I'm having difficulties determining how long the hat should go before I start making the sideburns. I'll just have to eyeball it and hopefully David the Destroyer of Worlds' head is about the same size as mine.  This is what it looks like now... I'm going to do maybe one or two more rows and then start the longer section in the back of the hair and the sideburns.  FUN!  :D

I think I'll also post some pics of zhe penguins soon!  :D

Tribble Triumph Hat!

So I completely lost my G-hook so I can't finish my big God Penguin until I either replace it or find it... also I'm almost out of white yarn... I think I can finish the YED Penguin with my original yarn and then I can switch over to the white yarn that I have to buy today for the God Penguin.  I also need to pick up some yellow yarn for the YED so I can see if I have enough white yarn to finish the job.  I <3 JoAnne's and their online coupons!

Since I couldn't work on my penguins I started the much awaited beard/mustache hat of doom!  At first I was so discouraged by the mere idea of working with fun fur... it was hard enough when you're knitting and KNOW where the stitches are!  But since I have pretty big stitches (due to my I-hook) the fun fur is relatively easy to crochet!  I paired it with a pound of Caron's black yarn to add some weight and warmth to the hat.  Together they're going great!  I'm just doing a basic hat pattern and then starting the beard/back of the hat when the pattern calls for ear flaps... it doesn't look too hard and so far the hat looks like a fantastic tribble!!!!!!!  :D

Pics coming soon!

Whacked Out Conspiracy

YAY after two weekends straight in the car I've successfully finished the majority of the penguins!!!!  I've also indulged and watched A LOT of Supernatural.  So far my favorite episode is Nightshifter!  Hehe the cops finally are hunting the boys down and they ended with one of my favorite songs, "Renegade" by the Styx!!!!!!!  Blissfully Blissfully Happy!  AND OH MY JENSEN ACKLES, I JUST REALIZED THAT I ONLY HAVE TWO EPISODES LEFT!!!!!!!!  The second season is almost over O.o luckily I already have the third season!  XD

So back to the Penguins... I've been having a lot of trouble with John Winchester's Penguin beard/goatee... I embroidered on a beard of sorts but it sorta just looked like chest hair.  that's mainly because his chin is his chest but I WILL SUCCEED!  Also John doesn't really have a goatee... but oh well

On a more happy note Sam Winchester the Pink penguin is done and he looks positively girly!!!  I made his wings extra long... cause he's soooo tall.... and they sorta look like pigtails or something!!!  Plus the pink beak and feet don't help the matter but he's man-ly enough to pull it off... especially in Heart (the werewolf episode where Sam proves he *is* hot)

Bobby is done and I like his baseball cap... it's pretty identifiable... I just wish it was removable but instead I just started off the head with the purple yarn made a brim and then switched to black and then white.  Also I've been noticing that my penguins have two distinct sizes... at first I though t I had just picked up my G hook instead of my E hook on one of the penguins but then I realized that I hadn't :(  Apparently when I ran out of black yarn, I bought more and my new yarn is thicker than my old yarn... making the penguin's heads bigger... thus the whole penguin is slightly larger than the rest... This is sorta sad because Dean was my first penguin and now he looks really small in comparison to the rest of the group.  But he'll get over it.  I also discovered that one of the little penguins could actually wear the black head part of an uncompleted penguin and it looks like an army helmet!!! Oh So Cute!  He looks like Sgt. James Byrd from Spyro! (Just minus the heavy artillery)

Overall they're all turning out wonderfully and are the perfect size for juggling and throwing at annoying people... hence their original purpose is being put to good use!!  :D