stupid blogger

I posted, but I started it a long time ago so it is down a couple post - before the Phat Fiber one. Here is link. In case you are too lazy to scroll. It is just about plants.

no comic friday

Sorry, no comic today. We've both been feeling crappy most of the week. I'm going to draw a bunch this weekend though. So we have a backlog for circumstances like this.

I do have some nice screenshots from eq2 though. First one is Denaso and her pet raven. Denaso's in her tier one shard armor.

Then we have Dennika brandishing her fabled class weapon. The armor is an appearance set that I bought on the marketplace.

And, lastly, Eunika, contemplating her life philosophy which is best summed up as "Getting punched in the face, so you don't have to." Based on her hair style I'm guessing that she's a DBZ fan.

Blogger is really a bitch when you post multiple images in a post.

Happy friday.

--Abe

Yea! Phat Fiber is here!

I had a sort of rough day at work. I think it was just because I was a bit sick. But when I got home, my Phat Fiber box was here!! So that was nice. So I spent dinner filtering through it. Well, I guess I filtered through most of it, taking pictures, before dinner. So first, here is the box that was waiting for me on the couch. This was the Folklore and Fairytales box. Very cute.

And here is the lovely view when I opened the box. Such a sweet little book thing and lovely tissue. It was all very exciting. Add to that the intoxicating smell of fiber that wafted out and I got a little dizzy. Or it is being sick.

When I opened the book there was a folded page of tissue and a book page - from the Hobbit. So cute.

And here is what I saw when I opened the little tissue package. Goodies!!

First is this cute little pumpkin stitch marker from Vickie's Knitted Things. This looks like a pretty nice one that shouldn't catch on the yarn.

The back of the pumpkin card had this cute little quote (I think) from Cinderella.

Then I have an adorable teeny tiny black stitch marker from Designs by Tami. Very cute, but I am wondering if the marker part will catch on the yarn. It wasn't closed well, though that could have been from all the shipping. But I think I have fixed it now.

I think this next one is just scratch paper from Munchkin Punchkin. Handy to keep with your knitting to make little notes where you are and stuff. Good size for that.

And finally, but certainly not least in the little package, a cute little knitting greeting card from Winemaker's Sister.

That was it for the top part. There was a whole second half to sift through! So exciting. This was just like Xmas!

Agh! Look at all the stuff!

First up, some wool yarn in Hansel and Gretel color by Coolclimates Handspun Yarns. It is pretty cute. I don't know what I would make if I had an entire skein. Actually, I think this could make a really cute tea cozy for Xmas. Ooh. Now I might have to get more... It has little beads in it, like candy and everything.

Here is cotton yarn in Enchanted Castle colorway by Goodness Gracious. I think I will make this the center part of a wash cloth.

This is the craziest yarn in the bunch. Wool, firestarter (which I think is just shiny stuff), metallic thread, angelina glitz (more shiny stuff?), superwash wool, novelty yarn, more merino, and some alpaca in the Fairy Godmother colorway by Blue Mountain Handcrafts. Not really my thing. I have no idea what I will end up doing with this. Not really my colors.

This is one of my favorite yarns in the bunch, at least colorwise. It is wool and a pinch of nylon in the Sleeping Beauty colorway by Knit It Up. It is pink and olive green with a bit of apricot, silver, and purple. Very pretty colors. Well done.

This is some sweet alpaca yarn in Unicorn colorway by Fiber Diversions. I love alpaca, so what can I say. The colors are lovely and subtle. I am curious how it will work up.

Here is Abe's favorite from the box. This is superwash merino in the Dragonskin colorway by Knitty and Color. It really is a good one. Superwash, but very soft and squooshy. No idea what I want to make with it yet. Maybe some wrist warmers. That would be funny.

I love tihs one. I think I might end up getting more of it because it is so pretty. Organic merino in the Princess Bride colorway by Xtreme Spinning. (The website I have isn't working...XtremeSpinning.com So pretty - blues and nice purples. This is a fair chunk of roving, too.

This is another one of my favorites. What?! I can have more than one. This is organic merino in the Brownie colorway by Natchwoolie. Say it like Naturally. Haha. I like this colorway even though it is all brown. It is subtle and interesting. Natural plant dyes, too. Nice and squooshy.

I missed a yarn when I had been sifting earlier. This is superwash wool in Graymatter colorway by Serendipitous Ewe. I love the name of the color and I actually like the color a lot. Fingering weight.

This is a mohair blend from Lord of the Skeins in the Grandelf the White colorway by Dragonmaille Designs. Its alright. I am not a big mohair fan. Itchy. But the color is nice and I think it could look nice with the Unicorn skein. Or even the Fairy Godmother skein.

More roving! This is alpaca/silk/merino/angelina in the Snow White colorway by Plum Crazy Ranch and Fiber Art. I am not a big fan of the sparkly stuff, but this one looks kind of festive.

I love this ogre roving by My Fair Yarn. What a great color. Not the soft but the color is subtly variegated. Very pretty. I would totally wear a sweater or something in this. An outer sweater, not a to-skin sweater.

This is a lovely mix of wool, mohair, and carbonized bamboo. I am not sure what that last one means exactly, but this is some of the softest roving. Absolutely lovely. The color is night elf from the Myth and Magic Fiber club by Serendipity Fiber Arts. It also has a stitch marker from Paige's Beaded Creations. The club looks like fun, but it appears to only be a one month subscription. Which seems to me that it isn't a club.

This is superwash merino and nylon in the Briar Rose colorway by Munchkin Punchkin. Great light blues. Briar rose is apparently the Brother Grimm name for sleeping beauty. A brief overview of the entire tale is on the back of the package and is pretty funny.The roving is pretty soft too.

This is roving of wool, firestarter, and angelina (why do so many fiber artists include this in their roving and stuff?) in the Wicked colorway, which is awesome, by Crystal City Fibers. I actually can't wait to see how this spins up.

There is also this pattern for a heart by Michelle Miller of Fickle Knitter Design. So sweet. I need to pick a yarn. I could spin up some yarn! Dye some and spin it (or the other way around) and knit away!

And then at the bottom, was this roving by Sheepy Kitty. I have no idea what it is made of or what colorway it is, but it is pretty nice. Lovely shades of dusty purple. Perhaps I will make something for Abe from it. Or me. We'll see.

And so the first thing I did was spin up the Snow White roving by Plum Crazy Rang and Fiber Art. I actually like it. It was annoying to spin up the Angelina (the shiny bits) because it kept coming out and falling in my lap. And it kept coming up in big chunks, but oh well. I think the yarn turned out quite nice. I decided to try a two-ply yarn, which I never do, and I actually like it. I made a bad 2-ply once and hadn't tried since. When I knit with it, it kept coming undone, untwisted. Very frustrating. But that was a pretty bad one. And I think I spun it the opposite directions this time. S then z instead of z then s. But it only took about an hour to spin up the whole thing.

Wow. What a blast. I think next time I will get the spinning only box because so many of the yarns are a chunky weight and only 15 yards or meters, which is hardly enough for anything! I will have to see if ravelry has any patterns for these little bits...

Return of the wednesday comic!

Today is my day off and it's a good thing too cause I've been miserable with a cold for the last 4 or 5 days. I went home early on monday and missed work on tuesday. I'm feeling like I'll be good to go back tomorrow though.

I should start having at least one day off in the middle of the week from now on. So you should expect to see the comics in a more regular way in the near future.

I sketched out this one on my break one day last week. I envision Georgie as been nearly as sarcastic as Angela.

Yesterday I sat on the couch and watched Weeds. I love that show. Angela hates it so much that she won't even sit in the livingroom when I watch it. The first episode really freaked her out.

Well, I'm beat now.

--Abe

My green thumb may have fallen off

So a bit ago, we finally gave Abe's mom back her plants. She had forgotten about them. And we had done a good bit of killing on them. Nothing was quite dead, but nothing was growing well either. We had two plants that were growing well and they were my plants. Here they are.

This first one is in a cute little terracotta pot my friend Rijl gave me for my birthday last year. There was Sindy's desert cactus in it, but we transplanted it when we gave the plants back to Sindy. I had to move it out of another holder because it had gotten so big. I have no idea why it is growing so well. I guess I am using Miracle Grow Moisture Control, but the extra grow stuff is only supposed to last for three months. It has been much longer than that. I put this pot in a bowl because the hole in the bottom is so large the water would just fall right out. I want to knit or crochet a holder for it. This one looks really good hung up.

Here is another plant of the same type. It is not growing quite so abundantly, but still not bad. This one is in an awesome Owl pot I got at Goodwill, I think. This is one of my favorite pots. This one is adorable hung up where you can really see the owl. For some reason, they keep turning whiteish. I am not sure what that means, but when it happened to this one, I moved it down to the table where it could possibly get more light and that seemed to fix it. But now it has happened to the other one, which I think you can see a little.

And then there was my ill-fated attempt with catnip. I killed this off, but then when I thought all was lost (the plant was entirely dead, so I pulled it out), a couple of little sprouts came up. So I watered those and they have grown into this. The first two have fallen over and a third one has sprouted. I can't wait to watch this grow. I don't know what will happen since they keep falling over. The cat liked it when we first got it and ate it right off the plant a couple times, but she went a little overboard and we had to hide it from her. She is leaving it alone now.

When we went to see 9, mom gave me some plants. This one is the oregano. I don't use oregano that often, but perhaps I will try some now that I have this fresh stuff. I will for sure wait for it to grow a bit, take hold, before I use any. This one looks kind of straggly, but mom said that is how oregano looks. This is actually planted in an ugly little pot I made in high school. I made a number of things in high school that I still have, like this from art class and a bench from wood working. I think it might be my least favorite thing I ever made in those classes. I guess there is also this ugly little napkin holder that I did a terrible, Terrible job on.

And here is some mint. I asked mom to bring me some mint so I might be able to try some fresh mint tea. Teeny tiny little thing that I can't wait to watch it grow. This is in a little pot that I got a cactus in for my birthday in high school. It took a while, but I eventually killed that. It melted. I let it go too long without water and then gave it too much water. But the pot itself is pretty adorable. I don't know if I will like it completely fresh, but perhaps I can dry it and save it for later.

Note that this is an older post that I forgot to publish. I got excited with other things, like the Phat Fiber stuff (which is waiting for my return at my aunt's where I forgot it). I have some nifty stuff to post about including MORE yarn stuff. From Knit Picks and the Blue Moon.

I have too been knitting!

I have started reading the blog of the guy who did (does?) Mouseguard (David Petersen). I haven't read any, but I am intrigued and intend to read them at somepoint. Anyways, on his blog I got to the NYT (New York Times) Graphic Novel Best Sellers. The Hardback ones are mostly Batman. The paperback Watchmen has been on the top 10 for 28 weeks! That is a list I would like to keep an eye on.

I have an idea for some gloves. First I will write the pattern as best I can. Then I will knit a pair for me and a pair for Abe and then the pattern should be ready. This one will take a little bit of non-knitting research first, but I think it should be pretty cool. I got Abe's yarn coming in the mail. I kind of went nuts on the Knit Picks site. For Abe's gloves we got the Stroll Tweed Sock Yarn in Blue Ox. I also got the yarn for my sweater and the Tidings of Joy kit. And a bit of surprise that is in preparation for Xmas. Yeah, I know.

Anyways, here is the Ogre Lolita sketch. I will get the watercolor pic up perhaps Monday.

I also finally got a picture of the Penguin Tawashi I made for Abe. Took me long enough. Abe says it is too cute to actually use as a washcloth. Gah. What a waste. Just joking. It is pretty cute. I kind of had to fudge the pattern because I didn't quite get it. But I think it turned out okay. He is just sitting on top of a jar for now. He was on top of Abe's coffee maker, but Abe kept picking him up by the head instead of the wing so he head was always partially concaved, which looked really weird. It was a lot of fudging, but still pretty fun to crochet.

And here's is Abe's Trilobite Hat (on my head). Actually, I got a professional cut and dye the other day and now my hair looks great. I like it a lot. A regular bob with straight bangs.

Here is the detail of the trilobite. You can see there is a lot of ribbing and Abe is really tall, so unless he is sitting no one will really see the pattern. Oh well. Abe likes it. Sorry the pattern is blurry. This was the only picture of the detail without dog hair on it.

And here is what it looks like to the normal person who is just looking at the hat on someone else's head and not hovering over them Almost looks just like a ribbed hat. Oh well. The color in the previous picture is truer to color. And that is totally a poster of Perfect Blue in the background.

Next comes some roving I dyed from the huge lot of wool I bought on Craigslist almost a year ago. I fret so much about running out that I rarely use it. But that should be fixed. I am getting over it. There is always more wool somewhere. So this is a second dip batch. The color was black with a little green. The first yarn came out a lovely grey color. And the second batch came out this great gray green color. I like it a lost. I wish I knew how to make it again, but I think I would have to make the gray first, again. The picture isn't that great, but I think the color is pretty accurate.

And the Monkey Farts! That is seriously the color name for this brown and yellow and white roving. You can see I also spun up a bunch (maybe half?) and I think it is fingering weight. There is a penny in the middle one, which I realize after I opened it on the computer that a penny was probably the wrong choice. Any other coin probably would have worked a lot better. :) This is from Spunky Eclectic and I like it a lot. I think this is the BFL (blue-faced Leicester) roving.

Next is the wonderful Blue Moon roving I got during a break during the one class I took at Madrona Fiber Festival earlier this year. Oh man. This is the softest stuff. I think it is a mix of wool and silk or something equally pleasant. But the fibers are a lot shorter than the Monkey Farts so I keep pulling too far and dropping the spindle. Very annoying. But I think it is spinning up quite lovely. Both of these are a Navajo 3-ply. Which is about all I ever do because it is so fun (and I don't really know how to do anything else and this one guarantees that you won't have leftovers, which I dread.)

On Saturday, Abe wanted to go to Barnes and Noble to get the next in the Recluse series, which he is really enjoying. So I looked around. I almost got a few books, but instead I got a keychain version of Boggle! Which I intended to bring up Saturday night to Outback for dinner with my family, but I forgot it. Plus we were way late so we wouldn't have had time anyways. I looked at a bunch of craft books. I checked out Epstein's Knitting on Top of the World. I was not impressed. It appears that most of the patterns are in various pinks and purples and I am not so into that. Not since early grade school anyways. And the patterns were all very strange. Like strange for the sake of being strange. I want to get teh book Dyer's Garden, but they didn't have it last time and I think I will get it from some other place when I do get it. I totally want to get the book Subersive Cross Stitch. I think I should do one of her free patterns first, though, to see if I like cross stitch. Looks very simple.

We also got 2 cds while at BnN. Abe got the new Ingrid Michaelson CD, Be OK, which is pretty good, but so much softer than her last one which was very rock (which is great). And we got Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Murder Ballads. It appears this CD was recorded over a period of years, which explains why his vocals vary so much. Sometimes they are pretty bad (can't hit a note in the first try) but some are pretty good. There are a couple ladies who sing in a couple different songs. Those are really pretty. The lady singers are better than he is, but the sound great together.

Also on Saturday, Village Yarn and Tea was having a huge moving sale (they are moving to an awesome new location, thought it would be had to have a location as bad as the one they have now). I am really excited. They are going to be in the same lot as a great book store, so I think I will go there a lot more because Abe will want to go to the book store. Anyways, I got this great yellow tea pot for only $5. How awesome is that!? It holds about 3 cups (mug versions, not tea cups). I have the same or similar teapot in brown too. That brings me up to 6 tea pots. Abe says I have a problem...

I also got this Peony Tear Drop tea from their clearance and now I am really sad because I think they will not be carrying it any more and it is amazing. This is the tea I have been looking for. But they have another Peony tea that I will try - White Peony Tea.

While at the sale, I also got the yarn to make some felted slippers from the book Knit 2 Together, which is a great book. I love the pattens in this book. Anyways, the yarn is Manos Del Uruguay in gray and yellow. (The colors I used are not on that site...) I knit the slippers in under 4 hours. (I think I mention this above, too.) Anyways, the are currently sitting on top of the oven, which is on, so they will dry because they are all felted. To felt them, I got them wet and put them in the dryer with a pair of jeans. Works pretty well. Just check them every 15 minutes or so. I think these are going to be nice and warm. I wish they were dry already because my toes are cold and I want to wear them now. I think I may make another similar pair for deeper in the winter that come further up my foot. Perhaps even a few inches up my ankle. These are really just slip ons. Though they will work fine with socks.

I also got this great yarn. Cashmere lace weight. Maybe even cobweb. I have no idea what to make with it. It was so on sale, I had to buy at least one skein. 1500 yards. Not bad. Perhaps a cowl, but that will barely touch the yardage. I was thinking perhaps Ice Queen from Knitty. That is the kind of cowl I want to make, one that slides down around your neck or extends up over your head.

But seriously, this is how good the price was. Only $10.70. Regulary around $20, so 50% off. Who can complain about that. And 100% Cashmere!! And I just love this color.

Finally, I also got (well, Abe bought it really) this Claudia Hand painted fingering weight yarn in Eat Your Veggies for another Abe hat. I know I just made him one, but I suck at making his hats. They all slip off his pointy little head. This time, I am going to make the Ganomy hat. I think this will be great. I might even add little buttons and loops on the ear points so he can flip up the ears so he can hear. I am going to make a similar hat for myself with some handspun I bought at the Bellingham Farmer's Market. Mine will be pointy and Abe's will be fitted. I am really excited to make this very popular Elizabeth Zimmerman hat.

So after all the wonderful shopping, I frantically tried to get the September Phat Fiber kit. At 5:00 (7cst), I crazily clicked through all the purchasing steps and I got it! At 5:01, I was back on the Etsy site and they were all sold out!! There were 37 of the option I chose, so I can't even imagine. That is crazy. Less than 60 seconds to sell out. Anyways, I am super excited. I have three things coming in the mail now. The Knit Picks order, this fiber box, which is a random box of spinning and knitting stuff, and some buttons for the Girl Friday sweater. These buttons are awesome. She may become my main source of buttons (which isn't saying much because I don't often buy buttons.

And Saturday night, after a very quick and nearly cold meal at Outback in Burlington, we went to 9. This was a great movie to watch, but the story was missing something. I wish Tim Burton had directed it or helped write the script because it was a dark, twisted movie that just needed that extra little push from Burton to make it a great movie. It had a lot of potential, but never really got to that great point I was hoping for. Ah well. I am really glad I saw it on the big screen because it is wonderful to look at. Maybe Burton could do a sequel. I think that is possible and it left potential for continuation of the story. But the next one needs a little something extra.

And now Abe and I are both sick. The cold appears to be going around both our work places (perhaps even the flu at his place). Ah well. We'll live. I just have a hard time drawing, especially when I am sick. I need to do something, but I can't think of anything. Last night I came up with an Arthur and Georgie script with a joke I have wanted to do for a really long time, so perhaps I will do that tonight. And I will drink my Gypsy Cold Care tea and feel better.

--Angela