Spring a ding ding-I WROTE A BOOK

Ah, the weather is perfect this week.

Actually, i hate nice weather. Give me cold or rainy any day. But fine, everybody else like's perfect sunny days, so that's cool. I'll get mine again come fall.

Spring...renewal...

did I mention I wrote a book?

Okay I suck at transitions today, but it's true! I wrote the first draft of a novel. It blows, but I'm told that all first drafts blow. I'm going to at least give it a couple of passes at editing before giving it up.

Oh, what's it about I hear you ask? (Okay, i hear crickets chirping but that's almost like asking)-

Here's the pitch: a young-adult aimed novel that's hoping for older readers who prefer a sweeter story than counts for "adult" fiction, my book is about a typical teenage girl. Who just happens to wake up one day with a tail, large pointed ears and a wicked craving for milk. And that's when life gets a little complicated...

Why it happened, or how, or what she is a mystery that she hopes to survive long enough to find out. But before that happens she'll realize the world is a stranger place than she'd ever known.

Interested? Leave me a comment!

Annoyed by blogger vanity...

Okay, this is bothering me-

If someone has a blog, it's their rules. I get that. Some of the "comedy" blogs are so bone-headedly wrong that I occasionally point out things out, and they block the comment. I get that- they don't want naysayers, they don't want people to realize what cruel and unfair fun is being had. (Ex: whatnottocrochet likes to take pictures of art student projects and hold them up to ridicule in the context of "why would you make this?"- um, it's an art piece, you aren't supposed to. But they don't tell the readers where they got it.)

It sucks that you can't point these things out to other readers, but I get it. Their blogs, their rules. And does it matter to their readers what I say? Of course not, I just like to complain.

I also get not allowing nasty comments on your personal blog. We get enough nasty comments in life anyway, and you really hav no reason to flame a persons just because you don't like them.

Here's what bother me- there's a blog I like to read. Won't name it. The blogger is fairly known in certain circles, but by no means a celebrity. The blog is a personal one, documenting the blogger's adventures. Often it contains a poetic lament upon things gone wrong.

The part that bothers me is that any time I try to post a comment that is not up to the shining "oh girlfriend you're so perfect" standard, it gets blocked. To the point of: the post under comment was about keeping one's hands busy making things for family to get through stress. I commented that that was good, but it's even better to make for charity sometimes- it really is a stress reliever and a way to help someone else too.

Comment blocked.

This often happens, to the point where I don't try anymore. The tone of my comment was inoffensive. No foul language. I didn't even use the dreaded "you SHOULD" phraseology. Just an honest suggestion that I thought the blogger could use- maybe think about donating some creations to help your peace of mind.

Blocked. Why?

Because every other post was along the "everything you make is so gorgeous oh my god I could never do that you are so talented I'm sure everything will be sunshine and bunnies for you" lines.

Ugh. This isn't the first blog I've read to have that problem, and I'm sure not the last. But it bothers me that these bloggers will talk about the "support" they get from their commenters, and the community and sisterhood and blah blah blah...but god forbid anyone see that anyone commented and WASN'T firmly smooching their behind with rainbows and kittens.

Basically, to block a comment is to reprimand the poster, in my philosophy. And I don't think it's good form to reprimand someone for not being over-the-top and praising you enough. If you only want that, don't allow comments at all, because all you're doing is creating a fictional world where only the shiniest of compliments exist for others to see and remark at how praised you are.

Sigh. Rant over.

Hmm...etsy scareth me

Okay, so I got my etsy store all started. Signed up for paypal, gave etsy my credit card number for billing, yada yada yada. Took about 1-2 hours, not to hard.

Then 2 days later Visa calls. My credit card has been ripped off and used to buy a LOT of gas in Connecticut.

Um, is this just coincidence? Because I don't even USE that card anymore...except for setting up Etsy and PayPal.

Okay, I might just be paranoid, but it's left a bad taste in my mouth. I had to shut down my card, spend hours on the phone dealing with VISA, and of course take everything out of my store because I no longer have a valid credit card with Etsy. Now, I'll get a new card, and after watching my bill like a hawk for a few months I think everything will work out okay with ViSA.

But- I'm not sure I want to test those waters again. Should I hand over my new card? Nobody else seems to be having this problem, but my oh my what a coincidence. I don't buy anything online, so my risk exposure is lower than most.

Eh. Who knows. But safe to say for now, etsy life is on hold until I get a card and decide to risk it or not.

Etsy, Etsy, read all about it!

Okay, I'm actually gonna keep this blog up to to date now to chronicle my latest adventure. Finally decided to open my etsy store.

My first offerings are the videogame purses featured below, but more is sitting waiting to be photographed and uploaded.

You can check my store at craftphoenix.etsy.com

So far? Easy to setup, if you don't mind wading through a lot of screens. The biggest hurdle for me was setting up PayPal as I was the last human being on the planet not to have an account. It is kind of depressing if you look around etsy while loading your own stuff though... my niche of weird and video game stuff is full of lots of better crafts than I can make.

Ah well, it's an experiment. We'll see how it goes- and if the merchandise goes!

My first attempts at cross-stitch video game sprites

Okay, so I tend to try out lots of different crafts, mostly trying to figure out what technique works best for what effect.

I'm also a lot more into gamer culture than I used to be.

This inevitably led me to wanting to cross-stitch game sprites, since it's perfectly adapted to that. However, my eyes are bad and Aida cloth is hard for me to see. BUT I finally found a solution- I found on super clearance these needlepoint purse kits. Basically, purses with flaps sewn on that were an open needlepoint mesh.

Mesh is easier to see and count on. So...I took the opportunity to try some sprite stitching.

Here's the most basic, the mario one:



I do like the red shrooms playing off the red fabric of the purse.

Also did a Metroid one:



And finally, Kirby:



That one is my fav. The background is just made up, but based on the background you see during that little launching platform bonus stage in the first NES game. The reason I really like this one though is that I got some wooden beads and painted them up as little Kirby's and incorporated them into the handles (see 'em in the picture?)

I like details.

Oh, and that handle is not ribbon, it's actually holographic plastic lacing that I crocheted really loosely. Looks weird, but feels really cool, kinda like those gelly sandles we wore in the 80's. Remember those?

Dr. Who Scarf!

Yes, it is at long last finished.

Several years ago, I started a Dr. Who scarf. This was when I was first tip-toeing into knitting. I could cast on, and ...knit. Thazzit.

I got 8 feet into this scarf before I realized I'd made a mistake and made it far, far too wide. As dense as it was it couldn't be folded in half, and it was about 1.5 feet wide. Not good for a scarf.

So, I had to take that one off the needles and try again. After 8 feet of scarf. On size 6 needles. *sob*

But I gave it another go, casting on with size 8 needles for a looser drape. And eventually...it was completed. Here it is on Ed, the lucky recipient. And no, it wasn't a surprise...like I could hide working on a project this big in an apartment.



Now, this is sort of a looser interpretation. Partly because I was working off instructions from the BBC which called for DK wool...and I wanted to use worsted weight acrylic. Hey, this much yarn, I'm going with the cheap stuff. So I had to fudge the numbers. This meant I ended up with fewer, wider stripes. But ya know? It still looks like a Dr. Who scarf.

It also looks different because you can't find such funky colors anymore as the original was in. I mean, that color of yellow/orange whatever hasn't been made since the 70s. The scarf was for Ed, who picked out the colors, so at least he's happy with it. We also swiped out the gray section for a dark blue just because it seemed to go better with the whole thing.

So...yeah, it ain't a exact replica. But...it still looks like a Dr. Who scarf. And it's 15 feet long. I ended it short to allow for some stretch (you KNOW a knit scarf that long is gonna grow longer with time) but...still. That's a lot of knitting.

Pretty epic for my first knitting adventure, eh?

Oh, and I've done other stuff along the way, like learn to purl, increase and decrease. But this was still my first project.

Pac-Man scarf!

Okay, I'm kinda proud of this one...

I'm not a huge Pac-man fan, mostly because I suck at it. BUT it is fun to watch other folks play it. But even more importantly, it's colorful and has ghosts and is graphically fun to play with.

So I had an idea for a scarf based on Pac-man...perhaps the first scarf that actually plays with TIME ITSELF.

Ahem. Over-dramatic much?

Anyhoo, here's the scarf:



Notice that one side has the pac running AWAY from ghosts towards a large pill...and the other side has him running TOWARDS the ghosts who have now turned the slightly ill looking blue and white scheme.

It ain't perfect- I would have liked it better if whack-man hadn't suddenly shifted way to the right, but for structural reasons it worked better to sew the little guy onto both sides of the scarf at the same time.

The scarf is double crocheted in black worsted weight, the white dots, ghosts and pacman himself are crocheted in sportweight yarn and sewn on separately.

This is by no means the first pac-man scarf online. Still, I think this might be the first scarf with a plot.