some knitties

more knitties! the gray hat and olive drop-stitch scarf was for a private swap with bubbatink, and the colorful hat was for snacker, who begged me and begged me for one of these hats... who knew they would be so popular!

taking charge

i'm done being unhappy. no, not just in a random mood flip type of way. it's not going away by itself. but i'm tired of being unhappy. bitter. resentful for all that has happened.

so i've decided to not be. i'm finally taking charge, stop feeling bad and moving along. i am going to make my own happy.

self-portrait tuesday -- on wednesday.

i didn't forget. just was trying to get stuff done for school; ideation for me right now is really difficult. i drew this because it would've taken all too much time to take a picture of myself -- i know that sounds silly, but it's true. either way, this is how i really feel. unhappy. exhasperated. zitty. i need a vacation.

i just love typography.

and here are typographica's best of list for 2005. i know it's february and a little late, but hey, here it is. i am in love with this list's cezanne pro, and although everyone uses it, i still love it for all its swashes. as for new technologies (altho i don't know how new this is) here's some info about opentype fonts. oh here's also the 2004 typographica list. on it is linotype's avenir next (swooon!) it sounds super dumb to people who don't do type but if i had a thousand dollars at my disposal this second i wouldn't hesitate to drop it on the full set. it has TRUE SMALL CAPS! and OLD STYLE FIGURES! it is so hard to find good old style figures in sans serifs. i think i'm in love.

oh god, i'm a type-nerd.

more bad days = bad week

today is hopefully the end of possibly the worst week i've had for ages. that includes finals! here were the bad things:

1. an uncomfortable disagreement at school
2. missed appointments (on the other person's part, not mine, but it made me lose a lot of time)
3. lack of motivation in general
4. lot of stress about my general direction career-wise
   
5. and today, to top it off, i've lost my cell phone on the bus.
   

sigh.

i did have highlights in my week, though:

1. marco gave me sees candy and loverly smelling perfume for valentine's day
2. i got a bunch of roving and a ron weasley shirt for a swap
   
3. last night i saw nigel holmes, this awesome information graphic designer who came to speak at my school. he was such a great presenter (HILARIOUS) that i loved him instantly.very inspiring, making me look forward to studying what i want instead of just going along with the curriculum.
   
4. and today i got a sock monkey for another swap.
   

too bad the "bads" got one up on the "goods." i promise i'll stop complaining now.

bad days & cat toys

sigh. i'm having a very bad week. like i just want to give up, lie around my house and eat rum nougat all day long type of bad.

but here are some knitties:

i made cat toys for an ongoing swap :) they are total instant gratification knitting! and it gave me an excuse to get rid of little vestages of some purple fun fur i had lying around. and let me tell you, in knitting, fun fur is not so fun.

Self Portrait Tuesday -- All of me

all of me. this month's theme made me think of myself as a whole. but then it made me think of each part of me. each piece of me. i feel this picasso-like drawing is fitting, then, because right now, i'm trying to look at myself from different angles, literally, creatively, and honestly.

the next mr. winkle

this is my piece de resistance! a picture with rusty sticking his tongue out at us! he actually sleeps with his tongue out all the time, we just never get a clear picture of it. but this one is classic.

some photos

i'm learning to spin yarn! actually i had given up on this until my friend from high school, samantha, came to visit me last weekend. she is a crafty queen and showed me how to do it properly :) she made it seem pretty easy and it really is, kind of. you just have to get a rythmn. and a better drop spindle than i currently have.

this is a picture of marco playing with his new toy! my mother got him an espresso machine for his birthday and he LOOOOVES it! he makes a cappuccino every morning! i think he even wakes up a little early for it. just look at that perfect cup of coffee...

Self Portrait Tuesday -- my crooked finger

this month's theme for self-portrait tuesday is "all of me." i'm supposed to be embracing my mistakes, showing everyone everything about myself... as i thought about this theme, i thought to take pictures of my yucky bits. today, my yucky bit is my malformed finger. it's the pinkie on my right hand. as you can see, it's ridiculously crooked.

the first and only time i've ever actually broken any bones was this one time in fourth or fifth grade where i was playing handball and the ball hit my finger pretty hard and it must of been head-on 'cause it hurt. bad. i remember the big pinkish red ball, those lethal ones they use in dodgeball, coming at me. i remember being taken to the nurse's office and thinking that this was the worst time possible because after recess we were supposed to have an art lesson afterward, which i had been secretly looking forward to all week. i remember i ended up at a doctor's office or a hospital and they took x-rays of my poor twisted finger.

they ended up putting one of those foamy-metal splints on my finger, which i was not to take off or touch. of course, i touched it with glee and took it off often to examine the finger that was now way more interesting than the others. this wanton disregard for professional medical advice, coupled with a love for seeing my normal finger pointing in weird directions, has made my pinkie finger crooked and has made the middle knuckle stick out obtusely to one side. it's still functional of course: it types, it pinkie promises, it curls at a suspenseful movie, but it has more character i daresay than my other pinkie, which although is not perfectly straight either, is just a normal pinkie.

i learned to needle felt!

these are my very first needle felt creations! i got a great little kit from craftykate for no particular reason whatsoever except that she wanted to share (how generous!). the kit had needles and really colorful roving... you know, it's really true when they say all you have to do is poke it with a needle. i'm going to be making many more needle felt things to come because i feel it is so therapeutic (um, you're stabbing something with a needle and getting something out of it -- so great!). well these are my firsts and i'm pretty happy. the little beads at top right, though i must say are not needle felted, but wet felted instead. but i love the way the little flower came out! i'm planning on making this stuff into hair clips since my hair is so short now :)

also, craftyzary has received from a private swap we did :) i made her a basic cable hat from stitch n' bitch. i've always wanted one in black, maybe i'll make myself one! i hope she enjoys it.

food swap & katie's hat

i made this purse with felt cupcake applique for the food swap. i tried to hand-felt it, but it only came out kinda felted (still nice, but only kinda felted). i also made the little cupcake pincushion (those round sprinkles are pins) :) i also made a bunch of other stuff, too, like an ebi necklace and some maki earrings. i made a bacon bracelet too! but i didn't get super clear pictures :(

kat_penguino received the hat i made her! it's made with baby cable knit and it's snuggly! i love the color and thought it came out cute!