Eastern Market

Dinner

Knitting (Rowan Action)

Tonight, I sew a duvet cover!

The hat pattern from my last post is finally ready! I wasted a lot of time thinking up a name before I realized that there could only have been one name for it, really, so it is named after Guinan. Here is why:

Yeah, I don't really intend to wear it this way, but if other people do, I promise not to judge them to their faces. Otherwise I think it's pretty cute (when worn like a normal person and not Whoopi), and it's dead easy to execute.

Here it is, looking like a cookie:

So, that's done but it's not all. Remember this?

Well, now it has THIS!

Yep, I sewed a liner up in this mother. I am very proud of this, because I had no idea what I was doing when I slapped it together. Oh, and it is slapped indeed. I'll have to remember to post up a status report after a day of carting around my normal purse contents. You know, makeup, wallet, three bottles of water and ten pounds of pennies. Oh, and my car keys. I machine sewed the liner itself and then hand sewed (hence the crapness) it into the bag.

This concludes the craft portion of this post. Coming up: dork portion.

Now see, Washington DC is famous for its cherry blossoms. Every year citizens look forward to the beauty of the flowering trees and the cultural education of the accompanying Cherry Blossom Festival. It is very Japanese and thus cool.

But there is a wild fringe element. These few look forward to dressing up like the only Japanese subject they care about: anime characters. (And maybe having Kanji tattoos. Or more likely just T-shirts written in Japanese.)

That big one totally wants to cut me with his cardboard sword.

Seriously, though one out of every four attendees was dressed like the specimens above, or in really badly tied and styled kimono (complete with inappropriate makeup & hair chopsticks).

Which is fine, for as long as you make me laugh (at you), you are redeemed. But do you have to inflict this on the animals? Won't somebody think of the animals?!

Multiple things, actually, but this is the nicest looking and thus fit for the blog:

The seams are really messed up (I think the fabric was too thick in places or something), but I love it all the same. MK was REALLY impressed with the finished item. And then he got a gleam in his eye and told me to start selling them. I declined. Fabric cost + 4 hours of my time = a million dollars per bag. But then, I'd only have to sell one bag...

I used the Tote Bag pattern from Lotta Jansdotter's book, Simple Sewing. I bought the fabric at G Street, it's patterned corduroy and some cotton canvas I found as a remnant. Okay, so this happened when I started knitting so I shouldn't be surprised that it happened with sewing, but I got huge sticker shock while shopping for fabric. Luckily, I am very flexible when it comes to buying crafty items (I know, it's a gift), and was able to come out of a faint long enough to purchase several yards of stuff. That corduroy? $30 frickin' dollars a yard (Note: I totes did not buy a full yard)! Suddenly, a $150 sheet set feels like a bargain.

I've been knitting lots of stuff too. Behold, one Endpaper Mitt:

Just one, I'm not happy with the Rowan Scottish Tweed 4-ply and it's thick and thin consistency, so I'll try this pattern again later with a smoother, more regular yarn. Nice colors, though. I took a free fair isle class at the Capitol Hill Stitch DC, and now I'm a fair isle maniac.

I also knit a hat (pattern coming soon), a robot, and sewed a pillow case and a reusable Swiffer thing. Man, I'm really tired.

Cuttles never thought he'd find the day someone this perfect would fall into his lonely tentacles. Tootie is thrilled someone as interesting as Cuttles is just as fascinated with her. They both feel a deep spiritual connection, enhanced by their shared love of the nightlife.

Both hail from the town of Hansigurumi-ville (different sides of the track), and they are looking forward to having a flock of Knitpicks Highland Wool children in a tree by the sea.

Cuttles is totally copping a feel.

*PS

Thank you all for the sympathy with the car window. The assfucks only (only, sheesh) took a GPS we had in the windshield. We always put it away, and the ONE NIGHT we don't, some motherfucker gets his chance to be a piece of shit. Well, it's behind us now, and I have a new GPS (and window), and that bitchass cockwad has a desperate life of crime that will end in jail and ugly prison tattoos. I WIN.

Look what Christie from Superstarra -ville sent me! And with the sweetest little card, too. I'm going to hug him and kiss him and call him George. Thank you, Christie!!

Uh oh, bad George! Stop eating Bob! Don't you know that he is made of Elsebeth Lavold Angora using size 7 Knitpicks Options needles? (Kim the Author: "Damn, that was smooth.") Well, okay, you look cute devouring his flesh. And he can't scream, because he doesn't have a mouth.

This baby elephant is not taking any chances. He sees George looking at him and licking his zippered chops and he is getting the fuck out of town. Or, er, the couch, as the case may be. Whatever, he will make friends with George later. After he survives. Note to self: Rename George, "Tsathoggua." Second note to self: Learn how to pronounce George's new name.

Across the living room, a slug attempts an escape by flinging himself over the armchair. If only he could unstick himself from the leather. Tsathaggua-George is so misunderstood. But once I fill him with stitch markers and measuring tape, he'll never hunger for knitted flesh again.

All creatures besides Bob are made using Brown Sheep Nature Spun, a reasonably priced, 100% wool, worsted weight yarn. I rate it 2 for softness, 9 for hardiness. Let's just say a lot of ripping happened to earn it that 9. I bought the patterns from Etsy vendor hansigurumi. Check her out, she's got a lot of adorable and unusual patterns. They're on Ravelry, too. I learned about hansigurumi from the fabulous Kathryn Ivy, who makes something beautiful just about every single day, and I totally stalk her.

P.S.

I can kitchener stitch now! And I learned the provisional cast-on. Knittinghelp.com is the shit.