In the recent past, I haven't felt much like doing any kind of online journaling. There are plenty of reasons, but the ultimate one was that there was little I felt like sharing with the world. So, in mid-April, I started keeping a paper journal (something I never did with any regularity in the past, and have not even done sporadically in the past decade of slice-of-life blogging). I have the largest Piccadilly (Moleskine-style) Notebook, and a set of 20 Staedtler Triplus Fineliner pens that I love, and the variety keeps me faithful.
My favorite thing to do is to make a gradient of paragraphs down the page, with successively darker shades of ink. The molded plastic case that the pens come in is a small marvel of engineering, with a little tube for each marker, a snap-back lid that also forms a stand, and an interesting ridged texture. The triangular shape of the pens is ergonomic; they're lightweight and comfortable to use; in effect they're like a longer, triangular version of Marvy's LePen with fewer design flaws. I'm also happy with the notebook, but its ribbon marker did come loose the other day. (Here's Black Cover's review of the Piccadilly Notebook.)
(Oh my god click on "molded plastic case" and then look at the other fineliner stuff on the menu. I'm geeking out over the pen-shaped pen cup you can get!)
I'm also using some scrapbooking paper I've had around forever for collage backgrounds; when cut to page size, The Old World Stack and The Rock Star Stack are both great, though Old World has more papers that are usable in this way. The patterns are muted, and most of them are smaller scale and cover the whole page. I use a page I removed from the center of one signature as a template for cutting the papers down. The cutting is done with a craft knife and a self-healing mat.
I have recently become obsessed with the idea of a Lamy Safari fine point fountain pen filled with J. Herbin ink in "Poussiere de Lune," but we will see if I can force this obsession to GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY.
Anyway, along with all this paper journaling happiness, there are two free printable creativity aids, one of them recent, the other older. I thought it would be nice to post them here.
Harvard Women's Health Watch published this fantastic new article about sinus problems. It explains the roots of the condition, and what you can do about it, in detail, but also in simple language. If you live in this kind of misery, I can't recommend this article and its suggestions highly enough.
It's timely for me for a couple of reasons. One is that I have had a lot of sinus infections in the last year. I've been plagued with them since I was about 12 years old, but I had been able to stave them off for a while in the relatively recent past. More about that in a minute.
Because I don't have health insurance -- I haven't had it in a decade -- I usually go to the clinic at a local drugstore for this kind of illness. There was a new LPN when I was there last month, and she was much more aggressive about her recommendations than the previous nurses have been. I wound up with a new humidifier, a renewed commitment to nasal lavage and Mucinex, and a course of antibiotics.
The funny thing is that I wrote a long, mildly controversial article about nasal lavage -- sinus rinses -- about 15 months ago, but after I wrote the article, I started to neglect the rinses themselves. The preparation can be time-consuming -- cleaning the NeilMed bottle, boiling water, waiting for it to cool, having a clean area to do the rinse itself, etc. If you'd like to read the article, it's here: Cleaning Your Sinuses.
I had waited several years to get a humidifier -- for some reason, I thought it would be too wet for my bedroom, make all the books damp, etc, but that hasn't been the case at all. I'm thrilled to have it now. I don't even seem to mind that it means an extra trip up and down the stairs at some point during the day, when I rinse and refill the water tank. The one I bought is this Vicks Warm Mist model, for about $37. It's kept near the wall 3-4 feet from my bed.
The second reason the article is timely for me is that my mother just had outpatient surgery on her sinuses, and I've been helping her out for about the past 10 days. She's a terrible patient, because she doesn't take the recommendations to stay in bed seriously enough. The first few days were unpleasant, but she's doing much better now.
The whole thing started this past fall when she had a sinus infection that wouldn't go away. Eventually they did some kind of Serious Business scan of her head (CT? fMRI? PET? I don't know) and determined that one of her sinus cavities was completely packed. There were some visits to an ENT and surgeons after that, and it turned out that one whole side of her sinuses had been blocked for most of her life by a deviated septum. The surgeon removed a bone spur and left a stent in for a week.
My mother absolutely refuses to do sinus rinses, because she says the idea makes her gag (she's kind of a delicate flower about stuff like that). I'm wondering how much she'll protest if she continues to be in a state of chronic sinusitis even after the surgery.
The Harvard article was linked from Popgadget, which I've been reading for years. The blogger there commented that it seemed like nasal rinsing was becoming mainstream in the last few years, when before it had been considered a New Age thing (anyone else remember when George on Six Feet Under gave Ruth a neti pot as a gift, and she was mightily annoyed?).
I'd argue that the mainstreaming of sinus rinses has to do with NeilMed distributing its kits as free samples to doctors' offices. My kit came from my boyfriend's mom, who was the lab tech in an office for many years. I've tried a couple of different products of this kind, and NeilMed's Sinus Rinse Regular Kit is the best -- the easiest to use, the most comfortable solution mix, etc.
I'm hilariously evangelistic about this product; add this Harvard article to the list of things I will be gushing about in the future.
(Thanks to Flickr's Bionerd for supporting the Creative Commons with this pic from a sinus scan!)
Just a quick note to say that I discovered OutsaPop earlier and thought it was worth a look. There's been a "reconstructed fashion" trend the last few years, but I find that most pieces in most of the books that have been published on the topic lately are just eccentric and unflattering, particularly if the book is aimed at high school girls. You have to be sixteen to get away with dowdy "art clothing."
That's not the case with OutsaPop, the brainchild of a Finnish fashion grad named Outi; most of the stuff showcased here is actually wearable and current, and plenty of tutorials are linked.
[via Haute Macabre.]
One of my long-term favorite crafty/fashion/artsy blogs, Red Lipstick, ceased publication yesterday. I'm disappointed! I haven't been following a lot of blogs lately, but I've started to get back into it, and it was a blog I was definitely planning to catch up with.
Staceyjoy's second-to-last post at Red Lipstick was about Weekend Designer, a site I think a lot of crafty types will want to check out -- sewing patterns for recent runway items. Many of the patterns are simple -- skirts, blouses, and accessories made mostly from squares -- but some are as complex as jeans or tailored vests.
I'm not sure whether you will actually wear a caftan after you make it, and I think I might put some waist darts on that pencil skirt; even so, it's worth more than a look. Their tagline is, "It ain't rocket science." You'll learn a lot about drafting your own patterns if you do some of their more complex projects. They seem to be taking the mystery out of sewing as much as Threadbanger aims to, but with less of an indie-rock vibe.
I'm not sure where else this has been featured lately: I'm keeping up with WhipUp and not so much with CRAFT, these days. Both are good, but about a year or so ago, CRAFT started to focus a lot on local craft shows & other stuff that isn't of much interest if you don't live in [insert hipster-friendly metro area *here*], along with a lot of patterns for sale (great if you're the person selling them, not so much if you're interested in free tutorials). A lot of the same free tutorials show up on WhipUp first. That said, I always enjoy CRAFT when I do get around to checking it out.
(Creative Commons photo of Chanel boutique in Paris by Flickr's wallyg.)
I don't remember where I got this link the other day -- it could have been any number of places. At any rate, here they are:
Gourmet Magazine's Favorite Cookies: 1941-2008 includes a recipe for the "best cookie" of each year. There's a wide variety, from savory cookies meant to be dipped in coffee, to tart-like creations, to stained glass window cookies, to basic gingerbread men. One of my particular favorites is listed for 1965: Ginger Sugar Cookies (here's another take on this recipe).
(Creative Commons photo of Dried Cranberry Shortbread Cookies by Flickr user Belochkavita.)
Every time I've tried to post to Vox since my last post, that Firefox 3 bug has eaten everything I've written... hence radio silence on this end.
However, I come bringing seasonal goodies!
I love the Japanese site Paper Museum. It's probably best-known for its printable room boxes, but what I wanted to bring to everyone's attention is actually a few pages of free pop-up cards that you can download and make.
- Christmas cards
- New Year's cards
- Letter sets
- Many more possible craft projects (vehicles, insects, boxes, etc.)
- If you check out the room boxes link, there are some winter and Christmas rooms there.
These are meant for A4 paper, which is a bit longer than American letter-size paper. I'd print on legal-size stock, I guess. You'll need the supplies you'd need for any other papercraft project -- craft knife, cutting mat, straight edge, gluestick or glue pen or both, etc. Skip any purple link buttons, which are just supply shopping links, but download the materials under the pink buttons (all in PDF form).
It's helpful to have the Perapera-kun (or Rikai-chan) Firefox extension for Japanese text translation installed -- hover over a word or phrase on a web page, and you'll get a popup with its meaning. To use Perapera-kun, you need to install Rikai-chan's dictionaries. This is useful for all Japanese sites, in my experience, though sometimes it can be a struggle to hash through to anything cohesive... it just depends on the site and how things are phrased there. For example, hovering over the room box links with Perapera-kun enabled will give you the name of each room.
There are different sites that I read for different reasons, but three of them are a mood-lifting pleasure any time I drop by:
- iCiNG - Happy blog by Gala Darling. The focus is on the girly, sparkly style side, cheerful and uplifting without being simpy... sort of like having a really awesome friend. Difficult to describe, so just give it a visit.
- Posie Gets Cozy - One of the most popular crafty-ish blogs out there. Something about Alicia, the way she writes, and the things she says just makes me feel good.
- LA CARMINA - The newest on the list; I just discovered this one about two weeks ago. Carmen focuses on Gothic Lolita fashion, but has lots of posts that cover tangential interests: DIY versions of clothes by designers like h.Naoto, a Lolita of the week, related historical fashion, makeup, designers. Working my way through the archives!
Now, to address those rumors --
Yes, as those of you who read Valleywag (does anyone who reads this blog also read Valleywag?) might already know, DIY Life will be on hiatus, perhaps permanently, starting on August 1. As far as I know, there are some extrapolated "reports" linking back to that which are inaccurate.
We're all super-bummed, but, you know, it happens. You'll see that we're still publishing, but those are posts we wrote and edited last week, doled out through the week... my work is almost done except for a few loose ends. The bright side is that my to-do list just got a lot shorter, which in itself is a relief!
This post about making a cute decorated jar full of felt strawberries is actually my last; however, I'm rescuing some research and written material that never got published, which may hit the web in some form sooner or later (here or somewhere else). I had a number of half-written articles in draft.
What have I been doing since the news came in Wednesday night? (Aside from apparently coming down with a sinus infection.)
Watching:
Reading:
Back in January, I wrote a monster post about some dolls I have and some dolls I wanted and some other things; now I can write a follow-up, since I've been expanding my doll collection lately. (This will have to do as a post topic; I haven't been making much lately, really.)
I finally did get Pullip Veritas in May, for my birthday. She came from Hobby Link Japan, a great shop -- I totally recommend them. Much less expensive than on eBay, and because it was Golden Week and they were low on stock, I was able to joke about getting "the last Veritas in Japan!" (This is not actually the case; they restocked a few weeks later.) She's much prettier in person.
(HLJ is a perfect place to buy any of the kinds of things you'll see in this post -- including Re-Ment miniatures by the case box!)
I had some personal issues in May, and to cheer myself up, I wound up buying this:
I believe Light and Misa come with their respective notebooks (of doom), but L just comes with some extra hands (which, as the photos show, allow him to examine things and pose in some of his characteristic positions). The dolls are capable of assuming almost any pose that a real human might be able to. Here's a detail version of one of those shots....
It turns out that I have some old (bought in 2005) Re-Ment miniatures that are exactly the same type of cake that L is depicted eating. Serendipity! If I ever take him out of the box, there will be cake photos.
At any rate, two dolls in one month! Who can live at that speed? My next acquisition just arrived the other day, though I found her on eBay when I had a 10%-off coupon, and she came with free Pullip shoes, too... a really good bargain. She's another one you may recognize from January's big doll post:
She also has special eye chips, nicer (IMO) than the standard ones that my original Blythe had (I didn't care for the pink or amber-brown). I think these are special shades of blue, violet, green, and brown.
The trouble -- concern at the prospect of becoming a creepy old lady doll collector. I try to keep it cool. ;)
I did this, and people like it, and I'm doing more, but I need to skip November and December (these take forever to write, I haven't had time to tackle them, and last year is kind of too long ago now). However, I already went through a week or two of November info, so here it is. Knitting patterns only, and it doesn't cover the whole month.
All of this stuff was posted to Knitting Pattern Central in November 2007; then I went through it, weeded out patterns I thought were on the cheesy or incomprehensible side, and wrote descriptions for what was left.
Sweaters
Easy Stripes Knit Jacket: Please ignore the absolutely blinding self-striping yarn (unless you like it, I guess -- it is cheerful) and concentrate on the shape of the jacket. You can make this in any plain wool yarn that knits up at 5.5 stitches per inch at its recommended needle sizes. (Though, keep in mind that the sweater itself is actually knit at 19 stitches per 4 inches; it's the yarn that has a recommended gauge of 22 stitches per 4 inches.)
Fitted Knit Jacket: Knit in a bulky weight yarn, this jacket continues the trend of large, deconstructed collars that were so popular in knitting patterns this past year.
Leaves Jacket: Really more of a cardigan. This pattern, with its leafy, trailing vines, is only available in one size. Unlike some similar freebies, the size is a relatively generous one (about an XL).
Red Summer Top: Light, lacy cables. I am not ordinarily a fan of this kind of square short tunic top, but it has been in fashion this past year.
Saddle Shoulder Pullover: From Unicorn Books. I think almost every man I know owns some version of this sweater. The ribbing on the side helps with the fit.
Seamless Baby Kimono: Available in versions for both regular and bulky yarns! Cute. Australian terms, but in this case that mostly just means metric.
Shawl Collar Short Sleeve Pullover: Something like a vest alternative, a very textured piece that's a bit more refined than the "Red Summer Top" above, though they are similar in shape.
Snowflower Cardie: Cardigan in two possible lengths with Norwegian motifs.
Southwestern Ornament Jacket: Again, more of a cardigan, with colorful panels on a solid ground. Fair Isle and some interesting cables.
White Cable Knit Sweater: A classic and feminine high-necked Aran design.
Headwear
Horseshoe Hat: Cables decrease in size as they climb this classic cap. (Ordinarily, I like to see cables that flow out of ribbing if the two are combined, but I cannot tell if that's the case in this hat without making it... the photos don't show enough.)
Jingle Bell Taos Hat: For babies, kids, and brave or carefree adults. A loose cap made with this stripey yarn becomes a jingling crown when judiciously stitched and embellished.
Oregon Rose Cloche: Picot edging and an interesting embellishment idea make this one extra-cute. Try different colors for spring!
R2-D2 Beanie: Should this be under "Whimsies"? Maybe. It's a beanie that looks like the dome of R2-D2's head, for all your favorite Star Wars fans (and for a very lazy costume, when necessary). Complete with protruding spokes. You need this.
Scarves and Shawls
Criss Cross: Basic scarf with interlaced panels, a motif that's been popular for the last couple of years.
Dragon Scales Shawl: Simple diamond lace. Try this after you've done a lace scarf.
Holding Hands, Feeding Ducks Scarf: "Simple and sweet, like holding hands and feeding ducks." Easy star-stitch scarf in a mottled yarn. Don't knit this one too tightly or use a yarn that's intensely colorful: you wouldn't want to distract from its quiet beauty.
Osiris Scarf: Lovely and intricate cabled scarf with a very high-end look.
Pink Ribbon Hat: Features the "pink ribbon" design related to breast cancer awareness. The designer, Carissa, suggests that you could represent many causes by changing the color. (And I suggest that, if you're adept at stranded knitting, you could change the colors of just the ribbons, or the ribbons and the small cables between the panels, for a two-color look. If not trying it in two colors, you might want to skip the suggestion that you use a rainbow variegated yarn: the cable design will not show up well in a variegated yarn with intense colors.)
Bags
Ballonnett: French for "Little Balloon" (I assume), this is a small, round, drawstring handbag with a ton of vintage charm and many possible uses.
Candy Striper: Glittery, stripey, happy candy-cane goodness, by Vickie Howell. Not just for winter, if you like to wear red and white like I do.
Socks
Pulsations Socks: Lacy ankle socks. The recommended yarn adds a fashionable jolt of color.
Sideways Socks: This design uses self-striping yarn and a provisional cast-on to create stripes that run up and down the leg. After the body has been knit, the sock is grafted into a tube and a toe is added to one end.
Whimsies
Baby Santa Suit: UK terms. This is terribly kitschy, but also cute, and I can imagine that some people will want one for their wee moppet.
Baked With Love washcloth: A shadow pattern of baking supplies. Make this one in light colors, so the motif will stand out.
Knitted Baby Set: A hat, blanket, and sweater. Hearts and dots and multiple pom-poms, for maximum adorability.
Loom-Knit Snowflakes: Well, why not? You can use these in ornaments, embellishments, jewelry, etc.
Poison Coffee Cozy: Yarr! Don't be stealin' me brew, ya scurvy dog! It's a skull-and-crossbone motif drink cozy knit with a stranded technique. That might mean poison, or it might mean pirates: you decide.
Ribbon of Hope Washcloth: In the same theme as the Pink Ribbon Hat above, this washcloth has a heart-shaped two-color Pink Ribbon motif.
Squiddy: This felted squid is not as small as you might think, but he is kind of cute.
Stewie Griffin Doll: As suggested in one comment, Stewie's dreams of world domination have finally come to fruition as he joins a select group of recognizable cartoon characters rendered into knit amigurumi form. Now, practice your best Sheridan Whiteside voice to go along with him.
I also chose a couple of mitten patterns, but I have no idea where to put them.
http://knitwithkt.blogspot.com:80/2007/11/basic-mens-mittens.html
Lady Moss Mittens: Thrummed mittens are extra-warm.
I need to stop drafting posts and then not actually posting them.
I haven't been posting much lately because I'm super-duper busy as heck. Both the lead bloggers at DIY Life (one is darkmatt3r) stepped down at the beginning of March, and a couple of other ladies and I replaced them (the fact that it took three people to replace two harried ones, and the fact that all three of us are still very busy, might give you an idea of how much work we're talking about).
I wrote two long things in March, too. My article about Hinamatsuri, a holiday I think is really nifty because it involves super-fancy dolls, didn't get a ton of hits (but maybe people will discover it over time). There are some craft patterns at the end... a paper diorama, little cloth dolls, etc.
I also did a free knit/crochet pattern round-up for Easter: bunnies and lambs (or, if you prefer, rabbits and baby sheep). More cuteness per column inch than I knew what to do with. I want to make just about everything I listed, but I can't justify doing so. Anyway: Bunnies and Lambs to Knit, Bunnies and Lambs to Crochet.
I'm getting back on those "best free patterns of the month" columns, but skipping a few months. I have notes for a month that I'm not going to cover, so I will post them here. Later today, probably.
W/r/t my last post, I haven't yet bought any dolls. I did find that my local Japanese market is selling a few basic Re-Ment sets, so I bought one (single, not case) box of "Kawaii Kitchen" and one box of some food-based set. I don't think these are the new Americanized versions. Most of their other candy toy sets are based on, like, Power Rangers or some kind of mecha.
I banged my finger up pretty good last week, and in doing so, learned something: if you have a choice between Hello Kitty Band-Aids and non-Hello Kitty Band-Aids, get the Hello Kitty ones. They're bigger than the WaterBlock style anyway, and they will make you smile (at least, they will if you are me). I've been covering my bandaids in porous clear tape, then wearing a rubber finger cot every time I have to wash my hands.
I have managed to get a friend totally obsessed with Death Note. Now we are having long philosophical debates about A) whether or not we would use the Death Note, and how, and B) our deep, abiding love for L. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you clearly spend your leisure time more wisely than I do. (To be fair, though, everyone I know who sees the show becomes mildly obsessed with it. This includes my previously-animation-hating mother, who has also fallen hard for Ratatouille and anything from Studio Ghibli.)
(I'm also giggling at the moment, because Law & Order: Criminal Intent is on, and the suspect's last name is Morrissey, so they're saying things like, "I DON'T THINK MORRISSEY COULD HAVE PLANNED THIS ON HIS OWN," and I'm like, NO, HE WAS TOO MISERABLE, HE WILL BE CAUGHT WHEN JOHNNY MARR TURNS HIM IN....)
Recent Comments
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Binkypoo said:
[this is good]I love the Mead Scaf - have to make a red one! thanks for the link. read more
on couple of free patterns - dolls & scarf - & a word on DPNs - & See Eunny Rock! -
Crafty Minx said:
One of my friends got VERY into April Cornell like 7 or 8 years ago, and I gained some appreciation... read more
on THE CRAFTER'S COMPANION and your own craft space. -
lulubird6 said:
[this is good]great post! thanks so much for the links. I've used recycled sweaters to make my bags. They're grrrrreat! read more
on to market without marketing - on cloth shopping bags -
lulubird6 said:
[this is good]I've been waiting for that Crafter's Companion for a while now. I want to go now to eyeball it in... read more
on THE CRAFTER'S COMPANION and your own craft space.
on Giraffes? Giraffes!