But I also finally got around to photographing a few of the other "over break" projects. Including some socks I had been working on seemingly forever:
This is another pair of The Weasley Homestead socks, which is a pattern I've made several times because it looks good and it's a bit more interesting than a standard stockinette or rib-stitch sock. (It's sort of an elongated basketweave stitch, or a broken rib:)
The yarn is a Dream in Color sockyarn; the color is called "Lucky Jade" even though it looks darker to me than most jade I'm familiar with.
The second one is just a simple pair of ribbed socks (ribbed all the way down the foot) in a Fibernymphs Dyeworks yarn.
it's called "Time to Make the Donuts"
You can probably see why:
I wanted this yarn *partly* because "Time to make the donuts" is something I regularly say to myself as I get up from my desk to go off to class.
In case you're a whippersnapper, or were deprived of TV as a child, here's the reference:
(I think the actor who was the "time to make the donuts" guy died a few years back? I seem to remember an obituary)
I also tried with these socks to make the colors alternate - started on different points in the stripe. I guess it worked out. (Sometimes with hand-dyed yarns, even striping ones, it can be harder to get the stripe sequence to match up, because anything made by hand is going to be a bit more variable).
The next item is a small stuffie. Highly modified from the original pattern, which is called Angry Bunny. I have a hard time making things that are angry. (Though maybe if I'd been finishing it up yesterday evening, I would have gone in that direction with the face....)
Instead, I aimed for "1930s cartoon character" with maybe a tiny bit of "Generation 4 My Little Ponies" influence:
So instead, she's a Happy Bunny, I guess. Her name is Marigold. After I finished her she looked too naked so I made just a really simple dress (like those baby or doll dresses that is two rectangles, sewn together and with a hemmed slit on each side for the arm, and then a casing at the top....I think sometimes they are called angel dresses? I know at one time we had some at church for "choir robes" for the tiny little kids in angel choir).
The fabric is a scrap of some that my grandmother had an apron out of, so it does have a vintage vibe to it (It doesn't date back THAT far; I think my mom said it was from the late 60s or early 70s).
The yarn I used is Big Twist in a bright yellow. I had a skein of it hanging around at my parents' house. At first I couldn't remember what I had it for, but I think it was left from the the Kero-Chan I made LAST year.
And then, finally, a shot of the dolls in their clothes (well, I never change Rapunzel's because her dress was part of the reason I bought her) for today:
I've had that pink dress (the one on Gabby) for a while but I keep coming back to it for her because she just looks so cute in it. And yes, I've added one more....last week when I was out and about and went to the Five Below (really to get greeting cards), they had a few Monster High dolls and I had read that Mattel had essentially killed off the line, so I decided to look if there were any I didn't have. (True to Five Below's name, these were clearance and were marked at $5). I didn't have a Clawdeen Wolf, she was pretty much the only "main" character I didn't have (early on I didn't get either her or Cleo because they seemed like "mean girls" to me, but eventually I got a cheap Cleo - with her cat pet - at Tuesday Morning so I figured I should end my anti-werewolf prejudice* and get Clawdeen).
She's pretty cute.. Her hair, also - it feels like they used a nicer fiber for it than many of the Mattel dolls uses.
(*Heh, because some doll collectors argue that Clawdeen and her family are coded African-American in the movies for various reasons. It does say on the box she's into fashion design, so she's not just a popular girl who maybe looks down a bit on others)
I have dress patterns for these dolls (I've never really made any, other than a few knitted things) but I don't know if I'll re-dress Clawdeen. (Barbie clothes are too big for her - these dolls are shorter, slimmer, and "less developed" than Barbie, so the clothes don't fit). I think she'd be cute in brighter colors than what she has on (like maybe a bright light lavender, to pick up the streak in her hair, or even a hot pink) but I'm not sure I'll ever make the time to make more of a wardrobe.
It's a shame that Mattel ended this line (if indeed they did. For one thing: fully articulated, which is nice and makes them a lot more fun to pose (it also means you can separate the arms from the body, which is why a lot of people find these in thrift shops missing hands, lower arms, or lower legs - in fact, the boxes suggest gently pulling off the hands when you change the clothes to make it easier). And also, the whole "monster" aspect means that "representation" is different (as in: if you're the only Asian family in town, it's not likely you'll find an Asian doll for your kid at the local Target, but a monster doll? Sure.) And also the idea of "all are welcome" or whatever the motto used to be: the idea was all these monsters were different (different races/species/whatever) but they all accepted each other and all more or less got along, and you know? That idea is worth something in a kid's toy - not judging someone for what they look like (though I would say judging on behavior is probably fine; you shouldn't force your kid to try to be friends with someone who is mean to them)
(Mattel has made a big deal about its "fashionista" Barbies but one of the annoying things - at least to me - is that almost none of them have much in the way of articulation - just the "career" type dolls. One of the reasons I paid a premium to get the "curvy" dancer doll was that I wanted an articulated Curvy Barbie, and she was about the only one I knew of. (There is also an African-American more-collector-type doll called Metallic Mini who has articulation and is a very pretty doll, but she was more expensive and I didn't know about changing her clothes - that dress looks more fragile than the jeans and tube top that the dancer doll had on.) I wish all the fashionistas were articulated; I might buy more of them (at least a Tall one and one of the petites, and maybe try to get some other skin tones) if they were....)
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