First up: the most recent finished thing, the Alux mitts:
The photo doesn't capture the sparkly Lurex strand that's in there, but it's there. This is a less-soft and more-splitty yarn than many I've worked with and I admit I don't recommend it. (it was a free ball with an order from KnitPicks). I suppose another thing to try is washing and blocking them with a little conditioner - they are mostly alpaca wool but it's not very soft alpaca and maybe the conditioner would help. Or maybe I'm just spoiled by the indie-dyer sockyarns that are nice and soft (Dream in Color is a good one, and the ones I've had from String Theory Colorworks have been excellent).
Also, here's a preview of the hat I'm working on that will be a giveaway - again, if you want it, or are a collection point for a charity that can use not-quite-100% wool, thin knit but washable hats, let me know:
At least on my monitor, that's pretty true to color - it's sort of a Tyrian purple, and I was really hoping for the peach and other colors to be through the whole skein, but like I said: it's like there are two different dyelots there and that displeases me a little. I don't know if I'm just being a crank about it or if the hat really does look that bad, but it bothers me in kind of a fundamental way and I don't think I'd wear the hat.
The biggest thing, but I probably won't finish it today, is binding the "Birb" quilt:
It's also just kind of a cruddy day - overcast and super humid outside - so I figured there was no sense in trying to peg it up on the clothesline to photograph it.
I'd like to finish this but it will depend on how long the Wesley Center Board meeting is...because tomorrow is first day of classes and my plan is to get into bed around 8:30 so I feel like I've slept enough.
I also took a little time yesterday and redressed the various dolls that periodically get redressed. I tried out the funny "is it a maxiskirt? is it a sundress?" on Gabby and shoot, yes, she will look cute in practically ANYTHING:
That's pretty clearly a homemade bit of clothing. (And I can't tell if it's a maxiskirt or a simple sheath dress; I guess it could work for either). I'm guessing 1970s era fabric, though it's possible the dress was made later - in my household, we had fabric scraps stretching back to before my mom was married, and it was usually the small scraps I was invited to use for making things.
Also, on Friday, my Hermione Granger doll came, but I wasn't really in a frame of mind to open her up (And Mattel: Y U use so many bits of plastic and those stupid little plastic tag things that you have to CUT and which are right in the back of the head so you are having to cut CLOSE TO THE HAIR to get the doll out of the box? If I were ever to start a doll company, the boxes would be sealed but the dolls would be held in place with tied ribbons so they could easily be taken out after purchase!)
It's not a particularly good photo of her. The doll is a lot cuter in person, and is a pretty good likeness of Emma Watson in the early movies (I prefer the earlier parts of the saga - more fun and less lurking horror):
She also comes with a "wizard robe" which I haven't tried putting on her because I kind of like that her wand is held on with a clear rubber-band and I don't want to take that off to try to get the robe on her (it has a tiny molded part that I suppose attaches to the thumb of that hand, but the clear rubberband seems more secure). Anyway, I like her school uniform as it is, without the robe over it.
Also note that just like me when I was in prep school, one of her knee socks droops below the other.
(And her hair is a lot like mine: similar color and kind of uncontrollably frizzy).
She is smaller than Barbies - perhaps closer in size to Barbie's sister Skipper - shorter and slimmer and not "developed." And I like that.
She does have the stupid molded-on-to-the-body-and-flesh-toned Mattel underpants and I am contemplating making a PROPER pair of cloth underpants for her or....wait....I have a pair of white shorts in the Barbie clothes I had from a bag of mixed doll clothes I bought years ago, those might work. I just think she needs proper underwear, maybe even more than the "mature" dolls I have....
I might have played more with dolls as a kid if there had been dolls with "proper" articulation like this (her knees, hips, shoulders, elbows, and wrists move, and some of the Made to Move type Barbies also have a waist joint). Yes, when I was a kid the arms and legs on dolls moved and Barbies had those "click-click" knees, but Barbie knees often wore out, and also the arms and legs just rotated and didn't "raise" (so it was less like a human arm joint) and it made play with them feel very limited. Also, I think on some level I felt like Barbies weren't interested in "adventures" - they were more about dressing up and cosmetics and that boring grown-up stuff I was in no hurry to get to. I would have wanted dolls that were *kids* who went out and did *kid stuff* like climbing trees or playing at a playground....but there really weren't any, or at least they weren't widely sold. There were babies (boring, especially to anyone with a baby sibling) and Barbies (boring to an active girl who wanted to run around and play games with the boys instead of "looking pretty")
So I guess some of the dolls I buy now are things I would have wanted as a kid.
Though the Barbies and dressing them up - yes, clothing and makeup are things I have come to appreciate as an adult.
Edited to add: what the heck, let me try a for-scale photo or two of Hermione and see if I can capture her "cute" side:
(And yes, when I went to the wal-mart yesterday? They had these. For a few bucks less than I paid. I considered getting either Harry or Ron, but decided Hermione was the only one I really wanted, and I had her, so....)
ETA: Drove up to campus. Five minutes to 3, no one was at the Wesley Center. I hung around a bit, wondering - where was everyone? Usually people are there before then....so I checked the minutes WHICH I TOOK AT THE LAST MEETING and they listed the day as the 26th.
I had 19th written down on my calendar, and even said I couldn't make another group's meeting because of it (and I'm not going on down to that meeting now). I did shoot a quick e-mail to the rest of the board saying "hey if you get this and are there wondering where I am, call me" and gave my home number but I suspect the minutes were right and my calendar was wrong but
FACEPALM
I suppose people were wondering about my panicked "I might not be there" message coming so early before the meeting. Oh well.
(And thank goodness: someone just e-mailed me back to confirm it is next week. Well, I will say, as mistakes go, this is the most on-brand-for-me mistake ever: showing up a week early to a meeting....)
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