it can’t all be about manga…

I was looking for something totally unrelated when I came across this pattern for a Totoro hat.  Awesome. 

(Not that I would wear something like that out in public myself, I just think it would make a great gift.  Really.  Even though they give adult sizes.)

I’m currently working on the second square for my afghan and realized that I did three rows backwards tonight, darnit!  Had to rip them out and learned a valuable lesson about trying to crochet while Supernatural is on.  Granny squares are no competition for the Ackles, especially when he’s all greasy and working on cars. 

Ahem!

I did finish the first square the other day and am quite proud of my first attempt.  I suppose it’s not really done as I’m going to be putting a red border around each square, but I’m saving that until the end of the project when I have a better idea of how big I want the afghan to be and what I want the finished product to look like.  I’m kind of winging it right now.  Anyway, here’s my first square:

And to give you a better idea of how big it is, here is the square posing with the last volume of Land of the Blindfolded:

(This is completely off topic, but I’m quite sad that Land of the Blindfolded is over now.  I really liked that series and wasn’t ready for it to end yet.  One of the joys of manga is the finite storylines, but it can also be disappointing with the ones you love.)

I probably won’t be writing much more about my afghan until I’m almost finished.  I mean, just multiply the square above by six (probably) and slap a red border around it and you have a good idea of what I’m aiming for.  I think it’s going to look nice when I’m done.  I hope!  And this one’s for me.  Next one will be a gift, most likely for my mom, who has a mom’s appreciation for handmade gifts.

And since I was talking about Supernatural earlier… this episode was about a creepy clown that was getting kids to let them into their house so the clown could kill and eat (? I think?) the parents.  Arg.   I lost a bit of the episode while I was laughing over this exchange:

Sam: You’re afraid of flying!
Dean: Planes crash!
Sam: And apparently clowns kill people.

Hee!  Yes, Sam has a very rational fear of clowns.  It was quite funny.   I did the shallow thing up above about the pretty of the episode, but really, the acting in this show is amazing.  Dean’s repressed emoting usually gets to me - he’s not a gusher but he does the glimmering eyes about to shed a single tear thing really really well.  Sooo, this episode brought the emotion (the boys dealing with the trauma from the last episode), the creepy (killer clown, ’nuff said) and the funny (Dean doesn’t let Sam off the hook about the clown thing, thus proving himself to be a genuine big brother).  Sigh.  I love this show….

A combination yay! I can crochet! post and yay!  I have a new digital camera! post:

My first granny square. 

The beginning of a red and white blanket.  Hopefully.  :)  It’s hard to tell from the picture, but I’m up to about 10 inches on this one.

Normally an evening spent playing on YouTube yields nothing more productive than getting something like this stuck in my head.  (I blame Erik, btw, even if it was only indirectly his fault.)  Sunday night’s session was slightly more productive as I got the idea to search for any crochet demos that might have been posted.  After checking some of the knitting stores in Toronto for intermediate type classes I wasn’t very satisfied with my options, so I thought I’d see what I could puzzle out on my own… or with helpful video examples.

I found a couple - instructions for making a star stitch and one for making a scrunchie.  I don’t think the scrunchie is something I’d ever wear, but by damn I could make one after watching the demo.  Both were from Learn Crochet Now, so I surfed over to see if they had any other free videos available.  Unfortunately no - they sell videos on cd or dvd with different crochet instructions and projects OR (and this is the cool part I liked) you could pay to download the video right away to keep on your computer.  I browsed around on the forums for a bit, checked out some of the samples then decided to try the one for making granny squares, which is one of the reasons I wanted to learn to crochet.  I like granny squares and wanted to make an afghan.  I figured $10 for the video was about what I’d spend on a random pattern book that I’d then look through, decide I couldn’t decipher and give up.  :)  (By the way, I have no affiliation with this site, etc etc.  I just liked the video I bought.)

I think the only negative experience I had was when I was almost finished ordering.  They say you don’t need a Paypal account to purchase anything (I used my Visa card) but toward the end of the process there’s a form with your account name and a password/confirm password.  I was unsure of whether or not I was finished (there was a small link to go back to the merchant’s website but I didn’t know if that would screw up my order or not) so I filled it out and… Congratulations, I’ve now registered for a Paypal account I didn’t really want.  The link for returning to the merchant’s site was much more obvious here.  grr.  Considering much of my work at the library consists of purchasing books online, I think I’m pretty savvy at shopping over the Internet.  I hated being caught like that.

But, like I said, that was the only downside.  I downloaded the file with no problem and it plays in my Media Player.  If anything happens to it I think I can log back in to my account - I get ten downloads of the file altogether.

Tonight I sat down with my crochet hook and one of my many balls of yarn and followed along with the video.  I now have a small, ugly granny square… sniff!  (Hey!  It’s only my first try!)  I stopped at the switch colours segment so will have a much bigger square tomorrow. 

This is definitely the process that works for me.  Breathing down the neck of the instructor (or the camera person was, anyway), rewinding bits I didn’t quite catch or wanted to see again, pausing the screen to catch up… not something you can do easily with a live person or in a group!  In the intro class I had a hard time with not being able to see what the instructor was doing (she tended to stand over you while demonstrating) or having to wait while she went through the rest of the group before getting help again.  And once SHE couldn’t see what I was doing properly so I ended up thinking a slip stitch was a single crochet… THAT made for a different little pattern on my sampler.  Ah well.  I’m glad I took the class, since I learned a lot and went to have fun with a friend, but yeah, the video thing works for me.  I liked the pace of it, too.  Patient repetition, counting off stitches at different angles so you could see exactly what she was doing, a slow steady demonstration then gradually speeding up until the next time the pattern changed… 

Even from what I have now (which was dead easy, much to my surprise) I can just keep going and making the square bigger and bigger until I have a blanket.  I don’t even have to sew a bunch of little ones together - although I could if I wanted to since the end of the video teaches two different methods for joining squares together.

So tonight I’m feeling productive and crafty and a lot more hopeful about that afghan. 

Update: My little square is NOT ugly after all… I was looking at the back.  I finally flipped it over and it’s much prettier on the other side.  :)

Not Yet Published update:  I’ve finally (re)updated my coming soon page.  I remembered to save as I went along this time.  heh.  Apologies if something is on there more than once, but there’s a lot of conflicting information out there and I was starting to lose track of what I put where.  If there’s an author link for a novel it means I got the release date directly from their page (with one or two exceptions who have links to The Internet Speculative Fiction Database).   Not many dvd’s on the list.  I’m just not looking forward to anything yet.  

Manga update:  I forgot to post this last week!  I got Eyeshield 21 #6, Tsubasa #8, Loveless #1 (Amazon had put the dvd on my recommended list that morning so seeing the manga the same day seemed like fate.  I had to buy it), Broken Angels #1 and Bleach #11.  Special thanks to my sister-in-law who didn’t get the “being good” part of me not getting Bleach, and felt sorry for me for putting my favorite manga back.  I was only allowed to buy three (Tsubasa was from the night before) and had decided on the two new ones.  She bought it for me, which I’m very grateful for.  Broken Angels was a disappointment (but at least it was on sale), and Bleach finally got past the anime I’ve seen.  yay!  No more Bleach anime until AFTER I’ve read the manga!

I was checking for a release date for volume 2 of Earthian (I read the first one last month and quite enjoyed it) and discovered that Yun Kouga also wrote Loveless (my favorite book from last weeks haul).  The art’s evolved so much I didn’t realize it was by the same person. 

I’ve been getting several hits a day for the past couple of weeks from people looking for the release date for Absolute Boyfriend.  Guess it’s pretty hot right now.  Hopefully it hits the stores this week as scheduled (although I heard it was already available via the publisher, damn it).  I’ve probably read most if not all of the first volume already since I have the early issues of Shojo Beat.  I know I didn’t buy the first volume of Nana because I had already read it.  I’ll probably get Absolute Boyfriend right away though.  Hopefully not too much else comes out at the same time.  I’m only allowing myself five manga per week for February and March.  (sob sob)

Too too creepy.  Real people turned into manga characters with Photoshop.  (via boing boing)

Crochet class update:  I was feeling pretty clumsy in class at first, but then decided to give myself a break for not being an expert after a whole two hours of learning and practice.  I seem to have the same really-tight-tension thing happening in crochet that I do when knitting.  It’s a lot harder to crochet if your tension is too tight!  I actually had to trade up to a bigger needle.  The shame!  lol.  I’m much better at it now, but think I need to get a book of stitches (with real pictures, not drawings) before my memory completely fades.  We learned the single stitch (most everyone already knew how to make a chain), double, triple (or treble) and box stitch.  I’m basically just making a long sampler so I can practice rows of different stitches.  The colour I picked ended up being a lot more…purple… than it looked in the bin. Not a colour to wear!  It might be good as part of an afghan though.  Next week I think we’re learning how to make flowers and granny squares.  My friend that I went with was totally kicking crochet ass.  It was great!

Gratuitous crochet links:
What Not to Crochet
How to Crochet 
Creepy Crochet (via boing boing)

I got a package from Japan from my super awesome friend the other day.  I am now the proud owner of Hot Gimmick 12 (last volume, sniff!) and Teacher’s Pet 1, both by Miki Aihara.  Of course I won’t say anything about what happens in Hot Gimmick, although I think I’m a wee bit disappointed how it ends.  Hmm.  Perhaps it wasn’t dramatic enough for me?  And no, I won’t tell you what Shinogu did that horrified me so.  You’ll have to wait and see.  Or, um, just ask and I’ll tell you.  I’m easy.

Teacher’s Pet is a bit more adult than the other Aihara stuff I’ve seen so far, and not what I was expecting.  Oi.  Definately not!  I must say that I have very different before and after impressions of the book after finding a translation, though I’ve only read the first chapter so far.  I’ll say more about that another day, I think, since I also want to play with getting clearer images to post.

That’s it until Sunday.  I’m staying over at a friend’s house tomorrow night so I have a shot of getting to the intro to crochet class I’m taking at Lettuce Knit Sunday morning on time.  The buses don’t start running around here until after 9 am on Sundays and the class starts at 10.  arg.  Of course we’re making a scarf.  I was kind of hoping I was done with scarves, but I guess it’s still a good way to learn.  I just really don’t need another scarf…

I finished Christmas project #1!! But! I totally cheated on the pattern because I was running out of wool. The finished project looks a bit… mushroomy. Maybe blocking will fix that. I probably could have made it smaller, too. Is it my fault though?? Noooo! I BEGGED for head measurements! BEGGED!

I’ve actually seen the link for this a few times (in fact, it comes up every time I Google the Knit Cafe) but haven’t clicked on it until today.  It’s a blog ring of knitters in Toronto.  So much Canadian content!  I so don’t knit that well yet… And I need to learn to do stuff less compulsively.  And I also need to remember that I have some sort of repetitive stress thing happening in my arm, that apparently obsessive knitting can cause to flare up.  Oops!  heh heh.  Don’t worry, I’m still finishing my Christmas knitting, I’m just going to try to take it easier so my arm still works in January.  I guess that means I can go back to reading for a while?  Or finally figure out that whole holding the yarn with your left hand instead of constantly picking it up with your right.  I gave it a shot last night, and though it was definately easier on my right arm, I could tell I wasn’t doing it right.  Practice practice practice!

Speaking of reading, here’s what I’ve read so far this December:

First Impressions, by Jude Deveraux - um, this wasn’t really very good.  In fact, I do believe I’ve been finally cured of reading Jude Deveraux books.  I liked her older ones, but her newer books have very unappealing characters that I just don’t care enough about to work my way through another book.  I actually waffled on signing this out of the library, but it was sitting there on the new book shelf, it was free, and I figured what the hell.  It turned out to be a bad choice.  Ah well.

Red Lily, by Nora Roberts - her books are getting pretty uneven for me.  It’s sad that a book I might otherwise enjoy (as in, the characters and plot were working for me) can be ruined by dialogue.  Nora Roberts has switched all of her characters into the same way of speaking - they all use the same phrasing (some of which can get really annoying), same short sentences, same noble characters.  And speaking as someone who can now remember being 26 - I don’t know anyone who’s that together and mature at around that age.  It’s very distracting.

The Truth, by Terry Pratchett - this was a reread.  I read it waaaayyyy back when when it first came out in hardcover and then decided I didn’t need to buy the paperback.  Gasp!  Yes, I have HOLES in my Pratchett collection.  I got this from the library, thinking I didn’t want to buy it now, either.  It was better than I remembered, but maybe my streak of reading really bad books is making me appreciate that a mediocre book by Terry Pratchett is still a lot better than a lot of other books.  (BTW, it seemed a lot less mediocre this time around)  And on that note, my next book is…

Monstrous Regiment, by Terry Pratchett - see above, and also a reread.  I bought this one though, so it’s now available for loan requests. :) Also a much better read the second time.  Next on my list is Night Watch and then my usual holiday reading of Hogfather. 

I’m also rereading random bits of Cast in Shadow, by Michele Sagara.

That’s it so far!  I’m off to the library to acquire more bad books and return my overdue (oops!) stuff.