WIP: Ork Carrier

I've been working on a divided carrier for the Orks that came with my Warhammer 40k Assault on Blackreach set:

The top one for that corner isn't finished yet but you can see they stack fine

With both inserts removed: Look out for those Orks!

I had to make a special compartment for the Big Boss; an underling gets tucked into an insert beneath him

Here they are all stacked together; this insert is particularly tall to accommodate the Def Copters

Unfortunately, I didn't have enough of a single color mesh to use for the whole thing, so the panels are a combination of black, brown and clear/white. I suppose that's fitting for the Warhammer 40k Orks since the same could be said of their equipment.

Masculin Scarf Colors Yarnblob

Manly Scarf Colors Yarnblob would of course be larger than your average Yarnblob

FO: Purple Sparkly Hat-Scarf-Mittens Set

This set I knitted for the 3-year-old daughter of one of my co-workers:

The little one loves purple and princesses, so I hope she likes it. Given her height, I decided to go with a pom-pom edge rather than a fringe.

FO: Hideaway Scarf and Hat

This set I made for my older sister's son, age 8:

His favorite color is purple; I long ago discovered it's difficult to find a masculine purple yarn, but this one isn't too bad; it's Hobby Lobby I Love This Yarn 100 Ombre in 501 Hideaway.

FO: Pink Sparkly Hat and Scarf

I made this for my older sister's youngest daughter (age 6):

It's knit with Hobby Lobby's I Love This Yarn 100 Sparkle, #752 Razzleberry Sparkle.

Fit to Be Tied Yarnblob

If only I could tie gift ribbons in such neat bows.

WIP: Cross Stitched Wizard

Quite some time ago, I bought this cross-stitch kit to make for my husband:

I finally picked it back up recently, and figured out I'd previously gotten as far as sorting some of the floss. So far, I've finished sorting and winding the floss, taping the edges, and have gotten this far on the stitching:

For scale, this is a 7" diameter hoop.

This bit is somewhere in the lower center of the wizard's beard.

Sadly, this 1.5" by 0.5" bit of stitching represents about an hour's work. At this rate, I suspect this will be a retirement gift.

FO: Blue Sparkle Hat and Scarf Set

This is a gift for one of my older sister's children:

I'm not worried they'll see it early because my older sister has only recently figured out how to use instant messaging; she certainly isn't going to accidentally show them my blog (which for the moment is convenient).

Knit with Hobby Lobby's I Love This Yarn #100 Sparkle yarn in 740 Royalty Sparkle using US 7 circular needles.

Squishable Moose

I received my Squishable Moose recently as a slightly late anniversary present from my Hubby, and I love it:

He is very well put together, very squishable, and very cute. The textures are wonderful and I have named him Moose Lee.

Late Post - FO: Card Bag

Remember the card bag I was working on? I finished it at the beginning of September (told you it was a late post):

Exterior, tied

Interior, untied

Kitchener stitch: not perfect, but functional

I've been knitting plenty, but my blogging is way behind :-(

Happy Birthday to my Older Sister

In honor of my older sister's birthday today (since I didn't get anything made for her in time), I'm re-posting the pic of the painting she did for my birthday many years ago:

I still think it's a shame she doesn't paint anymore.

Late post: Kids' Halloween Costumes

This is my older daughter, dressed as Jack the Ripper, with and without fake blood:

Note Capt. Skully on shelf

I thought I did pretty good with the splashed blood

This is my youngest, Nerf Warrior:

It might be Nerf, but it'll still hurt

And this is my oldest, Crouching Computer, Hidden Face:

Unfortunately, my younger daughter escaped to a friend's house before I could get pics of her costume.

FO: Scarf and Hat Set

This is my anniversary present for my Hubby, and believe it or not, both were completed on time:

The whole set

I thought the inside of the hat looked like a sunburst; quite accidental

All pieces are reversible

For these, I used Katia Odisea in color 132, with size US 10 (6mm) needles. I made this up, so if someone wants the pattern, I'll have to type it up first.

The Pick of Destiny goes to Paris?

This is my older daughter's shelf in "the lab" (our family room). Between the Pick of Destiny and the pseudo-Dr. Horrible goggles, I'm speechless.

French Cafe Yarnblob

Here we see the popular French Cafe Yarnblob, delicately balanced over a fresh latte:

Yes, I have yarn.

Skully Gets Promoted

Well it was bound to happen sooner or later; no longer sporting his baseball cap, Skully is now an officer in a one-skull army:

Famous Hubby, Scary Bad Guy

Proud spouse moment: my Hubby got published again, this time through TPK Games, which publishes RPG products. This time it's a pre-packaged bad guy named Temerlyth, based on part of a campaign he took me and my friends through some time ago. The bad guy was kinda scary then. Apparently he's even scarier now. Happy Halloween!

FO: More Lembas Bread Stripey Socks

Okay, so I like stripey socks. More specifically, I like knitting socks because it's a project that travels well and doesn't really require sewing. What's not to like?

WIP: Reaper Paint Caddy Dividers

My Hubby and I have the entire line of Master Series Paints from Reaper Minis (yes, I mean all 216 colors, not counting the duplicates we have), which came in 3 paint caddies. At any given time, there are numerous bottles of paint in use on one craft desk or another (my oldest has at least 50 out just in his area). When that happens, the paints left in the caddies tend to slide around and get out of order, which makes it more difficult to find a particular color or triad of colors. It's also hard to see what the color in the bottle is when you're looking down at the cap. The caddies come with removable dividers but you can't put as many paints in if the dividers are in place, and the bottles still won't stay upside-down.

My solution, of course, involves yarn. In this case, yarn and plastic mesh, cut into strips and sewn into a ladder-like configuration. I've gotten one of the caddies almost completed:

Row 1 complete: so much easier to see what color it is when the bottle is inverted!

Note 3rd row where some paints are missing but the bottles stay in place.  Boo-yah!

Here's where I messed up and put a "step" on the wrong side:

I got distracted by the pretty colors.

I haven't decided if it's worth putting smaller versions in the fixed pockets near the front of the caddies, but I probably will since I still want them inverted. The bottles don't clog any more than they normally do when stored right-side up. Since they normally clog regardless, I keep a straight pin handy for clearing them.

FO: Flying Mint Bunny

I managed to finish the pieces for the flying mint bunny and even sew them together (this is an accomplishment because I hate sewing knitting), so here he is in all his minty green glory:

Here he is with the recipient, my older daughter:

Apparently he rides on the head of the manga character he hangs around

He is well loved

In the interest of my never having to knit a flying mint bunny again, the pattern is available free here.

WIP: Flying Mint Bunny

My older daughter talked me into trying to knit her a "flying mint bunny" (a character from an Anime show about which I know zero) to use at A-Fest or A-Con or whatever A-thing is happening in Dallas this weekend. Thus far, I have most of the pieces knitted:

No, the Yarnblob on the left is not a part of the final piece.

I've got 1.5 legs left to make and then the assembly and a face. So, that begs the question: which one is the lucky rabbit's foot?

Once this thing is complete, I will be happy to write up and post the pattern if anyone is interested.

WIP Progress: Purple Shiney Card Bag

Well I'm almost done with the card bag, and I've managed to make the "Bag End" (Tolkien reference) rectangular-ish:

As you can see, I've completed the liner as well, and it's also rectangular-ish. Here's where I've hit a major snag. I mean Major Snag. Are you ready?

I cannot do the kitchener stitch. I just don't get it. At all. I mean, I understand what the point is, but not how to get there. Since this bag is rectangular at the bottom, I can't just decrease the liner in the round, nor do the 3-needle bindoff without it being really visible inside the bag. I. Am. Stuck.

I guess I'll have to head to my LYS this weekend and get someone to show me. The real challenge is not to get distracted by all the pretty new yarns there and forget about the whole "kitchener stitch" fiasco.

FO: Black Dice Bag

This is another dice bag for my oldest, made with Lana Grossa Fragolux color 317:

Forest for scale ;-)

This yarn was originally intended to be the liner for the black and white dice bag I made him, but since that one was sufficiently thick, he opted for a second dice bag instead.

WIP: Warhammer 40k Chaos Marines

Yes, I picked the Chaos Marines for my Warhammer 40K army. I've been trying to figure out what colors to paint them. The black and old gold color scheme on the box is okay, but I like green, so I think I've decided on this:

I'm planning on painting the bases according to what unit they're in and what weapon they're holding; because unlike Pathfinder, in Warhammer 40K, what weapon your minis carry matters. That's something that will take a little getting used to.

Here are the Mad Painter's Notes; the colors in the pics are a bit off, so if you have these colors from Reaper Minis you'll be able to tell more accurately what it looks like:

Yarnblob: Highly Localized Yarnbombing

This flowering cactus is located on the window ledge behind our large kitchen sink, so I had to lean way over and use really long chopsticks (the kind used for cooking noodles) to place the yarn in that position. Yarnbombing is hazardous work!

Take Two and Call Me in the Morning

Note: Taking Wood Elf and Ork at the same time is contraindicated for those with Lawful alignments.

Fall Comes Early - I wish

These are actually plastic trees to which my Hubby is going to glue green flocking; ultimately they'll be used for our Pathfinder games. I'm not sure how those few ended up in the chair, but I suspect feline interference.