sorry everyone

...  if there is anyone?

i'm working full-time now with a 1 to 2 hour commute on the bus.  yes, our public transit system is a joke.

so, basically, that's what i'm doing right now.

i'll update when i can/when i actually have things i'm working on.

until then...

and so it has been a month

since my last post...  don't say i didn't warn you.

lots of bullshit has been going on with my job, including, but not limited to, the bistro closing for two weeks without notice, and severe cuts to my hours, so job-hunting is taking up a bunch of my time.

i've also been working on music a bunch...  with nothing to show for it...  but anyway.  my mom got me this:

for chrismukkah, and my dad got me these:

so of course planning new things to make has been driving me insane.  having no money (STILL, WTF) does not help much, but i have a gift certificate to jimmybeanswool, so maybe if i stop drooling over sweaters i'd like to knit and pick some smaller projects, i could at least have something to work on.  trying to pick the first sewing pattern to break in my new machine seems impossible as well, so far it's between four or five patterns...

a vintage vogue dress,

this simplicity x project runway dress,

a simplicity skirt pattern i've had for probably 5 years,

and a few patterns from twinkle sews, which would be too annoying to try to find images of and i am too lazy for scanning right now.  but i can't afford fabric right now anyway, so i mean, i have time to think about it.  but OMG skynet-free hello kitty sewing machine guise. 
♡o｡.(✿ฺ｡ ✿ฺ)

but the access to seemingly endless knitting patterns on the internet is making it hard to decide what to make first (on my new turbo clicks aaahhhh ♡＾▽＾♡) but the spending limit of the gift certificate will help with that.  hopefully.

also i don't have a digital camera anymore (did i already mention that?  probably...) so you may have to suffer through phone camera pix soon (i actually think my phone camera might be better than my parents' old digital camera, megapixels-wise).  but also i might be moving soon-ish, so yeah.

until next time...

OH HEY I'M BLOGGING

sup y'all.  so yeah i warned you that i'm the worst blogger ever.
BUT my excuse is my ridiculous new job, which means $$$MONEY$$$ (yay!!!!!) but way less free time (booooo), and getting way underpaid and being tired a lot.

anyway, i'm super excited about the toulouse pullover from the winter issue of knitscene:

 it's basically perfect.  and i found out (using mad calculator skillz) that for a mere $10 extra, i can use aslan trends royal alpaca (yummmmm) instead of the classic elite mountaintop vista.  i can't waiiiiit to get started.

also i actually feel like making gifts for people this year...  bradley is of course getting his obnoxious lime green socks...  and then basically everyone else is getting bunny slippers (tiny owl knits's hopsalots).  trying to pick colors for everyone is so hard!  and i don't want everyone to end up with something they hate...  this is why i'm a selfish knitter!  ugh.  at least the pattern's easy.

the teen bitch denim jacket is coming along nicely...  i've already dyed it once, but the black dye just made it a darker navy/purply blue (i used rit dye).  so i'm probably going to dye it again, maybe using a higher-quality dye?  if anyone actually reads this thing, i'd love some suggestions!  anyway, the patch design is going well, i'm just not sure how else i'd want to embellish the jacket.  i made a pin already, i'm not sure if i want to put some spikes or studs on the shoulders, or spray some bleach onto black lace and sew that on, or sequins, or what.  oh, and we're slowly starting to work on music and whatnot.

bleh bleh bleh i have to go to work soon.  hopefully i can remember to post stuff more regularly.  i guess when i actually have stuff to write about?

teen bitch

my friend jenn and i are starting a band with the rule "no boys with guitars."  we're calling it teen bitch.  it's going to be largely performance and image-based, which made my brain go nuts.

 the grunge-revival-riot-grrrl-90's-obsessed fashion trends are pretty interesting to me, since i was born in 1990 and remember a lot of the things that "the kids" are into now.  generally, my style is a super femme-y version of "classic" goth style (think siouxsie sioux and lydia lunch, not raver crow goes to burning man in the matrix).  but i find myself enticed by this particular trend...  i don't know if it's because i'm feeling nostalgic, i wanna wear more colors, or i'm just listening to way too much hole, but i'm liking the idea of adding just a few articles of clothing and/or accessories that are just a bit sweet and look a bit off or wrong to the rest of my outfit.  the other day i added a mint green cardigan under my leather jacket with the rest of my all-black ensemble and raven skull necklace and i was kinda into it.  i made an upside-down cross pin out of rhinestones.  i'm into subverting the good girl/bad girl dichotomy, super feminine feminism, i don't know.  i haven't really gotten to have much fun with my style in a long time, i've felt creatively stifled, and, yeah, i guess i'm bored.  also, my interest in the occult is resurfacing with a vengeance.  here's some recent inspiration.

 (the craft, terrifying girls' high school: lynch law classroom, unknown, skate witches, unknown, valerie and her week of wonders, unknown)

(amethyst crystal matrix, bodyartforms.com, comme des garçons, unknown, sedmikrásky (daisies), unknown)

i don't know, i'm not usually drawn to tumblr-induced hipster crazes, but for some reason this one appeals to me.  maybe because it's because i still like unicorns and glitter and lace and growing flowers and shit but i also like deathrock, black lipstick, witchcraft, punk, etc....  i just wanna dye my hair and be some badass, girly, witchy, magical creature that you really don't want to fuck with.
 

d.i.y.-er's block?

i'm in a bit of a rut when it comes to knitting, sewing, etc. right now.  i guess partially because i can't afford the fabric/yarn/supplies i need to make the things i want?  i have tons of patterns, sewing books, and i even scored some sewing/pattern books while i was in japan.  i was also trying to get rid of a bunch of my yarn so i could get new yarn that i would actually use, but that is proving to be extremely difficult.

i'm just not feeling the doctor who sweater right now, it's being too much of a pain in the ass.  and i was thinking of using my blue velvet big wool to make a twinkle cardigan, but i'm having trouble deciding which one to make, and if i'd be able to fit a very dark blue cardigan into my almost entirely black wardrobe.  right now it's between the best friend cardigan (left) and the vineyard potter's cardigan (right), but i'm concerned about bulky knits and, y'know, actually having breasts.

there are so many things i want to sew as well!  i have plenty of vogue, simplicity, etc. patterns but i really wanted to show off some scans from those japanese pattern books.

this one is from "hooray!  dresses and tunics," which has tons of cute patterns but i ended up only feeling like scanning this one:

so cute!  and pockets!  pockets are always important.  there's also a really great wrap coat/jacket pattern in this book, but it's hard to really see the construction of it in the photo.

these are from a magazine called FEMALE, i have the summer issue of course, since i was there in may, but i can't wait to order the fall issue.  this magazine is a bit more "trendy" i suppose, but you could make practically an entire wardrobe from just one issue, and i think it was something like 840 yen.

 (this said "sherbet color" but my scanner cut it off!)

there are way too many great designs to scan them all, but it was definitely a great find.  a lot of japanese sewing books have that sort of "art teacher" vibe, if you know what i mean, and it was really cool to find a sewing book geared towards girls around my age.

and these last few are from "yoshiko tsukiori's easy cute straight stitch sewing," and it looks like it'd be a lot of fun to make some of these, just for the instant gratification factor.  almost every pattern in the book is based upon simple square shapes.

my scanner decided to change what it was doing to the images for those last two.  anyway, how adorable is that model???  and the construction of the second garment is just so interesting.  also, i'm a huge sucker for those harem pants that haven't seemed to go out of style yet in some asian countries.

i've been making sketches too, i just have so many ideas and no cash.  i mean absolutely no cash, not even enough to go fabric-hunting at thrift stores.  i have a job interview on tuesday, though, so hopefully my cash situation changes and i can make stuff!

blue velvet

so, ok, i'm starting to give up on being able to sell or trade most of my yarn.  and i have a whole bunch of rowan big wool in the "blue velvet" colorway which makes me not want to part with it because, well...

but i pretty much only wear black.  dark blue and black don't really go together, right?  am i right on this one?  despite my generally uncanny ability to put colors together exactly the right way, and to be wearing the "next big thing" two years before it becomes the "next big thing," i still sometimes have trouble telling if things are okay to put together, or whether or not things are well...  stupid.

for example:

i think this dress is hella rad.  i mean it's a pretty classic cut and it's cute and i like how the oversized skull print makes it...  unbalanced.  and then i want to find similar fabric and make my own.  but then i have to wonder, is it stupid?  i guess it's always about how you wear it.  but some clothing items/designs are just inherently stupid-looking (in my opinion) and it would take someone who is way better at fashion than me to make it look good.  i mean, i like to be "trendy" sometimes, but i'm generally more interested in clothing my mom says "will never go out of style."  which is important, but sometimes i also want to be 22 and wear things that are maybe kind of stupid.

anyway, back to the point, i don't know, should i go ahead and make some ridiculous twinkle cardigan out of my blue velvet big wool?  could i work it into my almost entirely black wardrobe?  what do you think, dear readers?

i am the worst blogger ever probably

hey, really erratic posting, cool

so i am trying to start my doctor who sweater because i need something to do but i keep getting frustrated and ripping it apart.  it's been so long since i've actually knitted something that my knitting skills are rusty...  i couldn't even remember how to do long-tail cast-on...  :\

i guess chalk that one up to "brain problemz" maybe?

whatever.  i've also always sucked at knitting swatches before i start something because i get too excited about the thing i'm going to make and get bored with trying to swatch, which is bad when you're kind of inventing your own pattern (doctor who sweater).  and, i mean, i like lion cotton-ease, but it's kind of a pain in the ass and likes to get all splitty on me.  probably because i'm using smaller-than-recommended needles because i want a slightly...  sturdier?...  knit, and the cotton-ease likes to get all stretchy and drapey and grows like hell.

anyway, here is a super myspace-y picture my partner took of me.  they are so much taller than me that the angle of the photos they take always turns out weird no matter how hard they try.  anyway, this is what i wore today.

(cardigan: j crew  dress: h&m  tights: tutuanna (japan)  heels: aldo  sunglasses: ray-ban [prescription].)

womp womp.  also i cut my own fringe with embroidery scissors which was a really terrible and also a really incredible idea.  it was all up in my eyes ok and i am way too broke for a real haircut.  check out my way super overgrown raised beds.  yes.

til next time...