Woot! I sold my first two Blythe dresses on Etsy! They are two of my favorites that I've made so far, which is affirming.


They are also both patterns that I improvised (based on a general idea from Puchi Collective) and that I embellished with metallic doodads. Since I made these I've played with my pattern a little bit more and already made another version that I really like (pics soon, just haven't gotten around to it yet). I think I may play some more this afternoon, as I have some more xmas fabric that I haven't tried yet and since Thanksgiving has passed, now's the time to use it.

I've had these dressed posted to Etsy for a few weeks, but I just yesterday changed the shipping to offer a deal (free shipping on the 2nd+ items) - I'm not sure if that made the difference, but regardless, I'll take it!

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

Check out my post on Vogue Knitting Beginner Basics over at CPL.

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

Guess Again! by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Adam Rex

This book is a guessing game, with questions and answers on alternating pages. Each question spread shows a scene with a black silhouette of the obvious answer, which of course is proved wrong on the following spread with a very silly answer and filled in illustration. Rex's illustrations are goofy and hilarious without veering into cheesy territory. The facial expressions of the people and creatures are spot-on, making the book work. This is a perfect read-aloud for mid-elementary age kids.

Recommended. Reviewed from library copy.

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

A friend of ours gave us the heads-up today that there was an advance screening of Ninja Assassin at the Emagine Novi tonight, so we printed up some tickets and headed over. I hadn't really heard anything about this movie but I was quite pleasantly surprised.

The movie starts off quietly with a scene that could come out of any martial arts flick, but very suddenly the violence cuts in and it's ON. There's no shortage of blood and guts and the style of editing is edgy, jumpy, and as frenetic as the ninjas themselves. Sometimes the action moves so quickly you can't even tell what's happening, and then it slows down dramatically so you can savor the ridiculous, gratuitous, awesome violence money shot.

The primary ninja is portrayed by Korean pop-star and Colbert nemesis Rain. He's ripped as all get-out and one of his main talents seems to be glaring through wet bangs, but he is pretty convincing as a warped rogue ninja bent on destroying the bastards who raised him to be such a monster.

I'd definitely pay to see this movie and I recommend it for all martial arts fans and those who enjoy over the top action.

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

Acorns Everywhere! by Kevin Sherry

Right up front: I have an affection for squirrels. They're cute and furry and have those tiny little hand-like paws with which they hold objects. And they have that tendency to stop, look around, and then go back to what they're doing. How can you resist that?

Secondly: Did you read I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean? If not, run right now and do it right now, because you're missing out. (ITBTITO was Sherry's first picture book.)

I'm not usually a huge fan of illustrations that incorporate bits of photographs into non-photograph scenes. It's not easy to make that technique work and it very rarely does (Knuffle Bunny is the prime example of it working). Sherry pulls it off here, though, with real hardcore acorn footage used with a goofy, adorable watercolor and ink Squirrel. The snippets of text on each page ("gather!" "dig!" "bury!") match the pace of an actual squirrel's activity as does the repetition. Sherry manages to squeeze a lot of emotion into the sparse lines of Squirrel's facial expressions (as well as those of the other animals). This is a fun read with plenty of detail to find away from the primary action.

Recommended. Reviewed from library copy.

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

I've been feeling so crafty lately! I think that happens especially when the weather starts getting colder and I have less to do in the garden.

I found this Acorn Dress fabric at JoAnn and thought the little acorns were just perfect for autumn. I feel like the orange button compliments the fabric really nicely even though there's nothing in the print that is precisely that orange color. It works! I also think that this color palette works really nicely for Willow's coloring (make-up, hair, etc.). She goes well with fall, my favorite season, hurrah!

This Cherry Pie dress was almost completely improvised. I re-altered a pattern that I'd previously altered for the top and then just made up the skirt and ruffle as I cut it out. I'm very pleased that it turned out! At first I couldn't find any ribbon that worked colorwise but then I found this felt rick-rack ribbon and it was just right. I think it gives the dress that little something extra that makes it special.

More photos at Flickr.

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

I've been knitting a lot lately and have finished a few more projects.

This is the Her Majesty Scarf. It's made of really nice yarn (a splurge for me) and is SO soft. I almost kept it for myself but decided to list it after all.

I've also made a few hats, which I really like because I can easily improvise a pattern and then just keep on going until it's done.

Grape Jelly Hat. My inspiration here was to use a pattern that would break up the stripey nature of the yarn a little bit, but still show off the beautiful shades of purple. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

Bluebell Hat. This one is SUCH gorgeous yarn that I wanted to let the colors of blue speak for themselves and not interfere by using a stitch pattern. This yarn is unbelievably soft and a little stretchy, so it's perfect for a roll-brim hat.

Zappy Hat. I had no idea what the variegated yarn would look like until after I started knitting and I thought it was pretty neat! I like that the different colors ended up in varying shaped swatches.

More photos on Flickr.

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

I finally feel like I'm getting the hang of making Blythe-sized dresses. Working on such a small scale is different than making clothing for myself - but it goes so much more quickly! Today I took a little under two hours and made two dresses.

The Froggie Dress:

The froggie fabric above was from the nursery section at the fabric store, but I thought it was so cute, and not too juvenile. I'm pleased that I was able to center the frog on the front of the top without too much trouble.

And the Tick Tock Dress:

I thought the clock motif fabric was appropriate for autumn. The leaves falling make me realize how quickly time is passing these days. I'm also quite pleased that I'm getting the hang of making my own patterns and modifying those others have created. When I bought these buttons, I wasn't sure if they'd be too big for Blythe's scale, but I think they work quite well.

UPDATE: The Tick Tock dress is now available for purchase on AnneArchy (Etsy).

More photos on Flickr.

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

My Halloween costume turned out just as well as I'd hoped!

My big thanks to Sarah for sending me these awesome socks, which were absolutely perfect!

I also owe thanks to K, who created the key you see hanging around my neck in the photo above and for helping me attach the sparklies to the dragonfly hairclip you see in the photo below.

This was the least sewing I've done on a costume in years - the only sewing I needed to do was to hem the raincoat to the right length (it was pretty huge! I could totally have ordered a small but didn't think about that until I got the medium). I'm happy to report that the kids who saw me knew just who I was, though many of my coworkers were sadly in the dark.

More photos on Flickr.

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

I finally caught up on photographing and posting a bunch of hats I've knitted over the last who-knows-how-many months. Voila! Click on the title for the Etsy link, or on the photo for the Flickr.

Got the Blues Skull Cap


Red Stripe Hat


Forest Floor Hat


Grey Swirl Hat


Twilight Sparkle Hat


Plums Hat


Smashed Blueberry Hat


Purple Swurple Hat


Iris Hat


Spring Crocus Hat

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

This weekend has been chock full of the autumn weather that makes this my favorite season. Saturday I spent the morning in the garden, planting the last of the bulbs and seeds I'd ordered and cleaning up. Karl mowed the back yard and it's looking pretty nice back there. The marigolds I planted from seed are still growing new blossoms that haven't even opened yet!

I'd planned on pulling out the tomato plants, but they are still going strong with ripening fruit, so I left them in for now.

I've obviously missed a few that are now hanging around on the ground, but I'm not too bothered.

I thought this dead allium looked neat:

We put out our Halloween yard decor, which is more minimal than most in the sub:

Today I whipped up a quick Halloween shift dress for Willow, put on her kitty ears, and took her out into the back gardens for some photos:

These cabbages got surrounded by weeds and grew up very tall and odd. Now they are like Seussian trees for Willow to hang out in.

These two pumpkins came off the vine today.

Yay for fall! More photos on Flickr.

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

I was struggling with what to be for Halloween this year, and it was suggested to me that I dress as Coraline. How perfect is that?! So I started putting together a costume. For reference, here's what she looks like:



So my list includes:

yellow slicker
wellies
red skirt
red and grey striped tights
dragonfly hair pin
red messenger bag
blue hairspray

I've had quite a lot of good luck so far:


I ordered the messenger bag (yay, Etsy!) and yellow slicker (yay, cheap!) online, and I already had the wellies (not the right color, but I'm not going to buy an extra pair of wellies just for this when I just got a new pair - unless someone has seen some yellow wellies for an unbeatable price?). The dragonfly isn't actually a hair clip, but I can make it into one.

Now I need to find some tights and pick up some blue hairspray. I have a reddish brown corduroy skirt in my closet that will work unless I find something better. It's all coming together!

Bonus follow-up to yesterday's pirate dress post: Logan making a pirate face:

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

I made a cute pirate dress for my Blythe:

I used the Puchi Collective Empire Dress pattern and added an extra band of the Jolly Roger fabric at the hem. The more I work on dresses for Blythe using the patterns that are available online, the more I see how I can make small changes to suit my own tastes. Yay for customizing things.

With that, I will also announce that I have finally named my Blythe. Drumroll, please...

The winner is: Willow! Thanks to everyone who voted in my poll and submitted suggestions.

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

City of Screams by John Brindley is the sequel to The Rule of Claw (which I have not read). COS will be released in October.

I read this book without reading the first one, and it stood up decently on its own. I'm sure that there are things I could've gotten out of it had I read the first, but I didn't feel that I was missing pieces.

So, the gist here is that it is many years in the future and the world has changed radically, including the rate at which species evolve. Evolution has sped up to the point that within a single generation, some humans have gained wings and the power of flight, others the ability to sense emotions through their hair and scalps. Humans are not the only species to evolve so rapidly, and the earth has become a very violent place with vast expanses ruled by vicious hybrid creatures. After years of relatively peaceful existence, the city dwellers are invaded by yet another human mutation, a race of warriors evolved into super soldiers, armored by their own skin.

Sounds like a great premise for a dystopia, eh? I think it is, and it's a reasonably compelling story, but the execution is not as strong as I'd hoped.

The author has a definite agenda but apparently not the skill and/or desire to use language and story to convey it without preaching. I happen to agree that the Dubya years were bad, that war for war's sake is never okay, that the far right conservative Christian fundamentalist movement is dangerous and that a lack of respect for differences is bad. I don't, however, want to be lectured to when I'm reading fiction and I appreciate subtlety in allegory. The other problem I had was that it seemed like every time the circumstances got truly dire, some off-the-wall miraculous thing would happen and deus ex machina a resolution.

Despite these issues, the book kept my attention and I genuinely wanted to know what was going to happen next. The action was exciting and I still think that the premise of the book is a good one.

Reviewed from publisher copy, which I will send to a person who comments with a creative mutation that could theoretically happen in the world described in this book.

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

Today was big planting day, as a buttload of bulbs and bareroot arrived while we were in Florida. I also finally planted some perennials I'd gotten on clearance a month or so ago and just never made time for until today. Karl helped me remove some grass, so I was able to extend the garage-side bed to go all the way to the fence gate. Woot!

So, here's all the stuff I planted today.

In the newly expanded garage-side bed:

1 Moonbeam Coreopsis Coreopsis verticillata 'Moonbeam'
10 Limerock Passion Coreopsis Coreopsis 'Limerock Passion' PP15979, COPF
3 Zagreb Coreopsis Coreopsis verticillata 'Zagreb'
1 Pink Hardy Gloxinia Incarvillea delavayi 'Pink'
1 Tiny Icon Asiatic Lily Lilium asiaticum 'Tiny Icon' PP17619
12 Mixed Dutch Iris Iris hollandica
10 Hardy Gladiola Gladiolus nanus

In the front garden:

6 Ivory Peach Bellflower Campanula persicifolia Alba
40 Mixed Crocus Crocus
40 Lavender Mountain Lilies Ixiolirion tataricum
20 Blazing Star Liatris Liatris spicata
20 Purple Sensation Iris Iris hollandica Purple Sensation
30 Early Blooming Crocus
6 English Lavender Lavandula augustifolia Munstead
50 Blue Poppy Anemone Anemone coronaria


In the driveway-side bed:

12 Drumstick Allium Allium sphaerocephalon
12 Mixed Dutch Iris Iris hollandica
60 St Brigid Anemone Anemone coronaria
40 Alpine Rosy Bells Allium oreophilum
30 Poppy Anemones Anemone coronaria DeCaen
12 Mixed Liatris Liatris spicata
10 Hardy Gladiola Gladiolus nanus
30 Grecian Windflower Anemone blanda
60 Super Mixture Allium Allium ostrowkianum

I also picked up some things from a freecycler, which I added to the driveway-side bed: some sedum, primrose, and a few other things I've forgotten already.

There are still a few things coming to me in the mail that haven't arrived yet, and I have some wildflower seeds to add to the front garden as well. I just keep thinking about how awesome all of this will look next year when it has a chance to really get established.

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

Okay, I really need to get on with naming this gal. So here is a list of the names which have been suggested so far for my Blythe:

Alice
Anais
Ash
Buffy
Cherie
Elliott
Gertie
Livia
Madge
Maude
Ned
Nora
Piper
Poppy
Reid
Scout
Turtle
Tyler
Violet
Wednesday
Willow

Of these, I've been leaning toward:

Alice - because of Alice in Wonderland, which is cool
Ash - because of Evil Dead, of course (and she is an Ashlette, so it would make sense)
Ned - because of Pushing Daisies
Turtle - because of The Westing Game
Willow - because it is a Buffy reference, as well as the name of a tree

You can now vote in the sidebar!

While working on this, a friend of mine suggested this website, What to Name Your Baby Goth, which is too funny not to share.

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

So, the day after I got my Blythe, we left for a roadtrip vacation to visit my sis and her hub in Florida. (Internet disclaimer: Note to any would-be thieves, we have house sitters.) So I haven't had a chance to do much with her yet, but I had made one dress before I even got her. Here it is!

I posed her with some of Susan's stuff today. Hunting with the Microscope:

DFTBA!

DJ K.K.!

Today, Susan made her a party dress!

Cute, eh?

More photos on Flickr.

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

So I recently got a new obsession: Blythe. A friend of mine has been making Blythe clothes for awhile and I've always admired them and thought it might be fun to try, and this week I gave in and got my own! I found her online (got a great deal!) and near the end of the workday yesterday, K texted me to tell me that a "tiny coffin" arrived in the mail for me today. Woot!

She's an Ashlette (SBL, not Encore) with brown hair and blue/amber/green/pink eyes. I took a few quick photos after unwrapping her (crappy lighting and whatnot, as I was in a hurry):

Isn't she cute? I made one quick dress for her the other day, but didn't try it on her yet when I took these photos (I have since, and it fits great - my camera is recharging so not photos of that yet). I'm really excited to try more patterns and make her more outfits.

Now she needs a name! Any suggestions?

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

The other day, I noticed that I could see some red tomatoes when I let the dogs out first thing in the morning, so I went out to the garden and found all of these:

WOW! I had a dozen big tomatoes and sixty-some cherry tomatoes. I couldn't believe that all this showed up ripe on the same day! All of the big ones and most of the cherries here are from the volunteers that sprang up due to my laziness in cleaning up at the end of the season last year. Being the only tomato-eater in the house, I set aside a handful for me and brought the rest to work.

I put them in the lounge and am pleased to say that they disappeared quickly.

Originally published at LibrariAnne.

One of the gals in my department recently had a baby boy, Teddy. He hasn't shown a desire to sleep for more than a few hours at a time so far, so when I was thinking of what to knit for him, a blanket seemed appropriate. I thought sleepy thoughts while I made it, hoping that it will somehow come through to him and he'll want to sleep through the night.

I adapted a pattern called Finnias, designed by Katie Benedict and used the recommended yarn: Shine Sport by Knit Picks. I wanted it to be rockin', so I chose to knit it with Green Apple, Hydrangea (blue), Black, and Serenade (purple). I also adapted it so that the outer rows were only one-third as wide as the inner rows because (1) the blanket was getting humongous and (2) I was getting tired of knitting it. It's all garter stitch and it seemed endless after awhile.

It was an easy project, perfect for working on while watching DVR and movies (you don't need to pay much attention to the knitting, so you can focus on you're watching). I'd recommend it. The yarn I used worked very well, too - it is a cotton/beech wood blend and can be machine washed and dried (a necessity for baby stuff).

My project on Ravelry (login required).

Originally published at LibrariAnne.