Time Lord Obsessed

OK, so I've been really busy about the Chaos, at work (this job thing really wears me out - in a good way tho), Kublacon (another year down) and just the daily ins and outs of being me.

Still trying to recover from Kublacon - there are photos to be taken and items to be added to the shop.

Posts to be written about Kublacon, what I've been making, the fact that my wrist is recovered enough to knit with small needles again, happenings about town, things seen, Spencer's doings, etc.

Meanwhile, the latest Knitpicks catalog pops into my mailbox. Damn them, they always seem to arrive when I'm at my weakest...

Anyone else notice the "Time Traveler" self-striping sock yarn? Love the description!

Anyway again....6 balls later...ordered during a particularly weak moment during Kublacon weekend....on their way to be delivered today to the Chaos. I've also stocked up my Netflix queue with a bunch of Dr. Who episodes, old and new, so that I may knit away whilst watching. :)

I had an idea to knit a neverending scarf, but it will have to be quite thin in order to take advantage of the stripes. I like thickish scarves, so nah. I think I'll stick to socks. I know of 3 Dr. Who fans who would appreciate a Tom Baker-esque pair of socks and 6 balls is the perfect amount for that. :)

Still here...

...been working hard, taking care of personal stuff and finally...FINALLY!!! making things to sell at the Kublacon Flea Mkt this Friday.

This Friday!!! Seems like just yesterday that we all signed up - and that was back in January...

Oh well, excitement reigns here in the Chaos as armies are prepared, stray mini-dudes are painted, dice are made into pretty, shiny things.

I need to take photos. And print stickers. And go over my setup. And...and...and...

It rained again this morning...

...but nevermind. The sun is trying to shine, I saw a rainbow on the way to the bus stop this morning and I've lost weight.

Trying to focus on the positive as there are so many things now that could possibly be negative in my current brain-fried state of mind.

My body needs a rest. Rain threatened this morning, so I didn't ride. If I can't give my body a rest during the night (sleeping issues again), I can at least give it a break during the day every so often.

Job Update: The job is going well as can be for a newbie who has never ever ever done this before. Ever.

KublaCon Update: Still suffering from the worst case of creating block yet. KublaCon is 4.5 weeks away. I've got a flea market table. I've got NUTTIN' to sell people. N.O.T.H.I.N.G.

What I do have is a bead stash that has been culled, arranged, rearranged and rearranged again. Time to stop "playing" with the pretty, shiny beads and make something. Seriously.

Every weekend until KublaCon and a few after it are full. Busy busy busy.

I miss sleeping in. I really really really do. Really.

Yawn!

Not cos I'm bored, but because I'm tired.

Antonella and I did most of what we planned for Saturday. We got out to the Art Show, the Bead Shop, the other stores on the way home.

What we didn't do was make anything. We were out running about from 11am until 4:30pm and pretty much wore ourselves out. We got to my place, I made dinner, she "shopped" in my bead stash and that was pretty much the end of that. We even went to sleep early!

We're going to have to try and get together for jewelry making on another weekend. The next time, we're not going out beforehand!

We came home with some cool stuff from all the places we went - and were very well behaved at the bead store (not very much wallet abuse at all!).

I have more energy after work now - that only means I sit on the couch, but don't fall asleep. Hah. Last night while on the couch, I culled my bead stash. And part of my fabric stash. Tonight I'm going to try and get some stuff made for KublaCon. Dunno tho, as I'm biking off to Kohl's for some shopping. This is the last day I can use my Kohl's bucks so I don't want to lose that $20 coupon I got a few weekends ago. Plus I've got a $20 store credit and also will be retunring something. Hopefully I can spend it all tonight as I don't get to Kohl's very often.

After all that (it's a long ride home - with potentially full paniers), I just might sit on the couch and zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.............

Drive by Update...

Still adjusting to the work routine. Getting quicker on my rides to BART, but they still wear me out. Just wish it wasn't so darn cold in the mornings still...

Haven't done much crafting/knitting -wise. With all this coming home and falling asleep on the couch after work, things have gotten rather cluttered and creativity-stifling.

For a few nights this week, I have been putting things away and so on, so I should be able to get back to all my projects soon. This weekend as a matter of fact.

This weekend is a busy one. Antonella and I are off to San Francisco for a friend's Art Showing, some bead store blitzing (mostly of our wallets, I'm sure) and a stop off at our fav stores on the way home if we're still standing by then (and if we have anything left in those poor abused wallets).

Then we're off to my place for a girl's-night-in-crafting. I've been teaching Antonella how to make jewelry, so we're going to make some stuff for ourselves, then she's agreed to help me get some work done on some things for KublaCon.

There will be my 30min Spaghetti and Meatballs for dinner, some snackage, and prob some instant viewing on Xbox while we work.

A full day!

Been busy...

...working.

Yes, you read that right. I'm employed again! As of April 1st - and no, it's not an April Fool's joke. It's for real.

It's going to take a while to get back into "working mode". You know, the whole having to get up early, make myself human, and then commute thing.

I've been riding my bike to BART every day, so I'm tired at the end of the day.

I'll be ok tho...the steady paycheck will help me adjust. :)

Starting major production on stuff for the KublaCon Flea Market, still knitting on my Juliet (had to take a break for the wrist), bought yarn for the mystery baby gift, still have yarn left to make more beanies (taking a break from that too).

Things are going back to what they used to be (uber chaotic), but part of me likes that...and the "old lady" part of me will eventually get back into the swing of things.

Now I just need to stay away from the damn Xbox...I downloaded a game and was on until 3:30am Sunday morning.

No more starting a game at midnight...

Did you see that?!?

OK, so I wasn't at all tired tonight and stayed up (obviously, it is 12:20am) to watch the end of the Ice Dancing competition.

First off, congrats to the Canadians for winning the Gold. Oh...Canadaaa...eh!

Finally saw my first medal ceremony. Did you see the sweater coats that the medal bearers were wearing?

W.A.N.T.

That is all...

Edited to add: After trolling just a few seconds in Ravelry, I found this...which led to this...I REALLY W.A.N.T. now that I got a better view of the sweater coats... Look at the size of those custom made needles. I bet you could make that sweater with a few yarns held together and a giant Tunisian Crochet hook.

Now to learn how to shape Tunisian Crochet...maybe for next winter. I've got other things to concentrate on right now - Kublacon anyone?

Best laid plans, blah blah blah

Well, the conference didn't go as well as we planned and there has been a business setback. My friend is carrying on though and pushing forward, etc. He's not one for giving in and this is his dream, so onward!

Ms Cow was a fantastic navigator by the way...even thru fog!!!

It has been nice having the car, altho it is very tiring to drive (and drive so much too) after not driving in a long time. I am worn out from yesterday. Drove Spence into SF today all the way to school and picked up his bike while I was there...more lots of driving...this time in traffic.

So on to the best laid plans. I don't seem to be the superwoman I used to be. My big plans to take the two chairs off to the charity shop just fell thru. I can't lift the damn things, so there is no way I'm going to be able to get them down the stairs and into a car. I'll have to have some help with that. I'll just have to borrow the car over the weekend when Spencer can help me. In the mean time, I've given up on even taking anything. I don't have enuf for a car load without the chairs. To be honest, it doesn't even fill up the cart. Sigh. Can't lift the heavy boxes either, so taking anything to the charity shop for donation is out for today.

I'll have a bit of a rest and then go do some running about...I have several things that need to be done that would take forever if done by bus, so having the car is not going to go to waste. I was going to try and fit in the errands and the donation run, so now I can just relax and take my time. I'll pick up Spencer from BART and we'll most likely take a run down to In 'n Out for some yummy burgers. We only go to In n Out during Kublacon cos I've got a rental car and there is one by the hotel where it's held, so this will be a bit of a treat for us. Altho I must confess that when I first picked up the car on Tuesday night, Antonella and I stopped in for dinner. :)

Oh yeah, almost forgot, the dice beads came the other day. The silver and gold medal ones are awesome, the skulls are a bit bigger than I thought they would be, and the "white" dice beads are actually "grey". They'll be some emails to the seller about that. I have a feeling I'll be sending them back. I need WHITE. These just look the color of dingy socks. Yuk!

I've gotten several other "new" things to help me make stuff and give me instructions/ideas for Kublacon items, so I need to get going on it!

The rain finally came...

Lots of updates...

Spencer is enjoying the new school. He's actually getting homework! And he loves the fact that he has a locker. It's the little things that make us happy. :)

Had my last surgery follow-up with the wrist doc. I am FREEEE...to do whatever I damn well please. He says everything looks great, my range of motion is excellent, my strength is pretty much "that" close to being 100% and he doesn't want to see me again. :o) I still haven't done any heavy lifting, but thankfully, no heavy lifting has been required. It still gets worn out if I overdo things though, so I do still need to be careful.

My friend who was waiting for licenses and stuff for his business is now "this" close to getting them. There has been much movement there in the last few days and some political intervention even. :o)

I have found a new supplier for dice beads! I am so excited I can't even tell you! At our first Kublacon 4 years ago, I bought a wee box full of mini dice beads (200 in the box). I've been making things off and on for the last few years and now I am running out. This year, I decided to go ahead and get a Kublacon Flea Market spot for the Friday night of the convention when I signed us up this past week. I am very excited. I have been drawing things out, making lists, collecting up supplies for several months now and now it's time to start cranking some stuff out. Most all of these designs and ideas have included dice beads...and PANIC! I needed more.

After trying to get some from various game shops (where I got them in the first place), I was very discouraged as they are not sold anymore. Last night I got a revelation and checked on Etsy and Artfire. Both sites have shops that sell not only hand crafted things, but supplies for hand crafters as well. SHAZAAAM! Next thing I know I'm ordering metal dice in silver and gold colors, and regular white dice beads, small red skulls and some little bells. I got a little bit of all of it and if they work in my designs and stuff, then I can order bigger batches. The gold and silver will really make my jewelry designs look awesome!

I have one rosary to make this week (jade and silver - it is going to be purty!), and then it is time to get crankin' on Kublacon stuff. Spence and I have made a huge list of things that would possibly be good sellers at a gamer convention so now it's time to make patterns and get the assembly line going! Yayyyyyy!!!!

Oh, and I'm back to sorting thru stuff here in the Chaos and took 2 cart loads of stuff to the charity shop this week!

My future is filled with sorting, spring cleaning (I'm starting in the kitchen), and making stuff.

Oh, and Spencer's beanie is finally on it's final start. I think this is the one. No more frogging!

It's so boring round here...

I'm keeping busy, but still....snoozeville!

I've gotten in the mood lately to do lots of sorting and clearing out and etc etc etc. The Chaos is becoming less chaotic by the day. There is still quite a bit to do, but I am making lots of progress going thru boxes and getting rid of stuff.

Spencer had a friend over this weekend, so even tho I did do a bit of work, I really couldn't do much. He is Spencer's Kublacon buddy and they were working on their armies. Every year they are the only two that have unpainted pieces in their armies. I somehow convinced them that they should meet once a month or so and just paint and practice strategies and stuff like that. They got quite a bit of painting done and even put some time in at the local game shop testing out some new strategies at the gaming tables. Spencer has just put away the final remains of all his paints, brushes, glue, bits, pieces and whatnot and the place looks halfway decent. Yay!

It's going to be pretty damn hot here for the next few days (100F +) and I am still in a purging/sorting/cleaning mood, so it is perfect! I wont' be wanting to go out in the heat and what else have I got to do round here? I am determined to have this all cleared out before the Holidays hit. Fingers crossed I can keep up with it!

Now to go wrap up some books for Book Swap. Two more go out in the mail tomorrow!

I know, I've been absent...

I have enjoyed being semi-unplugged since I officially stopped working on May 15th.

Have been very busy as well.

There was finishing the Dress.




Really wish I had a dress form....this hanger does NOT do this dress justice...at all!

There was mad, crazy, almost all night gaming at KublaCon...

There was bike fixing, switching out of various and sundry bike bits and pieces.

There has been bike riding almost EVERY day! I've dropped 5 pounds so far... YAY!

And there was not much knitting or other crafting...except for Mom's birthday earrings.





I've been in a sort of a 'crafter's block' situation. My head is bursting with crafty ideas for knitting, sewing, crocheting, embroidery, combinations of all of the above...lots of prototypes for stuff to put out on my shop need to be made...the crafty list is endless.

Yet...I could do nothing.

Enter the craft palette cleanser...








Remember the "birthday balls" from last summer?

Well those 45, plus about 5-10 more, along with random balls found here and there round the Chaos, make up this BIG, HUGE, bad boy of a blankie (big enough to cover a twin size bed and then some - in the photos, it's on my double bed). Enter Size S extended Tunisian Crochet Hook, 3 strands held together, and Voila! Check out Stitch Diva for an easy Tunisian Tutorial - I also bought my S hook from them at Stitches West back in February. They also have a pattern for a stash buster blanket, but I just did my own thing.

The dominant colors in my acrylic stash were black and various shades of dark blue. I held one strand of black, one strand of blue and then just grabbed for colors. The balls were stacked nicely in the container according to color, so I attached one color, used it til it ran out, then started on the next and so on and so on. The photos don't do it justice as it's rather cool looking and flows pretty well from one section to another. Using the black and blue as the "glue" was a very good idea. Eventually I ran out of black and blue and then started in with the other base colors of green and dark red...and then found some more black, so added it back in... It was a fun project!

I started this sucker on the evening of June 1st...worked on it every night that week for about an hour or two, one or two hours over the busy weekend, left it alone until last night...DONE!

Insta-warm blankie, and the acrylic stash is G-O-N-E. At least I think it is....I'm sure more of that stuff will pop up...I swear, it breeeeds.

It's BIG, it's HEAVY, and it's Spencer's. He likes lots of weight and warmth on him in the winter while he sleeps. This should do it.

Craft palette cleansed.

Had an interesting last few days, but will save that for another post. I'll try not to stay away from the computer so much. :)

Sammie on Sunday is postponed to bring you...

...Kublacon weekend...

We got home at 1am on Friday night/Sat morning....

3am Saturday night/this morning...

Just walked in about 3o min ago.

The boys have been non-stop Warmachine tournamenting. Yesterday they set personal records...13 hours straight at the tables with back to back tournaments. They were pretty much zombified when we left the Con this morning. I had to wait until we arrived home before I could give into zombification since I was responsible for getting them home. :)

Ms Cow and I just aren't used to all this late night activity...

Up and at 'em again by 8:30 this morning. Good grief.

Tomorrow we are up early to get to the Con by 9am. "One last game"...kinda like "one more row" only you destroy someone else's army instead of finishing a sock, or sweater or something warm and cuddly.

I'm tired, kitty has missed me (and I her), and my bed should be warmed up and ready for me to dive in...good thing I'm lazy and haven't taken off our heated mattress pads yet. It's been cold here!!!!!! And it's even colder down at the Convention - it's down in Burlingame just past the SF Airport. Foggy and very very windy!

And now, kitty and I are headed to bed...warm, soft, wonderful bed....

Sorry so boring around here lately...

I can't help it. Not only have I been extremely busy, but I've been sick off and on for a very long time (damn allergies) and for the past week I've been dealing with a pulled back muscle.

There are many days where I don't even want to get up. What's the point? The coughing, the sneezing, the pain. But yet I do, and I trudge thru the days and try to sleep thru the nights.

Whine whine whine...

The lastest...

My last day at the paying job is tomorrow (or should I say today, it is after midnight). I just checked my bank balance. The last deposits have been made. It's pretty much officially over except for shipping out the laptop. Sigh.

Work on the costumes continue. The dress is almost done. I have to do just a few more things to finish attaching the bodice to the skirt and then it's the hem and we're off to school sometime tomorrow. And that's it for costumes. Good thing too, the first performance is next Wednesday.

The Casa de Chaos is a total wreck. Even worse than before. The poor cat is covered in bits of fabric and thread. That's what she gets for sleeping under my sewing table in a pile of fabric bits and pieces. She's royal, she likes velvet, what can I say?

I've got lots of cleaning up to do. Looking forward to getting a few boxes worth of stuff out of the house and back to former paying job. Then it's time to dive into what's left. Not like I'm not going to have some time on my hands. Sigh.

Taking some time off. Maybe I'll see a movie. Maybe I'll just stay home with my butt and relax for once. The back needs rest. The brain needs rest. My sanity needs rest. Yes, doing nothing for a week or two sounds wonderful.

Next Friday begins KublaCon Weekend with the Boys. WooHOOOOOO!!!!

I hope to be out on Sgt. Puff again next week, so definitely need to get my back well. I haven't been able to do much and even spent Mother's Day flat on my back in bed and medicated. Lovely.

Also need to kick the job search into high gear, help out a friend at his new business (non-paying job), and start making some stuff for my online shop. I've been ignoring way too many important things around here - including myself.

Sigh.

It's late, I'm tired, my bed is heated up and ready. I know, it's hot out here, but it does feel good on my back and helps my muscles relax after a long day at the computer and sewing table.

Oh, and THANK GOD for massaging shower heads.

Oh, and Ibuprofen too.

Still here...

And still working hard...

Things have been rather chaotic in the Chaos lately. I'm taking a much deserved break tonight. No personal crafting, no chores (I'm look at you laundry), no costume work....just me and the couch tonight.

This old body needs a rest - it's been thru a lot lately.

Lots of stuff going on...end of job next Friday, final fittings of costumes on Monday/Tuesday, KublaCon coming up, loads of ideas for the shop, loads of ideas for personal crafting projects...sigh.

On a happier note, I think the pools have opened! Time to start up swimming again. Spencer and I LOVE swimming.

A busy night last night...

...things are all a-buzz in the Chaos lately.

Some of the reasons can't be revealed just yet, but they will soon...after Stitches.

Yes, I'm going to Stitches!!! Hitching a ride with the AmpuT early on Saturday morning.

I'll be looking for you No-Blog-Rachel!!!

We have all been very creative lately.

Even Ms Cow has gotten the "I need to make something NOW" bug.

We set off to JoAnn's Craft Superstore with our 40% off coupon yesterday at lunch.

You see, Ms Cow needs a Tea Set. Now, we've been to Japantown, Chinatown, every toy store in the area, have searched Ebay, Etsy, Amazon, everywhere...and no where...NO WHERE have we found a tea set sized for use by the Cows. We did find a teapot in Chinatown (which is a bit on the small side), but no tea cups were to be had anywhere! Now, if Cow and Ms Cow were sized the same as Barbie, this would be a non-issue...

Well, being frustrated by the whole situation and Ms Cow being the take charge crafter that she is...we decided to make our own.

So we needed clay.

Since when are there so many freakin types of clay?

Anyway, after much scrunching of brows, looks of dismay, feelings of despair, and knashing of teeth...we decided to get some Super Sculpey. Once we're done shaping it up, it will be baked in the oven and then we can paint it.

Here is Ms Cow with her first little ball of clay. This will soon become a tea cup.



We had lots of fun working with the Super Sculpey. It's very soft and pliable and won't dry out since it doesn't harden unless you bake it. So far so good. We'll keep you all posted on our progress.

Here's Ms Cow with her evenings worth of work:



Four tea cups, four saucers, a sugar bowl (with lid even!!!) and a creamer (with a spout!!!).

She's very clever and good with the clay our Ms Cow...

We won't be able to use the teapot we have with the cups we're making, it's too small for these Cow Sized cups. But, we can at least use it as a model for one we can make ourselves. Ms Cow really likes the shape of it.

Can't wait to make more things with this clay...it's fun!!!

Meanwhile, Ms Cow, Spencer, and I are preparing for Stitches...and the Kublacon!

Disappointment Major

Spent all day with the boys at the Con. They had fun despite the fact that the Tournament Moderator never showed up and they had to pick someone out of the group that signed up and then go for it on their own. There were about 20 or so players...Spencer and his friend C definitely being the youngest. Most were mid-20's and up. They played from noon until 7pm.

What was so dissappointing then? The vendor area. Dudes...very few vendors carried models for the game the boys were playing (Warmachine). And the WORST. PART. OF. ALL. The dice people had NO. MINI. DICE.

I was uber bummed. That was going to be the highlight of my Kublacon visit! Sigh.

Once again, I took too much. But that's OK. I carried it all in my rolling cart thing.

We go back tomorrow and I'm definitely paring down what I'm taking. Only one knitting project, one book, no mags or puzzle books, my music, and that's about it. We shouldn't be there as long as we were today. At least I hope not!

Still working on my sister's gift. Even though I knit on it almost all day, I'm still lacking a few more smaller pieces. Too busy people watching!!! hee hee.

Stephiface: No mini dice this year...GAH!

AmpuT: I checked on Ravelry, the Bay Area Knitter's group (I think that's the right one) were meeting up at Bay Con...also taking place this weekend. I'm sure if there were any knitters where I was today, they would have said something. I kept getting up and moving about, so just about everyone at the Con saw me.

OK...off I go...have to weed out the supplies for tomorrow and get a smaller bag. Not taking the rolling cart. It was handy to have, but a pain to trail round with me. Oh well...lesson learned.

Time for the KublaCon*...

Spencer's friend is here now...they are 'practicing' their strategies for *tomorrow and most likely the rest of the weekend.

How does one prepare for sitting at the Con for the whole day or so?!? Very carefully.

This is the 3rd year that we're going. Why do I have to go? The boys are underage, so an adult "chaperone" must accompany them for the entire time they are there.

Crazy says you?

Wonderful says I!

I get to sit around doing 'nothing' all day. No work phone calls, no chores, no distractions. We are set to leave at 8am and if the boys do well in their tournament (it starts at noon), we might be there until 8pm. Hmmmm....

Almost time to go collect the last bit of laundry. Then I pack for tomorrow.

In my bag/cart, there will be knitting, reading, possible jewelry supplies (StephieFace, I'm buying more mini dice!), sewing (pattern making actually), sewing magazine (Burda World of Fashion), Burda knitting magazine, maybe a puzzle book...and whatever else I can think of... Bought a new book (Honey, I found Mort!!!! I finally found Mort!!!), and the zines tonight. It's all I can do to tear into them all RIGHT NOW!!! Must behave though or I'll have less to do tomorrow.

Oh yes, and snacks...lots of snacks. And bottles of water.

And now we have all decided it's time to pack up all our respective bags and prepare all snackage for tomorrow.

I'm ready! Bring it on!!!

Ooooh...and I'm a bit behind on my Sister's gift, but should finish up the rest of the pieces I need in the first few hours at the Con...then I can sew it up!!! Yay!

PS...a new addition to the Kubla Posse this year? Ms. Cow I'd take sock monkey, but he's too much of a trouble maker.