Crochet Second Commissioned Project: Watch Cap: COMPLETE!

Related posts:
Crochet First Commissioned Project: Watch Cap: COMPLETE! (Extra: Magazines!)
Inventory for a future little crafting shop
Crochet works: yarn for side projects

It took a lot of slow effort over a couple of days, but I'm happy to report that my crochet side projects are now complete and ready for delivery.


First up, the sleeve for my mother's Samsung i780 [also known as the Samsung Mirage]. I know, it looks a little misshapen, but it will look a heck of a lot better with the phone unit in.


And, as I joked in the previous entry, a very *colorful* watch cap. This is the actual commission of the post title. My sister specified that the purple bit be either multiple thin stripes or one wide stripe, and I ended up deciding on the first option. Who'd have thought that orange multi and purple multi yarns would look rather dashing together?

[As a joke, this hat will hopefully ensure my sister can never get lost in a crowd - the colors are too damn bright.]

And after a quick break and rest, back to the afghan.

Rambling at large

[I haven't had any decent sleep in two days so excuse me if this is just a wee bit incoherent.]

1. I think my subconscious is trying to write my November NaNoWriMo novel for me. Except that I may have to consider moving my noveling month to August because November is a busy time at the office.

2. I have finally settled on a name for the yarn shop that I would really like to open in the future. It will be an easy-to-remember name and it will also be a tribute to my significant other, who is relentless in pushing me towards my dreams.

3. I really want to watch Toy Story 3, but am having a hard time figuring out when to go to the cinema since I only get weekends off, and weekends means tons of kids. I'm not exactly anti-kid but I do hate watching a movie and then some ill-behaved kid screams, cries, moves around, or kicks my chair.

4. The next movie I want to see, after Toy Story, is Inception. So looking forward to Nolan's next work. I really like his very cerebral stories, and this just promises to be the pinnacle of them, what with that kickass tagline: "Your mind is the scene of the crime" or something like that. Wonder if there are any parallels to be drawn with copyright and intellectual property.

5. Current food cravings include a proper spaghetti with meat sauce. Wonder if I could get my parents to cook some for me.

6. Dare I ask how much a Dollfie Dream, the Aoi model would cost? Base price is 39,900 JPY - that's about 21,000 PHP. No clothes or shipping/handling yet. Looks like I'd have to have a minimum of 30,000 PHP on hand - OUCH.

[Incoherence ends here, I hope!]

Inventory for a future little crafting shop

At lunch with the family for a combined birthday and Father's Day celebration yesterday, the topics bounced all over the spectrum of ideas, but the one I got stuck on was the idea of opening a little shop where I could sell crocheted stuff.

Here's the list of things I could sell:

1. Scarves. This is really my type of project; heaven knows I've made enough of them and talked about them, on this blog and elsewhere.

2. Watch caps.

So who got the one I was making last week? My dad. He was quite pleased and said he'd wear it to work, since some of the production houses he works with have super-cold offices.

3. All-purpose mini bags.

This particular specimen contains RPG dice, but the width is just right for most mobile phones. It's then a matter of sizing the bag accurately in order to completely accommodate units ranging from an iPhone to the wide range of Nokias to my mother's Samsung smartphone...for this, the possibilities really are endless.

Hmm. So now all I've got to do is get cracking and start making. Right then. I can haz crafty tiemz nao?

PJ Goes Pop receives its first blog award!

Thank you so very much to a dear friend and enabler: Jonette at The Hobby Horse, for this Beautiful Blogger Award.



The rules for the award:
1. Thank the person who gave you the award, and link back to them.
2. Pass the award on to 15 bloggers whom you've recently discovered and think are fantastic.
3. Contact those bloggers and let them know that they've won the award.
4. State seven (7) things about yourself.

With item number 1 marked as done and done, I need to pass the award on - and here are my picks. Sorry I haven't quite made the required 15.

Crafty Cat - Clair
Tres Mujeres - The Misadventures of the Desanggria Family - Anne DeSanggria
Lion Brand Notebook - The Lion Brand Yarn Blog - a team of 8: David, Ilana, Jack, Jess, Laura, Lindsey, Patty, and Zontee
Crochet Me - Kim Werker - the founder of the site

Seven things about myself? Hard to think of it when I do tend to indulge in TMI of the fannish and otaku-ish persuasion here. But let's give it a shot.

> I will try to eat absolutely anything once. This is how I learned to stop worrying and love kimchi, love it enough to attempt making it at home once! But this is also how I learned to abhor delicacies like durian and sea urchin.
> My primary favorite when it comes to cosplay is the Edwardian/Victorian form of cross-play. Men's suits. Frock coats. Essentially I want to steal the entire wardrobe used by Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law in Sherlock Holmes.
> If I could make it to the Takarazuka Grand Theater, the Tokyo Takarazuka Theater, AND the Wao Enterprise offices in Japan, I will die happy. Seriously. Even if I just wound up standing outside on the sidewalk.
> I missed out on a lot of good TV. Not because I didn't have TV, but because I wasn't allowed to stay up and/or watch the programs. The Twilight Zone, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The X-Files, Millennium, even sitcoms like Family Ties and The Golden Years. Oh, and stuff like T.O.D.A.S. and Goin' Bananas.
> If I ever get married, I want to do the wedding ceremony in cosplay. Something like Cowboy Bebop although I can never see myself in the iconic Faye Valentine outfit. Jedi robes, maybe? (This is partly because friends of mine who are also members of the 501st got married very recently.)
> My current pipe dream is to open a small business that focuses on bringing good quality yarns and crafting notions into the country. I realize this might place me in direct competition with Tita Lilli at Dreams Yarnshoppe. But I was thinking more along the lines of I could bring in the stuff she can't.
> If I ever take up knitting it will be for the Fourth Doctor's scarf alone. After that, it's back to crochet for me.

One more extra:
> I always feel sad because no one ever recognizes the source of my blog's subtitle.

A Girl Can Dream: Holiday Wishlist 2009, Part 5

So, December has come and it's time for presents once again. The "A Girl Can Dream" posts are, well, pretty much exactly what it says on the tin: they're stuff I wish I could buy for myself. The sorts of things that make me sigh and say, "Oh if only I had [insert obscenely large amount of money here]; this is what I'd do with it."

None of these entries have absolutely anything to do with advertising or what-not. It's a wishlist. That's all.

HOLIDAY WISHLIST PART 5: FIGURES GALORE

[OMG YAY last one!]

This was the very first year that I had heard about such things called Figma and Nendoroid. Plastic/resin sculpted figures, well, I knew about those already. And very many Figma, figures, and Nendoroids out on the market are irresistibly cute, as will be seen in this entry.

The problem with finding out about these sorts of things is that, of course, one comes to WANT SOME, to the detriment of budgets and lifestyles and etcetera thereof....

All pictures unless otherwise indicated from the official English website of Good Smile Company. Please don't make the same mistake I did - DON'T get bootlegs, only get the original stuff!

FIGURES

Asahina Mikuru, Suzumiya Haruhi, and Nagato Yuki, Extravaganza Version 1/8 PVC figures, by Max Factory. Original picture from A World Through Lenses.

This three-figure set comes from a popular official art piece of the central characters from "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya", which depicted the SOS-Dan as members of a rock band. Don't they look smashingly good?

FIGMAS

figma Saber: Armor Ver.

Everyone loves the stately majesty and kickass potential of King Arthuria a/k/a Servant Saber from the Fate/Stay Night series of games and anime, and I'm one of her fans. This figma of her looks so toothsome and cute. She looks like she could guard my toy chest and/or books....

A Girl Can Dream: Holiday Wishlist 2009, Part 4

So, December has come and it's time for presents once again. The "A Girl Can Dream" posts are, well, pretty much exactly what it says on the tin: they're stuff I wish I could buy for myself. The sorts of things that make me sigh and say, "Oh if only I had [insert obscenely large amount of money here]; this is what I'd do with it."

None of these entries have absolutely anything to do with advertising or what-not. It's a wishlist. That's all.

HOLIDAY WISHLIST PART 4: ATLANTICA ONLINE

I thought my interest in Atlantica Online was waning, but...well, seeing as something brilliant happened to me just today with regards to this wishlist - I'll keep going, hahaha.

1. KITTY BAG

This accessory is one of the most sought-after items in Atlantica Online. You carry a cute kitten in a knapsack on your main character's back; there's a little rod with a fish hanging off a hook, and every now and then the kitty bats at the fish. Stat boosts: Attack Power: 400-500, Vitality: +70, Defense: 500. Random drop from Wild Cat's Pocket Watch.

2-3. LUCIFER'S WINGS / MICHAEL'S WINGS

After the Kitty Bag above, these two back accessories rank on the must-have list. The character on top has the Michael's; the one on the bottom has the Lucifer's. The Lucifer's Wings were the first wing-type items to come out of the game, and for a few people, are still the coolest ones, though rivaled closely by the Michael's Wings. No, they neither flap nor allow you to fly - but they make you look GOOD. Stat boosts: Lucifer's Wings - Attack Power: 350-450, Vitality: +60, Defense: 500; Michael's Wings - Attack Power: 450-550, Vitality: +80, Defense: 500. Lucifer's Wings are a random drop from Pledge of Citratus; Michael's Wings are a random drop from Gabriel's Deliverance.

4. SCARLET COSTUME HORNS

Okay, here's the deal. Here is a female main character wearing the full Scarlet Outfit set i.e. Costume + Horns. (And Lucifer's Wings for good measure.) The Costume is self-explanatory; the Horns give the white hairstyle, the cross on the forehead, the pointed ears, and the namesake horns. All three items used to be on my wishlist.

Until this morning. I'd been idly looking at the world broadcasts in my server, and found a message stating that someone wanted to trade hir Scarlet Costume for a Changshan Costume.

If you remember how I got my Changshan Costume, well, you can see where this is going.

Got LUCKY again in terms of costumes. After the trade was completed:



Now I wish that I could obtain the same luck with regards to the head decoration.

Stat boosts: Scarlet Costume - Vitality: +50; Scarlet Horns - Vitality: +50. Each item is a random drop from Iris' Promise.

***

Do you spend real money on virtual items? Tell me about your MMOs and the items you want.

Watch out for the rest of the "A Girl Can Dream" posts. :)

A Girl Can Dream: Holiday Wishlist 2009, Part 3

So, December has come and it's time for presents once again. The "A Girl Can Dream" posts are, well, pretty much exactly what it says on the tin: they're stuff I wish I could buy for myself. The sorts of things that make me sigh and say, "Oh if only I had [insert obscenely large amount of money here]; this is what I'd do with it."

None of these entries have absolutely anything to do with advertising or what-not. It's a wishlist. That's all.

HOLIDAY WISHLIST PART 3: CHARITIES AND NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS

Lest you think that the long list of things I'd like to do with a huge amount of money is all about me - well, the answer to that should really just be a rather emphatic no. There are organizations out there that are working to make the world a much better place than it is now. They deserve to be supported. Here are the ones I believe in.

1. Philippine National Red Cross

After Typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng (international names Ketsana and Parma) hit the Philippines in September and October this year, I couldn't make time to volunteer at the various relief centers. So I did the next best thing: give money to the Philippine Red Cross. I already believe in their blood donation advocacy; I believe even more in their efforts to reach out and help as many people as they could even when they themselves are in danger or are already overextended.

2. World Wide Fund for Nature

I hope that this WWF will not go the way of radical "green/environmentalist/animal rights" groups that in their excess of zeal and lack of common sense turn themselves into objects of ridicule. At least I know that they're still working tirelessly to save the planet and its endangered species, despite the stigma of being associated with the aforementioned groups.

3. Project Gutenberg

Preserving books whose copyrights have already expired (at least in the US) by turning them into good-quality e-book versions. No one is hurt and future generations can get ahold of classic books and great reads in media that they can access and understand more easily - what's not to like? I really should look into volunteering for that "Distributed Proofreading" thing that they do.

4. The Office of Letters and Light

They say they believe in "ambitious acts of the imagination". These are the fine folks behind National Novel Writing Month (November of every year) and Script Frenzy (April of every year). Each program has a corresponding Young Writers Program for - you guessed it - kids in school who want to learn how to write. I support them because they're all for literacy and for literature, and because they work very hard to better not only the world at large, but everyone who participates in their programs too.

***

Do you support any charities or non-profit organizations? Tell me about the ones you volunteer for/give money to/help manage or lead in the comments.

Watch out for the rest of the "A Girl Can Dream" posts. :)

A Girl Can Dream: Holiday Wishlist 2009, Part 2

So, December has come and it's time for presents once again. The "A Girl Can Dream" posts are, well, pretty much exactly what it says on the tin: they're stuff I wish I could buy for myself. The sorts of things that make me sigh and say, "Oh if only I had [insert obscenely large amount of money here]; this is what I'd do with it."

None of these entries have absolutely anything to do with advertising or what-not. It's a wishlist. That's all.

HOLIDAY WISHLIST PART 2: TAKARAZUKA KAGEKIDAN

Having been a while since I last posted about my fandoms, have a wishlist composed of the DVDs and shows I'd like to collect from my one and only favorite all-female theater group, the Takarazuka Revue.

Soragumi - My first and foremost favorite troupe.

a. Nostalgia Across the Sea / Millennium Challenger! 2000-2001 - Because Hanafusa Mari as Catherine the Great meshes so well with Wao Youka as a shipwrecked samurai, and because the revue, Millennium Challenger, is a bit of a Y2K headtrip.


b. Castel Mirage / Dancing Spirit! 2001 - Partly for the story and the amazing dance sequences in Castel Mirage, and partly because it has Kozuki Wataru as the "second man" for Wao.


c. Pierre the Mercenary / The Star Dust Party 2003 - Because, COME ON, it's Hanafusa as Jeanne d'Arc.


d. Casablanca 2009-2010 - I am SO getting the DVD for this when it comes out. New Top Stars Oozora Yuuhi and Nono Sumika play the star-crossed lovers Rick Blaine and Ilsa Lund, with Ranju Tomu as Victor Laszlo. This is why I love Sora so much: they're the only ones who would DARE an undertaking of this magnitude.

A Girl Can Dream: Holiday Wishlist 2009, Part 1

So, December has come and it's time for presents once again. The "A Girl Can Dream" posts are, well, pretty much exactly what it says on the tin: they're stuff I wish I could buy for myself. The sorts of things that make me sigh and say, "Oh if only I had [insert obscenely large amount of money here]; this is what I'd do with it."

None of these entries have absolutely anything to do with advertising or what-not. It's a wishlist. That's all.

HOLIDAY WISHLIST PART 1: BEAUTY

As unglamorous as my real life might be - going into the office bare-faced is the rule instead of the exception - I also do want to be able to use certain really classic and useful bits of make-up and glamorous things. The following products are the ones I've always wanted to have.

1. EYES: Stila Smudge Pots

Pictured is the Holiday Smudge Pot Collection: the smudge pots are smaller, but there's a free brush.

If there's any piece of my face I like to highlight, it's my eyes. Yes, I'm painfully aware that they tend to stay hidden behind corrective lenses. Hence a wish for some really saturated eye colorings. As I understand it these babies can do double duty as liners or as shadows. I particularly favor the Cobalt and Starry Night blue pots, and the Kitten shade is great for everyday use.

2. LIPS: Clinique Color Surge Butter Shine Lipstick

These lipsticks are located in that beauty limbo between lipstick and lipgloss and are, for all that, my preferred sort of lip product. I read that when they first came out the bullets of color were so soft that the company had to rebuild their lipstick containers completely in order to support them. I think the shades that might suit me are Pink Goddess and Fresh Watermelon.

3. MULTI-PURPOSE MAKEUP: NARS the Multiple

I prefer to be a woman of a few products, and few products beat something proudly called "The Multiple". The Orgasm shade is acclaimed because it works on nearly any skin color and tone. I think I'd probably be more prone to using this on eyes and cheeks.

4. PERFUME: The Body Shop White Musk Fragrance Oil / CK One Eau de Toilette

Yes, these two are my absolute favorite perfumes in all the wild and decadent worlds of all the scents that ever appeared on this planet. Yes, I am aware of how *old* they are, thank you very much. I prefer to call them "classic". The mere fact that each scent has been around for so long and is still a best-seller proves just how alluring they are. For me, they're the two perfect scents for all possible occasions.

***

That's it for the beauty products wishlist. Yes, it will be very short compared to the other lists I'll be drawing up. Anyway, I did say I wasn't much for primping and preening - but I want to be able to do it RIGHT when I absolutely have to.

Watch out for the rest of the "A Girl Can Dream" posts. :)

So I've got a novel-like monster-manuscript-thing. Now what?

[Picture unrelated, but cute, and also, hey, it's a puppy-smile Totoro, what's not to like? ♥]

Okay, so that's the next question that might need tackling, whether it be for me, sitting on a manuscript that's 51,000 words and change long; or for anyone who's ever thought seriously about seeing their names in print.

To publish or not to publish?

Bear in mind that when I say publish, I initially mean "print off a bound and professional-looking book-like thing to proudly and perhaps overbearingly show off to family and friends". The whole idea of prepping the thing for actual PUBLICATION as in selling it in a bookstore comes a far second (and is anyway a topic I'm not actually qualified to write about - dammit, Jim, I'm an amateur not a published person!).

Enter John Scalzi and a very recent blog post.

Just to make it clear, there is a Grand Canyon's worth of difference between "vanity press" and "self-publishing". DON'T, for the love of all that is good and chocolatey (and bacon-y), go the vanity press route - you'll be fleeced, you'll be cheated, you may very well lose your intellectual property rights over your own work, and you're likely not going to *sell* at all.

Far better to do the proper self-publishing bit: Scalzi explains and advocates the use what is called a Print-On-Demand service. (Lulu.com, CreateSpace.com) It can be done for either peanuts or, under some special circumstances, absolutely for free - that last link is for NaNo-ers and is definitely something I'm looking forward to myself.

[I'm already thinking about the book cover design, and I haven't even finished the manuscript yet or even verified it, haha!]

Why have to learn all these things and go through all these hoops just for a proof copy or a bound manuscript anyway?

Well, isn't the mere idea of having a professional-looking BOOK with YOUR NAME on it as the author a good reason to look into self-publishing? After all, I'm one of those dreaming writer-types who wants to be published some day, go on book tours, sign autographs for adoring fans, etc etc etc. And let's face it, a lot of people who write or profess to write also have dreams running along a similar vein. So learning about these sorts of things in advance can be a big boost towards making those dreams come true.

I want to say here, though, that I've got modest ambitions for my NaNo manuscript [which was the whole reason why I decided to go for it in the first place]. I intend to clean it up and really shop it around to the local publishing houses and see if it has any chances of making it into a real honest-to-cookies bookstore. I freely admit that it may be naïve of me to think that a printed-and-bound manuscript will help me in such a quest. Still, not going to stop me from trying.

[Next question: conversion into e-book format for the people who've asked to read the novel.]

I Dream of Eee

Okay, so I'm a little late in jumping onto the tech train; netbooks have been around for a few years now. Well, blame it on the fact that I was always waiting for something close to an ideal: a screen resolution at or near 1024x768, a LOT of battery life, RAM at or near a gig, etc. etc.

Previously, the above specs weren't exactly run-of-the-mill - but now they are. People EXPECT a netbook to approximate these features and actually are now clamoring for either the next stage to get here, Windows 7 for netbooks, the newly-released Google Chrome OS, or the CULV laptops.

So I've finally narrowed down my netbook wishlist to these two fine models from ASUS's Eee line. While the 1000HE is now widely available here in the Philippines (and I've been canvassing for it, so I know that its baseline price is just around PHP20,000), I wonder if I shouldn't be holding out for the 1005HA and its slightly longer battery life. (The 1000HE is supposed to have about nine hours; the 1005HA around ten.)

I've already gotten somewhat obsessive about the subject, and you better believe I've been making lists of the things that revolve around the netbook:

- peripherals to go with it (compact external HDD, netbook sleeve + secure backpack, ways of organizing the power and other cords, proper headphones, etc.)
- software (strip down the OS to all the essentials, then load on anti-virus/anti-malware, Firefox Portable, VLC Media Player, WinDjView, etc.)
- browser bookmarks (Gmail, Yahoo!Mail and Web Messenger, Facebook, LiveJournal, all the links in my sidebar)

Gosh, I'm really going to push myself to get one of these machines. I've been needing one for quite a long time now. Maybe I can time it for just before the holidays, when the prices start dropping like rocks in a lake....