Finished at last, Sylvi Evenstar!

That's right! I have finally finished my (sort of) Lord of the Rings-inspired Sylvi. I am so pleased with it. It looks very like I imagined when I was planning it, which is a rarity for me. The photos are not very good - I took them with a self-timer, after my boyfriend reported seeing snakes in the yard (I hate snakes!), and it was really, really hot and bright outside. But, here is me modeling my Sylvi.






If you are familiar with the pattern, you'll notice quite a few changes. The front of the original design was just too plain for me, and I'd been researching Arwen's Chase Dress from LotR (someday I will make it). So, naturally both the edges of the coat and the collar are inspired by that dress. Then I decided that I may as well do the petal sleeves. I also added a bit of waist shaping as I've never had good luck with A-lines (I know they are supposed to be universally flattering but I've never liked anything with an A-line). In retrospect, I probably would have left the A-line as it would have left more room in the back for my flowers and might have even been more flattering, but I'm ok with it as is. I didn't make any large flowers (well I MADE three of them, but I didn't USE any). The back is all small flowers, and the front is a small flower knit with only one strand of yarn. (BTW, this is knit using Wool of the Andes, held double). The trim is Paton's, originally in natural but hand-dyed by me to a silvery-lavender. I added pockets to the sides (although I wish they were deeper). I initially planned to line it, but right now I don't see the need to. I may later. The clasps I originally bought, while very "elven" were too small, so I bought these findings and used jump rings to attach the original clasps onto the findings to make them larger. And of course, I have a love affair with pretty glass buttons, and I used quite a few of them, as centers for my flowers and to hold my petal sleeves together (as those sleeves wouldn't be very practical for a sweater coat otherwise). Obviously the color is less Tolkien-inspired, and actually more What Dreams May Come-inspired, but I think it's still appropriate for the elves.

(Sorry to turn on the word verification, but I was starting to get lots of spam comments. While I loooove to get comments from people, comments from "bots" are quite unwelcome. But real people, please comment although the annoying word verification is now activated!)

Also, I'm going in costume to Mardi Gras next year, I think. I am going to start planning that soon.

Finally, I'm looking to pick up a few new things. I want Anthropologie-esque style but at a more affordable price. Does anyone know of sites offering this? I know of Modcloth.com and, of course, Urbanoutfitters.com. I love handmade items, too, so suggestions for your own shops are welcome! (and I don't mind paying more if I am supporting local/handmade businesses). Of course, I'm not skinny enough to pull off most trendy styles right now, but I like things that are romantic and flattering, with a hint of faerie.

Now I've got to get back to studying for Forensics. I'll post again fairly soon, I hope, and discuss projects, books, and Jim Henson's wonderful "The Storyteller" which you should see if you have Netflix streaming. Also hoping to finish up my first real portrait ever (a self-portrait) soon, and I'll be posting that. Someday I'll figure out how to make this blog prettier, too. Won't that be wonderful and lovely?

XOXOXO,
Crystal Nicole

A little update before bed

I've been so busy with school, Mardi Gras, and personal things that I've quite neglected this blog. I want to say thanks to those of you who left such nice comments! Sorry I don't keep up with the blog better! It's all Ravelry's fault - I've just been knitting, and it's easiest to go update the notes section of the project on my Ravelry project page than to come here and make a new post, etc. I've a few things I'm finishing up and will be posting soon, including the long-awaited Sylvi! I am THISCLOSE to being finished with it, at last. I have a couple of paintings to finish as well, which I'll post. And I am going to start planning a costume for next year's Mardi Gras. I intend to keep up with my progress here. Here is a sleeve from Sylvi to make up for the lack of content lately. It's quite a bit different from the original sleeve.

Starting a new composition

I have been inspired to try painting on watercolor sheets again, and today I started a little composition. This is a unicorn, obviously. I usually think of unicorns as something like a mix of a deer and a horse, neither quite as light as the one nor nearly as heavy as the other. Immediately recognizable as a unicorn, but whether more horse-like or more deer-like, who knows? Peter S. Beagle had it right; they are certainly not just a horse with a horn, and I hope that comes through in this quick drawing. I drew the unicorn directly onto my watercolor paper, and then outlined it with black acrylic. I haven't gotten around to the background yet, but there will be a lot of shrubbery, bushes, and the like around, some tallish grasses, and (hopefully) a magical atmosphere. Color scheme is undecided as I haven't randomly chosen colors or looked to a spirit card yet.

In pencil: (I like how you can see my shadows on this photo)


And outlined in black:


Also, have been working on (the third [??] go-round of) Sylvi (finished the back, one front, almost done with the second front), reading as many books as I can manage (I swear for every book I read on my list, I add two more), and trying to finish a belated Christmas present.

Speaking of gifts, I can now post pictures of things I made for Christmas. Here's the gift I painted for Dusty's mother. This is her favorite kitty, Sugar. Acrylic on canvas, 8x10"


And here is a photo of the painting I did for my Paulette Insall class. I've posted it before, but the colors are MUCH truer here! Mixed media on canvas, 8x10"

Sylvi is ruined

I accidentally felted it. A lot. There's no saving it. I bought new yarn to start over. I am so sad!

Sylvi again!

On Sylvi, I've now finished the right front, blocked the back, and started on the left front. Can't wait to be done with this one. Time to start planning my handmade gifts for Christmas. I don't make things for everyone, some people I buy for as that's what they'd prefer. But there are a few who will get handmade gifts, and I need to start planning for them!

More Sylvi updating

Here's where I am with Sylvi: I've finished the back, and I'm about 60 rows into the right front (but the pic was taken way before that).




If you're familiar with the pattern, you'll notice some changes here: no hood, armscythe instead of raglan shaping, and the A-line is decidedly less A and more C as in curved/waist shaping. Also, the top of the cable is way different, and the front has a curve and an edging of the stitch pattern from Rapunzel. I rarely knit patterns as they are written; I usually make some mods and in this case, major ones. It's not that Sylvi isn't absolutely gorgeous when knit as written, it's that it wouldn't be gorgeous on me, and I also just feel I have to make things my own. And to be honest, I hate raglan shaping because it somehow makes my chest look bigger, which is not a good thing. I decided to do armhole shaping because of that. I feel that the seed stitch front is too plain, but I don't want to put flowers on the front, either, so I came up with my own thing, which may or may not look good. We'll see. I didn't want the hood, and my gauge is really, really off. So I had to add lots of rows, except that instead of just adding rows into the chart like most are doing, I used the hood chart for the upper back, but, it wasn't long enough, so I had to "freestyle" a few rows past that. So my cable is different, too. It's bedtime for me, but I'll post more when I have more to post about. Peace, y'all!

Sylvi Progresses

I thought I'd post a photo of Sylvi, to show my progress. Sylvi is turning out to be quite an annoyance. It's not the fault of the pattern at all, because I really haven't been following it very well. I couldn't get gauge, and I wanted my Sylvi to turn out long, almost hitting my knees, and I didn't want a ton of ease in it. I also didn't like the openness of the fabric with my yarn and the specified needle size. So, I went down a needle size, but stayed with the XS thinking that way I'd lose some ease. And I did. The first time, the sizing seemed ok, but I totally missed the decreases that gave it an A-line shape, as well as somehow getting my cable off center. I had to start over. Now, on my second time, the cable is beautiful!, but somehow, although I'm using the same yarn, needles, and tension, my gauge has changed so much that now I think it's going to be too small. Sigh. My next project is going to be 100% by the book. What a headache.

Even if Duct Tape Can't Fix It*, Superglue Can

The atomizer from my bottle of (discontinued! how could they!) VS Angels' Halo broke off, and I was very unhappy. I looked online to see how you could "fix" it, but all the information addressing this problem said "can't be repaired, return the bottle." Considering that I got it for Christmas 2 or 3 years ago (no, I don't wear perfume all that often), returning it was not an option. Neither was throwing it out. So, I'm looking at how it goes together and it comes to me - I could just superglue it together. So, I very carefully applied a teensy bit of Zap-A-Gap superglue (it's what we use for gluing our miniatures together and tends to hold very well) to the part of the perfume bottle that looks like an upside down screw sticking up, covering in a thin layer of translucent latex/rubber (I don't know which), with a hole in the middle (what's that piece called? I'm not familiar with perfume bottle anatomy), and laid the atomizer on top of it, being careful to line up the holes for the spray. Let sit for 12ish hours, and it works just fine! I've only used it twice since, and I'm being careful when I spray, but it is working. The thing is to make sure you don't get any superglue in the holes that spray out the perfume or you'll really clog it.

*Disclaimer: Duct Tape couldn't fix it, but only because it is too small. No offense to duct tape, as it really is all-powerful. And I didn't actually try it.

Have officially cast on for Sylvi from Twist Collective (which means I listed it as "in progress" on my Rav page). My gauge is a little off, 13stx17rows rather than the 12x16, but that's ok because I'm both smaller and shorter than the XS size. I'm making modifications, of course, and giving myself a LONG time to complete this one (though of course I've had most of my projects on hold for a long time - whoops, darn Project ADD!). I'm giving myself till late September/early October as Spring has already arrived and, here, feels more like Summer. Summer, of course, will feel more like Hell. So there won't be any chances to wear this till late Fall, but I want to have it finished by then, and knowing how I am about projects, figure starting 6 months early is the only way I've a chance to actually finish by my deadline. I love this design, but I am not knitting it with the hood, mostly because then I wouldn't be able to show off my handknit hats (haha). No, really I just think the versions of this I've seen with a collar rather than a hood are somehow much more striking. So I am going to knit it with a collar instead. Also, I am going to add pocketses at the side seams, and I may want to line it (if I can figure that out). And use clasps instead of buttons. And put (glass?) buttons in the centers of my flowers instead of bobbles.

That's all I got. Peace out!