synestheticknits

so, i have failed at nablopomo. (see my sidebar for proof ->) maybe next year i will be better prepared. which is what i always say, i guess.. in fact, i am still making last-minute christmas knitting decisions. i always make something for my boyfriend's little brother, usually a stuffed animal. since he's getting a bit older, i thought maybe this year i would knit a hat. not a warm, practical hat (they live in the desert!) but something fun, like a costume-type thing. boyfriend immediately suggested the chicken viking hat . (and he's not even a knitter!) so there's a possibility.. here are the others i've been considering: - brainmonster . sort of a basic winter-type hat, but boyfriend thinks he'd like it. - ogre my ogre . he likes shrek! - goomba hat . also definitely a super mario fan. - kids pirate hat . i really like this one.. he could even use it on halloween! - shark hat . basically a shark eating someone's head. really cool and ...

hello again! so much for nablopomo, i guess.. work has been interfering with my crafting time, leaving me with not much to blog about here. i can, however, tell you about my latest etsy purchase... from twinklyspangle ! fabulously bright and fun stuff. love it! i wore the star earrings out to dinner with my friend, and she said i looked like jem . (= have a look at my flickr stream for more photos. i'm feeling kind of crappy and sick, so i think i'll wrap it up here.. hope everyone else is feeling better for thanksgiving!

i finally finished up the new hat for my shop, and when it came time for picture-taking... grey and rainy again. i got a few shots in, and listed anyway.. and it sold already! hooray! makes me want to buy more yarn.. i would really like to start making more human-sized things, though. there are a couple things i'm working on that are still not "perfect" yet, but i hope to get them up soon. i do have one thing for peoples up on dawanda... want to see my dawanda shop? how atrocious is my french, really?

if you're into vintage dolls (i am!), you'll dig this. i just found this great etsy shop, heysaylor . they sell greeting cards featuring photography that stars old-school barbie & friends, in vaguely dirty situations. ha! i don't know why this tickles me so much, but it does. hehe. my mom had those same midge and alan dolls, and i used to play with them all the time as a kid. i wonder if they're still up in the attic somewhere... i think this is going to be this year's christmas card for my best friend. when do people start sending out holiday cards, anyway?

things i am doing lately... -catching up with podcasts. cast on and this american life today. -thinking about dressforms. the "uniquely you" sounds really interesting... - plurking , of course. -finishing up something new for the shop.. (a kittycat hat!) -working on a custom order. another hat, this one a little different.. there will be pictures soon. hee... -reading david copperfield . it is so much easier to knit while reading from a computer monitor rather than trying to hold a book open.

i keep wanting to post as in plurk mode. synesthetic has: a headache. to help wind down, i will type a bit about blogs. (= at crafty leftovers you can get a monthly subscription for a kit made up of reclaimed crafty stuff, a pattern, and a zine. you can also find tutorials, patterns, reviews... just go look, there's tons to see! corporate free christmas has lots of ideas for gift-making instead of buying this holiday season. this was a timely find for me, since i've decided that this year is going to be handmade gifts only. there's a link to a coaster tutorial that's giving me some ideas... brooklyntweed is another great knitblog. it's worth reading for the beautiful photography alone. also, more patterns. (= lastly, check out the spotted sparrow . she's an etsy seller who does gorgeous papercrafts (if that's the correct term?). her weekly tutorials are really inspiring. and that's where i found this quiz: Take the Quiz here! i'm no...

now i see how people burn out on this daily posting thing, haha. weekends are tough for this especially.. that's when most of my hours at work are, and so i don't settle down with the computer until pretty late. i have to try and get to bed soon, but i can tell you that tomorrow i'll be putting together another post about more blogs that i read. exciting, eh? other nablopomo-ers.. here's my profile page! soon it will actually say things and stuff. also, is anyone else doing one hundred pushups ? i could use some encouragement. the most i can do now is about.. 12. \=

so, um.. you know how i'm kind of into buttons? (i may have mentioned it once or twice ...) as you would expect, i am loving this. share in the button love! so cute. and there are even matching pins! love. in other news... not much. i'll be working all weekend, and boyfriend returns tomorrow after being gone for a month! i'll do my best to stick with nablopomo, but no shop news until monday. (= happy weekend!

i joined dawanda recently to have a look around. it looks really cool, and it's nice to have a handmade marketplace geared towards europeans. today i put my meager french knowledge to use and listed a few items there. want to have a look? i don't mind giving it a try, since it costs nothing to make a listing at the moment. and they even have stats there! i'm impressed. i managed to get some photos of the new hat i finished, despite the crappy weather today.. i'll be listing this one on etsy soon. now, off to more knitting...

today was amazingly warm here in new england.. i headed out to walk to the bank this afternoon and had to turn right around to put back my coat. it was lovely. i used my day off to run some errands and finish up something for the shop (though not soon enough to photograph..). also, i've been thinking about listing some things on dawanda, perhaps. it looks pretty nice over there, and i do speak a little french.. well, i'm going to try and pull myself away from plurk and get to bed a little earlier than usual. a more interesting post tomorrow, i hope. (= i was up far too late last night watching election stuff, but i couldn't help it. it was too exciting. (and in a good way this time around! things are looking up.)

so i found out about nablopomo through etsy a few months ago. i meant to read about it more, but i forgot until yesterday! sounds like fun and i could use the encouragement to post more. i ended up having to go into work today after all, so i haven't gotten to sign up for the ning and read up just yet. it also means i didn't get to work on stuff for the shop... (sigh) i've been up plurking and watching election coverage for too long, so i guess it'll be a short post tonight.. will be heading off to bed to dream of my new sock yarn. ( araucania , mmm.. but my claudia hand painted is next in line.)

my entry is up in the new artisans challenge! it is the 11/3 challenge. i'm super excited to see how i do. i entered my little pullip cardigan. what do you think? spare a vote? (= etsyers, go and enter your own stuff too. you can also do an artisan profile that will be posted on their blog. the holidays are coming up... well, i'm off to get ready for work. i have a few days off this week so i'm going to finish some things up for the shop. i've also forgotten about nablopomo until today, so i'll probably be posting about that tomorrow... (= see ya!

first of all, happy halloween everyone! does anyone have any cool halloween-y music suggestions? i've been listening to this mash-up album called "mashing pumpkins" that i downloaded last year.. my favorites are "bad moon werewolves (warren zevon vs. ccr)" and "snap yo specials (the specials vs. lil' jon ft. e-40 & sean paul)". hehe. in other news.. can you guess what i bought recently? yes, the button obsession continues. i don't know where it came from. even my mother, who loves to sew, doesn't understand my button-love. i am trying to reduce a bit though, so i managed to pick out a few that i'm willing to part with. i noticed that, strangely enough, i had a bunch with words stamped into them. some i guess are brand names, others i'm not so sure. "mean"? anyway, i had no plans for them and figured some crafty etsy person could use them to make something cool. and lastly... i now also have a small collectio...

hello peoples. voting is open for our team's halloween contest , and of course my entry is totally overshadowed by everyone else's awesomeness! i haven't even voted yet myself.. it's too hard to choose! here is lucy, as a ghost-type thing. also, sassylassie (who has a really cool shop, by the way) got us a doll couture treasury . my aqua/pink sweater is featured (yay!), along with some other awesome stuff that i hadn't seen before. these people are really making me want a blythe... speaking of wanting dolly stuff.. i saw this charmkins necklace in trunkofprettys' shop today and almost squealed. i had that when i was a kid! in fact i still have the little brunette one hanging around with my pullip stuff. and to complete the look, how about a human-sized dolly dress ? i'm already planning a full outfit around that in my head. i need to stop. (or win the lottery...)

today i am working on my entry our team's halloween costume contest. which is typical for me, considering it is due to be finished today. (i swear i thought there was more time!) so, knit knit knit. i guess i can say it'll be a little "avant-garde". i don't usually look at these magazines, but i somehow got a free subscription to women's day and i have to say.. these are the coolest cupcakes ever. i wish i could throw a party or something to have an excuse to make some fun halloween food, but the boyfriend is away until the first week of november, so.. no fun. )= i am eagerly awaiting my first paycheck from my new job. i think there is a tiny etsy splurge in my future...

i finished a new stocking cap-style dolly hat a few days ago. i was thinking halloween when i was working on it, and had intended intended to sew on some purple buttons. the thing is, i couldn't find enough among my stash in the right color... so, i went without. what do you think? (and you know, the boyfriend is always saying, "why do you need to buy buttons? don't you have enough?" ha!) i have a pink and black one that needs some finishing, so that will be up soon. can't wait for halloween...

today i thought i'd post about some of the blogs i read regularly, especially those about crafting, etsying, and dolls. (i'm partial to google reader..) first is the storque , of course. here you get updates on everything going on at etsy, and you can subscribe to certain sections alone if you want.. etsy news, reviews, how-tos, etc. there is also unofficial etsy news , which is an unaffiliated source for news only. this is great for when etsy is down, and, well.. times when they aren't keeping us abreast of everything. (= the artisans challenge is a weekly contest for etsy sellers and other artisans to show off their goods and have readers vote for their favorite. i just entered this for the first time, so i'm hoping the knitting catergory comes up soon! sweet figments is a blog that features cool and cute items on etsy, artist interviews, and weekly giveaways. i've found lots of great stuff here. on the dot creations spotlights polka dotty stuff with a ...

here's the screencap of our team's halloween treasury, if you missed it. such cool stuff, i would buy a bunch of it up myself if i could. (= (i actually have another treasury up right now.. i was putting some things together in poster sketch, and peeked in to see how long it would be before the treasuries opened.. and treasury west was up in three seconds! nice.) i am now loving plurk and on it constantly. who needs blogging? (well...) now they have a contest, for how many people you can get to vote in a mini-election. you can vote over in the sidebar ----> or just go here . if i win i can start paying off my student loans! of course i'll have to put a little aside to buy stuff from etsy... i'm not sure if you have to be a plurker to put in a vote, but hey, sign up! it's fun and you'll get an election page too. (http://www.plurk.com/vote/*yourname*) yes, yes, join the obsession... in other news, i'll be updating the shop very soon! now...

i managed to grab a treasury for the doll couture team a couple days ago! and a real treasury, not even treasury west. (= go look quick! http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=12511 all halloween stuff! and i am working on some of my own right now. i would just like to say, hooray for the new dolls & miniatures category! it goes live october 6th. i can't wait to have a peek at it myself. also, i am now officially hired at my new job! i start training next week. (= yay for more yarn money!

my poor licca doesn't get photographed enough. she just doesn't have enough clothing that fits her. (but she does have a helmet!) the problem is that she is a reproduction vintage licca, and smaller than the modern licca/blythe body. i made a dress for her from a blythe pattern once, and it is sadly too big. it fits my type 3 pullips, but is unfortunately waytoo short to be a dress. sigh! looks like i have to make my own pattern. i renewed some items for the first time recently. now i know more about what makes a good first photo in a listing. this one looks so much better, and now i have it set as my avatar as well. (= also, a new blog for dolly fans: the delightful doll ! lots of great stuff from people who make things for dolls of all kinds. it includes updates on sellers from our very own doll couture etsy team! enjoy the last few hours of weekend, people. i'm off to have a little dinner. (=

hello! today i thought i'd make a list of some links that that have been helpful to me since i've started etsy-ing. poster sketch : so helpful when making a treasury! if i get an idea for one, i'll plan it out here beforehand. you can drag the pictures around to different spots until you get them just right. then, when a spot opens up, you can just copy and paste the item numbers. just don't clear your cookies until then! (here's a screencap of my last treasury, lots of colorful buttons !) google alerts : set one up for your shop name or url to easily find out when people are blogging about you. majaba's heart-o-matic : this makes it so much easier to keep track of your hearts, especially on your items. google search query: search google for: site:www.etsy.com *your shop name* etsy search_query and you will find out what etsy searches you are coming up in. you can then bookmark that page and check up on it every so often. diy photo studio : uses a box, p...

so after seeing etsy's natural dyeing tutorial, i went ahead and gave it a try. we already had some tumeric, and i gathered skins off all the onions in the fridge. (that won't hurt them, right?) results! left to right: tumeric, vidalia onion skins, leftover onion, undyed. (click to view the flickr page if it's cut off. sorry!) i like the color from the onion skins the best. it's a really nice warm light brown. the lighter colored one is from after the first batch. it looked like there was still lots of dye left, but it came out pretty light. the tumeric made a great mustard-y color, but i had trouble rinsing it out.. lots of clumpy spice-bits. it was fun, but as i suspected, the dye doesn't really hold well with only salt as a mordant. i rinsed the skeins so many times and they never stopped bleeding. it was fun though, and could probably be used to make something that didn't need to be washed often. also, a quick shot of the hat made from the kn...

just some things i've been up to lately... my techno tea party batt spun up! they're both finished but i haven't uploaded pictures yet. in fact they've been knit up! this stuff was so much fun to work with. (now craving some more knittydirtygirl batts..) i also have finished my pullip cardigan. i think it turned out pretty well. and made a coordinating scarf! yarn dyeing is so much fun. and now etsy has posted this natural dyeing tutorial . so now i can't stop looking around the kitchen for things that could possibly used as dye... i wonder how long-lasting the color would be, though. i thought that natural dyes required more of a mordant than salt. i think i'll give it a try though, just for a the fun of it. also.. been spending too much time on plurk.

happy saturday people. we're still trying to think of a nice saturday afternoon activity that doesn't actually involve spending money. we've had a netflix movie sitting here waiting for about two weeks (sweeney todd.)... thrilling, eh? in the meantime, i have finally gotten around to joining plurk. i kept hearing about it around the knitting communities (the yarnosphere?), and read up a bit. here is a comparison of plurk and twitter . i like the posting style on plurk.. "i am" or "i wonder" or "i hate" or whatever. though the timeline going to the left throws me off a bit. if you sign up from this link , i get a star (i think?)! yay! i did some checking up on the usps website and was able to lower shipping in my shop to canada and the uk! i also am now set up to ship to australia. it's not as scary as i used to think. (=

i got my knittydirtygirl fiber batts on saturday! of course the package came in just as i was leaving for the weekend, so i couldn't play with them right away. i love that she uses recycled packaging too, including the fused plastic bag envelope. i've already spun up one of them ( techno tea party , on ravelry).. pics soon! i updated the shop today, and added something human-sized ! i don't think the color shows very well in those photos though, unfortunately. at some point i'm going to have to invest in some daylight bulbs.

happy friday people! i'm getting to where i need to stock up on some supplies, and since i got back on board with mypoints i've had online coupons on the brain. it seems like the best way is to get them straight from the company's mailing list, so that you know they're valid. first off: michaels . i usually try to get stuff in places other than big box craft stores, but i have one nearby and sometimes i drop in when i'm running errands. they have a newsletter with coupons that you can sign up for. a.c. moore . i like this place better than michael's.. way better yarn selection! much simpler newsletter signup process too, just enter your email and done. jo-ann . i like that this place actually has fabric and stuff for sewing. i got my first sewing machine there! aaand... auntie anne's . okay, totally unrelated except for the fact that i really like sugary pretzels. auntie anne's actually makes me want to spend time at the mall. comment if you k...

this week i decided to save on gas by walking to the post office. it ended up taking about 40 minutes each way, which wasn't so bad at first.. i had my ipod, and it was sort of cool and drizzly instead of horrendously hot. it reminded me of autumn, my favorite time of year. at some point i was walking with my head down, trying not to step on the snails that were hanging out all over the place. suddenly i notice a guy in a tie who has apparently just pulled over his car and gotten out, and is saying something to me and waving a copy of the watchtower. i press pause long enough to say "no thank you," and he replies, "oh, you don't speak english." ??? okay. anyway.. all i can say is that galoshes are really not meant for that much walking all at once. ow. in other news... i listed some new pullip/blythe legwarmers in the shop.. what do you think? i also put up pictures of some of my other knitty stuff on flickr, if you're interested . (= i...

after a bit of a button-buying spree, i've been finishing up lots of stuff! i get way too excited about buttons. first off, a made-up-as-i-go sweater for my panda, story. if i tweaked this pattern some, i could try working up another for the shop. i'm just not sure if the type 2 is all that popular. and this kitty-ear hat which has already sold! and just today i finished off and listed another new hat today. my squall doesn't usually get to model my hats due to her huge unruly mane of hair, but this one was big enough to pull down and keep it somewhat in check. i've also listed my first human-sized item: a little blue buttony wrist cuff. more to come! in fact, there is a something awaiting a particular type of thread right now. my profile post is up at the doll couture team blog ! yay.

just a note: last day of the sale! and we have a couple of fun treasuries going right now: http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=54154 http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=15020 and happy july to everyone else. (=

the doll couture team is having a 4th of july sale! here's my sale section. there's more awesome stuff marked down in a lot of other doll couture shops . some of this stuff makes me wish i had a blythe... here are some works in progress. one is already listed, and the rest is waiting for some supplies. along with some other non-hat items...

just some quick updates.. i've added some new hats to my shop. the doll couture team has a new blog at dollcoutureteam.blogspot.com . (here's a screenshot of our last treasury, for anyone who missed it.) also, if you like baked goods as much as me you may be interested in another treasury i put up today...

first of all, can i just say that i take online multitasking to the extreme. at any given time i have about four or five different tabs open. it must be a habit i developed back in the days of dialup.. while one page is loading, you have something else to look at. at this moment my tabs bar is full. (emailing, etsying, flickring, reading about nigerian email scams...) okay, it's actually past full. i was having to scroll to the side for a little while. insanity. but it makes sense with all that's going on. i'm now part of an etsy team, doll couture ! there's already a cool treasury and a flickr group . i'm excited! i did end up reshooting this hat.. way better. okay, so maybe it's obsessing but i haven't been around on etsy long enough to slack. speaking of which, i have another hat ready to go... i did a little mini-photoshoot to try out my bootleg cardboard box lightbox setup. it's not the best, really, but workable. more shots over at ...

so here's this stripey hat... not quite what i was going for. (i was thinking more: ) should i try to make it floppy, or leave as is? hmm.. now, another conundrum. while making the last rainbow hat, i went a little overboard with the pompom-ing... what to do with it? a matching human-sized hat?

i have couple new hats made up... i really need to move beyond the hat thing a bit, but i've had so many ideas stored up all semester! with this new one, i just wanted to use one of my new buttons. i don't know how i feel about the color combination, now that it's knit up, but who knows. maybe i'm just not girly-girl enough. i've had a bunch of prototypes hanging around (if i want to sound all professional and business-like). so here are some ideas of what's possibly to come! the other hat i finished looks like the long pointy stripey one there, but the yarn seems to have a little more body and doesn't flop over so easily. hmm. would that be the kind of thing someone (or somedoll) would wear just pointing up? i haven't put a tassel on yet. hmm. in other news, i just started spinning up some wool that i've been waiting to get my hands on for a year! ahh, summer.

* work on this blog layout a bit. could be more interesting. * figure out my camera settings a little better. i'm a film person, so i haven't really figured out how to get the most out of my little digital. plus it's a point and shoot, so it doesn't offer all that much control over things. * organize my tools and supplies! i've just moved and am still only partially unpacked, so the frequent hunts for a yarn needle are cutting into my knitting time. * knit some more! i posted a few new things at the shop. including this... which sold right away! my boyfriend is convinced that pompom hats are going to be very popular, hehe. i must admit, they are pretty fun.. i finished that one up while listening to the this american life episode about proms. does it show?

i made my first sale last week! hopefully by tuesday it will be received and i'll find out that everything went perfectly. i listed a few more items today, including my first blythe hat. too bad i don't have a blythe! i'm already working on more stuff, and adding to the etsy favorites. it's soap today. and my sister's birthday is coming up...

the semester is finally over (thank the lord). now i can focus on knitting and furthering my obsession with etsy. seriously. at this point i have eight pages of favorite items. and so many beads and button supply shops... i guess i just like to look at shiny colorful things, because it's not like i have any intention of making jewelry. like this... what would i do with them? not sure, but i want some. actually the more i look, the more project ideas i start to think of... i started photographing the doll hats i have knitted up already, but it was crazy windy outside and the light indoors wasn't that great. sigh, tomorrow.. now to check the max image size allowed by etsy!

i'm just a person who makes stuff, collects toys and things, and is looking to start a shop to combine the two. right now i do a lot of knitting/crocheting of doll-sized things which are starting to build up. for this, my muse is pullip. another big-headed, big-eyed doll, like blythe. others i like are strawberry shortcake, vintage licca, emerald witch and jem. there would be more if i had tons of money (same with yarn). lati yellows need to get out of my head.. anyway. hats! so the plan is to get my etsy shop up and running in may. yay!