Music I Like: Marian Call

OMIGOD, you guys. I just squeed so hard I scared the cats. I went to check my email tonight, and I received this message in my inbox (abridged, slightly):

"Hi Amanda!
This is Marian, out of the blue, ages after you originally wrote me.  Sorry....I just wanted to tell you that I spent a little time on your blog today, and it is sweet and lovely and gave me happy feels.  I hope you will keep writing when you have time....
Marian"

I wrote to her to tell her I was going to review her album (an oversight I am mortified about and shortly going to correct) and then MARIAN CALL READ MY BLOG AND I CAN ONLY FEEL SO MUCH JOY. What? You don't know who Marian Call is? Then I get to tell you all about her!

She is this amazing songwriter from Alaska. I first heard her stuff quite about two years ago. I don't even remember what I was searching for, I just remember that I stumbled across this amazingly nerdy and wonderful album, Got To Fly. The music is all (execpt the first track) inspired by Firefly and the reboot of Battlestar Galactica. I can't stop giggling when I listen to "It's Good to Have Jayne on Your Side" and there is so much emotion and tenderness in the River Tam inspired "Dark Dark Eyes" that it gets me every time. The first track, "I'll Still be a Geek After Nobody Thinks It's Chic" is an amazing rally cry for nerd girls everywhere. The title track, "Got to Fly" is the most fun and acurate telling of the mentality of sci-fi/fantasy fans. The final track, and ode to YoSaffBridge titled "It was good for you too" even has Christina Hendricks' approval.

Then she came out with Something Fierce. And she blew my mind again. "The Avocado Song" has to be one of the most fun songs ever written. "Dear Mister Darcy" is my favorite song to sing on the album, and sometimes I just crank it and wail away. "Whistle While You Wait" has such a good message of not giving up or losing yourself on your road to success. The heartbreak in "Early is as Early Does" is so real and yet never overwhelming. And "Anchorage" makes my heart sing. 

Look, I'm not a music critic. I'm not qualified to go on about the complexity of the melody, and I have no idea about the technical side of music making. All I know is this: if you want to listen to some damn fine music by an amazingly talented and fearless woman, you need to check out the albums above as well as her debut album Vanilla, her most recent release, Live in Europe, and just everything else on her Bandcamp page.  And next time she's in Philly, anyone want to go with me?

I'm going to go back to grinning and hyperventilating now.

Body Acceptance-A Few Thoughts

After reading an article posted to Facebook by my dear friend, about allowing yourself to be captured on film as you really look right now, I was looking around the internet for the most flattering poses for big girls. However, I am growing ever more disturbed, as all of the tips for photographers and subjects alike seems to be "hide the fat." i.e., stand behind people, hold a bag in front of your midsection, don't take full body shots.

I realize that some people are not confident enough to embrace themselves as they are-fat/skinny, tall/short, masculine/feminine-whether or not they are working towards something else. But to actively advocate the hiding of one's self is harmful. I'm big. Do I love me anyway? Most of the time. Do I wish I was smaller? Sometimes. Everyone has things about themselves they don't like and wish they could magically erase.

But here's the thing I think people forget: Usually, pictures *of* you are not *for* you. They are so others can remember you. And anyone who knows you, knows what you look like, all the time, when you are not posing for a picture. And guess what? They love you anyway. If, god forbid, something happens, do you really want to leave your loved ones with no mementos, no record that you were HERE?

I guess what it boils down to is this: if you are living, laughing and loving with wild abandon; if you let down the walls and are JUST YOU; if you stop worrying about your arms or your tummy and focus on your heart and your smile, it will still be you, and you will still be loved. Let your beauty shine from the inside out, and allow yourself to be loved and admired as you are right now. Because, chances are, you're pretty awesome.

DIY Another Day: Dream Catcher Valentine

I am a fairly recent Pinterest addict. It is...ridiculously inspiring, but also soul eating. I often spend hours of my day pouring through the DIY/crafts section, and occasionally finding something that makes me go "I must stop right this minute and go clean my tub/scrub my grout/make a cute thing!"

On one of my recent binges, I came across the idea of cutting out letters from cardboard and wrapping them in yarn to make cute, custom signage. I mostly saw this used for names and such, but I got this inkling that it was seriously only scraping the surface of the potential for the technique.

It was in this mindset that my eyes fell on a paper plate that I had pulled out to block a beret I made for a friend, and set aside when I discovered it was WAY too small for the job. I picked up my scissors and started cutting. I first cut the circle out of the center, then cut a heart shaped hole in the middle of that.

I took some scrap red yarn from the beret project and wrapped it around a clothes pin to use as a sort of bobbin, cut a small slit in the bottom of the heart to anchor the knot and started in. The point of the heart was a bit tricky to navigate, so I ended up wrapping both sides bottom-up.

 

Once I got to the point at the top, I wrapped very carefully, then pulled both ends through the same 4 or 5 loops in opposite directions, tying tightly to keep those stitches in line.

 

Then, I threaded a tapestry needle with a bit of pink yarn, sewing under 6 slightly unevenly spaced stitches around the edge of the heart, and continued wrapping the yarn around each bit of the circle until I reached the center. You know, like you do when you're making a dream catcher. Then I tied it off and turned it over.

 

Finally I cut small pieces out of what was left of the plate, grabbed my markers and scrawled out a cute message, one word per piece, and affixed  them to the web. You should use glue. I admit to using tape, because I couldn't find my glue, lol.

That's it! You could attach it to a background, like scrapbook paper, or frame it. I apologize for the quality of picture, but all I had was my phone. And you know those people who could take a picture of a person picking their nose and make it look like high art? I am not one of them.

I was really pleased as punch at how this turned out. (Yes, I occasionally talk like a septuagenarian.)

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone. <3

Nerdy Knits: Baby Corset

I'm finally getting around to posting more of that outfit I made for my sweet niece, V.

  

I hear she was the hit of the steampunk wedding. I made the dress, too, but that was just adjusting some seams on a 2T snap side turtleneck, and making poof sleeves out of the excess fabric. I then used a bit of lace to create a bustle, and a small rosette for the neck, tacked down with a scrolly silver button. The meat of this was the corset. 

It took me about a day to complete, beginning to end, and I really enjoyed the challenge. I improvised the whole thing, and, luck for you, wrote it down as I was going. It ended up being about a 9-12 month size, but with the lacing, that's kind of flexible.

As before, If you find an issue, please tell me so that I may correct it. The "boning" is created by simple striping, and the slanted "boning" utilizes short rows to maintain a rectangular shape. I used size 4 needles, but you can size up or down for fit.

co14 mc
k 3 rows
k1 [yo k2tog] 6 times k1
k 5 rows
switch to cc
k 2 rows
switch to mc
k 8 rows
switch to cc
k 2 rows
switch to mc
k 8 rows
switch to cc
k 2 rows
switch to mc
k 8 rows
switch to cc
k 2 rows
switch to mc
k 4 rows
k11, turn and k back
k8, turn and k back
k5, turn and k back
k2, turn and k back
switch to cc
k 2 rows
switch to mc
k 1 row
k2, turn and k back
k5, turn and k back
k8, turn and k back
k11, turn and k back
k 8 rows
k11, turn and k back
k8, turn and k back
k5, turn and k back
k2, turn and k back
k 1 row
switch to cc
k 2 rows
switch to mc
k2, turn and k back
k5, turn and k back
k8, turn and k back
k11, turn and k back
k 4 rows
switch to cc
k 2 rows
switch to mc
k 8 rows
switch to cc
k 2 rows
switch to mc
k 8 rows
switch to cc
k 2 rows
switch to mc
k 8 rows
switch to cc
k 2 rows
switch to mc
k 5 rows
k1 [yo k2tog] 6 times k1
k 3 rows
Bind off

I then picked up all of the stitches on the bottom, and knit a simple ruffle, though, alas, I didn't document it. This part is optional anyway.

Weave in all ends, lace up with a complimentary color of cording or ribbon. Enjoy your elegant infant!

(My sister-out-law with her beautiful baby)

Two Milestones!

First, I'd like to welcome my one and only follower, Mrs H, who has an awesome blog I can't wait to read more of. Hello, you!

Second, holy crap on a crap stick, this blog has more than 2000 page views! How did that happen? Fairly certain it has to do with my Potter Alphabet, and you guys. I am SO GLAD you all seem to love it so.

It's been a hectic and germ full few months here, but I promise more updates soon. Just wanted to say I love you guys, and you ROCK.