tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13793577006154698772024-03-05T17:06:36.502+00:00An Apology For an IdlerWhere I store things I make, and think out loud about projectsForkishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01790182121481532330noreply@blogger.comBlogger163125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1379357700615469877.post-88572158120482435912015-09-11T13:00:00.000+01:002015-09-11T13:08:36.657+01:00Well, that year got busy.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
While I was forgetting to post, I...<br />
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... made some cards.<br />
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<i>[top: Valentine for my best friend, bottom: birthday card for a friend] </i></div>
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... made some scarves.<br />
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<i>Fragile Heart in Malabrigo Superwash Lace</i></div>
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<i><a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fragile-heart-2" target="_blank">Ravelry pattern page</a></i></div>
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<i><a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Forkis/fragile-heart" target="_blank">Ravelry project page</a></i></div>
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Malabrigo Superwash lace is the loveliest thing in the world.<br />
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<i>Heartbreak in Hedgehog Sock (pink and navy) and Auracania Lace (turquoise)</i></div>
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<i><a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/heartbreak" target="_blank">Ravelry Pattern page</a></i></div>
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<i><a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Forkis/heartbreak-2" target="_blank">Ravelry project page</a></i></div>
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My sister-in-law has moved back to San Francisco from the wintry wilds of New York, so I can make her non-Wintry presents.</div>
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... went to Glendalough.</div>
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... went to California for my brother's wedding.<br />
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... submitted my Master's thesis.<br />
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It's a page-turner.<br />
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... posted to <a href="http://taitneamh.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">this other blog</a>.</div>
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I let myself get subsumed by thesis for the last few months, and haven't really been making. I'm trying to remember what I like doing. I want to get back to knitting, drawing, and running around outside. I don't know if I'll delete this or not - if I haven't posted in a month, I think I will.</div>
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Forkishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01790182121481532330noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1379357700615469877.post-54846019064040541922014-11-27T23:11:00.000+00:002015-09-11T13:02:13.518+01:00Shoddy costumes: Film Fatale, Hallowe'en, and who the hell is Bucky?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Spoilers further down for Captain America: The Winter Soldier. But they're kind of obvious and most people knew it going into the cinema, I think. Phone quality photos, too.<br />
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I went to see <i>Psycho</i> in The Sugar Club for October's Film Fatale. I'm bad at putting together era-specific costumes, but I was happy with the dress and make-up for this.</div>
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<i>Psycho</i> gets better on rewatching, too. "My mother, she - oh, what is the phrase? - she's not quite herself today."</div>
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I spent Hallowe'en night running a pumpkin carving workshop at work. The general public are surprisingly good with knives! I was happy with my fake bruises, even if a lot of people didn't notice them. (I had fingerprints around my wrists - given that people didn't notice the one around my neck, they were probably an unappreciated effort.)</div>
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I like to dress up as something scary rather than specific characters for Hallowe'en, but Bucky Barnes's loss of agency and autonomy as the Winter Soldier strikes a nerve for me. No-one seemed to have seen Cap 2 whenever costume plans came up, but the gentleman in the off-license realised who I was once I asked if he had seen Captain America 2, as did a few other people at the party I went to. Only one person figured out who my costume was unprompted, but couldn't tell who I was under it - to the point of not being able to discern gender - so I think that's a reasonable success.</div>
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I think my costume was the right amount of effort + mediocrity. I'm also weirdly prone to letting the length of my hair determine my costume - see <a href="http://apologyforanidler.blogspot.ie/2013/11/halloween-costume-and-crafts.html" target="_blank">Harry Potter</a> last year.</div>
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Forkishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01790182121481532330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1379357700615469877.post-86711882837734226822014-11-24T23:32:00.000+00:002014-11-25T00:32:07.962+00:00What I'm consuming these days<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I started an MSc in October. The hours are long, but at least the work is hard. I'm not having as much time to make or read or watch as I'd like, but there've been a few books/films/shows that have stuck out, and are a good way of figuring out what I want to make.</div>
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1. I started <i>Moby Dick</i> in August and I'm only half-way through. I'm a speedy enough reader, but as I said, I have a shortage of time and nothing goddamn happens. There's stuff to like in it - the description of Queequeg comes from a fond if intensely racist place - but Ishmael keeps stopping to describe how much he likes the sea for an entire chapter, or list everything he knows about whales, and I don't care. Ahab is also contemptible. I think you're meant to view him as pathetic and twisted, consumed by revenge, and yet admirable in his pursuit of his dream, but I can't get past "pathetic". Also, hell of a victim complex, wanting to kill something for daring to hurt him in self-defense. Also: "Gifted with the high perception, I lack the low enjoying power." I went out with that person, and it was awful. (They loved <i>Moby Dick</i>. I got to that line and it became apparent why.) It reminds me a little of Philip Roth for its time - by a dude with a boring notion of integrity and masculinity, for dudes with a boring notion of integrity and masculinity. I'll finish it, but I don't expect to start enjoying it, which is a pity.</div>
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2. <i>Lights Out</i>. I watched this yesterday, and I'm enamoured. I love short horror. It doesn't bother with world-building or explanations, which can undo a good monster. It captures a very childish fear, and has the protagonist trying to behave maturely while clearly fighting those childish self-preservation instincts. This pushes a lot of the right buttons for me. When I switched off the light before I went to bed, I felt a flash of anticipatory terror, expecting cruel claws around my spine and Achilles' tendon. I think that's a good sign in two and a half minutes.</div>
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The ending undoes it a little, but that's the nature of short horror special effects.</div>
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3. I saw <a href="http://podbay.fm/show/536258179" target="_blank">Welcome To Night Vale</a>'s live show The Librarian in The Olympia in October. The Sugar Club sold out in no time, apparently, but I think a theatre was the right venue for it. I have the same problem with Night Vale I have with anything once I catch up on marathoning it. I get immersed in a world, and once I get out I can't get into it the same way. When I started listening it made me laugh until my face hurt, and now I think it's still clever, but I'm a little inured. I also have mixed feelings on the fandom - I think it's quite wonderful how people have created canon imagery to go along with it, but I also find the fandom pretty annoying, and I'm not sure how I slot in with that, as a fan who's not in the fandom.</div>
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That said - oh wow does it work live. As a podcast, it's all about the writing. Weird things happen, and some of those weird things are very intelligent, but I love the wordplay, the imagery, the sense that they take real joy in it. There are some absolute gorgeous turns of phrases in there. It's carried by Cecil Baldwin's voice - Jesus, that voice - and it's rich and dark and knowing and innocent and edged with savagery, and just right. I wasn't sure how that would translate to the stage. The show was mostly Cecil in the middle of the stage with a script in his hand, and it was absolutely mesmerising. The podcast can't convey his presence, his magnetism. I'm interested in the way stories are told, and he told a story with his whole body. He could make your heart race and create the most wonderful terrible silence. I lack charisma or story-telling flair, so both are something I find compelling. I went in thinking he was a man with a wonderful voice, I left thinking him so attractive it makes me angry. I'm a sucker for a story-teller.</div>
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I've given a few public talks in the last year - I spoke at Electric Picnic, so I think I get to say now that I've performed at Electric Picnic - almost all pop-science. There's been a lot of figuring out what works on me and what doesn't. I can't do jokes with a build-up - I get a better laugh with off the cuff-remarks. I can play to my advantage the fact that I'm quite an awkward presence. People don't expect me to be funny, they expect me to plod through something I've clearly learned by heart, so a straight-faced one-liner, in the same tone (slightly over-eager, slightly apologetic for taking up the audience's time) works well against that. I shift around a lot, which I can exaggerate and have read as energy or enthusiasm, and my body language is quite deferent, which, again, complements comedy to which I can play oblivious. I can't stand on a stage and spell-bind people - I don't have the voice or presence - but I can wrong-foot a room full of people and make them laugh when I want them to, and that's not something I expected to be able to do.</div>
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4. I'm late to the game, but I'm digging Lana del Rey. Her voice drips with sorrow, and I really like love songs that are broken without romanticisation.</div>
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I have so many books to read and there are so many good films in the cinema! One day, I will create for myself a world where I have free time, and it will be awful.</div>
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Forkishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01790182121481532330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1379357700615469877.post-54152051007940222912014-07-10T17:48:00.000+01:002014-07-10T17:48:35.340+01:00Up all night to get Loki<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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One of my jobs had a KAL of Vera Valimaki's <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/color-affection" target="_blank">Colour Affection</a>. I had just seen Thor 2, and god damn I love a good villain*, and what better way to show that than through a scarf-based reference that only I will understand? Loki and I apparently favour similar colour schemes, too, so that was also a plus.</div>
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The green is Malabrigo Arroyo in Vaa, the grey is Louisa Harding Orielle, the black is Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. I knit it on 4mm needles, finished it, and realised it was <a href="https://twitter.com/forkisaurus/status/429709591514189825" target="_blank">impractically gigantic</a> (and that was the small size). I found the masochism to rip it out, halved the number of all the section repeats, and was a lot happier with the end result (though i could have saved quite a lot on yarn if I'd known I was going to do that.)</div>
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I worked on this while I went to visit my best friend in New York in January. (I thought I would have something to knit on the plane, but then was too much of a chicken to risk taking the knitting needles on board and having them taken away.) One evening we were hanging out with her friends in the common room, me knitting and her solving a Rubix cube as we sat on the couch at the end of the room. One of her friends' friends was a film student, and commented on the fact that both of being casually engaged in activities as we talked made it look like we were in a film - characters flatly delivering dialogue is dull, so you want to have them doing something else, as people often are. I hadn't consciously noticed that before on-sceen, and now I can't not.</div>
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What I can also take from that is that my natural behaviour comes off as artifice contrived to appear natural.</div>
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* I actually preferred the treatment of Loki in Thor and Avengers to Thor 2. A lot of the character's strength came from the fact that the role was written a little flat, and given a great deal of depth by Tom Hiddleston. It seemed like the writers of Thor 2 picked up on what fans liked about the nuances of his performance, and then wrote it all in explicitly. I found it a bit heavy-handed. Still a fun silly film, though.</div>
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Forkishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01790182121481532330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1379357700615469877.post-2192876389638317972014-07-04T18:54:00.000+01:002014-07-04T18:54:05.292+01:00Back from the dead<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I forgot to post. And then I forgot to post some more. And then I felt guilty, and put this blog to the back of my mind.</div>
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Every time I've remembered that this blog exists, I've considered putting the patterns up as Ravelry downloads and deleting the whole thing. Most of the tiny number of people who follow it also know me in real life, and since I post pictures of everything I make on Facebook anyway (so people can tell me how lovely they are and stroke my ego), it wouldn't be any loss. What's held me back is the one or two people who don't know me, and how that affects me writing and posting. I sort of love reading blogs belonging to people I don't know, even - sometimes especially - if I don't particularly like them. It's fascinating to see what people are willing to share, what persona they try to create for strangers. Lifestyle blogging and image creation are pretty compelling. There are layers of narcissism to the fact that I like to skim over this and see how I try to come across to strangers. What interests us is finding out what we are like, mar a deirtear.</div>
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I've made some quite fun things in the last year, maybe I'll give them their own posts. Other ways I have been filling my time include having three jobs, joining a SCUBA-diving club, applying for postgraduate positions, taking up climbing, working through my to read pile, travelling, marathoning a lot of TV shows, and sitting quietly.</div>
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Forkishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01790182121481532330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1379357700615469877.post-38250455743010911302013-11-09T18:21:00.000+00:002013-11-09T18:21:45.954+00:00Hallowe'en costume and crafts<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I'm a bit behind the times, but here's what I did and made for Hallowe'en.<br />
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Shoddy nail art! I'm pretty happy with how the right hand turned out, given that I'm right-handed and used the easy ones on my left hand.</div>
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The first pumpkin I have carved in years! I carved it the Friday before Hallowe'en, then forgot about it until Hallowe'en night, by which time it had gone too soft to lift the lid off and light a candle inside for full effect. Woops.</div>
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Cupcakes! The recipe is from the Moosewood recipe book, with added almond and raspberries, the icing is vanilla buttercream, and I bought the toppers in Fallon and Byrne. This was my first time using food colouring in a good many years, and I added to much to the red, but this had the result of making it look like viscera while not tasting or feeling any different. Accidental success!</div>
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I dressed up as Harry Potter! I couldn't find a red and yellow tie, so I got a red one and wound a yellow ribbon around it. I got green contacts, which had a fairly narrow gap for the iris, obscuring my vision, and borrowed a pair of my mother's old glasses, which blurred my vision even without the contacts, so really I think the fact that I didn't drop or break anything is a success story.</div>
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I used rigid collodion for the scars, after becoming smitten with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFyot9NL_h0" target="_blank">this tutorial</a>. Because I did it in a rush, and the scars I was applying were rather fine, it didn't turn out quite as well, but I was happy enough. I used lip-liner to draw the scar on the back of my hand, and concealer for the lightning bolt. Apart from the shine, which I couldn't fully take away with powder foundation, they looked quite good.</div>
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I should probably end this with "and on to Christmas knitting!" but I have most of my Christmas knitting done, actually. Not to brag or anything. Just saying.</div>
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Forkishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01790182121481532330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1379357700615469877.post-87447701421789068742013-10-07T16:31:00.000+01:002013-10-07T16:31:55.624+01:00Octobirthday presents.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Like... presents for birthdays happening in October, not eight birthdays, or a birthday shared by eight people. You know a joke is hilarious when you have to explain it.<br />
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K-9! He doesn't quite balance, but he is supported by his associated on the shelf of things I have made for my boyfriend. Remember the time Giles was in Doctor Who? That was a good episode, even if Giles was not employed to best use. I used <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mini-k9" target="_blank">this pattern</a> and Cygnet Chunky.</div>
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A neckwarmer for my friend Steph, who has emigrated to what will soon be the frozen wasteland of upstate New York. I used <a href="http://newtonsknitting.blogspot.ie/2007/10/cabled-neckwarmer.html" target="_blank">this pattern,</a> casting on 49 rather than 63 stitches, and with an extra repeat, so it can be snug and long enough to meet the brim of a hat. It's a simple pattern, but I like it a good deal. I'd also been dying for a chance to use the yarn (Debbie Bliss Paloma) and it's so soft and squishy and lovely. I am selfish in what I choose to make and use, but I also hand-make things with love, so I feel I net at "neutral" in my gift-giving consideration.</div>
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I know I always say "Maybe I will make one of these for myself!" but the way it sits and the length my hair was when I made it put me in mind of <a href="http://zelda.wikia.com/wiki/Sheik" target="_blank">Sheik</a> from Ocarina of Time, who has a place in my heart, and Hallowe'en is coming... so maybe I will make one of these for myself!</div>
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My little brother loved the <a href="http://apologyforanidler.blogspot.ie/2012/09/recent-fos-gloves-bobble-hat-and-helmet.html" target="_blank">bobble hat</a> I made him last year, so much that it disintegrated. I made him this replacement for his birthday on Thursday. (He also loved the <a href="http://apologyforanidler.blogspot.ie/2013/09/and-to-boldly-go-where-no-one-has-gone.html" target="_blank">Enterprise</a>.) The pattern is <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/bobblehead-ray" target="_blank">Bobblehead Ray</a>, which is about the nicest simple bobble hat pattern I've found.</div>
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More to follow, as October is disproprtionately full of birthdays.</div>
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Myself and a friend have started a knitting and crochet group in the asylum seekers' centre where we volunteer, so I am scouring Ravelry for projects interesting enough to stick with, but simple enough for beginners. Exciting times!</div>
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Forkishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01790182121481532330noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1379357700615469877.post-23659825336455468952013-09-22T19:23:00.000+01:002013-09-22T19:23:41.158+01:00Forward progress<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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or "Self-indulgent internal chatter."</div>
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I gave up art as a Leaving Cert subject in March or so of 2008 (because grades are just terribly important and I wasn't going to get an A1, good job seventeen-year-old brain), and after a five-year hiatus full of intentions, I finally started making another concerted effort at drawing about two and a half months ago. I've been drawing nearly every day since then. Even within that length of time, it's encouraging to look at the attempts from the start of my sketchbook compared with now, and it fills me with optimism that in a few months I'll look at something I was happy with today and think it just precious that I thought that was any good, because I'll have improved so much by then.</div>
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So here are some early and recent drawings! I want to try to justify the early ones by pointing out what's wrong with them, but surely the fact that the later ones are better indicates I can see some of what was wrong with them, and shut up brain.</div>
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25/7/'13: The first face in my sketchbook, Bifur from the Hobbit. (<a href="http://climbformemory.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/bifur.jpg" target="_blank">Reference</a>.) About the same standard as I had when I was fifteen or sixteen.</div>
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15/9/'13: Sylar/Zachary Quinto. (I've started watching Heroes - Season 1 is excellent, and Season 2 is nowhere near as slick but still entertaining, and I love a good villain.) This probably bears more resemblance to the original than anything I've drawn so far. (<a href="http://images2.fanpop.com/image/photos/10200000/sylar-gabriel-sylar-gray-10266919-940-705.jpg" target="_blank">Reference</a>.) </div>
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30/7/'13: John Watson/Martin Freeman. Face number five in the book, still trying to work out how heads are shaped, and how to get the eyes to look in the direction I want them to. (I can't find the picture I used as a reference, but it's fair to say there's only the vaguest of resemblance. Also, the ratio of screencaps/stills to fanart yielded by Googling "John Watson BBC" is approximately 1:1. Good for you, fanartists.)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk_oe4m_ekLs4kHAmRFxPlIPBu0HG9hNymfWdDYD9X9Qgl2WjeJW0mxYGGljkt-CP205aY5AJMRAz-CVQn-D3fPmhlfpIAvh_afiMjwhNiQa-1YN40ojSFnTez7Ntl5pLpGX-uGwavuEKU/s1600/IMGP3490.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk_oe4m_ekLs4kHAmRFxPlIPBu0HG9hNymfWdDYD9X9Qgl2WjeJW0mxYGGljkt-CP205aY5AJMRAz-CVQn-D3fPmhlfpIAvh_afiMjwhNiQa-1YN40ojSFnTez7Ntl5pLpGX-uGwavuEKU/s640/IMGP3490.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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19/9/'13: Also John Watson/Martin Freeman! Still doesn't look like him, but it looks like it could be a person this time. (<a href="http://sc.aithine.org/sherlock/103/27/sherlock-103-26447.jpg" target="_blank">Reference</a>.)</div>
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I've maybe been cheating by drawing almost solely men's faces, as I find the harder lines easier to draw. Next: women's and children's faces! I don't have an end goal with this, I'd just like be to able to draw and have the end result look like the subject.</div>
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Forkishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01790182121481532330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1379357700615469877.post-73901506977431802112013-09-16T22:30:00.000+01:002013-09-16T22:35:37.634+01:00And to boldly go where no-one has gone before.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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My brother doesn't like sci-fi so much as he likes spaceships, but he really likes spaceships. There aren't a great many patterns going on Ravelry, but the Enterprise is good and iconic, so it seemed appropriate for his upcoming birthday.</div>
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God damn, but I can't stand sewing components together. And embroidery. I'm going to steer clear of toys for a while.</div>
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Fiddly finishing aside, the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/starship-enterprise-amigurumi" target="_blank">pattern</a> is quite straightforward and takes no time to make. I used Cygnet DK acrylic, mostly.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqccGEkfiMzv0Oi-OZKRr-lcmcCNOAp5-szDjXRLVxbSKLlHdG3m81x58YzE-zuoB840yg_pKNAdIDavMWw5U4fyR47BDMsIYfzkTnnhG7D-jQmBfx98e-qWyOb_8hmYw9wOe0NCE5czkL/s1600/IMGP3431.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqccGEkfiMzv0Oi-OZKRr-lcmcCNOAp5-szDjXRLVxbSKLlHdG3m81x58YzE-zuoB840yg_pKNAdIDavMWw5U4fyR47BDMsIYfzkTnnhG7D-jQmBfx98e-qWyOb_8hmYw9wOe0NCE5czkL/s640/IMGP3431.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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I've started watching Star Trek: The Original Series (I like how the fandom hivemind all knows what you mean when you say TOS, even thought it was never called that, because that would be silly). The most endlessly charming thing is that fact that the backgrounds, props and costumes are so visibly handmade. It sounds like I'm trying to be snarky, but it's incredibly endearing to be able to see the work that went into it. Differently enjoyable is the fact that stage-fighting hadn't been invented yet. And while it's a cliché, the vision and ambition of the show is so hopeful. There's a scene a few episodes into season one where they're looking down on a planet identical to Earth, and the continents are laid out incorrectly, because it was made before there were any pictures of Earth from space. Also fun fact!: Spock was meant to be half-Martian, but Roddenberry thought that if the show were successful, man might walk on Mars during its run. I can't think of anything else at the moment that's as full of quiet optimism and wonder, or maybe I'm watching the wrong shows.</div>
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Forkishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01790182121481532330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1379357700615469877.post-62078061051812639752013-09-01T22:24:00.000+01:002014-11-24T02:37:47.477+00:00Bare necessities bag<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/61405574/Patterns/Bare%20Necessities%20Bag.pdf" target="_blank">Bare Necessities Bag Pattern</a></div>
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When I leave the house, my bag almost invariably contains<br />
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<li>my planner</li>
<li>the book I'm reading</li>
<li>a sketchbook</li>
<li>a current knitting project</li>
<li>my phone</li>
<li>my wallet</li>
<li>my coin-purse, because my wallet doesn't have space for coins</li>
<li>a water bottle</li>
<li>my pencil case</li>
</ul>
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Optional extras include</div>
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<li>my journal</li>
<li>a notebook for writing projects</li>
<li>my 'miscellaneous' notebook</li>
<li>camera</li>
<li>another knitting project in case I don't feel like working on the first one</li>
<li>my sewing kit</li>
<li>specific items I need that day</li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIjwYNJZmUwAIBIpQXxUYMp3OZbghdK6AZ4cTeYVzdAv-gLtP3Mu4PiVFq5Zbh9FdJBzoteBpn5wanpCO3OMh1LBj8cR5KRhK5wQna5hkZdERWvXCdsiGYeArV-EqPNsH1TC4gjvC5d2ng/s1600/IMGP3425.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIjwYNJZmUwAIBIpQXxUYMp3OZbghdK6AZ4cTeYVzdAv-gLtP3Mu4PiVFq5Zbh9FdJBzoteBpn5wanpCO3OMh1LBj8cR5KRhK5wQna5hkZdERWvXCdsiGYeArV-EqPNsH1TC4gjvC5d2ng/s320/IMGP3425.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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This could be construed as me having a terrible aversion to not having something to do, which is true, but it becomes even more uncomfortably irrational given that I usually cycle into town, so I can't say that those things are to occupy me on the bus in. I'm usually cycling to either meet someone or go to work, as well, so once there it would be impolite to start reading or writing. So in practise, I cycle into town, a large bag containing the weight of a small child in paper hanging off my handlebars <i>just in case</i>, then I cycle home, where I can use any of it.<br />
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I like small bags because they force me not to damage my back for no reason. Usually in pattern backgrounds this is where the "so I made one to suit my exact needs" comes in, but I made one for someone else, because I like the idea of it, but I need all that paraphernalia.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVMllTER9SxiUxNSHr6uwvHu2mHi_qAwG7Qru6e2txlTCvea34rjGO919KEORd5u0YfnbHAOIzYNDdFi1bvIuNHchxHjopXTpLDKvF-GxAkeFus8GlvQyhUS7P_xHaBhfhpgIybZaJVPzp/s1600/IMGP3420.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVMllTER9SxiUxNSHr6uwvHu2mHi_qAwG7Qru6e2txlTCvea34rjGO919KEORd5u0YfnbHAOIzYNDdFi1bvIuNHchxHjopXTpLDKvF-GxAkeFus8GlvQyhUS7P_xHaBhfhpgIybZaJVPzp/s400/IMGP3420.JPG" height="241" width="400" /></a></div>
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This bag was made using a 9mm crochet hook with Hoooked Zpagetti. (I'm a brat when it comes to other people's presents - I select yarn I want to use, then decide something to make with it.) The fabric is a bit difficult to work, but it's very quick to make, an easy beginner's project, and doesn't have seams, which I consider a bonus in anything.<br />
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Forkishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01790182121481532330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1379357700615469877.post-29837231361037236702013-08-20T01:48:00.002+01:002013-08-20T01:48:33.424+01:00Deep-rooted<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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When I was a child, I believed that in Heaven, everyone would know everything. All that science had yet to uncover, all the things science couldn't uncover because the evidence wasn't preserved, what happened on the Mary Celeste - everything. I don't remember developing or constructing this idea in my head, it's just my earliest memory of what I thought Heaven would be. My vision of a reward for a good life was an afterlife spent learning everything there is to know. I feel I should say something like "which probably explains a lot," but "which makes absolute sense, all things considered," is probably more accurate.</div>
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(I also thought that every person's whole life would be recorded, like a script, so that everyone who had ever known me would be able to read every embarrassing thought that had ever crossed my mind, every mean things I had said when I thought no-one could hear, and all my heinous crimes, like cheating on that question on a test three months ago. I think children picture the afterlife as "Like this one, but better," and apparently I just assumed the shame would carry over.)</div>
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It was rather a let-down to learn that what the religion I was raised in meant by Heaven was the joy of being in God's company forever. That seemed awfully dull by comparison, and probably made the probable non-existence of Heaven less of a loss.</div>
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Today, the book I'm currently reading noted that there isn't sufficient preserved evidence for archaeologists to determine whether ancestral humans had done away with Neanderthals by violence, or if they had edged them out through superior technology and ability to exploit the land. I was struck by the pity of the fact that no-one will ever know. And then a reassuring, incomplete thought came to me: "At least we'll find out when we're dead."</div>
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I think this particular incident was pretty funny because it was a harmless, childish view, but it does highlight how deep-rooted ideas can be - even those which are baseless and ridiculous under the slightest scrutiny. It's also why when someone says that it's alright for them to use that word or make that joke because they don't really mean it, they're not like that, I don't believe them for a second, even - especially - if they believe it of themselves.</div>
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Forkishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01790182121481532330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1379357700615469877.post-62769694933648982682013-08-06T21:36:00.000+01:002013-08-06T21:39:10.366+01:00FO: Crocheted Garnet Bolero<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I finished my first crochet project more complicated than a <a href="http://apologyforanidler.blogspot.ie/2013/06/crochet-in-middle-earth-tones.html" target="_blank">rectangle</a> or <a href="http://apologyforanidler.blogspot.ie/search/label/amigurimi" target="_blank">amigurimi</a>! It has been a productive few days, insofar as looking for jobs, crafting, looking at pictures of cats and reading <a href="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mempf8EQ3l1rc54uso1_500.gif" target="_blank">children's books in Irish</a> can be considered productive.</div>
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The last picture isn't great, in terms of quality or my face, but it shows nicely how it bolero sits.</div>
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The pattern is Short and Sweet from Stitch 'n' Bitch: The Happy Hooker. It took me a while to get the hang of the pattern, there was a lot of ripping out, and it still doesn't make the same intuitive sense to me that knitting does - can you correct a mistake from the row above it? Who knows! - but by the time I was half-way through I had it more or less memorised, and the fact that it builds up so quickly is awfully satisfying. The pattern was a bit unclear in parts, in particular in describing the increases on the front, but largely it was very straightforward, and a good project for someone looking to move up from 'beginner'.</div>
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I used a 5mm crochet hook and Rico Essentials Cotton DK. It's mercerised cotton, so it has a nice sheen to it. I could probably have gone down a size, but I'm quite delighted with it as it is. Four years after my first attempt at learning I feel justified in saying that I can crochet, so I'm experiencing a disproportionate sense of accomplishment right now.</div>
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(I also recently made a list of twenty-five things to do before I turn twenty-five, one of which was crochet a garment, so I made something AND I get to cross something off a list. I'm on fire over here. No really, send help.)</div>
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Forkishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01790182121481532330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1379357700615469877.post-16718783029593937222013-08-05T22:52:00.000+01:002013-08-05T22:52:10.634+01:00FO: Bowtie<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A friend of mine requested a knitted bow-tie a shameful length of time ago, but it is surprisingly hard to find bow-tie clips for a reasonably price. A few weeks ago I picked some up from <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/MapleStreetMarket" target="_blank">Maple Street Market's Etsy</a>, and they are great and she wrote a nice note on my receipt!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHCURgKvITpkmVJ1wgjAaJyxXYrJgthyphenhyphenqYNVMKhcxZI7PE-g_vuQuuZnn6CZV2DDI3j_dzQJ34bPJDZo_Qt98BcBzASnkL4E4Moyl9ke1UHjDptxCFEfWuLM4KHXwIfLvs8-yMhDbmmkeT/s1600/IMGP3347.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHCURgKvITpkmVJ1wgjAaJyxXYrJgthyphenhyphenqYNVMKhcxZI7PE-g_vuQuuZnn6CZV2DDI3j_dzQJ34bPJDZo_Qt98BcBzASnkL4E4Moyl9ke1UHjDptxCFEfWuLM4KHXwIfLvs8-yMhDbmmkeT/s400/IMGP3347.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVU72vY8NDyDn_nvO9Fcf4EZLrhEun1WlWzdLxMNU_hSDZcgR_ZJMHQzJZjj8ryYFAWIIfTlK64JJXNN-YnB3a4I8GHEaRf1KV4nLpJyfEZuPzKiybw75OEN5ujM0iCZZHtym2frf1_L8u/s1600/IMGP3348.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVU72vY8NDyDn_nvO9Fcf4EZLrhEun1WlWzdLxMNU_hSDZcgR_ZJMHQzJZjj8ryYFAWIIfTlK64JJXNN-YnB3a4I8GHEaRf1KV4nLpJyfEZuPzKiybw75OEN5ujM0iCZZHtym2frf1_L8u/s400/IMGP3348.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCbAEfr3Je5lXIjCU0_vx3NxDsUsPvCcVL3uCBnJAlIsZQog_bsUEs3g1lxhkKsV3Lc_fWcfNkEinJvh_5whE8BUotkPYESTKWhVw80U5BhBbM_jl1m4ru2NhpqV5Z9IDsPfJ_1Bo5oaFN/s1600/IMGP3344.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCbAEfr3Je5lXIjCU0_vx3NxDsUsPvCcVL3uCBnJAlIsZQog_bsUEs3g1lxhkKsV3Lc_fWcfNkEinJvh_5whE8BUotkPYESTKWhVw80U5BhBbM_jl1m4ru2NhpqV5Z9IDsPfJ_1Bo5oaFN/s400/IMGP3344.JPG" width="293" /></a></div>
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If I had a tux shirt this photo would look dapper as anything, instead of clumsy and scruffy.</div>
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The bow-tie is knit with leftover Debbie Bliss Rialto DK on 3.75 needles, and I super-glued it to the clip. Simple!</div>
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In other news, I ran the Rock and Roll Half Marathon today, because I really like free t-shirts. It took me longer than it takes some people to run marathons, and I would have been faster walking at my usual pace, but I ran the whole thing!</div>
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Forkishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01790182121481532330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1379357700615469877.post-73324069552658113662013-08-04T23:20:00.001+01:002013-08-04T23:21:14.012+01:00Title Chapters for Harry Potter agus an Órcloch<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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For my own entertainment.</div>
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Harry Potter agus an Órchloch : <i>Harry Potter and the the Stone of Gold</i>*</div>
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Caibidil 1: An Gasúr a Tháinig Slán : <i>The Young Boy Who Arrived Safe/Got Through Safe</i></div>
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Caibidil 2: An Ghloine a d'Imigh As : <i>The Glass That Disappeared (From Itself)</i></div>
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Caibidil 3: Na Litreacha : <i>The Letters</i></div>
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Caibidil 4: Coimeádaà na hEochracha : <i>Keeper of the Keys</i></div>
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Caibidil 5: Go Diagon Alley : <i>To Diagon Alley</i></div>
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Caibidil 6: An Turas ó Ardán a Naoi agus Trà Ceathrú : <i>The Trip From Platform Nine and Three Quarters</i></div>
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Caibidil 7: An Hata Sórtala : <i>The Hat of Sorting</i></div>
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Caibidil 8: Máistir na bPosóidà : <i>Master of Potions</i></div>
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Caibidil 9: Comhrac ar Uair an Mheán OÃche : <i>Action</i>** <i>at the Hour of Midnight</i></div>
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Caibidil 10: OÃche Shamhna : <i>Hallowe'en</i></div>
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Caibidil 11: Quidditch : <i>Quidditch</i></div>
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Caibidil 12: Scathán na Mianta : <i>The Mirror of Wishes</i>***</div>
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Caibidil 13: Nicolas Flamel : <i>Nicolas Flamel</i></div>
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Caibidil 14: Dragan Dronnach na hIorua : <i>The Hump-Backed Dragon from Norway</i></div>
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Caibidil 15: An Fhoraois Thoirmiscthe : <i>The Forbidden Forest</i></div>
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Caibidil 16: TrÃd an gComhla SÃos : <i>Through the Downward Door</i></div>
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Caibidil 17: Fear an Dá Aghaidh : <i>The Man of Two Faces</i></div>
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This isn't meant as jab of the "haw haw, look at Irish trying to be relevant, I didn't work at Irish in school because I'm incredibly cool and interesting, a fact I will prove by monologuing about how I like to not work at things" sort****. I think it's fantastic that wee small Gaeilgeoirà can read Harry Potter as Gaeilge! I just think it's interesting to wonder how much nuance I've missed by reading translations of books, and how clunky English translations sound to speakers of the original language.</div>
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Time to learn every language in the world, just in case.</div>
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* But not made of gold, pertaining to gold.</div>
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** But strategic action, like in chess.</div>
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*** Jesus, lads! Spoilers!</div>
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**** I have opinions about people who think that not making an effort is somehow an interesting personality trait. If I'm honest, it's just one opinion. You don't want to work at a thing? Cool! Don't! I am probably not interested in your spiel supporting your (in)actions.</div>
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Forkishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01790182121481532330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1379357700615469877.post-72450210185825078212013-07-28T22:00:00.000+01:002013-07-28T22:25:51.584+01:00This week I...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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... went to a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/527618373959646/" target="_blank">Social Sketch</a> meetup! I wasn't sure if everyone else would be drawing from memory, or if we were meant to be drawing other people in the pub (which I wouldn't be up for, they are not there for staring at), so I brought my little <a href="http://apologyforanidler.blogspot.ie/2012/09/electric-picnic-crafts.html" target="_blank">carved tree spirit</a> to have something unobtrusive to draw. I was happy enough with some of the drawings, though handing around sketch pads at the end made me want to crawl into a hole. I wanted to look at other people's though, so it would have been unsporting not to though mine onto the pile, though I couldn't refrain from pointing out that I had only restarted drawing again three weeks ago, after five years of next to nothing.</div>
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I have a knee-jerk aversion to the word 'sketch'. When I was in fifth year, my art teacher told the class that from now on, nothing we did would be a 'sketch'. Sketches are rough, incomplete, not a full piece in themselves, and if that is the mindset with which you're approaching your work, you're not putting in the effort which will make you better. From now on, we would only draw. While I've drawn very irregularly since then, I've held onto that lesson. I draw roughly, lazily, badly, but I don't sketch.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf9HZJm2ShUBONzsGKudsjn6vUMR8kyWjlgh3rqPwf6xlOR2SHtO4l81ny0DyKbOjQ7W7svh7w2klYoBoNuWZGs5BDJJqMGtY8S0vesgGfyGfFxJ4qTcxzOzKcd9MGTadBOyWWJgXHME29/s1600/20130728_140118.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf9HZJm2ShUBONzsGKudsjn6vUMR8kyWjlgh3rqPwf6xlOR2SHtO4l81ny0DyKbOjQ7W7svh7w2klYoBoNuWZGs5BDJJqMGtY8S0vesgGfyGfFxJ4qTcxzOzKcd9MGTadBOyWWJgXHME29/s640/20130728_140118.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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... drew some other things with which I was varying degrees of happy! These were on the middle to upper end of the scale.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMLZxWKNg1cdT6J85cOim8wJoE4zVTCGEJyg9TMZg6rKhjIRgGEkiSVvXBjxe1KWIfPQhc2dgXri4IFnm9rYFxY_aVUIMCaPfiUPnmJhV51CIWPyzMrVr2dD7A2oulSmCF64Q644grTC3L/s1600/20130728_140214.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMLZxWKNg1cdT6J85cOim8wJoE4zVTCGEJyg9TMZg6rKhjIRgGEkiSVvXBjxe1KWIfPQhc2dgXri4IFnm9rYFxY_aVUIMCaPfiUPnmJhV51CIWPyzMrVr2dD7A2oulSmCF64Q644grTC3L/s640/20130728_140214.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reference was <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYhPxU4xZxTqWIVd8Y7OehptcTsxjCxoU1MqUhDNK0UexEjh1Ry6LZ04FhmbeKDBilyizG_45AmnNKlCwsfPxyMbg27PZOsPvqV4RVzka-H8vDtuukG_66hkM9abuy3FOuaec6zzMZBGNM/s200/Smaug3AlanLee.jpg" target="_blank">this illustration</a>, but a decent-sized version in a book.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHpTlfkExWn67bVXWeSO5f1Bdf9ZZb9QfR3fgCtNf-2d0MhA39BFcxDy3e6KxphqwNaK3keeeHb8sfLpDgmW07cRNB8FuvOyLQBTDoUEbpPMMA5INuy7-NMCP64vpDNxywYtzdNtkNR_A7/s1600/20130728_140156.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHpTlfkExWn67bVXWeSO5f1Bdf9ZZb9QfR3fgCtNf-2d0MhA39BFcxDy3e6KxphqwNaK3keeeHb8sfLpDgmW07cRNB8FuvOyLQBTDoUEbpPMMA5INuy7-NMCP64vpDNxywYtzdNtkNR_A7/s640/20130728_140156.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"It's what people do, isn't it? Leave a note?"<br />
<a href="http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/28300000/Sherlock-S02E03-The-Reichenbach-Fall-sherlock-on-bbc-one-28354424-624-352.jpg" target="_blank">Reference</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh4-6JxtWMn8g04o5iE94TnBul6KpJcLgfnv7NwNu9K8zM3X0JlTP88bIuvj_2VvPSeNShdoqlzBOSxeVIf90U9nYHGLaJthC2ztURmuFPV_LP9vVSdRrQz69WX95uOTPKsWgdK2oQtQi9/s1600/20130719_230336.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh4-6JxtWMn8g04o5iE94TnBul6KpJcLgfnv7NwNu9K8zM3X0JlTP88bIuvj_2VvPSeNShdoqlzBOSxeVIf90U9nYHGLaJthC2ztURmuFPV_LP9vVSdRrQz69WX95uOTPKsWgdK2oQtQi9/s640/20130719_230336.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://imgc.allpostersimages.com/images/P-473-488-90/61/6161/JMLG100Z/posters/erik-isakson-feet-of-ballet-dancer-en-pointe.jpg" target="_blank">Reference</a></td></tr>
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... made Oreo truffles from <a href="http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/easy-oreo-truffles-95085.aspx" target="_blank">this recipe</a>! I can make tasty food, but I cannot make pretty food, and while looks aren't everything, I see something like <a href="http://cakecrumbs.me/2013/07/24/jupiter-structural-layer-cake/" target="_blank">this</a> and feel shoddy by comparison. (I want nothing like I want to friendship-court that person.) On the plus side, they were delicious.<br />
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... took part in the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ColourDash?fref=ts" target="_blank">Colour Dash</a>! (More great photos <a href="https://www.facebook.com/colour5kireland?fref=ts" target="_blank">here</a>.) I had been under the impression that we'd be running through a constant barrage of paint dust, but I suppose in retrospect that would be terrible for people's breathing. There was a paint-throwing station at the 500m mark of each kilometre. (The figure I heard floating around as to the amount of paint was nine hundred tonnes, so perhaps my way was logistically impractical as well as unsafe.) It was only five kilometres, but I was trying to match pace with my far more athletic sister for the first two and a half, and even though she slowed down on my behalf my legs are feeling it today! The photos don't really convey the full extent of the colourful paintiness.</div>
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... finished another pair of <a href="http://apologyforanidler.blogspot.ie/2013/05/fo-friday-custom-gloves.html" target="_blank">Ailbhe gloves</a>! This pair are in a DK yarn rather than aran, so the fabric isn't so stiff, with a seersucker stitch pattern.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDwmr0p2_j-agBjDqrTi2hd-Yrr-MfQZXNCq9kTJfAS2tbN5lU0Fos646ukgCCzX_PBjSeYpdyonpfs9lRi6PNVnDJgyDUxcan-r8vfwuFP_4dbrJqzF6HrOHaSWEvZG4qbZcuKKS7eush/s1600/IMGP3332.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDwmr0p2_j-agBjDqrTi2hd-Yrr-MfQZXNCq9kTJfAS2tbN5lU0Fos646ukgCCzX_PBjSeYpdyonpfs9lRi6PNVnDJgyDUxcan-r8vfwuFP_4dbrJqzF6HrOHaSWEvZG4qbZcuKKS7eush/s640/IMGP3332.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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... saw Dylan Moran at the Comedy Festival in the Iveagh Gardens! Life goal accomplished, though I'd still love to see him perform a full set. By the time the opening act had been on for a minute I was cringing inwardly and knotting my hands around each other in sympathetic embarrassment (Also, if your shtick or sense of humour revolves around making fun of people who aren't you, I don't trust you. If you think jokes about driving while high are a big lol, ha ha ha you might hit someone or injure them for life and that's so edgy), but by the time Dylan Moran had been on for a minute my face hurt from laughing. It was all new material as well, and really top-notch.</div>
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"The truth is, we are all going to die. <i>We are all going to die</i>. And people <i>hate</i> when you say that. Especially if you say it during sex."</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFXpUsqw9mhTf99xJe7NDR7UVnkw1iA_ttBsD1VT3-XzrTKqhrBaea2XR46vN5P16JWx4kLIwF_6ED_gRhC_Y7XWsr5zTGYysKPe4A5mk-yJfxIT4G-LcD4GCT7UzE7xch2JX8J4l3VISG/s1600/20130727_164436.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFXpUsqw9mhTf99xJe7NDR7UVnkw1iA_ttBsD1VT3-XzrTKqhrBaea2XR46vN5P16JWx4kLIwF_6ED_gRhC_Y7XWsr5zTGYysKPe4A5mk-yJfxIT4G-LcD4GCT7UzE7xch2JX8J4l3VISG/s400/20130727_164436.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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... started my October birthday knitting! Will this be the year I'm finally organised for all of the gift-giving occasions in the latter quarter of the year? Hahaha no, Jen, that was a stupid question. But a girl can hope!</div>
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A productive week, all told!</div>
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Forkishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01790182121481532330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1379357700615469877.post-87030984182261585742013-07-19T21:21:00.000+01:002013-07-19T21:26:21.294+01:00Paris Je T'aime<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I went to Paris last weekend! Here is some photographic evidence.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCRyD_MlMzeOutS01zYCZWt8tWxV8KqHOW_R5XR95Z0VJ3cvSymnDG_YnP_nmrzOEbRHFf0kNRG6OSlOkb8adTctBCR8JZFXpMg0XcKlfeUYuokplPZCkFxXh-sBOA6WOOf_bV5cEBVoPF/s1600/IMGP3279.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCRyD_MlMzeOutS01zYCZWt8tWxV8KqHOW_R5XR95Z0VJ3cvSymnDG_YnP_nmrzOEbRHFf0kNRG6OSlOkb8adTctBCR8JZFXpMg0XcKlfeUYuokplPZCkFxXh-sBOA6WOOf_bV5cEBVoPF/s320/IMGP3279.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGHabyEvyQkbylqfZwxm55tprdJXap-oOtJ-IkR4v5mW0bRxCWEJwgClCaXNbr1SuACfZVfCgLdqWr1MAHa-EPpgYucHaMOQLNXA2JqUoQI_2w0TiHBNzcqlHI2MRn9jcP1Y3JfG4eqDLC/s1600/IMGP3312.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGHabyEvyQkbylqfZwxm55tprdJXap-oOtJ-IkR4v5mW0bRxCWEJwgClCaXNbr1SuACfZVfCgLdqWr1MAHa-EPpgYucHaMOQLNXA2JqUoQI_2w0TiHBNzcqlHI2MRn9jcP1Y3JfG4eqDLC/s320/IMGP3312.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpaVvUQT_CMosry5hUcxor7ud2P7uCNqSjr66JHbSSDKmJH4fb1JD02jTX7EZquWOUj_qKqGy9Mrx-a8kdx4ZgosoP543jxwAkSlwaHa6TB2r48TPtYnqLvSW1syeoqAXV7XzZAAmvZ74F/s1600/IMGP3271.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpaVvUQT_CMosry5hUcxor7ud2P7uCNqSjr66JHbSSDKmJH4fb1JD02jTX7EZquWOUj_qKqGy9Mrx-a8kdx4ZgosoP543jxwAkSlwaHa6TB2r48TPtYnqLvSW1syeoqAXV7XzZAAmvZ74F/s320/IMGP3271.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur, and the Eiffel Tower from the wrong end of the Champs-Élysée. I brought my nice SLR camera, but as it uses film it will be a while before I do anything with the photos. Some of the the photos from my digital camera were unexpectedly quite nice, though.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS6qTNdjq9Bpy079sc6jYApeoratxlMs_PPmGvaPDfv_g5HAwVg_ZS86W6uhIndxYrnE9K7CCM52OtTxouzSGX9MZQRgOx_uvxEJ2OXNbJCuOlli6WcFRzhKupDcPp1lBxCCAHxGho0nzC/s1600/IMGP3275.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS6qTNdjq9Bpy079sc6jYApeoratxlMs_PPmGvaPDfv_g5HAwVg_ZS86W6uhIndxYrnE9K7CCM52OtTxouzSGX9MZQRgOx_uvxEJ2OXNbJCuOlli6WcFRzhKupDcPp1lBxCCAHxGho0nzC/s400/IMGP3275.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I really love the fact that they have a permanently installed open-air book market along the canal. But not as much as I love...<br />
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Shakespeare and Company! It's a wonderful English-language bookshop. Stepping inside feels like stepping back in time, but for the covers on the books. It's like the old Chapters on Abbey Street, but with even more nooks and crannies. It is the sort of shop where a story should unfold. A lovely aspect of it is that they allow writers to stay for free in exhange for a few hours' work.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFgItHDSAy3M9cup5f3znhjD6RU5MVGtVaD_zDl0J2ZvRXvMpNs0x_6DUDB3zEjtKZ7SlfAMRnCRj07A96molDdPHLJJFZ26loQblGK8nb4eneUsubmR0vHJ5xaK8eOyYQ2k02cDACuif9/s1600/IMGP3284.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFgItHDSAy3M9cup5f3znhjD6RU5MVGtVaD_zDl0J2ZvRXvMpNs0x_6DUDB3zEjtKZ7SlfAMRnCRj07A96molDdPHLJJFZ26loQblGK8nb4eneUsubmR0vHJ5xaK8eOyYQ2k02cDACuif9/s400/IMGP3284.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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I took this photo because the title of the book on the far right makes it sound like Louisa May Alcott was writing for Mills and Boone for a while, but even more exciting than that is the fact that the book on the far left is about a haunted yarn shop. My boyfriend bought it for me. I'm embarrassingly excited to read it, but also apprehensive, because how can it possibly live up to that premise?</div>
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Go to France, buy English books. In my defence, the one at the bottom of the pile was for my mother. Against my defence, I went back two days later and bought myself another book.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfRqrcPdfo0YG-bVGbSM0iVFyifFQVnEFcUjGWJTiaY76GiFM5oDl_Go-nUGH447UHFbis94Z1jPGFFbA4lzHC5Ij4INOKl9s4vxt-pC-HnF-f3eZ75V2S2vHjMdEvjP7SNzY5Ql_oNnZ6/s1600/IMGP3331.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfRqrcPdfo0YG-bVGbSM0iVFyifFQVnEFcUjGWJTiaY76GiFM5oDl_Go-nUGH447UHFbis94Z1jPGFFbA4lzHC5Ij4INOKl9s4vxt-pC-HnF-f3eZ75V2S2vHjMdEvjP7SNzY5Ql_oNnZ6/s400/IMGP3331.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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This was written on the inside of the Sherlock Holmes collection, which came from the second-hand box. Hard luck, Matthieu.</div>
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The inside of the top floor of the Musée D'Orsay. I like this picture because it looks like some 1930's sci-fi.<br />
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This picture does not accurately depict how much this ice-cream looked like a flower, or how delicious it was.</div>
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I went to the Louvre and drew some sculptures. This one of Hercules turned out better than my drawings are prone to doing!</div>
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I am trying to get back into the habits of both drawing and proper photography (though films slows things down, and I really should join a photography club). Proof of same may start appearing.</div>
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Forkishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01790182121481532330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1379357700615469877.post-68389498001683949402013-07-05T20:35:00.002+01:002013-07-05T20:46:34.950+01:00The direwolve is back<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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My friend Steph is going a long long way away - whole continents and time zones! - so I made a going-away direwolf, because I express affection best through food and material goods, and I'm pretty sure U.S. customs are fussy about letting food in. It also means that if she starts to forget me, at least my image will be replaced by that of this wolf.</div>
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The tiny animals and creepy dog oven mitt are courtesy of Steph for my birthday. The tiny animals are actually rubbers, but who could ruin their tiny adorableness?<br />
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Please enjoy also the pre-detail "I have no mouth, and I must scream" version. Things which should have faces but don't are one of my favourite kinds of creepy.<br />
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The pattern is the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/direwolf-wolf-pattern" target="_blank">Direwolf/Wolf Pattern</a>, so it can be read either way, and if Game of Thrones or all of fantasy ever becomes annoying it can go back to being a standard wolf. It's very straightforward (while I was crocheting I didn't think some things would end up looking right, but I had faith, and I think they did) and I like how it turned out. I used DK cotton with a 3.75mm hook instead of a bulky yarn, and given the size this turned out I think a bulky one would have been quite huge. I sort of wish I'd measured its dimensions before I gave it away, so that I could make it seasonally appropriate costumes. Tiny Santa hat, tiny St. Patrick's mitre, tiny pumpkin... something... I just like dressing things up as other things. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIXQwWOyp7Q&t=20m17s" target="_blank">I'm not well, Harry</a>.</div>
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Forkishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01790182121481532330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1379357700615469877.post-37728298236591551212013-06-30T19:31:00.000+01:002013-06-30T19:50:07.631+01:00Lieblings<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">The delightful <a href="http://thebusymamas.blogspot.ie/" target="_blank">Busy Mama</a> left a comment the other day saying that she had nominated me for a Liebster Award. Her blog has a mix of craft types, as well as some daily life snapshots, both of which I enjoy a great deal. there's something very soothing about seeing instants from someone else's life. She also runs a crocheting circle reasonably near to my house which I have consistently failed to go to. On top of that, she called me funny, which is the quickest way to my heart and ego.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">The award is a great way of raising the profile of other blogs. The rules are as follows:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">1. Anyone nominated wins! (Isn't that lovely?)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">2. You should link back to the person who nominated you.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">3. You should nominate five blogs, with fewer than two hundred followers, that you like and feel deserve the award.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">4. You should let nominees know by leaving a comment on their blog.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">5. You should attach the little Liebster badge to your blog.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">You can also ask questions of your nominees if you so choose! I'm not going to do that, y'all have things to do.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;">(I mean, yes, everyone winning means this is really just a chain letter of sorts, but it gave me a boost, and who doesn't like to hear their work complimented? I like giving compliments, and this is an excuse.)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">I find the middle clause of rule number two quite difficult - I mostly follow biggish blogs, because they're the easiest found. I'm like an anti-hipster. I'll try to keep it to smallish ones, but I rather hope I won't cause offense by seeming like I think someone must have a smaller readership than they do. Is that something people might be offended by? Hopefully not. Anyway, my nominees are:</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;">1. </span><a href="http://ekatearcher.blogspot.ie/" style="line-height: 18px;" target="_blank">Erin Kate Archer</a><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;">. I've been following her blog and harbouring a crafts-crush for a few years now. She's an awfully talented lady, and works in a whole wide range of media, which I love. Keeping track of her blog is a great way to find tutorials scattered around the internet, and her own designs are just stunning. Everything is beautifully photographed, and her blog is an all-around aesthetically pleasing affair.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">2. <a href="http://stitchlily.blogspot.ie/" target="_blank">Stitchlily</a>. A person I sort of know from real life, but who has probably forgotten me! We met when I was working at the Science Gallery's <a href="http://crochetcoralreef.org/" target="_blank">Crochet Coral Reef</a> <a href="http://sciencegallery.com/crochetcoralreef" target="_blank">exhibition</a> - she had contributed to the reef. Her blog is very enjoyable and entertaining to have on my feed, as I get to read about the range of group projects, festivals and workshops she works with, which I otherwise wouldn't hear about. She also has a brilliant mix of project types, mostly textiles-based, and anyone who can make something I can't make is essentially a wizard in my books.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">3. <a href="http://cornflowerbluestudio.blogspot.ie/" target="_blank">Cornflower Blue Studio</a>/<a href="http://full-flower-moon.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Flower Moon</a>. This absolutely has more than two hundred followers, but I only discovered it recently and I'm quite enamoured. Lots of short posts is a format I like quite a lot, I like the diversity of the projects, and it's great for project ideas. (I am going to make <a href="http://cornflowerbluestudio.blogspot.ie/2012/09/recipe-cinnamon-hot-cocoa-mix.html" target="_blank">this</a> for everyone for Christmas, but with chilli instead of cinnamon. Exciting.)</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">4. <a href="http://everywhereknits.blogspot.ie/" target="_blank">Everywhere Knits</a>. If you're looking for blogs to follow, this hasn't been updated in about a year, but I always enjoyed when it was! It's written very conversationally and the photos are mostly taken by webcam, which makes it feel very friendly.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">5. </span><a href="http://shockingblankets.tumblr.com/" style="line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" target="_blank">Shocking Blankets</a><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">. This is mostly a Sherlock fanart blog, which might flout the rules if this is meant to be messy crafts, but the art is adorable, and I keep going back just to revisit the </span><a href="http://shockingblankets.tumblr.com/tagged/notdead" style="line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" target="_blank">#not dead</a><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"> gifs because they make me giggle. Plus, the girl who runs it seems incredibly sweet. There's nothing not to like! I discovered this a few weeks ago via a Ravelry thread discussing Sherlock fanart, read my way through all of it, felt all fuzzy inside, and decided to start drawing again, after several years of intentions. And now I draw a non-zero amount! I feel like if you can inspire someone to take up, or take back up, a hobby, you're doing something right. (This one is a Tumblr, so I'm not sure how to leave a comment in a useful way, as I'm pretty sure anonymous asks don't allow links. If I set up a Tumblr account it would be full of pictures of cats before I chose a username, so I feel I should delay that for as long as possible. Does Tumblr show traffic sources? Hopefully!)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">And now I have to contact all these people to say hi and let them know about the nomination. I did not anticipate it when I started the post, and it is unexpectedly intimidating.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Also, this post had made me realise that I'm rather short on Irish crafting blogs, if anyone has recommendations I'd be delighted!</span></span></div>
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Forkishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01790182121481532330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1379357700615469877.post-25651374326797863042013-06-26T00:20:00.002+01:002013-08-06T21:31:39.581+01:00Crochet in Middle Earth-tones<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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My sister kept mentioning last year that she wanted to learn to crochet, so I got her Debbie Stoller's The Happy Hooker for Christmas. I think I showed remarkable self-restraint by not flicking through it until now. (I honestly didn't by it with myself in mind, but I might be a terrible person regardless.)</div>
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I got good use out of the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/stripes-and-stripes-forever" target="_blank">Stripes (and Stripes) Forever</a> pattern - when I had reams left over from making a belt, I decided to make a scarf, as well. I used Debbie Bliss Cotton DK, in what was my first yarn-shopping jaunt in an uncharacteristically long time. I wanted to use earth-tones, and I think the colour scheme ended up quite Middle Earthish, which I'm happy with, because I am a really cool and well-adjusted person with a vibrant social life.</div>
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I made the belt several inches too long, but at least it's long enough to tuck into the next belt-loop.</div>
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The scarf is also self-tasselling, which is pretty cool! It's crocheted in long rows end-to-end, rather than short rows side-to-side. It looks nice and academic, I think, and as I started it while I was in <a href="http://apologyforanidler.blogspot.ie/2013/06/cambridge.html" target="_blank">Cambridge</a>, I feel doubly justified in thinking of it as my Shire scarf.</div>
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Second and third crochet projects down! (The fourth will hopefully be put together tonight, photos in the future.) The next one I have planned is a biggie - if I do a decent job of it, I'll feel I'm allowed to say that I can crochet.</div>
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Also, Irish Premature Babies sent me a thank-you card for the squares I donated, and emailed me pictures of the blankets they've made! I get to feel fuzzy, and I get post.</div>
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Forkishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01790182121481532330noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1379357700615469877.post-23804298810193103282013-06-23T22:40:00.004+01:002013-07-19T22:43:43.012+01:00Cambridge!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I visited my friend Steph in Cambridge last weekend!</div>
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1. We nearly entered this cardboard boat race, but were hampered by not having collected cardboard and made a boat.</div>
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2. There was garden party in the Chaplain's garden. There was a cake-baking competition, and we came second with the chocolate and raspberry cake in the bottom right! I also won a notebook in a raffle, and came first with two of Steph's friends in a trivia competition. Best garden party I've ever been to.</div>
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3. There was a punt race one evening. Another team were dressed as bananas.</div>
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4. St. John's College from the back</div>
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5. Steampunk-looking tower on top of the library.</div>
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6. The Bridge of Sighs in St. John's College, the most Hogwarts-esque - and therefore best - structure in a town full of Hogwarts-esque buildings.</div>
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7. We punted down the river and had a picnic. Some ducks tried to muscle in. On the way back a duckling tried to jump into the boat. And I didn't fall off while punting!</div>
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8. Steph behind the door of the St. John's Chapel tower, like some sort of terrifying tower-goblin.</div>
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9. The chapel tower from half-way up.</div>
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10. The view from the top.</div>
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11. Fireworks at the Trinity College May Ball. It was the night before St. John's, and everyone sat on the backs and watched. I always forget how much I like fireworks.</div>
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12. The theme of the St. John's May Ball was "Ars Gratia Artis." Each court had a different theme. This was the 'street art' court (titled "Mean Streets of Cambridge").</div>
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13. Fireworks at the St. John's May Ball.</div>
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The May Ball was excellent fun, more like a black tie festival than a ball proper. I also drank more Pimms over the course of the weekend than I otherwise would in a year or several. <i>Cambridge</i>.</div>
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Forkishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01790182121481532330noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1379357700615469877.post-21318982649236489892013-06-09T23:05:00.001+01:002013-06-11T02:20:31.288+01:00No, Luke, I AM your [spoilers].<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Here be spoilers, but only to things that happened thirty years ago, and vague references to things which contain twists.</div>
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I think the internet's reactions to the Red Wedding versus John Harrison is interesting, because it shows the difference in spoiler-etiquette between those who are in the habit of being in a fandom and those who are not.</div>
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I don't know at what point it becomes acceptable to stop being careful around spoilers, but it's longer than "twenty minutes after that book is published/episode airs/film premiere screens." Even if someone if watching Star Wars for the first time (if they are older than twelve or so), it should hardly count as a spoiler to mention that Vader is Luke and Leia's father. It's fair game to make a joke about soylent green being people. Everyone knows Norman Bates mother was dead the whole time, as was Bruce Willis. It is safe to mention any of these things in conversation without being a jerk.</div>
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My sister, who has read the A Song Of Ice And Fire books already, advised me a week before the Red Wedding to catch up on Game of Thrones in time for that episode, because something important would happen and the internet would spoil it for me if I didn't watch it straight away. I thought this was a bit unfair on the internet - I've been years behind on shows and avoided spoilers easily! - but it aired on Saturday, I watched it on Sunday, and a friend who hadn't seen it yet had it spoiled by Facebook and Twitter by Monday.</div>
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I think it's because Game of Thrones is so widely popular. A lot of the fanbase are people who aren't usually heavily invested in a series, don't know the spoiler etiquette, and so reacted loudly and in detail on Facebook. Anyone who has spent any time hanging around forums or fansites and reading fan theories and fics and accidentally discovering what slash is at eleven because the masthead made it seem like it was a synonym for 'spoof' and feeling terrible Catholic Guilt as a result* knows that you tag your damn spoilers. If it's a TV series, you tag them by series at the least, and episode <i>really. </i>I think that's why, even though Star Trek: Into Darkness has been out for a month now, the internet has been pretty decent about not revealing John Harrison's identity. Even though the reboot doesn't have much to do with the original, the kind of people who'd go to see it are largely the kind of people who've obsessed over at least one series in their lives, and so know what bad form spoilers are. I began watching both Doctor Who and Supernatural years after they started airing, and the only things I knew in advance were general plot points (Space! This guy will be a new guy after this series! Bobby! Dean and Castiel don't kiss but the internet thinks they should!), and things I spoiled for myself by opting to disregard spoiler warnings**. Obsessive fanpeople: they are very considerate in specific contexts.</div>
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In further fanperson sensibilities, I find the semi-meme of referring to "Jawn" in the Sherlock fandom interesting. It's presumably meant to indicate Sherlock's pronunciation of it, but in my head he pronounces it "John", and "Jawn" reads like a drawl, and so more American. If they were trying to show the clipped, British intonation I would go for "Jaun" (as in faun, not maus). "Jawn" is close to how my head pronounces "Jon" which for some reason seems more American-sounding to me than does "John." Regional dialects - they are fun to dissect!</div>
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*Based on a true story!</div>
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** I spoiled the Red Wedding for myself, I had John Harrison spoiled for me in a post which used his real name a few days after ST:ID came out, which was the more inconsiderate given that most posts at the time were making a point of referring to him only as "John Harrison".</div>
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Forkishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01790182121481532330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1379357700615469877.post-67013643182730033952013-06-04T21:40:00.000+01:002013-06-10T16:29:09.497+01:00Revamped bookshelf<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Over the last few weeks, I have disassembled a bookshelf, then reassembled it to the same bookshelf. There are some extraneous steps in my life.</div>
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This bookshelf lived in my brother's room for many years, then in the hallway for a further few. There used to be a door over that panel on the left, but I think it became firewood. My mum was sick of the sight of it, so asked if I wanted to sand it down and revarnish it and take it to my room, because it is years since I have had enough room for books.</div>
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I was going to make the legs shorter, but in the end I just pulled out the carpet protectors and sanded down the ends to neaten them up.<br />
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I sanded down every side long enough with a borrowed power-sander. I had a headache for most of a day after this, probably from inhaling the powdered dust + varnish + wood combination. Masks are for wimps, I'll avoid giving myself long-term respiratory problems when I'm dead.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir4dPTgx0ekUjCT-dYtFT0rW7pC-7eMzriYANGtf856LHv7PDJtRA6T9xron9G4HMqX6xQAPq3nk08ZNKgvmxycBni8tEmFqTlvAPEpCDerriSjeV3epTaJf_ND-dhuBmWBl0CFQfTYCBL/s1600/IMGP3005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir4dPTgx0ekUjCT-dYtFT0rW7pC-7eMzriYANGtf856LHv7PDJtRA6T9xron9G4HMqX6xQAPq3nk08ZNKgvmxycBni8tEmFqTlvAPEpCDerriSjeV3epTaJf_ND-dhuBmWBl0CFQfTYCBL/s640/IMGP3005.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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I realised the prospect of doing the sides too short for the sander by hand was unpleasant, and that I wouldn't do as good a job as the power-sander, so I dismantled the whole thing. I wasn't sure when I started whether this step would be helpful, but given that it worked out in the end I stand by it.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji_2NBpfvRIIIABnddJ96Lj_j9fgxzZHsJmTK9FpgDG_Mw5Ix2rYhMNFkuYbuRMFFeWqUHc2Liwko4BOt3HhYTvf7ZYoAC0smoK9FkXATnT96aS36gMSdVb5Sl3sYpyk8FMSCsYBMJ3sDN/s1600/IMGP3006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji_2NBpfvRIIIABnddJ96Lj_j9fgxzZHsJmTK9FpgDG_Mw5Ix2rYhMNFkuYbuRMFFeWqUHc2Liwko4BOt3HhYTvf7ZYoAC0smoK9FkXATnT96aS36gMSdVb5Sl3sYpyk8FMSCsYBMJ3sDN/s640/IMGP3006.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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The dismantling allowed me to sand everything down properly. Hooray!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSO-WucM83X56Zxo8nWvV6K88e09tiXMyxGkHSsx011O181I6iOvRWzUoQnXTDmVkiPUbU-gZgFcU2yhhFE2nP2kNivJegwXN2x4PmONu3qr_1ZIVIZX6HOFsWiiiCWU-Zpap6CgiYZGt2/s1600/IMGP3013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSO-WucM83X56Zxo8nWvV6K88e09tiXMyxGkHSsx011O181I6iOvRWzUoQnXTDmVkiPUbU-gZgFcU2yhhFE2nP2kNivJegwXN2x4PmONu3qr_1ZIVIZX6HOFsWiiiCWU-Zpap6CgiYZGt2/s640/IMGP3013.JPG" width="418" /></a></div>
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I glued everything back together with wood glue</div>
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and then I varnished it. Given how much darker it made the wood, I'm very glad I went for the clear varnish rather than a stain. Also, while the photos don't show it as well as real life, the varnish really does make the wood look beautiful. It's the first project in a while that I've thought looked beautiful, and that's a pretty fantastic feeling. It's also the first time in a long time I've responded to "That looks well!" with "It does, doesn't it?" instead of, "Oh. Thanks!"</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDh_d2JT2Jv_tf-pLTbNP0qU7gLL1pWgBWnOxcUCtVxdvF-IIYSUA6X5ybm-HgQ652EFGYKREbuSSasqQ3fYS_YVnP5-6TcH9pDlRzqsMknE3mmtOHxAPMZ0zek2oxwCHQbRaw-w6Sz4tv/s1600/IMGP3019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDh_d2JT2Jv_tf-pLTbNP0qU7gLL1pWgBWnOxcUCtVxdvF-IIYSUA6X5ybm-HgQ652EFGYKREbuSSasqQ3fYS_YVnP5-6TcH9pDlRzqsMknE3mmtOHxAPMZ0zek2oxwCHQbRaw-w6Sz4tv/s640/IMGP3019.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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And then I got a paint marker and wrote lines I likes from books and lines from books I like all over the top and sides. (This idea was shamelessly stolen from <a href="http://cornflowerbluestudio.blogspot.ie/2012/10/diy-poetry-graffiti-project.html" target="_blank">Cornflower Blue Studios</a>). I have tiny little hand-writing so I had to keep going back for more quotes. My writing isn't actually as round and childish as it looks on this, I was just trying to make spaces in the middle of letters more obvious.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikLzIVLiGYDKBvgWJXUgKnQey58XYATgf8l5L5vy-BrXkB_i7tu2ClRLfql_hec11ylEU3WVPvB6qaVFT6SC_2yGgEIOpXm3TtzjWTGg69rJDuvxC930BOW0oX14LUQ7JGWi84uP3D2WbI/s1600/IMGP3020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikLzIVLiGYDKBvgWJXUgKnQey58XYATgf8l5L5vy-BrXkB_i7tu2ClRLfql_hec11ylEU3WVPvB6qaVFT6SC_2yGgEIOpXm3TtzjWTGg69rJDuvxC930BOW0oX14LUQ7JGWi84uP3D2WbI/s640/IMGP3020.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizl09Vcu-Rwop-SaI4v_Ge3vJd5DndAAXp098ibdUQHadFsRPhQj8wwMECNFkXN7E_RdSDa7PTZcLW6jXgW3yWm9vJrSK9PSfmHjcPekefmnS-4m0ixhR29p_sRTRCmavj2yfdPHu6p4PN/s1600/IMGP3023.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizl09Vcu-Rwop-SaI4v_Ge3vJd5DndAAXp098ibdUQHadFsRPhQj8wwMECNFkXN7E_RdSDa7PTZcLW6jXgW3yWm9vJrSK9PSfmHjcPekefmnS-4m0ixhR29p_sRTRCmavj2yfdPHu6p4PN/s640/IMGP3023.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYlBCTm50OsWmEmcvrPkaB8aev7wgrDiSThqZTcI6hHtI7RCGn1nhRJqvDNVr3CzMKoeCanZWpQc0PY_uL-6plSUpA0JW-PGqpHxs-Hz-A7rDSVnKDD7cuFnWh7HdP1-kq9kk7RxkJUF9R/s1600/IMGP3024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYlBCTm50OsWmEmcvrPkaB8aev7wgrDiSThqZTcI6hHtI7RCGn1nhRJqvDNVr3CzMKoeCanZWpQc0PY_uL-6plSUpA0JW-PGqpHxs-Hz-A7rDSVnKDD7cuFnWh7HdP1-kq9kk7RxkJUF9R/s640/IMGP3024.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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The writing on the lower mini-shelf says "Ben the dog went down the hill." That was the first sentence in my first primary school reader. I'm secretly sentimental, and couldn't find anything else short enough to fit.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbhXrrMmD2KtDh18zurd3VG1gwK9-n3hIq1UmCmqiVgsixTuAe2Hxlc1FqS_95LoFFgVqIM7iIzEcLLFRK1U6BQMIxq1lqxKEhj0KrzvMHHKh7vXUyf0gt1aak945OLHCBGBl-KT6IQpfP/s1600/IMGP3026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbhXrrMmD2KtDh18zurd3VG1gwK9-n3hIq1UmCmqiVgsixTuAe2Hxlc1FqS_95LoFFgVqIM7iIzEcLLFRK1U6BQMIxq1lqxKEhj0KrzvMHHKh7vXUyf0gt1aak945OLHCBGBl-KT6IQpfP/s640/IMGP3026.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGcSqDlDt-fPEZeecwPdhDuwQcNwUjavl3M3-3ouARA9Z4PLTMi4oRxg8h6Eq61QtCoLORnzSBW8qUhPPlKndqdC5FrLhZN4p6IQ1NSiqivsoRrUtPxu_7BSiBSSvxJ2x-kbLSwKGP_tCR/s1600/IMGP3027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGcSqDlDt-fPEZeecwPdhDuwQcNwUjavl3M3-3ouARA9Z4PLTMi4oRxg8h6Eq61QtCoLORnzSBW8qUhPPlKndqdC5FrLhZN4p6IQ1NSiqivsoRrUtPxu_7BSiBSSvxJ2x-kbLSwKGP_tCR/s640/IMGP3027.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjInUMypjCMsMBSH3DoquKEGHtpGM4ALFpAy7eXgpihPS7eCMvyOfjefQ4fs_32HsGqa4vUPu6GVMUrohT75teq29b99bveqfsEUYh2Cd0tgkK2rglgNpyDtIxeidw9lWGcja88h1N0vXDt/s1600/IMGP3029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjInUMypjCMsMBSH3DoquKEGHtpGM4ALFpAy7eXgpihPS7eCMvyOfjefQ4fs_32HsGqa4vUPu6GVMUrohT75teq29b99bveqfsEUYh2Cd0tgkK2rglgNpyDtIxeidw9lWGcja88h1N0vXDt/s640/IMGP3029.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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I decided to put a layer of varnish over the writing to protect it, and it caused the paint to smear. It was very distressing. I've written over it, but it's not the neatest, which is disappointing.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV5OrdzFU6jPg9ZOgK17-gCJ4zYBBTYuNtFGEhhBUUVzkairglDgsBJJg1IzR6b8IHBXY_RuYtzlZxQ1TueYxO2yKHAxZ-EiBy15RFIx8zOs9kL72wdfZ_et_ylOEHBhEZgiKhESttttP8/s1600/IMGP3032.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV5OrdzFU6jPg9ZOgK17-gCJ4zYBBTYuNtFGEhhBUUVzkairglDgsBJJg1IzR6b8IHBXY_RuYtzlZxQ1TueYxO2yKHAxZ-EiBy15RFIx8zOs9kL72wdfZ_et_ylOEHBhEZgiKhESttttP8/s640/IMGP3032.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Here it is in my room! I haven't decided what books go on it yet. It's a weighty decision.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3zdiSdaaIHNrXaUWLc4-55Lew-_z6zFF3YM9BuoxmAhSg2ACUvswSPU24Umo9x5HM8hCbMJfwv1B81dI4xENdrOvUWtgLo110LddPaGFCT6Xx9JJhCjhZFG_CnJLL92YB3JUQ0m6cDg0O/s1600/IMGP3034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3zdiSdaaIHNrXaUWLc4-55Lew-_z6zFF3YM9BuoxmAhSg2ACUvswSPU24Umo9x5HM8hCbMJfwv1B81dI4xENdrOvUWtgLo110LddPaGFCT6Xx9JJhCjhZFG_CnJLL92YB3JUQ0m6cDg0O/s640/IMGP3034.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZz4h46pFUJtecW4F4ypH0hHwn1bIzmkTgJEIqdoT9UILavFMRESnc0Oge9WOkAxfnntgLZG3YzrVPkcvmLJjLCbGw_M1cPn__RjLf7ECaRPGzitgh6LLwS2WhdFMyRpmfI_tKTlXCXkXH/s1600/IMGP3030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZz4h46pFUJtecW4F4ypH0hHwn1bIzmkTgJEIqdoT9UILavFMRESnc0Oge9WOkAxfnntgLZG3YzrVPkcvmLJjLCbGw_M1cPn__RjLf7ECaRPGzitgh6LLwS2WhdFMyRpmfI_tKTlXCXkXH/s640/IMGP3030.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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And here is my to-read bookshelf! Some of them are books I saved from being thrown out because I hadn't read them yet, so I don't feel guilt over not having gotten to those yet.</div>
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Forkishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01790182121481532330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1379357700615469877.post-86168081277224460472013-05-31T13:01:00.002+01:002013-07-28T21:59:45.610+01:00FO Friday: Custom gloves<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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A friend of mine doesn't have full fingers on her right hand, so she asked me to make a set of gloves with one fingerless glove and one shortened mitten.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnOsEQoDxdvw8bOk9bXMHOn5zw8KA_32c3I5M4aAxlbYZ1mFnJDDNRbZZjn3AMvuAk0_MOgF9PmCVaq7jxAIcy-nTXCU5VRsbD6tIuxJyDXpiOVcnPfqBssqOUSybChhmjWGiD8BPtOqcf/s1600/IMGP3008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnOsEQoDxdvw8bOk9bXMHOn5zw8KA_32c3I5M4aAxlbYZ1mFnJDDNRbZZjn3AMvuAk0_MOgF9PmCVaq7jxAIcy-nTXCU5VRsbD6tIuxJyDXpiOVcnPfqBssqOUSybChhmjWGiD8BPtOqcf/s400/IMGP3008.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbiAvk6mePnr1ouI3iE59AqwsiIbSjvkSE4KTUg_ihchfjHcnrgWYbTMtoUY-k1HNJxnQtM5Zu3XJ865UDJbvyiXAwI_8J7ApYVm5t1AG_lra61nohAnW1NAAqkKcKxOebAh5WV5sibeID/s1600/IMGP3009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbiAvk6mePnr1ouI3iE59AqwsiIbSjvkSE4KTUg_ihchfjHcnrgWYbTMtoUY-k1HNJxnQtM5Zu3XJ865UDJbvyiXAwI_8J7ApYVm5t1AG_lra61nohAnW1NAAqkKcKxOebAh5WV5sibeID/s400/IMGP3009.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I used Rico Essentials Soft Merino Aran on 2.75 needles, so while the fabric is very cosy, it doesn't have a great deal of give. I'll err on the side of bigger needles or finer yarn in future.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc8MT5A7ymjLJpVDNJz6rbrifLdcxI-Ia4RqqLXjnhi_rVgnTOcQ1Re5voN0S0IuwgHEa3FdqC9BhfT_UKEcRf61CQtU_NP7FGNa1oSkyL6mGPaprkSlYR8z6hT24ScEs-DO5asiV8Te0G/s1600/IMGP3004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc8MT5A7ymjLJpVDNJz6rbrifLdcxI-Ia4RqqLXjnhi_rVgnTOcQ1Re5voN0S0IuwgHEa3FdqC9BhfT_UKEcRf61CQtU_NP7FGNa1oSkyL6mGPaprkSlYR8z6hT24ScEs-DO5asiV8Te0G/s320/IMGP3004.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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I borrowed the cable pattern from <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/spruce-tree-mittens" target="_blank">Spruce Tree Mittens</a>, and I think it looks quite well. I wanted something which would suit both the gloves and the mitten, which effectively limited my choices to simple cable designs.</div>
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It's always a little disappointing to finish a project in what feels like the wrong season - we've had whole days of Summer in the last week - but when I started them less than a fortnight ago it was still scarf weather, and probably will be again within the week. I finished reading The Witches of Eastwick yesterday (I realised too far in that I wasn't really enjoying it, and then had to finish it), and there's an exchange where two characters are trying to work out whether another character's paleness means she's sick. One of them says something like, "But it's May, everyone should have a little colour by now," and ahahaha, hahaha, hahahahaha. Aha. Heh. Imagine living in a place where you know day-to-day whether you will need Summer or Winter clothes. Fiction certainly transports one to fantastic realms.</div>
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Forkishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01790182121481532330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1379357700615469877.post-8938318292818634082013-05-20T11:37:00.001+01:002013-05-20T11:49:55.495+01:00The Yarn That Would Not Become a Jumper: Volume IV<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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This is a gripe about a specific project, and probably not interesting to people who aren't me.</div>
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Third time around, I finally turned <a href="http://apologyforanidler.blogspot.ie/2013/05/in-progress.html" target="_blank">this yarn</a> into a jumper. I had to buy an extra ball of yarn to finish the sleeve, and didn't have enough to do hemming around the neck, but it was finished.</div>
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But.</div>
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I like jumpers to be slightly oversized, but my efforts at sizing my own clothes that way always come out larger than intended. It's possible I should enlist someone else's help in measuring myself, or at least look in the mirror to see that I'm holding the tape measure in a straight line.</div>
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I finished the jumper, and while the body is comfy, the sleeves were too baggy. For aesthetics they were only a bit too big, and I would have left it but for the fact that I wouldn't be able to wear trailing sleeves in a lab, and given the time that I've put into it, it seems silly to only be able to wear it on weekends. And it's a raglan-sleeve jumper (which is lovely and straightforward! Who knew?), which meant undoing the sleeves meant going right back to the start.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvGXOzlvtAMJvrvkXdSqZ2jBs_q3ZoKdxhGvVgdoPPjEhIz9izYIpPa0xKACEWyelcBrX5TLWXdiXxBbRAB6ApOyCHEd-nv4GFhtFuf9M-L0LBIYZfY01HqO4I3oAROl58JtLFPRdmEIId/s1600/IMGP2990.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvGXOzlvtAMJvrvkXdSqZ2jBs_q3ZoKdxhGvVgdoPPjEhIz9izYIpPa0xKACEWyelcBrX5TLWXdiXxBbRAB6ApOyCHEd-nv4GFhtFuf9M-L0LBIYZfY01HqO4I3oAROl58JtLFPRdmEIId/s640/IMGP2990.JPG" width="329" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What is up with my fingers? The gods themselves, they do not know.</td></tr>
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So my evening of rewatching Sherlock while finishing the jumper as it rained outside did not go to plan. I ended up with a bag of yarn, <i>again</i>, instead of a jumper, <i>and</i> my heart hurt because John thinks that Sherlock is dead, <i>and</i> it was raining. Apparently I'm a masochist, but I was also raised Catholic, so in practise I just do conventionally unpleasant things, and the resulting joy and shame cancel each other out and I feel neutral about the whole thing.</div>
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On the positive side, for a generous definition of 'positive', I'm going to Sunshine House in a few weeks, so I can bring that down as my night-time project.</div>
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Forkishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01790182121481532330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1379357700615469877.post-46175936633025773952013-05-15T01:25:00.000+01:002013-07-05T19:25:20.164+01:00Dublin's fair city<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
He wasn't even trying to be funny:<br />
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"I really like Dublin. It's not a Paradise, but it makes you not mind that you're going to die."<br />
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From one of the visiting American playwrights at the Dublin Gay Theatre Festival. (He actually said it this morning and was pushed to recount it by their techie. I feel it still counts.)</div>
Forkishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01790182121481532330noreply@blogger.com1