And So, the End Begins

On the needles: Orange moss stitch scarf, baby hat.
In production: Custom order scarf

OK, so blog didn't slow down quite as much as I thought (actually, this will be a pleasant break from having to think critically about three different courses AND "Beauty and the Beast"). Although I should technically be reading right now, especially since I still have class reading AND 10 pages to write by Thursday (which includes more reading). I won't go into the nitty gritty, but I feel like it's an accomplishment that I cooked dinners last week.

It's cold and rainy here today, which is sad, but OK. I need to concentrate on my readings. And knitting. I need to finish this moss stitch scarf so that I can make a delivery of all three at the same time...And get to visit my coworkers! I'm hoping that I can get it finished this week, because I can deliver it next Monday, or at least next week at some point. (My goal is before Thanksgiving.) After that, I can start on the custom order scarf (which I do need to tweak a bit...I'm having more difficulties than I thought I would). After that, watch out, because there'll be mittens and scarves and new stuff up on Etsy!

I might even be trying to cable in the scarf! And I am working on learning to crochet. I've kind of got it, but then I lost it. But I will persevere, even if all I end up with is dishcloths (for now)!

I found an awesome yarn review site here: http://www.knitpurlgurl.com/ As in, I just found it this morning. It seems like it'll be fun; I'll add the link to the "Online Yarns" as well.

Also, finally looked at this awesome shop in Calgary called "Blame Betty". At least, I looked at their website. I saw them as we were driving through 17th the other day, and I keep hearing about them. Seeing their style, I know where I'm shopping for a grad dress! http://www.blamebetty.ca/

Wednesday I have to stand up in front of my honours class and give a five minute blurb about what I'm actually researching, which is nervewracking. However, I can use it to start the 10 pages that I need for Thursday! I have a general idea of what I'm saying, although it doesn't include anything about the main texts in particular. But I do have quite a bit to say, and I'll ramble on to some measure about the whole thing about there not being much (if any) research in Gothic in fairy tales (beyond the passing mention of "Bluebeard", it seems), and how there is only one book currently about it even in Children's Literature.

It's interesting going back to class, because I am entering my fifth year, and I have been working on this project over the summer. A lot of these people that are in the classes are still so young, it kind of amazes me. Or just don't seem connected to things. I was waiting to speak to my supervisor after our Children's Literature class the other day, and one of the women (she was over 30) had thought that the Disney version of the fairy tales were American. I would say that that's fair, but for the fact that you can see it in their films. Yes, Disney, for a lot of people, is a mega corporation that's destroyed fairy tales. However, (first off, I'm a huge Disney fan, but I can see both sides of the argument), Disney has taken them and made them relevant to a lot of our social concerns today, just as the Grimm Brothers or Perrault did. And Disney clearly states (if you watch in "Cinderella") that this version is based off of Perrault's work.

The thing that seems to happen with a lot of people that bash Disney is that they aren't going outside the box and thinking about it critically. And you don't need to be a post-secondary student to think about it critically. Don't take things passively; even before I entered university, I was exploring the Grimms' fairy tales. And I knew that "The Little Mermaid" was actually Danish (Hans Christian Andersen), which is kind of hard to ignore when you know that her statue is in Copenhagen. Anyway. No, fairy tales aren't only American. There are variants of most of these tales from around the world. I have to say that I enjoy what Disney has done with the visuals for most of these films, and I much prefer their ending of "The Little Mermaid". But I'm also not taking these passively, and I'm seeking out other ways that these tales are told (obviously). However, I've also worked with Disney's version of "Beauty and the Beast" to argue that the Beast is, in fact, reverse objectified, becoming the focus of our ideas of masculine perfection, even more so than Belle being objectified. This is especially apparent which most of the audience also agrees that the Beast is actually better as the Beast than as the Prince. Disney works in getting these tales introduced to a mass audience, which is not necessarily a bad thing, and at least you can take them critically from there.

My argument for this paper is quite different, but I won't get into details here. Although part of it does have to do with Penny Arcade's argument in this webcomic: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2011/02/28

P.S. Even look at their costumes. It tells you a lot.

/End my side of the debate. For today.

So, on that note, my boyfriend and I also went to check out the "Cut!" exhibit at the Glenbow Museum, which was awesome! And my boyfriend hadn't been to the museum, so we went through most of the other exhibits, too, which was awesome. I still love going to see the geological display (especially all the sparklies).

And Saturday, I went with a friend to shop for her wedding dress, and she found one in the first shop. She looks absolutely amazing in it! I can't wait to see her wedding next year.

I got my card turned over to an "Honours" card so that I can take books about for 4 months (a term) at a time. So I only need to return one book by the 21, and the rest are with me until January! I had asked about this before the summer started, but got a really snarky reply, but then! I found out about last week, which made me happy. So much easier than having to run books back and forth.

Also, one novel down for school: Transmission by Hari Kunzru, which was actually quite good. I think that the discussion about it will be interesting. Hopefully. It's a split level class between senior level undergraduate students and graduate students, so it's interesting to see how it works. It's funny, because one of the girls that I started university with is in the class as well, but as a graduate student, so it's interesting to see how we're actually still at the same level in regards to classes.

OK. I need to go read and actually write my critical works. Having to do how I'm actually meshing together critical theories from Children's literature, fairy tales, and the Gothic, seeing as how there isn't any other literature doing it for me! (Which makes it easier and more difficult at the same time.)

Hope all is well! And one plug for the Etsy shop: I am accepting custom orders. Feel free to message me via the various means of Twitter, Facebook, Etsy conversation, or on here in the comments, and I'll get back to you! I may not be posting as often, but I do spend a few minutes to check everything each day.

Take care!

Katie =^..^=

Knitting, Knitting, Knitting! (And, actually, Honours!)

On the needles: Moss stitch orange scarf
To Cast on: double knit scarf

So that's the moss stitch scarf. I'm really happy with how it's turning out, and I hope that the lady I'm making it for likes it, too! I decided to do moss stitch so that it didn't cult like stockinette stitch scarves do. And it's a really nice yarn, so I wanted to show it off more than I wanted something really fancy. However, this stitch is VERY time consuming. The only reason I have as much done here as I do is because I watched "Gone With the Wind" last night. haha I knew that production would slow down around school. Although the biggest reason I didn't get as much work done as I should have last week was because I got a pretty bad something or another, and had a fluctuating fever for three days. It's better now, but I'm still recovering. I hate being sick, especially with how warm it was in Calgary last week. But at least it was before classes start.

Speaking of which, I start on Tuesday, and I'm nervously excited about it all. I'm working on my honours' reading right now; I have to have 10 pages, and a revised proposal, written by the 30th! I already have ideas brewing in my head as to what I'm going to say, but I probably should be worrying that I haven't actually read my primary texts yet, just the sources I selected surrounding them. Oh well...It's not like there's any specific sources that say, "Yes, there are Gothic tendencies in young adult fairy tales"; the only thing that comes close to saying this is The Gothic in Children's Literature, which only came out in 2007: 

http://books.google.com/books/about/The_gothic_in_children_s_literature.html?id=8dkdAQAAIAAJ

And I'm almost willing to bet that the biggest push for this was Harry Potter. Seems like there's a lot going on in this book about Harry Potter. Which is fine by me. I may eventually even go there myself. 

In some ways, not having previous scholarship on the subject makes it easier (I don't have to worry that I sound like I'm copying someone), but it also makes it difficult because you can't say "xyz said in ABC that "Beauty and the Beast" contains Gothic tendencies, and that is what I'm building from". Oh well. It also made me scratch my head for awhile, trying to figure out the best approach for my research. Am I focussing more on the fairy tale, or the Gothic constructs? My supervisor was awesome with helping me with my proposal, so I'm focusing on the Gothic, with some fairy tale research to fill in the gaps. 

And lots of reading will occur! Yay for senior level courses, and my honours seminar in which 40 pages is due by April. 

But I'm excited. 

And it'll also be the MA applications this year.

But I'm excited.

(Really, I am.)

Other than that, just getting over this ridiculous sickness, and then life will be good.

Even with all the reading! :) 

By the way, also in the process right now is a chunky yarn baby hat, which I'm really enjoying knitting, because it's super soft and squishy! I can't wait to get it a little bit more finished, and then I'll post pictures. Once I finish this scarf. 

Oooh, and this morning, one of my barettes was put into a curated list by another Etsian! Here's the link:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/NjM3NDM2NHw3MDM1NTU1MjI/you-can-smell-it-in-the-air-fall-is-near?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=PageTools&utm_campaign=Share 

So happy!

Also, finished reading The Help, which I found really interesting. However, it felt like one of those books that I kept having to tuck away; like it's not something that I could read out in public. Which is kind of ridiculous, but interesting. However, this led to me watching "Gone with the Wind" (Which definitely made me uncomfortable at points), and now I'm reading Gone with the Wind in my "spare" (i.e. not school) reading time. We'll see how this goes. It'll probably take me until April to finish it! 

Take care, everyone. For everyone going back to school (or already finished their first week), good luck!

Katie =^..^=

P.S. I remember September 11, 2001. 

Crafting Space

On the Needles: Orange scarf, double knit scarf, and black "boa" scarf.

Other crafting in progress: more hair accessories! (Clips and bobby pins)

So, yes, above is what I'm working on now. Yes, I have three different knitting items on the go. But that's so I don't get bored! The orange scarf and the "boa" scarf won't take too long...But the double knit (dk) scarf will take a bit, because I haven't double knit before...And I have to figure out how to put letters into it, too! haha

The bobby pins and clips are some of those filler items, but they're fast and fun, which is what I like about them! And speaking of fun and fast, I was actually able to start and complete something today! It's a choker, which I just posted here:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/80955946/oriental-victorian-steampunk-choker-red

But here's a teaser picture:

And that is a TAZO tea box lid I'm using as a background. Isn't it awesome? I got it from one of my coworkers yesterday. 

I also updated all the shipping costs and added international destinations!

And, to give you a peek into the whole process, here's a few pictures of my workspace this afternoon:

I was working in the living room today, on the coffee table, because it stays the comfiest the longest. By the way, that's an empty Kirin Milk Tea bottle (yay TNT Supermarket and their selection of Japanese drinks!). Ummm...And the circular pen case is from the Ghibli museum in Tokyo; it has a 2010 Minnie Mouse/Year of the Tiger cell phone charm on it from Tokyo Disneyland! hehe

This is my yarn basket; there's the orange scarf in it's original form. I found these plastic yarn socks yesterday, which I think will be really useful, since it should help keep my yarn from getting tangled! 

And the other set of craft supplies; those flowers are what I'm going to work with for the hair accessories. And there's the black boa. The dark and light blue yarn are going to be used in another project that I'm developing. 

So, now that you've seen the mess that I work in, you can see how my creative process works a bit better. And this is actually pretty organized; it won't be like this for every long, unfortunately...haha

Besides that, I almost came home with a kitten today. Almost. It was really hard to resist the temptation. But I know that I have to wait until at least one more year. I want to be around more when my boyfriend and I get a kitten...And really we can't afford one right now. Soon, though. Ume (the beta fish) will be good for now!

And not much else. I'm finished work at the gas plant for the summer, and I have this weekend off, which will be nice, and then it's back to the university bookstore next week. But I see that I'm only work half days, so that means I can come home and craft more...And read more for my honours project. I have a 10 page paper due by the end of September already! But I'm excited. I've already started writing the paper in my head, so it will translate to paper well.

Until next time!

Katie =^..^=

Inspiration!

On the Needles: A super fuzzy pink scarf! Almost finished.
Soon to be on the needles: a double knit, custom order, scarf!

So, yes. Another post. So soon, you ask? Yes. But like I said in the previous post, I probably won't have as much time in the school year, so I may as well write as much as I can right now. And besides, inspiration has struck and I want to share!

First, though, the mittens are up on Etsy:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/80685241/handknitted-childrens-mittens-purple-and

So exciting! These mittens are ridiculously cute! Though if you're looking for something different, please feel free to ask; if you've checked out my profile page, you can see that people have still be requesting custom orders.

Something else to check out (to help promote the other yarn crafters on Etsy) are my two treasuries, featuring a "Stay Warm" theme of knitted items and crocheted items:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MTQ2NjM0MTJ8NjQyODA4MDcz/stay-warm-this-autumn-crochet-edition?ref=pr_treasury

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MTQ2NjM0MTJ8NjQyOTc4NDky/stay-warm-this-autumn-knit-edition?ref=pr_treasury

And now, the inspiration. I was driving home from work last night, and I saw a whole row of fence posts covered by black birds, with little birds inbetween. And suddenly, inspiration struck! It would make an amazingly cute hat, and it would also be awesome as a scarf, blanket, and other things that are starting to work themselves out in my head. And then I realized how I can do it, and so now I really want to be home again to be creative and write all of this down.

But these won't be started until after I start the scarf mentioned above; it's going to be double knit to a certain name (fingers crossed that I can actually figured out how to get the letters to stay unmirrored). I'm excited about this, because it'll be the first time that I'll have used double knitting!

In other news, my Facebook page got over 25 "likes" so I now have an official username. And, and! I started a Twitter account. You can find me by clicking the "Follow" link over on the right hand side!

Once I have a few more followers and am more established, there will be certain perks to liking or following the blog/Twitter/Facebook.

Tonight, I get to go home and bake and craft and talk to some friends, which sounds like a really good evening to me! And tomorrow's my last day of work, which is sad, but I'm so excited about this upcoming school year! It all kind of balances out.

So, short post, but that's OK. Short, fast, furious, and then you'll have a break in the school year!

Have fun!

Katie =^..^=

These Posts are Coming Fast and Furious

On the Needles: Log Cabin Toddler Blanket

Well, posts are certainly coming faster, but that's OK. There will be gaps when I get back in the school year.

Anyway. The kid's mittens went live on the shop today! These are just the ones designed for the four-year-old;  I'll be working on taking pictures of the other pair and posting them soon (the two year old's). But you can check out the four year old's now!

I actually entered these mittens into a contest held in Cochrane; the Bearspaw fair. They came out with the results that they have very even knitting! Which I really like.  These were amazingly fun to knit, and I'm happy to be able to share them with you all.

This has been a busy weekend; my boyfriend and I went out to Lake Louise and Moraine Lake! Moraine is soooooo beautiful. And Mike, my travelling sheep, came along:

Yep, Valley of the Ten Peaks. Absolutely spectacular; if you ever make it to this area, Moraine Lake is even better than Lake Louise...And fewer people! 

Plus, these were research photos; I'm looking into somehow involving mountains into my hats. Fingers crossed that it works out!

And with that, I'll head out again. More next time!

Katie

Four Months Until Christmas~!

On the Needles: Newborn Hat

That's right folks! Four months until Christmas, which is unbelievable.

I'm really excited about this Christmas, since my boyfriend and I will be able to decorate the apartment, and have a tree!

With those thoughts in mind, I also turn towards what I'm going to make or buy for gifts. Last year, I made a Queen-sized blanket for my boyfriend and a pair of mittens for his sister (who I drew for a name in the present exchange).

However, with my new perspective on Etsy, I think that a few of my gifts may well be purchased off of there, too. What could be better than being able to shop handmade goods online? And I may not have made it, but somebody somewhere has. A lot better than having to fight crowds at the mall, and most of the items on Etsy are unique and one of a kind in some way. Hey, including mine!

Anyway, even if you don't celebrate Christmas, the other holidays are around then, and they are all fast approaching! It's unbelievable that there is really only four months and few days left in 2011, even.

So those are my ruminations for today.

By the way, there will be a couple new postings, hopefully by the end of this weekend, for mittens! Ridiculously cute little kid mittens at that! Keep your eyes peeled.

Katie =^..^=

Teasers: Beaded and Floral Bobby Pins!

On the needles: one more mitten for a two year old

Yep! Something to fill in the gaps between knitting, here's some teasers for what's going to be posted of Etsy between knitted pieces!

Single floral bobby pins

 Shooting star styled beaded bobby pins

And floral/beaded bobby pins!

All are standard sizes, and will be posted by tomorrow evening at latest! 

And yes, these are to fill in the gaps between knitted items. Knitting takes a lot longer than beading like this (for me), and before everyone's in an uproar about how I could be spending that time knitting, let me say this: these are relaxing. They are easy and give my hands a break from moving the same way that they have been for most of the day. And they're fun! They also give me a creativity break, and I can crack out the hot glue gun. ^^ 

With that said, I'm currently working on the mitten for a 2 year old. I thought I was finished, and had started on something else, when I realized that the two mittens for him didn't match! So it's almost done (again), and then I have a commission for baby booties (one of which is finished) and a hat to go along with them. I love knitting baby things (especially blankets) because I love the yarn so much! I should just start using baby yarn in all of my creations! haha

After that, I need to start on a blanket for a friend's wedding, but I also have a baby blanket in the works. Pictures of the WIP will be forthcoming. This will be an Etsy project, so both of those blankets will be going at the same time. Also coming soon are hemp bracelets! Oooh, and I found bamboo cord, which seems really cool, so I'm going to give that a shot when making bracelets. 

Anyway, I hope everyone has fun! 

Katie