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kupo!

2008-11-30 11:17:47

Like many others before me, I am a sucker for moogles, those mind-bendingly cute characters from the Final Fantasy series. I’ve been asking Santa to get me one for years, but alas, I am yet to wake up on Christmas morn to find one bouncing around the house. So, to fill the void, I had to settle for making one.

I did a lot of research, and ended up splicing parts together from various patterns (most notably, this one), and adjusting as I went along. The actual crochet part was a breeze, and especially rewarding when I finished the boring cream colour.

However, it was the assembly part which turned out to be much more laborious than I had anticipated. I’d estimate total assembly time at about 4 hours, over a few nights (including time for head-scratching and getting another glass of wine). This is mainly because I am such a greenhorn, but also because I didn’t want it to be crap, or to disfigure myself with the hot glue gun in my haste. So he’s not perfect, but I feel he is good enough to prevent me from dramatically throwing myself from a window (admittedly, this would only be about a 2 metre fall, but the sentiment is there).

Ziggy the Moogle

b. 15.11.08

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long live the crafternoon

2008-11-22 11:37:01

Recent months have brought a welcome diversion. The crafternoon has always been with us, lying dormant, until we forget about the more important things we think we should be doing. The crafternoon is the coming together of friends in the post meridiem daylight hours, to participate in many kinds of art, craft or creative pursuit. The crafternoon has had many revivals over the years, passing down through an enthusiastic stream of like-minded friends, families and flatmates.

It has recently enjoyed a resurgence in my life. It began with a common need between Melissa and I to get back to our crafting roots. Melissa was dreaming of quilting, and I was coveting amigurumi. I already knew how to crochet, and Melissa knew how to sew, so we could skip the boring part and get straight into it. Thus began what may go down in history as our most prolific and enriching crafternoon period yet.

You probably already know what amigurumi is. If not, in short, it is the Japanese craft of making knitted or crocheted toys. To me, amigurumi means taking an animal, character, inanimate object, or something you just made up, and translating it in crochet to look super cute. Already super cute? Make it ridiculously cute! It’s simple, really.

So allow me to take time out from creating more amigurumi, thinking about amigurumi, and generally being consumed by amigurumi, to post about my first amigurumi. His purpose was to teach, and he succeeded. Now I can look at him and see all my mistakes, and things I could have improved. He is a great source of pride to me, being not only my first amigurumi, but the first project of any kind I have actually finished in ages (unfinished projects are a hobby in themselves). So, in all his flawed glory, I present to you, King Dingus!

King Dingus
b. 25.10.08

The crafternoons are continuing, and more people are being infected. More projects will follow here, at a delay anyway, since many cannot be unveiled until after Xmas, and also, I’m lazy. I hope to get some pictures of Melissa’s quilt for the record too, and maybe the projects of the other infected crafters.

A tremendous boon from our crafternoons is that I also get to spend time with my delightful neice. So if you will excuse me, I need to go and get ready - I don’t think I need to spell out where I am going this afternoon…

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binge thinker

2008-08-10 16:06:45

Among the infinite distractions of late, including trying to get this to work, an ongoing writing crisis, plus other miscellaneous mini-crises, there are very few tributes to pay, or things worth mentioning:

+ Several weeks ago now, a headline on the front of a magazine aimed at the vapid teenage girl, asked: ‘Are you a binge thinker?’.

+ A young badass fellow at the train station, wearing a skeleton hoodie, complete with matching gloves, enjoying a pink creaming soda.

+ The recent addition to the rotation of buskers in the subway, who adjusts his small repertoire to suit his surroundings, for example, when in the dim, dank tunnel under the street, keeps it low key and depressing, yet when in the square, steps it up a bit with of ‘Calendar Girl’, and such. A sticking point is that he doesn’t know the lyrics to ‘Living Doll’. How can he call himself a busker? It’s not going to last.

+ An old lady wearing a G-Unit t-shirt.

+ Links can also make it look like I have written more:

Those golden rays, or, ravioli of the sea. I know, this was ages ago now.

At last, Alice in Wonderland in Ascii form! I know it’s awesome, but why?

A keyboard so pretty and frivolous it makes my hair curl

The Dandy Warhols are coming to Brisbane on November 5. Ticket price is steep, but I get morose at the thought of missing it.

I got my hands on this little beauty, by the inimitable Joe Ledbetter, and have also put my hand up for the sketchbook. While these two things bring me great joy, they also serve to help me try to forget this.

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no jersey required

2008-07-31 21:57:07

We have recently hatched a new scheme to start cycling, or in my case, trying to stay on a bike for over a minute. This scheme was borne of a combination of health, fitness and social needs, plus a dose of boredom. Leon is already a seasoned rider with a fancy mountain bike and Nick just a bought a flash new ride, and is already getting back to his old ways behind the handlebars. I, on the other hand, was never a confident rider as a youngster, have ridden rarely since then, but keen to give it a bash again, for a laugh, if nothing else.

Not willing to shell out for something which would potentially end up a product of yet another neglected cockamamie plan, I got my hands on an old bike in the family, which now that I think about it, dates back to the late 90s. It was in a most ghetto condition (despite advice that “she’ll be right”, though a quick inspection showed that the brakes didn’t even work, let alone much else), so we took it to the local bikery to get a service.

The potential futility of this idea became evident, as we struggled to disassemble the rusted parts to get the bike in the car, our reservations growing upon arrival, as the airless tyres squelched noisily across the carpark. The salesman (well, salesboy) diplomatically kept his laughter to a minimum, but it was clear that it was going to be no small feat to get it even barely rideable. It was going to cost a considerable amount more than just a normal service, but still, compared to the cost of a new bike, I decided it was preferable for my needs. That was a week ago, and I haven’t heard anything since.

Anyway, my point is (yes, I do have one), last night, Phil Collins visited me in a dream, and told me that it was going to cost $540 to fix my bike, which is several times the amount I expected to pay. I was shocked, and explained to him that I could just go and buy a new bike for less than that. He just shrugged and took a drag from his cigarette “You could do that, I suppose”. Then he pushed up his sleeves, slung his sports jacket over his shoulder and walked off.

Thanks, Phil.

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have you seen this boy?

2008-07-24 15:37:42

christian bale as john connor

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