Fairysari Makes

Good bye piggies

2009-01-21T12:00:00.002-05:00

Home sick from work today. Eye infection, a cold, and something thats making me puke. Lovely combination. Anyway, thought I'd take the opportunity to mention that I've lost two of my guinea pigs since the last time I posted. Tanuki passed in December, and Costanza just a week and a half ago. So I just have the two furry girls now, Maci and Chrysanthemum. The whole situation has made me not bvery eager to work on piggie beds for the Etsy shop. So whats there is there, and I have no idea if I'll be adding anything.

I have still been knitting of course. I've finished the back of an intarsia vest that I bought the yarn for probably three years ago. It was my first giant yarn purchase, when I went to Jo-Anns in Niagara Falls (the American side of course. We don't have Jo-anns here. I was extremely excited). Anyway, so I'd bought piles of Lion Brand Wool-Ease just like the pattern called for (also the same time I bought the wool-ease for Craig's poncho, which I actually knit right away when I got the yarn). Meh, not my favourite yarn, but its alright. At least its not totally acrylic. And it's on Ravelry if you'd like to have a look. The head throbbing eye blurring is getting a little worse now so I'm not going to try to link it. Just going to go lie down and drink some tea.

Etsy store is live!

2008-12-05T11:07:00.003-05:00

Check it out!

There's six beds in the first update. Next update is coming next week. I just got a new shipment of fabric, so I just need a little time to turn it into beds! Here's a sneak peek of the fabric:

If you see fabric there that you absolutely love, head on over to etsy and convo me. I'll put up the listing as reserved for you!

Etsy does some cool stuff

2008-12-01T12:41:00.003-05:00

I am still waiting on a shipment of fabric for my guinea pig beds, but I do have a few of them ready and waiting, and I may list a few of them later this week. I'm working out shipping, and may list a few as a test, and just need to get the pictures all pretty for your viewing pleasure!

In the meantime, I've created an Etsy treasury. It's a handpicked list of items available on Etsy, and the theme of mine is wind power. Have a look!

Change is on the way

2008-11-27T12:32:00.003-05:00

I have a whole pile of guinea pigs, as you might already know. Well, four of them to be exact. And I like to make beds for them. Little soft and comfy ones, that look like miniaturized dog beds. I first learned how to make them when I used to frequent a guinea pig forum, and since then have experimented and tested out different techniques and fabrics. Now I'm an old pro at making these cute little beds. So why not share my creations with you?

Well, now I will! I used to take custom orders if you contacted me through those guinea pig sites, but that system never worked too well for me. While browsing Etsy for some holiday gifts for this year, it hit me! This would be the perfect place to offer my beds for sale. So I did a quick search, and to my surprise, no one at all had listed any beds like mine. The closest thing I could find were sets of toys for ferrets.

So I have been hard at work behind the scenes getting ready for shop opening! I still have a few things to work out, and want to make sure I have enough stock for a great grand opening. You can have a look at my shop now, although it is currently empty. Soon it will be filled with adorable beds! And soon this blog will have a makeover to match the shop, so be on the lookout!

I can't give you an exact opening date right now (still waiting on some supplies to arrive in the mail), but I'll give at least a week's notice before the opening, right here on my blog.

For now, here's a sneak peek for my blog readers of the beds! The first one will be available, the second one is Costanza modeling a bed of his own.

Yet Another Meme

2008-11-26T11:56:00.002-05:00

I got an email forward from my friend Paula that very well could have been traveling between blogs, so I decided to post it. So the point is to answer each question with only ONE word.

1. Where is your cell phone? handbag
2. Your significant other? working
3. Your hair? bobbed
4. Your mother? social
5. Your father? intelligent
6. Your favorite thing? crafting

7. Your dream last night? fuzzy

8. Your favorite drink? coffee

9. Your dream/goal? family

10. The room you're in? living

11. Your fear? loneliness

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? home

13. Where were you last night? restaurant

14. What you're not? employed
16. One of your wish list items? puppy

17. Where you grew up? Toronto

18. The last thing you did? Ravelled

19. What are you wearing? pyjamas

20. Your TV? HD

21. Your pet? cavies

22. Your computer? xnote

23. Your life? steady

24. Missing someone? Man (ok I know I'm only allowed one word but this needs some explanation - Man is THE Man as in the man that gets burned at burning man)

26. Your car? civic

27. Something you're not wearing? socks

28. Favorite store? Etsy (ok I know etsy is actually thousands of stores in one, but still...)

29. Your summer? burny

30. Last time you laughed? yesterday

31. Last time you cried? injured

32. Your heart? ok

33. Four places you go over and over? petvalu, fabricland, parents', Bryan's
34. Four people who e-mail you regularly? Jordan, mom, martha, burners

Another meme

2008-11-24T11:29:00.003-05:00

Two in a row! Lifted from the same place too!

1: Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, find line 4. Write down what it says:

peacefully and start

2: Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What do you touch first?

a blanket

3: What is the last thing you watched on TV?

Jon & Kate plus 8

4: WITHOUT LOOKING, guess what the time is:

noon

5: Now look at the clock; what is the actual time?

11:32am

6: With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?

TV, heater

7: When did you last step outside? What were you doing?

a few minutes ago when I was checking the mail

8: Before you came to this website, what did you look at?

My Twitter page

9: What are you wearing?

pyjamas

10: Did you dream last night?

Not that I can remember

11: When did you last laugh?

Yesterday when Craig and I were doing crazy dance moves around the housse

12: What is on the walls of the room you are in?

Painting of Buddha on silk, really cool artist rendition of sandy gas jets on Mars, a framed mirror, speakers, abstract cubey painting, wooden elephant carving, satellite image of Central Park from space, feathery Mardi Gras masks, and a tinsel garland.

13: Seen anything weird lately?

Costanza, one of my hairless guinea pigs, is totally weird, and I see him every day. His nicknames are Costanzoid and Weirdo.

14: What do you think of this quiz?

So far, its ok. The names one was better.

15: What is the last film you saw?

Strange Wilderness. Way funnier than expected.

16: If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy first?

A hobby farm or a house on land zoned agricultural.

17: Tell me something about you that I don’t know.

I am going to open an Etsy store for real and it is way more work than I'd thought!

18: If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?

Its really hard to think of just one thing. I think I would want to solve the problem of unwanted and homeless pets. Make it illegal for shelters to kill due to overpopulation and make rescues the very first place everyone would go to find a new pet.

19: Do you like to dance?

Yup,.

20: George Bush: is he a power-crazy nutcase or someone who is finally doing something that has needed to be done for years?

Nutcase for sure, but I wouldn't call him power-crazy. How bout nutcase with daddy issues?

21: Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?

Violet.

22: Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?

Sage.

23: Would you ever consider living abroad?

Yep.

What's in a name?

2008-11-24T11:19:00.002-05:00

A meme, lifted from my twitterfriend knittybob's blog.

1. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names)
Neither of my parents have a middle name, so if I were in witness protection, I would be nameless.

2. NASCAR NAME: (first name of your mother’s dad, father’s dad)
Irving Fischel

3. STAR WARS NAME: (the first 2 letters of your last name, first 4 letters of your first name)
Krsari

4. DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)
Teal Otter

5. SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you live)
Beth Hamilton

6. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite alcoholic drink, optionally add “THE” to the beginning)
Fuchsia Gin

7. FLY NAME: (first 2 letters of 1st name, last 2 letters of your last name)
Saer

8. GANGSTA NAME: (favorite ice cream flavor, favorite cookie): Black Cherry PC Decadent

9. ROCK STAR NAME: (current pet’s name, current street name)
Chrysanthemum East (but I have four furry beasts so I just picked the most recently adopted one)

10. PORN NAME: (1st pet, street you grew up on)
DJ Castleridge

Coriolis socks

2008-11-19T23:25:00.001-05:00

Coriolis socks
Originally uploaded by fairysari

Finished a pair of Coriolis socks! Deatils, of course, on their Ravelry project page.

Jack O'Lantern Tarts

2008-11-06T20:48:00.002-05:00

PA300634
Originally uploaded by fairysari

Something Halloween-y I did get a picture of were the tarts I made. I think the second batch (the one in the picture) turned out way better than the first (which is somewhere in my photostream...). They are pumpkin tarts, and the recipe is from Martha. I cheated for this bath and bought premade tart shells, but it worked out so well. The faces came out too big the first time, and too small the second time, but I think I like them small. Too big is kind of a pastry overload. But they must have been good because they disappeared on Halloween!

Halloween

2008-11-06T20:44:00.001-05:00

PA310642
Originally uploaded by fairysari

I had camnesia! I think someone must have got a picture of Craig and I in our costumes together, but i will have to track it down. For now, there's just this one of Craig. The vest and shirt were part of the pattern I followed, and I made the tie too, which matches my costume. The hat is something Craig bought on a trip to Austin. There was also a coat, hopefully will turn up in another photo.

David Byrne

2008-11-03T11:03:00.001-05:00

David Byrne
Originally uploaded by fairysari

I went to see David Byrne with Craig, Bryan, and Steph last week. We had front row seats. Yup, Craig's Massey Hall membership paid off. So the show was aweosme, the choreography was awesome, Bryan was in love with one of the dancers, and I didn;t get a single good picture. The light was so bright and focused on David that they all turned out kinda ghost-like. This is the best shot I got!

Sweet and spicy pumpkin seeds

2008-10-12T19:13:00.003-05:00

Courtesy of Martha Stewart. I plan on making some pumpkin tarts tomorrow, so today I made some pumpkin puree by roasting a sugar pumpkin. I left the seeds in while it cooked (just over an hour at 400 F), then separated them after I peeled the pumpkin. From there I followed Martha's recipe pretty closely, and wow! Best pumpkin seeds ever.

Next up on the crafting block

2008-09-10T09:38:00.003-05:00

I finally got started on those Halloween costumes. I cut out the pattern for the Saloon Girl last night. I was thinking of putting EL wire in the bodice instead of piping, but now I'm thinking it's not quite the right costume for EL wire. I also got a huge pile of fabric and notions at Fabricland yesterday for the Halloween costumes. (I would be posting a picture now, but my camera has mysteriously disappeared. It'll turn up soon, or I'll use my phone or something.) So I already had some black satiny stuff for the bodice, it's probably el cheapo lining, but its nice enough, and for Halloween its perfect.

We spent forever wandering around Fabricland looking for fabric so that our costumes would match or look nice together, but not be too matchy-matchy. We wound up finding the perfect combination on one of the upholstery fabric discount tables. So I got some shantung fabric in a light khaki green for the skirt of the dress. It matches well with the heavy twill paisley in mustard, green, and rust red that I got for the Old West Dude's vest. The green shantung will probably be used fo the tie on that costume as well, just to tie (aha!) it all together. And I also got a pile of black broadcloth and some interfacing. Still need some material for the shirt for Craig's costume.

I did get a bunch of notions as well, the Saloon Girl dress needs a whole bunch of trims and ribbons and stuff. Black lace in two different thicknesses, green and gold beaded trim, buttons (they're pewter coloured but now I'm thinking they should have been gold to match the beaded trim... oh well....), black satin and green grosgrain ribbon, bias tape, and I actually bought matching thread for once! Still need a few more things, including giant feathers which I'm hoping to get at the Oktoberfest store in Kitchener.

I'm a little bit ahead of myself too, because I've started working on Christmas and holiday gifts already too. So far the idea is to make knitted dishcloths and handmade soaps for friends, thrummed mittens for Craig's family and maybe my dad, this scarf for my mom, and I'm not really sure what Craig is getting yet. I've made one dishcloth, I dyed the yarn and have started the scarf for my mom. I'm hoping to get some roving and some worsted wool at the KW Knitter's Fair this weekend to make the mittens. And I'll get some extra so maybe I can make matching hats if I have a ton of extra time (which I might, seeing as I'm off work until January).

Great time of year

2008-09-05T19:33:00.005-05:00

Just back home from Burning Man, off work for a little while, Halloween costume making just starting, and holiday gift making just around the corner. Soon it will be cool enough to think about knitting sweaters again.

Uploading the pictures is taking forever, so there's just a few.

Halloween costumes this year will be a saloon girl and old west dude, using patterns Simplicity 2851 and Simplicity 2895.

It's that time of year...

2008-08-09T11:23:00.002-05:00

The man burns in three weeks from today. Which means we leave in two weeks. Which is frickin' awesome! Also awesome is the fact that Beth has decided to come with us, which bring us up to a group of six now. I happen to think that six is the perfect number, since we rented two pickup, and now it makes more sense to get a second hotel room on the way back (only three people per shower!). And we're building a hexagonal shade structure, which will be a living room in the middle, with one tent connected to each side. So now we'll have four tents, then one side will have a truck full of supplies, and the other side is the entrance. Oh and then girls aren't outnumbered anymore! And Beth is really fun and awesome and easy to get along with.

We've got all the sheets cut for the shade structure now, and are in the process of sewing it up now. First have to lay it out in the park to make sure it looks pretty!

Of course I've been busy crafting a whole bunch of stuff lately, to bring to burning man.

I knit a pair of legwarmers out of some leftover colours of Noro. Good for nighttime playa wear, on when its cold, anf taken off easily if its warm.

On the first day while we're building the shade structure, we'll wear white to keep cool. So I made this dress, using Burda 7808. The fabric is so pretty and has an irridescent mandala pattern that I'm sure will look great in the playa sun. Unfortunately the fabric doesn't photograph well.

And I knit this halter top out of Bamboo yarn, with sequins. Daytime playa wear!

And this is the basic slip dress from the book Knitting Lingerie Style. It took a while, but I can't wait to wear it at Burning Man!There's lots more stuff that I have't taken pictures of. Some thing I want to wait and take pictures of them on the playa, and other things I probably won't photograph at all. You'll have to be there to see them!

New bag! Newport!

2008-06-26T14:10:00.002-05:00

A little while ago, I ordered the Namaste Laguna bag from Elann. I love love love it. Its big, and its fake leather but super soft, and its a lovely turquoise colour. Its big, its got lots of pockets, basically its the perfect bag for being a purse, and fitting a knitting project in there too.

So when I saw that Namaste was coming out with a new bag, the Newport, I had to preorder one from Dream Weaver yarns. It arrived today (super fast!), I got the limited edition peacock colour. And here is a photo of the bags side by side, the Laguna on the left, the Newport on the right:

Burnin back in mind...

2008-06-25T15:43:00.002-05:00

So it's summer, which means knitting is seeming less appealing than sewing lately, especially with burning man just around the corner. Ravelry had taken my blogging urges away, since I can updae all my knitting progress there. But there's nowhere for stuff that isn't knit, so...

I've made a few things already for the playa, the first is a night-time dress. I found the fabric for $2/yard, and it has a one direction stretch. Not sure the fibre, probably some sort of blend. I think it will look really good under black light. I used McCalls 4769 but I shortened it a bit, used snaps instead of buttons (love!), added a bit of velcro to the opening right at the waist, and added some sequins and reflective trim to the back.

I also bought a pair of 3/4 length black shiny almost rubberized tights that look awesome with this dress. Here's a close up of the fabric and trim:

Last year we all got together and made our playa coats one night, then made polymer clay beads and jewelery the next day. I had made a cane, which I actually still have a big chunk of, and it may make a reappearance. This year I wanted to go for a different look, but knew Bryan would probably wnat to make some polymer clay beads again, so I got mostly metallic colours of clay this time. I spent a few hours making some pendants a few weeks ago.

And one with the edge of a measuring tape for scale:

I have more stuff to come - some stuff is already finished or nearly finished, and there's lots more ideas, and lots of great fabric and notions I've been collecting lately. I've got Simplicity 2966 partly done, and this pile of fabric and ribbon is now a dress:

Knitting Update

2008-02-09T21:57:00.000-05:00

I have been neglecting this blog a whole lot, so here's a whole bunch of what I've been working on since the last update...

In very slow progress, a purple mohair sweater in a deep amethyst colour. I bought the pattern and yarn (Lily Chin Tribeca) on sale at Len's Mill in Cambridge. I keep picking it up and just knitting a few row here and there, so it's not hibernating, it's just progressing slowly.

I also finally finished the socks I was stalling on. My first socks are now done! I've worn them once, and they were super awesome and soft and warm, and now I just need to wash them once to make sure the dye won;t bleed or anything. I'm still not sure if they'll end up going in the regular load of laundry, or in the delicate soak, spin, and flat to dry with other knits (the Yarn Harlot sweater washing method).

And with the leftover, came more socks! Baby socks, for a coworkers 10-month old baby girl. One more purple picture:

Craig went on a snowboarding trip to Vermont, so I knit him a toque to wear that matches the scarf I gave him for xmas. It's knit in 1x1 rib in two-row alternating stripes of Patons SWS in Natural Russet and Natural Slate - exactly like the scarf. And it is long enough to fold up so he can cover his ears a lot or a little. The edge stretched out quite a bit by the end of his trip, which I think might be because I cast on really loosely. I gave it a soak and a spin in the washing mashing with some Eucalan, gave it a tug to stretch it out, and let it dry flat and it was all better. I just hope it doesn't keep happening. A picture of the matching set...

There's a cabley dog sweater almost done, and some furry stuff for Burning Man that I'm designing on the needles right now. Pictures soon!

First FO of the year!

2008-01-15T20:02:00.000-05:00

But unfortunately the picture is blurry (and unblocked...)

It is blocked now and the squares don't look all drunk anymore like they do in the picture. I cast on last Wednesday at knitting night, and I'll be wearing it tomorrow night back to knitting night. Yay!

I knit my first sock, but I am stalling on finishing the second. I knit the heel way too long on the first one, but it fits okay so I don't want to frog it. So I am not enjoying knitting the second one very much. I am however looking forward to starting on a new, mistake-free pair of socks. Probably for Craig. And maybe toe-up. But I promised myself I wouldn't start more socks until I finished the current socks. Makes sense I guess. Taught myself magic loop (thank you knittinghelp!) to do them which I love, and am very proud of. Used it for the top of the hat too.

Now I'm watching American Idol, and going through my huge collection of knitting magazines and queuing patterns I like in ravelry so that I'm actually more like to knit them one day.

Nearly there

2007-12-18T19:44:00.000-05:00

I am *thisclose* to being done all my xmas knitting! For Craig, his mom, dad, sister and niece, I just have maybe 2/3 of a pretty quick scarf to go until I'm done. Yay! I also have most of my cookie gifts baked already too. And all with a week to go still!

Got some Martha Stewart wrapping paper on sale at Michaels for the gifts, and tins and cellophane at the dollar store for the cookies, piles of ribbon, and I'm all set.

Reason #578697 why Ravelry is awesome...

2007-11-11T19:42:00.000-05:00

Progress bars!

That right, little bars over on the right there tracking my knitting progress through the awesomeness that is ravelry. I was lucky enough to be online early enough on a Sunday morning to get myself on the progress bar list, and I am so so so happy about it. I even decided to make a little donation to Ravelry. I figure I donated to Craftster and I think I :heart: Ravelry even more so it only makes sense.

Now I just need to get a little "progress bars thanks to ravelry" button or something to go under them. And figure out how to get pictures of the projects to show...

Or maybe I'll just enjoy them how they are :)

More Voting!

2007-11-04T18:00:00.000-05:00

I entered my pink pony costume in the contest on craftster. If you'd like to vote for me (or anyone, there's some pretty cool costumes) check it out here.

I'm the pink pony!The rest of the photos are in the photoset here.

We picked names for Secret Santa at work today. I am totally knitting slippers, I know that's what Judi wants!

Where my stitches at?

2007-10-24T07:38:00.000-05:00

I am thoroughly amused by the debate over that phrase on ravelry. I didn't find it *that* funny, but I did order the only t-shirt that doesn't have the phrase on it. I ordered the "I swatched ravelry" one, because really "where my stitches at?" just doesn't say "I was on ravelry before it was open to the public cuz I'm such a cool hard core knitter!" So yeah, ok, onto craftier things... craftier things with pictures!

My newest WIPs! Everything is on ravelry, so I'll put the links to my ravelry notebook, but for now they'll only work for other ravelry beta testers. I guess they'll just work normally after ravelry goes public. Maybe? Ok, here goes:

Noro striped scarf, but not in Noro. It's in Patons SWS. Surprisingly I couldn't find anyone else on ravelry who'd made the scarf out of this yarn, but it is turning out beautifully so far. The pattern (if you can call it that) is here. And all the details for the project are here. It is a christmas gift for Craig, part of my goal of giving only handmade gifts this year at the holidays.

Pictures of the two colourways I am using for that one:

I also have a Branching Out on the needles, from Knitty. For Craig's mom. Details here. It's blue, a Debbie Bliss yarn that I don't love working with. It keeps splitting whenever I try to psso or k3tog. At least the pattern repeat isn't very long, so I can just do an inch or so at a time then put it down pretty easily.

I've also been working on Halloween costumes. More on that later.

Score!

2007-10-12T09:18:00.000-05:00

I decided I would go looking for yarn before work last night. I went into Liquidation World, not really expecting to find much. I was hoping for cheapo acrylic, but instead I found a wall of sparkly ribbony rainbow eylashy fun fur yarn. The kind of yarn you look at and wonder what anyone could possibly make from it. And there's a big sign in front of it that says that its all 50 cents a ball. Except for the one ball of greenish yarn sitting there with kind of a nubbly texture. I look closer and it's a brand name I actually recognize (Classic Elite, the yarn itself is Commotion), and it's a natural fibre! Well mostly, it's about 80% wool, the rest is nylon. And it's 50 cents! So I dug and dug, the rainbow yarn was flying off the shelves, eventually I came up with 18 balls of it, and they are all the same dye lot! I also found three balls of Duchess, which is even nicer. It's a blend of merino, viscose, cashmere, nylon, and angora in a bulky weight. I got a nice burnt orange colour, which is perfect for making some Halloween pumpkins. Though I'll probably save most of it for a scarf, since it feels nice against the3 skin. Not itchy! Grand total was eleven dollars and change for the whole thing.

I had to look up the retail price of the yarn, just so I could know how awesome of a deal I got. And they're both around $10 a ball original retail price. !!! I just got 21 balls of yanr for the price of one! That's over two hundred dollars worth of yarn for a little over ten bucks!

Lots o' pink fun fur - Halloween!

2007-10-10T10:02:00.000-05:00

Before Burning Man I bought a bunch of cheap fake hair.I started making dreadfalls but it was taking forever with my poor weak kettle. So I still have a ton of it left, mostly in pink, but also some blue and a maroon-ish colour. A pony tail seemed like the obvious thing to make,so I decided my Halloween costume would be a horsey. A pink one, with blue accents, due to the the colour of the hair.

So taking a bunch of pink hair in my pocket and holding it up to different fabrics, in many different fabric stores,I must have looked like a lunatic. I originally wanted something with a smoother texture, sleek like a horse, but I think the fabric I got is great now. The colour is perfect, and it has the texture of a horse in winter. But softer! :) For the accent colour I went with sparkly blue, which turned out not to be so brilliant to line the top with. It makes me sparkly. Oh well!

The costume also will probably go to Burning Man, and I've been keeping that in mind while making it. When finished, it will have lots of parts: there's a top, skirt, legwarmers, armwarmers, four hooves, tail/belt, and headpiece. I've been working a little on each part, I don't think any one part is totally finished.

The top is from a pattern (except the straps), everything else is just straight out of my brain!