Etsy Dreams...or Artfire Dreams...or...?

I completed the panda bear amigurumi commissions!



My husband selected the colors for the orange and blue panda amigurumi. I was unsure how a little girl would react to such a pairing, but he is insistent that it looks good. ^_^;

Now that I have this out of the way and have enough copies of my resume circulating in the world, I figure I can get to work on crafting some Saffron Pandas for my Etsy shop! Or Artfire shop...or whatever I start up here in a few weeks...

The Joys of Unexpected Commissions

The other day I brought Onigiri to a game of Risk and a friend thought so much of it, he asked me to make two panda bear amigurumis for his "kinda-sorta nieces". My first ever commission! He left the color choice up to me, the only information given is that they are 4 and 6 years old. I suppose I could go the girly girl route and stick to pinks, purples, and oranges, but the thought of feeding the stereotype makes me itch. I am kicking a few color combos around but am not decided as of yet. Any suggestions?

I am doubly glad for the commissions because they give me something to focus on besides job hunting. Graduation is in three weeks and I am about to break into hives due to employment anxiety! First there's the pressure to get a job that pays decent money, then the pressure to get a job in your field (communications, or journalism, in my case). Then there is the anxiety that you may not get a response from anyone at all! I do have two interviews this coming week. One job I already know I will not accept. It is in radio, which is "cool" (though not really, my husband worked in radio and it was thankless). But it is a sales position, which is double-plus bad. The other position is with a public relations firm and may not pay very much, but the fact I am called in for an interview at all is a confidence boost.

With all the job hunt pressure I have been escaping by fantasizing about going into business for myself, selling panda bear amigurumi and a clothing line I have been designing in my head for the last few weeks. Who knows? Maybe I'll go off the deep end and really take a crack at it ^_^

Safety eyes revisited

Just when I had nearly convinced myself that eyeless pandas aren't THAT terrifying, I produce this:



This is Onigiri! Named after the ever popular Japanese rice balls, Onigiri sports snowy white "fur" representing rice and "dried seaweed green" markings. The color change on the body isn't perfect, but I have found a pretty decent tutorial to troubleshoot that (why didn't I refer to a tutorial before completing Onigiri, you ask? Well...I don't know...).

I am left to ponder if I like eyes so much better than no eyes:



Yeah, it is kinda cute. I am not hardcore enough for eyeless amigurumi -_-

Questionable manga and lessons learned with safety eyes

So, I finally got my hands on a few pairs of safety eyes a few days ago and went to work on giving my pandas the gift of sight. Having never used safety eyes before, I quickly learned that it would be wise in the future to attach the eyes before assembling the whole head. I ended up with this monstrosity:



I had to tug and pull at the poor thing, which stretched out and exposed some of the whip stitches. And after all of that, the eyes still ended up off center! It doesn't look terrible, but it is definitely not want I intended. At least I can file the experience away in the "To Don't" folder -_-

Now that it is a confirmed bad idea to add eyes to an already-assembled panda face, I am left with this:


(the black spots you see are thread on the inside I still have to trim)

I don't want to disfigure this bear like the last one so I am trying to think of other things I can do with it. Maybe I could just string it on a chain and hang it off of my backpack or turn it into a satchel and fill it with dried flowers.

I also suppose I could give it a body still, although being eyeless AND limbless would be pretty messed up...or freaking cool. I can't decide which.

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Ever hear of Strawberry Marshmallow? It sounds incredibly suspect, doesn't it? It is a manga I read a few pages of while visiting my local comic book shop some months ago. Last week I found one of the volumes on the clearance rack and decided to make a grand splurge of two bucks to bring it home. Aesthetically speaking, it looks cutesy. Sickeningly so. It is all lace and ruffles and little girls sharing shortcake with each other. But when you actually read it, it becomes something else entirely. The oldest girl is a compulsive smoker at the age of 16. Some of them swear and engage in physical violence against each other. There is enough of a stylistic difference that it doesn't qualify as an Azumanga Daioh knock-off and I have tken enough of an interest to start reading it from the beginning.

The author is a man, so that may be what keeps it from being syrupy sweet. However, wikipedia seems to suggest that the series may have had origins in a publication of...questionable repute. I am not entirely sure what to make of this, since I have not experienced any creepy feelings reading the series so far. I know reading manga and watching anime in general desensitizes you to a lot of things that would otherwise freak someone else out (repeated panty shots, robots bursting out of foreheads etc), but I am fairly confident an alarm would go off if I am ever presented with something morally reprehensible (or, I hope so).

Does anyone else ever reflect on their entertainment choices in such a way, or am I just a worrisome geek for concerning myself with the moral implications of what I do in my free time? ^^;

Saffron Pandas in the Making

Finally having settled on a design I am pleased with, I have gone about crafting a line of amigurumi I am pleased to call the "Saffron Panda" line! Inspired by the little green buds popping up everywhere I decided to try out some spring green yarn. In the absence of brown yarn, I substituted but came up with a color combo I really like.



His name is Vasanta (वसन्त) and will hopefully have eyes to see with soon. Doesn't he evoke images of a forest? The bright green of spouting leaves, the cool gray of stream bed stones...or is it just me? ^_^;

Stay tuned for Vasanta's back story and more Saffron Pandas!

Amigurumi Product Testing

I spent small pockets of time over the last few days coming up with different panda bear amigurumi designs. My first efforts resulted in this:



The eyes are "X"ed out to signal my displeasure with the end product, although it has grown on me a little since then. I think of it affectionately as my unbalanced zombie alien. And it has helped me determine that I don't want the panda design to turn out so bottom heavy.

I also learned that I don't like making limbs. I have always had difficultly with amigurumi limbs and am never satisfied with the way they look. -_- I agonized over what techniques I could use to achieve a tolerable "limb effect" and began to think that maybe I am just not meant to craft when it occurred to me...amigurumi don't need limbs at all.

I did briefly ponder the possible disturbance a limbless doll could cause, but it made artistic sense. Pandas were driven to near extinction by poaching encouraged by the desirability of their pelts. A limbless panda could represent that unfortunate past and spare me the tedium of limb construction in one fell swoop!

My next attempt resulted in this:



Ultimately I will use safety eyes for future amigurumi, but this panda ended up all-yarn because I am going to give this to a friend's toddler niece and is still in the phase where everything she comes into contact with is subject to being gummed on.

I like the proportions much better on this one, and it stands firmly on its own unlike the poor zombie alien. The ears just might need to be shortened a touch, to avoid confusion with being a mouse.

Feedback?

Impacted Wisdom Teeth and Geisha Dolls

I had oral surgery this past Friday to remove my three remaining wisdom teeth. I decided on local anesthetic only, which I DO NOT recommend for people who get nervous easily! I sniveled most of the way home then consoled myself by practicing my crochet increases and decreases. Here if what I eventually came up with:



I tried to remember the directions for these although looking at the number of stitches for the taller doll, I think I messed up >.< These are for the plumper doll, my favorite of the two:

Rnd 1: Chain 6 and join wth slip stitch
Rnd 2: sc in 1st loop, 2 sc in second loop. Repeat to 9 sc
Rnd 3: sc in next 2 lps, 2 sc in 3rd loop. Repeat to 12 sc
Rnd 4: 2 sc in each loop around. 24 sc total.
Rnd 5: 1 sc in first loop, 2 sc in second. Repeat to 36 sc.
Rnd 6: sc in next 5 loops, 2 sc in 6th loop. Repeat to 42 sc.
Rnd 7: With kimono color sc in each loop around (42 sc)
Rnd 8: decrease to 36 by sc in first 5 loops, 2 sctog.
Rnd 9: sc in next five loops, 2 sc in 6th loop. Repeat to 42 sc
Rnd 10 to end: sc in next six loops, 2 sc in seventh loop. Repeat to 48 sc

Finish body to desired height.

The hair was made by following the direction for Rnds 1-6 then increasing to 52 sc by placing 1 sc in the first 6 loops, 2 sc in the 7th loop and repeating. I went back and forth along the sides of the hairpiece making about 5 rows of sc, repeatedly placing it on the doll's head to get he desired face width. I think each row is about 30 sc.

The faces and hair are made with Red Heart acrylic yarn, and the kimono are made of Caron Simply Soft Eco, which is just so pretty and shiny and very soft. Once my acrylic stash runs out, I am thinking of using recyclable and sustainable materials exclusively in all future crochet projects. If we all do our share and show there is a demand for more environmentally friendly crafting projects, it is the nature of the market to respond to the demand.

A healthier environment and prettier yarn achieved in one fell swoop. Wouldn't that be divine?