Bedtime Story

Last night Peanut stayed up past her bedtime, but not for long. As much as she wanted to, she just couldn't keep those eyes open any longer.

Soon she was fast asleep.

So I picked her up and carried her to bed.

Wee little mite that she is, it wasn't difficult!

So comfy in her little hammock.

Nighty, night, Peanut.

Another Step Along Her Way

Woo, hooooo! Pumpkin, my Fairlyland LittleFee Leah has cleared one more hurdle!

"Your item cleared customs in CANADA at 1:46 pm on January 30, 2011."

If she follows the same route that her buddy took she'll show up in Ontario tomorrow, take maybe 2 days to get to Richmond, and then a day for delivery in Chilliwack so......Thursday maybe?

In the meantime I'm working at designing a dress for Peanut, the LittleFee Ante Elf. All my calculations must have been right for it looks like it's going to fit just fine.


Edited to add:

"2011/01/30 17:14 Mississauga Item processed at postal facility"

Oooo, that's even faster than I expected! Maybe Pumpkin will be here by Wednesday.

First Fitting

Peanut seems pretty happy with her knitted dress so far, and it fits. I wasn't sure if it would because I'm kind of designing as I go.

Already Shopping

So Peanut's been here, what, three days? She's already asked to go shopping!

She figured I needed some fabric stash enhancement so I can make her and her buddy, Pumpkin, some awesome new clothes.

We couldn't find much in the way of tiny to-scale prints in the fabric stores so we had to get creative. Six pairs of 6X size panties (new of course!) provide an awful lot of fabric for t-shirts and leggings!

Waiting for Pumpkin

Peanut is just hanging out today, trying to wait patiently for her buddy, Pumpkin.

Pumpkin should be here some time next week. She's visiting the people at Canada Customs right now.

Peanut Is Home!

After more than 9 months of waiting (some of it for a different doll that never arrived), my very first BJD has finally come home. She was well worth the wait! Come celebrate her box opening with me.

The Parcel! I was so excited I was shaking!



And the pretty inner box.



My first look at my very first BJD.



She rises out of the velveteen packing.



Bubble wrap kerchief.



Her beautiful little face. And look at those cute little ears!



She stands on her own straight out of the box.



Peanut asks, "Is there any clothes or a wig for me?"



"I mean.....really!!"



"Oh, that's much better, thanks!"



"Which ones should I wear?"



"I think I'll wear the black ones today. Look, I can do the buckles myself!"



"How do they look?"



"I think I'm going to love it here!"

Photography Practice with Pip

I got news a couple of days ago that my two, long awaited ABJD (asian ball jointed dolls) are on their way, in separate shipments. The first is due any day now and the second will follow, about 4-6 days later by my calculations.

Photography is a big part of the ABJD hobby. Pictures of the dolls are often shared in photo stories, and as individual portraits, on forums for hobby enthusiasts. For me, an even bigger part of the hobby involves creating handcrafted clothing for the dolls and, perhaps in the future, even selling extra sets of the clothing to fund further development of the rather pricey hobby. To sell items you must be able to take clear, detailed photographs of your offerings. To that end I spent a bit of time today trying to come up with a lighting and background arrangement that will work best for me, especially during our low light winters.

So here is the best set up I can arrange at the moment. Dim, overcast daylight coming in through the window behind me and my two Ott lights providing additional natural day spectrum light. Not great, but it will have to do.


My camera is also not great. It's a Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS, which has been a decent little point and shoot, but if I want to get great shots I'll eventually have to purchase a DSLR camera. And I DO want to get great shots!

In a few days I'll be doing a "box opening" photo shoot. It's almost a required ritual amongst those in the hobby. I won't go to great lengths like some do, with videos and the whole bit, but I'd like to take a few nice photos to commemorate the "event"....ha!.....especially because it's my first ball jointed doll. (Remember, Pip is a borrowed ResinSoul Yu I've been "fostering"). If nothing else I'm hoping readers of my blog might be interested in how well packed these dolls are for shipping.

These first few pictures show how a white background can be used to bounce a bit of light on the subject, hopefully eliminating the need for your camera's flash and the resulting glare and white out that usually goes with it. If you have a really nice light box set up it can even reduce or eliminate distracting shadows.

For the most part my set up eliminated the need for my camera's flash even indoors on a grey and dismal day.

But my favourite photos happened after I set Pip up on a background drape of black velveteen.

This darker background seems to bring out the colours much better. I think the image looks sharper too. I have no idea what the technical reason would be. I just know I like the result.

9.1 Ounces of SOFT

I started spinning this ultra soft alpaca up several months ago when it was given to me by a good friend. It was mostly done when severe back pain prevented me from doing almost everything, including spinning, so it sat untouched for two months.



With my back finally on the mend I got around to plying the singles a few days ago. It was quite greasy, dirty stuff but it washed up beautifully. Now it's 9.1 ounces of wonderfully, buttery soft, fuzzy yum that I'm trying to find a project for. Any suggestions? I think I'll wind it into balls tonight and do a few test swatches. Maybe some sort of men's toque (that would be a "watch cap" for you Americans)?

Straddling the New Year

This pair of socks was begun in 2010 and finished in 2011. I used my good, ol', favourite sock pattern, done toe up and two at at time on one long circular. The yarn is Online Supersocke 100 Sierra Color which I knit on 2.5mm needles at 8 stitches per inch.

Because I like to always have one mindless knitting project to work on when semi-distracted I immediately cast on the next pair. These ones are in "Tanis Fiber Arts Hand Dyed Yarn" I acquired during my daughter's destashing.

The little bag was a freebee acquired with a toiletry kit. It makes an awesome sock knitting bag. I have all the pertinent measurements for my own custom sock size marked on the outside for easy reference.