Yes, I still exist.
It has been a very long few weeks.
Work has left me exhausted, but in a good way. Most of it is mental exhaustion from thinking and calculating, though being on your feet all day does take its toll.
Home life has also been trying, though I'll spare you the details.
The knitting has slowed down to here-and-there work, mostly consisting of what I can take with me on the bus. I did finish a pair of socks for mum, and have started a pair for me. I've also been doing a poseable baby dragon as my sit-down-and-focus knitting. Yesterday, though, I felt the need for tiny little needles and fiddly knitting, started another LittleFee sweater, and it's addicting.
Speaking of, I'm thinking I'll place the order for the LittleFee Dark Elf Soo (her name will be Mairenn) at the end of the summer, as a little treat to myself. That way, she'll show up in October-November, right as I'm heading into finals week and need a boost. Until then, I'll content myself with making clothes for her.
Originally, my plan was to purchase Alastrine, the MSD (45-ish cm/ 16") BJD first, so the older sister would be home to welcome her little sibling. However, I've been lurking on Denver Doll Emporium's website (mostly sighing over the Fees), and I noticed something. The MSD that was highest on my list of possibilities was 5StarDoll's Emma sculpt. They redid their body type a while back, and were including a three-part torso and double-jointed knees and elbows, plus an extra mobility joint on the upper thigh; that's what drew me to them. I went looking yesterday and saw the "event" tag next to the company name, so I went poking through again.
Guess what? They changed the body again, and I REALLY don't like it. Now the MSD body is back to the two-part torso, and while the knees and elbows are double-jointed, that extra mobility part at the top of the thigh is gone. While it's not a huge deal - I want the MSD for knitting/photography and storytelling, not super poseability - it's still rather disappointing to see them change, and not for the better.
At any rate, this throws a wrench into my BJD plans, so it looks like little Mairenn will be arriving before her sister until I can find an acceptable substitute. The top contenders are currently Bobobie's Sprite or Espree, DollZone's Feilian or Aimi, or DikaDoll's Rena or LingRi. (Ooh, DikaDoll is having a summer event. This might fix everything.) And while I know FairyLand also carries MSDs (MiniFees), their dolls are renowned for posing skill and priced accordingly, and I really don't want to drop that much money on my first doll.
Besides, there's a good bit of me that wants to get the smaller one first to see if I enjoy her, and if I really want a larger doll. It might turn out that having a large, fully-proportioned doll freaks me out (part of why I didn't even consider anything larger than MSD - she'd be almost as tall as Molly!), or that I'm perfectly content with only having one BJD. (All who believe that, raise your hands. I'm already looking at a Shiwoo boy to be Mairenn's playmate. Slippery is the slope indeed.) By the time Mairenn gets here she should have no dearth of clothes to choose from. =) On top of the two sweaters that are done and the one on the needles, I'm planning to make her a girly knit dress and a nice winter jacket. YoSD (25 cm, or ~10") are so fun to knit for. More fitted things like socks will probably have to wait until she arrives. Ahhh, I haven't even ordered her yet and I'm getting excited!
Ahem.
My stomach is letting me know that it's almost dinner time. Hope everyone has been having a good summer, and not melting into pathetic puddles in this heat like I have!
Work has left me exhausted, but in a good way. Most of it is mental exhaustion from thinking and calculating, though being on your feet all day does take its toll.
Home life has also been trying, though I'll spare you the details.
The knitting has slowed down to here-and-there work, mostly consisting of what I can take with me on the bus. I did finish a pair of socks for mum, and have started a pair for me. I've also been doing a poseable baby dragon as my sit-down-and-focus knitting. Yesterday, though, I felt the need for tiny little needles and fiddly knitting, started another LittleFee sweater, and it's addicting.
Speaking of, I'm thinking I'll place the order for the LittleFee Dark Elf Soo (her name will be Mairenn) at the end of the summer, as a little treat to myself. That way, she'll show up in October-November, right as I'm heading into finals week and need a boost. Until then, I'll content myself with making clothes for her.
Originally, my plan was to purchase Alastrine, the MSD (45-ish cm/ 16") BJD first, so the older sister would be home to welcome her little sibling. However, I've been lurking on Denver Doll Emporium's website (mostly sighing over the Fees), and I noticed something. The MSD that was highest on my list of possibilities was 5StarDoll's Emma sculpt. They redid their body type a while back, and were including a three-part torso and double-jointed knees and elbows, plus an extra mobility joint on the upper thigh; that's what drew me to them. I went looking yesterday and saw the "event" tag next to the company name, so I went poking through again.
Guess what? They changed the body again, and I REALLY don't like it. Now the MSD body is back to the two-part torso, and while the knees and elbows are double-jointed, that extra mobility part at the top of the thigh is gone. While it's not a huge deal - I want the MSD for knitting/photography and storytelling, not super poseability - it's still rather disappointing to see them change, and not for the better.
At any rate, this throws a wrench into my BJD plans, so it looks like little Mairenn will be arriving before her sister until I can find an acceptable substitute. The top contenders are currently Bobobie's Sprite or Espree, DollZone's Feilian or Aimi, or DikaDoll's Rena or LingRi. (Ooh, DikaDoll is having a summer event. This might fix everything.) And while I know FairyLand also carries MSDs (MiniFees), their dolls are renowned for posing skill and priced accordingly, and I really don't want to drop that much money on my first doll.
Besides, there's a good bit of me that wants to get the smaller one first to see if I enjoy her, and if I really want a larger doll. It might turn out that having a large, fully-proportioned doll freaks me out (part of why I didn't even consider anything larger than MSD - she'd be almost as tall as Molly!), or that I'm perfectly content with only having one BJD. (All who believe that, raise your hands. I'm already looking at a Shiwoo boy to be Mairenn's playmate. Slippery is the slope indeed.) By the time Mairenn gets here she should have no dearth of clothes to choose from. =) On top of the two sweaters that are done and the one on the needles, I'm planning to make her a girly knit dress and a nice winter jacket. YoSD (25 cm, or ~10") are so fun to knit for. More fitted things like socks will probably have to wait until she arrives. Ahhh, I haven't even ordered her yet and I'm getting excited!
Ahem.
My stomach is letting me know that it's almost dinner time. Hope everyone has been having a good summer, and not melting into pathetic puddles in this heat like I have!