Category: Crocheting

Excuses, Excuses

4/15/2014

Another month has gone by. I suppose it is time to update this.

I have been working on audio, but I have a limited amount of time I can work on it, and I don't yet have anything I am willing to post. I will probably work some more on it tonight.

One of my favorite geek bands, Debs & Errol, were in the running for the CBC Searchlight. Errol wanted to do something with the #Votegeek hashtag, and called for fans to send him pictures of themselves with it. So I dusted off Wade and ran around town taking pictures. I also decided to take this as an excuse to actually build him a set. He needed furniture, big time. Everything I have is simply Liliputian compared to him. Here is one of the pics I took at Dutch Brothers. They are so awesome there.

Anyway...

So, anyway, I took a few days a built Wade a sofa and an end table and a coffee table. I sewed a cushion and crocheted a blanket to go on the back of the sofa. I painted a background. So now that I had all these things, of course I had to play around with them. The resulting videos are not great, but the set looks awesome. Needs more detail, like pictures, a window, a book shelf, etc. Otherwise I am happy with it. Here is the mess I call a video...

Dinosaurus from Barefoot Hallucination on Vimeo.

So, there ya go. This month hasn't been completely uneventful. As I play with Wade and what he can do I hope to have more test videos to post.

0 Comments

Vampire Steampunk Silurian is the name of my cover band

7/22/2013

0 Comments

So the creative bug had been biting me pretty hard lately. I really want to do some cool stuff, though I know a lot of it I just will need to learn how to do and it will be crap. I made a list of everything I want to do, and looking at it (it is pretty long) I think I am going to need to make a plan if I am ever going to get any of it done.

Warning: LONG post! Lots of bullshit! A bunch of pics! Feel free to read or skip as appropriate.

First thing, I have been working on a new stop mo. My camera has pretty much crapped out on me, so I am going to have to figure out how to do it without the camera. I have my iPad. I have figured out how to get pics from my iPad to my computer. I have found a few camera control apps for the iPad, though nothing that lets me control the focus the way I want. Also I need to anchor that sucker down somehow so it doesn't look like my characters are in an earthquake all the time.

Here is a quick pic of the set I built. Still needs some work but not too bad.

I plan to make a frame out of this PVC pipe that will hold my iPad and screw onto my tripod.

So I have designed a frame thing that is made of PVC piping and foam insulation tape. I had planned on cutting the PVC with my hacksaw and mitre box. The box is missing. I packed them together, because I usually do not use either one by themselves. One of these days I will either go get another one or find a friend who has power tools to help me cut them at a 45 degree angle and cut a slot in the top for the foam insulation and a place to rest the iPad. Then I will drill a 1/4inch hole in the bottom for mounting to the tripod platform. Project number one. :)

So last weekend I helped a friend move. As per usual she wanted to get rid of stuff, and as per usual I accommodated her and took it off her hands. The first thing was this awesome globe thing that lights up.

Yup, it lights up. It pretty much reminds me of the Ood from Doctor Who...

A face only a mother could love. :P

Now I have to figure out how to costume this bad boy. I can't sew, and I have other sewing projects I want to do. So I will need to find a place to find South Korean looking jackets and grey slacks. And of course the mask. I HAVE to take a shot at making a mask of that face. I have no mask making experience. I do have liquid latex. I have been looking online and if I do it in 3 pieces I may actually be able to pull it off. One piece for the face, another piece for the tentacles, and a final piece for the head. I am currently researching the cost of latex foam. I also need to get myself a few styrofoam heads to use as bases. I think I would make a thin latex mask for the face, a molded latex foam for the head, then attach the tentacles to a large mesh frame that attaches to the mask. that will make it easier to breath. It would also be awesome if I can find a cheap voice modulator.

On the latex mask front, I decided if I am going to do an Ood, I also need to make a Vastra mask.

This is Madame Vastra (picture property of BBC and Doctor Who). She is strong and beautiful and a warrior and everything I wish I could be. She is one of my favorite fictional characters ever. She is married to Jenny, the lady behind her in this picture. If you don't watch any other Doctor Who, it is worth watching the episodes she is in just to bask is this dazzling character. I have been waiting out the last few years of less than stellar storylines and Moffet's version of Psych! and a Doctor who doesn't really feel like the Doctor, but her alone has made this wait worth it. As masks go, this one looks like the most comfortable one to wear for long periods at a time. I would do her Victorian outfits, though. She has some gorgeous black dresses I really want. Though, my next project could conceivably be used for her character.

I also got a green leather coat. It is HUGE. It is very 80's. The shoulder pads are gone, but thiey have left thier mark in the shoulders of this coat. there is enough leather fabric in that coat to make a steampunky vest or two. A vest that would go with the brown leather coat I found last winter. It would also go with the Vastra mask. I also want to sew some aviator pants to use with steampunk.

I want this look, pants boots and all. Except I want to make them black. These pants could go with steampunk and Vastra.

I also was given several sets of vampire fangs. So....I can do regular vampire, steampunk vampire, or vampire Silurian (Vastra is a Silurian). OR Vampire Steampunk Silurian! Oh this is going to be awesome. :)

I can't sew worth a damn, so I will have to find someone to supervise.

So the list....

Not in priority order...

1. Latex Ood mask
2. Latex Madame Vastra mask
3. Build a more interactable stop mo set
4.Leather steampunk vest or two, depending
5.iPad frame with foam insulation
6.Button over aviator pants
7.Steampunk goggles
8.Crochet sweater and vests out of mounds of yarn I have laying around
9.Spin the fleece I have sitting around
10.Play with armatures and different materials to decide on puppets for stop mo.
11. Finish all writing projects (web series, 10 minute short, play, novel)
12.Finish filming current stop mo

I once told someone I am never bored. If I had a bajillion dollars, I would have plenty to do. They didn't believe me. :)

So now I have to decide what needs to be done with each of these projects, when I want to have them done by, and what I need in order to finish them. Then I will make a general plan to get them done.

0 Comments

Lazy blogger is lazy

1/10/2013

0 Comments

Well, I have done it again. Waited a long time between posts. In all fairness, I was waiting till had something to show you before I posted. I have a bajillion half finished projects that really need my attention.

In the last few weeks I started crocheting a helm. A friend of mine wanted one, and it looked easy enough. Well, the actual helm part was easy enough. The little visor part has not been so easy. As soon as I get rid of my frustration over it I will finish it. Here is what I have done so far:

That second pic is of the visor part. It is supposed to be held on with buttons, and can either go up on the head as decoration or down over the mouth and nose for warmth. If you can't tell, it is way too big. the first one I tried to unravel it and make it smaller. I in fact started to unravel from the wrong end and totally ruined it. So I had to start over. Then I didn't decrease properly. It ended up a funny shape. So now it is on hold until I can stop being frustrated with myself for being a dumbass.

I also put an ad on Craigslist for fellow collaborators on the web series. My vision was to get people together who knew some stuff but wanted to learn other stuff, all of which have good ideas, and make an awesome production. I have a few people interested, but it is sputering out. I need to figure out a way to get this off teh ground and going.

Last week I found this little airplane that fits my little guys exactly. It was so so awesome! The propeller broke off though. That was fine, becauae the propeller didn't move. this gave me the opportunity to reaffix it in a way that would allow for animation. Here some pics:

It is now held on with a magnet, so I can move it around. I have been gathering things, and soon hope to have a test animation up to go with it. I realize it isnt practical, and such, but it amuses me. :)

So that is what I have been doing with my time. I will post more when I have more, and am not layed out on cold medicine.

0 Comments

Satisfaction wasn't that hard, was it?

5/1/2012

0 Comments

Well, that was more than satisfactory. I received contact from the Douglas Adams Video Contest people. I clearly asked for specifics, and I got clear specifics. They may have been disorganized, but they are now on top of it. I think they may have underestimated my emotional investment in this contest. And also, maybe I need to tone down my emotional investment in this contest. :) Either way, looks like they are publishing a short list. I haven't been to the site yet. I will look at it later today. Also, and this is the exciting part, they want to put some of the better animations on BBC. There are a few other places mentioned, but right now I can't remember them off the top of my head and I still have other things I need to do so I need to make this post a quick one. It is also 6:30am, pre caffienation. Overall, whether I win or lose, it has been a great experience. As a customer service person, I firmly believe it isn't whether or not there are frustrations, but how those frustrations are handled. I am a person who has enough ambiguity in her life. When I ask direct questions, I like and expect direct answers. It impresses me when I actually get that. It has also been nice to push myself and see what I can actually accomplish.

On another note, I still haven't finished the tank top but I am almost done. I finished everything except the bottom part. After my job search today I will finish it and post pictures. I must admit I didn't work on it the whole day yesterday. It probably would be finished if I did. I am not completely happy with it, but it is my first attempt. After I am done I can tweak it and play with it.

Ok...off for coffee, job applications and crocheting. Update later today.

EDIT: Ok....that was frustrating. I got a good 5 inches into the bottom part and tried it on....not wide enough. So I had to rip it all out, which with this yarn was difficult, and I have to start over again with that part. Argh sigh. This yarn is "homespun", which means it has spots where it isn't spun enough and fuzz everywhere, which tangles when I try to undo my work. It is also single instead of plied. I think I understand why this yarn was foisted upon me.

So here is a picture of it before I have the bottom part done. Cause I am putting this frustrating project away for a few days.

I think I want to build up around the straps where they attach to the top. Maybe a little triangle or something there.

But that will be later.

0 Comments

Video contests suck...but new project is started

4/30/2012

0 Comments

Wow, it is amazing how quickly time can get away from you. I think I say that way too often. The last few days I have been dealing with a personal crisis, so crafting and stop mo have not been my priority. I think it has mainly past, so now I can concentrate again on the stuff I love. :)

Well, the contest is basically over for the Douglas Adams Video Contest. According to the rules a long list of finalists was supposed to be announced today. There is no mention on the site. When I tweeted them and asked when and where I can find the list, I was basically brushed off. The first answer was "Winners will be announced May 25th". When I replied with citation in the rules that there would be a finalist list announced April 30th, I got the equivalent of "Don't call us, we'll call you". I must admit I am disappointed. I worked really hard on that video. I did my best to follow the rules. The least they can do is follow their own rules. The video response was not that big. I am guessing mainly due to poor publicity. I think they also overestimated the number of people who can do that much work in that short amount of time. When Eddie Izzard did his contest, most of the entrants had already done a video and just submitted that. I think I was one of the few who actually started from scratch. But it really does feel like they started this contest and don't really intend to finish it. I don't think there has been anyone keeping an eye on it. There was an anti Obama video up there for weeks, which clearly was not part of the contest. But enough of my whinging. I will let you know if they get back to me or not.

In other news, my room is filled with pot smoke. Yup. And it isn't mine. I don't do that. But there is a small cafe whose back patio butts up against ours, and my bedroom is the closest to it. Even with plastic covering the windows and 2 storm windows, my room smells like Burning Man mixed with old skanky hotel room. I am not happy. Not much I can do about it, though. They are allowed to smoke outdoors. And let's face it, if the police responded to every "they're smoking pot" call they got, they would never do anything else. This is Eugene.....Hippyville. 4:20 friendly. So until I figure out a solution I am not going to spend much time in my room. Which is where I have all my stop mo stuff set up and my crafting area. It made me positively sick this weekend. I will go back to stop mo...I can't stay away for long. For now, I have started a new project. well, one that brings it full circle. One of my first craft posts was about making myself a tank top. Never completed it, then figured out the yarn I was using is silk, so decided probably not a good medium for sport wear.

Yesterday I started this:

It is going to be a tank top. I have researched a bit more about tank top construction, and have come up with a better plan. Now that I am done with job search stuff for today I am going to attempt to complete it by tomorrow. We shall see how far I get. Basic construction is crochet tube for chest portion, crochet strip for straps to be attached to, crochet straps, sew together, then crochet the rest in a tube from the bottom edge of the chest piece down. Sounds simple. We shall see if it works.

0 Comments

Projects and Job Hunting

6/19/2011

0 Comments

PBPBPBTTHTHBHTH.

Job hunting, in and of itself, is a flawed institution. No matter how good your resume looks, no matter how much or little experience you have, no matter how charming you are whether or not you get the all important call back boils down to the personal prejudices of the person reading your resume. You are competing with 400 other people who are just as desperate as you are to earn a regular paycheck and support themselves and/or their families. In that type of situation nothing you can do will really make you stand out. Everyone is jumping through hoops to try to be "unique". It is all about who you know, how you know them, and how well they like you personally. It is hard to look at this situation and have any hope at all. For someone like me who has been in school and unemployed for 3 years, who has no real contacts and no friends in the industry yet, it feels like trying to break into Fort Knox with a tooth pick. Maybe if I was McGyver it would be possible, but as myself looks damn near impossible. Does this sound a bit pessimistic? You bet your ass. Is it realistic? Absolutely. So the next problem to tackle is how to restore faith in my ability to get a paying job against all these odds. I think I would have more chance of succeeding relying on the Lottery Fairy to bail me out. :P

OK....rant done. Now time for the other crap. This weekend I really haven't produced much. I have been planning on my next stop motion, and researched free stop motion renderers online. I am surprised at how few actually allow you to import pictures rather than managing your camera.

My camera is a Cannon AS590IS Powershot. Not exactly an expensive or fancy camera. Being a student I really haven't had money for fancy equipment. The reason I got this camera is it gave me the most control options for the amount of dollars I was spending. However, I cannot control my camera from my PC. I have to be able to import my pictures into the movie application in order to make my stop motion work.

Yes, being the computer geek that I am I did try to download stuff that was supposed to make my camera work that way. Nope. Apparently none of them support my particular camera. And the ones that support models close to mine don't actually work with mine.

When I had Vista (ptui, ptui) I used to use Windows Movie Maker. It worked great. But then they started modifying it, so now it isn't so good for making stop mo anymore. I can't control it as much. And it assumes I am adding video instead of pictures, so it doesn't allow me do to some of the things it used to. Settings that used to be there are gone.

I tried MonkeyJam. This would be a great and handy program....if it worked. My old laptop didn't have the RAM or the processing power to allow it to work correctly. My new laptop does, but it seems they have stopped developing it or something because it doesn't play well with Windows 7. I can download it, I can import a maximum of 100 images into it. And that is about it. It doesn't even get as far as allowing me to do a preview. Then it closes itself down because it can't handle what I am asking it to do.

Several site suggest VideoDub. I downloaded it, but I cannot get it to import images. It only wants to capture and can't find a capturing device (duh, I don't have one). And it won't advance until it detects one. My guess is that the paid version has that feature but the free one doesn't.

And that is where my swear words started to outnumber my regular words, so i wisely put that project away and went to get cake. Cause cake makes everything better. Just saying.

I did start a crochet project. I found a spool of green colored yarn in my stache, and as it is getting warmer here (we are finally in the upper 60's. woo hoo) I decided to try my hand at crocheting a tank top for myself. I have never been one for constructing anything. I can make hats, socks, scarves and blankets. that is about the extent of it. Although I have been crocheting since I was 6 years old, I have for some reason never mastered the art of reading and following a pattern. Which might not be so much a surprise if you knew that it took me 20 years to finally be able to bake a decent loaf of bread.

So...here is that project:

Yeah. I have no idea how to construct this thing, so I have decided to crochet a big giant rectangle, sew the ends together and add straps at the top. I am 4 rows in. It took me 5 hours. I have majorly slowed down. Well, that and this is really a fine yarn. It isn't like the thick worsted you get from you regular craft store. It is the thickness of your average dental floss, so it might take me a while. Hopefully it will be done before the cold snap sets in. It will be my TV project for the next few weeks. Hopefully. :P Yeah, like adding that word will make it go any faster.

0 Comments

Excuses, Excuses

Vampire Steampunk Silurian is the name of my cover band

Lazy blogger is lazy

Satisfaction wasn't that hard, was it?

Video contests suck...but new project is started

Projects and Job Hunting

Author

Archives

Categories