101 in 1001

Things I am not doing at the moment: watching any of the Academy Awards coverage.

Completed: 

None!


In Progress:

I started on Doktor Glas today; while I was able to read through the first chapter relatively easily, there were definitely significant portions I didn't understand or piece together from my memory of the English text. (1 - 6) I'm not going to count it as done just yet.

I also am working like a fiend to get some earrings done before the Springtown craft show. (2 - 3) I don't particularly care for earrings: they're too small for what I like to do, and my ears aren't pierced so it's never something I could enjoy for myself, anyway! (Note: not that I would turn around and sell earrings I had worn myself without cleaning and sterilizing them first. I respect federal laws!) But most women do have pierced ears, and obviously I can sell them at a lower price point than a necklace or bracelet, so I should really have more in stock than I do. Nose to the grindstone...

Comments and posts, of course! (1 - 3) (7 - 4)


Failed:

None!

Rest of the list after the jump.

Tutorial: Sock Bracelet Display

Because I have a show coming up at the end of March, it's time to reevaluate my display options. I wasn't entirely happy with my past setup and felt I could improve on it a bit. I spent a few minutes browsing Pinterest for "craft show display ideas."

I found a few tutorials that were, well, needlessly complicated. I thank them for their inspiration, but seriously: too complicated, ladies! Here's my DIY Sock Bracelet Display.  I had one all done in about twenty minutes, and even then I could have saved a lot of time if I had bothered to use new, sharp scissors. Bonus points: you can make this a no-sew display, if you're smart about step 0.

Anyway, here it is: Kokoba's No-Fuss Sock Bracelet Display


Step 0: Materials, assemble!

Here is everything I used for my Sock Bracelet Display. In case it's hard to see:

• One pair knee socks, in a color or pattern of your choice. (You can make this a no-sew project if you find tube socks, but I didn't.)
• Stuffing.
• Rocks, for weight (in the black plastic bag).
• Scissors
• Needle
• Thread (to match the sock color).

Step 1: Prep the sock.

Cut off the foot of the sock, so you have a tube of fabric.

Step 2: Prep the scraps.

Cut a circle to fit your tube from the leftover scrap of foot fabric. If you bought tube socks, you don't need to do this. Unless, of course, you want your display to have a closed stitched end, in which case either find something in your stash that matches, or sacrifice the other tube sock.

Step 3: Sock, reassemble!

Pin and sew the circle to your sock. Don't forget to turn the sock inside out before you pin and sew!

Optional:

You can sew up the other end as well, leaving a hole for the stuffing to be sewed up at the end. But well, in the parlance of the Internet:

Step 4: Stuff it like a turkey.

This step is self explanatory. I mixed in some gravel and pebbles in with the stuffing, to give the display a bit of weight so it wouldn't just roll around willy-nilly. Or perhaps that wasn't necessary. I'll have to conduct later experimentation on the other sock in the pair to find out! 

Step 5: ????

Step 6: Profit!

You'll see that I just knotted it off at the end, because I hate sewing and eschew it at very opportunity. I made sure to stitch up the cut end of the sock (the one closest to the foot), so that knotted end was the natural, neat-looking top of the sock. I might un-knot it to give it a "proper" stitched finish, or to add some more stuffing, but as it is I think it looks unique and presentable.

You can secure the bracelets with pins as necessary; you can also find a sock with a neat (unobtrusive) pattern if black isn't your thing. The only problem is that this is just a little too big to properly display my memory wire bracelets. Fortunately I still have another knee sock to mess around with!

There you go! Easy as pie, right?

What I Read: Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell

I meant to blog about this book while I was still reading it, but I got sidetracked and finished it before I got the chance to post. Hence "What I Read" instead of "What I'm Reading."

I loved this book so. Freaking. Much.

I am extremely picky about all of my reading, but in particular I am picky about my fantasy and science fiction reading. I'm so picky that I don't even like Harry Potter, to give you an idea about the stringent nature of my standards.

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell has almost all of the things I look for in a fantasy novel: a detailed, "textured" world; a logical and coherent system of magic; conflict that's palpable and specific; an antagonist who has motivations for his actions (and bonus point for moral ambiguity: I don't think it's much of a spoiler to say that the antagonist doesn't even realize that what he's doing is wrong). I just wish the female characters were less boring, more important, and had more agency, but you can't have it all.

I'm so happy I finally got around to reading this!

The World's Youngest Game Developer

...is a seven-year-old girl from a West Philadelphia charter school. How cool!

Zora Ball's teacher taught her Racket, and now she's coding at a sixth grade level. No one seems to have done this for her; when asked questions about the code and asked to make a change to it on the fly, she was able to comply with ease.

Zora's game is called "Vampire Diamonds," and you should be able to play it on your smartphone by the beginning of next year.

Music Monday: DJ DOC

I've probably mentioned DJ DOC here before, but I'm too lazy to comb through the other Music Monday posts to make sure. This one is another case where I dump the entire discography of a band into my library and then let songs filter through as they will.

It's in Korean, obviously, but the video has the Korean lyrics and the English translation.




This is great and I love it.

101 in 1001

Sorry I've been so quiet the last few days. I've been busy, though! I've picked up a side writing gig, so I've been focusing on that while I learn the ropes. Hopefully after this next round of assignments I'll be able to maximize my writing efficiency. And by maximizing my writing efficiency, I of course mean finally figuring out some good time management skills. Even so, I managed to find the time to work on some 101 in 1001 goals!


Completed: 

None!


In Progress:

I finished Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell and Bossypants this week. (2 - 4) (9 - 2) Jonathan Strange is one more item off my "books owned for over a year" list; Bossypants ups my non-fiction count. Both of them were excellent reads, though very, very different. Reviews of both forthcoming.


Failed:

None!

Rest of the list after the jump.

Craft Show Alert: Springtown, PA

The Springtown Fire Company will be hosting a craft fair in their fire hall on Saturday, March 23 from 9 AM to 4 PM. I'll be there selling, so if you're in the greater Philadelphia/NYC area, stop by! It's only a handful of minutes from exit 67 on I-78, right on Route 212.

There will be crafts and refreshments for sale, the latter provided as a fundraiser by the fire company. Come by and say hello!


View Springtown Fire Company in a larger map