Whales (crochet And Needle Felted)

And as it’s Yasujirô Ozu’s Birthday (and Deathday) what better excuse to repost this old classic from days of yore - the many (but not all) teapots of Ozu!

Aimée the Sheep

Made using a kit from TOFT.

It's limited edition but if you're familiar with their body construction you can probably very easily recreate it. The only 'special ingredient' is La Bien Aimee Confetti Cake yarn - it's also the main reason for the kit being on the expensive side I guess. The yarn came in hank and I was dreading it based on my previous experience but it turned out that DK weight yarn was significantly easier to untangle than sock weight. 😌

You can also still get the Sheep magazine with patterns (including previously featured Seth and Tobias) if you do want/need a pattern.

I've not got super much to say about this one to be honest... I forgot to put in the safety eyes so it's a bit of blue sparkly Rico yarn which I think suits her. I made bulk of the body in a queue waiting for a sample sale and I thought it was quite solid but upon inspection later the holes between stitches were once again HUMONGOUS. Thank sheep god for the fleece on top, and a note to self to pay more attention and keep my tension *tight* (but then relax it for granny squares, I started one and it's a wrinkly mess 🫠).

The project helped me overcome my hate on hanks and the yarn seemed like a qualitt product, it's a serious contender if I ever need to make a Quality gift. 👌

Anywho, here's a pic of all three existing sheep I made (Seth and Tobias post). No denying that Seth is still the most bombastic.

Why do they make me think of Will and Hannibal with Abigail? 🥺

A quick hat from a kit - attempting to break the April curse. Unfortunately as the cover implies it is only big enough for a child and I think I don’t know any more of those so my fine hound mascot will be looking very fashion.

I think Sirdar kits are pretty good for beginners (I made a fucking massive scarf before) but the colour selection is always at least a bit questionable imo. 🤨 Like what in the lesbian + pan flag mix is this… at least the yarn from the scarf came in handy for the Raccoon’s hi viz jacket…

Note to self to get a bobble maker and a granny square blocking board…

Horse girl Radahn

Catnana (alien phase + placeholder face, the future owner’s mum is doing me a solid and embroidering properly and stitching on legs herself, I will edit once I get a pic).

My first time using chenille - pretty horrid to work with tbh??? It was almost impossible to see the stitches so I had to feel my way around. Surprisingly decent outcome all things considered. Better than trying to do the same pattern in a pure wool anyway which was NOT soft and pleasant…. 😬

I ran out of yellow before the end despite using up two skeins instead of the one recipe called for anyway. :|

Pattern: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1187577726/pattern-jumbo-catnana-crochet-pdf-only

Kinda took off as a meme at work so I may make some minis to throw at people hehe

Messed around with some jasperite terrazzo kits today to make coasters (unpolished yet). Some obvious faults in the make but it’s all quite satisfying and I have plenty of the mix + chips leftover hehe. >:3c

jennifer’s body 🩸💖

I have no pottery this weekend but my jesmonite & terrazzo kits should be arriving today! Exciting!!

February 2025

I was mentally incapable of moving on from Feb until the sheep was done.

Anyway

Holiday

Cruising is weird and not for me but I was not _for_ me so fine I guess. The polish tour leader was surprisingly competent (esp compared to the LatAm fiasco) and mum had a good time so probably more 🛳️ in my future at some point. It's a good way to recon places worth going back to on my own ig (first Istanbul because that pomegranate juice was to die for, then probs HK).

If there's one thing I know for sure it's that I never need to see another waterfall again in my life. ✋

Work and things

I really don't want to feature an obit in each one of those so can my friends and colleagues stop dying? RIP Charlotte.

Since I cunningly avoided the big thing we've been working towards (migration from GOV.UK PaaS) by being on holiday, a new big thing to work towards that everyone is very stressed about has appeared. 😑

Then I guess I will be moving to a different portfolio since a replacement for my role has been recruited! I get bored easily and I've been here for over a year now so I'm quite happy.

I'm increasingly of the opinion that creating any live service team / BAU capability should probably start with a solid process and roadmap for retiring services.

Sisyphus had it easy compared to people who try to write down processes at work and put them all in one place, I can cheer them on but I have mentally checked out from the attempts and will continue to solve my problems by asking groupchats.

My mortgage got approved, survey happened and has nothing dramatic in it, and my seller has found something they want to buy (with no chain) so it's all happening.

Fool's spring was nice and I am now ready to just delude myself into thinking it's spring for two months no matter how bad the weather gets. At least the lido will continue to be half empty. : )

Got a new tattoo and this was THE shortest time between getting one and wanting the next (as in - while I was still getting tattooed 😑). Love it even more than I expected tbh and definitely getting it extended if the artist comes back to the UK!

I'm helping with the next Delivercon and department's DM get together.

Watched

The Monkey - great fun, true to trailer (yes I'm still pissed about Presence), just a good ass film

The Last Showgirl - 100% of respondents* agree that this could be a double bill with The Substance

*(me and my friend with who I also watched The Substance)

fuckton of b-roll and why the HELL does the photographer girl never have a camera? bizarro. Jamie Lee Curtis just has fun as always. I have a lot to say about this for some reason hah

Mickey 17 - bizarrely bad in an incompetent way (characters introduced for no reason that go nowhere, plotholes, fuckton of expository voiceover, thematic blunt force trauma). Stinks of studio interference frankly, give us the Bong Joon-Ho cut!!!! 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️

Played

Hades 2 - major update dropped so that accounts for several dozen hours of my life in this time period. We got Ares, we got the good shade... My only remaining wish is for the game to let me pet the goodest three-headed boy. 🥺

The Roottrees are Dead - is it possible to go wrong with an Obra Dinn-like (that is not actually Obra Dinn, that was too hard for me and my eyes hurt thx).

Reignbreaker demo - Hades-like releasing in the spring which seems REALLY GOOD but the studio already announced they're getting shuttered after release. So glad this billion pound industry I'd love to work in is a garbage fire both working culture and career prospects-wise. :|

Fiasco - I guess our DM wanted more people to try making funny voices... ALAS. TTRPGs are hardly my thing and improv definitely isn't. How do I convince these people to just play a fucking boardgame again. orz

Makes

2 x Sheep (Toft) - https://techforevil.tumblr.com/post/777113383117914112/tldr-i-finished-two-sheep-from-toft-seth-the

Sadie the Sailor Dog (Ricorumi) - https://techforevil.tumblr.com/post/777114285980729344/sadie-the-sailor-dog-from-ricorumi-two-main

Started the Sanitation Worker Raccoon (I have the raccoon herself done, now just the accessories).

I also succeeded getting someone else into amigurumi and she’s onto her 2nd project (having started with a toft cat), counting that as mine. 😎

Next up

Got my Yakuza in Hawaii import from Japan ages ago (how could I live without Majima pop-up pirate toy...) just gotta find 30hrs spare to play it.

Golden Idol has a new DLC 👀

Got a ticket for Stitch Festival, inc a needle felting (aka best craft 🗡️) workshop

Maybe try making a human character amigurumi. :T