The Doctor is in.

This was a Christmas gift I made for my husband's niece, a Whovian of massive proportions. Meet the Eleventh Doctor, complete with fez (Fezzes are cool!) and his most constant companion, the TARDIS.

This was Utilitarian crochet at its finest and they were a blast to make. I used patterns exclusively, but did have to spend a little time making revisions to get the coat to fit the doll properly. Other than that, you reads the pattern, you gets the Doctor. Nice. Oh, the hair was a little different. But the instructions are actually quite good and if you just do what they say, you will get good hair. Peasy!

Matt Smith Big and Cuddly Doctor Who by Nyss Parkes
Various acrylic scraps, size US D hook

The TARDIS was ultimately just a box, but it really benefitted from plastic canvas reinforcement to keep the edges sharp when stuffed. I cut four pieces, tacked them together at the corners so they wouldn't bulge, then affixed them to the top of the sides before I attached the roof. The roof was a simple square, which naturally peaked (with a little tug of the top "light") once the stuffing was complete.

TARDIS amigurumi by Army of Owls
Red Heart Super Saver and a size US G hook

We were out of town at my sister's on Christmas Day and didn't get to see our niece open it. A phone call and her post about it to Facebook were all the evidence we needed to know that it was a huge hit and that I apparently still have the fangirl touch. :)

And speaking of being a fangirl, she inspired me to give Doctor Who a try last fall and I have totally succumbed. I've watched all of the "new" Who (2005 - present) via Netflix and Amazon streaming at least twice per episode and some of them I think I've seen four or five times. Such good handwork watching. And I don't have any indication yet that The X-files are getting jealous.

Yes, it's a sickness.

Oh my, I just might need a Doctor...

Hehe.

My new room mate

Before I say anything else, I want to wish a Very Happy Anniversary to Missa and her dear hubby, Lee, who, as of today, have been married for... well, a long time. But not quite as long as I have. So somewhere around fifteen-y sixteen-ish.

Hi, my memory is crap!

I was Missa's matron of honor at her wedding, and anyone who has ever stood up at a wedding will appreciate this story of just how freaking cool my awesome BFF is:

When she was planning her wedding and asked me to stand up with her, I asked her what her colors were and what my dress might be like. She said, I don't know -- you're the only one standing up with me, so you pick out the dress you want to wear and that will be the color I use. There were a few caveats, of course -- no fuscia, etc. -- but considering that she knew my taste at the time, it wasn't really an issue. I found a simple, dark green cocktail dress in the JCPenney clearance catalog for 24.99, she loved it, and that settled it. And I officially had the best bridesmaid experience ever. Missa 'da bomb!!!

And now, while we're all feeling all these warm and fuzzy thoughts for Missa, let's throw a few in the direction of my awesome new roomie, Benny! Who's Benny, you ask? Why is he living with you? What sort of scandalous things are going on up there in Beer Town, anyway? Am I going to have to start filtering this blog, you wonder?

Never fear, dear friends! As I artfully communicated in my last post, I went to the greenhouse on Saturday. I went with a friend and had no intention of buying anything because my thumb is notoriously black and the thought of killing something I was attached to, even a plant, at this point makes me unbearably sad. But then I saw Benny. He called to me. "Hey, nice lady! I'm small and cute and springy and you can talk to me and not feel so crazy in your little apartment! And, really, with all those south-facing windows, not having a plant is a kind of a crime against the Planta kingdom." I swear, he really said all of that to me. But I took Benny home with me, so the men in white coats can't come get me because then I won't be able to take care of Benny anymore.

Yes! Stay away from me, social workers! I'm protected by... A PLANT!!!

My room mate, Benny, is cute, yet fierce.

Then I went to TJ Maxx, the home of all the stuff no one wanted to buy at other stores, and found a great little pot for $4. I think it matches the decor delightfully:


In case you're wondering, that is a ceramic fish in the upper left. A wonderfully effed up ceramic fish by a locally famous artist in my hometown. It's awesome, trust me. So is the terra cotta ball thingy in the lower right -- also by him. It jingles if you shake it. Such cool stuff I've been given over the years.

Now that there's a plant on that table, I shall start referring to it as my sculpture garden. And the men in white coats can just try to stop me.

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Saturday sky and a distinct lack of progress

It's overcast and cool today and threatening rain. Which is too bad because we're supposed to drive down to Chicago this evening for Ravinia and listen to Strauss in the park. I'll be sad if it gets rained out.


The trip to Ravinia is representative of why I'm not getting any knitting done. Along with copious research work and a daily 2-hour class on radioisotope safety, I'm mentoring the undergraduate summer research program. This means I help the students with presentations, watch said presentations, coordinate many social events, and attend said social events. This is pretty fun and I get paid to do it, but it also means that my calendar is pretty darned full right now. For instance, Wednesday we had a big bowling party, last night we went on the Lakefront brewery tour and had a fish fry and today we're going to Ravinia. We had to cancel an ice cream social because there was just too much going on. I've become a regular little social butterfly. I hope to get some sock work done on the way to Chicago and during the concert itself. As long as the light holds out, baby! :)

Ooh, and last night New Friend Veronica took me to Target. The Dollar Spot did not let me down! Hello kitty food containers! Cute!!


Its such a good thing that it takes so little to excite me. Really, it is.

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The fun part of the weekend

Yesterday I intimated that only part of my holiday weekend was good. That's because I felt like crap on Sunday and most of yesterday. My sinuses are hatin'. But until that point, the weekend was going swimmingly.

On Friday I left the lab early, packed up some stuff, piled in friend Anne's car and we headed down to Chi-town. New Friend Veronica's brother was getting married and we had been recruited to bring one of their aunts down for the festivities. Said aunt ended up not going, so Anne and I headed off on our own eager to meet V's family (who all seem so fun and zany when she talks about them) and, to be completely honest, eager for a yummy wedding dinner and open bar. 'Cause we're not crazy.

Look how cute we are! That's me, Anne, and V! I don't always have that "deer in the headlights" look, though. I don't think.


There was dancing and chatting and a generally fabulous time was had by all! Yay Mr. and Mrs. V's Brother!!


The next day, after a yummy brunch at V's folks' house, Anne and I headed back towards WI. But not without stopping first at Cheap Home Furnishings Mecca:


I had never been to IKEA before and it was insane, kids. Crazy huge! Full of so many things I could instantly need desperately merely by laying my eyes upon them for the briefest of moments. I restrained myself though. Mostly, I got some gadgets to give as part of a wedding gift this summer. But I totally had to get this one cute thing. Well, two of them, because I decided only one wasn't going to be enough. But I'm only showing a picture of one. The other one is just like it, only lime green:


SO CUTE!!! Might... DIE!... from the... CUTENESS!!! Oh! But the best part! Yes! The puzzle pieces actually FIT INTO ONE ANOTHER!!!



Ahem. So, perhaps this unrestrained excitement over silicone ice cube trays caused me to rupture something, causing a headache, and ruining the rest of my weekend.

Nope, can't do it. Can't blame any amount of suffering on the cutest ice cube trays ever manufactured! Of course, I've never seen Hello Kitty ice cube trays...

Somebody STOP ME...

Artoo Update

If you'd like to know if there's an R2D2 mailbox near you, you can check the partial list of cities that the Star Wars website posted, or look at the Frappr! Map of R2 units that is constantly updated and completely unofficial, yet probably pretty darned accurate. Happy hunting, if you're so inclined!

Still coughing, but Look!! Artoo!!

Thanks to all the well-wishers regarding my icky chest cold. Alas, I'm not better.

But! Thank god for ADD! Look at what popped up on my campus and has totally distracted me from my misery! (Okay, in the spirit of full disclosure, on my way home last night, I walked right by this and didn't notice it. Because in part of my brain, seeing a random R2 unit on the street just isn't that weird. Analyze it all you want.)


Had you heard about this? I had, and was way excited that there was one within walking distance for me to fawn over!


It's right by the engineering building on Wisconsin Avenue, which is only two buildings away from the life sciences building so, practically right by where I work!! Sorta!!


The boxes themselves bid you check this out. And there's this, too.

Happy. This just makes me so freakin' happy.

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Oh, baby baby!

Last night I decided a little change was in order. Isn't the new layout cute and festive? I like it. :) Mad props to Mela and her creative template skilz. I could probably make a cute layout myself if I learned just a little more CSS, but I'd rather spend that time crocheting and knitting, so I'm really thankful that people like Mela offer such great stuff to the masses for free. Yay! Spring-y! Yes, I'll admit, I was sorely tempted by the Hello Kitty layouts.

I also made the second pair of baby booties last night. Same pattern as the last ones, different yarn. I like the contrasting cuff on this pair.



So, two cute gifts done. Now I can get back (again) to my WIPs. I swear I'm going to say that for the rest of my life.

I'm trying desperately to get some results that I can present at the Midwest Protozoology Meeting in St. Louis at the end of this month. I'm afraid it's not going to happen. I shouldn't be too upset -- it's extremely rare to have a poster during a rotation, but I was really hoping that my project was straightforward enough and relevant to Tetrahymena researchers that I could pull it off. Oh well. I'll keep trying for the next week. Maybe I'll be surprised.

Now my blog has little bugs like my lab does! Different bugs, to be sure, but! Bugs! Yay!

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Snowflakes, cactii and kitties

I made a snowflake! I made a snowflake! I've been soooo bad about sticking with the Snowflake Monday commitment. But I gave away all my snowflakes over the holidays (as one should, I suppose), so I guess I have incentive to start it up again.


Design #15 from the Leisure Arts leaflet 99 Snowflakes

I finally finished Spike, the forgotten amigurumi. After trying several things, I settled on a spartan, representative, slightly industrial look for our dear Spike. A few prickles here and there made of paper clip wire and just a touch of scrub at the base. I'm actually quite pleased. It would have been really easy to overdo it.



On a completely unrelated note, I caved in to the MySpace craze. I'm not proud. I am kind of having fun with it, though. Why I find this that much different from the blogging craze, I don't know.

Saturday I bought something so fabulous, so exciting, so wonderful that I can't begin to do it justice with mere words:


Oh yeah, baby. Clearance at Target. Last one. And do you suppose that the mere external cuteness explosion would be enough to make this small appliance the epitome of kitchen wonderment? Why no! This toaster doesn't just look cute, it does cute! How, you ask?


Yeah. That's what I thought.