facepalm

Okay, I relent to you, strange Middie desires! I had this girl open in an eBay tab for a week before biting the bullet. She was on cheapy-cheap sale, comparatively speaking, and I had a spike of Etsy sales these past couple of weeks -- is it holiday shopping time, or what??

Eee, I'm weirdly nervous! I haven't bought a Blythe in nearly a year (I last adopted Drew at the beginning of January) and have been really quite happy and satisfied with all of my family regardless of crushes on Saffy, Cousin Olivia -- see, I love the blondes! -- Bubble Boom and Thumpty Thump, et cetera. I still crave a pink-haired girl... but there's no rush.

Happy Thanksgiving, Americans!  Things I'm grateful for this year:

• my little sisters, who are awesome
• my guitar, Little Ghosty Boo, for I love it so
• my anti-anxiety medication, without which I would probably go crazy!

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darn you Ann Perkins

When I watch TV, there's two things I always notice. One: stained glass windows, because I have done stained glass and gained a new appreciation for the laboriousness of it, and two: granny squares. The number of times I've been watching TV with someone and randomly say, "Granny squares!" is preeetty high up there. Parks and Recreation's Ann Perkins' and The Big Bang Theory's Amy Farrah Fowler's granny square throws over the backs of their respective couches come to mind.

I always wonder, are these vintage? Thrift store finds? Surely nobody crocheted a whole granny square throw just for the set of a TV show. Amy's is very typical-looking of one from the 70s with the classic black off-setting these Crayola colors, but Ann's is bright and unusual and adds big mod lovely pops of color to her otherwise amusingly bland decor.

Oh, every time I see one, it always make me long to make my own granny square throw! Granny squares are so fun to make, and I'm color crazy. Arranging things by color is so soothing for me. Yet, almost nothing is as annoying to me as as actually joining granny squares!

Either way I'm crocheting my butt off right now making hats, so I think this whole stalking-granny-squares thing is one of those annoying "If I wasn't so busy, I'd surely be doing this other thing" feelings that will go away once I actually have time to make other stuff...

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losing leaves

Autumn on my street :) Right now you can literally stand outside and watch leaves dropping in insane amounts, gusting around and yard-hopping.

While picking up endless supplies at the craft store last week, I found some pretty, very natural-looking brown felt that's kind of oatmeal-y and flecked and that was lovely and thick to the touch, so I immediately cut out several sets of antlers from it. (Well, you know. I bought it first, and then cut it up.) To me, I make these hats so often that even little variations on them can really shake things up for me. Here's a variation of a frost hat with furry brown ears and brown antlers.

I got some olive green felt, too, so now I kind of want to make GREEN ANTLERS!

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little hoods

Today I had fun dressing Klara and Aury up in a fashion inspired by Little Red Riding Hood, with lots of layers and a dark gray pixie hat with wolfy ears. 

I love to put lots of layers on a Blythe... you might have noticed! Because the holidays are coming up I asked my mom if she might make me some petticoats because I just absolutely love 'em and I always seem to have two girls wearing bloomers and another two wearing petticoats. I want capes and capelets, aprons and pinafores, and lots more socks and stockings!

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Middie love... from afar!

1. Set for Middie Blythe, 2. Introducing...., 3. Getting Acquainted!, 4. Middie Macaron, 5. Cherry wishes.., 6. Coat 2.0, 7. little girl~, 8. yellow green pink, 9. New style!

So, I am the first to admit that the introduction of the Middie Blythe last year kind of annoyed me. I've never been attracted to the Petites and my general feeling was, "But, Takara... why not pour your creative energies into making more unique 11-inch RBLs and FBLs?" I actually love blonde Blythes and tend to be attracted to more natural hair colors over fantasy hair colors, but there's been a large amount of repetitive blondes this past year, and even two almost-identical redheads released back-to-back. No matter your preferred Blythe aesthetic, you have to wonder what's up with that. Even I would like to see more variety and better stock.

Also, I thought I was kind of over Blythe sticker shock at this point, but the price for these little beauties is more than many full-sized Blythes, and I must admit, find that very confusing. I keep thinking, "Why would I pay more money for less doll?" I think a lot of people felt similarly when Middie was first introduced.

But oh, Flickr! Just looking at it has changed my feelings on a lot of Blythe dolls. I originally never paid attention to Prima Dolly Paris (her 60s stock and purple lips just ain't my aesthetic) but once I saw her re-imagined by all those beautiful Blythers on Flickr, I really fell in love with her! I was also so excited for Vinter Arden from her promo art, but was disappointed in Takara's promo pictures once they came out. Then once I saw her on Flickr, I realized that Takara's pictures had just really sucked and that VA -- while not the pink-haired doll I had been craving -- was still right up my alley.

Middie Blythes have been no exception to this phenomenon. Seeing them customized and more aptly posed and photographed by talented people who really love their hobby and have a huge scope for imagination has made me feel much more excited about them.

Too bad their price seems to still be very high! I have other Blythely things on my wish list but I just wanted to admit my secret: Man, I would love a Middie!

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Halloween flickr faves

1. Happy Halloween!, 2. Glamour Kitty, 3. 303.365, 4. little witch

E did such an amazing job with her girls, dead-ringers for Daphne and Velma! Also, Nettle... you crack me up!

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