"You go, Glen Coco."

So, Takara's posted pictures of their newest pink-haired girl, Coco Collette! I was really looking forward to seeing what her hair looked like! While I don't know if there's any stock pink-haired girl that's the pink-haired girl of my dreams, I have to say, Coco Collette looks so close and so up my particular alley that I'm pretty sure I'm going to snap her up! I love pink, peach, and brown, so I'm excited that she has brown eyeshadow, a set of brown eyes, and pale pinky-peach hair -- and I'm glad she has bangs, because I think I prefer be-fringed Blythes. Her hair looks pretty pink in these pictures, I must say! I don't expect it's quite definitively pink, but it's a pink I personally like. Sometimes official Takara photos are underwhelming. Vinter Arden's didn't even come close to capturing her magical hair color, which defies naming and can look very, very different depending on what she's wearing and the quality of the light.

I'm indifferent towards Coco's Lolita stock, except her cutie socks and shoes (I always love Mary Janes), but she looks very sweet and it's easy to imagine her fitting right in with my girls!

I haven't bought a Neo Blythe in a year and a half (just my adorable Middie, Bonnet) and I've wanted a pink-haired girl ever since I got into Blythe. I love Rachel's Ribbon, too, but her hair looks so similar to Vinter Arden's that I think Coco Collette is a better choice for me.

Luckily for me, a little webdesign job has fallen into my lap to give me a little bump of cash. As Ace of Base would say, I saw the sign!

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lazy hazy crazy days of summer

Miss Petaline spent too much time with her foot bent in her boot, unbeknownst to me, so now my poor Miss has a jaunty-looking bendyfoot condition! I hope it will settle down again, but if not, I may well do a little [stage whisper] PLASTIC SURGERY. Don't worry, Petaline. All the best TV shows do body-swap episodes. You will join a grand tradition. Anyway, here's Miss P in one of my favorite little second-hand dresses, stockings and petticoat and bloomers in place because even in 105-degree weather, Petaline prefers propriety.

I have always wanted to do some green antlers on a deer hat. This is a colorway I've never used before, either. Why not, I say! It's in the shop.

PS: The other day Sandi of The Blythe Ghost, maker of one of Petaline's favorite frocks, kindly lauded me with an award!

I'm going to start saying I'm "versatile" instead of "scatter-brained."

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mandatory Glo Worm Gang wear

Hey, I finished a knitting project for the first time ever -- this slouchy hat, pattern from blythetoday!

I finished it with much jubilation and help from a friend, I, who can actually read patterns and deduce their meaning. I cannot, let me tell you. Every time I was like, "What does this mean? I'm lost and confused!" my friend I would make me a video and upload it to YouTube and show me exactly what I needed to do. It was so helpful, and thanks to her, Gavin is rocking this hilarious hat.

When I put it on her head, I started laughing and couldn't stop for about forty-five minutes solid. It's the funniest-looking thing ever, mostly because of the yarn I was using, I think. It reminds me of Glo Worms and it looks like something Dobby from the Harry Potter series might find very fashionable!

I can't believe I knitted something... I just find it so difficult, I'm really surprised I was able to finish this. I definitely couldn't have if it had not been for my kind, patient long-distance video tutor.

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Knitting!

Knitting! It's not my forte. But I am trying to make a little Blythe hat and my knitter friend I told me she would help me through the pattern, so I got some janky baby yarn to do a test run with, since the pattern required 3/"light"-weight. So far I've restarted three times, but I seem to be on a roll right now, knock on wood. I need to YouTube how to "undo" a stitch when I do it wrong (Friend I says they call it "tinking" -- how cute). I mess up so frequently and don't know how to fix it that it's easy to become discouraged.

But I treasure the fact that friends across the country have taught me how to do everything yarn-crafty that I do.

My online friend A taught me how to crochet in 2001 when we got together for a visit. It was the week of Christmas. We sat at her family get-togethers crocheting, me on old purple acrylic yarn with a rectangle that kept mysteriously getting thinner, as I was dropping stitches off the ends like crazy. We went to a Meijer (they don't have Meijers in my state!) and got me my own yarn and hook, and she helped me out every time I got stuck. Later she described to me in an email, not by pattern terminology but strictly in her own words (which I could understand), how to crochet in the round for a hat. She has no clue that she gave me a hobby that I have stuck with and done somewhat regularly for ten years! I never did really learn how to read crochet patterns and rely on YouTube a lot, but I'd like to get better at this.

Another online friend, K, taught me to cast on and the knit stitch when I was visiting her in 2006. Later, in 2010, my RL BFF E's mom re-taught me those lost skills and also taught me how to purl. Since, I have been practicing but sort of been unceasingly poor at it, and now here is my friend I, helping me figure out a pattern and new skills long-distance with videos!!

Some people learn from their mothers or grandmothers... some people learn from books or classes... I pretty much learned from people I met on the internet! It's a new generation of handing down skills, don't you think?

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every single day

I honestly cannot eat enough peanut butter and jam sandwiches these days. Every now and then I rediscover them and revert into a six-year-old and can't believe how freaking good they are!

Today, I'm:

• watching: The Glee Project season two
• crocheting: fauna hats
• planning: to try and knit??

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hot outside; cold inside!

Surrounded by embroidery floss and hoops... florals... scraps of felt... and a bad tendency to sort things into color families kicking up and causing me to rearrange all my shelves and dress all my Blythes accordingly!

While embroidering, I've been watching (or rather, listening to) makeup videos on YouTube, just as background noise. I don't wear makeup all too often, even though I like it in general -- much more, I like watching organization videos! I love seeing how people organize their collections and talk about their passions!

Particularly fun was to see some of these big beauty gurus who actually borderline make a living off of doing their videos do a $20 makeup challenge without their high-end products or brushes. There was some glorious schadenfreude happening on my part, let me tell you.

Other stuff I've been up to:

• fantasizing about rippling again... I really want to!
• writing, writing, writing for a project that ends June 15th!
• watching a BBC show called Antiques Uncovered - obsessed!
• listening to "Threw It On The Ground" a lot... because it's inspiring???

PS: I have an adorable Deena and Ozzy wallet that I love so much I haven't been in the market for a new wallet for some time, but when I saw this one at Target, how could I resist? Well, I couldn't! Sheesh!

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