Thursday, January 30, 2014

Introducing Hektor the Tyrannosaurus

Tyrannosaurs may have a fearsome reputation, but little baby T-rexes like Hektor are actually very sweet. Much like an eager but adorably clumsy puppy, who stumbles over his own slightly too big feet in his excitement.

Say hello to Hektor, better know as Mr. T among friends and family!

I may have mentioned my notebook before. It's got everything from hastily scribbled notes and little drawings of ideas to the first pattern versions I write by hand as I create my creatures and other designs. One of the earliest idea notes, which I jotted down many years ago, reads (translated from Swedish): "T-rex (red with big feet) Hector".

Well, this guy may be a handsome plum purple instead of red, but he did end up with the big feet! It was one of those ideas that are almost complete in my head, but some vital bit is missing - in Hektor's case, the head. I knew I wanted a cute little baby Tyrannosaurus with huge feet, but the design of the head kept eluding me. That's probably why it took me so long to get around to realizing this idea.

Even now the head was the last thing I did. In the end I gave up trying to come up with a design first and just started knitting. Surprisingly enough, the first version I made ended up being perfect! Sometimes my fingers have a better idea of what to do than my brain, it seems.

Hektor is available as a knitting pattern via Ravelry (or click here to buy now - no Ravelry account needed), Craftsy and from my Etsy shop.

Want to see more creature introductions?

Monday, January 13, 2014

The snow is here!

I was beginning to think it wouldn't happen, but for once I'm glad I was wrong.

Finally, there's snow!

Photo by Mr Morrgan

Just look at all that white stuff on the ground! Hooray!

Photo by Mr Morrgan

It's actually genuinely cold! Cold enough for me to finally need to wear my Totoro mittens!

Photo by Mr Morrgan

Oh happy day!

(I will no doubt be thoroughly sick of the cold in about a week or so, but hey, best enjoy the excitement while it lasts! Complete with excessive use of exclamation marks!)

Sunday, January 05, 2014

Happy New Year 2014!

Goodbye to good old 2013 and welcome to new and shiny 2014!

Last year was in many ways an exciting and eventful year. Here's a few of the highlights:

  • In March, I got tired of being a sad weakling and started going to the gym, with the simple goal of getting stronger. At the end of December, after a little over 9 months of training at the gym, 2 times a week on average, I was able to deadlift 1.5x my own weight. I call that a goal achieved. B)
  • In May, I got to experience my first ever case of pneumonia, although a mild one. It sucked. Muchly.
  • In August, I returned to university for another few years of study. I may be 10 years older than most others, but that's not a problem. This second time around I know how it works from the start, so my studies are going very well as I now know how to combine studying with the fun stuff. ;)
  • In September, I started learning Italian and it's awesome. Buon giorno, i miei amici! Come va?
  • In October, I had progressed far enough in the programming classes (which are part of my studies) to be able to program my own little text adventure in Python. Oh, what a proud moment!

Aaaand basically none of this showed up on the blog at the time. Oops. Truthfully, it was a sad and pathetic year blogging-wise, but I aim to change that this year. Honest!

A picture from spring 2013 as there are no lovely snow-covered vistas for us this year. It's been an unusually warm winter, we've hardly gotten a glimpse of snow at all. There goes my ambitious skiing plans (i.e. trying skiing again for the first time in about 8 years).

In fact, here's a little list of some things I plan to do this year:

  • Make a few changes to my Etsy shop, including changing the currency to Euros (already done) and thanks to that change, being able to accept Etsy Gift Cards (also already done, hint hint).
  • I'm working on a bunch of new patterns that I plan to release one at a time over the year. The first one should be ready for release in January, if all goes well!
  • Being able to deadlift 2x my own weight. B)
  • Blog more.
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