(Even more) EOS Cozies – Sanrio Theme

I did it.

I made more.

They don’t look perfect. I don’t care. They are cute and I love each and every one of them. From left to right: Chococat, My Melody, Hello Kitty, Keroppi, and Badtz Maru.

Before taking the picture, I rushed through a Pandapple cozy… and failed. Oh sigh.

Nice and cozy on a cold winter’s day

My Melody flopped hard. Somewhere in between, I thought, “darrr wut r consistency?” Guess I ought to remake her, and Badtz. And maybe make Monkichi, to go with the scarf.

 

And now, time for some serious female nerd treason:

Growing up, I didn’t really like Sailor Moon. Yes, there was a time I watched it. No, I do not associate it with my childhood anywhere near as much as Hello Kitty or Keroppi. Even back then, it was clear Sailor Moon was not for kids our age. (6 – 8) Hello Kitty and Keroppi were considered “babyish.” (Again, this is came from 6 – 8 year olds.)I’d like to see how those kids reacted when My Little Pony became popular… Among grown men.

It’s ironic: we tried so hard to be grown up. And once we do grow up, all we want to do is be a kid again. I for one do not wish to be a kid again; I got bullied for watching anime, when apparently I should’ve been watching two rich girls make fools of themselves while trying to live like “simple folk.”

 

Which cozy do you like best? Which Sanrio character is your favorite? Comment below!

 

Pika, so happy ~

EOS Lip Balm Cozies!

For Christmas, my shoon-tastic cousin Shoonie gave me an EOS lip balm. You’ve probably heard of or seen these before. They’re known for their unique packaging. To people with eternally dry lips, they’re a life saver.

While scrolling Facebook one day, this link caught my attention. (Click image for original blog)

And so I thought, why not personalize my own EOS? I decided to make mine look more like a Bob-omb. And so I got the yarn and started working, until…

Lip BOMB cozy, take #1

Uh oh… I don’t think I did it right. In the original post, it showed the bomb covering the lip balm completely. Then I thought, maybe I should use thicker yarn? So I got out the other yarn…

 

 

Lip BOMB cozy, take #2

…nope. And so, I made two halves. On the bottom half, I worked a round through the back loops so the balm could sit flat.

 

Overall Pattern verdict:

Cute! Though it would’ve been nice if I could figure out why the pictures show it fully covered, yet I kept ending up with two halves.

Here is the final product, closed and opened.

And then, I got inspired to make up my own cozies….

Sanrio theme! Here are Hello Kitty, Keroppi, and Chococat. I still want to make Badtz-Maru, My Melody, Monkichi, and Pandapple. These were created for the January contest on deviantART. There is still time to enter, so if you like Sanrio characters, have a dA account, and love to knit or crochet, give it a try! I think I will sell these once the others are finished.

Have you tried an EOS lip balm? What is your favourite Sanrio character? Comment below!

Pika, so happy~

Hello Kitty Scarf – Amigurumi #15

Yes, the scarf itself is still a WIP. I wasn’t sure where to file this. On one hand, it’s a mini ami. On the other, it’s an incomplete scarf. Then I thought, “por que no los dos?” And then I went out for burritos.

This plushie scarf was inspired off the Monkichi scarf I bought from Pacific Mall, back when I barely knew how to make anything but teddy bears. Kawaii, ne? (Cute, isn’t it?) They also had Hello Kitty and Keroppi versions, but I went with Monkichi so that Senor Monkey could have a friend. This is going to be an entry to the January contest over on deviantArt. I will include the link below.

Left: Monkichi scarf from Pacific Mall vs. handmade Hello Kitty scarf

 

You know that feeling when you have a problem, wrack your brain for solutions to said problem, and in the end the solution was so simple you wonder why you didn’t think of it sooner? That happened here, when deciding how to wash the scarf if need be. The scarf could be stuffed into an old stocking or lingerie bag, but the last time I machine washed a plushie it smelled. And so I’ve decided to attached fasteners to the back of Kitty. Now I can have a fluffy scarf and Hello Kitty brooch. Yay!

 

Few years back, I made a Hello Kitty ami for a friend’s girlfriend. I didn’t finish it in time, haha… XP All I managed to finish were the head, ears, and body. Maybe it made a good stress reliever. Oh well, not like that relationship lasted anyway.

Hello Kitty was one of my first animes. I didn’t realize it was an anime until Pokemon and Dragon Ball Z became popular, and people started explaining the differences between anime and cartoons. To me, cartoons were cartoons; they were drawn and animated, characters did and said funny things, but there was still a clear semblance of a story/moral. The only difference to me was the way they were drawn. Anime characters were drawn with clean lines and simplistic animation, while cartoons were silly and exaggerated. Yet, anime and cartoons are like hard and soft shell tacos; I like both!

Kitty and Mimmy

The English theme song went, Hello Kitty, play with us today, we’ll laugh and sing on this lovely sunny day. I spent my entire childhood thinking it was, “fluffy sunny day.” In my defense, the opening ended with a shot of a fluffy cloud that took the shape of Kitty’s face. So hah! Fluffy day! 😀

To those who haven’t watched it, Hello Kitty followed the adventures of Kitty and her twin sister, Mimmy. Kitty was outgoing and loved sports, while Mimmy liked reading and baking. For some reason, my favourite episode was the one in which they were dreaming of their ideal boy, and Mimmy meets hers the same day. He was sweet and liked reading, kind of like my type today. I’ve always related to Mimmy more, but I made Kitty because she’s the one everyone remembers. Don’t worry Mimmy, now that I’m a grown up, I’ll get all the nerdy boys for both of us.

 

And now, back to assignments. In terms of getting assignments done on time, this semester is already looking great. I finished two assignments early! Here’s to getting everything done on time throughout 2015.

This week, I will be resurrecting my game dev blog, Pika on a Blog. If you’re interested in reading about games in a more analytical light, click over!

If you’re interested in showing off your creative side, click over to Knitting and Crochet’s January contest. The theme is Sanrio, so if you want to make your own item, be sure to submit before the end of January! Even if you don’t win, consider it a great chance to receive exposure for your work.

What other character scarves and accessories would you like? How is school/work going so far in the new year? Comment below!

Pika, so happy~

Batman Hand Warmers

The post actually appeared before quarter to midnight? WHAT SORCERY IS THIS?!

I made these long-outstanding hand warmers for Justice. Yes, that is his real name. Even if I were to give him a fake name, it would be Batman. For the past month or so, he’d ask, “hey Val, where’re my hand warmers?” I would run away as I made this face: ( ; w ; ) It’s been what, four months now? I still haven’t given these to him. X3;;;

This was my first time trying duplicate stitch. Hm… These ended up looking more like eagles. Others have mentioned something about Battlestar Galactica. I think they look a lot better in the smaller picture below.

The base of these warmers was inspired by the “Hugs n Kisses with Love Hand Warmers” pattern from 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders. You may remember this from last month. This time, I skipped over the XOXO cable pattern, which resulted in plain warmers.

I noticed that they turned out bigger, even though I used the same size knitting needles. Then I realized that Man, I did not like duplicate stitch… I had to eyeball the necessary chart modifications so that it would fit.  Here is the chart I used, which was originally meant for a doggy sweater (click for original source, plus doggy sweater pattern!):

Story Time!

Together with Squirt, Speakerphone, and Tru-bert, Justice and I formed the Justice League. The entire Justice League went to Montreal, but then they split us up because girls and boys had to have different rooms. BLASPHEMY! Justice says that drunk/high Tru-bert is funny, and that Tru-bert and Squirt were arguing about waking up the next day. I felt bad for Justice, having to endure the apparent snoring contest that was going on. He can still be such a troll when he wants; when we play Cities and Knights, my cities always burn down. It’s his fault. Oh yeah, he has a minion, but the minion sucks because it didn’t finish building the death ray. It also let the African mafia burn down his laptop. Believe me – I was there.

From left to right: Tru-bert, me, Squirt, Justice, and Speakerphone

Suggestions have arisen for Wonder Woman warmers to be next. Also for that Charmander plush to be finished.

 

Are there any other types of hand warmer designs you’d like to see? Do you Comment below!

Pika, so happy~

Candy Kit Review – Oekaki Gummies

Happy New Year!

On Thursday, I woke up to a flood of “new year, new me” Facebook statuses, among other flooding things. You know, because it’s that time of the month where you start fresh. Those statuses Midol be the same concept, but they get annoying fast. I didn’t bother posting a status, because I think my uterine lining already did that. Okay, I’ll stop now. HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU TOO, BODY. ;w;

Instead of taking a selfie, let’s have a new section of kit reviews. It’s good to take a break once in a while, where you don’t have to stress over writing down patterns. I didn’t take enough of my own pictures, so click on pictures to see their original source. The finished gummy pics are mine.

You’ve probably heard of Japanese candy kits. They’re DIY kits that come with powders you mix, mold, and decorate to look like real food. I first saw VenusAngelic do the candy bento kit, and have since been determined to find and try some kits for myself. The obstacle: the language barrier. The instructions are entirely in Japanese, and our only guides (besides the tutorials on YouTube) are the diagrams on the box. Joining me on this journey are real life Peck Peck and Shoonie. (My baby bro and baby cousin, respectively) We’ll start with a simple kit: Oekaki Gummy Land.

Oekaki Gummy Land

Brand: Kracie

Price: $6.00 at Sweet Tooth Candy Emporium

As the name implies, this kit lets you create your own gummy shapes. You get four random cookie cutter shapes, (we got a whale, dolphin, sailboat, and music note) three colour powder packets, a large packet of gelatin base, a water dropper, and a fork.

The fork has 3 prongs. If a fork is called a fork because it has FOUR prongs, does this make 3 prongs a “Tork?”

Click for tutorial

Directions for the kit are simple: place your desired cookie cutter into the base, and use the dropper to drip the colours. You can also mix colours together in the smaller channels of the tray. It didn’t take much time for our gummies to dry.

They tasted pretty good, too!

And then Shoonie got bored, and didn’t want to waste the rest of the colours….

OMGWTF ASDFGHJKL KILL IT WITH FIRE!!!

Overall Verdict

Difficulty: 1/10

Fun to do, though mixing the colours wasn’t as fun. The green turned out swampy, and the other colours looked too dark. This was redeemed, since they actually looked better once you drip them onto the base.

Taste: 8/10

Red tasted like grape, blue tasted like Ramune soda, yellow tasted like lemon. Grape and soda seem to be popular candy flavours in Japan. I like their grape flavour; it’s a bit tart like real grapes, unlike the artificial grape we often get here in Canada. I was kind of hoping to get new flavours by mixing colours, as shown on the package. Then again, those flavours weren’t far from unique. (See image)

Overall verdict: 8/10 would recommend

This was simple and tasted like you’d expect candy to taste. They were very sticky and felt like homemade sourpatch. If you find this kit, give it a try!

And that’s all for the first post of 2015. How’s this for a sweet start to the new year?

Tired of the puns yet? Whale then, have a look at what I sent Tay for New Year:

What big changes are you making for the new year? Comment below!

Pika, so happy~