Second interlude: Moar crochet and yes, I fangirl on occasion.

So, instead of working on costumes like a good little costume blogger, I've been doing more crocheting. Why? Because I don't sleep. Instead of sleeping, I watch episodes of the new series of Doctor Who on my netbook, and it's much easier to do that while crocheting than while cutting and sewing costumes.


Following as a natural progression from my Doctor Who-a-thon, I've been poking around to see where else I can find David Tennant's lovely Scottish visage and tremendous acting versatility. Though, sadly, I can't see him as Katurian K. Katurian (yes, that middle K is what you think it is) in McDonagh's The Pillowman (I learned he was in that completely coincidentally, by seeing his name listed in my copy of the script), I found a few other things, including the BBC and Masterpiece Theatre's 2004 TV series Casanova.
I could comment on how much I loved the costumes, or how interesting it was to watch the main character, or not really the character but how you're meant to perceive him, which makes it all the more interesting, change so subtly from hero to anti-hero that you barely notice the transformation until it smacks you in the face, but I'll refrain. For now.
While watching, my hands meandered over to a crochet hook and some yarn. After a few false starts (which I will lie and blame on my being riveted to the goings-on in the show, rather than the less interesting but true reason of my not being able to settle on a pattern), I found myself creating another doll, this one of Casanova himself. My style still declines to include limbs or facial features other than facial hair -- eyebrows in this case -- but appears adorable nonetheless. I also plan to make a Henriette, and probably a Bellino.

(I think his hair could use a bit more work. If work is done, I'll update the pictures. I'll also update the pictures if I splurge on Corel PSPyada-yada-yada, and can edit photos to a wonderful state of semi-realism again.)

After my experiences with this doll I decided enough is enough, and I really should draw up a pattern and follow it each time to make my plushies more uniform in their shape. I did, and I may post/sell it online after I've put more effort into marketing my own services as dollmaker. I'm not at that point though, so avid crocheters and DIY-inclined fangirls will simply have to wait. I'm seriously considering revising my pattern almost entirely, to make the dolls a bit larger and let them sit up more readily without assistance. We'll see how that goes, though.


I have another costume planned, with a post forthcoming after I get some much-needed sleep. Bon soir!

Pondering

God, that sounds like the pretentious emo-kid title of a MySpace blog. Anyway, moving on.

I can't help but wonder why 90% of the blogs you find after my blog by using the "Next Blog" feature are those of devoutly religious women, army wives, or a combination of the two.

On the bright side of things, my new doll-crocheting technique is a stunning success! YAY! Pictures of my newest endeavor will be up as soon as the endeavor's done. As well as pictures of the hat.

@__|----|__@

Promise.

Interlude: crochet and shameless advertising

And at the dawn of time, before costumes, before sewing machines, before fancy hats and opera reviews, there was... crochet.

I've marketed custom amigurumi crocheted dolls on a few websites, but only took custom orders through e-mail, for a few reasons. Business tapered off, and so did the production of dolls. However, with a newfound love of opera comes new ideas.

Is it possible? Openly marketable merchandise of a somewhat well-known character without any copyright infringement? Gadzooks! Apparently, it is!

Lo and behold [my ultimate geekyness] - Cherubino!

Yes, the sprightly pageboy (a trouser role) from Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, now in plush form!

Well, with characters whose appearance can change so often, as with operatic roles which vary from one production to the next, how does one know how to costume a doll of one of them?

Simply: whatever the customer (in this case, me) desires. I based this version of Cherubino on the character design used by this season's production of Figaro at the Met Opera. It was the first time I'd seen the show live, I loved the character and the way the actress portrayed him. Hence, immortalized in plush form.

I've also done plush versions of the band Dethklok (including Dr. Rockso) for myself, and Spiderman's Venom character as a gift.

Shelf of plush:

Here's a bit of shameless self-promotion -- I take commissions! Just about any character will do, though copyright laws must be observed. For any commission, I need the name of the character, and at least a full front and back photo. A list of details would also do nicely - the more information you give me, the more accurate the characterization. Prices vary based on level of detail. For this Cherubino, I'd charge about $25 plus S&H.

My current specialty is classical opera characters, as their copyrights generally expired many, many years ago. Any fellow opera geeks up for an adorable (and affordable, as far as customized, handmade-to-order things go) plush of their favorite character?

That's all the rambling and merchandising for now, the next post will introduce my current project: the Basilietta hat.