No Pictures Today

After the events of last weekend, I have been spending the majority of my time this week on other things. Today I get to ride down to Portland and look at a new car to replace my mangled 240. As such, I do not have the time to take photos of this week's little bit of progress. Not that I made much... my mind was in other places this week.

I do have some good news though. The gold rings came yesterday and they are brighter than I could have hoped for. They will work just fine as a replacement for the yellow rings. I already started filling in Pacman's mouth and it looks nice. I also attached one of Tycho's sleeves last night. It is not finished - there is still a sizeable hole around the armpit - but it is the perfect length and size.

I am going to need a LOT of help to get these done, guys. I will keep you all posted on future maille parties. I am thinking... Friday. Check your calendars!

What a weekend

The mailling party was a success. We got a full orange sleeve finished, plus much progress toward another and on the blue sleeves. There were SO MANY PEOPLE here that we ended up getting a noise complaint from the neighbor upstairs, so I think for the next few mailling events I will make them invite-only to keep the numbers down, and restrict hard alcohol consumption. I will post pictures from the party soon, but I have been preoccupied all weekend. Saturday was a d20 modern game in the morning and a halloween party in the evening. Sunday, my car got wrecked. Now I am in the process of cleaning up the mess, talking to insurance folks, and finding auto body shops around the area of the wreck. My car can not drive too far, so I am looking for nearby places that do not look too shady. Ugh, big mess. Glad no one got hurt, but I miss my car!

Woppa Woppa Woppa

Pacman is finished! I have been running around today to get ready for the event tonight, and I think I am set. I have munchies, beverages, lots of extra pliers, lots of sitting space, all the maille is out and handy, and... somehow while I rearranged my furniture last night, I lost Pacman's power pellet. Oh noes! Luckily, I have lots of extra black and I can make another one. For now, I give you the completed inlay!



Gold colored rings should arrive on Wednesday. I can't wait!!

Reminder

Thanks in advance to everyone who has RSVP'd to my mailling party! I didn't expect so many people to chime in, so my apartment will be a tiny bit cramped. We might also be sharing pliers... I will be doing another craft store run tomorrow morning to snag what I can. For those who can bring your own pliers, PLEASE make sure they are Jewelry pliers and not your standard house maintenance tools. The difference? Teeth.

Bad pliers:


Good pliers:




The reason is that the teeth scratch off the anodized outer layer of the aluminum and makes for a less than pretty finished product. If you bring chompy pliers, I will make you set them aside even if we are short on jewelry tools. :P

If you have not RSVP'd yet and need my address, please email me at jules@knittedsteel.net!

Things are looking up

From the look of things, TRL decided the could find another buyer for the 7 lbs of yellow rings because they changed my order to gold colored rings and shipped it today. I'm still a little apprehensive that something will happen. They'll send it to my old address or something, I don't know. Maybe I am just paranoid. In any case, I will have all the supplies I need to complete Gabe's shirt in time! So for now, I think I will focus my energy on getting that Pacman inlay finished and save Tycho's sleeves for this week's mailling party.

I hate to make a post without something pretty to look at, so here is another photo of the engagement necklace I made last winter. It will always be one of my favorite pieces, even though it is so simple.

Maille Party! And Progress Report

I emailed back and forth some today with The Ring Lord and requested they change my order to gold colored rings instead of the custom order yellow. Thankfully, they did so. I was a little worried at first. ANYWAY. I should hopefully be getting the gold rings soon, which really look more like dull yellow.

And with that, I would like to organize the first CHAIN MAILLE PARTY! If you are a Seattle local and know me from the Penny Arcade community, and would like to learn how to do some basic chain maille and pitch in on this project, let me know! I will be having more than one mailling party, but I thought this would be a fun way to spend a Friday night.

What: Learn the 4-in-1 weave, eat some munchies, hang out and help on the project
When: Friday, Oct. 24th at 9pm
Where: My place!
Bring a snack or beverage to share if you want!

If you are interested, email me at Jules@knittedsteel.net - be sure to tell me your handle so I know who you are. Also, tell me if you have your own pliers or need to borrow some. I have a limited amount that I can lend out. If you really want, I can sell you a couple pair for future use. I cleaned out the supply at the nearby craft store. ;)

And now, huzzah! The progress report!
The torso is FINISHED. It just needs sleeves. (Guess what we'll be doing at the shindig next Friday eh?)

Good News and Bad News

Good News first: Tycho's shirt is coming along very nicely. I am working on the first sleeve tonight, and the torso is completely finished.

Bad News: Unless I can fix a very messed up situation, I won't have Gabe's shirt anywhere near finished before the deadline rolls around. Or, for that matter, before 2008 is over.

I started this project on September 5th. On top of establishing the paypal donate button, I began corresponding with one of the owners at TheRingLord.com. I was told that if I custom ordered the rings right then, the next batch of anodized was due back around the end of October. So, I emailed them right then. They are ordered, paid for, and sitting in my account info right now. Naturally, I'm getting a little antsy and excited, so last night I emailed them again to get a status report. The response I got back: About 8 weeks.

8 weeks?! If taken literally, that means the batch will be back at the Ring Lord factory 2 days AFTER the dinner auction. I would probably get the rings around, oh, Christmas.

I knew it would be a frantic rush to get the shirt done in time as is. But I have yet to master the art of time travel.

Right now I am waiting to hear their response to my panicked question of "is there any way you can speed it up a little? I ordered these assuming I would get them when you said I would." If they can't expedite the anodizing, I think my best option is to switch from yellow to gold-colored rings. It won't look nearly as good. I am not happy. I do not want to compromise on this, but if it means getting the shirt done in time I'm willing to do it.

UGGGHH, I am not happy.

'Tis the Season

I am going to be making an order to TRL soon for a variety of metals. Nickel Silver, brass, bronze, stainless, and maybe sterling and one or two types of gold. Anodized titanium? perhaps...

If you have any ideas for holiday gifts to loved ones, friends, or yourself (hey, it's nice to splurge sometimes right?), let me know. If there is a specific commission you want, let me know. We can talk about it and I will include those materials into my order. I would rather buy a lot of shiny in one order and pay less in shipping/customs. Less cost for me = less cost for you! I am leaning away from aluminum, as I want to start making some classier stuff. Send me requests!

I will update on the Child's Play shirts on Friday. Hopefully more than the quick update I've had for the past two weeks. Life is slowing down a little, so I should be able to provide more.

Here's a little treat: some earrings I made for a Christmas gift last year. dark purple anodized aluminum and sterling silver shaggy loops (slightly modified) on french hooks. Can't remember the specs, but the silver rings are all doubled up and the purple rings are slightly larger.

Beef Burgundy

Dinner with my family Friday night was a huge success. Living single, the most I've ever cooked for before was 2 or 3 people. This recipe is awesome. It easily fed 6 people and I have leftovers in the fridge for at least another two meals.

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2 to 3lb.beef stew meat (or a roast) cut into bite-size pieces
1 pkg. dry onion soup mix
1/4 to 1 cup burgundy wine
1 can mushroom soup
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced (or equivalent)
1/2lb mushrooms, sliced

Mix all ingredients together (you'll need a large bowl) and bake at 300 degrees for 3 hours in a covered dish. I served it over fettuccine pasta, but it also works well over rice. I also maxxed out the recipe. 3 lbs of beef, full cup of burgundy wine (don't spend a lot on this, by the way. I used Carlo Rossi and it still tasted amazing), and a little more than half a pound of mushrooms. The onion was big, so it covered a lot of space. It smells sooooo good while it's cooking, and the fragrance filled my entire apartment.

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I'll be working on the shirt during today's Seahawks game. I hope to finish the bottom stripes, or at least make a lot of progress on them.

Another quick update

Ack! My parents and grandmother are coming for dinner. I've spent most of yesterday and today getting ready, and oh man dinner's going to be delicious. But you didn't check in to hear about my beef burgundy. Here is Tycho's shirt!



Next up is finishing the torso stripes, then moving on to the sleeves. Ohhh the sleeves are going to take forever.

Child's Play Update

I got a surprising amount of work done this past week, and I'm extremely happy with how this is looking. Short post today. Got a visitor that I wasn't expecting.