Random post to keep my mind settled

Ladies and gents, I certainly do get myself into some tripped out situations.  For those of you that want the story, here's a link.  I sporadically keep a second blog about my pets, and this story is about a new cat.  Let me tell y'all, it's a humdinger!  I never will get over people who are so cotton-pickin' irresponsible with their animals, not to mention dishonest!

What else to do but talk about dolls???  While Callie does her thing and Lily shreds one of my chairs (NO, BAD GIRL!), let me show you some more pieces of the Great Etsy/eBay Haul of June 2016.  Yep, some of it's just now getting here, though admittedly one of these things was only ordered last week.  Regardless of when I ordered it, some of it is getting here now.  Sophie has received a couple of new outfits in the past few weeks, but this one is my favorite one so far.

I have LLLLLLLLLOVED this outfit ever since Fashion Avenue released it back in the late nineties.  This outfit bears a strong resemblance to 1998's Matching Styles 20608, but the shirt is wrong.  The Matching Styles set came with a flowered top, if I remember correctly.  Not that the discrepancy is a huge deal for me.  I wanted the outfit for its red velour overalls and hat, and who cares if this is the right shirt or not???  I'm so pleased to finally have this outfit!

The next item is a whole doll, not just an outfit.  She's also the subject of a Throwback Thursday review that I have planned.  

This is a doll from the Mattel's defunct Flavas.  She suffers from the unfortunate name of P. Bo.  I'm not going to talk about P. Bo at length right now as I have a review planned for that, so I'm just going to say that she's here and I like what I see so far.

As a cute little touch, both Sophie and P. Bo are redheads.  See how cute they are together???

Now that I've successfully vented I'm going to turn off the lights and pray that tomorrow a healthy litter of kittens will have made an appearance.

Much love,

RagingMoon1987

Necessity is the mother of invention, part two

I wasn't expecting to make a second post like this, but my stupid anxiety problem reared its head again, and when I get antsy, I get crafty.  After visiting Ravelry (per a reader's very smart suggestion) I found patterns for some of the other dolls that I've got.  The last time I talked about Monster High dolls, so this post is going to be for the Bratz.  Yeah, I know that the relaunch brought some new clothing packs with it, but get this:  the new Bratz don't have the same body as the old ones do.  Based on what I've read, the new clothes don't fit the old dolls well.

The first pattern I attempted is a Sticka till Barbie pattern.  Sticka till Barbie has knitting patterns for Barbie, Bratz, and...Monchichi???  I thought Monchichi was furry enough to go around nekkid!  Anywho, this is Bratz pattern #31.  Model is Style It! Tessa.

The pattern calls for "yarn suitable for 2 mm knitting needles," so I chose this sherbet-colored wool blend, the name of which has unsurprisingly escaped my mind.  The finished product does not have a lot of stretch or drape to it, and that's proven to be a bit of a detriment because I made the dress too small.  It fits Tessa like a babydoll dress, and I think it's supposed to fall lower on her waist.  Sasha can wear it better due to her older body, but it's still a struggle to get it on her.

If I try this pattern again it will probably be with baby yarn.

This next dress is from Sticka till Barbie as well, though I can't remember which pattern it was.  Model is Style It! Maci.

The pattern called for fine-gauge yarn on size one needles, so I used Aunt Lydia's Crochet Cotton.  The results came out fine except for one slight problem:  the pattern was a Barbie pattern, not a Bratz pattern.  Apparently Aunt Lydia's stuff is a little TOO fine-gauge to suit this pattern.  So I adjusted the placement of the dress's snaps a bit and made it fit a Bratz body.  It's just a tiny bit too big on Maci, but it's hard to tell.

Next pattern is from Appletree art n crafts group knits.  Sultana Vafeiadou drafted this one.  Model is first-wave Jade.

I used sock yarn again, Red Heart Heart and Sole in "Bayou" on size one needles.  I got the gauge too tight again, not ridiculously so, but enough that it's a pain in the butt to get this on Jade.  If you knit a bit on the tight side, I recommend a size two knitting needles instead of a size one.

Fourth dress comes from Nina's At My House.  I used size four needles and I Love This Cotton! in "Sock Monkey."  Model is a budget Meygan, the one whose hair I had to cut.

This pattern is extremely easy; the only stitches required are the knit stitch and the purl stitch.  Therfore, this is an excellent pattern for a beginning knitter.  I modified the pattern to make the skirt a little fuller, and as a result this dress fits the best.  I didn't have to take in the back or bend Meygan 's arms to get the dress on.

With Monster High and Bratz out of the way, that leaves the Lalaloopsy Girls and the Equestria Girls.  My search for Lalaloopsy Girl patterns has so far been fruitless, but I did find some things to make for the Equestria Girls.  Stay tuned for a third installment of this series! 

Best wishes,

RagingMoon1987 

My Twinn scuttlebutt

It's been a long, difficult week for me.  The woes with the furnace triggered a nasty anxiety flare-up and I ended up back on my medicine.  I feel better now that the problem with the furnace is rectified (it needed a new filter, silly me), but it may take another day or two before I feel 100% again.  I consider myself blessed to have a patient mother and an equally patient repairman.

Alrighty, with that out of the way, dolly news time.  When I reviewed my new My Twinn doll I had my doubts about MT's longevity.  They're always having sales, they phased out the 23-inch dolls and the dark skin tones, and their Facebook page was never updated.  

Wait a minute.  WAS???  Yep, if you try to find MT's Facebook page, you get a lovely redirect page instead.  Not that it mattered much, since the page's admins never monitored any activity on there anyway.  Heck, I sent them a picture of Xenia when she arrived.  I wanted to show them that she'd gotten here in one piece and to say thanks, but I got no response whatsoever.  

The sudden disappearance of My Twinn's Facebook page doesn't prove that the company is floundering once again, but it's definitely not a good sign.  That makes me glad that I got Xenia when I did.  However, I urge y'all to take my words with a grain of salt.  I have read nothing either confirming or denying My Twinn's closure.  When and if I do, I'll post an update.

Both Talolili and I have posts in the making, so keep your eyes peeled!

Love,

RagingMoon1987 

Living la vida loca, part two (not doll related)

Late last night I spoke of our latest gadget woe, that being my belief that the new AC/heater unit was on the blink.  I threw the breakers, went to bed, and endured a sleepless night due to nerves, a cold nose, and tummy trouble.  I finally nodded off around six and didn't rise again until eleven-thirty.  My mother slept well, despite the fact that she hates the cold, and the fact that she was almost as concerned as I was when she hit the sack.

Anywho, we are blessed enough to have crossed paths with a heating/cooling crew that works on Sundays if there's some sort of problem, and he came right down.  He promptly ordered the breakers turned back on, gave the electrical work a thorough examination, looked at the outside unit, and diagnosed...what else but a dirty filter!  He also explained that the noise we heard was innocuous and that the smell should clear up with a new filter.  After teaching me how to change the filter, he scratched my cat's chin and left.

I wasn't 100% convinced that the filter was the problem, particularly when I smelled the odor again, so I pulled out the filter, gave it a good shake, and put it back in.  I still get occasional whiffs now and again, but it's nowhere near as bad as it was.  Now all I've got to do is wait for the new filters to come (we had to order some online) and pray that nothing else goes wrong between now and then.  Oh yes, I also plan on going back on my meds; my anxiety nearly drove both Mama and me nuts this weekend.

Hats off to Carlos Warren and Son for helping us out today!  It was a Sunday and the weather has been less than stellar today, but a repairman came anyway.  Kudos to him!

Love always,
RagingMoon1987

Living la vida loca

Exactly half a year ago I was complaining about how hot it was in the house.  Now I've got reason to complain about it being cold.  Look at Pix E. Flutters' hair!

Pix's hair doesn't turn pink unless her surroundings drop below 66 degrees Fahrenheit.  Apparently it's that cool in the house right now.

In case you haven't guessed, our furnace went out.  Yep, the brand new one that we got installed back in late May.  On Thanksgiving I got a whiff of something funny when the unit kicked on.  It smelled exactly like something burnt out.  Then the unit began making strange noises.  My mother can't smell well because of allergies, so she thought I was losing it until earlier this evening.  She heard the noise for herself, so now we're sitting around with the unit off and the breakers thrown, per a friend's suggestion.  We may be able to have it looked at tomorrow, and I'm praying that the men can fix it without a lot of fuss.  Please cross your fingers for us; Mama and I have a large group of pets, and I hate for them to be uncomfortable.

Cheers, I guess,
RagingMoon1987