I am the Kat that Walks By Itself

Due to various things, including my involvement with the Marvel Reverse Big Bang, I've spent the past few days tracking down and putting up my symbolic jewellery and digital fan art up on AO3. The pictures are hosted on LJ -- do let me know if they aren't visible to you!

Series 1: Symbolism With Occasional Words
Series 2: Fan Art (yeah what a boring title)

The reason I decided to use LJ for the images is because I have a permanent membership there, so my stuff will be around for as long as LJ is (however long that may be), I don't have to pay anything, and the images won't vanish like so many free hosting sites do. Yes, LJ will vanish eventually, as all things do, but I'm not going to worry about it now. I'd rather trust LJ, whom I have paid money to to look after my stuff, than Google, whom I have not.

This resin stuff is getting addictive. I've done some more, both with UV resin and epoxy resin. I did some more today too, but I won't know how those turn out until tomorrow night.
So... here are some I prepared earlier.
( there be pictures )

I have been experimenting with multiple types of resin!


Resin pendants and embellishments. Top row: all these were done with two-part epoxy resin, PearlEx mica powder, and then domed with UV resin and more mica powder. Bottom left: leaves made with layered UV resin and mica powder. Bottom centre: two-part epoxy resin and mica powder (no doming with this one). Bottom right: two-part epoxy resin, various brass beads, washers, and cogs, and golden mica powder; domed later with UV resin.

( and here be the fuller story )

This is the Grand Total of the things I have made for the upcoming "Creating a Welcome" market (all proceeds go to the Asylum Seekers Resource Centre).

One infinity scarf.
One hair scrunchie.
One dishcloth.
Nine necklace-and-earring sets.
Three necklace-and-bracelet sets.
Three standalone pairs of earrings.
Twenty-seven standalone bracelets.
Twenty-seven standalone necklaces.

Whew!

And here be pictures. Some of the pendants you've seen before, posted as WIPs, and now they are complete as necklaces!
( cut for lots of images )

1. UV Resin is cool.
2. PearlEx powdered mica pigments are fabulous.
3. Silicone moulds are the way to go.
4. And layers, lots of layers.
5. Never mix black pigment with your UV resin (oops). Use black nail polish instead.
6. A little UV resin does NOT go a long way.
7. And it's expensive.
8. It may be that UV resin designed for fly fishing does not have the properties required for jewellery. It feels a little rubbery rather than crisply stiff. And breaks far too easily.
9. Patience is a virtue, even with UV resin.
10. Curing in sunlight is easier than using a UV torch. Though using a UV torch enables one to do this stuff at night. Which is important.
11. Little eyeshadow brushes are really useful in applying mica powder.
12. And toothpicks are good for swirling.
13. Lumps are a sign that that bit hasn't cured. Especially if you poke the lump and it breaks up. Remove the lump and add another layer of resin to fill the hole.
14. It is more reliable to paint on the mica powder and then pour on the next layer of resin, rather than sprinkling the mica powder and swirling it through the resin. But swirling is cool, even if it is risky.
15. Some fine pigment powders can behave strangely if there is too much of them. Like floating on top of the resin instead of staying underneath!
16. But at least mistakes like that can be wiped off if caught before zapping with UV.
17. It's astonishing how many resin tutorials feature pink, unicorns, cats, and glitter.
18. Looking at more tutorials, it seems common to pre-mix the resin with pigment, and then put it on with toothpick... so maybe my reservations about swirling are unwarranted. I guess it depends on how dense the pigment is.
19. Pondering whether buying a UV lamp might be worth it after all. But where would I put it? Takes up too much space. But my UV torch batteries run out too fast. And clear sunny days do not come on demand. And it would have been cheaper than buying the UV torch.

Photos later.

It looks as if my relatively newly acquired scanner is utter crap. Yes, I've had it for months, but I haven't used it all that often... and now it looks as if it was always crappy, comparing the result I'm getting this evening with scans that I did in January (when I first got the scanner). Blast!

The crappiness consists of these "stripey" artefacts in the preview and the scan, as if the light was shaded by blinds and giving it these shadows. I have no idea what would be causing it, but it's there in all my scans. The reason I didn't pay attention to it before was because, when I was scanning my Snape necklace in January, I was more concerned that I wasn't getting the Labradorite right, so I fell back on taking photographs. The stripes happened in the scan of my spiral necklace too, but I didn't realize it wasn't just in the preview until recently when I looked at that image again (because I wanted a picture of a Spiral-6-in-1 weave).

But this means that the scanner is UTTERLY USELESS to me, since the only thing I use it for is to take pictures of my jewellery. My old HP Scanjet 5p was perfect for that, until, after um, twenty years (!) it developed a yellow stripe down one side. Obviously HP don't build them like they used to (the new scanner is a HP as well).

Crap. Crap. Crap.

Taking photographs is much more hassle. With scanning, I could (in the past) get good results whether it was day or night - and it was much more likely to be night when I finished a work and wanted to scan it. With photographs, no matter how hard I try, the only really good results happen if I take photos in daylight, outside, on a sunny day. Which doesn't happen that often.

Bother. Botheration. Botherectomy!

This is my entry in the current M.A.I.L. contest: "Steampunk". A maille-wrapped cane.


Steampunk Cane by Kathryn Andersen. Large Anodized Aluminium (gold) washers tied on with leather thonging. Two wrapping chains spiralling around the shaft. Japanese 6 in 2: washer WD=2.0mm ID=3.0mm (Brass); large ring WD=1.0mm ID=4.76mm Anodized Aluminium (gold). Rosetta: WD=1.0mm ID=4.0mm (Anodized Aluminium, Steel) (gold)


Steampunk Cane by Kathryn Andersen. Large Anodized Aluminium (gold) washers tied on with leather thonging. Two wrapping chains spiralling around the shaft. Japanese 6 in 2: washer WD=2.0mm ID=3.0mm (Brass); large ring WD=1.0mm ID=4.76mm Anodized Aluminium (gold). Rosetta: WD=1.0mm ID=4.0mm (Anodized Aluminium, Steel) (gold)

I am pleased I got it finished before the deadline, it was worrying me a bit.

I bought this yarn on Friday, and I though I would kill two birds with one stone with it: I would make swatches of stitches I hadn't tried out before, and I would use those swatches as bases for scrumbles for my Amazing Housecoat (which doubtless will take years and years to finish).

And here are what I have done so far:


Swatch: HDC rib stitch; Patons Cosmos grey yarn, Acrylic/Wool/Lurex.


Swatch: Mesh stitch; Patons Cosmos grey yarn, Acrylic/Wool/Lurex.


Swatch: Griddle stitch and Crumpled Griddle stitch; Patons Cosmos grey yarn, Acrylic/Wool/Lurex.


Swatch: Staggered Diagonal Basketweave stitch; Patons Cosmos grey yarn, Acrylic/Wool/Lurex.

I have decided that I like this yarn a lot. Of course, it turns out that it's discontinued, which is why it was on sale... oh well I'll go back to Lincraft next week and see if they have any left (I only bought two balls).

I'm going to be posting a bunch of catch-up craft posts, starting with this one. Because this afternoon I have been scanning and taking pictures of stuff that I've done anything from weeks to hours ago. So, like, catch-up.

( craft post with melting things )

Finally finished The Shawl today!
This has been an ongoing project since the beginning of this year.


Shawl by Kathryn and Tiria Andersen; 100% wool; loom-knit and crochet.

This was combined loom-knitting and crochet. First, strips of double-knit loom-knitting were made (some by Tiria, some by me).
Then I crocheted around the edges to neaten them.
Then I joined them with lacy crochet.
Then I crocheted all the way around with more lacy crochet.
And here it is, done at last!