Originally published at The Modern Domestic Geek. You can comment here or there.

This is the stocking I made for my niece Molly, who was born just this year in January.  The stockings in my family have a bit of a story.  My grandmother, who had the same name as me, made a stocking for each grandchild and great-grandchild as they came along.  My son’s was the last one she made.  So a year later, when my sister-in-law joined our family, I made a stocking for her, so she would have one on my parent’s mantle.  And since then, I’ve made one for every new family member – including Dan.  Molly is our latest.

The stocking is a Bucilla kit – one that I picked up as a lot from a website in a huge after Christmas sale.  This kit was a bit simpler than some of the ones that I’ve made – being that it only is made up of 38 pieces of felt.  Usually there are about 80 or so pieces.  I enjoy doing these sorts of crafts – because there is such a variety of things to do.  Bead and sequin work, applique, and embroidery.  I have to say with this stocking – I think I finally got the technique of the embroidery of the name right – every other one I’ve done looks a bit wonky.

One thing that I always worry about with these types of projects are whether the materials that come with the kit will last for the whole project.  I always find that the beads that hold the sequins on usually have a pretty high percentage of faulty ones – and one year, I bought a whole tube of clear seed beads just in case I ran out.  What I’ve been doing  is saving the materials from projects once I finish them, just in case something is wonky with the kit.  What happened this time is that I got to TWO red sequins before I was finished with them, before I had to open the red seed beads.  And I almost didn’t have enough white embroidery floss.  The icing stitching of the gingerbread was supposed to be two strands of embroidery floss, but I used four instead.  So when I got to the white stitching that pus the stocking together – I was worried that I wouldn’t have enough.  That was the first time with one of these kits that I didn’t have at least one piece of floss left in a particular color.

The window on the left is a bit helter skelter – I’m not sure what happened when I appliqued that piece.   Because of the dangling Y, I couldn’t center the name, which bugs me just a bit.  But on the whole, I’m pleased with how it came out.  One of the wonderful things about these projects is the 3-D quality to it.  You can’t see it in the picture, but the various pieces are stuffed, and the effect is quite striking.  While I’m sure  Molly – being just shy of a year old – won’t know what to make of it – I really hope her parents love it.

And so – this starts off the Christmas Crazyness of 2009.  I still need to find some sort of handmade ornament to make, and the cookie baking will commence soon.

*Photo taken with the iPhone and the native camera

Tags: christmas

Originally published at The Modern Domestic Geek. You can comment here or there.

…Or something like that.  It’s the week before Thanksgiving, and with the Christmas season bearing down on us, I’ve been trying to button stuff around here to get ready for it.  We’ve actually finished our Christmas shopping for the immediate family, and now we don’t have that much extended family to buy for.

One thing I did get done this week is the stocking for my niece.  There will be a post on that at a later time when I get the chance to take pictures of it.  But it needed to get done, so it can hang on the mantle at my parents with everyone else’s.  But I’m pleased it’s done, and my craft table has been put away again, so we are on schedule for putting the Christmas tree up on Saturday.

The sweater I’m working on is almost finished the body – I did the short rows in the chest today, and now there is just three more inches of body before I start the sleeves.  I’m looking forward to that.  Though – usually when I do a sweater – I do one sleeve first.  But these should go easily.  I am sort of apprehensive about steeking though.  I’ve never done that before, and I’m going to have to bring up the sewing machine, but the whole thing makes me a bit apprehensive.

In the mean time, I need to find some yarn to make me a new hat.  Found my winter coat for this year, and of course I need a hat to go with it.  And I need to start planning my socks – got a new book I’ll talk about at some point.  I need to keep the house clean too – we had a showing today, and there is one tomorrow as well.  That can be a task in it’s self.

And cooking – today I made potato soup.  It was very good, I just need to figure out what the nutritional values are.  I’ll run it through a recipe generator on my iPhone, and maybe that will help.  And I made bacon-wrapped chicken breasts – which were a big hit with the boys.  And brownies.  Geekadelphia had a party this week, and I made the brownies – with an HP logo on them.

And now – once this post is done – I need to check out the PS3 game Prince of Persia  – that’s what came from Gamefly this week, and if I find the controls to hard, or just not my cup of tea, I need to send it back.

Have a good one.  More from me later…

MA

Tags: weekly roundup

Originally published at The Modern Domestic Geek. You can comment here or there.

Welcome to the Modern Domestic Geek.  I hope as the weeks go by, you start to see what I mean by the term.  I think I came up with it to try and describe what I do and who I am.  I’ve always been one to embrace tech – I’ve built my own computers, I know how to set up a home theater, I’m a gamer.  But while Windows was taking it’s time to install, load, or the other things – my hands would be kept busy by needlework, knitting, or even a jigsaw puzzle at some point. When I struck out on my own, I found I had love of baking, and in the past couple of years, have tried tweaking recipes to find the perfect cookie, or pie.  And when I married my wonderful husband, I started to teach myself to cook – to really cook from scratch, though I would throw a convenience food in there.  And most recently, I’ve started to teach myself pastry decorating, with fondant, buttercream and the like. And I’m always looking for a better way to do things in our household – the best way to clean things – how to keep things organdized and looking nice, etc.

So how do you put a label on all this?  The Modern Domestic Geek seems to cover it all.  And one with this label – you don’t have to be a female, you don’t have to work out of your home.  I can remember a friend that was trying to put her resume together after staying home taking care of her kids and managing her household.  She asked me what she should describe that as, and I told her Domestic Engineer.  Because really – people like us are the wearer of all hats, the jack of all trades.

So this is what this blog will be about.  A little bit of this, a little bit of that.  Tips on how I use technology to make my handwork and crafting easier.  I hope to interview a couple of people that I admire as Domestic Geeks, and show a little of how their life is.  We’ll see how this thing plays out.  Because of course, blogging is one of those things that interest a Modern Domestic Geek.

Tags: uncategorized

Last weekend, Dan and I attended Game X Con at the Greater Philadelphia Expo center. Dan was covering the con for Geekadelphia, and due to other things going on - we only attended on Friday. Dan got in on a press pass, and I was his guest.

I have to say the con staff treated us very nicely, taking time out to ask us if we were having fun, and making sure I had a badge. And I had fun during the day. We had been to GameCoreCon a couple of weeks before, so I knew what to expect for a gaming con - though I this one was much larger, and much more industry-based.

There were celebrities, - three of the Guild cast were there, and were they friendly - at their panel, they actually had us go around and introduce ourselves - and that was where I got the nickname MA for 'mature audiences'. We also saw the Escapist panel, and I now have a ton of video content that I need to look up and subscribe to. Dan was able to interview Yahtzee - a video blogger who does game reviews that make us both cry with laughter on a regular basis.

The game booths were interesting - they had one for Dante's Inferno - which looked amazing, and I can neither confirm nor deny that I know anything about the time a couple of the monitors went off with no warning. There was one for a new game called Bayonetta - which looks to be right up Dan's alley. It features a girl that fights in a suit made of her own hair - which of course comes off while she's fighting. The booth I was really interested in was Warhammer Online - every since Ace of Cakes did a cake for them, I've been intrigued by the game. And I found out it comes out for Mac tomorrow - I'll definitely have to check it out. And there was one for another MMO called Global Agenda, that advertised that there were no elves in the game. There were some other industry booths - and one for Bawls - that featured an SnoBawls - the blue flavor in icee form. Truly epic.

The swag was pretty good too. I came home for with three tshirts, two reusable shopping bags, and tons of coupons for Dave and Busters. And codes for goodies in some of the MMO's. The one thing that seemed a bit lacking was the shopping. There were a couple of booths with art, and some with used games, but I guess I expected a bit more - given that was what most of GameCoreCon was about. Some of the vendors were also at GameX, but surprisingly, I didn't spend any money - except on the funnel cake that called me. Called me I say. But I had been hoping to find some good deals on used games, but didn't. There was a vintage section, and a t-shirt vendor with some truly epic t-shirts, but nothing that made me want to part with my money.

We also got to hang out with the PA Jedi, a group that Dan covered for Geekadelphia a couple months back. They were doing demonstrations and we spent a good deal of time chatting with them. I think we are going to have to take the kid to one of their practice sessions.

But it was a great day, though we didn't feel like we needed to come back the next day. But getting to meet the Guild cast members, and getting to play the new games was awesome, and I'm glad that took the day to attend.

For those of you that have been following us on Twitter and Facebook - yes our basement flooded yesterday. No - insurance won't cover it at all. I've done the estimated work ups of stuff that was lost, and it totals up to over $1,300 in stuff, though most of it is collectible stuff that Dan got that you really can't put a value on.

On the positive side - cleaning up allowed me to go through stuff - and repackage stuff that should have been packed properly. Right now I have two boxes of books to donate, six bags of clothes and bedding to donate, and we got rid of probably about 100 pounds of cardboard. And our basement is now organized, and the stored stuff is all in Rubbermaid tubs. Which should make moving easier when we do.

All in all there are about 6 garbage bags to be disposed of - and that doesn't include the stuff we are letting dry before we bag it up.

Now we are just waiting for the plumber to come, because our tub is broken. Oh joy. I hope we can afford to move soon. I used to love this place, but after this weekend - I'm done.

Just got back from my second day at Wizard World Philly. My first Wizard World, but I think I'm going to go next year. For the most part - I was pleased with how the whole thing went. I got to see a bunch of stars - but not talk to any. Sat in on a bunch of panels, and wandered the dealers room without spending too much cash.

Yesterday - the Kid and I were able to take in Lou Ferrigno's panel, which was a bit sad - very few people, and hardly any questions. This is what happens when you take steroids, kids. Though I have to say - he looks a lot younger than he is - probably due to botox. He was walking with a cane because he just had a hip replaced.

Then we stayed around for Tom Kane's Voice Acting panel. He voices Yoda in Clone Wars, and does a whole lot of other voices as well, including all the Pixar stuff for the ads, and he's been in every Lucasfilm game ever made. He was really interesting.

Other than that - we wandered the dealers room, where I walked by the interview tables a bunch. Edward James Olmos and Michael Hogan were side by side, and they seemed very approachable. I didn't have enough cash for an autograph, nor Dan's kick ass camera, so I didn't feel right approaching. Emma Caufield was there as well, as well as Nicki Clyne and Luciana so and so from BSG. But the really person I got all fangirly about - Ted Raimi. And I didn't think I would - but there you go. If I go back tomorrow - I just might bring one of my Xena box sets to be signed. I know BIG nerd. Marina Sirts was there today, and what impressed me is that she stayed around to the fan's side of the table every time I saw her.

The highlight of yesterday was Dan going up to Max Brooks to get a copy of World War Z signed, and then getting an interview with him. It was great to watch him put his press creditionals to good use.

Today was mostly panels. You know - hearing stories from this con - people were telling me the panels weren't worth it - that everyone just goes for the dealer room, but those people must not have sat in on the panels. We saw the 501st, Ray Park, Emma Caufield, and the BSG Q&A's. We had kick ass seats for Emma's panel and BSG's. But I thought they more than were worth the price of admission.

The BSG panel was awesome - and surprise surprise - Nicky Clyne - who played Callie - was surprisingly articulate. Olmos at the end did one of his Adama rants at the end, and Michael Hogan kept cracking me up. We recorded it - so you can bet that will be making it's way up on one of our sites.

The dealers room today was populated with more costumes - some good, some scary. Dan got an awesome stormtrooper decal for his EEEPC, and I got three prints of colored pencil sketches of Muppets. We kept the spending to a minimum, but I'm so pleased with my art.

Tomorrow I'll only be there for like an hour to run through the dealers room again - I may actually spring for a picture with someone tomorrow.

So - long time since I posted, I've been writing some other stuff for a podcast project I'm starting.

Yes - today at 3:30pm Eastern time, Dan and I are going to be getting married. Through the wonder of the internet, and one of our groomsmen, we are going to be streaming the wedding live through Justin.TV

The link for the feed will be : http://www.justin.tv/otakugeneration

You will need to register for Justin.tv, but will be able to chat before the feed goes up.

Off to the hotel to go get ready!

Love,
MA

I feel like my job is sucking my soul today. But if you haven't purchased Mur's Playing For Keeps, you will feel the same way.

It's been quite the weekend - we got 'new to us' furniture, and with that, we had to move my old stuff out - it was quite an undertaking. And then we hosted a dinner with our wedding party, and I have to say - we have an awesome group of people standing up with us for the wedding. But of course, doing all of this in one day left me tired. Very tired.

And with a new, comfy couch, I found that taking a nap (or two or three), during the course of the day has left me up at this hour, which I realize for some podcasters is not late, but for little old me, it's the dead middle of the night.

( Cut for length to preserve your friends page )

Poking my head up after taking a bit of a break from online interactions. Not sure if I was burned out or what, but I miss the Tribe.