SDCC 2011: The rest of it

Ok, I was going to try and blog each day, but out just didn't happen. Partially, because my phone was usually dead as a doornail by the end of the day. Also, because I was constantly, moving and exhausted. So, here is a break down of Friday- Sunday.

Friday, I premiered my new steampunk costume. It went rather well. I managed to wear it for 7 hours, which is pretty good considering the corset and 3in heels. We wandered the exhibits hall some, working on the Doctor Who QR code scavenger hunt. Also Joe picked up a Bender (Futurama) print he had been wanting for years. We also worked the ANCEA/Sakura-Con booth and took donations for Peace Winds America.

Later we met up with one of Joe's former co-workers who had just moved to San Diego 2 weeks ago. She's already got a great tan and is really happy. We also had dinner with one of my Japanese guest contacts. It was this great Brazilian place. Fantastic good and drinks!

We were waiting outside the restarunt to say goodbye when a lady walked up to us and asked if we wanted to see a movie. We were all tired so we kindof shrugged and asked what it was. Turns out it was a pre-showing of Fright Night, including a pre-funk. We all agreed and were lead to this gorgeous Spanish style house. After convincing the bouncer that Alyx was indeed 31 and no that's not a fake ID, we were allowed into the bar area. The drinks were good, my glass of Svedka with a drop of cranberry juice was delicious! The inside of the house had been totally done up with a coffin in the corner and all kind of other vampire themed decorations. After a few minutes Colin Farrell and other members of the cast (sadly no David Tennant) showed up to introduce the movie.

Next we were given stainless steel water bottles that said holy water on them and lead down the street to a movie theater whet our phones and cameras were checked and we were given sweet 3d glasses in a coffin case, popcorn, candy and a drink. The theater was large and nice and had been booked just for this event. The movie itself was rather good, I love David Tennant and he was his usually crazy self. My friends who had seen the original said it was a really good omage. It got out around 1:30am and we all wandered back to the hotel and passed out.

I'm not smiling because we had been taking pictures for 10min

Saturday was Steampunk day at SDCC, so I wore my costume again, minutes the heels. I ran into one of my best friends from high school, Hector, who read also in costume. We went to the meetup together, which was a lot of fun. There was also a photo shoot at the Privateer Press booth in front of the War Machine statue. I then abandoned the costume for the day.


Joe and I wandered the exhibits hall, handing out Sakura-Con brocheures and looking for anything we missed. We met up later with the FUNimation crew for some drinks before an early night of packing.

Line for hall H

This morning (Sunday) we were up at 7am, so we could make it to the Doctor Who panel at 12:30. We got into line at a great time as right after we got there, it started filling quick and ended up across the street and down the block. We got into the hall right when it opened, which meant sitting through the Glee and Supernatural panels. Neither of which I really cared about. It was worth it though.



Matt and Karen are just as funny in person as they are on camera. They showed clips from the next half of the season, which have me wondering about a great many things. The show is just simply brilliant!

So, now I an waiting at.the airport to fly home. I have lots of laundry to do before Sock Summit and my homework for class.

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SDCC day 0 and 1

This has been a really good SDCC so far. Day 0, was initially a bit rough. There was trouble with the hoyUtel. First, their fax machine had been jammed for 18 hours and they didn't realize it and therefore didn't have our paperwork. So our check in was delayed an hour. Then, apparently SDCC collapsed the grid and we lost power in the hotel. I had to carry 40 pounds if flyers down 10 flights of stairs.

Once we got to the convention center, check in went well. We had to lug those flyers about a mile though. Setting up the Sakura-Con booth was pretty easy. It's pretty much booth in a box at this point. So, that left us plenty of time to stalk the exhibitors hall. I did some work for Sakura-Con while we were at it.

I managed to score a TARDIS bobblehead, 2 Doctor Who shirts, a my little pony and a Futurama plushie robot devil. After that, we got some room service and decided to call it a night.


Today, I decided to get into room 6A for the panel before the one I wanted to see. It was the Oh You Sexy Geek panel. It was about women in the world of nerdom and the self image of women. It was ok, Seth Green made an appearance even.

What I was there to see was the Putting the "epic" in Epic Fantasy panel. Patrick Rothfuss is one of my favorite new authors and he was on the panel along with Brent Sandersen (Wheel of Time), George R. Martin (Game of Thrones), Christopher Paolini (Inheritance Cycle) and others. It was literary masturbation, but I loved it. I also managed to get Patrick, George and Chris' autographs.

After that Alyx and I went into the exhibits hall to talk to some people and do some shopping. While she was checking out I was looking around and saw 2 guys hugging. One of them I realized was John Barrowman!!! For those of you who don't know who he is, he's Captain Jack from Doctor Who and Torchwood. We got a picture and a hug. So, my weekend can't be bad after that.

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Craftspolsion

Finished wrist cuffs

Lace Wrist cuffs blocking

So, leading up to SDCC and Sock Summit I have been doing a lot of crafting. For my steampunk costume, I had to cut all the fabric which Alyx kindly sewed. I had to cover my nuclear grade welding goggle in leather and brass studs and paint them. I finished knitting my lace cuffs and neck collar and had to decorate my felted hat. I even made myself a necklace. So, my house is an utter mess and there are bits and pieces of costume remnants everywhere!

The good news is, I think blogger droid is going to work great for posting from SDCC. I also got a new battery for my pedometer, so I can tell you guys how far I walked each day. It'll be fun! I hope you will enjoy my report.

goggles

Me Wearing the necklace I made

Belated weekend posting aka blogger droid ate my post

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So, I spent 30min or so this morning writing up a post to make up for missing this weekend. It was lovely, and then my blogger droid ap ate it. So, I wil attempt to re-write it and give blogger droid a second chance. I wanted to test out this ap as I am hoping to use it at SDCC and Sock Summit to do travel blogging. Since the droid X didn't have spell check, and I use swype in my phone, please forgive any mis-spellings and/or typos. 

The steampunk costume is progressing nicely. Alyx pieced together the muslin test and after some initial confusion (the 2 center back pieces hid on us and didn't originally get seamed in) it fit great! The fabric swatches for the skirt arrived, so I am trying to pick a color. Once I do, I can order the fabric. Alyx, bless her, is in the process of re-sizing the shiry pattern. Her bf has also kindly agreed to help me make a belt to go with it all. I also have some great ideas for accessories.

 I cast on Marnie MacLean's executive funk on Sunday. I am already halfway through the lace pattern chart. I am making it with Knit Pick's comfy sport in ivory. The pattern actually calls for a fingering weight yarn, but they were out in my color choice. So, I cast on the number of stitches for the smaller size on 40in size 2's and then switched to 3's for the ribbing. I used size 6's instead of 5's fire the larger size. Initially I used a 36in cable, but I had to switch to a 47in and I might switch to 60in now. The grow a lot as you knit them. They are firing my 7.25in wrist perfectly at least! You can check out my ivory wristlets on Ravelry.

 So, my yarn choice was based on ether fact that I am knitting 4 accessories for my costume, 3 of which I want to kindof match. Knit Picks has several yarn lines that have a variety of rights with the same colors. Cindy was the only one with an off white in the neighborhood of the rights I needed. The cuffs called for a fingering, the collar for a dk and the spats for a worsted. So for the cuffs and collar I am using the sport. The spats will be done in current and trimmed in the ivory. I just have to knit like the wind. So, the whisker cardi is on pause for now. I will try and post pics as things progress.

Arm Hole Decreases

I have found what I am expecting to be the bane of my garment knitting life. Since the only two garments I have knit have been cabled and lace, perhaps it was a poor introduction to the concept. Arm hole decreases suck! It has been two steps forward, one step back (if not two) for the last week or so with my whisker cardi. I have to decrease one stitch at either end, but maintain the pattern. This sounds simple enough, expect the pattern has increase rows, decrease rows and lots of yarn overs. So being sure I am even decreasing a stitch at both ends can be a challenge. There have been a few times where rather than following the decrease instructions I've instead eliminated a yarn-over. This is mostly due to the fact that a few rows start with decreases in the same place as where I would be decreasing anyway. I figure for the sake of the pattern and my sanity that removing the following yarn-over creates the same effect and won't be noticed. The problem really gets to be that every row I have to figure out what part of the 6 stitch repeat (increase rows are 8 stitches) I am looking at and then using the chart to figure out what I should be doing to those stitches. This process can sometimes take up to 15 minutes and involve tinking a few times. It's even more frustrating due to the fact that I am so close to finishing the back of this sweater. Which means I could easily finish it before my July deadline. I have gotten to the point where as long as the pattern looks mostly correct, I am happy. My perfectionist ways have been overridden by my deep frustration.

This is why I am happy I now have a new project to take up some of my creative processes. I have finally started (with a lot of help from a friend) making the Steam Punk costume I have wanted to do for the last 2 years. I want to have this done before SDCC and it might even be possible. The costume will eventually be a series of interchangeable elements that will allow for the change of one or two pieces to create and entirely new outfit. For now, I am focusing on getting a jacket, skirt and shirt done. I am also going to try to knit a few accessories. I haven't sewed a whole lot since I was a kid, so this is a bit ambitious. Thank you again to my friend who is far more experienced than me and has been gracious enough to help me out. I will be sure to post pictures as I go along and also of the finished project.