Shadows! In Which Dr. Inkenstein Never Even Mentions Ink

Recently (thanks to both QVC and the Temptalia blog), Dr. Inkenstein has re-discovered eye shadow. With this happy pastime, I began performing a number of Science Experiments that did not in the least involve ink, fountain pens, or even sock yarn. I wanted to compare and contrast (mostly) drug-store brands, with one exception, and I wanted to know about color payout, and other extremely technical things, which basically just means: which shadow brands are good, and which are Return To Sender?
　
Of course my findings are completely subjective. But useful.
　
First we purchased a LOT of shadow compacts. Everything from big palettes holding a full dozen colors from the Dollar Tree, to the Deluxe Model found at Ulta: a compact from Bare Minerals costing more than Dr. Inkenstein cares to say.

Bare Minerals, and two of the other 'test cases:'

　
And that compact (Bare Minerals READY Eyeshadow 4.0, The Elements), not surprisingly, turned out the best in all categories but two---if you count price.
　
There are four neutral-ish shadows in this particular palette, each with excellent color payout in spite of a very disappointing applicator (at least you get two of them!), and there is a big mirror in which you can actually see your entire face, should you decide to apply on the fly.
　
However, there were also many surprises along the way.
　
Keeping in mind that I did not test every single shadow combo…
　
Guided by what I read on Temptalia and QVC, I grabbed shadow trios and quads from Revlon, Wet ‘n’ Wild, Elf, and L’Oreal. All the colors LOOKED great in the box, but application was a different story.
　
The Wet ‘n’ Wild Color Icons cost under $5, come with three shadows, a mini-brush, and single-ended applicator. The brush sheds hairs, the applicator is adequate. No mirror, but an illustrated guide on the back and embossed names (Eyelid, Crease, Browbone) so you know what color goes where. Color payout is excellent, for any shadow at any price. I got a blue set (On Cloud Nine) and pink-y neutrals (Walking on Eggshells).

Here are the blues:

　

　
Next I compared the W&W to a couple of similar color quads from L’Oreal (Studio Secrets), costing about eight bucks: Blues (the colors of which should be obvious), and Desert Sunrise for a comparison of the neutrals. These also have no mirror, but like the W&W have a guide for which color goes where, plus embossed numbers in case you forget. The quad has one double-ended applicator which is markedly better quality than even the Bare Minerals applicator. But color payout was stubborn compared to W & W.
　
Even worse was the Revlon quad, costing about the same as the L’Oreal: Colorstay Delighful (more neutrals… do you sense a theme?). The product is well-named. The shadow ‘stays’ in the compact; application is like trying to scrape color off a brick.
　
　
The Revlon palette was the clear loser of the bunch. One-dollar L.A. eye palettes ( with nine and 12 shadows each!) had softer, more liftable color. I actually ended up liking the brand; you get a lot of colors to play with in a small and neat size, and their double-ended applicators aren’t all that bad.
　
In fact, another one-dollar product scored higher than Revlon: the mini-shadow quad from ELF. I got Butternut (yes, you guessed it! Another neutral!) and Ivy (greens and bronze). IF you don’t mind the horrendous double-ended applicator that wants to fall apart, and the glittery finish, we have what Consumer Reports would term a Best Buy. The color payout is excellent for the price, the palette comes with a teeny slice of mirror, and it’s so cheap you can afford to experiment with, uhm. Color. Yes.

Which is pretty much what this blog is all about.
　
Elves and others:

My mistakes! In Which Count Sockula Talks Heels and a Toe

Gather around the fireside, my children, and listen to a sad tale of many mistakes, that you may learn from them, and not do what Count Sockula did.

Or do the mistakes anyway.  ;p

This effort was dubbed the Easter Sock, partly because I started it before Easter, partly because of its candy colors.  I might have called it the Hurricane Irene sock, since it was finished during that two-day power outage.


As I recall, it was done toe-up, in Caron Simply Soft, on 32 stitches with size 7 needles (first Bryspun double-points, then those plastic Comfort needles, finally with Prym circulars.  Yes, I switched needles.  A lot.).

I also wanted to try a closed-toe cast-on, and I think this is my favorite kind.  I dubbed it the Easter Toe, but it's also called the Bosnian, and couldn't be simpler: cast on 8, 10, or 12 stitches according to the weight of your yarn, and just knit a square, either in stockinette or garter stitch (garter used here).  Then pick up stitches all around the square until you have four needles with 8, 10, or 12 stitches each.  And start knitting your sock.  Increase as needed.  Adjust stitches on needles if you want the toe to lie square, or not, if you want it to lie as a diamond.


This was also my first attempt at a garter stitch heel, and I messed up the first one completely (though you might not even be able to tell from the photo).  This was because I was trying to do pick-method, rather than real garter stitch method.  I've learned better since, and my favorite GS tutorial is right here.


You can use this heel with either toe-up or cuff-down sockage.


This sock was taken up and put down more times than I care to remember.  It's also been my most challenging yarn - a splitty and completely ugly colorway in cotton from Araucania.  But it was a bargain!   And I'm stubborn.


This had the Easter Toe, and garter heel (one of which I messed up for a different reason, having lost count).  I used 40 stitches on #4 needles, pretty much Comfort all the way, though at one point I was doing Magic Loop with a lonnnnng Bryspun. 

I don't think you can see the heel mess-up here, either. 


But then we come to the Mystery Sock, which also took a vewy long time to complete.  

I bought a skein of this at a LYS from a bargain bin (yes, that again), but without a ball band.  Don't know the maker, don't know the fiber, don't know nothin' apart from ooooo!  Colors prettyyyy!!!!  This was probably wool, judging by the burn test, and a joy to knit, as opposed to the evil cotton sock.  It was done on 40 stitches and some ancient plastic circs in size 5.  But only having one ball of the stuff, I used an afterthought heel (and that link displays the best aftertought tutorial ever).   For the second sock I threw caution to the winds and did the old garter stitch heel.  It worked.


Ehh.  Jury's out on the afterthought.  It's good if you're not sure of enough yarn, or if you deliberately want a contrast color.  It's got its own problems, like all that picking out of stitches from the waste yarn, and having to Kitchener the heel.  Basically, it's a standard cuff-down toe, only knit as a heel.  Come to think of it, you can use some heel types for toes, and vice-versa.


Thus proving the world of socks is both upside down and backward.   More heels and toes to come.  And plenty more mistakes.

New YYH Christmas fic! In Which We Pause For A Trifle

Disclaimer: Kenshin does not own the Yuu Yuu Hakusho characters (they are the property of Togashi Yoshihiro et al), and does not make any money from said characters.

What Kenshin does own, however, are all the original characters in this work. Any attempt to "borrow" these characters will be met with the katana, or worse.

Rating: K/PG-13 for anime-style fight scenes

Summary: On a commercial shoot during the Christmas season, Hiei finds not only mistletoe festooning the ceiling, but his allies acting like Sailor Senshi.

A/N: When did I start the habit of writing a YYH Christmas tale annually? And why?

It started with what seemed the obvious choice: A Yuu Yuu Carol, my take on the Dickens classic, and continued with X-Mas With an Angel (my first, and probably only, crossover story), right through to The Thirteenth Attempt (Yuusuke versus ramen). (All still on ff-net for holiday reading)

This particular Christmas story owes quite a bit to Sailor Moon, and takes place within the time-frame of The Book of Cat With Moon, right after the Cowboy Trilogy in fact. Here we see Hiei in his role as an actor in commercials, established in Firebird Sweet, likewise in Operation Rosary (which also introduces his work for the mysterious 'Agency.') Thanks for reading this, and please review!

Because some days you just have to chew through the leather straps….

In the name of the rose, I'll punish you!

Lights, Camera, Mayhem! (A Christmas Trifle)

by

Kenshin

(Excerpt):

Urameshi threw up his hands. "Wha'd I do this time?"

Hiei's mouth twitched in amusement. Wearing knickers, argyle vest, and a cap that covered her marigold hair, Shay-san was play-acting 'director' to the hilt. Older than the others by a handful of years, she used this scrap of authority to add weight to her role as director, addressing the unruly boy. "Yuusuke. Do the words, 'kicking everyone's ass' appear anywhere within the script?"

"They should," said Urameshi.

Shayla Kidd spoke to him through her megaphone. "Thank you for your input, Yuusuke. However, those words are indeed nowhere to be found in the script, which, by the way, I did not write."

"Oh, sure!" Juri cradled the script like it was a baby. "Blame the writer!"

Shayla Kidd put down her megaphone and swiveled her head until her gaze met Juri's. The room stilled.

"Can you answer these questions, Juri-san?" she inquired sweetly. "Whose uncle is a famed entertainment attorney? Oh, that's' right-me. Who's been on an actual movie set? Oh, that's right-me. Who had a part in an actual movie starring Mr. Clint Eastwood? Oh, that's right-moi. And who starred as the fairy queen in Naked Japanese-"

Hiei opened one eye. "No one was actually naked-"

Shayla Kidd didn't miss a beat. "-Shakespeare? Oh, that's right. ME."

"Fine," Juri fumed.

Shay-san turned to Urameshi. "Now, Yuusuke. Once more, with feeling-AND THE RIGHT LINES."


Read the rest here.



Color: In Which Dr. Inkenstein And Count Sockula Agree

Have we mentioned color?

Have we mentioned that color is what bridges the gap between the admittedly-unrelated worlds of sock-knitting and fountain pens?

(Other than the fact that we indeed once knitted a swatch using two Hero 616 fountain pens... and will no doubt some day ink a drawing using a knitting needle.)

Here is some color.

This above example of color occurs in socks, which Count Sockula knits in dishcloth cotton and other worsted-weight yarn due to the huge character flaw of impatience.


Here is more color, also occurring in the form of socks:

Who knew bloggage was such a big commitment?  

Count Sockula wrote this particular 'colorful' blog post  (which you are currently reading) some time ago and never committed it to paper, or even electrons.  It existed entirely in the imagination.   We had to start from scratch, here and now.

Dr.  Inkenstein immediately wrote a prescription for the forgetfulness malady, but it consisted of purchasing large amounts of fountain pen ink in as many colors as possible.  

Count Sockula reminded the good Doctor that there is already an ocean of ink in the house, in more colors than we can name.   Here is ink color, which has previously appeared, though as a scan and not as a photo:

And did we blog about the elusive mystery sock?   Has our memory fled to the wilds of Borneo, never to return?  What will anyone get out of all this?

The moral of this story is that we (of the split personality) like color.  We are united in color.  All those Prismacolor pencils we own are telling us something.   And that something is:

Write it down before you forget it!

You may now return to your regular reading.  x__x

Autumn Rain and Gunmetal: In Which Dr. Inkenstein Shows Off New Pens

Dr. Inkenstein has not been able to transform into Count Sockula for a while now, as some nagging pain in the hands prevents me from knitting with any but the squishiest (Comfort Choice, Bryspun) knitting needles.  And Comfort Choice seems to have disappeared from the market!   T_T

But the pain is not enough to prevent me from playing with new fountain pens.  

The following is my usual flashpoint presentation.  I can't 'rate' fountain pens on a 1-to-whatever scale; my mind simply doesn't work that way.

What I can do is show you the goods, dash off a page or so of notes, and hope you will be able to see for yourself if the pen interesting enough to warrant further investigation.

Behold!  A dark, moody picture of the blue-gray Hero 592 and the Wing Sung Charcoal Stars, both in the Hero presentation box:

The Hero 592 has a sturdy feel that belies its price, and its color (soft, beautiful, like an autumn sky just before rain, or a grayed-down robin's egg) was just made for Noodler's Blue-Nose Bear ink.

The Wing Sung Charcoal Stars, while lacking the nib quality of my Waterman Maestro, has the same general look and flat-top shaping, and gunmetal contrasted with gold trim, and black section.

Here are my scribbled impressions of the two.  The paper is an Office Depot composition notebook; the first ink, J Herbin Bleu Myosotis, and the second, Levenger's Gemstone Green.

The Hero was under $20; the Wing Sung under THREE.  Both from isellpens. 

The further I go into the world of fountain pens, the more I like Hero and Wing Sung, with the occasional sprinkling of Bookworm, Duke, Kaigelu, and Jinhao.   These two will fit right in.

Ahoy Mateys! In Which Dr. Inkenstein Swabs the Deck With Autumn Color

Are you one of those fountain pen aficionados who changes ink color according to the season?

When fall is in the air, away go the bright pinks, turquoises, spring greens, and out come the October/November colors.

Far from being in-depth reviews, these samples are just quick impressions, in the hopes that one or more of these inks might catch your eye. Most of the testing was done with a glass dip pen and the swatches were applied with cotton swabs.
　
Many of these inks are available from dealers like isellpens and Goulet pens.

We've got some autumnal browns up first:

　
　
Ahoy, maties!  Behold J Herbin Rouille D'Ancre. This not-really-brown, not-really-pink color does not have a huge following, but it's the kind of ink oddity I really like. The name means Rusty Anchor, and yes, that is a great name for a dockside bar. Like most JH inks, this is watercolory and shades well, showing its qualities best when used in any pen with a wet B nib. There is just enough pink in the formula so the color will work in a fountain pen with a pink barrel. (Dr. Inkenstein is a little particular that way.)
　
　
On to Terre de Feu, which looks ruby in the bottle but brown on paper. But as browns go, it has great shading, and there's always just the slightest, corner-of-your-eye hint of burgundy. This ink and my red-swirl Parker Frontier pen are an inseparable combo.
　
　
Lie de The has more olive undertones, and in an actual nib (not a swab) comes across as a medium-dark brown that leans yellow.


More browns:

　
Sheaffer Brown shows a bit of red, and like just about all Sheaffer inks, it's well-behaved. As the sample notes, it has an almost caramel shade to it.
　
Speaking of food, when I want a dark neutral brown that reminds me of cocoa, Noodler's 41 Brown usually gets the nod. I dilute it up to 50% with water for an ink that starts right away even in my dry writers (Stypen Creeks).
　
Waterman Havana brown is new to me. It looks deep mahogany-red in the swab, and seems to shade well. If it's anything like other Waterman inks, it should be a good mixer with those of its own kind.
　

A few burgundy-esque inks:

New to me here: Noodler's Black Swan In English Roses. This seems like a nice brick-burgundy, and though I'm disappointed not to see any halo effect, it worked well in a Waterman Carene (M), where its red components harmonized with the tomato color of the pen's barrel.
　
Black Swan In Australian Roses, also new, on the other hand, looks purple in the sampler tube, but swabs out a pleasantly antique-ish dusty burgundy. But ditto on the halo effect. Wasn't there. TT__TT
　
　
J Herbin Rouge Caroubier---the name means 'Locust.' I'm thinking they were referring to the tree, not the bug, since the label shows a leaf, but it's not the locust leaf I'm familiar with. It's ruby-orange in the bottle, swabbing out coral-pink. Another ink that would probably show best in a broad-nibbed pen.
　

Finally, on to some cooler colors.

　
Pilot Iroshizuku (color-drop) Fuyu Syogan is new to my collection. 'Old Man Winter' swabs out a blue-steel color, and appears to shade beautifully. It will add to my small collection of grays, and maybe one of these days I can afford a full bottle. -_-
　
Noodler's Blue Nose Bear, also new to me, is supposed to be another 'halo' color, and in this case, it's true! (some might see the halo as bleeding/feathering), but I love this evergreen-blue color so much I can't wait to put it in an actual pen. The scan really doesn't do this elusive and strange color justice. It would probably fare well in a fine- nibbed pen to let the feathering magic do its work, such as any Hero 329 or 616.
　
JHerbin Gris Nuage was my first gray, and it's a true gray, delicate and neutral, like a cloud as its name suggests. Maybe it's a bit too delicate and watercolor-ish for some, but it suits Dr. Inkenstein just fine.

Up next:  maybe some socks, maybe some more fountain pen tests, maybe another fanfic. 

We Interrupt This Bloggage (To Post a FanFic)

(And after this Yuu Yuu Hakusho entry, we will return to our regular posting.)

Disclaimer: Kenshin does not own the Yuu Yuu Hakusho characters (they are the property of Togashi Yoshihiro et al), and does not make any money from said characters. Don't sue.

What Kenshin does own, however, are all the original characters in this work. Any attempt to "borrow" these characters will be met with the katana, or worse.

As canon, I use a combination of the Japanese anime and the American manga. The events in Idiot Beloved take place right after the Dark Tournament; Firebird Sweet continues. Most of my shorter fics continue with that timeline.

Sidekick, in which I have fun with titles from classic cowboy movies, marks the conclusion of the Cowboy Trilogy. Hiei is now back in Japan, after Once Upon A Time In The West(to which he refers here). AND we re-introduce Kurama's viewpoint, which I've sorely missed.

Title: Sidekick (1: Call Me Gizmo)
Author: JaganshiKenshin
Genre: Action/Adventure, Humor
Rating: K+/PG-13
Summary: Hiei's claiming to be a cowboy, Kurama's frazzled, and to top it off there's a haunted hotel. Could this assignment get any worse?


Excerpt:

Upon his return from America, Hiei had been insufferable. I don't particularly care for this role-reversal. I prefer Hiei grumpy and easily provoked, not the other way round. It leaves me feeling childish, off-balance, all too ready with a defensive reply.

"I rode a race horse," Hiei added smugly.

"You did not."

"I did. Jockey Stomper. That should summarize it for you."

"When did you do this?"

"Last month."

"Where?" I challenged.

"Arizona."

I said, intending sarcasm, "Did you win?"

"In spades."

"You never mentioned."

"You're not my nursemaid."

"Cowboys are not the same as jockeys," I said feebly.

"Excellent observation. I'm the cowboy, you're the sidekick. And as my sidekick, you need a sidekick name."

I shut my eyes. "This should be fun."

"Think I'll call you Gizmo."

"Gizmo."

"For all the junk you keep in your hair."

"Not this again," I said. "Do I bug you about your sword?"

"Seriously, do you ever wash it?"

"I wasn't aware your sword needed me to wash it."

Hiei was bulldog-persistent. "Or do you just re-load every time you take a shower?"

"Of what possible interest is the state of my hair?"

Hiei waved an eloquent hand. "Getting stuffy in here."

It was not stuffy. It was icy on this warm October day, another anomaly which set my teeth on edge. "Save that hostility for the opposition."

"Just passing the time," said Hiei.

The elevator dinged. The doors slid open. With growing apprehension, I stepped into the unknown, Hiei at my heels.

(To be continued: An unpleasant surprise awaits.)


Illustrations:

They're not wearing cowboy hats, and these illos are on the old side.  Still...

The tale is completed, and the rest is found here.


Thank you for your patience.  Now, back to fountain pens.