Techforevil - Techforevil 🤖

Terracotta zoomorphic askos, Greek, ca. 1725–1600 B.C.

A beautiful set of 31 Bone Clones® replica claws and talons, and a savings when purchased as a set. Perfect for comparative studies and display. Set includes all of the claws and talons in our bird, cat, bear, and canid claws or talon sets, plus several others - 31 in all: great horned owl, golden eagle, bald eagle, red-tailed hawk, raven, peregrine falcon, barn owl and harpy eagle (also available as a set of bird talons), African lion, lynx, bobcat, cougar, Russian lynx, cheetah dew claw, African leopard, cheetah front claw, Siberian tiger and jaguar (also available as a set of cat claws), grizzly, polar, black and sloth (also available as a set of bear claws), wolf, fox, raccoon and coyote (also available as a set of canid claws) and komodo, beaver, snapping turtle, badger and porcupine. An impressive grouping.

February 2025

I was mentally incapable of moving on from Feb until the sheep was done.

Anyway

Holiday

Cruising is weird and not for me but I was not _for_ me so fine I guess. The polish tour leader was surprisingly competent (esp compared to the LatAm fiasco) and mum had a good time so probably more 🛳️ in my future at some point. It's a good way to recon places worth going back to on my own ig (first Istanbul because that pomegranate juice was to die for, then probs HK).

If there's one thing I know for sure it's that I never need to see another waterfall again in my life. ✋

Work and things

I really don't want to feature an obit in each one of those so can my friends and colleagues stop dying? RIP Charlotte.

Since I cunningly avoided the big thing we've been working towards (migration from GOV.UK PaaS) by being on holiday, a new big thing to work towards that everyone is very stressed about has appeared. 😑

Then I guess I will be moving to a different portfolio since a replacement for my role has been recruited! I get bored easily and I've been here for over a year now so I'm quite happy.

I'm increasingly of the opinion that creating any live service team / BAU capability should probably start with a solid process and roadmap for retiring services.

Sisyphus had it easy compared to people who try to write down processes at work and put them all in one place, I can cheer them on but I have mentally checked out from the attempts and will continue to solve my problems by asking groupchats.

My mortgage got approved, survey happened and has nothing dramatic in it, and my seller has found something they want to buy (with no chain) so it's all happening.

Fool's spring was nice and I am now ready to just delude myself into thinking it's spring for two months no matter how bad the weather gets. At least the lido will continue to be half empty. : )

Got a new tattoo and this was THE shortest time between getting one and wanting the next (as in - while I was still getting tattooed 😑). Love it even more than I expected tbh and definitely getting it extended if the artist comes back to the UK!

I'm helping with the next Delivercon and department's DM get together.

Watched

The Monkey - great fun, true to trailer (yes I'm still pissed about Presence), just a good ass film

The Last Showgirl - 100% of respondents* agree that this could be a double bill with The Substance

*(me and my friend with who I also watched The Substance)

fuckton of b-roll and why the HELL does the photographer girl never have a camera? bizarro. Jamie Lee Curtis just has fun as always. I have a lot to say about this for some reason hah

Mickey 17 - bizarrely bad in an incompetent way (characters introduced for no reason that go nowhere, plotholes, fuckton of expository voiceover, thematic blunt force trauma). Stinks of studio interference frankly, give us the Bong Joon-Ho cut!!!! 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️

Played

Hades 2 - major update dropped so that accounts for several dozen hours of my life in this time period. We got Ares, we got the good shade... My only remaining wish is for the game to let me pet the goodest three-headed boy. 🥺

The Roottrees are Dead - is it possible to go wrong with an Obra Dinn-like (that is not actually Obra Dinn, that was too hard for me and my eyes hurt thx).

Reignbreaker demo - Hades-like releasing in the spring which seems REALLY GOOD but the studio already announced they're getting shuttered after release. So glad this billion pound industry I'd love to work in is a garbage fire both working culture and career prospects-wise. :|

Fiasco - I guess our DM wanted more people to try making funny voices... ALAS. TTRPGs are hardly my thing and improv definitely isn't. How do I convince these people to just play a fucking boardgame again. orz

Makes

2 x Sheep (Toft) - https://techforevil.tumblr.com/post/777113383117914112/tldr-i-finished-two-sheep-from-toft-seth-the

Sadie the Sailor Dog (Ricorumi) - https://techforevil.tumblr.com/post/777114285980729344/sadie-the-sailor-dog-from-ricorumi-two-main

Started the Sanitation Worker Raccoon (I have the raccoon herself done, now just the accessories).

I also succeeded getting someone else into amigurumi and she’s onto her 2nd project (having started with a toft cat), counting that as mine. 😎

Next up

Got my Yakuza in Hawaii import from Japan ages ago (how could I live without Majima pop-up pirate toy...) just gotta find 30hrs spare to play it.

Golden Idol has a new DLC 👀

Got a ticket for Stitch Festival, inc a needle felting (aka best craft 🗡️) workshop

Maybe try making a human character amigurumi. :T

Bella is helping me test one of my Xmas gifts (an apron for pottering).

I enjoy needle felting A LOT. There's just something about stabbing things into shape that is very satisfying, and I think it's the closest fibre art to pottery in that I can just fuck around and find out, add a bit of stuff it things feel off etc. 😗

Kit link: https://www.themakerss.co.uk/products/sewing-mouse-small-needle-felt-kit

Anyway, I started this fella at a Stitch Festival last week. Not gonna lie, the little sewing machine was a major factor why I signed up. 😂 And the glasses!?

The workshop was a bit rushed but the instructions were pretty clear and I'm happy with the end result of course. : )

Progress pics:

March 2025

We're having AN ACTUAL SPRING? Whoever planted all the cherry trees (and other blossoms) around London - thank u.

For the first month this year, no one I know has died. As far as I'm aware. 🎉🥲

I've been doing Spanish on Duolingo for three full years as of this month, and taking classes for two (with some of the same people! so cool : )). It really feels like my life is just Spanish on Wednesdays sometimes, but if my count is correct I should be at the end of B1 by next summer!! :o

Went to the Stitch Festival, bought a load of stuff. I keep buying more and more yarn from Hobbii because I run out of one specific colour or have An Idea. Goal - don't buy any more in April?! I appreciate having a yarn shop 10 minutes from my house and I try to buy stuff from them whenever poss but to be completely honest the yarn selection is ass, they did not even have blue cotton. :[

Work is mostly stable, new Delivery Manager is settling in fast but I'm hanging around for a bit cos someone is going away for a month so a team needs cover. Still not sure what next, I've had chats about agile coaching. Hopefully not something that's a technology in search of an application - you know what I mean. 🙄

I made it to Data Bites (great talk about waste! all the girls love talking about incineration plants and waste tracking!!! 💖 ) and Product for the People where the vibe was honestly so nice, I really enjoyed myself even though I basically had to work throughout tee day. Also I met someone I've not seen for YEARS there cos they just came back in the UK and are doing something interesting again in one of my old depts. \o/

The OpenAI Ghibli stuff is so fucking gross.

What is up with the Majima Grayson Perry Everywhere campaign? I saw Grayson Perry books, Grayson Perry cross-stitch set, Grayson Perry jewellery, not even gonna mention the massive Grayson Perry poster that's just part of the landscape now. I like the guy a lot but it's funny how he's suddenly wherever I look. 😵‍💫

I had an eye test and my sight got better?!

House purchase has not moved from what I can see, it's gonna be another summer of hauling ass to the lido for an hour each way instead of having it round the corner at this rate. 🥲

I felt crap on the weekend when my friends started playing Delta Green, boo. :(

Whoever came up with Java Whiskers queer dating should get a raise. Not for me due to my commitment to dying alone but I appreciate marketing genius when I see it. 🫡

Earworm: Fever Ray - I'm not done (live at the Troxy). I was there and it was so fucking good, the recording almost captures it.

Less puerile street art IS available in London, but who cares. 😎

Makes

Raccoon (crochet)

Whales (crochet/needle felted)

Mouse (needle felted)

French bulldog (crochet)

Cat bed (crochet) + a necklace from the same yarn I've not managed to take a decent pic of

I picked up needle felting again after a workshop at Stitch Festival and I'm enjoying how easy it is to shape something recognisable. ~__~ It scratches the ceramics itch a bit, which is helpful since the only non-throwing course is on Saturdays in the prime morning swimming hours and I'm not sacrificing this over the summer haha.

While looking for Deltarune amigurumi patterns I found this amazing Seam plushie tutorial so putting that craft on my backlog...

I also got some cards from Pacific Knit Co, my knitting era may be approaching.

Currently I'm making something for a friend for Easter and trying to customise a pattern into a specific character... sneak peek:

Also pictured my first attempt at untangling a hank. What an absolute disaster. 🙃

Watched

a lot of KBash stuff - thank you youtube algorithm gods for sending me those fun, thorough videos from interesting perspective.

finished Star Trek TOS (due to this post, heh). Boy, did I feel like bobo the fool when I enjoyed the last episode and saw it's the most hated and panned one. 🧍🏻 You can quickly dismiss the premise as misogynistic (whatever the interpretation some aspects are deeply sus) but it's actually easy to find some nuance - and the idea that it's because of the writers' incompetence is delicious. 👹 Like the writer of that article I thought the performances were very fun. Anyway, I just started TNG and it kicked off strong with one of the divas of all time so my hopes are high. Maybe fewer aliens will be just blonde bombshells with funky hairdos this time (would it kill you to pledge your eternal devotion to a sentient pile of rocks that can revive Genghis Khan at least ONCE McCoy you coward! >:( ).

Next

Somehow I ended up buying fuckton of tickets for the future this month, so:

Kinoteka festival (Saragossa Manuscript, Hourglass Sanatorium)

UK Games Expo

A weekend in Ghent (I booked the Eurostar and the next day Switch 2 and Deltarune 3+4 were announced for the same weekend, I am fuming/you are WELCOME Lancer Fan Club)

Neon Genesis Evangelion screenings at the PCC

Deltarune concert for the 10 year anniversary (I was on the fence, I opened the seating chart and there was only one front row circle seat avaialble so my poor impulse control took over....)

Gotta make it to that Leigh Bowery exhibit

This is so true, thank you Pokemon News UK 😌

This is a good talk about measuring things with a great caveat which gets at the core of why a lot of my ‘delivery’ job often ends up being about ‘product’ things. 🫠

My mum would not stop asking me to make her a Frenchie amigurumi and I wanted something where I could relax a bit about the pattern/quality after the raccoon, work with a bit bigger hook etc haha. 💀

TBF I wouldn't even post it but I think it's neat to see how far I've come in terms of sheer speed- I think making both took roughly the same amount of time. 🤯 So it's a 2.5 months progress post of sorts.

Patterns:

Eleanor the Labrador from TOFT:

toftuk.com

Beginner Crochet Labrador Dog Pattern | TOFT

Beginner Crochet Labrador Dog Pattern | TOFT

Frenchie from StringyDingDing:

StringyDingDing

French Bulldog & Boston Terrier Amigurumi PDF - StringyDingDing

Crochet a Boston Terrier and French Bulldog with this printable amigurumi PDF crochet pattern! Visit our site to get it now.

Fox and grey cat

Random little projects made this week.

I've had the cat kit for a while (bought instead of another book I will never finish at Waterstones), and the fox is my attempt at actually making stuff I find on Tumblr. It's a free pattern.

Honestly I expected the kit to be worse, the yarn was clearly some kind of a synthetic and the hook was just a chunk of metal but the instructions were pretty clear and it worked up quick. I have yarn spare as well. Shape-wise it's similar to TOFT kits but obviously less 'quality', at £10.

I placed the eyes wonkily hence the side eye 'fix'. 💀

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The fox is made with Rico pure cotton. It's incredible how much more pleasant it was to make than my last thing, also in cotton but from Hobbii. Maybe that was stiffer cos it was bleached? :s

Sadie the Sailor Dog from Ricorumi

Two main things from this one I'd like to improve on are:

colour changes - I managed to hide the worst of the jumper and life ring stripes at the back or inside but for the future, making them a bit tidier wouldn't hurt. 😬

making pom poms. It looks horrid and falls apart when looked at.

I liked this one much more than Toft patterns! Very little sewing but what I did do (ears) turned nicer than expected. I didn't have suitable safety eyes when I made this but actually it doesn't look too bad.

I took it to my Spanish class to show to someone who also crochets (mostly flat things) and everyone loved her. 😌

(Shit lighting but I could not be bothered to retake pics. : ))