growltiger

I knit. And am a nerd :D Those gloves are great. I'm self-taught, very slow, only been doing it a few years and not very good at finishing things. I tend to avoid anything that requires coming out as a certain size, and tend to focus on things that are monster-based, like so: Crochet Cthulu and Day of the Dead bride and groom: Knit monster in a swing My next project will be some stripey fingerless gloves. I'm currently focusing on yarn-bombing a nasty old pole in my garden which we use as a washing line. My toddler likes to peel the paint off it, so I'm hoping prettyfying it will stop him!

I don't have an answer for your question, but just wanted to say that I'm sure it'll look awesome wherever it goes. I hope you find that your first choice is doable though. Will you stick with b&g or will it be colour?

This makes me all kinds of happy. A lovely story indeed, thank you for sharing.

My peonies from Rodrigo Souto (brand new in this picture so very swollen, nicked from his Instagram. They've healed up perfectly). He's a lovely bloke too.

The colours are beautiful.

I'd take moped and flip flops guy. Rolex and wanky suit guy sounds... well... wanky. :p Ryan, you have the benefit here of many "hot girls" who are into tattoos responding to your post (at least I imagine everyone who posts on LST to be a beautiful person. Right?) Getting a tattoo is not going to make a difference. Your personality and confidence will. By all means get an awesome tattoo, but do it for yourself. That is way cooler than getting a tattoo that you perceive will make you cool in the eyes of someone else. Girls can sniff that crap out really easily, and it is a huge turn off. No-one likes a try hard. Being true to yourself and being comfortable in your own skin is attractive. Anyway, in response to what you actually asked... phoenix? Classic subject, awesome to look at, carries the sentiment of the quote without being a quote...

Dragon or snake? Is that North East, UK? I'm sure people can give you some good recommendations for shops if you let them know the area you are willing to travel to.

That's lovely @iowagirl, really pretty.

Oh my goodness, your back is beautiful!

Hello :-) Can we be nosy and see a link to your artist?

A few days ago the Daily Fail rolled out yet another tired old article on why tattoos are no longer just for bikers and sailors yada yada. The lady whose photo it used (without her permission) with an impressively patronising caption ("Fortunately most women don't go as far as having a tattoo 'sleeve' covering their whole arm.") has blogged about it here: Needles and Sins Tattoo Blog | "World's Worst" ... Tattoo Reporting

Bleurgh @SeeSea, but thank you for taking that hit so the rest of us don't have to. I went swimming about 3 weeks after having my foot tattooed, the scab had all but finished flaking and I thought it would be ok as it was no longer an open wound. Half an hour later it was all raised and slimy and a bit grim. It dried out and went all scabby again for days afterwards. I don't think it did any damage, but it certainly gave me a scare. And that was 3 weeks in and almost entirely healed, not 1 week and still open. Listen to the above posters, for they are wise.

Thank you @cltattooing :D I'm very pleased with them. I must get round to posting a photo of it all healed. And my leg & foot. It's been an exciting couple of months, tattoo-wise!

I wonder if sometimes people want to assign meaning to their tattoos as it validates them choosing to be tattooed, if that makes any sense. Maybe being able to say it's a tribute to who/whatever makes it more acceptable to have a tattoo than just getting one because they want one. I've noticed that I've been asked "why" a lot (after "did it hurt", always an odd question!), as if a "sensible" reason is expected. Maybe that ties in with @scubarons point. I wonder if some people need an excuse to get the first tattoo, as maybe they see it as a big deal. Maybe it becomes easier to just get them once you've broken that barrier.

I had my thigh done recently and wore leggings to work. They were much comfier than tights, tights felt a bit prickly and rough but leggings were fine. I wore loose skirts at home, to get as much air to it as possible. It was summer here so bare legs was easy (though I imagine the Australian winter to be pretty similar to the UK summer!)