Fighting the Pern Plague

Fighting the Pern Plague

That’s what I’ve been doing for the past week and, believe me, it’s no fun whatsoever. It takes a hearty dragonrider to get through this crud. So my meanderings around the internet took me to finding ways to fight the dreaded plague (known as ‘the flu’ to you non Pernians) and this caught my eye. A great way to keep warm and the chill off your neck as you recover from being out of commission, a Fiery Dragon Scarfdesigned by Brooke L. Hanna. While the pattern was created for her son, it can be done to fit anyone in the family by simply adding more length to it.

And now, I’m off to bundle up and sip a nice hot cup of Klah and perhaps a Bubbly Pie while I continue to recover from the Pern Plague. Happy New Year all!

Nothing Says “Happy Holidays” Like Yoda!

I was playing around the web this week and came upon a really fantastic origami Yoda. And I thought “I will share this with my Geek Crafts peeps!” But finding the pattern [PDF] was tricky. I eventually succeeded, though you’ll notice the (very few) written directions are in Spanish. The translations are pretty easy to guess, but if you want to be very sure, Google Translate is more than up to the task.

I think he’d look splendid on a Christmas tree (or on/alongside any other holiday accoutrements that might be part of your celebrations)!

This isn’t the end of my story, though. Because I do my internet browsingwork on a shockingly-crashy Mac, and I lost both of the browser windows I had open in order to remember this fun little Yoda. So I tried to retrace my digital steps in, admittedly, a rather lackadaisical way. I ended up finding a totally adorable “baby Yoda” ornament pattern from Etsy seller Woolly Boully, as well as a book about an origami Yoda (or really about life as a sixth grader). I seriously need to learn to crochet, because I need this ornament on my tree! Not want. Need.

Visions of Sugarplums (& Electric Sheep)

With the holidays fast approaching, it’s understandable that we might all be getting a little excited, girls and bots alike. (Come on—you can’t tell me Data didn’t want to put Spot in a kitty-sized Santa hat.)

So here’s one for the robots in the crowd—or at least the robot aficionados—who want to deck the halls in a suitably festive fashion for this human holiday known as Christmas.

First up is a binary stocking, appreciated by androids and the technologically inclined alike. Oh, and if you’re multi-talented, you can knit one yourself with n2 Imaginations Design‘s pattern.

Next we’ve got a stocking by AnimationsDesigns that may outshine even Rudolph’s nose. Robots? Check. LEDs? Check. Awesome? Definitely check. And look at all the detail—each little robot is different.

If you want something a bit more understated than an illuminated stocking, My Imaginary Boyfriend has a slightly more traditional, rather rustic design (as rustic as robots get, I suppose).

And finally, I had to include this adorable stocking stuffer robot ornament from Sleepy Robot 13. I know, it’s not a stocking per se, but he’s holding one, so it kinda counts, right?

“We build the worlds we wouldn’t mind living in”

“Drummer, beat, and piper, blow,
Harper, strike, and soldier, go.
Free the flame and sear the grasses
Till the dawning Red Star passes.”
~ from Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey

Two weeks ago the world lost an amazing woman, one who had a profound impact on many people and forever changed the worlds of science fiction and fantasy. I will always have a place in my heart for Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern series, which I read, devotedly, throughout my teen years. In her honor, here are a few of my favorite crafty dragons from around the web:

Cthulhu Crochet and Cousins, a long-time favorite blog of mine, showcased a couple of adorable dragons, based on this (free!) pattern from Lucy Ravenscar on Ravelry. They aren’t strictly Pernese-style dragons, but they’re too adorable not to include!

And this one, by Craftster user Faren, is a two-fer: the adorable clay dragon caught my eye (oh how I want one!), but below it, you can also see an embroidered dragon flying across a painted map of Pern. That’s some serious fan-love!

Finally, there are these stuffed “shoulder dragons,” by Cheryl Simshauser, made to look like McCaffrey’s fire-lizards. I love the gold one! She seems to be looking right at you.

As many internet commenters have already said, “R.I.P. Ms. McCaffrey – Long May Your Dragons Fly!”

Tutorial Tuesday: Toy Story Alien Amigurumi

THE CLAW!!!!!

I just love these little dudes, they were/are completely my favourite toy story characters, who was yours?

Sharon from Homemade Obsessions has put together a free to use pattern for these adorable little green men, you can find it here.

Tutorial Tuesday: Goomba Dishcloth

Valerie from Der Himmel ist Grau (The Sky is Grey… in case you’re wondering) sent in a link to her blog.

Just so you know… she’s a crochet dishcloth pixel art ninja.

She’s made up crochet/knitting charts so that you too can crochet dishcloths adorned with goombas, koopa troopers, yetis, pac men and yummy yummy ghosts. Go for it!