February 4

Called by Cthulhu

Called by Cthulhu

Usually, the words used to describe H. P. Lovecraft’s creature Cthulhu end to be in the range of ‘hideous’, ‘terrifying’, ‘gargantuan’. Somehow one never things of cute or cuddly. But it appears that Rebekah Clarke-Noonan, known as passiontiger on LiveJournal, has found a way to turn him into a cute and cuddly crocheted figure. Yes, you can find the free pattern for Cthulhu here designed by Rebekah and not that difficult to make. This three dimensional amigurumi is crocheted in the round using a 3.00 mm hook and knitting worsted. You might just find yourself crocheting up a family of Great Old Ones with this pattern.

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January 21

One Does not Simply Quilt Mordor

One Does not Simply Quilt Mordor One must start at the beginning with The Hobbit.  Which is what Jennifer Ofenstein has done with Fandom in Stitches latest long-term project, There and Back Again.

Announced in August, it officially began with the first block’s pattern, Gandalf,  designed by Schenley Pilgram and posted on October 5, 2011 and subsequent patterns were and continue to be posted on the first Wednesday of each of the following 12 months. Also pictures is The Road designed by Lilja Björk Sigurdórsdóttir.

Haven’t started yet? Not a problem, each month, the links are there to previous patterns released for you to access and download to work on at your leisure. The project is a collaborative effort between four Fandom in Stitches designers, Michelle Thompson, Lilja Björk Sigurdórsdóttir, Schenley Pilgram, and Jennifer Ofenstein.One Does not Simply Quilt Mordor

Never done paper piecing before? Still not a problem as Jennifer has some wonderful tutorials to help you learn. So come along on a Hobbit’s quilted journey to there and back again!

One Does not Simply Quilt Mordor

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January 19

Library Book Bag.

     My little Kindergartner was super excited to get her library card the other day.

       She was concerned she would loose her new library card, and she wanted to make sure she had somewhere safe to keep her borrowed books. (A real concern with 3 little siblings, and a house full of books)  So I made her a special library book bag.

I made it out of a pair of old jeans. Actually 3/4 of a pair of old jeans, I used 1/2 of a leg for a different project. It’s a simple messenger bag with a few special touches.  The front has a great decoration I embroidered on to a piece of felt, using a pattern from Urban Threads. I just zigzagged around the edge to keep it in place.

On the inside, there is a pocket for the library card. I cut a pocket off of the butt of the pants, and sewed it into place. We were nervouse the card might fall out and get lost, so we put as little hole punch in the card, and tied it on with a ribbon.

 

It has lots of room for all her special library books, and she loves it very much. She has already taken it to school for show and tell.

Category: Books, Craft, Geek | 2 Comments on Library Book Bag.
January 16

A geweldig Hedwig cake!

The blog Cake Wrecks took a break from their usual posting of grief-and-trauma-in-fondant-form to post some pretty amazing cakes with birds.  You’ll find several geek-themed cakes in this collection, but I had to post this adorable homage to Hedwig. I can’t imagine cutting into this masterpiece: the detail in the chocolate wand, the academic disciplines written along the book spines, Hedwig’s sweet, loving little face… all sorts of squee.

Sadly, I can’t say very much about the contents of the cake since the original submission appears to come from a Dutch website, and my Dutch is limited to the understanding that mayonnaise is superior to ketchup when it comes to the ultimate french fry condiment.  I may have seen something about marzipan in here, but that was never really a mystery. If any Dutch friends are reading this blog and can help with translation in the comments, that would be super mooi.

Language difficulties aside, I thought this taart was entirely too geweldig not to share!

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January 8

The One True Seeker

Having recently started re-watching the series “Legend of the Seeker” and putting the first book, of the book series the show was based on, on hold for me at the library, I thought I’d try and find some craftiness that had been inspired by this series.

RuthNoreDesigns has made these beautiful necklaces that resemble the one worn by our favorite Seeker, Richard Cypher. Along with the amazing bone like pendant, she also makes completely gorgeous replicas of the Night Wisp necklaces.

Whether you’re a fan of the “Sword of Truth” series by Terry Goodkind or just a fan of the tv show “Legend of the Seeker” these necklaces are a beautiful way to show off your love for either series.

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January 7

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!

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