Not much is cuter in the world of Harry Potter than Pygmy Puffs. Flickr-er blessednest2002 made these to pass out at the Book 7 launch in Texas. What lucky people!
Visit blessednest2002 on flickr
I’ve seen Christmas trees decorated in so many different themes, Jack Skeleton, Star Wars, Star Trek, Harry Potter but I do believe that this particular tree takes the prize for Most Unique!
Geyser of Awesome has shared a wonderful Cthulhu tree that is way beyond AWESOME! Using a Cthulhu stuffie as a tree topper and some finger tentacles (we all have those around the house, right?), they’ve created the ultimate in Christmas Tree DOOM!
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.
I mentioned in my introduction that you would be meeting some of the people who helped fire up my interest in ‘geek crafting’. One of the very first was my dear friend, Rosemary Waits, or Quietish as she is known on line. We first met on line in 2000 and lived over one thousand miles apart. As the fates would have it, I ended up moving only three and a half hours away from her and we would occasionally see each other in person.
It was Quietish who referred me to a couple of on line crafting groups for Harry Potter and, later , invited me to help her and another friend at an area event, Mugglefest. Two weeks before, she mentioned she was working on a Gryffindor scarf to wear that day. I barely could knit garter stitch at this time. There was no way I could create a scarf for myself in that time. Searching links, she sent me one for the sweater I mentioned last week and that was it.
There’s been many Harry Potter moments and crafts since there between us, and other friends, but one of my favorites is her HP House Fair Isle Pouch Bags which she shares here along with a link to her PDF pattern for all four houses found on Ravelry. With it’s flat style construction, the bag serves as a nice starting point for a knitter wanting to begin including pockets in their work. The pattern is a Fair Isle and is knitted in the round and includes a bit of basic crochet and some simple sewing to finish. The bags are lined and the pattern contains the graphs for all four house mascots.
If you’re not a member of Ravelry, membership is free and there are many patterns both free and for purchase available there.
“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!”
How often, while reading a Harry Potter novel, did you envision yourself, wand in hand, saying wingardium leviosa to a feather, making it float above everyone’s head,and thus becoming Professor Flitwick’s star pupil? Loads? Well, you can come one step closer to feeling like a student of Hogwarts with these awesome handbound journals/notebooks made by CelesteFrittata. The titles cover the whole gamut of Hogwart’s classes like Care of Magical Creatures to Advanced Potions. You can also pick up Owl Post stationery and your very own Quibbler notebook.
I have a couple of Harry Potter fans in my life that might like to find one of these under the tree this Christmas.
Check out their full line of awesomeness here.
