Search Results for: pattern

May 2

World of Geekcraft

Today is an exciting day at Geek Crafts! Our own Susan Beal, who blogs here every Wednesday, has a new book being released this week. The fittingly titled  World of Geekcraft is making its debut appearances for the Official Blog Tour both here at Geek Crafts and over at  Craft!

World of Geekcraft by Susan Beal

In addition to doing an incredible job with coordinating and designing this amazing book, Susan also was able to contribute several of her own projects. Of her contributions, my favorite is the Star Wars Terrariums. I believe when Susan told me she was making these I replied with a hearty, “Hell, yeah, I can’t wait to see those!” Here they are for you to see:

World of Geekcraft - Star Wars Terrariums by Susan Beal

Our Renee contributed an awesome essay called The Resurgence of Atari and Nintendo.

World of Geekcraft - The Resurgence of Atari and Nintendo by Renee Pickup

Here’s an excerpt:

A big part of the renewed popularity of Atari and NES games lies within the breakthrough idea that it’s actually cool to be geeky. The word “geek” has transitioned from describing someone wearing a pocket protector to someone who is hip, in the know, and totally capable of keeping up with technology. With new video game consoles, cell phones, and computers coming out faster than most people can keep up with, being a geek has its advantages. As loads of average Joes jump on the geek-chic bandwagon, it seems the hardcore geeks feel the need to separate themselves; perhaps wearing an old Atari logo is a way of saying, “Yeah, I was here first.”

And I was lucky enough to contribute a fuse bead portrait of Buffy the Vampire Slayer! Doing these portraits is a long process and I like to do them row by row. Here you can witness Buffy gradually showing her face:

World of Geek Craft - Buffy the Vampire Slayer by Shayne Rioux

Over 10,000 beads later, I had a complete portrait:

World of Geekcraft - Buffy the Vampire Slayer by Shayne Rioux

I know 10,000 beads seems like a lot of work – and it is! – but it’s totally worth it to see the finished product.

Krys and I headed out today and spotted World of Geekcraft in its natural habitat, Barnes & Noble:

World of Geekcraft in the Wild

If your local bookstore doesn’t have World of Geekcraft yet, you can buy it online at:

After poring through the whole book, I’ve decided my absolute favorite project is Garth Johnson’s Planet Commemorative Plates. I’m totally going to make these for my husband’s computer lab.

World of Geekcraft - Planet Commemorative Plates by Garth Johnson

Continue following The Blog Book as it makes tracks to the following websites:

Also visit the official site for the book – worldofgeekcraft.com.

And last but not least, we have a copy of World of Geekcraft to give away to one lucky reader!

Leave a comment telling us your favorite geeky thing by midnight, Friday, May 6th, and we’ll pick a winner at random.

May 1

Crafting Valhalla

Thor movie posterWith the premiere of the movie Thor this week, I thought I’d highlight some viking crafts. As my paternal grandfather was a full-blood Swede, I think it only fitting, ja?  :)

Chandra Willis created a stylish infant-toddler viking helmet (though her model does not appear to agree) – find her knitting pattern at Hot Potato Knits.

Yarn manufacturer Bernat offers a crochet version of a warrior baby helmet (Ravelry link, login required), with which I am completely in love, and which has me eying every baby head in near vicinity with crafting glee.

Traci Heiner worked up a pattern for a dishcloth featuring Thor’s Hammer – known as Mjolnir – and kindly provides a link to the Wikipedia entry to learn more about its symbolism.

Amigurumi viking doll projectNeedleNoodles offers an amigurumi viking pattern (left), as a free expansion pack pattern to her Creepy Cute Crochet book.

In the new-to-me craft category, a Viking Knitting tutorial from janraven on Etsy. Since the tutorial features 75 photo step-outs, it’s probably a good thing janraven also offers the finished Viking Knit Hoop earrings in her Etsy shop.

And finally, Cheryl Herrick (aka “crankycheryl”) shares her version of a Viking birthday party, complete with duct tape Viking helmets, a catapault, and a Viking long boat made of chocolate chip pound cake. Complete epic-ness.

Oh, and a side geek-note? Chris Hemsworth, the actor who is playing Thor in the forthcoming movie, also played George Kirk in the 2009 reboot of Star Trek, and is currently working on Joss Whedon‘s Avengers, also as Thor. Nice.

Viking crafts previously linked on GeekCrafts:

April 24

Jayne Cobb Hat and Scarf

Jayne Cobb hatsAs my first geekcraft-sharing post, I thought I would share one of my own projects, or actually a couple. As a proud Browncoat (fan of Joss Whedon‘s TV series “Firefly“), I of course knit the requisite Jayne Cobb hat – one for my husband, and one for my son. I used Dryope’s Jayne Cobb hat pattern for the hat, though there are many variations on the pattern.

My husband says it’s the warmest snow-shoveling hat he’s ever had. In fact, after shoveling one particularly cold day, he remarked that it was too bad that there wasn’t a matching scarf pattern, to keep his neck and face warm as well. Not one to let my crafting superpowers go to waste, I began designing a scarf immediately.

I consulted with my son and fellow Browncoat, and he thought the stripes should be “random” (rather like Jayne himself), so he devised the pattern of stripes, and how wide each stripe should be. I think the resulting pattern turned out almost like a contemporary version of the Dr Who scarf, which just gives it extra geek points, in my mind.

I stuck with the traditional colors of the Jayne Cobb hat – red(ish), orange(ish), and yellow. I used Vanna’s Choice yarn in Brick, Mustard, & Rust, so it would have easy care & handling.

Here’s a rough pattern for the Jayne Cobb scarf I came up with:

cast on in desired width (multiples of 6)
knit two rows of garter stitch
then work in a 3×2 rib (K3, P2) for remainder of scarf:
row 1: K3, P2
row 2: P3, K2
end with two rows of garter stitch
Jayne Cobb scarf
pattern:
6” Brick/red
7” Rust/orange
1” Mustard/yellow
3” Rust/orange
4” Mustard/yellow
2” Brick/red
7” Rust/orange
3” Brick/red
6” Mustard/yellow
7” Rust/orange
7” Mustard/yellow
3” Brick/red
7” Rust/orange
6” Brick/red

Links of interest:

April 13

Star Wars Craft Book Interview!

I met Bonnie Burton at Maker Faire in 2007 after admiring her Star Wars crafts online for years. She is an amazing crafter with a very well-deserved geeky dream job at Lucasfilm – senior editor at StarWars.com and project designer extraordinaire!

I have been SO excited for her Star Wars Craft Book since I first heard the news that it was on the horizon, and I’m so happy to get to do this interview with Bonnie about her book, her day-to-day at Star Wars world HQ, and how she got started with this whole amazing project.

How did the book come about?

I started doing craft tutorials on StarWars.com way back in 2004 so kids and adults could express their fandom through googly eyes, pipe cleaners, felt and glitter. I wanted to put some low-fi activities (crafts & drawing tutorials) on the site so fans could print them out and do some fun things away from the computer. When I was a kid I loved making crafts! Making bag puppets, sock monkeys, macaroni art — you name it, I did it! And those are the happiest memories I have as a kid — making my own dioramas, toys, murals, and so on. I figured that kids today are pretty much like kids when I was one; we all just want to express our creative sides and get our art featured on the fridge!

The reaction from fans — parents and kids alike — was really positive and because of that the Star Wars Craft Book was able to come about! I’m really glad that the best crafts featured on StarWars.com and a ton of new crafts are in the book for different skill levels of craftsters. Anyone can pick up this book — even if they’ve never made a craft in their life — and make something fun. I can’t wait to see what the fans make and how they customize the crafts to make them a reflection of their own style!

What can a day crafting at Lucasfilm include?

I have regular writing duties at StarWars.com as the Senior Editor. When I’m not interviewing a celebrity about why they love Star Wars, or blogging about a cool Star Wars reference in pop culture, or connecting with fans on our official StarWars.com Twitter and Facebook pages, I’m either working on a craft for the site or working together with one of our awesome artists to make a fun Star Wars drawing tutorial.

Usually, when I think up a craft to do, I’ll do a test run of it at home in the evenings or on the weekends. Then once I figure out the steps and make any crafting blunders so you don’t have to, I write out the steps and take photographs of what I’m doing. I code it in HTML then plug it into our publishing system. For awhile I was doing a new craft every other week, but I’ve scaled back to a new craft every month. Sometimes I get my ideas from craft fairs or art museums, and sometimes I just look at an object like a wooden spoon and think, “Hey that looks like a Bith head! I should make some Modal Nodes spoon puppets!”

Whenever I do a craft in my office, my officemates always come by to check it out on their way to get coffee. Sometimes they stop in and help just because it’s a fun break from whatever they were doing. However, I do try to warn them that once they get glitter on them, it never comes off… ever.

My nephew Julian and I spent the most fun afternoon crafting a felt Yoda together from your pattern. Do you have a favorite kid-friendly craft in the book?

One of the easiest crafts in the book reminds me of a crafts I used to make as a kid — the Wookiee Birdhouse. It’s a craft that most of us remember from our childhood when we did crafts at summer camp, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, 4-H, afterschool programs, church, what have you. I think I’ve made at least 5 milk carton birdhouses during my childhood and always had a blast putting them together. The cool thing about this craft is that not only is it fun to make, but it teaches kids that you can use items that you would normally throw out to make a creative craft. Many of the crafts in my book I tried to use recyclable materials and supplies that were easy to find around the house. When I was a kid, we didn’t have a lot of money for craft supplies so we had to just make do with what we had. Crafts made with items around the house and outside always appeal to me more than crafts that demand expensive supplies.

What’s one of your all-time favorite projects in the book?

The Jabba the Hutt Body Pillow has a special place in my heart. I was making my bed one weekend and I piled my pillows off to the side. Out of the corner of my eye that pillow pile looked an awful lot like Jabba. So I thought, why not go ahead and turn my extra pillows into a giant, cuddly tribute to my favorite space gangster. The project only took an afternoon to put together, and my dog loves to snuggle with him too. It’s probably gotten the most comments from my friends who visit my house. That pillow even made a guest star appearance when I was performing with Wil Wheaton and Paul & Storm’s traveling geek cabaret show W00tstock. The audience loved him. That pillow is a hit wherever I take him.

I think my personal favorites have to be the Cuddly Bantha and the Bossk Bean Portrait. Were those two fun to make?

The Cuddly Bantha is one of my faves too. I’m a big fan of the Star Wars Holiday Special and when I first spotted Lumpy’s favorite toy (which a stormtrooper then rudely ripped apart) I knew I had to make one of my very own. Using felt, pillow stuffing and buttons for eyes, the Bantha is one of those crafts that anyone can make. A couple who likes to craft together sent me photos of a felt bantha herd that they made from the instructions. It was so awesome to see fans make that craft into something even more elaborate and creative.

The Boosk Bean Portrait was initially a gift I made for a friend who really loves the Star Wars bounty hunter Bossk. I wanted to make her something that was a one-of-a-kind piece of art that she could have for her collection. As I was making it, I thought that kids (and adults) would have fun doing this too.

Did any of the book projects make it back to your house or desk at work after the photo shoots?

Indeed! My office is full of Star Wars crafts from the book right now. It looks like a PuppetPalooza in there! In fact, when people walk into my office I think they might be overwhelmed by so many pairs of googly eyes staring at them! The Jabba the Hutt Body Pillow is in my apartment and my dog has fully adopted him as her dog bed. They’re very cute together.

Anything else you’d like to add for geekcrafts.com readers?

Here’s more info on the book if you want to read more, and if your readers make any crafts from the book have them tweet photos of their finished crafts to me on Twitter at @bonniegrrl! I’d love to see what everyone makes!

Thanks, Bonnie! Congratulations on your awesome book!

April 10

Wibbly Wobbly, Timey Wimey

Wibbly Wobbly, Timey WimeyThis Doctor Who inspired cowl was designed by Ravelry user Rachel Henry.  It’s made with a Knit Picks self striping yarn, in the Time Traveler colorway, which is unfortunately no longer available on the Knit Picks site.  The colors are a pastel version of the iconic Doctor Who scarf worn by the fourth Doctor.

The cowl pictured here is one I knit for myself.  I ordered the yarn right after seeing the pattern, and knit it for myself as a treat when I finished all my Christmas knitting.

April 9

Kirby Plushie

Kirby Plushie I made this adorable Kirby plushie for a friend a few months ago.  After spending several days scouring the internet for a good knitting pattern for a ball, I came across this Kirby pattern on Ravelry.  I altered it slightly, using my own design for the feet, and making the eyes and mouth with felt, that I then glued on with a hot glue gun rather than knitting them as seen in the pattern.

It only took about three days to make, and I had a lot of fun knitting Kirby.