SnarCraft

Psst! Guess What!? I PUBLISHED MY FIRST PATTERN LAST WEEK! First time I've ever felt like this was me...something new every day, right? Thank you to everyone who did the excited happy dance with me last Tuesday. You helped distract me from obsessively hitting the refresh button on my stats to see if anyone thought my design was cool enough to even click on. ;o) I confess was a little nervous about publishing a pattern, mainly because there was a little voice in the back of my mind saying that this pattern was ‘cute’ but not anything someone other than me would want to knit…I ‘emmed’ and ‘erred’ about for a few weeks while I finished the first iteration of the project, blocked it, and took photos. I kept telling myself I might as well be prepared, whether I decided to publish the design or not. But it was actually Youngling who helped me the most in deciding firmly that I would indeed publish the pattern. For starters, I realised if she’d come to me saying that she t...

I hate spiders Last night I woke up with a start. I thought at first it was because I had fallen asleep with an audiobook running and it had come to a, rather loud, theatrical skirmish. I blearily turned off the book and rolled over onto my back, only to stare straight up at a gigantic huntsman above my head. Let me take a moment to remind you lovely readers that I live in Australia, and in Australia spiders range from microscopic to the size of your face. I'm aware that generally the poison level is inversely proportional to the size of the spider, but that doesn't stop me finding a spider big enough to smother me in my sleep terrifying. Also, I did not grow up here, so I inherently have a -5 resistance to local spiders. Since moving to Australia, I've tried to sort things with the spiders myself. I have tried to reason with them; applying to their sympathies by pointing out that I, too, spin and therefore we should be able to live amicably in respectful cohabitation...

I've been keeping secrets, but I'm sure you'll understand. You see, there was no post last week because I was recuperating from wonderful short holiday of yarn, road trips, a hens night, finishing a knitted wedding/birthday present, and watching two amazing human beings get married. (Tip: click on the individual photos for a closer view.)       A little background…. I met Mel, the bride, at a speculative fiction convention a couple of years ago. I don’t remember who noticed who’s fibre project first - I’m sure one of us was stitching away and the other bounced up to excitedly ask about it (it’s something we’d both do unabashedly, so I’m confident in claiming it was one of us.) But I do remember deciding pretty much right on the spot that she was going to be a friend (with consent, of course!).  We spent the rest of the convention amassing other stitchers to join us in the front row (we did so well at this that it became a running joke with t...

I finished it! I just want to start by saying that, despite it being two weeks since I last posted (more on this below), I finished that infernal blanket about that long ago, too. I wove in the ends and sewed on the accents and practically chucked it at The Pirates. I also warned Claire that if anything on the blanket broke I wasn’t fixing it for at least 12 months. She understands, she has these feelings sometimes too. It’s why we jiive so well. ;o) Here’s the finished product. It looks more like an albino toucan than a narwahl, in my opinion, but pirates also have birds so it’s still on brand. I’m calling it a win. Remember, I’m not a crocheter, the fact that it looks remotely like an animal, let alone one that I can reasonably argue would fit logically into a pirate family, is a win for me! I think that crochet project zapped me of any knitting mojo I might have had for anyone else. I have a theory that trying to bend yarn in ways that feel very unintuitive for me  (I s...

Baby, you're doing my head in! I mentioned last year about this blanket (at least on Twitter and Instagram, if not here, too) – it's the Stuffed Animal Blanket by Amanda Saladin. I made one for my best friend last year and I was blown away by how easy it came together, how quick it stitched up, and how I remarkably didn't feel like setting the entire project on fire at any time during its creation. (I don't find crochet relaxing, though I do agree it can make some beautiful things.) That  version of the blanket came out  looking like the cutest, dopiest koala and everyone I showed it to wanted to give it a cuddle. THAT  version of the blanket came together in one go, no frogging, no worries. This one? Well... I'm on attempt #5 in almost 10 months and it's still giving me trouble. I should have known I could only get away with crocheting something once before the universe realigned itself. I'm pretty sure it's the yarn. See, it's a silk...

We hosted a very important birthday party this weekend. It involved a horde of teenagers, a day long outing to the beach, a sleepover and breakfast on the lawn. It was delightful, no one died and the house is still standing in one piece. I am, however, still exhausted and appear to be making triple my usual number of spelling errors. I also tried to work on the crochet blanket some more yesterday, when I was presumably even more exhausted than I am today, and the magic no-mistake streak I’d been on was gone. I had to stuff it into a bag and ignore it pointedly for the rest of the evening. So, I’m going to leave you all with the write up I did previously of last month’s Sunday Shenanigans with Nicola and Alysha. I’m going to go have some more coffee and see if the blanket is ready to be a team player again. It’s 37C outside today, I’m not going to try doing anything other than sit in front of a fan with a cold drink. See you later in the week, when the weather cools down and I...