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'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 am happy to report that the Tyrannosaurus Rex Mittens survived surgery and are now on their way to New Zealand to make another special nephew very happy. Followers of this blog will remember the Triceratops Gloves I made last month for someone’s special nephew? It was a romping good play at hacking a pattern and flying blindly by the seat of my pants, listening to my gut assure me that everything would be fine, only to have it all be SPLENDID at the end. When I blogged about the gloves I was also most of the way through knitting the mitten portions of the TRex mittens. I was feeling pretty darned accomplished after kitchernering the top of the second mitten, and I laid them out together to snap a photo.   Yeah….I should have known better than to knit them individually. I was annoyed enough with myself that I had to set them aside for a little while to let the air clear. I was very certain that I was not going to knit another mitten from scratch. No, no, no. There was ...

Hello darlings! I’m sorry, with all the road trip bragging talk yesterday I forgot to ask - how was your weekend? Did you get up to any fibrey mischief? I confess I get a bit giddy when travel is involved. The past three years have been very dry on travel and exploring. (For someone who has spent every summer holiday and spring break and even a few university semesters traveling the world, going for more than a few months without an adventure trip is a big change.) My weekend included dinosaurs. I’m not complaining. ;o) I finished a pair of dinosaur gloves for a very special nephew. (Not my nephew, but he’s clearly very special if his Auntie thinks he needs a pair of these delightful things.) I’m damn chuffed about how these babies turned out. The pattern is Triceratops Dinosaur Gloves by Chelsea Nicole Spangler and the pattern is made for ‘women’s glove size 6-7’. I don’t know what that actually means, since I’ve never made gloves before in my life. Yes I do wear gloves some...

Quick note before getting into today’s post. I’ve had a few people asking about blog post alerts. Just to the right, near the top of the page, it says ‘Snark in your Inbox’ with a signup form. Just pop your email in there and you will be alerted every time there is a new post. Alternatively, you can follow me on Twitter , Instagram , or Pinterest , for blog updates. Or to just chat about things happening. :o) Last year one of my my favourite authors, Seanan McGuire was one of the Guests of Honor at Continuum , a speculative fiction convention. (What? You’re surprised I’m one of those Geeks?) As if that wasn't enough to get me searching for travel tickets, turned out my friend Dr Jodes (yes that Dr Jodes ) was also going to be there, taking the Australian book industry by storm and capturing  fantasy/romance lovers’ hearts forever more. I was going, no question about it. Cats, zombies, faeries, lots of smart nerdy talk for hours PLUS a well grounded excuse to sit on my duff a...

Hello lovelies, how are you today? I'm sorry for not checking in yesterday, but I have a good reason - I was prepping to see a doctor. Nothing to be worried about! Dr Jodes is not that kind of doctor. Some of you might have heard of her already, if you are fans of The Bachelor (Australia) or were following the #PaceysCreek earlier this year. Ever heard of the book Valentine ? Yeah, that Dr Jodes . I'm not gonna lie, I feel pretty cool by association. (Don't roll your eyes. I don't name drop often, gimme a break.) If you haven't heard her speak or read anything she's ever written STOP right now, go google her, and treat yourself. You won't be sorry. Back to my reason for ignoring you all in favour of prepping for a visit with Dr Jodes. Well, this is a little embarrassing, but when Dr Jodes moved away from Sydney to Tassie I insisted on knitting her some cold weather items because Tassie gets actual weather. She agreed to let me custom make her a hat and...

This past weekend I had Liebling drop me off at Skein Sisters for the afternoon while he and Youngling went off to look for some parts for his radio project. I staked out my spot on the knitting couches, picked out my yarn purchase for the next project(s) (more Mukluks , yes I realise 4 pair looks excessive, I don't think the recipients would agree with you, though.), got up to the counter to pay... I'd forgotten my wallet. This is unheard of. I might have joked about doing such a thing before, you know, like when one says 'Library book sale, better leave the wallet at home!' but I've never actually  forgotten my wallet when I've intended on going to the yarn shop before, not accidentally, not on purpose. Never. After a couple semi-panicked moments in which I mentally ticked off every possible way I could manage to still walk away with this yarn (it's perfect, you'll see in a moment) legally and without having burned my budding relationship ...