Crafts

web-goddess Oscar Contest 2010

Oscar Contest 2010… is open!
The Eighth Annual web-goddess Oscar Contest has finally begun. I’ve added a thirteenth category this year – Best Original Score – to lessen the odds of a tie. As usual, the number of dead people in the obituary montage will be the tiebreaker. And what do you get if you win? Why, it’s a Sparkly Emo Vampire Sockmonkey Playset! (And don’t worry, Twilight-haters. I’ve catered for you too.)

You can go here to make your entry. You can see all the current entries here. The contest will end the minute the ceremony begins! Read on for more photos and details of the prize!

Once upon a time, a girl named Bella fell in love with a very sparkly emo vampire named Edward. He gave her piggy-back rides in the trees.

Oscar Contest 2010 - Bella and Edward

But her long-haired Native American friend Jacob didn’t approve and warned her away.

Oscar Contest 2010 - Bella and Jacob

Bella didn’t care. She and Edward frolicked in a meadow and he sparkled.

Oscar Contest 2010 - In the Meadow

Jacob cut his hair and took to wearing cutoffs and hanging out in the woods in the rain.

Oscar Contest 2010 - Jacob

But what’s this? It’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer! With a flash, she whips out Mr. Pointy and reduces Emo Edward to dust.

Oscar Contest 2010 - Buffy stakes Edward

Yes, ladies and gentlemen. If you win this year’s Oscar Contest, all this melodrama could be yours. You get three different sock monkeys: Edward, Bella/Buffy, and Jacob.

Edward comes with foofy auburn hair, amber eyes, embroidered six-pack, and a black peacoat. Oh, and he sparkles in the sun.

Bella has long brown hair, a grey coat, and a treasured copy of “Wuthering Heights” (with hand-embroidered cover). She’s also very clumsy and lacks any sort of personality. (Just like the books!)

Jacob (in his younger incarnation) has long brown hair, an embroidered six-pack, and a pair of denim cut-offs. He’s friendly and nice and has no idea he has a latent werewolf gene.

Later, Jacob gets ripped, cuts his hair, finds out he’s a werewolf, and kinda turns into a jerk. See? You can tell he’s scowling. Poor kid has no idea Renesmee is in his future.

With a quick change of wig and the addition of a crucifix, Bella becomes Buffy! Buffy has long blonde hair and a wooden stake. She’s also quick with a pun and has very little patience with mopey emo vampires.

The four wigs (Bella’s long, Buffy’s long, Jacob’s long, and Jacob’s short) all have a strip of Velcro on the underside that corresponds to a strip on the appropriate monkey’s head. You can mix and match to your heart’s content!

Oscar Contest 2010 - Wigs

So whether you’re a Twi-hard or a Twi-hater, there’s something for everyone in the Sparkly Emo Vampire Playset! Don’t forget to enter the Oscar Contest for your chance to win…

Socks!

Socks!

First up are the Biohazard Socks I designed and knitted for Eileen. They were a gift for getting her Biology PhD, so I thought the biozard symbol was fitting. I took the symbol and turned it into a chart, scaling it to fit nicely around the leg of the sock. I also centered it so the motifs would continue nicely down the top of the foot. Other than that, it’s your basic cuff-down sock with a slipstitch heel. The yarn is Pagewood Farms St. Elias that I bought last year at Compatto Yarn Salon in Santa Monica. It’s hand dyed Bluefaced Leicester and it’s GORGEOUS. I loved knitting with it. I knitted the socks one at a time on two circular 2.75mm needles. (Ravelry details.)

The second pair are Sheri’s Posie Socks from Socks from the Toe Up. (Thanks to Miss Fee for lending me the pattern.) I started them at Guild Camp last month but only finished them last night. I knitted them at the same time on two 2.75mm needles. The yarn is Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock in the “Sherbet” colourway, kindly gifted to me by Mary-Helen and Sandra. I was worried that the colours might compete with the lace, but instead I think it all worked together really well. The yarn is lovely to knit with and it really showed off the stitch pattern. There was very little pooling, and I ended up with heaps of it left over. I had some trouble with my initial cast-off being too tight, so I tried out Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off, which worked perfectly. (Ravelry details.)

Now, on to the next project…

Matt’s Random Striped Scarf

Matt’s Random Striped Scarf
Remember back in June when I launched my site redesign? Well, in exchange for making my awesome header, I agreed to knit Matt a custom scarf. He liked the look of Kelley Deal’s recycled scarves, so that’s where the inspiration came from. I used sixteen different colours of 8 and 10ply wool on a 4.5mm circular needle (knitted as a tube). Each colour was assigned a number and put on a bit of paper in an envelope. In another envelope I had a selection of bits of paper with 1, 2, 3, 5, and 8 written on them (Fibonacci stripes). I’d pick a slip from each envelope and then knit the specified colour in the specified number of stripes. After all the slips were gone, I put them back in and mixed them up again. This assured that the stripes were random, but not too random. (I wanted a relatively even distribution of the colours.) I think it turned out really well! It’s about six inches wide when flattened, and about five feet long. (Another view.) Matt didn’t want fringe, so I sewed the ends shut. It’s now blocked and on its way to him. Thanks again, Matt! There are a couple other pics on Ravelry…

And isn’t the Snook a natural male model?

Cookie Monster Cupcakes

Cookie Monster Cupcakes

It’s Cupcake Day for the RSPCA today, and I went all out. This was my inspiration, and I’d say they come pretty close! Tips for future googlers: I made plain vanilla cupcakes from a box mix. It’s helpful if you can fill the liners higher than usual; that way you get a nice rounded dome on top. The icing is just pre-made Betty Crocker vanilla, dyed to a brilliant sky blue with food colouring we got at Iced Affair. We also used the colouring to dye a bag of dessicated coconut the same colour. (Snookums put it in a big bag, added some drops of colour, and shook it all around.) So I iced the cupcakes and then sprinkled coconut all over. Then the tricky bit. I tried just cutting a slit and sticking the cookie in, but that didn’t work very well. So I started using a sharp knife to cut a smile-shaped wedge out of the top. I also used the knife to trim the sides of each cookie into a point (so I wasn’t ramming as much bulk down into the cupcake). That worked better. The eyes are made from large white chocolate buttons with a small chocolate chip stuck on. I used the knife to cut slits and then stuck the eyes down inside.

Now I just have to figure out how I’m going to get 24 of these to work!

Update: I sold out! Everybody loved them. So far I’ve taken in $78 in donations for the RSPCA. Not bad for a few hours’ playing in the kitchen…

Baby Cardigan and Tasman Summer Tunic

Baby Cardigan and Tasman Summer Tunic
I finally finished off a couple lingering kids’ projects that I was working on. The first is a cardigan for my friend Venks’s new baby. The boy is named Vivaan and he was born about two weeks ago. The wool is Wired for Fibre’s “Elizabeth” sock wool in colour Serenity. The pattern is free and is knitted sideways (cuff-to-cuff). I got some adorable teddy bear buttons from the button shop in the Rocks last Saturday to finish it. I can’t wait to see it on Vivaan!

Next is the Tasman Summer Tunic for my niece Indie. The pattern is by Just Jussi and is available as a free Ravelry download. I knitted the smallest size and used three balls of Morris Paddington (80% bamboo, 20% merino) in colour #611 “Dover”. I left off the beads at the hem, but other than that I didn’t change anything. The ribbon at the front is very cute, and I found a pretty star button to use as the closure at the back. I hope it fits her!

Child’s French Sock in Citron Pattern and Diaper Knitting

Child’s French Sock in Citron Pattern and Diaper Knitting
Long name… for a fairly unsatisfying pair of socks. I dunno. I’m just not loving these. It’s mostly the colour, I think. The yarn is Wired for Fibre “Rita” merino sock in the colour “Opulent”. In the hank it looked like more of a semi-solid, so I thought it would be a good choice for this fairly busy pattern. Unfortunately when I started knitting it, the pink stripes really stood out and started to compete with the stitches. Not good.

Anyway, the pattern is from Knitting Vintage Socks. I knitted both socks at the same time on 2.75mm circulars. Despite looking complicated, the pattern was actually very easy to memorise. I’m still not happy with my lace knitting though. (My yarnovers between two knit stitches are way smaller than my YOs between a knit and a purl. I fear this would be problematic in a larger piece.) I do like the way the diaper knitting continues down on the heel flap. I was finishing the socks at Morris & Sons on Sunday when Mrs Morris came by and admired them. “You like ’em?” I said. “They’re yours. Happy birthday!” At least they’ll go to someone who really likes them. (More pics on Flickr and details on Ravelry.)

Cranford Mitts

Cranford Mitts
I saw Lyn’s Cranford Mitts last week and realised they were the perfect project to use up the Noro left over from my ribbed socks. The pattern is available for free (but just watch out because there’s a missing YO on row 8). I cast on last week and had most of the first mitt knitted on Saturday, but when I tried it on I could barely get it over my hand! My tiny hands! My legendary tight tension strikes again. (And that’s with going up to a 2.75mm needle.) So I frogged it all back and started over with 60 stitches instead of 50, which meant I had a whole extra pattern repeat. That works much better for me. I lengthened the pattern a fair bit, adding in extra repeats before and after the thumb. I finished the pair of them in just five days. When I tried them on last night, I noticed that the opening around my knuckles gaped a bit so I had the bright idea to sew the sides together between my 3rd and 4th fingers. That made them fit much closer to my hand and feel a lot warmer. (Well, as warm as lacy fingerless mitts can feel!) I think they look pretty cool though, and they match my Clapotis. Yay for crafty accessories! (Ravelry details are here.)

Brycie’s Outfit and Noro Ribbed Socks

Brycie’s Outfit and Noro Ribbed Socks
A couple finished objects to report! First up is an outfit for Andrew and Kathleen‘s new son, Bryson Burton. The whole set is knitted from two balls of the new Morris Empire 4ply in “Plumage”. Details for the vest, hat, and socks are all up on Ravelry. The vest was the trickiest, in that I was adapting a Sirdar pattern for 8ply. I ended up just knitting a bigger size and hoping for the best. It worked pretty well! I delivered the set (still a bit damp from the final blocking) to the happy parents on Sunday, and hopefully they’ll be able to post a piccie of him in it soon.

I also finished the Noro socks I started when I taught the Morris and Sons sock workshop last month. The pattern is Wise Hilda’s Basic Ribbed Sock, which I knitted out of Noro Kureyon Sock on two 2.75mm circular needles. (Rav details) I’m really pleased that I got the colour gradients to match up so nicely. (I wasn’t actually really trying.) I finished these off yesterday morning before work and put them straight on my feet. Man, there is nothing better than wool socks in winter. I feel my sock mojo starting to come back…

Rusted Root

Rusted Root
I should officially move this one into the FO pile! I started Rusted Root in March as a palate-cleanser during the rush to finish Na Craga. I tweaked the pattern a fair bit based on mods I saw on Ravelry (using tubular cast-on for the neckline, adding a few rows in the sleeves, putting in hip shaping, etc). I was unhappy with the waist though, and at knitting camp last weekend I decided to frog it back and try something different. The girls suggested a simple roll edging (rather than a rib). I think it really works! It makes the whole thing just a little more casual, which is appropriate given that it’s really just a cotton t-shirt. I’m still not sure it’s the most flattering style for a large-busted gal, but since when has that stopped me before? I used 3.5mm needles for the ribs and 4.0mm for the body. The yarn is Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Buttercream, and I only used 4 skeins! More details over on Ravelry.

Na Craga

Na Craga
It’s finished! I dragged the Snook out for a photoshoot this morning. There’s a slight visible line from my drying rack across the front, but I’ve already steamed it out for Show delivery. The light was too nice not to go for the photographs right away.

As I said on Ravelry, I kinda feel like crying a little bit, like when I finished my first half-marathon. This WAS a marathon. Getting to the finish line is just such a relief. Regardless of whether it wins anything, I think this may be the knitting project that I am most proud of. Thanks to all you guys for your great comments, advice, and encouragement.

More photos are on my Ravelry project page and on Flickr. Read on for the technical details.The pattern is “Na Craga” from Alice Starmore’s Aran Knitting. Unfortunately the book is out-of-print and used copies sell for hundreds of dollars. Luckily a kind Raveler was willing to share hers with me so I could knit it.

I ended up using 19 skeins of Naturally Harmony 10ply. The last skein (used for the collar) is a different dye lot, but I can’t spot the difference at all. The twisted ribbing was done on 4.5mm needles, with the body and sleeves being done on 5mm. It took me nearly four months to do the actual knitting, and then the sewing up took another two weeks. It’s being entered in the 2009 Sydney Royal Easter Show Arts Competition in class #119 (Aran Knitting). I’ll update if/when it wins a prize!