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Category: Crafts

Craft projects of mine

  • My Prisoner of Azkaban costume

    Well, that was AMAZING. I absolutely loved the film. But more on that in a minute. First, I need to confirm that yes, I did dress in costume. And yes, I was the only one. Not only that, but the theater was probably only 20% full anyway. So I was a big dork. But Snookums thinks I’m cool and I got a few great looks from some kids, so I feel it was a success.

    Schoolgirl uniform

    First off, here I am in my Hogwarts school uniform. Details: The jumper is the Weasley sweater I made a few months back. The skirt is from portmans, and the socks were from a random stall in Paddy’s Markets.

    Casting a spell

    Here I am demonstrating the proper way to “Swish and flick!” to Snookums. Yes, my wand is actually a 10mm wooden knitting needle.

    Close-up

    I decided that schoolgirl braids were appropriate, complete with Gryffindor-colored bows. (You can really see some of the red streaks in my hair in that picture.) I wasn’t sure whether I should wear my glasses or not. They’re definitely more Potter-ish, but I didn’t want any loss of peripheral vision should we have to sit very close in the theater. I went with the glasses, and luckily it didn’t matter.

    Crucio!

    If you make fun of my chubby tummy, I’ll put the Cruciatus curse on you!

    You know what this costume needs?

    You know what this costume really needs?

    Scarf and robes

    Wizarding robes and a Gryffindor scarf! That’s my new scarf based on the Azkaban design. The robes are actually the Snook’s student robes. (He had to wear them every Monday dinner in college.)

    Close-up of Gryffindor badge

    Here’s a close-up of my Gryffindor badge. (You’ll recall that I made the badges last week.) I printed the badges on transfer paper and then ironed them on to some plain calico. Then I trimmed them really well and sewed them down on some black felt for stiffness. Then I trimmed the felt and basted it down on the robes.

    Close-up of Dumbledore's Army badge

    Here’s my Dumbledore’s Army badge (from Order of the Phoenix). I accidentally placed the badges too high, I think. I didn’t realize that these robes are made to be worn hanging way back, so they could stand to move a few inches lower, possibly.

    Bring on the movie!

    Woohoo! Bring on the movie! Bring on the cheering crowds!

    Empty theater

    Crap. The theater was nearly empty. No one! Where are the crowds? Where the throngs of Potter-fans? Am I the only person dedicated enough to take the day off and make my own costume to celebrate this cinematic event? It appears so.

    Wizard Knitter-for-Hire

    I didn’t even get to hand out any of the way cool business cards I designed!

    Me and Dr. Amy Jones

    At least Dr. Amy Jones still loves me.

    So I think I might have to go back to one of the weekend showings in order to give this outfit a proper airing. Any of you Sydney people interested in accompanying me? You don’t have to dress up! 🙂

  • Weekend Knitting Output

    Weekend knitting outputAs expected, I spent most of the Famine on the couch knitting and watching videos. In terms of the latter, I made it through I, Claudius (parts I-II) and Cold Comfort Farm. (I saw something nasty in the woodshed!) With the knitting, I made a good start on the Ravenclaw scarf commission I got last week. (In case you’re wondering, those are the colors from the book, not the movie.) I also cranked out three cotton “Reverse Bloom Flower Washcloths” from the Weekend Knitting book. I’m planning to send them out as gifts to my Famine supporters. Cute, huh? I still need to block them so they lie flat, but I’m happy with how they turned out.

  • Weekend Update

    Weekend Update
    Three-day weekends are just glorious, aren’t they? It’s the perfect amount of weekend time. We had one day for socializing, one day for housework, and one day for hobbies. It was brilliant.

    • Friday night: Stayed up late to watch The Mummy on TV and work on my sweater.
    • Saturday morning: Took Amy to the vet for her last kitten vaccination. She whined and struggled the whole way there. Not fun.
    • Saturday afternoon: Workout time! Legs and biceps.
    • Later Saturday afternoon: Drinkies with friends. We got to see Mr. and Mrs. Healy for the first time since their honeymoon. I also partook of a hookah for the first time in my life. Apple tobacco tastes like candy!
    • Saturday night: Dinner at JuJu’s in King’s Cross with Andrew and Kathleen. It’s supposed to be one of the best and most authentic Japanese places in the city. You have to take your shoes off when you go in! At one point I got up to go to the bathroom and Andrew warned me about “weird bathroom etiquette.” My mind immediately flashed: “Ass towels!” But it wasn’t. Instead you just had to slip on these weird sports sandals to go in. The food was fabulous though. I ate fish egg udon! I just pretended that the little orange dots were spices instead of little fishy ova.
    • Sunday: House cleaning. Majorly. I even went through my clothes and picked out all the crap I never wear to take to the op shop. I also rearranged everything to put my summer stuff away. *sniff*
    • Sunday evening: I dug out my Handspring PDA and put fresh batteries in it. Then I installed this KnitAble software to keep track of my knitting. I catalogued my whole stash!
    • Monday morning: Knit, knit, knit. The Snook brewed beer.
    • Monday afternoon: Gym time again! Shoulders, triceps, and abs. And I ran 2.5 km. And the Snook brewed beer.
    • Monday night: Watched Queer Eye – How great was the Mullet Man? I loved him! – and finished my sweater! And the Snook brewed beer. Well, actually he stopped for a bit to play photographer. We ended up doing a little sweater fashion show. I’m really happy with how it turned out. (In case anybody is Googling, this is the Janetta Dexter Sampler Sweater from Jacqueline Fee’s The Sweater Workshop. I had to add a few extra designs to get the length I wanted.) I didn’t know drop shoulders looked so good on me! I am now the queen of two-handed fairisle knitting. The only problem is the thing is so damn warm I’ll only be able to wear it for one month a year. *sigh*

    Janetta Dexter Sampler Sweater   Janetta Dexter Sampler Sweater   Janetta Dexter Sampler Sweater   Janetta Dexter Sampler Sweater

  • Craftiness

    More craftiness…
    As Robert finally received his “Get Well” package from me today, I can now display the contents without ruining his surprise. First up is the official Version 2.0 of my iPod Jumper pattern. The striped one was sent off to my friend Kel, while the “Catboy” design was obviously for Rob. These are both knit in cotton, which seems to hold its shape a little better than the wool I tried before. They feature a velcro closure and a hole for the headphone jack. (Anybody else want one? I take commissions!) Next is a genuine, authentic Rockford Red Heel sock monkey. I really like how he turned out. I’d make more but unfortunately I don’t have any more of the socks; they’re so nice that I’ve kept the other pairs to wear!

    iPod jumpers     Monkey!

  • New knitting project

    Sampler Sweater

    I’ve got yet another knitting project in the works! This one is the “Janetta Dexter Sampler Sweater” from the back of Jacqueline Fee’s The Sweater Workshop. The wool is a really soft chunky cotton/acrylic that my Mom sent me for my birthday. It’s knitting up really fast and I’m enjoying the fairisle practice. So far I’ve done the zig-zag pattern and now I’m working on the houndstooth. It’s gonna be big, bulky, and fun…

  • Knit your own fry-up!

    Knit your own fry-up! Oh Lordy. I need to make those now.

  • Cheesylove Update

    CheesyloveI’ve made a little progress on Cheesylove, as you can see here. I finished the ruffle (casting on 1,008 stitches!) and I’ve just started the body decreases. Apologies for the bad picture; thick black wool is hard to photograph with a crappy camera. I’m using a 60cm-long 5mm wooden circular needle. (I’d have preferred an 80cm but it was all they had, and I like the wood.) I’m going to have to stop here, though, as I think I’m the only one that’s actually begun. My sister is understandably distracted by this whole “getting-married” business. I’ve got some other knitting projects to distract me though, like the Stitch and Bitch I’m hosting this Saturday. Fun!

    And on a related note, my career as a knitting instructor has begun in earnest. Today I gave a lunch hour lesson to two of my co-workers. One of them “got it” immediately, but the other had difficulty with the hand coordination. It’s good to get practice in dealing with different kinds of students!

  • Azkaban scarves are different

    Crud. I just discovered that they’re changing the Hogwarts scarf design for the Prisoner of Azkaban film! (You can see pictures here.) I guess that means I’ll need to revise the pattern I use…

  • Oscar Sock Monkeys

    Oscar monkeys

    I’ve finally managed to finish this year’s prize monkeys for the Oscar Contest. Pretty cute, huh? That’s 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place from left to right there. Please be patient, winners. I promise I’ll have them in the mail this weekend!

  • Cheesylove has been started…

    I’ve made an unofficial start on the Cheesylove sweater my sister and I are doing as a knitalong. (She’s not doing the ruffle and I am, so I’m starting a little early.) Good grief. Do you know how long it takes to cast on 504 stitches? Frickin’ ages! And technically you have to do that twice, because the real ruffle’s supposed to be 1008 stitches. Now I understand why they have you do it in two parts, otherwise you’d need a circular needle about three feet long.