japanese wishing pot - silly string challenge

Over at the Silly String Group on Ravelry, we have been challenged to create a Japanese Wishing Pot...

Well, my first task was to find out what a JAPANESE WISHING POT is!

Actually... it pretty much exactly what it sounds like. The idea is that you write your wishes down, and pop them inside the pot. Generally the pot would be porcelain or ceramic, and be decorated with lucky symbols. Like this one here:



Off to assess the stash... and decide what to use for this project...

baba yaga hut challenge

Have you heard about the Russian folklore character called Baba Yaga???

I hadn't... so I had to do some research on this one!

Can you imagine a cross between Freddy Kruger and a Fairy Godmother? I know that they seem like polar opposites, but from what I understand about her, it seems to be a spot on decription.

Baba Yaga is a wild and untamable woman... she is a fearsome witch with iron teeth and a very long nose... a skeletal character, who travels along the ground or in the air perched in a mortar, pushing herself along with a pestle. She sweeps away her tracks as she moves.

On her softer side, she is an all-seeing, all-knowing nature spirit... who rules over the elements.

Or so the legend goes...

And where would such a woman live???

In a hut with chicken legs, of course!

Her hut has a personality all of it's own, and it screeches and screams as it spins through the forest. The windows appear to be eyes, and the keyhole is a mouth with sharp teeth. Baba Yaga enters and leaves her hut through the chimney. Around the house is a fence made from bones, and topped with skulls.

So...

Where am I going with all this???

Well the current challenge over at the Silly String group on Ravelry, is to crochet your interpretation of Baba Yaga's Hut. Click here for more information. Please join us, if you are looking for a challenge. We are very welcoming of new members. There is no deadline... and we have all been a bit slow to get started on this one! Remember.. it's YOUR interpretation... so there is no right and wrong... it's just an opportunity to stretch out of your comfort zone, and try something totally new!

I've fiddled about, and come up with this sketch...just an idea to start the ball rolling...

finished object #5 - silly string swap

These challenges are turning out to be so much fun! It really is amazing what you can achieve when you push yourself a little.

I have posted about this particular challenge several times. If you would like to see my progress through previous posts... here are the first, second, third, and fourth posts.

Just to refresh your memory... I was required to create a doll, consisting of at least 50% crochet.

She had to be humanoid with pointy ears, antennae, a belly button, wings, extra limbs, flippers and a tattoo...

So meet Jewellie...



She is humanoid.

Little Miss Four named her for me. I was surprised when she chose the name Jewellie. I had been expecting her to choose the name LIPSTICK, as that is what she names EVERYTHING at the moment. In fact, she was recently visiting with friends on a nearby farm... and was given the opportunity to name a newborn lamb... you guessed it... LIPSTICK!

So 'Jewellie' it is... "because she has such beautiful jewels, mummy"



She has pointy ears. She tries to hide them under that mass of wild red hair, but they always end up poking out.



She has antennae. I've used garden wire which has been twisted around a pencil to achieve a coil, and a couple of old round buttons on the ends.



She has a belly button, complete with piercing. Just a dot of brown texta for the navel, and a small gold bead for the piercing.



She has wings. These were leftover lightly felted hearts from this project. I just added a crochet edging and attached them.



Extra limbs. Yep! I'm sure four legs is more than enough.



Webbed feet. These were cut from an old felted jumper.



Tattoo. She has a large butterfly tattoo stitched onto her right hip.



So now she is ready for her new home... and will be flying all the way to the USA. Can you tell she is excited?

wild red head...

My 'salad bar creation' now has a wild head of thick red hair!




Here were my original instructions...

• humanoid - check
• pointy ears - check
• antennae - check
• belly button - check
• wings - check
• extra legs and/or arms - check
• flippers or webbed feet - planned
  
• tattoo or tattoos - complete mystery
  

The optional extras include...

• moustache - nah
• beard - nah
• unibrow - nah
  
• boobs - check
• piercings - maybe
• clothing - check
• long hair - check

So, I'm nearly done... I've started on the arms and the webbed feet. Need to have a big think about this tattoo... what? where? how? etc... and then make a decision about the piercing.

salad bar still open

I still have so much work to do on my Salad Bar Challenge. You might remember I was given a list of 'ingredients' or body parts to include on a doll. Click here for the details.

I'm actually quite annoyed with myself. I started working on the piece at the beginning of July. I was moving ahead with it so quickly, and having so much fun with it... that I remember making a conscious effort to slow myself down so that the 'fun' would last longer!

Bad move.

I lost my inspiration.

Note to self: Do NOT stop when you are 'in the zone'... sleep is overrated... food is overrated... picking the kids up from school is overrated... When you are 'in the zone', STAY THERE!!!

The doll does not need to be mailed until mid September, but I'm keen to get moving with her. I've added a little more... mostly pinned on at this stage, until I'm more certain of where I am going.

Slow progress, but progress none-the-less!

two long months

How long would you expect a parcel to take to arrive... traveling from Canada to Australia???

Well... I can tell you that this particular package took two long months to arrive. It was mailed from Canada on June 2nd and only arrived here yesterday.



Inside was a doll made specially for me. She is part of the Zettified Art Swap we had in the Silly String Group at Ravelry.



The doll encaptures my love of family, my love of nature, and my fascination with eyelashes! There is a quote by George Cooper around the neck which says...

Hundreds of dew drops to greet the dawn.
Hundreds of bees in the purple clover.
Hundreds of butterflies on the lawn,
but only one mother the wide world over.

The doll is magnificent... and I can see why her designer was so upset when we thought the parcel might have been lost in the post. I love her. Check out the hair and the beading. The flowers are magical... and look at that bee.



A great big thankyou to ABitNuts. She did an amazing job.

head first?

Not this time!

Almost every time I start work on a new creature, I begin with the head and face. For me it is such a focal point... so much character is expressed in the face, that I always want to start there... and worry about the remainder of the body later. The face brings the creature to life, and gives me direction for the body.

What invariably happens though is that I get so absorbed in creating the head and face... that I lose track of how large it is becoming. Then I end up having to make a much larger body than planned, in order to keep everything in proportion. So the overall creature ends up being twice the size I had anticipated.

In order to prevent myself from falling into the same trap again, I thought I'd try a slightly different tact and begin with the body. Working from my salad bar sketch... we now have a torso...

salad bar challenge...

We're all familiar with the salad bar concept... where you take your plate, and pile it high with whatever combination of foods your heart desires on the occasion. Well the latest Silly String challenge is based on the salad bar concept.

Those participating were given a list of 'body parts' to choose from. That list was forwarded to their partner... who must create a being consisting of those parts, and send it to them. The 'being' must be at least 50% crochet. So I expect to see some very strange creations appearing.

I received my list today. I must create a humanoid creature with pointy ears, antennae, belly button, wings, extra legs and/or arms, flippers or webbed feet, and tattoo or tattoos. I may also choose to add a moustache, beard, unibrow, boobs, piercings, clothing, and long hair.

The mind boggles!

I made out a few sketches, just to see where I might head with this one. With that list of ingredients, it was very easy to get carried away and go all alien. But my instructions are to create a HUMANOID...

So I've ended up with this idea. She's rather fairy like, and much daintier and more feminine than what I would usually work on, but that's part of the fun. Now I just need to decide where to put her tattoo!

my anniversary ring

Yesterday was my Wedding Anniversary... celebrating nine years of marital bliss!

Okay. So you all know I am stretching the truth just a little bit when I say that. Yes, we have been married for nine years. But obviously it hasn't all been marital bliss.

Mind you. We're pretty proud of ourselves. Seems like so many couples that we know are going their separate ways at the moment. We're almost starting to feel like freaks for staying together!

Despite how proud we are of our achievement, I was told in no uncertain terms by Mr Goldfish that I had received 'more than enough' jewellery last year... and not to expect any this year! It seems he wasn't joking.

So I thought it was a good excuse to start a new project. I know I'm not supposed to, but it was just a little one. Over at Silly String we were issued this challenge What’s the finest thread you can actually crochet with to create a wearable ring?

So I decided to make my own Anniversary Ring



I knew it would be a challenge to work with such a fine thread, but I loved the gold colour and thought it would work up a treat. It was a bit of a nightmare, actually. The metallic thread was so damn slippery. I hadn't anticipated that. I ended up using a 1.75mm hook, as I just couldn't grip the thread with anything finer.



I had grand plans of creating a diamondy shaped motif which would be the feature of the ring, but I just couldn't manage it. So the finished item is simple and dainty. I even tried adding a glass bead as the 'stone' of the ring, but nothing looked right. Everything looked so chunky and out of place.

So here it is... my anniversary gift to myself.



Now if I only knew how to crochet a fully functioning dishwasher.

eye of horus

Four months later than planned, but finally my 'eye of horus' is complete.



What a challenge! So much more involved than I expected!



And I learned the tapestry crochet technique... so that was educational



Those of you who are on Ravelry can check out this Silly String thread to see what the other members have created for this challenge. Mine was originally going to be worked into a bag... but it has grown to rather large dimensions. I'm thinking a wall hanging is more likely!

challenged by the 'eye of horus'

Okay. I'll admit I'm way behind the ball on this one. The 'eye of horus' challenge was supposed to have been completed during February 2008. Yes. I realise it is now June! But on the positive side of things... it IS still 2008

When it was first announced, I wasn't particularly interested. It just wasn't really my 'thing' and I didn't know where to start on it. A few days went by and I started to fiddle about with some sketches. I came up with the one pictured below... and was excited to bring it to life as either a wall hanging or a handbag. I was heading down the road of tapestry crochet and felting combined. Grand plans...



After a few failed attempts at the tapestry/felting combination... I decided it was time to change direction. By now it was Easter time and I was starting to experiment with crocheting leftover embroidery threads. While fiddling about with this technique, I crafted this eye. I contemplated using it in my challenge and creating a 3D 'eye of horus'



Well. It didn't move much further than that. The eye has been rolling around my home for months now. The kids have played 'catch' with it, practiced their juggling, and aimed it at one another in battle. I have attempted a few variations of eye sockets, but it always ended up with me tossing it across the room in disgust.

But I'm determined not to allow this challenge to get the better of me!

So I've gone back to basics. Picked up a hook and some yarn, and just started fiddling about. Not sure exactly where I'm going. Not even sure at this point that I like it. But I am DETERMINED to finish by the end of this month

queen of recycling

As you know, I am a member of the Silly String group over at Ravelry. Each month we are issued with a challenge, inspiring us to try our hand at something a little unusual.

'Legions of Queens' was the name of the challenge this month

The task involved firstly choosing your domain... What do you want to be Queen of???

Next you needed to create an appropriately themed tiara or crown crocheted from wire... one which would actually fit on your head!

So. I nominated myself 'Queen of Recycling'

Firstly I needed to source myself some recycled wire. I turned to Mr Goldfish for this one... surely he had some kind of wire stashed away in his garage that I could use?

Of course he had oodles, but nothing fine enough for me to crochet with. Then he came up with the suggestion of cutting open some old electrical wiring, and salvaging the fine copper wires from inside to use. Has anyone ever tried this? I would be interested to hear your feedback on it.

As it happens, Mr Goldfish couldn't find the electrical cables... and I was getting impatient. Can you believe that? Me getting impatient about something? So he handed me some telephone cables instead. I sliced them open and 'ooh-ed and ah-ed' at the pretty colours inside.

The telephone wires weren't too bad to work with. It took me about an hour to crochet the tiara. At that time my fingers weren't at all sore. I have heard some awful reports about people developing blisters and the like from working with wire. Admittedly my wrist was sore. Sore enough that I would have needed to stop for the day and continue again tomorrow sometime. And I'm happy to report that my hook was unscathed. Apparently the wire is notorious for destroying crochet hooks.

To embellish my tiara, and in keeping with the recycle theme, I used an old clip on earring for a a feature at the front, and then a couple of brass split pins to finish off.

smiles from the boy

My eight year old son was so excited last night. I finally presented him with the crochet version of Lux-Roy the Plastalien. You might remember that Master Eight moulded a creature using plasticine, and it was my challenge to bring him to life using crochet



Lux-Roy is worked from oddments of stash yarns. His eyes are exquisite purple beads from one of Miss Three's many broken bracelets. Unfortunately the photography doesn't show their true colour. His hands are purple heart shaped beads.



Because of the long thin nature of the antennae and the arms... and knowing my children as well as I do... I know that Lux-Roy will be stretched and spun and 'tug of warred' with. So I have paid extra attention to securing the limbs. We'll see how long he can withstand the 'love' my children will impart on him, before he requires surgery!

lux-roy the plastalien

my son created this fabulous plasticine creature this morning... and named him lux-roy

he will be the model for our april crochet challenge over at silly string group on ravelry

each participant will re-create him, using crochet as the medium

lux-roy is there for inspiration rather than cloning, and we all have such individual styles over there... so it will be fascinating to see what creations appear

come and join us if you fancy... all are welcome

messy's doll

my zettified art stuff swap doll is finished!

you will remember that I had to make it personally significant to my swap partner... not entirely easy when you don't actually know the person... but it certainly added to the challenge

so here's how I went about it

the body is green, which is messy's favourite colour

the doll has blue hair, to match the blue highlights that messy has in her own hair

she wears a fire hat, since messy loves driving her fire truck in local parades!



messy adores cats, so the doll has many feline features... paws, tail, whiskers



there is a 'days of our lives' quotation on the hat, since messy is a huge fan of the soapie



and the tartan ribbon was included because messy's real name is bonnie... which makes me think of a 'bonnie wee lass, with a thick scottish accent'

must... finish... zettified... art... challenge...

I feel like I dropped out of the zone for a few weeks there... don't know exactly what happened, but my crafting mojo just disappeared... gone - poof - vanished!

I think that's probably why my last few items created were "fairly standard, run-of-the-mill, follow someone else's pattern" type of projects

but I'm starting to feel it again, and am super motivated to complete my zettified art challenge... fingers crossed and it will only be a couple of days now

here is a sneak peek of where we are at

mostly ideas

I haven't really progressed much with my zettified art doll... actually, I haven't done any further crochet at all!

but I have been having lots of ideas

I have sketched out the face, and have plans for the hat and some other additional features

so I'm excited to get some more work done on her, now that I have some direction

zettified art stuffs

you're looking at the basic building blocks of my current swap project at silly string

once again, I am entering uncharted waters with this one!

the plan is that we take our inspiration from the art work of teesha moore, and then design a 'doll' which will be personally significant to our swap partner... it must be at least 50% crocheted, and include stripes, a hat and a quotation

I've reviewed teesha moore's art, and focussed on the elements that stand out to me... the combination of bright colours and black and white stripes, the facial features have a very realistic quality to them (like a photograph from the 1920s) the eyes are wide set and large, and the mouth is very small by comparison... and there is often a quote, or a set of words on the body

I've also been stalking my swap partner, messy... so I can incorporate characteristics which will be significant to her! I will be including four elements in her doll... her love of cats, fire trucks, days of our lives, and the colour green

wish me luck, and let's see where this project takes me...

silly string

if you love your crochet, and are looking to challenge yourself to create something slightly unusual... come and join us over at ravelry in the silly string group

there is an abundance of bizarre challenges, swaps and dares... check them out

one of the february challenges was to create a human ear

at first it didn't appeal to me at all... it's not that I don't like ears - in fact, they are incredibly useful appendages! but I wasn't inspired to work on one

then I started thinking about that scientific breakthrough a few years back... where they were able to grow a human ear on the back of a mouse

it led to this little guy… a mouse with two human ears!

as I was working on him, I had a bit of a giggle about him being the opposite of a ‘mouseketeer’…

instead of a human wearing mouse ears, we have a mouse wearing human ears

I’m easily amused :)