Arm warmers ahoy!

Despite it being hot summer here I am still obsessed with arm warmers. After needing them so much last year in my freezing house, I like the idea other people making and enjoy them too.

I finished these two pairs of fingerless gloves for sale in my Etsy shop, made from my Imladris pattern.





I also keep trying new things. This week I've had my first go at cable knitting (on an oversized circular needle) to create these plaited gloves:

They have been pretty fun to create using the magic loop technique, and i'm keeping note of the pattern as I go. I think I'd want to add a thumb and move the cable further to the centre of the hand, perhaps using slightly larger needles. What do you think?

Lovely Finds
I love these Cable gloves by homelab, they're wonderfully thick and texture-full :) I haven't seen this particular cable pattern before either.

Craft Hope Haiti

Hi all,
For those who haven't already heard, Craft Hope is running an amazingly successful temporary Etsy shop with proceeds of sales going to Doctors Without Borders.

With over 1000 sales and $20,000 raised so far, Sarah and her helpers have done amazingly coordinating such a large operation.

Here are some of the lovely things crafters have donated:

Blueberry Shake Vessel by Rosebud's Lampwork Beads


Pleated Clutch by MineCreations


Keiko the Teddy Bear by TubbyTeddies


These are the two knitting/crochet patterns I have donated to the shop:
link to the fingerless gloves pattern has now been provided :)

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade

crafthope.etsy.com

Homemade gifts for Christmas

Just wanted to acknowledge a few of the lovely homemade gifts I got for xmas

Tim drew me this 'anatomically-incorrect bookworm (with arms and all), who munches on the top of your book whenever you close him up inside it.' He is adorable, and on the top left you can see him sitting in another of my gifts, a mushroom-themed book cover from a local craft market, to go with my blog/shop name :)

Tim also got me this adorable sloth from marymaryhandmade. She makes lovely pendants and does custom orders too. I have seen a Dugong and Sea Otter in her shop recently ^.^

I got this pocket mirror for a friend (and one for myself) from ThisYearsGirl because I love her artwork. Would love a big image of this print on my wall one day :)

Thanks to all the gift givers and creators :)

Resin origami bangle

So much to blog about having been afk for a week or two!

Here's my first attempt at a resin bangle - I'm really happy with how it turned out! I've always been one for origami, so I made up 5 cranes from silver wrapping paper, embedded them in clear resin and brushed a little blue dye across the top of the mold, which happened to sink down really nicely!


And look! Marina has made Doctor Whos from all my patterns!
Thanks Marina for sending me these pics! Made my day!

I love the hair on her Tom Baker!

My very own Orthanc

Well I've moved house!
It was a long week full of heavy bits of furniture, carrying bags up stairs and scrubbing of floors in the old house :( But Tim and I are in our nice new apartment and almost unpacked :D

It's a lot bigger than I remembered, but as it's not quite finished, the lack of blinds and aircon is killing us this week (stupid Melbourne heat!)

Above is the angled view outside my bedroom window. I seem to have my own Tower of Orthanc which will go nicely with my Lord of the Rings themed crochet but doesn't actually look very nice - being so grey and un-tree-ish :( I think the tower is actually a big water feature - so great for our water restrictions :|

I am working on lots of custom orders at the moment, including this Dugong in Disguise with a grey fin (he's looking out my new bedroom window here), and some more David Tennant plushies.

I'm also super happy to be back at the library after my holiday :D

Imladris Fingerless Gloves

My latest pattern:
Imladris, or Rivendell, the Last Homely House east of the sea.

This crochet pattern is reminiscent of the architecture of Elrond’s house and gardens, with a twisting cable of front-post-treble-crochet in between two vertical lines of front-post-double-crochet, worked on a backing of half-double-crochet (hdc).
If you are unfamiliar with these stitches they are easy to learn, and the 12 page pattern provides many diagrams and photos to help you on your way.

Pattern is designed for small-medium woman’s hands, but contains instructions on how to easily enlarge if needed. Worked with a 3mm crochet hook (or 3.25 if you are a super tight crocheter)

(Available for $2US from my Etsy shop, as a Ravelry download, or through paypal (no accounts required))

I have some thoughts of creating another few designs based on Rohan, Lorien and Gondor