Sunday Fang Frenzy

Bit of a wasted weekend, had a migraine on Saturday and still groggy and headachey today.

All is not lost however I did get some stuff done during the week.

The latest pair of socks is coming along well I am about to turn the heel.

I made three more sleepy kitties - if I manage to make enough for the market I think the purple polka dot one is going to stay with me.

I have also made some progress on Ithaqua, not quite finished but looking much less headless than last week.

I had planned for the top and bottom jaws to be more evenly balanced with teeth on both, but he just didn't turn out that way.

I have had to learn that there is a limit to how many times you can undo things, sometimes you just have to go with the flow.

Besides I kind of like him this way and he continues to be 100% crocheted together. I suspect I would have a much easier time if I conceded and decided to sew bits on but as Scott well knows I can get awfully stubborn when I get fixed on an idea.

Next week you should find out how crazy I went trying to finish off the head.

Sunday Sock Frenzy

I finished the Noro socks this week, they are warm and comfy.

I have started a new pair with the lovely alpaca mum got me in Tasmania I am mixing it with a dark brown solid stripe to bring out the bright blue.

Ithaqua is coming along I have finished the body and have started on the head.

The head is a work in progress I have pulled it apart once already.

It doesn't quite make sense at the moment but rest assured I do have a plan.

I have also made some teeth.

Stay tuned for more, hopefully next week it will all come together.

Sunday Claw Frenzy

Looks like the exhibition thing just might happen if I can get enough monsters made. Last weekend was research ad sketching and I have been pondering and designing all week.

This weekend saw a bit of a creative splurge and Ithaqua is coming along nicely. I am using the basic design of Cthulhu but adding more detail, I think as part of this process I will redesign Cthulhu with claws too.

I had a bit of a brain wave on the claws, using polymer clay and wire.

The groove at the top is made so that you can tighten a magic loop into it which holds the claw in place, the chenille stick is for posing and shaping.

He is quite tall around 50cm at he moment, I am not sure where it will end up as the head design is still a work in progress.

I am still determined to have the whole creature as one continuous piece of crochet with nothing sewn on. You can see from this picture that the all the fingers and toes have been crocheted in rather than sewn on.

I am also planning on an open mouth with polymer clay teeth, I have an idea how to do it but will have to experiment a bit. I will keep you posted.

Sunday Unfinished Frenzy

Despite the fact that winter is my favourite season I always seem to run out of oomph by the end. Work has been a bit crazy which hasn't helped, I have a whole heap of not yet finished things and a giant mess in my studio.

I have one finished thing - well actually it was finished quite a while ago but it took us ages to post it.

This was a birthday present for my buddy Tonia over at Ailuromancy who made me the fabulous crafty octopus which now adorns my business cards and tags.

Some of the things I have not finished lately include:

A baby dragon from the very clever pattern by Karla over at Itsy Bitsy Spider.

A Monte Carlo purse, I have started and pulled apart the biscuit about 8 times and am about to do so again. I should have chosen a round biscuit to start off with, ellipses in crochet are a bit tricky - I should mention the icing part was started and pulled apart a whole heap of times as well. I'm having a little rest from this one in case I succumb to the urge to throw it out the window.

Fantastic Mr Fox made from mohair, fully jointed and eventually to have a suit. I love the Wes Anderson movie and Scott bought me a beautiful book on the production design which inspired this piece.

Stripey Noro socks, knit both together using the extremely useful and well documented tutorial over at Silver's Place. I am addicted to knitting stripey socks it is like meditation very rhythmic and calming.

Of course my biggest unfinished work is my studio which despite the acquisition of a "Tower of Power" (three 500 watt halogen lamps on an industrial stand) is still a big mess.

It is not actually quite this bad anymore you can see bits of the floor and the table is almost usable.

I have had some inspirational and possibly quite exciting news this week, although it is early days yet I remain quietly hopeful. An amazing new store and exhibition space has opened in Belgrave called Limerence run by Brent (who makes gorgeous kind of steampunky clockwork jewellery) and CJ (who makes fabulous clothes).

We dropped in to say hi last weekend and I had my crochet Cthulhu with me. Brent got all excited and wanted to put some in the shop, but even better he suggested that if I could get enough creatures together I could have a exhibition.

I spent yesterday afternoon researching descriptions of Mythos gods and monsters and have a shortlist of about 17. Some of them are going to take a crazy amount of design work, especially the Yithians but I think the focus could be good for me right now.