So I have at last united two of my greatest loves: crochet (and craft in general) and Joss Whedon (oh my husvand!) Take a look at my new blog, Whedoncraft. It’s great fun. And I hope that it will lead to some other projects of mine coming to fruition sooner than originally intended, as well.
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If you look up in the address bar you’ll see that the actual address of the blog is http://jossisahottie.com/kibathediva. That’s because Joss Whedon has a brilliant imagination, which inspired me to start a website called Joss Is A Hottie. And that was my first domain name, and all my other domains just point somewhere in there. It’s silly, and fun.
In a recent interview with WIRED, Joss said regarding his internet musical Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog, “Fact is, there’s been some buzz, but it hasn’t reached the places it would normally. Where’s our write-up in Crocheting Monthly? (I did a very sexy shoot for that one.)”
Kim Werker, editor of Crochetme.com and Interweave Crochet, wants to fix this problem by interviewing Joss. Go read her post at Crochet Me for more information on how you can help her to achieve her dream.
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A little more than six months ago, I mentioned that if I Heart Guts came out with a gall bladder plushie, I may have to get one. Lo and behold, the adorable gall bladder:
Plushie Gallbladder
When they took out my gallbladder, I told my brother that they replaced it with a saltwater shark tank. I don’t know why I said this. I must have still been on the oxycodone. (He really likes sharks. He’s almost 14, and is on the autism spectrum, and acts like he’s about 10. At the time he was 12 and acted like he was 8.)
I think I’d rather have this. $16. When I’m done unpacking, I will get it for myself as a reward and give it a place of honor in my office/guest bedroom/craft room/music room. (I have one room that serves all those purposes.)
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I’m moving into a new place (almost done!) and so decorating has been on my mind a lot. I see a lot of intersections between decorating and craft in the blogosphere, and so I’ve sort of filed these things in the same part of my brain. Fashion has now joined them. As such, you may expect more decorating and fashion content here at kibathediva.net than you’ve seen so far.
The man person (we’ll call him Opera Ghost or OG from here on out) does not like for people to see unfinished spaces. We’re actually going to have some people coming over for a play rehearsal on Saturday and he’s a bit displeased that the living room won’t be done, even though he probably won’t even be here. Anyway, so while I would love to show you before and afters on the whole house, I’m going to respect his wishes and let that go. Afters only it will be. The one room where I can show you before pictures is my office/craft/music room. And that I will be doing, so you can see how a room full of ridiculous clutter becomes a fabulous haven of inspiration. At least, I hope that’s what will happen.
A new obsession with organization is part of this whole process, so allow me to point you over to Library Pendragon. This blog belongs to a friend of mine from high school, and I’m really looking forward to reading what she has to say.
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If you thought all of my video game posts were geeky, just get a load of today’s post. Yes, friends, today, we venture into the place where crochet and role playing games - of the Dungeons and Dragons ilk - intersect.
First up are these polyhedrals - many sided dice - designed by Peasie.
These babies actually work. You can roll them. Peasie provides patterns for the d4 and d6 here and the d8 and d20 here. You can also, if you are, say, an irritated DM, throw them at distracted players without the risk of hurting them too much. Unlike brushed steel dice, for example, which will dent your dining table if you roll them without something to absorb the shock.
Back in the Imbolc 2008 issue of The AntiCraft, Leah B. published her Shoulder Beholder pattern. The Beholder is, for the uninitiated, one of the fiercest monsters you can face playing Dungeons & Dragons. Kathy over at spinster in training made one for her husband Greg for Valentine’s Day. I saw it in person, and it is a thing of beauty. She made some slight modifications to the pattern; I forget why. Maybe to make it look more like the actual Beholder in the Monsters Manual? Anyway - if you have a D&D nerd friend, make her this Beholder. She will love it.
That’s Kathy’s beholder, there. Or Greg’s, rather. That Kathy made.
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I came late to the video game scene, playing classics like Dragon Warrior much more than 10 years after their release. I remember, lo those 8 or 9 years ago, my brother watching me play. He was 5 or 6 at the time. He would get so excited every time a Slime approached. I myself was trying to come up with geeky things I could crochet/design, and the slime occurred to me. Over at Shh, I’m counting!, however, Marte has done a much better job than I ever could.
So brilliant! Check out Marte’s excellent pattern for this Super Mario Invincibility Star while you’re there.
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Rock Band is going to be released for the Nintendo Wii next week, and I am going to buy it as soon as I am done moving. Apparently, though, the drum set can make quite a ruckus. FunkieFresh over at etsy has a brilliant solution: cover your drum kit with yarn!
You can purchase these for your Xbox on Etsy for $40. I will probably make my own, in case the Wii set up is any different.
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I adore Moogles. They are one of the best things about the Final Fantasy series. crafster user bixby2 posted this adorable Moogle Amigurumi. You can find the pattern at her blog. I fully intend to make one of these, especially if I ever cosplay as Lulu from Final Fantasy X.
Adorable!
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Here’s Link, from the classic and epic The Legend of Zelda franchise. This was posted by craftster user whyfish a couple of years ago, but its age has not changed its awesomeness.
The shield is particularly impressive.
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Annette Petavy is a Swedish crochet designer, living in France, who writes in English, Swedish, and French. Her designs include the Leaves sweater from Crochet Me: Designs to Fuel the Crochet Revolution and the Funky Doily at the Crochet Me site. She has been published in Interweave Crochet and Vogue Knitting on the Go’s Crocheted Shawls. I started to link to my favorite work of hers, searching at Crochet Me for her name to find the articles she wrote. Soon I had about 10 windows open in my task bar, so I decided that instead of picking just one of her articles or trying to list all the ones I love, I’d link you to the search results page for her name over there.
On to the interview!
How long have you been crocheting?
Forever… I don’t really remember learning, and my mother, who must have been the one who taught me, doesn’t remember either. I think I was around 6 years old, but that’s just a guess. I crocheted on, making granny squares, doilies and small motifs, until I was a teenager.
At that time, I realized that even though I was having fun crocheting, I didn’t find the results very useful. I had never heard of crocheting garments, and the idea didn’t occur to me, so I was only knitting for several years - not very consistently, though.
I had a problem with my left arm, and stopped knitting as well. I stopped going into yarn stores, because I’ve always loved yarn, and it was painful to see a lot of pretty yarn and think I could do nothing with it. Then, about seven years ago, it finally clicked. I went into a Phildar store, picked up a ball of yarn, and thought “I’m going to *crochet* a garment!”. Crochet proved to put much less strain on my left arm than knitting. My first garment, a simple cardigan for my then five year old daughter, was a success, and I’ve never looked back.
What motivated you to learn to crochet?
I grew up in Sweden, in a family where *all* women did things with their hands - knitting, crocheting, bobbin lace, weaving, sewing, you name it. It was a very natural thing for me to want to do that too (though I’ve never tried weaving - my mother didn’t have a loom).
What is your favorite of your published designs and why?
The ones to come ;). But the Josephine sweater, published in the Fall 2006 issue of Interweave Crochet, has a special place in my heart - it was my first garment to be published in print, it’s a mix of crochet and knitting (because now I’m knitting again, too!), and I feel it all worked out so well.
What is your favorite fiber to work with?
Merino wool. Before discovering all the craft resources on the Internet, I had no idea there were different types of wool. I thought all wool was the same, scratchy stuff. Then I discovered merino… My desert island yarn is Rowan 4 ply soft, a fingering weight merino.
Do you have a favorite crochet hook? If so, please describe it.
I don’t really. I use very simple hooks. I’ve bought most of them in Phildar or haberdashery stores here in France, and my mother has given me some of her old, larger crochet hooks.
Please give us a quick overview of your design process, from idea to finished object.
The starting point is different every time. Sometimes I just get an idea in my head. Sometimes, I need to respond to a call for submissions, so I can’t wait for ideas to just come out of the blue. I read the call for submissions very carefully, I browse style.com, I make dozens and dozens of swatches. The idea for a design might come for a silhouette I’ve seen and that I want to translate into crochet, or it might be a fabulous swatch I made, and I try to create a garment or an accessory which will show the stitch pattern at its best.
When I’ve settled on the stitch pattern, the yarn and the construction of the garment or the accessory, I draw the pattern. If it’s a garment, I use pattern drawing software, and draw a full-size pattern for each size. This enables me to plot out the stitches on the paper pattern. I write out the pattern, and then I stitch up the sample. I have just started to work with contract crocheters for some of the actual stitching, and it’s great. They help me not only with the stitching, but also to become a better pattern writer.
Who are some of your favorite designers?
There are many… I think you’ve already interviewed some of them!
Thank you for the interview, Annette!
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