Tuesday 14 January 2014

Craftmas Gifts, '13; Do You Know Who Lives on the Moon?

As I mentioned in my previous blog, not all of the crafting side of Christmas revolved around the presents I gave. Indeed, given that I am now a 'master knitter' (or, more accurately, an obsessive knitter), it seemed appropriate for my family and friends to bequeath more knitty things upon me to keep me busy in the new year (and distract me from obtaining a degree, no doubt).
It'll only be short blog, this one, and mostly about upcoming/current knitting projects. No finished items, I'm afraid.

*Whistles*
Anyway, I found a book sometime in Autumn that I just had to get. Which book? Clangers of course! What else? An entire book on not only how to knit the family of pink moon-mice and the dragon of soup, but how to craft everything from their world. I mean, everything for the original 70s programme was handmade out of bits and bobs so the idea that everything can be crafted by yourself is only reasonable. I particularly like the pattern for the Iron Chicken (although my brother has requested I make him some Froglets; they're just made from orange painted beads and dowling for legs). The best thing about it? It's written by the show's original creators, so a more authentic set of patterns you could not get.


The real Small Clanger and Major Clanger
So my dad, a long time Clangers fan, decided he wanted a little, knitty family of the critters and decided to buy me said book for Christmas. But! Even better, I also received a 'Clangers kit'. Basically a box of all the supplies I needed (so, pink wool, the correct size needles and lots of felt for their clothes). It's one thing to receive a pattern you want, but it's definitely a bonus when you also receive the means to make it! This meant that a few days after Christmas I got underway with making Major Clanger. I've got a head so far (the head, body and legs are knitted in one long piece) and then got distracted by other crafty things (one which I will go into further in a later post, the other, a hooded scarf for myself as the weather is, well, typically, Britishly, miserable.)

Major Clanger thus far; looks a bit pig like.
It's a little difficult, to be honest. DK weight wool and 2.5mm needles? Crazy tiny. It's kinda cute though. Looking forward to the finished product (then I just have to repeat it four times more and the family is complete).

That wasn't all I got on the knitting front though. My boyfriend proved that men do listen, when it suits them, by buying me a pattern for the Lincoln Imp. The what? The Lincoln Imp. So you know there's a rather large (understatement) cathedral at the top of a somewhat steep (an even bigger understatement) hill in the City of Lincoln? Well, there's one part of the internal masonry that doesn't quite match; it's all flowy, swirly bits and what looks like plumes of... Flowers? Thistles? I don't really know. Cathedral stuff. Anyway, amidst all of this there is a small impsish creature, sat on one leg and grinning. Legend goes that two imps were sent by the Devil to wreck havoc upon the cathedral. Here they got up to various mischievousness, breaking things, tripping up bishops, generally being delinquents. So God isn't too happy about them destroying this holy place, so he sends an angel down to sort them out, good and proper. And the angel did just that; after confronting the imps (who showed little respect or fear towards the celestial being), one was shattered into a million pieces and the other was turned into stone, to remain in the cathedral for eternity.
The Lincoln Imp

And that s the Lincoln Imp. It has become a symbol of the City of Lincoln, which makes me rather fond of it. Medieval legendary, impressive architecture and all wrapped up with a devilish grin; yep, that just about sums up my taste in a lot of things. The first time I visited the cathedral I saw the pattern, liked it but did nothing as, hey, I couldn't do any of that knitting stuff! Went up again, about a year later, saw it again, still liked it, realise that now I could knit. But it looked ever so complex and it was pricey for a student budget (when most of the patterns I use are free on the internet). Thought nothing of it. Roll around Christmas and, ding! One Lincoln Imp pattern. And, again, I got the required yarn. Read through the pattern; doesn't look as complex as I originally thought, but I don't think it's going to be a walk in the park, either. At any rate, it isn't a beginner's project. See? I must be getting good.

Once Major Clanger is finished, it may be Lincoln Imp time. Or it may be Mother Clanger time. I haven't yet decided (not that I think I need to any time soon).

Gotta stitch 'em all?
I got one final knitting related gift for Christmas. Not a pattern, not yarn, and not as crafty (at least, not on my behalf). But they are knitting related and they're kinda cool so I thought I'd include them. I needed a set of stitch markers as I lacked any and a few projects (including the one I'll mention in the next blog) really, really needed some. Casually asked my boyfriend if he would get me some for Christmas. Thought he would forget. Turns out he didn't forget, and, instead, I ended up with a set of Poke'mon stitch markers. They were just little figurines originally, so he sort of altered them a bit so they would work.

So, all in all, I'd say this Malice had a very successful Christmas, really. Thank you to everyone, and (albeit it rather late now) I hope you all had a good one, too.

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