Rabbit Rattle

Crochet Rabbit Rattle for my friend's new baby.

Gardening Apron

Gardening Apron for a friend's house warming present.

No Junk for Us!

Handmade "no junk mail please" sign in Finnish.

Meet Cyril!

Cyril is an amigurumi pig, made for my nephew.

Boxy Matryoshka Pouch

Boxy pouch made with very kawaii Japanese fabric.

Saturday 27 September 2008

Ruminations on living a freer life

About a year ago I read How to be Free by Tom Hodgkinson. A "joyful blueprint for a simpler and freer way of life", How to be Free offers sage advice, in an often irreverent way, on how to throw off the shackles of modern life and enjoy a simpler, happier existence. I had my head stuck in it every free moment and raved about it to anyone who'd listen (and some who would not). My raving was so passionate that my boyfriend (who's now my husband) and friends dubbed it "The Good Book".

But as time passed, my fervour lessened as fervour is want to do. I started thinking that what we needed was a house to call our own (flying in the face of chapter 19: Live Mortgage-Free). But today on our Saturday walk into town I finally was persuaded that buying a house is really not the be-all and end-all I thought it was. We're going to rent and that's that. We'll save up the difference between renting and what the mortgage payment on the same sized house would cost.

Having used a mortgage calculator last night, I was reminded that a 150k loan ends up costing 300k. Of course I knew that and still thought home ownership was the way to go.

Cuddly Dalek

Just received this picture in an MMS from my sister (excuse poor picture quality):



It's her friend's knitted dalek, sent to her by her (rather cool, I might say) gran. Not sure if it is capable of exterminating.

Friday 26 September 2008

Science Geek Cross-Stitch

This appeals to both the scientist and creative in me:



It was made by Geek Crafts reader Jennifer, for her botanist father. I always loved microscopy when I studied anatomy way back in the midsts of time and this makes me want to try cross-stitch out.

I'm in a bit of a craft rut at the moment, to be honest. I realised I was putting pressure on myself to churn out all manner of home-made stuff and actually got quite stressed about it, so I relaxed for a while (though I still made some things, like the booties for my friend). But now I'm itching to make things again, hence the collating of inspiration. Hopefully I will be inspired and get going on something new soon.

Via CRAFT Magazine.

Gorgeous Log Bowls

These log bowls from the Loyal Loot Collective are truly lovely:



Via sub-studio design blog.

Saturday 20 September 2008

Come join me on PMOG



I've just joined PMOG, The Passively Multiplayer Online Game and so far, so good. I love the concept - there's no virtual world or universe, but instead you play the entire internet. As you roam the web you encounter mines and loot left by other players, and deposit your own wherever you fancy. You can also follow quests, though I've yet to do that.

PMOG is a refreshing new MOG in what's becoming a crowded market, so it will be interesting to see how it develops. It's certainly got me quite excited. So, come and join me (I'm ione) - you can by my first friends!

Via Community Guy - Jake McKee.

Thursday 18 September 2008

Bear Baby Booties


Can't resist a spot of alliteration. Finished these cuties last weekend, for my friend's new baby (as yet unnamed). I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out, although I think the bears' faces are a little too cartoony:



They're from Baby Crochet: 20 Hand Crochet Designs for Babies 0-24 Months by Lois Daykin and they're the first project I've done from the book. Instructions were easy to follow, although they lacked the step to sew up the bottom of the booties. Pretty obvious it needed doing though, so no biggie. I used about half a ball of the pink yarn and next to nothing of the beige and white - helpful to know in case you plan to make them yourself. Luckily I have two more female babies to make for, so I'm sure I can think of a use for the pink!

Wednesday 17 September 2008

Yarn crazy? Then you need Crazy Yarn!

Pure genius by Laughing Purple Goldfish, Crazy yarn is random stash yarn knotted together to make balls of yarn. The perfect way to use up your stash - those lone balls that aren't enough to make anything can make friends and be something!

She made this Crazy Yarn:



And then made this bag with it:



Via CRAFT Magazine.

Bookcase with integral steps

We've just admitted that we are true book hoarders and got ourselves some more Ikea Billy bookcases. Boring, I know, but we have some already and they are reasonably priced and not too bad looking. One day I'd love to have a whole room full of books (I think these rooms might be called libraries) with floor-to-ceiling bookcases. In which case, this bookcase by Danny Kuo would be most excellent:



It's a prototype at the moment, but what potential!

Via Unclutterer.

Rasterbate and then take photos!

Quite possibly the coolest thing ever (at least until the next cool thing that catches my attention...) - Rasterburation. A simple idea (always the way), but with many possibilities. The Rasterbator rasterizes any image you upload, so that you can enlarge it. And that's where the fun begins - you enlarge your image and then print out your image on multiple sheets of paper. Each sheet looks like nothing much, just a bunch of dots, but put together and viewed from a distance and you've got yourself a masterpiece!

Here's a cool example from the Rasterburation gallery:



I've got the inklings of a crafty idea brewing in my brain - surely there's a way to make dots out of something 3D or doing something stitchy. Ponder, ponder...

via My Weblog

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