Crafting Morrighana

WIP Frenzy!

Okay, so the cards are on their way out to everywhere from New York  to the UK.  Thanks to all who offered to be my test subjects for this little venture.

In the meantime, I know the blog has been a little quiet but it's mainly due to the last couple weeks being on the late shift here at work which doesn't always afford me the time to post up my knitting goodies.  As for the survey's that I'll be emailing out, let me know when you receive the cards and I will email out the survey at that time.  I'm still putting it together but they should be ready by the time you receive your cards in the mail.

As for knitting content, well, I'm still working on the fronts of my CPH, but it's going slower than previously imagined.  This is mainly due to the frenzy of new projects that have crossed my path and sucked me in.

One such WIP is the Girasole blanket published by Jared Flood of b r o o k l y n t w e e d fame, which I could NOT resist starting up.  This project is definitely a long term project, but it's giving me a chance to use the Philosophers Wool 2-ply that was gifted to me by my wonderful mother last January.  I will say that my hands do itch a bit with this yarn, but it's a really nice yarn to knit up.  I still haven't been able to accept that I could gift this to someone when I'm done, although that's the plan.

For me, knitting a project this large (and oh will it be large...monster, comes to mind when I think of the actual full size of this once it's done) is very much about the feeling of accomplishment when I finally manage to complete it.  Much like my Peacock Feathers Shawl the process is thrilling and exciting as you see the pattern take form, pausing many times as I knit to spread it out and just look at it.  It really is a beautiful pattern.

Pictures to come, I promise.  In the meantime, please let me know as soon as you receive the cards so I can get those surveys out.  More than anything, I sincerely hope you enjoy them and feel inclined to gift them out to those you love.

All good things,

Morrighana

So I Had This Idea

Dream In Color Yarn, originally uploaded by _Meredith.

I get ideas...lots of ideas. Some of them are crazy, some of them are actually kinda good. This one I think may be kinda good, but I need your help.

This past weekend after Kev and I got back from a photo show in Toronto, I started going through my photos of yarn and various knitted items on my computer and I thought about how much I wanted to share some of them.
So, I started playing around with paper and printed photos and glue dots and ribbon and eventually devised a scheme *insert evil genius tenty fingers here* that would incorporate my love of photography with my love of all things yarnpr0n.

I am a firm believer that what you put out will come back to you in some way eventually, so here you go. I have put together a few packages of greeting cards (there's 5 different cards in each package, all blank on the inside) as a test run to see if this thing is gonna fly.
So, how'd you like to receive one of these packages for free? It's so easy. All you need to do is reply in the comments of this post and the first 5 people to comment will receive one of these greeting card packages.
Use them for whatever occasion you'd like! Is a knitter you know getting married? Having a baby? Finishing college/university? Maybe you just want to give them some fibery goodness because you think they need it. Try out these cards on them and let me know what you (or they) think.
The eventual plan is to put these cards up for sale on Etsy, but I wanted to get some feedback on them first. So the first five people to respond to this post will be my guinea pigs. :D So make yourself heard if you want to try out a package of free cards, and I thank you very much for your interest in this little venture of mine.

All good things,
Morrighana

The Hills are Alive

Life is so lush right now!  Everything is growing so quickly and becoming more and more lush every day.  We have TONS of birds at the feeder, the air near our place is perfumed so gently with some absolutely gorgeous trees currently in blossom and the world is so green.   

Rather than doing my usual Friday Flickr Five (FFF) I thought I would just send you over to my flickr page for you to peruse my latest excursion.  Last Sunday Kev's family and I ventured out to a greenhouse near their cottage and I decided to use the excuse to play with the Nikon some more.  Check out some of the beautiful flora and fauna I've come across recently by clicking here.

Have a great weekend!

All good things,

Morrighana

Owlishly Good!

I don't think I've blogged about this little FO yet, but I just have to share.  I absolutely luuurrrrved crocheting this little doll.

I'll admit that my whole drive to learn to crochet stemmed from my love of all things amigurumi.  When I saw the designs created by Owlishly (aka Mia Johnson) I couldn't put off my need to learn any longer.

And the result?  A sweet little doll in a cat costume (black of course, because Pooka wouldn't have it any other way, you see. )

 

Pattern:  Celia in a Cat costume amigurumi pattern by Owlishly

Yarn:  Patons Grace in pink, Blue Moon Fiber Arts STR in the Shadow colourway (leftover yarn from Kev's father's socks)

Needles:  3.5mm crochet hook

Additional Accessories:  doll eyes (glued on), two tones of brown embroidery thread for the hair, polyfil and leftover yarn scraps for stuffing, and a small bit of crafting wire for the tail.

Notes:  The original pattern called for worsted weight yarn, but I'm really jazzed about the small amigurumi dolls so I decided to use fingering weight yarn and a smaller crochet hook.

The pattern is really well written and easy to follow, as are all of her patterns.  I'm such a huge fan of Mia's and I'll admit to buying several of her patterns before I knew that I could crochet at all.  I'm so happy with the result though, that I don't have any concerns about making her other dolls.

I customized a little further by inserting some crafting wire into the tail to make it posable.  I won't be giving this one to any small children (this one is just for me! Muah ha ha!) so I created a length of i-cord and inserted the wire into it before fastening it off.

Mia recommends using doll eyes that can be added while you are crocheting, but again, since I wasn't worried about this doll falling into tiny hands that might choke on small pieces, I just found some eyes that I could glue on and would render the same look of her dolls.

I think she looks so cozy in her little cat costume!  And what could be more fun than making this cute little cat girl?  Well, for me, it's the post completion photo shoot of course! :D

All good things,

Morrighana