I don't think many people have stumbled across this blog, but my creative exploits have moved over to Aunt Elaineous.  I am a rather sporadic blogger, but anything new that I post will be over there.

Happy Crafting!

Monstrously Adorable -- The Dragon Amigurumi Tah-Da!

I've had this idea for a crochet project rattling around in my head for goodness know how long and a little while ago I decided, after some quick sketches to sit down and try it out.

I moved outside because the light is better and the weather has been glorious if a little windy in my corner of the world and began to stitch around and around...

And it started to look kind of like an odd looking gourd of some sort, but the shape was just what I was going for.

And with this much done, I started on more pieces, round and around, all the while getting downright giddy with the cuteness of this.  It wasn't there yet, but I could already see it done in my mind; it was going to be perfect.  So I kept stitching into the evening and the next day I had this.

Ok, at this point I must confess I was in absolute hysterics over the cuteness.  I kept putting him down and snatching him up to hug him again.  Me.  A grown woman.  I was squealing.

But he wasn't done yet.  I still had quite a few bits to stitch.  I made an attempt to find a spot that was not completely cluttered and semi-succeeded.  If you don't look to hard at the background of my pics.  Another evening came and went and the next day I had him almost complete.

Do you mind if I indulge in another ecstatic squeal?  EEEeeeeeeeeee!!! Thank you.

This is my first ever attempt at a project like this and I am so beyond thrilled to watch it come together the way it did.

I had the idea that as a baby dragon he needed an egg and so I quickly stitched him up one.  This is the one part of the whole project that I wasn't thrilled with, it turned out rather lumpy and hard deal with.  But hidden inside that egg is the finished project... And I'm going to use it to keep you in suspense just a little longer.

Taaah-Daaaa!!

It's a baby Dragon!

The one thing to be said about the egg is that he looks really good sitting in the bottom portion.

Yarn Used: Sugar and Cream %100 Cotton

Total Time: 8-10ish hours

Dimensions:  From the top of his head to his bottom:  approx 10"

The Sugar and Cream yarn is wonderful stuff for making stuffed animals.  The yarn doesn't compress or gap when you stitch it, the result being a reliable gauge for your critters.  I'm sure there is a technical term for this, but I don't know it.  Also, it's available at most craft stores and comes in a wide variety of colors for as little as $1-$2 per 2.5 oz (120 yds) so it's really great for smaller projects.  And it's machine washable, so gifts for children can be loved and dragged all over then thrown in the wash.  The more wash and wear it receives, the softer and more snugglable it gets.

As a whole I am thrilled.  My stitching is a little sloppy which is one of my failings; I'm good at crochet stitching, but not as good at tidy sewing stitches.  I didn't have any safety eyes handy, so I used buttons which stand out from the head a little more than I like.  But they still give him life and personality that make me just want to snatch him up again and snuggle him some more.  He is very very snuggleable.

So those minor faults aside, I'm really really happy with the results.  And the faults I can live with because, well, this little guy is a prototype.  That's right.  A prototype.  Because I took tediously detailed notes as I stitched away.  I plan to make at least one more for a certain baby niece of mine, and possibly if I can ever get my act together stitch up a few for Etsy.

Also if I can manage I want to write out a coherent pattern to share with the world at large...  Maybe after I've had another go at this guy.  

Checking In!

For anyone who has happened by my blog and is waiting for more posts, please bear with me a bit.  Some super craziness has been going on in my life as well as a spot of illness.  I am also trying to get myself in the habit of posting... not just drafting which seems to happen a lot with me.


I have some super exciting things going on!  Please check in again soon!

Witches Abroad - Bookishness 1

One thing that I do a LOT of is reading.  I read a bit of everything, and a lot of Terry Pratchett.  So I thought it would be a fun thing to include here at the Weekend Witch when I finish a book a little bit of my thoughts about what I had just read, and my recommendations.  So here I go with my first "Bookishness" to bring it together.

Witches Abroad is pretty standard early Terry Pratchett:  It has all the elements of the quirky, early 90's fantasy film in book form, with some heavy handed satire on classical fairytale themes, and a generous splash of tongue and cheek humor.  Three small town, mountain witches go on an adventure to a city called Genua, I read as a kind of cross between Venice and New Orleans.  It is an incredibly playful take on the Disney fairytale, the distinction between good and evil, and the play of power in the wrong hands. 

This is not my first time reading this nor any other Discworld novel.  If you have taken a peek at my bio (it's right over there to the left if you hadn't gotten to it yet ), you will see repetitive references to Terry Pratchett.  I would most definitely classify him as my all time favorite author.  Not to mention, I derived the title of my blog from his literature.  So I will not gush excessively about how awesome he is, but let's just say I highly recommend his extensive body of written work and leave it at that.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves fantasy in general, and can appreciate the idea that the fairy godmother sending the maiden to the ball could be the bad guy.  More than ever, they use more "headology" than "real magic," mostly meaning that they are too stubborn or know too much about how the average person thinks to be wrong.  And that any witch worth her salt could outstare her own reflection.

Favorite Quote:

"And there's men 'ere lookin'," said Granny.  "I think it's shameful!"

"What is?" said Nanny Ogg, coming up behind her. 

"Magrat Garlick, standin' there bifurcated," said Granny, sticking her nose in the air.

"Just so long as she got the young man's name and address," said Nanny, amiably. 

Color Cravings

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous in this part of the world for the past week; sunny, breezy, around seventy degrees with a warm sun and clear skies.  I absolutely love this time of year in the bay area, and receiving many envious comments from my relatives back on the east coast who will be waiting a few weeks for Spring to arrive.



I love the play of light through the leaves and tried
to capture it here in my bearded iris, transplanted
from my mother's garden all the way in Pennsylvania

My container garden is growing happily, but I am absolutely impatient for color.  The sweet peas I planted in the fall are growing beautifully and even starting to wrap their tendrils around the strategically placed bits of garden twine for them to climb, the chamomile is going nuts and starting to have little buds.  Feverfew is feverishly getting taller and bushier, and much happier than it was last year since I have moved it to larger planter.  The irises that I transplanted from my mother's garden are sending up more shoots with the promise of flowers in a few weeks.  Even the miniature rose has come back from the grave (I'd seriously given it up as a lost cause and nearly thrown it out when I noticed all the little budding leaves on it).

All the happy growth from regular water and plenty of sunlight.  But gosh darn it, I am downright impatient for some color!  My whole gardening shenanigans started with herbs and so most of my well established plants are of the leafy, green edible type that you cook a chicken with.  Even most of my flowering plants you notice are decidedly well, herby.  I love plants that have uses, I love learning their properties and what ailments they are good for, even if I rarely use them.  But lately I have been eyeing the flowerbeds bursting with wonderfully frivolous color.

And so in my fit of color craving, I went down to the local ACE and perused their plants.  They don't have a large selection in their garden department for small flowering plants, and somehow the pansies were just not doing it for me today, and the deep purple rosebush would be too large for any of my spare planters.  So in I went to the much larger selection of seeds and picked myself out three packs of purely whimsical, flowery goodness for six dollars.  Nasturiums, Cosmos, and California Poppies.  

Admittedly the only one of these choices that was completely devoid of other uses were the Cosmos, but hey some habits die hard.  I'd already done some seed planting earlier this week from my ever growing stash of seed packets.  Some of the packages looked a little dingy from being left out once or twice, but I planted the seeds anyway to see if perhaps they would still come up.  And now my deck table is completely covered in planters of potential.

A Poe in his natural habitat. 
We weren't planning on using that table for anything
 else, were we?  Ok, good, I didn't think so.



My Sage is going nuts with new growth and is one
of the survivors from my first seed planting adventures.

Seeds are so much fun!  I discovered them when I was living in San Francisco and still have the sage and thyme plants I started on my window ledge.  Admittedly, my gardening experience has been mostly trial and error, but my thumb has gradually grown more green and my success rate has gone up greatly.  For example I now know better than to dump an entire packet in all at once to a little tiny planter, and to check before hand for seed depth and spacing.  The magic of the little bits of nothing that you put in the ground and they turn into plants never ceases to amaze me.  A little bit of everyday magic that astounds me every time.

And so, my garden is still looking decidedly green and many of my planters very bare, but the promise is there for color to come.  And knowing that makes me feel better.