You can buy it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or preferably, through your local brick and mortar book store. Trust me, they need your support!

Although I haven’t gotten a chance to flip through a physical copy yet, I can guarantee it will be a treat for both Trekkies and crafters alike — particularly crafting Trekkies! They really get to experience the Best of Both Worlds, if you know what I mean…

Thanks, everyone!

I will try to post more next month; I do have some exciting news which I will be sharing tomorrow, so stay tuned!

The start of the exhibit had a piece done by Denver’s very own Ladies’ Fancywork Society, whose needlecraft work I have seen and admired all over the city since I first arrived back in August.

Needless to say, I was both excited and intrigued as I made my way past the various cases filled with examples of knitting, crochet, sewing, felting and other crafts.

Then, somewhere in the middle of the long line of cases, I discovered a little cubicle set up for passengers and visitors to make their own contribution to the display.

Oh happy day, what a little paradise!

The space provided seating, knitting needles (huge ones!) and a crochet hook, with little cans of yarn and hooks on which to hang the finished work. Several people had already made and hung their donations.

So you KNOW I had to make something and hang it! I didn’t know how much time I would have to wait in the TSA line, so I whipped out  quick little tiny something in a couple of minutes.

So that was satisfying and all, but on my trip back I decided I really wanted to show my appreciation to the Denver Airport and the Ladies Fancywork Society for giving the public a crafty respite, so on my plane ride back from San Francisco I made a pretty straightforward crocheted “Thank You” card.

After touching down, collecting my baggage and meeting the husband, we traveled back to the exhibit and I put the ol’ girl up.

Going to SF was like a big chocolate cake, being back in Denver was the yummy icing, but putting my piece up in DIA was the big red cherry on top!

Filed under: Croshame ]]> http://croshame.com/2013/02/25/diy-at-dia/feed/ 2 croshame DIA Handmade Colorado DIA handmade sign DIA Crochet Display DIA DIY stopover crafts DIA DIY display DIA DIY Croshame 1st contribut'n DIA Croshame closest DIA Croshame <3 http://croshame.com/2013/01/23/new-segment-hookin-at-the-movies/ http://croshame.com/2013/01/23/new-segment-hookin-at-the-movies/#comments Wed, 23 Jan 2013 19:57:48 +0000 croshame http://croshame.com/?p=1909 ]]> Wherein I share stills from (oftentimes unwatchable) movies, miniseries and TV shows displaying hilarious, dubious or questionable crochet tendencies.

From A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song :

Ooooh… no thanks. Socks crocheted by Lucy Hale sound about as appetizing as a macrame bra made by Selena Gomez.

NEW PIECES: Although I will still be making new Antigurumi characters and posting them here on croshame.com, I will no longer be making those featured pieces available for sale through the Etsy store. Don’t fret; there are still a plethora of “classic” Croshame characters that will be available.

COMMISSIONS: I will no longer be accepting commissions, at least for a while.

PATTERNS: I probably won’t be releasing any new patterns this year. This is partly related to one of the aforementioned “big projects” I’m working on, but I won’t mention anything else about that until things are a bit more fully formed.

Thanks to everyone for making 2012 a great year for Croshame! Here ‘s to a 2013 filled with many crass crafts and lotsa laughs.

 …it’s Gilly the Guillotine and his BFF, Henri the Executioner!

These two are simply inseparable.

Although he takes his job very seriously, Gilly can be a hysterical cut-up with his razor-sharp wit and ribald (sometimes offensive) humor.

Before getting his executioner’s degree, Henri worked as a foot-corn harvester and briefly as an au pair.

Beheadings and near-decapitations are only part of the fun Gilly and Henri have together. Their favorite BFF pastimes include jokes, farting,  fart jokes, berry-picking and imagining what clouds look like.

One thing’s for sure: capital punishment has never been so lovable.

Awwww’f with their heads!

Well, someone finally paid me.

I was recently commissioned to recreate Uma Thurman’s character Mia Wallace, specifically from the scene in which she’s revived from an accidental heroin overdose with a giant shot of adrenaline.

So, yes, I finally caved in and saw the damn thing. And no, it wasn’t so bad (particularly whilst reassuring myself it was only for research). After watching, pausing, and re-watching Uma Thurman being impaled with a syringe by a doughy, greasy-haired John Travolta, I came up with the following figure…

“A-Mia-gurumi Wallace”

More photos of “A-Mia-gurumi” can be found at my Flickr page here.

So what better way to commemorate the festival of Samhain than to give all my readers a free pattern in celebration of that most wonderful time of the year? Yes, yes, there’s always the oh-so-spooky neo-tradition of donning a skin-tight “sexy” maid or cat outfit and drunkenly vomiting in public… but we all know an Antigurumi crochet pattern is much more satisfactory, right? Uhh… right?

Putting the “fun” back in “funeral” and the “me” back in cemetery, I present to you…

GRAVEYARN!*

©2012 Shove Mink / Photos: Chuck McNary

*Feel free to make these as decorations, costume embellishments, or as gifts to friends — but please, please, please!! For the love of all that’s hallowed, do not sell or distribute this pattern or sell finished products made from the pattern. (I swear it will haunt you to the grave — the real, final, stone one.)

MATERIALS:

• Size “F” (3.75mm) crochet hook
• Worsted weight yarn in light grey, brown, green, and off-white
• Felt in dark grey
• Cardboard
• Fabric glue
• Sharp scissors
• Tapestry or yarn needle
• Tracing paper and pencil
• Stuffing

ABBREVIATIONS:

ch – chain

dc – double crochet

hdc – half double crochet

rnd – round

rs – right side

sc – single crochet

st – stitch

ws – wrong side

yo – yarn over

SPECIAL STITCHES:

Popcorn (Pop): Make 3 dc in the same st. Drop loop from hook, insert hook from front to back into first dc made, pull loop through and ch 1.

Reverse Popcorn (RevPop): Make 3 dc in same stitch, drop loop from hook, insert hook from back to front into first dc made, pull loop through and ch 1.

Loop stitch (Loop st): Insert hook into st and form a loop of yarn around your finger. Moving over the front and around the back of nearest facing side of the loop, grab the farthest facing side of loop with your hook and pull through st (2 loops on hook), yo and pull through both. (Confused much? The effervescent June Gilbank of Planet June has an excellent loop stitch video tutorial available here, which is much easier to understand than written directions.)

PATTERN:

TOMBSTONE (make 2)

With light grey:

On one of the tombstones, leave about a foot-long tail before chaining.

Ch 11.

Row 1. Sc into 2^nd ch from hook and continue to end  – 10

Rows 2-12. Ch 1, turn, sc 10 across

Rows 13-14. Ch 2 (counts as first hdc), turn. hdc 1, dc 2, tr 2, dc 2, hdc 2.

Bind off and weave in all ends EXCEPT the foot-long beginning tail. Holding both parts of tombstone together, use beginning tail to sew together along sides and top, leaving bottom open.

Trace tombstone shape (along the interior of seam) onto cardboard, cut out and place inside tombstone opening.

Cut out the letters “RIP” from dark grey felt and glue to front of tombstone.

DIRT AND LAWN

With brown:

Ch 14.

Row 1 (rs). Dc in 4th ch from hook, dc in next, pop, dc 3, pop, dc 3.

Row 2. Ch 3 (counts as first dc), turn, RevPop, dc 3, RevPop, dc 3, RevPop, dc in top of turning ch.

Row 3. Ch 3, turn, dc 2, pop, dc 3. pop, dc 3.

Rows 4-9. Repeat rows 2 and 3.

Do not bind off.

Attach green yarn with rs facing up and towards you.

Row 7.  Ch 1, but do NOT turn. Sc 1 in each st around both sides and top, making 3 sc in each corner.

Row 8 (ws). Ch 1, turn, and loop st around, making 3 loop st in each corner.

Row 9. Ch 1 and turn. Holding loops down, sc around, making 3 sc in each corner.

Rows 10-11. Repeat rows 8 and 9.

Bind off, weaving in ends of green yarn and leaving tail of brown yarn.

Take brown tail and sew tombstone bottom (through both sides) against the open end of dirt.

Snip loops and trim to give the lawn a grassier look.

ARM

With off-white:

Sc 6 in magic ring (or ch 2, sc 6 in 2^nd ch from hook).

Rnds 1-10. sc 6

Stuff and bind off, leaving tail.

FINGERS

Attach off-white yarn to round 1 of arm, then:

[Ch 5, turn, sc 4, sl st in next st] 3 times, then sl st in st below on rnd 2, sl st in next st, ch 4, turn, sc 3, sl st in next st.

Bind off and weave in ends.

Take arm tail and attach open end to the middle upper side of the dirt.

To build a teeny yarn cemetery, make multiple graves and sew them together along the sides with green yarn. 

THE END!

If you need additional angles for reference, more Graveyarn photos can be found at my Flickr page here.

Don’t forget to keep the holiday safe! Go out at night in pairs. Keep away from gang colors. Don’t buy masks from the Silver Shamrock Novelties Company. And make sure to take those razor blades out of the Snickers bars BEFORE giving them to trick-or-treaters.

And above all… have a HAPPY, JOYOUS HALLOWEEN!

I know I will.

Filed under: Antigurumi, Croshame, Patterns ]]> http://croshame.com/2012/10/18/digging-your-own-grave-a-free-pattern/feed/ 5 croshame Graveyarn Arm-y of Darkness Yarn Cemetery In mourning http://croshame.com/2012/10/11/plush-you-2012/ http://croshame.com/2012/10/11/plush-you-2012/#comments Thu, 11 Oct 2012 17:22:59 +0000 croshame http://croshame.com/?p=1812 ]]> I will have a piece in this year’s Plush You exhibit, held at Schmancy Toys in Seattle, WA!

I really wanted to make three pieces, but with my out-of-state move and resettling (not to mention a violent bout of brutal food poisoning), my hectic schedule only allowed me to finish one piece, which I call The Bunny Trio.

(Sorry about the horrendous quality of the pictures, but “resettling” also entails not having proper photography equipment.)

The big opening reception happens tomorrow, October 12th from 5-9pm, at Schmancy Toys. Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend, but if you’re in the area please stop by and support all the fabulous artists. There will be tons of impressive pieces by some of the biggest and most talented names in plush.

The Croshame Etsy Store has been reopened, and I’m set to start taking orders and commissions. Anything that’s marked “Ready to Ship” in the listing title is precisely that — a finished product that’s eager to make its way onto your doorstep ASAP.

HOWEVER — if you would like to order something marked in the listing title as “CUSTOM” or you’d like me to make you a special request or commission to be shipped out by the holidays, please get your orders in by November 7th. (Or if you don’t give a toss about Christmas, just order them whenever!)

Unfortunately I have very limited time and arm strength this year and won’t be able to work my crazy speed-crochet magic as I have in years past, so please remember that my two doozies, the Krampus figure and the Exorcist Playset, as well as more specific commissions, can take at least 2-3 weeks to complete.

I’m also hoping to make some neato-keen changes to the site and additions to the gallery and catalog in the upcoming months, so there will be all the more Croshame to love…

…or despise!