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Great A’Tuin

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“ Through the fathomless deeps of space swims the star turtle Great A’Tuin, bearing on its back the four giant elephants who carry on their shoulders the mass of the Discworld…Exactly why this should be may never be known. Possibly the Creator of the universe got bored with all the usual business of axial inclination, albedos and rotational velocities, and decided to have a bit of fun for once. ” - Terry Prachett from the book Wyrd Sisters As a fan of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series, I thought it would be fun to crochet the Great A’Tuin as a Christmas gift for a friend who is also a fan. The Great A’Tuin has three parts: the turtle, four elephants, and a flat Discworld. Although there isn’t an official pattern for A’Tuin, there are plenty of patterns for turtles and elephants available across the internet, and a fellow fan of the series has kindly provided a free pattern for the Discworld. This is a great moment to mention that crocheters should always take a second to look for fre...
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Viral Knit Frog

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I keep stumbling across the same knit frog online, always dressed in an adorable little sweater. Since I’ve never tried knitting an amigurumi before, I thought that this would be a good challenge. The pattern is by Claire Garland. I got it from her Etsy shop DotpebblesKnits but it is also available on her own website. I believe there is also a crochet version of the same frog for those who don’t knit. First, I made the frog’s little striped sweater using 5 double-pointed needles (DPNs). It turned out ridiculously cute. If you're new to knitting or working with DPNs, I definitely recommend trying to make the tiny sweater. It’s a great way to practice color changes and try some intermediate work with DPNs. The frog itself was fairly straightforward to knit, and the pattern included instructions for adding wire to make him posable. I’m happy with how the frog turned out—he’s now my little desk buddy at work. I even did a little photoshoot with him during my break.
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That Ancient Serpent

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  Looking through my collection of digitized illuminated manuscripts, I’ve come across numerous variations of the red dragon, known as the devil or Satan, from Revelation 12. One medieval depiction caught my eye, as it featured the dragon surrounded by red stars—a reference to verse 4, where the dragon's tail sweeps down a third of the stars from heaven and casts them to the earth. This, of course, referring to Lucifer's fall from heaven and taking a third of the angels with him. I liked the image, and I was curious if I could capture all the little details in a cross stitch design. Well I'm proud to say my latest cross-stitch creation , an exact and meticulous replica of Revelations' red dragon, was a resounding success. I’d like to upload the original illuminated manuscript for comparison but I’m concerned it may violate someone’s copyright. While the manuscripts themselves are ancient and in the public domain, the photographs or images of these manuscripts can still ...
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Curious Christmas Mice

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For Christmas this year I decided to crochet for my friends and family tiny magical mice that mimic LA Burdick's Signature Chocolate Mice . If you haven’t seen this chocolate shop’s famous mice I highly encourage looking them up, they are adorable and delicious. To make my Christmas gifts I scoured Ravelry for a mouse pattern and quickly found Lucy Collin's Little Kissing Mice Amigurumi . The mice were undeniably cute, but the proportions weren't right for this project. The face and body were too long to match LA Burdick’s mice and they were much larger than what I had in mind. In the end I had to make my own pattern through the process of trial and error to get the dimensions just right. Overall, I’m happy with how my pattern turned out. My mice are small and short, with tiny faces that match LA Burdick’s chocolate mice pretty well. I added the signature colorful tail Burdick’s mice are known for and placed a flat glass marble inside to help the mice stay upright and...
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