The Amazing Harry Potter Art Yarn Advent Calendar II - Quiet Preparations

It's been very quiet around here lately, as at first custom orders and my other job kept me busy and then I was working on something I couldn't really talk about. I can't now, either, at least not in detail, but I do have an announcement to make:
there will be another Harry Potter inspired art yarn advent calendar this year. :-)

Last year, I spun scenes / people / phrases from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, a few yards each, and enough for three advent calendars which sold out very quickly. So this time, with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, I decided to make more, as the concept was so popular.

I started planning and spinning nearly a month ago, this time the process took longer as there was more yarn to spin, and I also had to wait for some ordered add-ins to arrive. Today, I spun the last two yarns! So, the calendar is definitely going to be listed, but before I can do that I have to take photos of the yarns, divide each of them into six equal mini skeins, and write a description for every yarn. Also, I decided to order prettier pouches this time, and I am still waiting (desperately).

It's been very hard for me not to post photos of the project, but it has to be a surprise, obviously. I did post one photo on Facebook and Twitter (by the way: if you'd like more regular mini updates and snippets of what I'm working on, those are the place to be!), and I'd like to show it here, too:

Can you guess which scene / place from the second Harry Potter book this might refer to? :-)

As last year, I will do a virtual advent calendar thing here on the blog again, revealing all the yarns via blogpost from December 1 to 24. So if you'd like to see my interpretations, you know where to look :-)

There will be a limited number of six Amazing Harry Potter Inspired Art Yarn Advent Calendars available, and I will post announcements here on the blog, as well as on Facebook and Twitter once they are listed. It will still take a while, as there are things to be done and pretty red and white candy bags to be waited for, but I will do my best to list them soon!

Oh, and if you'd like to the fantastic scarf Max and Iris have made from last year's art yarn advent calender, look here (lower half of the post)! 

Knitting a Two-Faced God

After knitting lots of amigurumi and other baby stuff (like this super cute pumpkin hat) from bright, cheerful, but somewhat boring cotton yarn, I felt it was high time for a handspun / art yarn project. I've had my eyes on Ianus for years now, a pattern inspired by the Roman two-faced god. As I am always reluctant to spin huge amounts of yarn for myself, it took me a while to actually start the project. It also took me a while to decide on colours, but I am very happy with my choices so far (though I think silvery-grey silk would have been even better for the middle part, but I didn't have any and chose black viscose instead).


First, let me show you the yarns. It's always a challenge to aim for a certain thickness and yardage, as I have no way of measuring while spinning, and fibres behave differently - so I am very proud about these results. They are not exact, but very close.

From left to right: Ocean Ianus (440 m, 110 g), Night Ianus (133 m, 70 g), and Storm Ianus (455 m, 120g). Ocean and Storm Ianus are quite plain, that is to say without add-ins, but with some nice highlights and sparkle (silver and black) and contain mostly merino wool.
Night Ianus is pure viscose with added thread, beads and sequins - lots and lots of them! It took me ages to spin this quite small amount because of all the add-ins. I spaced them about 5-15 cm apart, had to restring several times because I used so many beads and sequins, and was actually a bit frustrated it took so long - but it was so worth the time and effort! I love how it's turned out.

I started knitting right after the first two yarns were finished, and I love how the subtle highlights in the first yarn turned out so far. The amount of sparkle is also perfect, but doesn't really show in the photos, except for the one huge blob ;-) The rest is much more subtle, visible only when light hits it at the right angle, and it's beautiful!

After using a row counter app for a while, I decided to make a row counter from beads and wire which also functions as a stitch marker - this way I don't need the phone and it's also quicker. I put it at the beginning of the round and it can count up to six rows, as the pattern is made up of sets of three and later six rows.

I've made quite some progress already, and after finishing the last yarn I took a photo showing the already knitted part together with the other yarns in the right order. I'm so excited and so looking forward to seeing how they will look when I actually knit them up!

The colours are a bit off, the blue part is actually a blueish, deep teal, but my camera always has problems with teals and turquoises...

I also made a project bag because this project will take me a while and kind of deserves its own bag ;-) Also, you can never have enough project bags! (By the way: if you're interested, there are still a few project bags in the shop, and they come together with matching sets of stitch markers - a wonderful addition to my yarns!)

As always when knitting with handspun / art yarn, I realize how much fun it is. The highlights, sparkles and add-ins turn up more or less unexpectedly, it's exciting and interesting to knit, never boring, and the texture looks and feels wonderful! I am very happy I finally took the time to spin these yarns, and I am very grateful the pattern is now available separately, as you had to buy the yarns called for with it at first. Many thanks to crocodile for the wonderful pattern!

Yarns from the Old Kingdom

My latest two art yarn creations come with another book / audio book recommendation. I've been listening to Tim Curry reading the first three books of the Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix, which I liked a lot. Tim Curry did a fantastic job, I especially enjoyed his voice acting for a creature called Mogget, but more on that later.

As with the books by Tamora Pierce I recently wrote about, these books are actually for a younger audience, and they feature young people on the verge of adulthood, their coming of age, and lots of adventures. What I love most about them are once again the female protagonists, their male supporters / fellow protagonists, and the not so stereotypical gender roles. And again, there is not only a token woman / token female warrior who is the exception to the rule, but there are several different women who fight, rule, go on adventures, have powers, show courage and so on. Girls are mentioned in passing to have been trained in sword fighting or hunting, so it seems to be common, which is still rare in fantasy.
The books are about a family of so-called Abhorsens, a kind of reverse necromancers: it's their job to make sure the dead stay dead, and to send the undead back into Death. Death is a kind of landscape for the Abhorsen, they can walk in Death, fight the undead or the evil necromancers there, and do so with the use of seven bells: Ranna, the Sleeper. Mosrael, the Waker. Kibeth, the Walker. Dyrim, the Speaker. Belgaer, the Thinker. Saraneth, the Binder. And Astarael, the Weeper.
The books are set in a parallel universe, the Old Kingdom being a place where magic is very much real and alive, and sharing a direct border with an alternate early 20th century England. The first book is about Sabriel:

Sabriel

Sabriel, daughter of the Abhorsen and herself the Abhorsen in waiting, is informed that her father is trapped in Death and needs to be saved. She sets out with the Abhorsen's sword and seven bells, starting in "our" world and crossing the wall to the Old Kingdom. She faces many dangers and has to fight for her life and the life of others, is joined by new friends and allies, and learns to fly a so called Paperwing - a kind of magic plane made from laminated paper (and magic). To use magic she can use so-called charter marks, which can be drawn or whistled, which is why I put musical note charms in the yarn. I also added a sword, seven bells which tinkle ever so softly, a key (which is the symbol of the Abhorsens), a cat (more on that in a minute), skulls, and a crown (can't tell you about that without spoilers). The yarn itself is mostly blue, with some black and white, as the traditional colours of the Abhorsens are blue and silver, and the Abhorsens all seem to have very black hair.

Mogget

When Sabriel arrives at the house of the Abhorsens, she is greeted by a creature which usually takes the form of an arrogant cat. He is called Mogget, and he is lazy, sneering, likes fish, can be dangerous, and it's not really clear where his loyalties lie. Very interesting, and very well performed by Tim Curry - and he appears in the other books of the series, too, which made me very happy. And now you know why I put a cat charm in the Sabriel art yarn.
Mogget appears as a white cat with a read leather collar, with a miniature bell on it. So you can see immediately how I chose colours and add-ins for this yarn - I used red silk because leather wouldn't be flexible enough, and I put in more than one bell because of aesthetical reasons.

These yarns are not yet in the shop, but I hope to list them soon. In the meantime, check out the books ;-) The first is Sabriel, the second Lirael, and the third is Abhorsen. There is also a prequel (Clariel) which I can't tell you too much about, as I am still in the middle of it. I wondered whether it would be any good as the blurb seemed a little disappointing after the other three books, but it's very good so far!

Creatures from the Sea (and a Dalek)

Oh, it's been ages since I wrote the last post... I've been very busy working freelance for a market research firm who needed me for several overlapping projects at once, so there was absolutely no time for spinning. It has been quite a stressful time, but it was also very empowering because I realized I could indeed cope with that amount of work and stress, and because my work was much appreciated. So, yay! :-)

I spent my free time knitting and crocheting, as it really helped me to calm down and relax. I will become something like an aunt in October ("something like" because we're not related exactly, I'm talking about a kind of family by choice) and I started knitting lots of amigurumi. It all started with a Kraken, then I made a Seahorse, and I stuck with ocean creatures and made a rainbow jellyfish mobile and some narwhales. Oh, and I also made some jellyfish poi for myself, and I knit a scarf for my sister in law and started a scarf for my dad. I don't want to overload this post, so I'll show you the amigurumi today and might post the scarves some other time - if you're curious you can look on my Ravelry project page before then ;-)

The Fiercely Cute Kraken

When a family with two kids visited us in March, they brought rattling, crocheted octopus toys. I asked my friends whether I should make one for their child in progress, and when I did I even put a rattling device in, too. There is no pattern for this Kraken, as I made it up as I went.

The Seahorse Friend

 I had the pattern for this seahorse in my Ravelry favourites for months, and now I finally got around to making one! It was a fun knit, though a little fiddly at the beginning and end, and I learned new things. I love how I can do so with each new knitting pattern.

The Jellyfish Mobile

A full rainbow of cute jellyfish! For the photo I hung them from a simple stick from the garden, but I want to buy a circlet thing to hang them from. I wanted to use a specific pattern, but it was no longer available when I decided to buy it, and then someone sent me a link to a YouTube video on Twitter from which I took some basics - and then I made the rest up, and did some variations. If I find the time I might write up a pattern, but if I do, it will take a while.

The Narwhales 

 

I looked for more ocean creatures on Ravelry and found this cute pattern. I made two because I didn't have yarn in the colour of choice when I started, but I desperately wanted to try the pattern. For the second one, I decided on smaller needles, and here I also did the wings from the pattern, which I chose not to make for the first one. Again, it was fun to knit, again a little fiddly (the wings took ages! But it got better after the first two feathers), and again I learned a lot.


I also meant to show you a Dalek I made ages ago, but then forgot all about it - it's not from the ocean, but it has the right colour to fit in this post ;-) So here it is!

The Blue Dalek

Easier than I thought! I improvised with the attachments, the rest is from this pattern. This is not for the baby, of course, but I gave it to my sister in law who is a huge Doctor Who fan.

I also worked on some new yarns for the past few days, and will continue to do so until the next market research project. I often post work in progress photos on Facebook and sometimes Twitter, so if you're curious you're very welcome to follow! :-)
I will probably show some of the new yarns here on the blog, too. Especially the ones which come with a book recommendation - stay tuned! :-)

Kyprioth Art Yarn - Inspired by Fantasy Novels by Tamora Pierce

I love listening to audio books while spinning. I used to watch TV series, but I always miss something when I'm concentrating on the yarn, so I can only watch things I already know or have to accept that some things will escape me. After finishing the Gentlemen Bastards series (which I wrote about here) I returned to books I enjoyed reading years back - the Alanna the Lioness series by Tamora Pierce. These books are for teenagers, strictly speaking, but I love them and will read them or listen to them over and over! I decided to stay with the author and listen to some of the books I hadn't read before, among them the Trickster's series. As always, new yarn ideas formed in my head, but first let me tell you a little about Tamora Pierce's books and why I love them so much. Photos of the yarn and spinning process will follow below!

The books feature strong female protagonists, on the verge of coming of age. They are diverse, they have believable flaws and problems one can relate to, they have their special skills and strengths, they often have to fight hard for their right to do what they want (something many of us can relate to, too), and they are essentially feminist. There are also many more (different!) female characters in the books, all with their own strengths, and all complex characters - not the single, simple token woman we find in many other fantasy books. There are non binary and gay people (in the Beka Cooper series), the books are sex positive without being in your face, they cover racism (up to a point) and sexism. And the stories are interesting (and sometimes really enthralling) and well written.


I wish I had had these books when I was a teenager! I could have identified so much better with Alanna or Beka Cooper than with the protagonists from so many other books. I only got to know them when I was in my twenties, when I met Twisted and she recommended them - thank you, over and over! ❤️‍
Alanna is still my favourite, and I warmly recommend the series to anyone who doesn't mind it's meant for teenagers (hello, Harry Potter fans! ;-)) and to people who need a gift for a fantasy loving teenager.

But now for the yarn! As I said, I was listening to the Trickster series (the books are Trickster's Choice and Trickster's Queen), which is about Alanna's daughter Alianne who is captured by pirates, shipped off to the so called Copper Isles as a slave and tries to find her way home. She meets the Trickster, the god of the Raka people of the Copper Isles, who are people of colour enslaved by the white-skinned Luarin and their gods. Alianne, who is called Aly throughout the books, makes a bargain with the Trickster to keep the children of a certain family safe until the winter and he promises to return her to her home after that. I really don't want to reveal too much, so let me just say there is a greater scheme and cunning plans, lots of witty dialogues, and many strong female characters (also interesting and diverse male ones).

The yarn I spun was inspired by the Trickster god Kyprioth and the Copper Isles. It fits in my corroding copper yarn experiments (like this one and that one), is also reminscent of the ocean aroung the Copper Isles, and features beautiful copper spirals, handmade by myself of course. And now for the photos!

 Handmade wire spirals, hammered flat and later spun in.

I chose blueish teal for the ocean and resembling corroding copper, and coppery rusty red, and lots of copper sparkle for the fibre blend, and faceted glass beads to match. 

 I didn't thread the spirals onto the sewing thread with the beads, but chose another method instead, fixating them with a kind of knot to make them more secure.

Finished! :-) I have to admit, being in my favourite colours, this one is hard to part from. My camera had slight problems with the teals, as always, but I edited the photos and they look right on my monitor. I love the colour contrast, and the add-ins and sparkle!

I hope to list this yarn very soon - maybe later today, or tomorrow. Thank you for being patient and reading this very long thing! :-)

The Age of Swords

My latest art yarn was inspired by one of my current favourite metal bands, Skálmöld from Iceland. I hadn't even heard of them until a little more than a year ago, when I saw them live as supporting act of Finntroll, another one of my favourite metal bands. I liked Skálmöld well enough, but it took me another concert to really appreciate them. I saw them again a few weeks back, this time as supporting act of Eluveitie (whom I didn't enjoy as much as I had thought I would, by the way), together with Arkona (another one of my favourite... ;-))

Anyway, I had a lot of fun at the concert, and enjoyed Skálmöld's performance and music immensely. As I am now in the very comfortable position of having an all access account on Google Music, I was able to listen through all their stuff, and I liked them so much I didn't listen to anyone else for a while.

One of my favourite songs is Gleipnir, and I found a version with lyrics so it's also interesting (and less gruesome than the official video for this song):


As with many things I care about, I just had to spin a yarn ;-)

Skálmöld translates as Age of Swords, and refers to the Sturlung Era and their civil war in 13th century Iceland, and their songs are inspired by mythology and sagas. This all pretty much influenced my colour and add-in choices: I chose to represent Iceland's black lava and white snow, and the age of swords did call for blood red and skulls and swords.

I think it's always a little difficult with themes like this, and with skulls and swords, as I don't condone violence and much less want to glorify it. Please see this strictly in a fantasy/mythology/saga context.

1. Number 4, Privet Drive (Harry Potter Art Yarn Advent Calendar)

As promised, I'm going to do a virtual advent calendar thing here on the blog, presenting all the mini skeins I spun for the project (which you can read about here). So, starting today with the only boring yarn in this series (for good reason), let me present the one and probably only

Harry Potter Art Yarn Advent Calendar (Book 1)!

Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense. 

- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling

Description: plain, boring Privet Drive - looking like a privet hedge, nothing fancy or elaborate,   just like the boring life the Dursleys lead
Fibre Types: merino wool
Colours: green
Add-Ins: green thread, black beads 

New Stitchmarkers

I always try to have some small giveaways handy, and those of you who have followed my blog for a while probably already know that I make new batches of stitch markers to give away in somewhat regular intervals. Here are the new ones - I've already sewn them into paper pouches, and I even made the one snowflake paper myself :-)

 

I made the first batch for a crafts fair years back, and I quite liked them, so I decided to keep some of them ready to ship as little thank you's.

Harry Potter Art Yarn Advent Calendar!

I did it! I really spun a whole Harry Potter art yarn advent calendar, or more precisely, enough yardage for three of them (one of which already sold). I already wrote about the project here, and I started spinning immediately after writing the blog post. It took me over a week to finish all the 24 mini skeins of delicious Harry Potter themed art yarn, and it was so worth the time - and also a lot of fun.

I decided on spinning scenes / people / places / phrases in chronological order from the book, so the finished object will tell the story from beginning to end, starting on Privet Drive and ending with Gryffindor winning the house cup. The mini skeins are as complex as my regular skeins, and as much careful planning and working out the details (and, of course, spinning skills) went into each of them.

The calendar is already listed on Etsy - without pictures, so as not to spoil any surprises. I decided to do the revealment as a virtual advent calendar, so from December 1 to December 24 there will be a blog post each day, taking you through the story of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone again, and showing off all the yarns :-)

Harry Potter Yarn Advent Calendar?!

I've been thinking a lot about offering mini skeins lately. Or maybe even smaller amounts, such as a few metres to embellish projects and gifts, for example. I often see small embellishment packs on Etsy, with four or five different yarns, a few metres each - but never handspun.
I wondered whether this would be a good thing to offer for Christmas, and I decided to try it out - but this took a whole new direction when I posted a photo of the Christmas mini batts I made for this project on Facebook: two very dear customers jumped in immediately with their own ideas, one dreaming about a mini skein Advent calendar, the other suggesting making said calendar with a Hobbit, Lord of the Rings or Doctor Who theme in mind. This really got me thinking. And planning! (Thank you so much, you two! You know who you are ;-))

If you follow my blog and shop you will have noticed that I've always been a huge fan of the Harry Potter books (though I have to admit I am more and more irritated by the gender roles lately, but I still like the books), and I think they would make a fantastic story Advent calendar. I had pieces and ideas forming in my head immediately - such as the snake in the zoo, Hagrid with his pink umbrella, "you're a wizard, Harry", potions class, "Mars is bright tonight" and lots more. I ended up having over 30 yarn ideas, only from the first book, and I could have easily written down even more, but I had to narrow them down to just 24, obviously. It will still be a huge project with 24 yarns, even though there will be only small amounts of yarn, and there is not much time left if I want to make this happen, advertise it, and ship it out in time. But I am on fire here!

My current plan is to take 24 small paper bags or something like that, write the numbers from 1 to 24 on the front, and put between 10 and 15 m of "scene art yarn" in each of them, writing the title of each yarn in the place where I fold the bag to close it. It's planned as a surprise, so there will be no photos of the yarns themselves in the listing, but I will document the yarns in case someone wants a peek to see if this is the right thing for them. I just don't want to post spoilers, so photos will be shown by request only.

So, what can you do with only 10-15 m of yarn each day? Embellishing gifts and project is one idea, but maybe it would be sad to take the yarns out of context, and don't forget that the whole amount will be at least 240 m! So what about a striped story scarf? You can knit or crochet or weave a bit every day and see it grow as Christmas approaches. You could also add some plain yarn (something neutral, like black or white maybe) and make a larger project, alternating plain yarn and art yarn, making something larger, like a shawl, maybe. A set of striped hat and wrist warmers would also be great, or a bag, or a pillow case - there are so many possibilities!
The yarns will differ from each other in texture and thickness, so they would make a very interesting project. I'm sure they could also be used for needle felting and maybe even emroidery projects, and I bet you will think of lots more to do with them!

Now excuse me, I'm off to start spinning Harry Potter scenes! ;-)

Introducing: Vegan Art Yarns

When I started spinning, about eight years ago, I started testing many different types of fibre. As the possibility of sock knitting and of spinning my own sock yarns occurred to me, I bought some artificial fibres to make the yarn sturdier. I never spun my own sock yarn, as I then dived into the complex and enjoyable art of spinning art yarns, and the artificial fibres (which I didn't like much, as a concept, I much preferred wool) were forgotten in one of my stash drawers. Until someone asked me to spin a wool-free yarn to due allergies. And then another person asked me to spin a vegan yarn. I took out the artificial fibres again, and bought black viscose fibres as an addition, which is a fantastic fibre, by the way! Anyway, I started rethinking the concept of artificial fibres, and although I personally still prefer wool (and alpaca fibre!), I thought that some people might want art yarns made from artificial fibres, due to health or ethic reasons, and why should I not give it a try?

I went ahead and spun the Flower-Eating Dragon - which sold before I could even list it in the shop (sometimes people see photo previews of a new yarn on our Facebook page and request a reservation before I get around to listing the yarn in question. Not complaining here! It's the best of compliments :-))

I liked how it turned out. The black viscose gave it a sleek, smooth look, and it felt kind of flowing, very drapey. I decided to experiment more, and I've been carding vegan batts and spinning them into art yarns :-) (unfortunately, the pictures could be better...)

Melting Ice

White artificial fibre (details unknown), carbonized bamboo, turquoise bamboo, white bamboo, and glass beads.

Fake Snow

 White artificial fibre (details still unknown), white bamboo, snowflake sequins.

Art Yarn yet to be named

Yellow artificial fibre (no idea what exactly), carbonized bamboo, turquoise bamboo, white bamboo, sequins, glass beads.

The fibres require a bit more attention and spinning skill than wool does, as they tend to be slippery, and bits of fibre tend to fly around and settle in your eyes and mouth. But all things considered, it's worth the extra effort. After spinning, a yarn has to be washed so the twist can set, and afterwards it's usually much less curly than directly after spinning. That's not the case with artificial fibres, as it seems - the yarns were still rather curly after washing.

I will put these in the shop soon. Please note that they have been spun in the same environment as my other yarns, and the fibres have been blended on the same drum carder. I cleaned it extra thoroughly, but the vegan yarns might still contain traces of wool. Very, very light traces, but I still think I should mention that.

How to make a wearable TARDIS real quick

As Whovians around the world know, Saturday is the big day - the day the Doctor turns 50, although he is technically nearly a thounsand years old, of course. Depending on which incarnation, which current time and which wibbly wobbly stuff you're adding to the sum, or something like that. Anyway - my beloved husband secured us some tickets for the big show in the local cinema and I have been wondering what to wear. I thought of spinning and knitting something wearable for the occasion, but there is not enough time. Also, alas, TARDIS blue is not really my colour. This morning I had a sudden inspiration, though, and I am going to show you what I did.

Here's a list of what I used

• one (piece of) elder branch or any other wood with a soft core
• a saw
• a knife
• fine sandpaper
• acrylic paint in blue and white
• brushes
• a very thin metal knitting needle or something similar
• something you can stick the knitting needle in (a flower pot filled with soil will work)
• wire - silver plated or what you like
• a white glass bead
• wire bending equipment

I took an elder branch and sawed off a piece of about 4 cm in length. You can use any other wood with a soft core, which will be essential later on.I removed the bark with a carving knife and I sandpapered the whole thing, wiped it with a wet cloth, and let it dry.
I stuck it onto the knitting needle to make a hole and to be able to paint the whole thing in one go.

I painted the TARDIS-to-be with blue acrylic paint and stuck the knitting needle into my incense holder / fragrance lamp thingy. A flower pot should  also work, or just stick the knitting needle in the grass outside if the weather is good.

I waited about 50 minutes for the paint to dry, but I guess that depends on paint brand, room temperature and other things, so just make sure the paint is completely dry. You don't want the white paint to merge with the blue.

When the blue paint had dried completely, I painted the windows and the sign on the door with white acrylic paint. My only good and fine brush was sticky and disgusting, so I had to use a fat one which was also not the best choice overall, so the windows are a bit blotchy. It looks okay from a distance, but a little raw when you look too closely.



Then you can also mess the whole thing up by spraying on clear coat, not shaking the can for long enough and ending up with some kind of snowy surface... I don't recommend this! I'll go through with the plan, though.



Now for the wire stuff - the thing needs a hook or something, so it can be worn around the neck, dangled from a purse or displayed otherwise.

I chose a white glass bead with a silver core to go on top, as the TARDIS light. The wire I used was 0.8 mm and I tried to make the bottom piece nice and flat, so the TARDIS can even stand on her own.

I think the whole process took only about half an hour of active time, plus some time to let the paint dry. Maybe I'll make another TARDIS charm as this one really is kind of snowy on the surface due to the clear coat incident... I'd probably make the next one a little less tall, as the proportions don't seem ideal.

If you try this, please drop me a line and a link, I'd love to see yours! :-)

Christmas Special: Stitch Marker Candies

As Christmas is nearing I thought about some specials I could offer, one of them being the gift set option I already blogged about recently.

And now there is another special - a free gift with every purchase: From now until Christmas Eve, you'll get a free stitch marker (same as in our Stitch Marker Surprise) for every skein of yarn you buy from our shop. I sewed each of them into a cute little candy pack for the occasion, made from decorative paper and sometimes maps (there are a few I made from a map of middle earth, for example).

I only hope they won't be squashed flat when I ship your parcels. This thought came only when I had already finished them, of course ;-)

Shopping for Christmas? The Gift Sets are Back

I have been busy participating in the Etsy Holiday Boot Camp and preparing the shop for Christmas. That's the strange part about owning a shop of any kind - you have to think about Christmas before the leaves even turn red. 

The past few years, I offered gift sets - each containing one art yarn, one handsewn project bag in a matching colour, and a set of stitch markers, usually also in matching colours.
This year, after consulting with Twisted, I decided on a different approach: there will still be beautiful, handsewn project bags and equally beautiful (equally handmade) stitch markers, but they won't be tied to a specific art yarn. I will list gift options containing a project bag and a matching set of stitch markers instead, so you can choose which yarn you'd like to pair with which set.

I have made eight sets in different colours, and there is no doubling - so be quick if you want a specific one ;-)
As always, each bag is adorned with two charms attached to the cord. I tried to decide on favourites, but it's hard. I love the black one with the raven charm and the black faceted bead, but also the turquoise one with the silvery bead and the seahorse. Oh, and the white one with the silvery bead and the snowflake charm, I really love snowflakes... I will list these beauties as soon as I can :-)

How The Princess Saved Herself

A few days ago, I posted a photo on my private Twitter account showing a batt I had carded that day. A very, very pink batt I thought of naming Candy Overdose once it was made into yarn, as I wanted to stay away from any stereotypical attributions.

I briefly considered doing something with skulls and swords, but as I had already used these add-ins with another (pink and black) yarn on the same day, I thought it might be boring. Also, I ran into kind of a dead end when I thought about it. It all went very fast and quite subconsciously, and it's a bit hard to reconstruct, but it went along the following lines: I could use these things to bend the gender stereotype, but in doing so I would also imply pink was girly while swords and skulls were not and therefore contribute to the stereotyope - and I really hate this kind of thing. As I said, my brain went through this very quickly and it seemed to happen in the back of my head without me really noticing the details.

But then, my dear friend Twisted saw the photo and twittered (in German, so I am going to translate here) "I want to see swords in the yarn! And skulls! And then you'll call it "The Princess Saves Herself"!".

And it clicked.

I could actually do some stereotype bending without contributing to the stereotype, although I still had to use the stereotype to bend it, of course - and here my brain went all fuzzy again. I have to think about this some more, and I can't pinpoint exactly why this title makes the idea work, but it does.

In fairy tales, movies and all sorts of stories princesses are traditionally weak (and in distress) and need to be saved by a prince. This trope can be applied to constellations other than princess/prince - and the underlying pattern and implication is that women need to be saved by men (please also watch Anita Sarkeesian's Damsel in Distress series for this, which is a must-see, in my opinion). I have resented this idea for a very long time, and I get angry and frustrated whenever yet another movie/game/story uses this trope. It gets old, and it's been old for decades now.

By taking swords (traditionally used by the prince and attributed to men - also just look at archaeological interpretations, but that's a topic for a different blog post) and skulls and spinning them into a pink (recently-traditionally attributed to women and overused with princesses) yarn I combine elements that are attributed to two different gender groups, merging them - and with the title I let the princess take an active role, making it clear that she uses the swords herself, and that she can stand for herself and be her own rescuer. I use existing stereotypes and I challenge them.

There is also a single dragon in the yarn, by the way, for - I think - obvious reasons.

As a side note, I came upon a webcomic the other day, telling the story of two princesses. It's called Princess Princess, and I enjoyed it very much. It's funny and creative, and it's untypical and untraditional. It's free, too!

While writing this article I realized that using stereotypes in a way that bends them doesn't mean contributing to said stereotypes. This is actually quite obvious, but as I said, I thought myself into a dead end, and I seem to have needed to write this down in order to organize my thoughts. I also realized that sometimes I have to use stereotypes to challenge them.

All Good Things Must End...

...or so goes the proverb. It is certainly true for my studies, as I have now (finally!) completed my degree :-)

I am proud and relieved - and still exhausted, but that's fine as I can take a break now. I look forward to spinning and reviving the shop, but before that I will spend some time doing absolutely nothing useful, preferably in the garden :-) I have a new book and a new music album I am looking forward to: "First Among Sequels" by Jasper Fforde (the fifth book in a series I've enjoyed over the past two years) and "Sing-Along Songs for the Damned and Delirious" by Diablo Swing Orchestra. Both are fantastic!

Pirate Jenny

When I was in school (about sixth grade or so, I think), a class of older students performed the Threepenny  Opera by Kurt Weill, and I became kind of infatuated with Pirate Jenny (in German: Seeräuberjenny), a song from said opera and character in this song. For days, my best friend and I would try to sing the "Schiff mit acht Segeln"/"ship, a black freighter" part (and fail horribly, I might add).

I then saw a performance of the Threepenny Opera in one of the local theatres a few years ago and started searching for versions of the song on youtube. Somehow I seem to have missed the best ones, and I forgot all about it until I kind of stumbled upon a version by Amanda Palmer.



Now, as a former opera singer to be it took me some getting used to her style of singing, but I've grown to like her very much, and she is a fabulous artist. (Her latest album is downloadable for the price you want to pay, by the way).

I found another version of Pirate Jenny by Ute Lemper, a German singer. I think this is by far the best performance, I am absolutely amazed at how versatile her voice is.



To think that this is the German voice of sweet Arielle... Would you have believed it?

After listening to so many versions of the song (there are more to be found, of course, and I listened to many of them), I became inspired once more by Pirate Jenny, and I decided to spin a yarn (what else?!).

I put in skull beads (one of my favourite ingredients, as you might have noticed by now), coin charms for the penny which is referred to in the song, and ripped pieces of cotton fabric for the rags. I also added rust red linen for some texture.

One Down, Three to Go

I'm very happy to announce that I had my first oral exam yesterday, and that I passed with a magnificent 1,7 despite of the translating a Middle Egyptian text part. Looking back on intermediate examination (same subject, same examiner, lots of anxiety, bad feeling, not a good grade - about five years ago) I'd never have believed I could ever overcome my exam nerves and be this good :-)

My next exam will be in December, and it will be a written one, on the subject of megalithics in Ireland. Since that's only one subject, contrary to the Egyoptology exam with three different subjects plus Middle Egyptian, I think there might be some time for spinning and taking care of the shop.

Oh - I also handed in my thesis last week, so double yay! There will be two more oral exams in Februrary and April, so it will still take me a while, but right now I see a light at the end of the tunnel :-)