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! :-)

...and now for something completely different

I think I might have mentioned that I took archery lessons last year, and so did Twisted, by the way. We have been practicing since then, though rather irregularly since it got colder, since I for one don't like the sports hall we're using for pratice during the winter. I am really looking forward to taking my bow outside again!

Last weekend we took a bow making class, which was exhausting and absolutely fantastic! I have to admit I always used to hate working with wood. You see, I went to Waldorf school and was forced to do all sorts of crafting and handicrafts - and I just didn't like some of them. It's different when there's the promise of a bow at the end, though *grin* I kind of liked it, though wood working will never be my favourite hobby.
The sad thing is, I didn't manage to finsish my bow. I chose yew wood, which is quite hard and difficult to work with. Don't ask why I chose it - I love yew, but first I settled for hickory because I knew yew would be much more challenging, but then there were no suitable staves for the model I wanted to make (a Viking Bow) and I kind of cracked ;-) So, I will have to finish my now-stick/later-bow in May, when there will be another bow making class with Michel Bombardier of Bombix. Since my husband was ill on the second day of the class, he will come with me and hopefully we'll both finish our bows. Twisted, on the other hand, is done and has made the most beautiful bow from osage orange, a naturally bright yellow wood.

Today, I'm sad

Some time ago, a fellow spinner and I agreed to a trade: she would send me a handmade spindle and I would spin her some custom art yarn. I was so looking forward to receiving the spindle, having seen pictures beforehand.
Today I received a parcel with a fat, colourful batt, many different sweets and the spindle - which was broken. I HATE our postal service! The spindle was well-wrapped (in bubble wrap AND the whole fibre batt) and it should have survived the journey. I'm really mad right now, as well as sad. (oh dear, that even rhymes...)
I also feel bad for my fellow spinner and her husband who put a lot of work into this beautiful spindle, all for nothing.

One of Many

I'm happy to say that my niddy noddy arrived one day after I blogged about the order. It's somewhat larger, or rather somewhat more bulky than I expected, and quite heavy. I wouldn't want to use it for lace yarns with a lot of yardage, though that might be good training ;-) It's beautiful though, and I like the smell of it. And it's collapsible :-)
I took the photo while the niddynoddy carried one of my latest yarns, soon to be listed!

We're still waiting for our spindles, and haven't heard from Ian yet. I do hope they will arrive soon, I can hardly wait to try them!

Experimenting

Some time ago, Twisted experimented with carding fibres such as linen and cotton together with wool. I really liked her yarn and had to try myself. I used grey and rust red merino wool, cotton, linen, hemp and some coppery angelina (glittery stuff) and carded all these wonderful fibres together. I then spun them together with a copper thread, which was quite stiff and didn't work as well as I would have hoped. It twisted around the yarn, but occasionally made big loops which still stick out. I wanted to make something from it to see how the loops would do (I suspected they would just vanish in the finished object and that's what they did).

I have been wanting to experiment with weaving for almost two years and a few days ago I bought a book ("Weaving without a loom") and today was the day :-) I used the new yarn and started weaving on cardboard and I really like how it's turning out :-)

WPI-Tool

I have wanted to make a WPI-tool for quite some time now. I really need to measure my yarns this way, so today I decided to get down to work.






I don't exactly like working with wood, but I managed to make a nice tool.






I've already tried it out with some yarn I spun a couple of days ago to sell on Etsy :-) (Coming soon!)

Knitting Needles

This is one of my two new pairs of knitting needles. I worked them a few days ago for a new project. New knitting needles cost a lot, spars are much cheaper. And it's fun to work needles out of them, to carve and sand them - the surface is now all soft and shiny!
I'm so happy about how they turned out! I just love them! The little red beads shine in the light and look like red currants on cheese cake!

There are more photos on flickr of this pair and the other one, which I adorned with dark brown wood beads.