Coincidentally, one of yesterday’s Elf makers just released a new knitted toy pattern of her own!
Meet mmmmm, aka Mr. Mighty Munchie Mouth-pouch Monster!
Aren’t they hilarous? This is an original pattern by Joan De Lurio available as a pdf from Ravelry or Etsy for $5.
Joan, aka Giolou, has tested tons of patterns for me over the past two years, so she really knows her stuff when it comes to pattern construction, and toys in particular.
Nice job Joan!
December feels like the fastest month of the year to many of us, I’m sure. Luckily, some of us are getting a little extra help this year from a few diminutive friends.
Sparkle sparkle! No one can accuse lisamarykay1’s Elves of not getting into the holiday spirit.
Giolou whipped up some fraternal twins, Winey and Limey, to help her out for the holidays. They may have stubby appendages, but they look ready to lend plenty of moral support!
Hannah’s duo has “Christmas tree radar,” and set up camp under her tree while her back was turned. These guys are ready for the 25th!
Something tells me that many more elves elves are on their way. Thank you very much to Giolou and Hannah for testing!
The opening last Thursday was wonderful! The gallery was full throughout the evening, and many people went home with new hug-able friends. Thank you to those of you who turned out!
I was too busy to take too many photos, but here are a few from Thursday.
I wanted to take home all of these, but I ended up picking the big blue furry guy with the candy cane legs!
Katie Park, known to many of you as Caffaknitted, was there with her Henry VIII and his darling wives (who are less blurry in real life).
Nicole Gastonguay was there too! Her creations were way cute.
Blythe Church sent us some amazing objects.
Love this tiny antlered creature by Ariana Marinelli.
Ossu! Syugeibu came all the way from Tokyo with their Mr. Slim. Then they lead a fun workshop at the gallery on Friday.
And of course Jenny Harada was there! She made the blue furry guy that I adopted. (And I just noticed her matching stockings!)
Funny plushes by Rei Komurasaki:
Eloole made their versions of Picasso and Dali.
Here I am with the cities and a few rogue elves.
More pics are up on the gallery hanahou flickr page. The show will be up and also online through January 7th!
Luv-able and Hug-able
Through January 7
gallery hanahou
611 Broadway, Suite 730, NYC [7th Floor of the Cable Building, NW corner of Broadway + Houston]
If you’re in the NY area, please join me tonight (Dec. 4th) at “Luv-able and Hug-able,” the holiday plush show at gallery hanahou! Other plush-makers will be there too, including The Ossu! Syugeibu, Jenny Harada, Nicole Gastonguay, and Katie Park!
Luv-able and Hug-able
December 4 – January 7
Opening party: December 4, 6-9 pm rsvp info@galleryhanahou.com
gallery hanahou
611 Broadway, Suite 730, NYC
[7th floor, NW corner of Broadway + Houston]
If you can’t make it in person, you can also see all the plushes in the show at the gallery online shop, where they’ll be available for purchase starting December 5th:
Hope to see you there tonight!
Yesterday the husband referred me to this SNL clip with everyone’s favorite SNL host that aired last April. Not sure why I hadn’t seen it until now, but it is hilarious and cute.
I’ve found myself using the “magic loop” method of circular knitting for my latest project.
The circumference of the project is probably big enough to use a small circular, but I’d never used magic loop before and I thought it was about time to give it a try. I found that after casting on and figuring out what I’m doing, it was very easy, and it seems handy for avoiding gaps in your knitting if that’s a problem for you with dpns.
I have to thank Lesley at Knit New London for getting me started with it. You can see a video on how to knit with the “loop of magic” on knittinghelp.com.
Anyone who has passed through Terminal C at Laguardia Airport since who knows how long ago is surely familiar with this masterpiece by “Franco the Great.” Who has a website, and lots of press, as it turns out!
This is an image that has just belonged on my blog for so long, so I’m happy to finally get it up there after many trips to the airport.
I was browsing through iTunes the other day and came across a mention of Matthew Sweet’s 1995 album 100% Fun, which happened to be one of the first CDs I bought as a teenager. To my frustration, I no longer seemed to have the album anywhere, but I really wanted to hear it again, so I broke down and bought the digital copy after a few days of vacillating. It’s so great!
The “power pop” sound of this album didn’t really fit in with the alterna-grunge vibe of the mid-’90s, and that might be one reason that I didn’t give it the credit it deserved at the time, and it didn’t make the cut of CDs to take with me when I went to college a few years later. But the classic, super-catchy tunes of 100% Fun are even better than I remember as I listen to them 13 years later, even though I’m finding again that this album doesn’t really fit in with the music that fills most of my life (this time, indies, experimental rock, folk, and other oddities). The first track, “Sick of Myself,” has quickly become a rediscovered favorite, for its bittersweet lyrics over a memorable melody.
It makes me a little sad to think about how Matthew Sweet has never became a huge name, even though his sound is perfectly suited for mainstream mega-hits. At the same time, there’s no way that he’ll ever go away. (And I hear that “Girlfriend,” from his earlier breakout album, is on Guitar Hero II, so there’s that.)