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Monday 11 October 2010

halloween madness?

I don't come from a country, where halloween is a traditional feast - but when I moved over to ireland, of course it became one of the festivities to be noticed, esp. when DS was old enough to "demand" it! for the last few years I've made some decorations for halloween each year - only sometimes they don't get ready in time to put up:)) this time though the madness really caught me - my first handmade skull:

it's a free pattern from lion brand and originally it's done in white wool and felted - the result is much bigger in size. I thought why not try the very fine linen/cotton blend with a small needle, so I made it with a 1.5 mm crochet hook. it's not really difficult, just a bit fiddly - but the new idea is: crochet it in the same size, but in fine wool this time and give it a shrink in the washing machine - to add to a freaky halloween handspun:)) the felting would shrink it and make it a bit more stable (at least it should) and if I made 4 or 5 like this plus a few metal skulls, dark beads etc., maybe with a few silver bits, it would end up a nice "harry potter" themed yarn - fitting for Lucius Malfoy maybe? I know, don't say it, halloween madness is taking over:)) or I could call it "deatheaters":))

the other thing I realised is that I don't really want to flatten out this 3D effect on my crochet hexagon! which means it's not ideal for a table mat - but I think it would look quite nice on a blanket/afghan! I have plenty of large cones of the same yarn, but in different colours, so material isn't a problem.
maybe a knitted herringbone pattern would be better for the table mat, it gives a dense fabric and lies flat, too. I think I'll go for a striped colour effect and add a border in a single colour all around. which cleans off the edges, but isn't too thick to make glasses wobble!

off to do some gardening work, while the sun is still out - and this evening will be spent with winding fine yarns off cones on my ball winder.....

4 comments:

Sandra said...

naja, als du nach irland gezogen bist, war halloween noch nicht so populär hier. mittlerweile gibt es im movie park halloween-specials und viele discos machen halloween-parties. es ist also auf dem vormarsch. originally ist es aber ja das keltische fest "saun" (mit scharfem "s" gesprochen, keine ahnung wie mans richtig schreibt), das die bösen geister vertreiben und die seelen der verstorbenen ins jeneits begleiten soll. war das richtig? hab ich mal bei zdf expedition gelernt. ist aber jahre her und ich weiß nicht, ob ich's richtig erinnere. bei mir geht's in 2 wochen mit den klausuren los, ich werd also kaum zeit haben, für sämtliche festivitäten zu dekorieren. :(

Delighted Hands said...

How pretty the spiral would be in a large blanket! Great idea.

Leigh said...

We gave up celebrating Halloween years ago, but as usual Bettina, you are wonderfully creative for the occasion!

Woolly Bits said...

Leigh - I think once DS is out of the age, where halloween is still on the cards, I'll quit making new stuff for that particular season. I like autumn, but I don't need carved pumpkins and skulls to celebrate it:)) might change again if there ever are any grandchildren.... I have to admit that I wouldn't decorate much for christmas either if it weren't for Stefan!