Great Big Dung Beetle... with Dung!

If anyone thinks that I've been a little absent lately it's because I suddenly found myself stranded at my grandmother's this weekend, and nobody thought to bring a laptop so I could get on the internet. The weekend was still fun, even though I felt a little lost (addicted? me? nooo....), and I finally managed to finish the latest Great Big Bug :)

Here is the Great Big Dung Beetle, complete with her Great Big Ball of Dung! Well, I'm only guessing it's a she, since the dung balls are used for laying eggs in, and then serves as food for the beetle babies. For all I know both the male and the female beetles collect dung, but I do know that they are pretty precious to them, they have huge fights over these smelly (I think) little balls :) Really cute critters, aren't they? Dung beetles come in lots of different colors and sizes, some have really cool antlers for fighting and attracting mates, and only some of them actually make balls of dung that they move around by rolling it. My dung beetle, however, is based on the kind that was sacred in Ancient Egypt, which is very plain (though it's not known exactly which species the Egyptians depicted). The Egyptian god Kheper was depicted either as a human with a beetle instead of his head, or as a scarab beetle rolling the sun across the sky. This dung beetle is actually all black, but I made mine partially blue, sort of to show that it's all shiny, but also because I didn't want it to become too boring :)

The ball can be attached to the back of the beetle with little pieces/strips of black Velcro on the beetle's back legs and abdomen. Looks like she's rolling it, right? :) The pattern is as always added to my Ravelry store and will be listed on Etsy soon.

Long time & a new hobby :)

Feels like it's been ages since I last posted on this blog... Two weeks! I have lots of things to post about, but I'll start with the most recent news: I'm learning to tat! Like I need another hobby :p 

It started last weekend (I think - I've been a little lost in time lately), when I was searching my grandmother's house for a pair of hand carders both she and my mother insisted she had. (Another story, I'll tell you later!) Anyway, I didn't find the carders, but I did find a whole lot of other things, and among them were two tatting shuttles. One old and one newer plastic thingy. I remembered that my mother learned to tat when I was younger, and she had bought the new shuttle. The old one looks like it's home made, carved from bone or something, and we think it has belonged to my great grandmother. She lived from about 1890 to 1966, so the shuttle could be pretty old :)

So naturally I had to learn tatting :D My mother sat down and showed me one evening (last Thursday, I think), and the next day I had finished my first tatted item! The pattern is Flower Bookmark by Yarnplayer (you should check our her blog, she makes awsome things and she has just published her second pattern book!). Since I don't have threads in any fancy colors (at least not in the same size) I made the bookmark in one color and added some beads for a little sparkle :)

Now I just need to learn to do the split chain and split ring, and I should be able to make most of the simpler patterns :) But the split thing is complicated, and the best thing would be to get it explained by a person. Pictures and text just isn't the same :/ Also the picots are still a pain to do, I can never get them the same size! I guess it just takes practice. And then some more practice! :p

A lot of the patterns I want to try requires use of two shuttles, which I didn't have (since my mother was using the other one), so I fairly quickly went online and ordered some more shuttles and a few books, both for learning and patterns. And the best part is, I didn't have to pay much for it, since I'm splitting the "loot" with my mother and mostly used her money :D But then yesterday I got tired of waiting for the new shuttles and decided I'd try and make some myself! I posted the tutorial on my pattern blog if anyone should be interested in trying without spending money on new shuttles :) And the shuttles work, too! 

Turned out I really didn't have to go through all that trouble yesterday, because today I got three new shuttles in the mail! Yay :) They are so pretty and comfortable! One plated brass filigree shuttle bought on eBay, and two Peter Cua shuttles bought from this site. The latter shuttles are both 2 inches long and made from horn, and one is etched with a phoenix motif. It's so beautiful! There is a dragon shuttle I'd like as well, but it was sold out. Maybe later :)

I tested the filigree shuttle earlier today, and it's great to work with! I made a really tiny bug from this pattern. 

The metal shuttle is probably a bit heavy for some, but I think both the weight and size is perfect for me :) I felt that the old shuttle I was using was just a little bit too long for me. It will be interesting to try the cheap plastic ones we've ordered, I suspect they are very long (especially the ones with the pick on one end) and very light. I like to feel the weight of the tools I'm working with, otherwise they very often just fly out of my hands... Well, now it's on to practice some more with my new shuttles :D

Great Big Fly

Yesterday I finally sat down and made the remaining four legs for the Great Big Fly, and now he's all done! I gave him red eyes because house flys have red eyes, and not because I wanted him to be scary :)

The pattern is ready, but unfortunately I'm not able to upload it to Ravelry yet. I have to wait a couple of days until I go by my mother's place again, this connection is so slow that everything freezes if I upload anything much bigger than 1mb :/ Oh well, this way you'll have something to look forward to! :p

The fly pattern is the same difficulty as the other bug patterns, but there is no embroidery on this one. I just couldn't resist the temptation to make a more realistic mouth part, and after that it became a little weird to have a smiling mouth as well.

Oh, and the fly is really a he. I have referred to it as a she earlier, but when I finished it today it became clear that it's actually a male fly :) Here he is checking out the garden bench I've painted earlier (today I did the black on the sides, it smelled awful). For some reason flies seem to be very attracted to fresh paint... But don't worry - he was very careful not to get any wet paint on him!

The market

I know I promised to write more about the market and how it went, but I've been held up with computer trouble and work the past days, so it's a little late. But now it's time to dig up some pictures and make a real post :)

The market thing was supposed to start at noon on Sunday, but we had to be there very early to do one final rehearsal for the play, and still have time to prepare our sales tables afterwards. We got there at nine thirty in the morning, like we were told, but most people didn't show up until ten... The lady in charge was going crazy with stress and nerves, poor thing, so people being late did not help at all :/ This is the fifth year this market is arranged (but my first time to be home in time to participate), and she has finally had enough, she says she'll never do it again... 

I wish I had some photos from the actual performance of the play, but I couldn't find anyone to use my camera. I have asked to get copies from a friend, but I haven't got them yet, so here are some pictures I took at the rehearsals:

A big troll throwing the island further out into the sea so he could pass with his boat (the people in the background are a family that sort of tells all the stories that the actors play out - while the storyteller is talking, everything else has been recorded beforehand)

A ship in a storm - crew falling on top of each other

Two kids and a dead noble lady (a very floppy doll!)

See something I've shown you before? :p The three of them are supposed to be the divers that discovered a famous shipwreck just outside where I live, and the colors are to show where they are from. The guys in hats are supposed to be Swedish, and the one in orange and blue is from a nearby town - he's wearing the colors of the football team :)

After the rehearsal I had to run to set up my stuff, and fortunately my aunt had secured a table for me :) It was madness, with people taking other people's places... It was inside a large tent/pavillion with the front wall removed, so it was nice and open. Thankfully the weather was good (not too hot and not too cold - and not raining!), so I didn't freeze. Here is my table of stuff for sale:

I was in place with all my things about eleven thirty, and before the gates were open for real (at noon) I had sold three things! The hedgehog Dude went first, then the Great Big Bumblebee, and then the black and white crocheted hat :) I sold a lot of things to people I know (or people who know me through my mother), but there were also complete strangers from other places. I talked to lots of nice people and some very enthusiastic children, got served hot dogs and cake (because I couldn't leave my stand), AND I actually made money :D I did not come there expecting to sell much, because there aren't that much people (somewhere between four and five hundred tickets sold, plus a lot of children under 16 who got in for free), so I'm extremely pleased! This is what I had left after the market:

And now I've sold even more! A lady called my mother on Monday while I was at work and said that she needed to buy some things because her son had bought something on Sunday, and her daughter was now very jealous and sad that she didn't have any animals. I remember that the lady came to have a look on Sunday, and she said she'd come back, but unfortunately she forgot and went home. And then a friend of mine who'd promised to come to the market had also forgot, so she's coming by to buy some things later :) All I have left now is three Dudes, three hats, two owlets, two cupcakes and the two tiny whales. I NEVER expected to sell that much! I actually got enough money to pay for my new laptop :D

In the next tent there was a cafeteria, and they actually ran out of food, even though they had more than the previous year. And since food probably is the main attraction at these things, people started to leave a little early (around five). At five thirty the few harmless drops of rain that had fallen earlier suddenly turned to heavy rain, and that was pretty much the end of the show. Just as well, since it was getting cold, and the market would close at six anyway. This is a view of the market area (after a few of the stands had left because of the rain):

And this is the part of the harbor where we had the play:

After we had packed our stuff together there was a little gathering to review the day's events and the preparations, and all in all it had been a successfull arrangement. I only hope the lady in charge decides to do it again next year, and that she is a little better at handing out work so she's not as exhausted as she was this year... I definitely want to do it again, I had so much fun! :) 

Oh, and by the way... From the sale of amigurumi animals and a few hats I made more money than I've made from a week of cleaning! Crocheting and designing patterns is all fun, and cleaning is hard work that kills my feet - there is not a doubt in my mind what I'd like to to for a living! :p