Guardians of the Galaxy Knitting Patterns Part 2: We Are Groot

This weekend my girlfriend and I made another trip to the cinema to see Guardians of the Galaxy. We saw it a few weeks ago and thoroughly enjoyed it but we both agreed that it’s much better the second time around.

So is this Guardians-inspired pattern post.

The first time around there were basically no Guardians of the Galaxy themed patterns on Ravelry. Not even a Groot! Can you imagine? Life was bleak, times were hard. Then some fabulous and industrious souls began working their obsession into useful patterns for us lowly addicts. Lo, a bunch of patterns are now readily accessible. Well… a bunch of Groot patterns anyway!

Here are a few of the cutest.

As ever, these aren’t my patterns. They’re ones I have collected for fellow fans in my bored browsing of geeky patterns. Enjoy.

Pattern and photo by Twinkie Chan.

Baby Groot

Download for free on Ravelry.

Look at him. LOOK. I challenge anyone not to be thoroughly in love with that last scene where baby Groot is dancing along to the Jackson Five. The only thing that would make this cute little tribute better is a soundtrack.

Pic and pattern by Mirella Designs.

Dancing Groot Chart

Download for free on Ravelry.

Looking to make your own thing and need a Groot chart to finish it up? Here you go! This would look great on a bag, wouldn’t it? Or even a blanket if you’re feeling adventurous.

Pic and Pattern by Kamila Krawka Krawczyk.

Baby Groot 2

Download for free on Ravelry.

This last one is a tad more complicated than the other but it’s just as doable and potentially even more adorable. Just look at all the lovely details on this. I would love to stuff wire into his arms to make him pose.

Pink and Glittery

Sometimes it is possible to be drawn to a complete anomaly. Say you are the type of person (like me) who is drawn to silky textures and rich dark colours. One day you will happen across some pale pink glittery and slightly fluffy yarn and it will demand to come home with you.

I have had this yarn (by Hambley, a dyer local to where I bought it) for a year or more. It has tried to be a few different things. It was originally going to be a jumper for my little sister actually, though it decided that was not what it wished to be. In the end I pulled out a crochet hook and started a Chevron Lace Cardigan, one of the first patterns I ever tried back in the days when I didn’t even like knitting all that much. 2011 was a strange time. Especially since my bedroom ate that cardigan and I have never ever found it again, not even when I packed up the whole room and donated half of it.

Hopefully this cardigan doesn’t go missing so easily.

I stopped at waist length because I have a very thin middle bit compared to the rest of me and always appreciate an item of clothing that shows that off. I kept the sleeves at cap length because I crocheted a sleeve on one of the sides and put it to the vote with my coworkers; cap sleeves won by a long shot.

And because I very rarely post photos of myself of this blog, why not have a front shot? Even if you can’t really see much of the cardigan, you get the idea of it. It’s subtle and cute and way more glittery than the photo suggests.

 

Apparently everything I’m wearing today has to be wonky. I don’t even know. I swear I know how to dress myself.

This isn’t my usual sort of project. It was something mindless to crochet at work and honestly, it doesn’t look all that great on me. Not as great as it would look on some people I know so I think I’ll be finding a new home for it at some point soon.

Despite that I am still pleased with it and even more pleased that not making the sleeves left me enough yarn to make some super classy fingerless gloves at some point. Gloves that glitter. Who wouldn’t want that?

 

 

FPC: Captain Marvel

 

Welcome to the Friday Pattern Collective where I gather up a few patterns from around the net (well, Ravelry mostly) to present them to you.

See previous weeks.

This week we’re going for Captain Marvel who, as every good Marvel fan knows, is about fifty million different types of awesome.

Glorious art by Pryce14

The latest run of Captain Marvel is written by Kelly Sue DeConnick who I met (along with her amazing husband Matt Fraction, writer of the recent Hawkeye series) last year. She’s an incredible writer and brings us Carol Danvers as a strong and interesting character full of depth and great plots.

Also… her costume is really great.

At the moment we’re not following the comics due to funding issues so since I’m starting to seriously miss my monthly binges on comics, Captain Marvel was the obvious choice for this week’s FPC.

Captain Marvel Gloves

By Maratini Knits

How can we not love Captain Marvel when aesthetically her outfit is so pleasing? And for once it’s not in a yay-boobies kind of way but because it’s three primary colours looking amazing side by side. These gloves are on my to-do list for the autumn.

Captain Marvel’s Lucky Hat

by What The Hell Am I Writing

If you’ve read the series you’ll remember Carol’s lucky hat from #9. Here it is, crocheted in all its glory. Now the Jayne hat has nothing on this for proclaiming fearlessness.

Stars in the Evening Sky Socks

by Cindy Craft

Carol Danvers is badass. Carol Danvers doesn’t need any of this oxygen nonsense. She’s happy enough to fly out into space past the vivid colours of the setting sun and out into the black, no matter who she’s leaving behind. It’s just something she needs to do.

And now for something completely different…

Baby Groot

by Alexandra Chmiel

Baby Groot narrowly missed out on being including in the previous Rocket and Groot Guardians of the Galaxy-inspired post and he is disappointed in a very friendly, forgiving way. Which means he’s going to be tacked onto the end of this. I’m 100% sure Cpt Danvers wouldn’t mind for a second.

That’s it for this week. I hope you enjoyed my little round-up of patterns. If you have any on theme to share, please do! The more the merrier.

 

 

Thursday Follow pt 4

Follow Thursday is an offering to anyone looking for good knitting and craft-related blogs to peruse. Check out the tag on the post to see previous ones.

First up today we have The Twisted Yarn who has been MIA for a while so I’m pleased to see her posting again. Quite aside from having the most awesome blog banner ever (seriously I love it) she’s super sweet and very talented.

The Weekend Knitter is one of those blogs always filled with such pretty pictures. Scrolling through the posts is always a joy. It makes me want to reach through and pet the pretty things that are posted.

A blog I recently discovered is D’Nali: The Diary. I have a supreme soft spot for people who share not only their crafting prowess but also their real lives and opinions. Especially when they’re witty and entertaining!

Aaaah, guys. There are so many awesome blogs out there I get a little overwhelmed. Why are there so many interesting and talented people out there?

Not that I’m complaining. It would make this post a lot harder if there weren’t.

Friday Pattern Collective: GotG-Inspired, part 2

When I was three my aunty presented me with a choice. She put two well-wrapped gifts in front of me: one was thin and a little taller than the other, while one was plump and wider. I chose the taller one and still remember making that decision so my younger sister, then eighteen months, could have the bigger one. This turned out to be my first memory and it’s one I remember vividly.

I mention this because the tall thin gift was a Steiff raccoon who bore a tag on his belly proclaiming his name to be ‘Raggy’. I still have him in the bed right now. He began a lifelong adoration of the maligned creatures.

Rocket may not know what a raccoon is but he steals the show nonetheless. Even seeing the Guardians of the Galaxy trailer made it clear we would all love him. More surprising was Groot, the pure-hearted tree creature who is a surprisingly dazzling dancer. Between them they took our hearts and in return I give them patterns.

As ever I don’t own these patterns and all the photos come from the Ravelry project page for illustration of their loveliness. Go peruse. They’re gorgeous.

Raccoon Scarf Crochet Pattern

by Bees Knees Knitting

The first time Rocky sees someone wearing this he almost fell straight over onto the fugitive he just caught at the pizza place. When he saw the same item later he was flattered and a little disturbed. I mean, who does that? Really big fans of Rocket, that’s who!

Rocky Raccoon

by Sweet N’ Cute Creations

Want your very own Rocket to hug? Yeah, me either; that sounds potentially painful. But maybe we could keep one of him at a safe distance. It’s easier to keep an eye on him that way. The only thing this cute little crocheted raccoon needs is a massive gun and maybe some blood stains.

Magischer Baum

by Regina Satta

Groot cares. He may not have the words to say so but he protects those who are close to him. Honour that protective nature with these socks with beautiful leaves and winding vines. Sure, Groot wouldn’t be able to wear them, but he’d like them anyway.

Tree of Life Mittens

by Janel Laidman

Considering Groot’s role in the film (trying not to be spoilery here…) he definitely deserves the title of Tree of Life. These mittens, aside from representing Groot in a very elegant way, are thoroughly gorgeous.

While typing up this post I got the mental image of Rocket sitting down to knit something using needles created from Groot’s wood. This image will stick with me.

These two characters made the movie for me so I hope you enjoyed some patterns representing them. Stay tuned next week for some Captain Marvel-eque patterns, purely because Carol Danvers is freaking amazing!

Thursday Follow pt 3

Here I am again offering up some blogs for you to peruse at your leisure, hand-picked from the embarrassingly large amount I read. I mean, looking at my search history you might think I’m some kind of knitting fanatic or something. Ahem.

Of course ‘fanatic’ doesn’t quite cover it in reality. I spend a lot of time reading and writing about knitting. As it stands I’m fairly certain I spend more time actually knitting, especially since I knit while I read knitting blogs half the time.

Please tell me I’m not the only one.

Okay. Onto this week’s blogs.

First there’s Hard Knit Life. This is a recent discovery of mine but I’m enjoying the posts. Amongst pictures showing some real talent there are also posts with some lovely technique tips. What more could you want?

Then we have So Knit Some. I think the word best suited to this blog is elegant. I truly enjoy scrolling through her well-put-together posts and reading snippets of her life among her creations. Absolutely lovely.

The final blog today is one most of you will know and if you don’t, you need to. That’s right: Yarn Harlot. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee is pretty much the patron saint of knitting. Her blog is made of sheer delight. I’ve been reading it for years and she never bores me.

Compiling these links makes me realise how lucky us knitters and crocheters are to have such a wonderful community around us. So many people with so much passion pouring out onto the page. It really makes me proud to have carved out my own little piece of this niche and it’s no wonder I spend so much time reading knitting blogs when there are so many good folk out there writing them!

Who is Romoe?

Wandering through the creekside trial with the dog every day is a good way to unwind. I’ve been listening to Welcome to Night Vale on our walks lately so it’s rather apt to see bizarre and slightly surreal images like a dragonfly eating a littler fly:

Or even better, the epic love story and disaster that is this chunk of dead wood:

 

Who is Romoe? Was he Romeo’s cousin, the first to get a look in at Juliet? I love to imagine the kid who wrote this realising they’d butchered the name of one of Shakespeare’s most notable characters. Look how fervently they have scribbled it out.

I also enjoy how the knot in the wood dots the i.

In knitting news, I have… well. I made a grave mistake on the sock. I was halfway down the foot when I realised that I had been doing the pattern stitches on the sole as well as the arch which, as any sock-wearer will know, is a recipe for discomfort and badly-wearing socks. So I huffed and I puffed and I tinked that sock back. That’s roughly three to five hours of work completely wasted.

Needless to say the sock and I are on a temporary break.

To get over my anger I’ve started crocheting the Chevron Lace cardigan pattern out of some gorgeous pink laceweight with a 5.5mm hook, size small. It will be light pink and glittery so heaven knows if I’ll keep it for myself. Maybe. They say it gets cold at work and this merino blend will certainly warm me up.

 

Picture from the Ravelry page.

I made it once before years ago back when I didn’t even know how to knit. It was for a friend and somehow I promptly lost it. Still to this day I have no idea where it went.

Since a couple of days of work has already brought me past the armpits I doubt it’s going to take me long to finish and then I’ll go back to my socks.

Promise.

Pattern Gathering: Bookmarks

As often happens when you’re in the middle of something big that should be taking up all your time, I spent a lot of time reading as a good escape from worrying about going through immigration in Canada. There are so many things I want to read at the moment that I can’t swallow books quickly enough.

In case you’re wondering, immigration was surprisingly easy.

In honour of reading, my first and most long-running love, I’ve collected a few awesome patterns to show you guys. Go check them out and all the others, too, since Ravelry is full of amazing ones.

Squashed Rat Knitted Bookmark

I have a sick sense of humour. This has tickled me greatly even though I love rats.

It is by Amalia Samios and is a $3.50 USD over here.

And it’s not even the only one of its ilk.

Flat Rat Knitted Bookmark

This one is by the designer Susan Glinert Stevens.

This one’s free! I love the little pokey noses.

If you’re not such a fan of the rodents, how are you with snakes? Look at the face on this mister and tell me that you can resist him. Go on, I dare you.

Crochet Snake Bookmark

By Little Owl’s Hut on Ravelry, $3.75 USD. You can try the first page free.

I think that’s a really lovely idea if you’re not sure on a pattern. It will reel people in.

This designer has all sorts of fabulous patterns. I’d recommend looking them up.

Crocheted Granny Bookmark

Now here’s something a little more traditional. Granny squares are classy (in moderation) and they’re easy, too.

Look how cute this one is in a variegated yarn. AND it’s free!

That should get you started. I’d recommend having a look at all the cute bookmarks you can find on the Ravelry pages; just think how perfect they would be for quick gifts. Most of these I plan on making for myself, though. Selfish knitting and all that.

Of course 90% of the time I try knitting something for myself and it ends up being for someone…

Yarn Day

Leaving Newcastle isn’t easy. It’s been tough being away from my life (and partner) in Canada but whilst I’ve been whiling away the hours (and days and weeks and months) here I’ve found some lovely people. On Saturday I spent a lot of time with Rachael doing yarny things. I’ve written about our adventures before and today was just as fun.

We started out the day having a delicious (and free) breakfast at a place near my house then headed to the Yarn Garden, a little gathering held in The Beacon in Newcastle.

 

The owners were very friendly and there were some gorgeous yarns around. Very cool. I won’t be going back since I will be thousands of miles away pretty soon but it was nice to check it out before I had to leave.

It had been sunny up until this point but when we left it started looking quite dreary. This necessitated a very English midday changing of clothes so I got my boots on and let Rachael pick through my yarn to take what she wanted out of what I needed to leave behind. She helped me drag two big sacks full of clothes and yarn to a charity shop after that because I can only take to Canada what I can fit on the plane.

Don’t worry, I’ve kept enough yarn to last me a long time. I have a problem. A yarn addiction that cannot be quelled.

Next up was a haircut and some lunch from the market at Monument, followed by a trip to The Knit Studio. As I’ve mentioned before I handed in my notice at work for the Friday so that I could go here on the Saturday; it’s been an important part of my life for the past eighteen months. Everyone is so friendly and kind and wonderful. I got a couple of lovely card and Ann, the owner of the Knit Studio, gave me this charming knitted fellow:

 

Let’s take a closer look at him because he’s (or she?) is absolutely adorable. Please note the knobbly knees. I am dead of the cute.

 

It was sad to say goodbye to them all and I got a bit emotional. Goodbyes are always tricky and this is a lot of goodbyes at once. Of course in the days of the internet I’ll be able to keep in touch with them easily enough and I will not be without knitting groups in Ontario but my heart still aches to leave such a wonderful place and lovely people behind.

That’s the biggest thing that attracted me to knitting after all; the community of it.

Saying goodbye to Travelling Man was awful too. It’s my local comic book shop and quite aside from giving me my fix of delicious comics every week they also have really friendly and welcoming staff. If you’re a Newcastle (or North-East in general) geek I highly recommend a trip there. I picked up Black Widow, Ms Marvel, Captain Marvel and She-Hulk. So many good comics out at the moment! I’ll catch up with Iron Man and X-Men once I’m back in Canada since my girlfriend reads them too.

The Green Festival was in full swing so Rachael and I plodded and squelched on over there through the pouring rain.

 

It was full of shiny things in stalls but though Rachael and I hid under a shelter for a while hoping the rain would calm down, it did not. The mud was getting ridiculous and both of us were nervous about the prospect of thunder so we took at selfie and headed home.

 

The perfect end to the day happened: we watched Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (SAVE FERRIS) and ate chocolate muffins from Gregg’s. Then I said goodbye to yet another excellent person. It’s getting tiring having to do that so much lately.

On the plus side it means that in less than two weeks I will be home in Canada. I will be with my girlfriend and our cats and our dog. I will be able to eat Timbits. (Priorities, man.)

The goodbyes are hard but I’m finally getting my dream come true at the same time.

The Trials of Emigrating

I’m going to miss my mini garden here.

It turns out preparing to emigrate is a lot more hard work than I remember from my last time leaving the country, but then last time I was extremely ill with IIH and on some rather potent medication so it’s honestly a bit of a blur. Seeing as I turned up in Canada with a few items of clothing and all of my yarn, including my crappy stuff, I don’t think I was all there during the process.

This time I’m going to send all but my most expensive, treasured yarn ahead of me or just get rid of it (/donate it to friends). I can only bring one suitcase. The most difficult part will be my comics, of which I have many. It’s looking like the only option is to send them ahead which is going to be expensive but less expensive than buying them all over again. Most of my things I can stand to get rid of; I have deliberately not acquired many books or DVDs this year which has meant purchasing a kindle and living off Netflix. Yarn and comics? Those are too important to me.

Due to the rest of my brain power being thoroughly taken up by the stress (and sheer bloody elation) of moving back to Canada to my wonderful girlfriend and all our pets, the rest of this entry can be in bullet points.

• The necklace I made with Supremily is getting a lot of compliments. Someone even said it looks professionally made. It doesn’t but I’m still very proud of it.
• I am reading a book called Human Remains by Elizabeth Haynes. It is one I downloaded onto my kindle at some point then forgot about but I’m enjoying it immensely. It is a crime novel about a man who talks people into giving up life, then watches their bodies after they’ve starved to death. It’s not for the faint-hearted.
• I have a week left at work. I deliberately gave notice for the Friday of next week so I can definitely go to the last Saturday knitting group at the Knit Studio. My friend Rachael and I (who have had adventures before) are going to make a yarny day of it. More on that next week.
• Knitting is difficult right now because I’m so distracted. I have, however, been finishing off a large worsted-weight shawl in TARDIS blue. Soon there will be pictures.
• Some friends joined me for goodbye drinks at the wonderful Bar Loco which does the best pizzas ever. It was a great night and I’m honoured to have met so many lovely people in this fine city. I’ll miss them. Thankfully we live in 2014, not 1814; I can use Facebook to communicate with them instead of writing longhand letters and destroying my tendons. Woo modern times!

That’s it for now. What are you guys up to at the moment? Anyone started their summer knitting? I’ve been meaning to start some socks – perfect lightweight knitting!