Now, on a completely unrelated note...

This post isn't exactly about knitting or crocheting...

Scratch that, it isn't about them at all, but it's my blog and I wanted to post it anyway, so there.

Ahem.  Anywho, this weekend I started working on constructing my first ever cosplay costume.  I'm making it for halloween, but the plan is to be able to use it for cons as well.

I'll be going as the Imperator Furiosa, the badass heroine from "Mad Max: Fury Road."

I really loved this character, and her costume is pretty fantastic, but still seemed achievable.

For the clothing, I found some brown pants at a thrift store that I plan on taking in a bit to make them more fitted. I'll also be cutting slits in them in the pattern you see above and wearing black tights underneath.  For the shirt, I found this on amazon.  You can click the link to buy it if you want.  It isn't exact, but it is the closest I could find in my price range. 


I also found these goggles, which were nice and cheap, but basically the same shape as the ones she wears in the movie.

I grunged mine up a bit and added some rivets to them. I'm planning on replacing the strap with something resembling leather, as it is a bit too new looking.

I ordered this infinity scarf which should be arriving today.  The post describes it as "grunge," so I'm hoping I won't have to do anything to it.  At most, I'll wash it a bunch to fade it, or maybe add a patch or two to make it look "well loved"

Now on to the fun stuff...first up, the belt buckle!  I made this from scratch out of Crayola Model Magic air dry clay.  It was my first time playing with the stuff, and I have to say I'm impressed!  The trick definitely seems to be that it sticks to itself better when it is warm.  so, rolling a little piece around between your palms before sticking it on seems to make a difference.  It takes paint nicely, and is super lightweight when it dries.  the only problem I really ran into is making sure not to squish the pieces accidentally while they were drying.

 Here it is all painted!  I backed it with thick black craft foam and sandwiched the chains in between them, securing it all with hot glue.

For the shoulder pad, I  found a pair of these sports-go-sports pads at a thrift store.  I paid .99 for the pair!

they were kinda gnarly and greasy when I got them, so I gave them a good scrub down with some dish soap before painting them.  I also removed some of the connection points for the straps that they came with, as i didn't need them.

I made some nozzles and the pull cord out of model magic, and added "vents" made out of more craft foam sheets, then gave it all several coats of paint.  I'll probably add some black with the dry brush technique to give it some more texture before spraying it all with clear coat.

The fingers for the robot hand were made with craft foam and hot glue, with model magic rivets added on.

This cuff is going to sit at the top of the black sleeve i'll wear on my lower arm to obscure it.  It will be attached to the shoulder pad and rest of the robot hand using hoses, which I made endcaps for using more model magic (this stuff is magical, I swear!)

Still left to do are the rest of the arm, the quilted pad for the prosthetic, the belts to attach everything, and the corset.  I'm also going to figure out how to do the scar below with liquid latex so that I can reuse it for the different cons without having to redo it every time.

 

I'll post more updates as I make progress!

Shawls for days

I had to wait to post these as they were gifts.  Brooke's was done in wool

And Brigitta's was done in a boucle 

Currently on the hooks

Luna Lovegood scarf redux.

It's a bit more colorful than the original, but I feel like Luna herself would approve of this gorgeous boucle yarn.

Currently on the hooks

Working up the Scalloped Triangle Shawl pattern found here using Patons Merino Wool in Bright Red as the base, and a US size G hook.

I am doing it for a Light the Night fundraiser we do annually at my office.  I believe it is going to be in the LLS colors of red white and yellow/gold if I can find a way to do it and not have it look like a McDonalds advertisement :) It will get raffled off at our Bowling for Bodhi event next week.

If you'd be interested in donating to my LLS campaign, my fundraising page can be found here

Currently on the hooks...

Happy Friday! 

I'm currently hooking up a pair of Andrea Denby's "Hermione Shell Mittens" http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/hermione-shell-mittens to go with my Luna Lovegood scarf.  I know.  I'm a nerd.

I'm making them in the same chocolate brown super saver yarn as the shawl, so instead of casting on 40 sts with a 3.5mm hook, I'm doing 32 sts(to allow for the 8 stitch pattern to repeat) with a 4.5mm hook.  I have tiny hands, and it is turning out perfectly for me, size wise.  I also think I'll make mine shorter in length.  The pattern calls for 12-14 rows of the shell pattern, and I'm planning on doing 8.

Dog wool

A delightful video came up on my facebook feed yesterday that I just had to share...
 

From Pathe! - 1940 Various shots of girls of the Canine Defence League combing fluffy Samoyed dogs in a garden. Commentator explains that the 'dog wool' goes to make socks for the Forces; the coats of these dogs coats yield enough wool for 100 pairs of "long sea boot stockings".The hair that comes off is washed and laid spread out in the sun to dry, then carded by hand and spun into wool on old-fashioned spinning wheels. A woman sits in the garden knitting some long socks - they look rather fluffy and itchy, but I expect they were very warm. A girl shows us a finished pair and then poses with a fluffy pup.
Posted by Alexandra Karastoyanova on Monday, September 7, 2015

The problem with working on giant scarves in a small cubicle...

Dammit.