knitted hats at Comic Con

seanalyn has posted about sweet nerdtastic knitted beanies & hats before.  but now they have emerged at the largest nerdfest in America!  i saw a couple booths full of homemade knitted goodies made by proud domestic geeks.

i cannot even fathom the amount of time and dedication it took to create these beautiful masterpieces!

unfortunately, none of the designers  are very technologically savvy.  no websites have been launched yet. hopefully my inquires have sparked interest in starting one or putting the3 leftovers from Comic Con on etsy.com!

in the meantime, if you are looking for a way to market your knitted creations, maybe taking it to a con near you is the way to go!  if you do though, make sure to make them accessable via internets as well! :)

<3 kt

DIY Vintage Inspired Laptop Case

I was trolling around Craftzine and I came across the most awesome of projects.

Going To Grandma’s Laptop Case

This project was designed by Jennifer Perkins who owns Naughty Secretary Club which specializes in beautifully funky jewelry with a vintage flair. I absolutely love her laptop case design because it is so effortlessly retro-chic and is a great way to carry your laptop without looking like youre carrying your laptop (great for thwarting would be thieves). The step by step instructions show how easy it is to create this unique case, really the hardest part would be finding the suitcase although most thrift stores will have some nice moderate sized ones.

So click here to get started on your own vintage laptop case!

<3 seanalyn

Best $600 you will ever spend

Its not often I find reason to shell out $600 for a sweater, but if I had some spare change right now I would definitely drop it on this amazing hand knit (thats the key here) sweater from etsy seller elf518.

Robot Pixel Mash-up Fair Isle Sweater

This awesome sweater is hand made tailored to your measurements, color choices and each one has a slightly unique pattern.

“the floral motif in this sweater is taken from a german lace chart published in 1597″

Of course that old German lace chart has been given a hip modern twist with robots and other pixely goodness. $600 may seem like a steep price but when you consider that each sweater is handmade without a machine, unique and takes 8 weeks to make…well, $600 doesnt seem all that outrageous.

<3 seanalyn

Urban knitting graffiti

Knitta please! Move over spray cans and markers, theres a new form of graffiti in town and its showing the softer side of tagging.

Deputy Dog posted a blog about a new trend called knitting/crocheting graffiti. Basically crafty yarn wielders are taking to the streets with their scrap yarn and creating public works of textile art.

“Knitta began in August 2005, when the soon-to-be-Knittas were discussing their frustration over unfinished knitting projects: half-knitted sweaters and balls of yarn gathering dust. That afternoon, they knit their first door handle. Then it dawned on them… a tag crew of knitters, bombing the inner city with vibrant, stitched works of art, wrapped around everything from beer bottles on easy nights to public monuments and utility poles on more ambitious outings.”

To learn more about this trend and see videos of these renegade knitters in action, check out the website Knitta Please

I think I know a few statues around town that could use a warm fuzzy scarf!

[link via Current]

<3 seanalyn

When good crafts go bad

Lately Ive been on a blog kick for blogs featuring crafts gone wrong. It started with Fail Cakes but now thanks to my friends Ive learned of several other blogs featuring adventures in domesticity that dont quite turn out as planned.

Why Would You Knit That

This blog explores all the things people knit that probably shouldnt be knitted. Because you know, knitted candy corn pasties are just oh so sexy.

What Not To Crochet

This blog is much like the previous one but for those of us who yield one stick instead of two.

What Not To Craft

Because yarn shouldnt get to have all the fun in failing this site to highlights all sorts of crafts and cooking ventures gone horribly horribly wrong. Or horribly horribly right? Felted Jesus is kind of totally awesome.

Craft Fail

Another hilarious site for people to show off all their failed craft projects. Not all of them are fails in my mind…this failed attempt to make a pink parsley flecked soap resulted in something amazing…SPAM soap!

Anyone else have any links to blogs that feature failed crafts? Post them up in the comments! Or share your own craft failures!

<3 seanalyn

Turn a t-shirt into a cardigan

Today I awoke to an email from my good friend Jenn that linked me to an awesome page with instructions on how to turn an old oversize t-shirt into a cute and flirty cardigan.

All you need is an old t-shirt, some yarn, a crochet hook and a few minutes on a sewing machine.Click here for step by step instructions.

What a cute way to reuse old shirts and add to your wardrobe without having to spend much money. Cute and cheap! A perfect combo for this tough economy!

<3 seanalyn

Birdo Cross-Stitch WTF

My good friend Jenn posted up an amazing find on her blog today.

Birdo Cross-Stitch WTF

First of all someone cross-stitched Birdo…thats weird enough as it is. Secondly, they put WTF on there which ads to the overall oddly awesomeness of this piece. Its also frighteningly well done, my grandma would be impressed.

Oh and Jenn wrote a haiku to go along with it…

Rosy dinosaur
Cannon-faced genderbender
Put a ring on it

Could today get any better? I think not!

[link via Infinite Lives]

New theory, anything is cute in Sackboy form

Today I learned that crafty geekette Maggie Wang just produced another amazing custom crochet Sackboy in the form of Prince of Persia.

Sack Prince of Persia

This adorable little creation is amazing because of the sheer detail put into it. Maggie sells custom Sackboys for $50 which made me ponder what I would want in Sackboy form. My first desire would probably be a Watchmen set followed by a Girls Next Door trio. Although Im convinced anything would be cute in Sackboy form…hell a Dick Cheney Sackboy would probably still be cute! What would you want in Sackboy form?

<3 seanalyn

Shrinky Dinks!!!!

About two weeks ago I was talking with Cesar about how I use to make ornaments every year for a tree when I was growing up. One of the most common types of ornaments I made were Shrinky Dinks. To my shock and horror he had never heard of Shrinky Dinks! I tried explaining their wonerfulness to him but to no avail.

Fast forward to lunch time today. I was in Borders waiting to check out when I glanced at their impulse buy rack and spotted a Creativity For Kids: Make Your Own Skrinky Dinks set!!

Free style Shrinky Dinking ftw!!! Most of the Shrinky Dinks I made as a kid were the stencil kind where you colored in a snow man or tree.

The Border’s checker pause and looked at the box when he was ringing me up and said “What on earth are Shrinky Dinks.” I stared with my mouth agape…was I the only one who used Shrinky Dinks growing up!?

Well just in case I’ll explain them to all of you just as I explained them to him…

Shrinky Dinks are pieces of plastic that you draw on then pop in the oven…the plastic shrinks up (hence the Shrinky) and leaves you with a small (hence the Dinky) thicker little plastic piece to attach to a necklace, bracelet, key-chain, etc or make into an ornament!

“Well whats the point?” asked the Borders employee.

Duh, the point is you get this tiny durable super detailed piece of awesomeness and everyone is like “woah where did you get that awesome velociraptor necklace?” and youlre like “pshaw I made it.”

Thats the point of Shrinky Dinks. I plan on Shrinky Dinking the shit out of my kit tonight, I’ll post my creations.

For those of you too lazy to go to a Borders or who don’t want to drop the $7 on a Shrinky Dink kit, heres a helpful page for making your own Shrinky Dinks using some plastic containers you probably have lying about the house. Also if you want an interesting idea for a cool Shrinky Dink project check out this guide to make adorable Shrinky Dink rings.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Amigurumi

Since my boyfriend and I are doing a whole Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theme for Halloween Ive been scouring the net for all things TMNT related. In my search I came across these adorable piles of turtle cuteness.

TMNT Amigurumi

She made the pink one for her daughter, so I’ll let it slide ;) Instructions are one the page and all you need is a crotchet hook and a little bit of yarn. I think what I love so much about these is that they look like little Ninja Turtle versions of the Little Big Planet Sack Boy