Gypsy in Jasper

My cozy mug

2012-02-10T18:22:00.000-08:00

I have seen crocheted and knitted mug sleeves all over Pinterest, Craftgawker and Etsy lately and they are the cutest! So I decided it was time to sit down and make my own for my favourite mug.
I used multi-coloured wool and two kinds of crochet stitch to give it more visual interest. Don't ask me what the two stitches are called because I don't know and when I looked up Stitches for Dummies, I got confused. Basically I was taught to crochet by an old lady I met while camping when I was five or six years old and since then, I have just made things up and I usually stick to projects that just require a straight line, like scarves and now mug cozies.
Once I reached the desired size, I did one extra line with 20 chain stitches in the middle to act as my fastener. I also chose a complimentary button and sewed it on the opposite side using a piece of wool.
Then, I put it on my mug and voila! I have a cozy mug in a mug cozy.

With that complete, now I'm working on my second infinity scarf. I'm changing my stitch and wool this time with the hope of making it super thick and cozy.

Feathers and sequins, oh my!

2012-02-09T19:22:00.000-08:00

This weekend is Jasper Pride Weekend, which means there is going to be an amazing Mardi Gras party on Saturday night, complete with beads, masks, costumes and, of course, a drag show.
I'll be there volunteering with OUT Jasper, taking photos for work and enjoying the festivities, along with a few delicious beverages.
So, as you can probably tell, I'm super pumped. And because I'm super pumped, today I got crafting.

Guess what I made!? You got it, an amazing feather and sequin mask.

To make this beauty, I first took a scrap piece of paper and drew one side of the mask. Then I folded the paper in half and cut out the second side, ensuring they would be a mirror image of each other. Then, I pinned the paper to a sheet of craft foam and cut around it. To get the shape of the eye holes, I traced a large button and then drew the pointed edges and then cut them out, as well.
From there, there was just a lot of hot glue and feathers flying around until I got even coverage. Then I turned to the sequins, which there would have been more of if it wasn't such a miserable task to glue them on.

The large purple feather was from New Year's Eve. My friend Andrea made it for me to wear to a 1920s party. I attached it to the mask by weaving the hard end of the feather through the foam. That way it's not attached, so I can continue to reuse it.

I haven't figured out how to attach it to my head yet. I know I could just use a ribbon, but I want the edges to stick out from my face, rather than conforming to it. I have some time to try different fastening methods before Saturday night, so I'm sure I'll figure it out.

Happy Mardi Gras!

And the winner is...

2012-02-06T12:58:00.000-08:00

Michelle from Garden Rookie won my special Pickled Yarn hair clip, pictured below. Congrats Michelle, and thanks to everyone else who entered. If you want your own hair clip, you know where to go!

In other news, I've branched out from hair clips into the world of baby headbands.

The headbands were inspired by my lovely friend Jessica, who requested I make her some for her daughter Allison, pictured on the left.

After seeing how cute they look on, I decided I had to make more. So this week, I'll be listing about half a dozen new ones, that way other little ladies like Allison can accessorize with Pickled Yarn.

I'm really loving multi-coloured flowers right now, so expect to see a lot of them in the future as I list more accessories in my shop.

I've also started making ladies headbands with oversized flowers, so keep your eyes open for those.
There will be a headband giveaway in the near future on my girlfriend's blog, Merry Alana. So, if you didn't win this time, be sure to try your luck again.

Here's a sneak peak at the headbands:

Angry birds, stupid people

2012-02-04T12:58:00.000-08:00

Remember when Ian was attacked by a great horned owl last July?
You don't? Let me refresh your memory. Right before I went to Rankin Inlet last summer, Ian and I went out to an abandoned mine in Yellowknife to take photos of the old machinery. When we arrived, we saw an owl sitting atop a tall tree. It was hooting and circling around. We thought it was vocally telling the ravens, who were diving bombing her, to go to hell, but it turned out she was angry with us. She showed us that by picking an opportune moment to swoop down and smack Ian in the back of the head. Luckily, it was only a warning shot. Ian had three small cuts behind and in his ear, but no major damage was done. Had the owl wanted to, it could have seriously injured Ian with her talons.
We found out afterward that there was a nest high in the rafters of the old mine structure. When Ian was hit, we were looking up toward the nest, contemplating whether to climb the stairs. I guess the owl didn't want that, so she knocked that idea right out of Ian's head.
Anyway, yesterday, I was reading a paper that covers the Robson Valley (the Valemount, McBride and Dunster area), and on the front page of their website is a picture of a great horned owl. So, of course, I clicked the link and it took me to a story about three people being attacked, one after the other.
Now clearly, the owl had a nest nearby that it felt was threatened by the presence of these people. But instead of moving out of the area and letting it be, someone shot it.
To me, and to Ian who has great respect for owls (especially since his own incident), that seems totally ludicrous. The owl was only protecting its nest. It wouldn't attack for no reason.
In the story, it says that it's rare for owls to attack humans. This is probably true. But there are many known cases where they have attacked people, and in those cases, it's out of a maternal instinct to protect their young. No animal should die for that. No one was seriously hurt in the incident and people just kept coming out into the area where the owl was swooping around. It wasn't the bird's fault. It was the people's stupidity that resulted in the owl's death.

DIY: Cardigan revamp and infinity scarf

2012-02-03T12:35:00.000-08:00

It feels like this post has been forever coming. I have had the good intention to write it all week, but some how I've been too busy to just sit my butt down and do it. But I'm here now and I have 20 minutes to kill, so here it goes.

I have been a busy little DIYer the last little while, so I figure it's time I show you a couple of the easy projects I've been working on.

So this was the simplest project of all time. Basically I bought this cardigan at Value Village for a couple bucks. It was missing a two buttons and another was falling off, so I just replaced them with colourful ones to give it a little more personality. Now that I look at it in the pictures, I think I'll replace the top one with another colourful button. You might also notice my deer pin. It was one of my Christmas presents from my sister this year. She made it and I love it!

Now onto my infinity scarf. I finished it a couple of weeks ago now and have had quite a bit of wear out of it already. Because I didn't have much of the wool, I decided to make it longer rather than thicker. That means it can wrap around three times, which I kind of like.

Like I said in an earlier post, infinity scarves are incredibly easy. Basically you just crochet a chain as long as you want the scarf to be and then build on it until it's as thick as you want and then you attach the two ends by either crocheting them together with wool or sewing them together with wool.

This one took me about two evenings to complete. Not bad, eh?

Just a friendly reminder that my giveaway ends on Sunday, so if you want your very own Pickled Yarn hair clip free of charge, you should head over to my last post and leave a comment with your email address.

Pickled Yarn giveaway

2012-01-29T15:20:00.000-08:00

Today I'm launching my very first giveaway!

I have created the special Pickled Yarn hair clip pictured above just for the occasion. To be honest, it's my favourite and I don't want to let it go, but I figure that's even more reason to do it. This way one of you lovely readers will receive it as a wonderful gift and I will get the satisfaction of knowing that it is thoroughly loved.

To win this little treasure, visit Picked Yarn and then post a comment here that includes your favourite item in the store and your email address.

The contest starts today and closes next Sunday. I will announce the winner, who will be randomly selected, Monday, Feb. 6.

For additional entries, share this post with your friends on Facebook and Twitter. If you tweet about it, make sure to mention me @VeermanN.

Good luck and thanks for supporting Pickled Yarn!

Royally chili weekend

2012-01-25T13:03:00.000-08:00

I know it's Wednesday and I'm only now writing about the weekend, but the last couple of days my passion for all-things-crocheted has been reignited, in turn, keeping me away from my computer and blog.
So before I get to what I'm crafting, let me tell you about my weekend.

Friday night was the 24th annual Chili Cook-Off in Jasper, which doesn't sound all that exciting, but oh. my. goodness. it was! Ian was asked to be one of four judges for the event, so he sat on stage and tasted all 18 of the chili concoctions. I, on the other hand, was tasked with taking photos of the event for work.
Now, this isn't just any chili cook-off, it's one people take really seriously, not only when it comes to cooking, but also when it comes to their costumes and table displays. So, of course, there are prizes for that as well.
For me, the winning booth was more exciting than the winning chili.
So, without further ado, here they are, the winners for the 2012 Chili Cook-off, the Jasper Dental Clinic, with their interpretation of last year's royal wedding between Kate Middleton and Prince William.

Is that not the best? I mean, as I've stated in an earlier post about Will and Kate visiting Yellowknife, I really have no connection to or interest in the royals, but the dental clinic clearly put a lot of time, thought and effort into their costumes and for that they definitely deserve the prize.

Now, although the royals took the top prize, I would be remiss not to mention the second and third prize teams. In second place was Whistler's Inn with their Smurf-inspired booth and in third was Wild Mountain for their wilderness cabin theme.

So that was our fun-filled Friday. Now, on to what I've been crafting.
A couple of days ago I FINALLY finished a scarf I started in September while I was stranded in Rankin Inlet. I would post a photo, but Ian's currently wearing it in Edmonton.
With that out of the way, I've decided it's time to attempt an infinity scarf. From what I've read online, it's pretty easy. You crochet as if you're making a regular scarf and then just attach the ends together when you've reached your desired width. I think I'm about halfway there. I'll post pictures of me wearing it when it's done. I've been thinking I'd like to start doing outfit posts anyway, so maybe that will be a good way to start.
I hope everyone's having a good week. Happy hump day.