The Knitting Olympics!

Yep, you read that right - a fibre-enthusiast's version of the Olympic games, known as the 2012 Ravellenic Games :D

If you are wondering what on earth I'm on about, well, it's basically a bunch of keen knitters/crocheters/spinners/fibre-dyers getting together to form teams on Ravelry and competing in different imaginatively & humorously-titled yarny events such as the Frogging Trampoline, the Hand-dye High Dive, the Felted Freestyle, WIP Wrestling (*love* this!) and the Lace Longjump. There's even an event for participating machine knitters, entitled Rhythmic Machinastics! So as you can see, they all relate to the names of real events...

In the Frogging Trampoline event, competitors are encouraged to "frog" (a knitting term for recycling, essentially!) a project which has been languishing in their stash for too long - meaning completely unravelling the knitting and rewinding the yarn back into balls to knit anew for a future, more promising project.

Obviously the "Ravthletes" don't receive a fabulous gold, silver or bronze medal with Nike, goddess of victory on it like the athletes at London 2012 do, but there is definitely a sense of achievement that goes with successful completion of a project when competing in one of the events nonetheless. You also get a virtual medal so you can celebrate in cyberspace!

Needless to say, I decided to get involved as it seems like the perfect accompaniment to watching the events unfold on the TV. If you're a ravelry member, just check out the Ravellenic Games group to see what all the fuss is about :)

A sprinkling of inspiration

Hello! Hope you're all having a nice weekend. I thought I would break my post-Knitting & Crochet blog week blogging hiatus by sharing a couple of things which have been inspiring me recently.

I'm a big fan of recycling and upcycling. I also like kitties and good design... so I had to try hard not to "squeee" when I saw this!

Image via Atomic Attic

Atomic Attic creates these wonderful pet beds made from recycled iMacs - so they're nice & colourful and the light shines through them too. Doesn't that cat look really rather content in it?

Birds + lego + art = awesomeness. If you don't believe me, for proof, see below:

Image via Laughing Squid

- thanks to the North East Craft Mafia for highlighting those! There's a whole series of British birds built by Lego enthusiast DeTomaso Pantera, including a woodpecker, blue tit, kingfisher, goldfinch and even a puffin.

A Kindle of Cats

I do love the English language for the amusement that the collective nouns for animals provides. An army of ants, a congress of baboons, a charm of hummingbirds, a mischief of mice, a parcel of hogs and an ascension of larks. How delightful!

What prompted me to ponder these was a review I recently came across of an exhibition of work at Haunch of Venison (London) by the lighting designer Stuart Haygarth entitled "Found" in Grafik magazine.

Image via Grafik

I like the way the ornaments wouldn't be significant on their own, but because they have been collected, ordered and arranged in a particular way, they become an object of interest. Also makes for a very unusual and interesting lamp!

Image via artnet

Back to Nature

Back to Nature - by WildCat Designs on Polyvore.com

I think this is a collection of handmade loveliness perfect for Spring time - I hope you'll agree!

1. Handforged Bronze Maple leaf pendant by Knitsteel
2. Recycled Circuit Board Clip boards by DebbyAremDesigns
3. Woven Roosting Nest (for small birds) from WWF "Green Gifts for Spring"
4. Paper decorations by Sallyent
5. Fair Trade Magazine Paper Pots from Pea Green Things
6. Paper Dress by Cut Paste Create