Posted in books, ghosts, Vampires, writing

Dark Crafts

Posted on by D. D. Syrdal

It’s not what you think.

Ok, yes, I am drawn to the dark side of the Craft, but this is crafts, lower-case ‘c’. Did you know about these? In all my searching for books on crochet and amigurumi patterns I never ran across these, until today.

If, like me, you’ve had enough of crochet dishcloths and ugly scarves (seriously, who comes up with some of those patterns?) it’s time to look to the dark side for some new inspiration.

First up: AntiCraft: Knitting, Beading and Stitching for the Slightly Sinister! Oh boy, this looks fun! AntiCraftIf you have any young people in your life, a budding anarchist perhaps (or just a strange friend), there could be something gift-worthy here. The table of contents lists such intriguingly titled projects as “Gothic Glam Yule Hat,” and “Belladonna Sleeves” in the knitting section, and “Brier Rose” and “Carrion” for the crocheters, along with “Dungeon Decor.” I don’t actually have a dungeon, but my cube at work is always fair game for some freaky decor. It’s good for my co-workers: think how grateful they’ll be that they don’t have to live with me. The last section has chainmail, and beading, among other things.

Then there’s little morsel:

Vampires, and Grim Reapers, and Cthulhu’s! There’s a ghostly bride and groom, robots, Vikings, ninjas, zombies, aliens. Not sure what’s up with the little monkey on the front cover, though. How cute are these? If I start now I could have a whole graveyard full of little ghosties and Deaths on my desk by Halloween. Interspersed with a few skulls and ravens, it’d be a nice antidote to the overabundance of coma-inducing sugary decor so favored by some of my co-workers. How many cutesy “Kittens” calendars are allowed in one building? Anybody know?

And some day I will have to come up with a pattern for an amigurumi raven. If anyone has one, please send it along.

And EEEEEK!!! This one’s not even out yet, which is a shame, considering how long it takes me to make stuff. I’m pre-ordering this one, it’s due to be published September 7.

You know, I think this is even giving me an idea for a story… That settles it, I MUST have it.

Author:

Writer of vampire stories and science fiction. First novel, "Revenants Abroad", available now at Amazon. If you like a vampire you can go out drinking with and still respect yourself in the morning, I think you'd like Andrej.

25 thoughts on “Dark Crafts”

  2. Have you met me? I’m the one with the Morticia Addams gravatar, aspiring horror writer, vampire aficianado… 😉

    Seriously though, I love to crochet, but I cannot look at one more tissue box cover or ugly afghan! I need something different to work on.

    And Halloween is my favorite holiday, so the short answer to your question is “YES!” 😀

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      1. OOOOOooohhhhhh, fantastic!!! :::adds to 7-page-long Amazon wish list::: Does she have a tv show? She should. She could be on TLC right after American Chopper, seems like a natural segue.

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      2. 7 pages? ONLY? Amateur 😉

        Whatever you do, DON’T get sucked into watching “Bitchin’ Kitchen”. It’s just horrible and makes me ashamed to be an honorary Canadian. Good idea, terrible delivery.

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      3. Don’t encourage me, it could easily be twice that long. Or longer. 🙂

        No chance of seeing BK, I don’t have cable so no TLC at my house.

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      6. I don’t think so: I met him for a second at a book signing once, and he didn’t look familiar. I don’t recall anyone as cool as Billy at our high schoo.

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  5. You have a start for the Dark Side of Cooking – that recipe I sent you last fall for the vampire cupcakes. All we need now are something called Arsenic and old Cakes.

    I like that weird little monkey wearing the fez, on the cover of that one book. It might be worth buying , just to be able to add fezzes to everything I make. (I myself am drawn not as much to the dark side, as the lopsided, goofy view.)

    How about if you made these guys in black, and gave them some big scary safety eyes:

    http://www.marloscrochetcorner.com/birds.html

    Crochet Central (you know that site, yes?) also has some cute owls that aren’t too icky sweet. Click on their “animal” category

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    1. OOhhhh… those cupcakes! They were so good! 🙂 They were a huge hit in the office, and then I baked a whole batch just to have at home. Mmmm mmmm mmmm.

      I like those birds, they might work. I do know CC, good site. I’ve got the books on order, all except the “Witch Crafts”, since it’s not out yet. I didn’t want to add that to the order just now, and have the whole thing held up (I’m cheap, I always go for the Super Saver Shipping, which means they group everything together. So if one thing is not ready to ship, they hold everything else up waiting for it. It’s a nuisance, but saves tons) waiting for that book to be released.

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      1. Then there’s bloody marys, devil’s food cake, death by chocolate – it’s a wide-open field, really.

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  6. Oh I live for Super Saver shipping. I feel your pain re: the paucity of patterns that aren’t corny or tacky looking – lately I’ve been trying afghans in distinctive color combinations, and I have a pattern for a cute little amigurumi seal that I’ll start one of these days. Fang likes some of my elaborate afghan squres so much, he has suggested that I stretch and frame one as a wall hanging, so I’m going to try that with this beautiful soft hand-dyed alpaca wool I bought at the farmer’s market – it’s too expensive for any sizeable project, but one skein’ll make a decent, framable square. Until I get around to that, the yarn is locked up away from the cat, who got one whiff of it and seemed to think that I had brought home a big colorful varmint for her to play with. (the only thing she likes more than wool is feathers – down pillows don’t stand a chance in my house.)

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  7. I’ve never learnt to crochet and amigurumi makes me regret that, especially when it’s kawaii noir amigurumi. The cute – it burns! I hope you get right into it 🙂

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  9. I never got the hang of knitting, either – trouble is, if you realize you’ve dropped a stitch, you have to unravel everything, whereas with crochet, mistakes are much easier to fix. If you know anybody who crochets, submerina, you can pick up the basics in an afternoon.

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  10. Gah!!! Now I REALLY wish I could crochet because that book just rocks. 🙂

    DD, please post pics of anything you make!

    I can knit, but thus far only the simplest of scarves. (I have been kind enough *not* to give any away as gifts)

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    1. haha! If I ever want to start knitting I’ll have to look into taking some classes. I just don’t think I can learn that on my own. MaryJ is right about learning to crochet, though. Get the basics down and it all builds on that. I had a friend show me how to do a foundation chain, form a ring, and do granny squares (they’re SO EASY!) and a monster was born 🙂

      What I’m thinking of doing is finding a nice airy open crochet stitch to do crocheted Tarot bags, which would of course have to be lined. If I succeed I will indeed post pics.

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      3. I would also add that once you get used to working w/Incredible, it’s very “forgiving” – the texture hides a multitude of errors. Gypsy -I am the world’s worst knitter, and the scarves I knitted using that yarn came out so nicely, people actually requested them as gifts. One stretched out a little so I knotted it around my waist and started using it as a belt, also to frequent compliments.

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