Wee Mousies in Inside Crochet!

The latest copy of Inside Crochet has just come out (issue 35) and my pattern to make a pair of cute little mice is in it!

These Wee Mousies are only 9cm tall so they're perfect to make for little presents or stocking fillers. They'll fit perfectly in a pocket and it would be sweet to make them a little bed out of a box, and crochet a tiny blanket for them. Their clothes are crocheted as part of their bodies, but you could easily make them little accessories - my prototype has no clothes but he does have a scarf.

If you like to crochet you should check out Inside Crochet, it's always full of gorgeous patterns; clothes that I'm dying to make but will probably never get the time - there's a Ruby Sweater this month that has an amazing texture - and smaller projects that I really want to try. The Milly, Molly, Mandy scarf on the front cover looks delicious and there are some beautful, understated scatter cushions that I fancy giving a go. There are also some great inspirational articles and a 'how to' section that's useful if you're new to crochet.

Admiral Ackbar amigurumi

Well, here's the latest of my mini Star Wars amigurumis, Admiral Ackbar. He's a Mon Calamari who leads the Rebel Alliance fleet in Return of the Jedi, and is famous for shouting, 'It's a trap!' when he realises they've been lured in by the Emperor. The Mon Calamari come from a watery planet and I just love their design, with their big, bulbous heads, fish-like eyes and finny hands.

As my Ackbar is pretty small, only 4" tall, I simplified him quite a bit to match with all the other mini Star Wars amis I've made. Even so, I'm pleased with some of the detail I managed to get into his clothes, and I think I might try working on some of my earlier designs to see if I can add a bit more detail to them. Luke, in particular, would benefit from some alternatives outfits, I think.

The pattern to make Admiral Ackbar is now available from my Etsy shop, and you can also buy  all 14 Star Wars patterns I've made to date, or pick and choose selections of two, three or six patterns.

Elly MacKay's Theater Clouds

When I learned I won The Ledge Press Poetry Chapbook Competition last spring, I started looking for cover art. My publisher invited me to participate in that process, and I was giddy. Authors are not always offered this opportunity, and I appreciated the chance to be included. I spent hours on Etsy. When my eyes itched and burned, I rested them. But after I rested them, I generally always discovered that my shoulders were hunched and scrunched. So I un-hunched and un-scrunched them. But soon I was back on Etsy, where I found Elly MacKay's Theater Clouds. Oh my, such magic and enchantment in her dioramas!

I remember the magic of reading Beatrix Potter's books -- maybe, particualry, The Tale of Two Bad Mice -- and I remember my belief in the world Potter created. Each time I read that book -- even years later, when I read it with my son, I felt as though I entered Lucinda and Jane's dollhouse with Hunca and Munca, and I watched, uncomfortably, as the two bad mice broke the ham and bent the tin spoons and pulled Jane's clothes from her chest of drawers. And so it is with Elly MacKay and her art, but with less discomfort and more delight. Pure delight. I enter it, fully.

I am so happy Elly's art will be featured on the cover of my chapbook, The Sultan, The Skater, The Bicycle Maker. I've carried this good news around in my heart all summer and into these autumn days. Imagine my pleasure when, yesterday, I discovered that her work is featured in the October issue of O Magazine (The Oprah Magazine).  It's a beautiful full-page spread. Page 38 of the actual magazine.

Here, also, is a link to Elly MacKay's work featured on Flavorwire. Her prints are lovely, but it must be wonderful to stare into her full dioramas, built with layers of paper and filled with sailboats and foxes and little houses with smoke puffing from chimneys.