DIY Life

Yes, folks, it's that time of year: the latest roughly-seasonal issue of The AntiCraft is up. The current issue is the Samhain (Winter) 2007 issue, full of cold-weather weirdness. As always, we have to start with a warning: the projects on the site are not "adult" in the naughty sense, but the language is, so if you're easily offended, The AntiCraft is probably not for you.

The newest issue is spider-obsessed, there have been changes to the site in the form of forums, and the ladies of The AntiCraft are also starting to peel back the covers on their new book, which will be released in a few weeks. In relation to the book, there's a shiny new extremely odd contest for you to try your hand at.

See what I mean after the break.

photo -

Aside from the language warning, I wonder if I shouldn't add a spider-phobia warning right here: if you don't think spiders are the neatest coolest prettiest cleverest and most wonderful of creepy-crawlies, the latest projects could make you cringe in fear. Well... no, not really. Most of the spiders are implied, or stylized to be as cute as possible.

The new projects are:

• Arachne's Weave: This bead and wire cuff bracelet isn't too difficult. It involves cutting two lengths of memory wire, which will be strung with beads and worn parallel to each other, and running "ladder rungs" of beaded wire between them.
• Cocooned is a cardigan knit side-to-side (as opposed to the usual ways, bottom-to-top or top-down) with a scribble lace technique that produces vertical "stripes" of handspun yarn in the final fabric.
• To Weave A Tangled Web is a crocheted, spider-web-like arm warmer. If you really like chaining, or you really need chain stitch practice, this one is for you. (I don't really like chaining, but at least this project doesn't require you to crochet into the chain much.)
• Spider's Parlor is an interesting project: something like a twig wreath on a stick, it's meant specifically to be an attractive place for a spider to build its web. This is a good idea if you'd like to have a spider in your garden for pest control, but would not like for it to constantly build its web on the frame of your door.
• Charlotte A. Cavatica is a pretty lace scarf that is also a tribute to Charlotte's Web. This design has the words "Some Pig" knit into one end, as a reference to Wilbur, and is thus probably only for very confident ladies (that sort of thing is just baiting street harassment). It wouldn't be difficult to omit the words and use some other part of the design in that area, and it's possible that they wouldn't really show while wearing the scarf.
• Pumpkin Pasties are pumpkin pie filling between two rounds of pie crust.
• Black Widow is a Jack O'Lantern design that looks like a spider on a complex web, and also a little like stained glass. Alas, a few days late for most people.
• Itsy Bitsy Spider is a child's cute hat that looks like a cartoon spider.
• Infestation is an idea for spray-dyed cloth napkins. If you've visited Craftster in the recent past, you may have noticed that a product called Simply Spray has been advertising heavily on the site. It purports to be a spray paint that you can use with stencils on t-shirts, and that will behave like silkscreening ink once it dries. The company actually makes several related spray products: the stencil paint, an upholstery paint, and a "soft fabric dye." This project uses various objects as stencils and masks on cloth napkins, mostly as an excuse to test the spray dye product.

The book cometh

Renee and Zabet's book, AntiCraft: Knitting, Beading, and Stitching for the Slightly Sinister, will be released on November 30th. The authors have already made a small site for it with errata and rejected patterns.

The extra pattern that's there now is called Bones, and is a sock with a skull-and-crossbone colorwork pattern near the top edge. There are other patterns like it floating around the Internet these days, but it's a nice addition to the list, made in two colors of Koigu's wonderful KPPPM yarn.

There's also a contest related to the release of the book: one winner who has impressed the judges on nine points (three strange trivia questions; three crafty challenges: toilet paper cozy, some kind of skull, hand-made costume; three scavenger hunt photos) will receive a mystery prize that is "multiple craft-related supplies and accessories valued at approximately U.S. $150."

The contest only runs until November 25th, but you weren't really doing anything between now and Thanksgiving anyway... were you? Get to work!

(I previously wrote about The AntiCraft back in September.)