Challenges – Page 6 – The Cynical Woman Website

Krampus Challenge – Day 25, A special elf for me

By Cynical Woman December 25, 2015 December 25, 2015 Challenges, Christmas, Crafts, Creative Challenges, Crochet, Family, Holidays, Hubster, Kids, Krampus, Marriage

“Can you ‘ear’ me know?”

It’s Christmas Day. I got VERY little sleep last night, staying up to finish off wrapping presents and setting up little surprises for the girls. And then Pixie wanted me to get her up early so she could make the family a special Christmas breakfast of strawberry cream cheese sandwiches and ice cream. That’s when I discovered the dishwasher was totally full but wasn’t working, and I managed to wash 5 sinkfuls of dishes before Hubster (who KNEW the dishwasher wasn’t working) decided to flip the circuit breaker and voila! The dishwasher was now fixed. And also empty because I’d already hand-washed everything.

On the bright side, it was a slow, liesurely day. The kids tore through a mountain of presents and were very happy with (and even thankful for) what they received. Hubster was happy with his gifts too (more kitchen wares and dishes for me to wash… grumble, grumble…). And I got some very nice gifts, including a whole bunch of Studio Ghibli movies and some classic horror books.

Princess chased the cats with her new BB-8 while Pixie assembled her new Hot Wheels RC car, and I kind of stumbled around trying to pick up all the torn wrapping paper, or get the kids to pick up the torn wrapping paper, and sometimes even the cats picked up the torn wrapping paper, so I suspect we may get some very nicely wrapped gifts showing up in the litter box later this week, if you know what I mean.

And in between all this, I found time to work on a special shrunken elf head for myself. This guy is made with Vanna’s Choice yarn and he’s going to have EARS in addition to stitched on eyes and mouths. I think the ears really help sell the whole “shrunken head” thing.

And that was our Christmas Day. Oh, one more thing. Our household Krampuses (Krampii?) decided to come out and play in the tree. Here are a couple shots of the little buggers.

“I see England, I see France!”

“I see STAAAAAARS!!!”

Yes, that is underwear they’re carrying up into the tree. Don’t ask me why. It’s just what they do. Merry Christmas ya’ll.

No comments

Krampus Challenge – Day 24, Krampus Kitten says nighty night!

By Cynical Woman December 24, 2015 December 24, 2015 Challenges, Christmas, Crafts, Creative Challenges, Crochet, Family, Holidays, Krampus, Pets, Uncategorized

Soooooooo snuggly, soooooooooo sleepy…

I was working on another elf head when Marmie climbed into my lap and conked out. So, good night all! See you on Christmas Day 🙂

No comments

Krampus Challenge – Day 23, A Wicked Skirt

By Cynical Woman December 23, 2015 December 23, 2015 Challenges, Christmas, Crafts, Creative Challenges, Holidays, Krampus, Sewing

So I’ve switched gears from crochet to sewing and am back at work on my outfit for Christmas Eve Mass, better know around here as “Drag-Your-Buddhist-to-Church Day.” I’ve got a lovely long skirt in pieces at the sewing machine right now, and I decided I wanted to applique something to it. So I spent the evening cutting out this…

“Ahoy there, ye scurvey dogs!”

Gorgeous, isn’t she? And she has two sisters, just waiting to be cut out as well. I think I’m only going to get this one appliqued to the skirt, but it’s a perfect match for the colors of the skirt fabric! And it will go with the Krampus Cowl I made at the beginning of the month. So I should look wonderful for tomorrow evening 😀

No comments

Krampus Challenge – Day 22, Krampus Raven #2 is finished!

By Cynical Woman December 22, 2015 December 22, 2015 Challenges, Christmas, Crafts, Creative Challenges, Crochet, Holidays, Krampus

These ain’t two turtle doves!

Yay! I finally got the second Krampus Raven finished this evening. You can see that the colors match pretty closely. I didn’t have a dark grey for the smaller bird, but the dark maroon and black match perfectly, and I even had a smaller pair of the same kind of safety eyes! The only other difference, aside from the light grey/silver yarn, is the shape of the belly. I think I accidentally added a couple rows to the belly of the smaller raven, because it didn’t sew up the same as the larger one, but other than that, they’re a perfect match!

I’m going to put the small one on my Krampus Tree, and the larger one on the Christmas Tree! And then, I’m going to move on to the next project! Taa!

No comments

Krampus Challenge – Day 21, The Second Krampus Raven in Progress

By Cynical Woman December 21, 2015 December 21, 2015 Challenges, Christmas, Crafts, Creative Challenges, Crochet, Holidays, Krampus

What a pretty little birdie!

I realize it’s very hard to see the colors on this, but this raven will be black and very dark maroon with just a touch of sliver-grey. The little pointed round pieces are the wings, and they are maroon with black embroidery on them. I could have used colors with more contrast, but this is suppose to be a raven after all!

I should have this assembled by tomorrow. The next project after that will be to make a long skirt to go with the Krampus Cowl I made at the beginning of the month. It’s also going to be in dark colors – black with dark purple vines on it, and appliques of pirate girls! Perfect to wear to Christmas Eve Mass 🙂

No comments

Krampus Challenge – Day 20, Three Elf Heads Are Better Than One!

By Cynical Woman December 20, 2015 December 20, 2015 Art, Challenges, Christmas, Crafts, Creative Challenges, Crochet, Doodles, Drawing, Holidays, Krampus, Traditional

Ta-daa! A trio of shrunken elf heads!

I managed to get these three finished today. I’m very pleased with how they turned out. They’re a very simple project, but even simple projects take a bit of planning and thought. I experimented a bit with each elf hat to determine exactly how I wanted to make it. Small things – like crocheting in the front loop only on the bottom row – make it easier to assemble the final product.

I also noticed a few things about the yarn I used for these. For the most part, I went with Red Heart. Red Heart has plenty of shades of green and red, and some of the greens are perfect for making zombies. However, some of these yarns were more difficult to work with than others. Some of the reds had a stiffer feel to them, making them harder to stitch. One of the heads I made with Vanna’s Choice, which is one of my favorite yarns to make toys and amigurumi with. The difference between your basic Red Heart and Vanna’s Choice is very noticeable. Vanna’s Choice is much softer and easier to use. But it’s also more expensive, so there’s that to take into account.

I also did a little sketch today of my little shrunken elf heads.

This is exactly what our tree looks like right now.

I drew this in a book called “Never Quit Drawing,” by Laura Simms, illustrated by Kerby Rosanes. The little duck and snail critters at the lower left of this sketch are Rosanes’ work, as is the pencil at the top of the page. The rest of the artwork is all mine. The idea behind “Never Quit Drawing” is to establish a daily drawing habit. The book guides you through the process of developing habits in general, and looking at how drawing habits affect an artists work in particular. After each chapter, there are pages for the reader to draw on, with a spot to write down the time of day the drawing was done, and the mood/energy level of the artist. Obviously, i wasn’t feeling my best this morning (see the note on “tired, joint pain’). But i did get my drawing done for today.

TTomorrow, I hope to finish off the second Krampus Raven and maybe get started on a Ginger-Dead Man ornament. We’ll see how it goes.

No comments

Krampus Challenge – Day 19, Slow Day

By Cynical Woman December 19, 2015 December 19, 2015 Challenges, Crafts, Creative Challenges, Crochet, Family, Hubster, Krampus

Things are getting done stitch by stitch here.

Today was a slow day. I only got 2/3 of a hat done this evening because I slept very late this morning, then spent the rest of the day watching the new Star Wars movie and going out to dinner. I was a total SLUG. Maybe i’ll make a slug ornament to commemorate this lazy day.

Actually, a slug pillow for my bed would be kind of cool. I may have to look into that.

Hubster, the kids and I enjoyed the new Star Wars movie. I will NOT post any spoilers here. Instead, I’ll just say it’s nice to see my kids so excited about something that I first enjoyed almost 40 years ago.

Also, a bit of random trivia about me and Hubster – today is the 25th anniversary of our first date. Twenty-five years ago today, Hubster took me out to see the ONLY movie that was playing in our small college town at that time – “Home Alone.” “Star Wars – The Force Awakens” is a much, MUCH better movie. Although I would watch a reboot of “Home Alone” if they got BB-8 to play Macaulay Culkin.

No comments

Krampus Challenge – day 18, Hats and Heads

By Cynical Woman December 18, 2015 December 18, 2015 Challenges, Christmas, Crafts, Creative Challenges, Crochet, Holidays, Krampus

Look at the lovely shrunken elf hats and heads!

I decided to keep making parts for the shrunken elf heads, and then spend an afternoon stitching the pieces together. So now I have two hats and two heads. I hope to get another set done tomorrow.

The girls are off from school. We are going to see Star Wars tomorrow. Hubster and I are celebrating the 25th anniversary of our first date. Twenty-five years ago, we went out to watch “Home Alone.” Don’t laugh. It was the only thing playing in our small college town at the time.

No comments

Krampus Challenge – Day 17, Krampus Kitty in a Hat!

By Cynical Woman December 17, 2015 December 17, 2015 Challenges, Christmas, Crafts, Creative Challenges, Crochet, Holidays, Krampus, Pets

“I will have my revenge for this, human.”

I’m almost finished with another shrunken elf head. I had hoped to be further along, but today turned out to be a busy day. Among other thing, I had 7 loads of laundry to get folded. I have decided that laundry is probably the ultimate Krampus present. It’s that gift that never stops giving, unfortunately.

I plan to finish off this elf head and the second Krampus raven tomorrow. Aftert that, we’ll see what I get done next!

No comments

Krampus Challenge – Day 16, Krampus Ornaments in Progress

By Cynical Woman December 16, 2015 December 16, 2015 Challenges, Christmas, Crafts, Creative Challenges, Crochet, Holidays, Krampus, Uncategorized

My Krampus projects are all in pieces right now.

These are two very different ornaments in progress right now – a shrunken elf head and a Krampus raven. I thought I had picked a dark red for the elf hat, but then I put it next to the raven’s wings and saw that it wasn’t really all that dark after all.

Hopefully, I’ll get one of these finished tomorrow. I’m also working on a Christmas gift for a family member. That needs to be done this week too. Oh, and did I mention I now have to bathe our cats on a regular basis? They have fleas, and I’m going to be cleaning them up for a while. Cats really are the creatures of Krampus, especially when they’re being bathed.