Knitted wings. And rings.

Long time, no post. My apologies.


Well, my Baz Luhrman-themed 26th birthday party was a success. For many reasons. We had 25 dear friends in attendance, some of whom even managed to dress up. ;) We had several Moulin rouge dancers, in top hat fascinators and fabulous corsets, Mims with her awesome 1930s hair, our mate CJ's tribute to Australia, complete with cork hat and toy sheep, Ellen dressed in velvet as the Red Curtain, and my Matt as Ewen McGregor's Christian, looking super cute in suspenders and the fedora I bought at the Leeds Festival.


We had some some brilliant food, including my famous Nachos with vegetarian bean dip, and a truly scrumptious choccie cake, made by Ellen. We had Medori and orange juice, tonnes of great conversation, highly superior music through the speakers and, thanks to a bit of clever furniture shuffling, we actually managed to fit pretty much everyone in our lounge room! Everyone chatted, everyone hugged, everyone seemed to get on brilliantly. Awesomesauce.


The best bits, however, were craft-related. But of course. First of all, there were my wings.

Epic, yes? Definitely the most effort I think I've ever put into a costume- not only making the wings (which I got finished three hours before the party, I'll have you know!), but running all over the city trying to find a white skirt and top which A) fit, B) were just a little itty bit flattering on and C) didn't empty my bank account in one hit. Harder than it sounds. The Panda yarn for the wings (which a fellow crafter refers to as "the filthy condom of yarn") may have only cost $6...but by the time I'd got the top and skirt (on which I spent far more than I was intending, but hey), and shelled out for a new white bra (which I swear got just as many compliments as the wings!) and some magic knickers, my poor bank account was squirming ever so slightly. *sigh* That lovely Malabrigo I was planning on shouting myself is having to wait.


Anyway, the wings looked awesome, and generated many oohs and aaahs. I ended up using a piece of dowel wood to hold them in place, as the floral wire I'd got from Spotlight was beyond useless, and used gold elastic for the straps. I also made them extra long, so they could be easily seen over my shoulders...which was great, except I couldn't fit through our lounge door. And had to walk down our hallway sideways. And almost jabbed several of my guests' eyes out, especially when hugging and navigating my way through the lounge room, trying to find my camera and various drinks. Ah well. I looked good, my wings stayed in place, and nobody lost an eye in the end. Win.


The second awesome craft-related thing from that night was this:

Yes, it's my very own knitted engagement ring. :D The highlight of the evening came when Matt, aka Darling Boyfriend, asked me to marry him- in front of all of our guests. 


Basically, he came into the lounge and announced he was going to give me my birthday present...and plonked a massive cardboard box down at my feet. Inside said box was a cute little knitted box*, complete with purple knitted lining...which was empty. This had me faffing about for at least a couple of minutes, trying to figure out what the blue heck what was going on...before he said, quite cheekily, "Looking for this?", while holding up the ring. Which he put on my finger after giving a lovely speech, and going down on one knee.  I said yes, and everyone went mental. Again, awesomesauce.


And, y'know what makes it better? Darling Boyfriend, now Darling Fiance, knitted the ring all by himself. Almost. Remember how I taught him to knit? Well, someone, aka Ellen, got there first. It would seem that at the back of the Wellington Public Library, far from my prying eyes, she taught him the basics, supervised the knitting of the ring and helped him sew on the stone- which he chose himself from Tiger Eye Beads. And, well, it is, as my Mum proclaimed after I'd flashed it under her nose, simply magnificent. Totally adorable; totally apt. I have a fiance who learned to knit to make me an engagement ring...so, really? How can a girl not say yes? ;)

        Yes, I'm aware I look fat in this photo. I plan to do Weight Watchers before the wedding. 

                                          Post-proposal face nomming!


So yeah. I had awesome knitted wings, and an amazing knitted ring- not a bad birthday, as birthdays go. As the yarn is already getting kinda scungy, we'll soon be replacing the knitted ring with this one, once DF pays it off. However, I will definitely be keeping my first engagement ring, no matter how yucky and matted it gets...and will be passing it on to the kids, with any luck!


Aw, and the wedding crafting can now commence! Once we set a date, that is...

Here comes the obsessive not-quite bride...

It can be said that I am something of a wedding affecianado.

It started when I was a young grasshopper of about six or seven, pouring over my parents' wedding album, gazing wistfully at my Mum, in her long white princess gown with red flowes along the hem (definitely not my preferred style of wedding garb these days, but hey), permed hair and clunky late-70s glasses; and my Dad with his Beatle haircut, snazzy suit and boyish grin. Magical. Inspired, I asked my Grandma if she'd please make my wedding dress. To which she laughed, and suggested that it may be a wee bit too early to be thinking about that, darling. Hmpf.

With age, even after the demise of my parents' marriage (and the demise of my Dad's second marriage as well, I might add!), it's only gotten worse. I've had a fair clutch of good friends get married over the past few years and, with each wedding, I come home with my head swimming with ideas for my own Future Mythical Wedding, as it's now officially been coined.  Even before I landed me a feller, I knew that I'd be wearing a green gown, inspired by Keira Knightley's dress in *that* scene in Atonement, would walk down the aisle to "All I Want Is You" by U2 (shuddup, haters!) and would have the first dance to none other than "Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns n' Roses. I'd even had a pretty fair idea of who my bridesmaids would be, and what I'd be saying in my speech. And now that I do have a boyfriend? I've gone and written out a guest list, and asked my baby brother if he'd give me away. Oh dear....

Anyway. This is a craft blog, so let's talk crafts. A few years back, I was a bridesmaid for a close friend who, being a keen jewelry-maker, made all the bouquets and the men's and families' button holes from beads and wire. Which were gorgeous and very definitely *her*.  I even got to help out with the family buttonholes! Here's me with my bridesmaid's bouquet below:

Despite being sans boyfriend and no closer to my own wedding, I went away with the steely determination to make all my Future Mythical Bouquets and Buttonholes by hand.  Not having started knitting then, I wasn't sure how exactly I'd be making them (paper? Felt? Other fabric? Buttons?), but I would be making my own flowers, and that was that.

I mean, geez, you get people spending literally thousands on fresh flowers- you tell a florist you're getting married, and three extra zeroes get magically added to the price tag. And, honestly? I'm not really a fresh flowers kinda gal. I'm probably not able to count one on hand the number of times DB has bought me flowers in the two-and-a-bit years we've been together. And, beautiful though they are, fresh flowers tend to die. Which makes me sad. Handmade flowers, in most cases,  last a bit longer and you can have them as a keepsake of the day, long after the hangovers have cleared, the credit card bills are all nicely folded away (hah!) and you've long outgrown your dress- which I'm also certain will be true in my case!- and it's gathering dust at the back of the wardrobe.

I got yet another flash of inspiration for hand-crafted flowers came recently, when my beautiful and super-crafty friend Alex knitted all the flowers for her wedding- roses for her and her bridesmaids and tulips for the blokes and family members, all in autumnal colours.  I, along with a couple of other close knitty friends, helped her out with the knitted roses, which ended up being my first ever successful felted project!

As imitation is certainly the most sincere form of flattery, I swiped her idea and added knitted flowers to my expanding mental wedding checklist. I decided that if, by God's good grace, I do end up getting marriage'd, I'd go for a combination of knitted roses and lilies, like these ones on Knitty. As it turns out, lilies are quite significant for DB and I.  He recently bought us a peace lily after we'd had a massive disagreement, as a symbol of peace and calm in our relationship and something we can look after together. And, well, I guess as a reminder to look after and nurture us at the same time.

AND THEN. As if I didn't need any more ideas, I have recently, courtesy of Alex and Ellen, another beautiful and crafty friend, discovered Offbeat Bride. As the name suggests, it is a site devoted to weddings which are more quirky and indivdual, and don't adhere necessarily to what's often expected of your average wedding- ie white dress, long veil, perfectly matched wedding party, church ceremony, horifically expensive fresh flowers (as mentioned before), bouquet toss, cake cutting photos etc.

Not, of course, that there's anything wrong with a traditional wedding. But, this site in particular showcases weddings which definitely veer away from tradition...and, more importantly, are deeply personalised and are full of little touches which encapsulate the couple in question. Alex and her hubby Scott, for example, talk about their totally awesome and totally *them* wedding (including their knitted flowers) here.

One awesome feature of Offbeat Bride is its articles devoted to Do-It-Yourself ideas for your wedding. A virtual treasure treasure trove for us crafty sorts, who live for showering the world in handmade treats- and who'd rather put their own individual stamp on the proceedings, rather than be charged an arm, leg and a couple of kidneys to hire the experts.  Par exemple, they do tutorials on making your own birdcage veil:

                                        

They show you how to make your own top-hat fascinators, which are awesome and totally Moulin Rouge:

AND, if it couldn't get any better, they give you step-by-step instructions on how to do your own treasure chest centerpieces. For the pirate-themed weddings, o'course.

Made of win, are they not? But that ain't all folks. What really caught my eye, and got me shrieking like a groupie and had me emailing my mate Ellen (who I swear is more excited about my Future Mythical Wedding than I am!) in fits of pure girlish glee, Gilbert and Sullivan-styles, were these:

Yup, brooch bouquets. Quite simply delightful. And, yes, there's even a tutorial on how to make them. Seems easy enough- scrounge a whole bunch of brooches or clip-on earrings from a variety of sources (the bottom of your childhood "treasure" box, your Mum's or grandma's dresser drawer, Op-shops, market stalls, Trademe etc), some floral wire (from garden shops, I guess), something foamy to go over the stem, and some ribbons or organza to wrap it all in...and voila!

As Ellen even pointed out, it would be the perfect bridal shower/hen party/kitchen tea activity- getting each friend to donate a brooch or two, and getting everyone to help assemble the bouquets, wire and organza and all, before the alcohol set in! Perfect! Pardon me while I bask in the warm afterglow of multiple craftgasms.

So yes. If I was to put all my ideas together, I'd end up with bouquets made up of knitted roses, knitted lilies, and flower brooches and earrings. Maybe I could even use some beads or fake pearls for gypsophila, like in this bouquet, so we've got even more crafts covered. Could be hideous; could be totally awesome and fabulous and brilliant. But, because I am a craft geek extraordinaire, I cannot wait to get the sparkler on my finger so I've actually got an excuse to stop oggling all the gorgeous pics on the internet, and get started on it all! Well, that and I'd really like to be married to DB, of course. ;)

Come to think of it, we'll have more than bouquets and buttonholes to think about it. Chances are, I'll end up wanting to craft my fascinator/veil and other hairpieces, shawls for my bridesmaids and I, centerpieces, the cake topper (like this one!)...I was even planning on maybe doing knitted cupcakes as favours for our guests, like the ones in I've got in my banner photo. Dude. Luckily, I have a brilliant crack team of knitty girlfriends to help out...

Yeah. All this planning and no rock probably isn't so healthy, huh? ;)