Halloween Re-Cap: Felicity Fox

" We're all different...but there's something fantastic about that, isn't there?"

For Halloween this year I decided to go as the ever lovable and sassy Felicity Fox, from the Wes Anderson film, "Fantastic Mr. Fox" (based on the book by Roald Dahl). I did end up going to a few parties, so I'm glad I took the time to dress up this year. 

Everything except for the shirt was handmade by me (the shirt was thrifted). It was a bit of extra work, but I really like how it turned out, and now I'll have a last minute costume on hand. 

The ears are made from felt, paint, and faux fur sewed to a headband. My favorite part was doing my makeup though. You don't get to put orange eyeshadow all over your face everyday! 

The skirt was some mustard/gold jersey hand stamped with apples, and then sewn up into a basic elastic skirt. I also wore my tan wedge booties and copper colored tights.

For some added detail, I made her fox brooch out of fimo clay and paint. I like to think that the fox is her mother or grandmother. 

"If what I think is happening, is happening- it better not be."

Striped Crochet Blanket

I finally have a chance to share this handmade blanket, that I absolutely adore. It's actually quite the story of how it came to be. It started as a scarf project a few years ago, to teach myself to crochet. Just a basic straight single crochet stitch. It consisted of 3 colors just blocked next to one another. After finishing, it was HIDEOUS. The blocks of colors looked odd, it wouldn't lay right because it was too thick, and it didn't go with anything I wore. I could of just abandoned it right then and there, but instead I went insane. 

I started cutting apart this scarf so that I had 3 sections. I was going to make a blanket, even if it killed me. Soon after I went to the store and picked out the other colors. Yet, I didn't get enough, thinking I would only need 7 stripes...whoops! Getting the second skein of each color was easier said than done. My local stores didn't carry the original colors, forcing me to wait till I went to the Adirondacks (original place of purchase) to get the others. Once I had it though, it was time to tackle this monster. 

Each strip is 120 rows of single crochet, made from one skein of 100% cotton yarn. It's basically 14 individual stripes of color, with thin white individual stripes in between. To some, this might seem like an odd way to make a blanket, with so many sections. Yet, this allowed me to throw a single skein in my bag and crochet during my lecture classes at school. 

Art History = Crochet Time

The final construction included sewing each color strip by hand to a white strip. Then, I took to the outside with a double crochet to widen the sides and give it a border. 

I absolutely love it though, despite how much work it was. For me, blankets have to have substance and weight, none of that fuzzy, flimsy, crap. With this begin made of all cotton...lets just say it's pretty heavy. It's already gotten me through some late night A&P study sessions and I'm sure it'll be my best friend during the long Rochester winter. 

Its resting place is folded in half at the end of my bed. It adds just the right amount of color to my overall grey bedding. Also Geronimo the sock monkey says hello! 

Anyway, this just goes to show that sometimes great projects come out of bouts of insanity.