thebraveandthebroiled

[thebraveandthebroiled]

Crochet Capybara // Betsy Handmade Studio

[thebraveandthebroiled]

Realized I never posted this here!

It took two years, but I made the Annie's Cathedral Rose Window Afghan! First time I made a full blanket, really love it!

[thebraveandthebroiled]

today, something a little out of the ordinary: puppets!

i'd posted these dudes to patreon ages ago, but i think it's time they see the light of day over here as well. i'm a big fan of puppets and i enjoy crochet, so when i finally realized i could combine these things it was a game changer. i've made a small handful of these fellows now, but unfortunately they're hard to display and harder to photograph, so they rarely see the light of day. however i often need something to keep my hands busy while i'm in meetings or class, so i keep on crocheting them. these two are a dragon and some kind of floppy-eared monster.

i work without a pattern and with absolutely horrendous form, so they're not the prettiest pieces of crochet work out there, but that adds character

[thebraveandthebroiled]

Hannah Streefkerk

crocheted & embroidered lichen installation

[thebraveandthebroiled]

Crochet Patterns // The Bumbling Busy Bee

[thebraveandthebroiled]

Chickens complete !

[thebraveandthebroiled]

fly home goose

[thebraveandthebroiled]

[thebraveandthebroiled]

Caitlin McCormack Crochets a Speculative Future in the Wake of Environmental Catastrophe

[thebraveandthebroiled]

Cyprus the Microraptor! 🦖🌲

another CraftyIntention’s pattern that i’ve been meaning to do for a while. a challenge, but a fun one!

[thebraveandthebroiled]

Giant Crochet Snails // Rock Maker Stitches

[thebraveandthebroiled]

My new spare bag holder

Reduce, reuse, regurgitate!

[thebraveandthebroiled]

(Long post, sorry y'all)

A little more than two years ago now, my grandmother passed away. She and my grandpa had moved down to my home town a few years before so we could take care of them. I brought them groceries once a week, helped them write checks, fixed tvs, and found lost things. I was really close with my grandma.

In addition to her hilarious personality and dry wit, one of my favorite things about her was that she was a painter and a crafter like me! She used to crochet, and I took her to the craft store a couple of times so she could get more yarn and books on crochet. But her arthritis and the shaking in her hands kept getting worse, so she eventually had to stop.

She kept her most recent project, a granny square blanket, safely packed away in a plastic bin. She told all of us she was going to finish it one day.

Her hands never got better, and when she got sick, and we found out it was cancer, she rapidly deteriorated.

After she passed, I went to work helping my mom clean out my grandparents apartment so we could move my grandpa in with her. In our frantic cleaning, I found that bin again:

DOZENS of granny squares, dozens of half used skeins. I asked my mom what she wanted me to do with it, and she said she didn't care. I set it aside and later took it home.

Maybe a month later, that tumblr post about the Loose Ends Project was going around. It felt like a sign--I was never going to learn to crochet in order to finish my grandmother's blanket. But they might be able to help!

So I filled out the interest form. They got back to me SUPER quick. And maybe 2 weeks later, I was paired with volunteer in my state (only 2 hours away!) and the box of yarn, granny squares, and my grandmother's crochet hook were in the mail. That was at the end of January this year.

Over the next couple of months, my "finisher" emailed me regular updates on her progress, and asked me questions on my preferences for how she constructed the final blanket.

At the end of August, the blanket was done!

I had always intended the blanket to be a gift for my mother. So I cleaned it up, put it in the only bag I had big enough to fit it, and drove to my mom's. I gave the blanket to her and she was gobsmacked. I explained to her all about Loose Ends, and how someone volunteered to finish the piece for us. She was speechless. (I was quite pleased with this, because I am not the best at giving gifts, so this was a pretty exciting reaction!)

She said that it was the most thoughtful gift she had ever been given. She said "your grandma would love this". To which I replied, "yeah, I know she really wanted to finish it a couple of years ago". But that was when my mom dropped the bomb of a century on me--she told me that my grandma had started making those granny squares OVER 30 YEARS AGO. She had started the blanket when my grandpa was staying in the hospital, but that was back when my mom was younger than I am now! My grandma had packed them all away, planning on finishing it, when my grandpa was sent home from the hospital. Then it went from house to house, from condo in Chicago to their apartment in my hometown. All that time and my grandma had wanted to finish it, but couldn't. First because she was busy, then because she forgot how to do it, then because of her arthritis, and then because of the cancer. My mom said she had given up on expecting my grandma to finish it. 

She said I brought a piece of her childhood with her mom out of the past.

And really, all of this is to say, if you have seen or heard about the Loose Ends Project and have an uncompleted project or piece from a loved one who has passed away--these are your people. They were so kind and treated my project with such care. That box probably would have been found by my own grandkids one day if I hadn't heard about Loose Ends.

Five stars, absolutely worth it!

(From what I understand, you can sign up to volunteer too! If you have time to share, it might be worth checking out!)

[thebraveandthebroiled]

Last night was my company Holiday Party, and we're doing really well, so it was held at the Museum of Fine Arts (Boston)

I was so happy that also included the Styled by Sargent exhibit, of John Singer Sargent paintings and the actual articles of clothing alongside them.

Now, you have probably seen this painting of Lady Macbeth

But have you seen the costume she's wearing??

It's gorgeous, obviously.

But that texture! It's *crochet*

And some knitting

Really simple crochet too; just a chain and single crochet lattice with beads and metallic thread added for this chain mail effect.

Despite John Singer Sargent being an expert painter of fabric (no, really, just look at it), I never knew Lady Macbeth's costume had to be *hand crocheted* for that texture in the painting.

Anyway I'm gonna be making myself some faux-chainmail by crocheting it for the next Renn Faire

[thebraveandthebroiled]

Finished the blanket - finally

I can’t believe it's over 😅

Pattern: Starlite

[thebraveandthebroiled]

Y’ALL STFU AND LOOK AT THIS SHIT I DESIGNED IN 3 DAYS IN A FUGUE STATE

Final edit:

Patterns live now

[thebraveandthebroiled]

Enchanting Ecosystems Crocheted by Melissa Webb Envelop Interior Spaces with Verdant Fibers