September 2014 – Beastie HQ

Right on Kew… Beasties Explore the Gardens!

Posted on September 30, 2014June 19, 2021 by crawcraftsbeasties in Explorer Beastie

My trip to London over the weekend wasn’t just for me… It was also the perfect opportunity for Explorer Beastie to catch up with an old friend! Garcia Beastie left his skis behind for a day to join us at Kew Gardens for a spot of horticultural exploring… as you shall see.

Luckily for us, the Great British weather decided to show its finer side! We got one of those perfect early autumn days for our visit – warm, bright sunshine with just a hint of coolness in the air. Lovely stuff! Also, it turns out Beasties get into Kew Gardens free of charge! But of course, it wasn’t long before they were up to mischief…

I turned my back for five seconds, and the pair of them were halfway up one of the gnarly old olive trees in the Mediterranean Garden! Since they were so intent on climbing, I thought they’d enjoy the Xstrata Treetop Walkway…

Up here, you can stroll around in the treetops to your heart’s content! Explorer Beastie scaled the barriers to make sure he got the best views…
…And he did get to see some surprising things!

Sweet chestnuts growing at the very top of the tree, and an unusual bird having them for lunch! Kew Gardens is full of these green parrots, which are actually wild – they’re the descendants of escaped pets. We saw several large groups doing fly-by displays during our visit, and they’re hard to miss… they’re pretty noisy! The scenery up there wasn’t bad either…

Back on dry land, we made Beastie-sized tracks towards the Pagoda, a 10-storey Chinese-style folly that has been standing in Kew since 1762!

The building is doubly impressive up close…

…And there is also a Japanese-style gate and zen garden nearby!

But we couldn’t stop for long, because there was plenty more exploring to do! Our next port of call was Queen Charlotte’s Cottage, where Garcia Beastie helped out a lady who seemed to have lost her head over something…

And then, a spot of lunch.

Suitably refuelled, we took in some of the Intoxication Season exhibits…

… had a wander around the Princess of Wales Conservatory…

… explored the world of underwater plants…

…And took a trip to the top of the Palm House!

As the light began to fade, there was just enough time to take some final pictures with the rather imposing Plantagenet Falcon, one of the “Queen’s Beasts”. These ten heraldic-inspired sculptures line the path outside the Palm House, and are replicas of statues that stood outside Westminster Abbey during the Queen’s coronation in 1953. Perhaps I should arrange something similar along the street outside Beastie Towers…

And so ended another monster day out! More London-based Beastie adventures next time!

Wool! Needles! KNIVES!

Posted on September 22, 2014June 19, 2021 by crawcraftsbeasties in Knitted Beasties

Anyone who keeps up with the Beasties through Facebook will already know that over the weekend, my Mum got in touch with me to tell me that she’s been having trouble visiting the BeastieBlog lately. Why? Because her ISP is blocking this site due to its references to (and I quote) “VIOLENCE and WEAPONS”.

I’ve been so tickled by this that I couldn’t resist mentioning it in my post today… and using it as an excuse to do a retrospective of some of my choicest armed-to-the-teeth Beasties. Those of a sensitive disposition should probably look away now… Here we go!

First up is one of my early creations – Guerrilla Woolfare Beastie, who left Beastie Towers more than a year ago. Although he isn’t armed, he is considered highly dangerous… Just look at that incendiary literature he’s carrying around with him!

The new year ushered in a new crowd of bad-to-the-bone Beasties! We started out with Pirate Beastie, whose razor-sharp felt cutlass could probably do some serious damage…

…Then Ninja Beastie made an appearance! He refused to settle for “just” having a sword, and insisted I make him a pair of sai and a shuriken (throwing star) as well!

Oh, and then he called for reinforcements.

You’d think that would be enough, but…

…Soon afterwards, Rambo Beastie came to town. That’s a close-up of his knife in the picture at the top of this post – a lethal-looking piece of feltwork, I’m sure you’ll agree. And who could forget Viking Beastie, recently off the longship and ready for battle with his round shield and prestigious Ulfbeast sword?

Hmmm… is it possible that the powers that be are right? Even my Chef Beastie is carrying a knife!

I’d better keep an eye on these critters… if they weren’t so gosh-darn cute they could probably land me in some serious trouble!

Thanks for checking out BeastieBlog… officially the most violent knitting blog on the whole internet!

Making Sweet Beastie Music!

Posted on September 10, 2014June 19, 2021 by crawcraftsbeasties in Ideas, Knitted Beasties

Yes, I know Indie Rock Beastie already got a good bit of airtime in my post last week. But I figured that since he is currently involved in helping out with some fundraising, that more than justified giving him a second guest appearance on the BeastieBlog. Plus, we really didn’t get a chance to talk about his guitar.

Guitars are one of the most labour-intensive Beastie accessories to make… every piece is hand cut and hand sewn, and their small size makes this one fiddly task! Also, no two guitar-toting Beasties have ever been given the same instrument. My first one got a bright pink flying V…

…Then I had to make a more Robert-Smith-esque guitar for my Robert Smith Beastie!

I had originally intended to use the same basic template for Indie Rock Beastie’s guitar, but somehow it just didn’t look right. Since I am a stickler for such things/a masochist/insane (delete as applicable), I decided to embark on some research. And I came across this…
Gibson ES 325

(Image from en.audiofanzine.com)

It’s a Gibson ES325, as played (and, I found out later, smashed onstage in a fit of pique) by Kings of Leon frontman Caleb Followill. The one shown in the image above perfectly fitted with my idea of what Indie Rock Beastie should play… and the colour of the body rather conveniently matched some felt in my crafting stash too! How could I resist?

I started by modifying my template to reflect the deeper, more symmetrical shape of this guitar…

… and raided my scraps bag for teeny pieces of felt to make the details! When I’m cutting out felt, I always keep any offcuts – they’re so useful for projects like this one because I can trim them to the right shape by eye, rather than cutting out tiny circles and rectangles from a larger piece of fabric.

Once the guitar body was finished and lightly stuffed, the last stage is to add the strings!

These are run from underneath the piece of grey felt at the end of the guitar’s body, and tied off along the headstock. Then all that was left to do was to place it carefully in the paws of my finished Beastie, and let him do the rest!

Beer Monsters!

Posted on September 6, 2014June 19, 2021 by crawcraftsbeasties in Knitted Beasties

For the last couple of years, the first weekend in September has meant one thing… Beerfest! Or, to give it its full title, the Irish Craft Beer and Cider Festival. If there is a better way to herald the beginning of autumn than sampling an array of tasty beers, I’m yet to hear about it!

This year, I thought it might be fun to bring a new woolly friend along… Meet Red Ale Beastie! I felt he was the perfect festival-going companion, given his penchant for fine ales and his all-Irish (ie, knitted from 100% Irish wool) roots.

Here he is at our first port of call… The Brú Brewery stand! Neither of us could resist the lure of their Autumn Ale, flavoured with cinnamon, coriander, orange peel and a hint of butternut squash! Yum!

Having got the day off to an excellent start, we decided to treat ourselves to a late lunch/early afternoon tea… This was mostly due to Boyfriend reappearing at the table with one of these:

That’s a pulled pork sandwich, made with free-range pork cooked sous vide with cider for around 12 hours, served with barbecue sauce and caramelised onions. WOW. So we made a beeline for Jane Russell’s stand and picked up one for ourselves… and Red Ale Beastie made a friend while our sandwich was being assembled!

Suitably refreshed, we had to give The White Hag brewery’s Meabh Rua Bog Ale a try… this tasty treat is a bit of a heavy hitter at 8.2%, but it was absolutely delicious. They claim it’s perfect for a cold Irish night, and they might just be right… the bad news is that it’s an export-only brew! Overseas readers would do well to keep their eyes peeled for this one, and their Black Boar Imperial Oatmeal Stout, which was Boyfriend’s pick of the day!

Some of our other Festival favourites included Independent Brewing’s Coffee Stout…

…And Trouble Brewing’s Chasing The Dragon Double IPA!

As always, we had a great day out… but the immense selection on offer defeated us! I’m pretty sure we barely scratched the surface of the beery delights available to us yesterday. Oh well, I suppose we’ll just have to go back next year… Happy weekend, everyone!

Sweet Charideeee…

Posted on September 4, 2014June 19, 2021 by crawcraftsbeasties in Info, Knitted Beasties

A UK-based Beastie enthusiast contacted me recently to ask if the Beasties and I would like to help her out with a little fundraising. She’d already done all the hard work, by taking part in this year’s RideLondon, an 86-mile long road cycle through London and Surrey, to raise money for three charities that are especially important to her – Ebony Horse Club, North West Air Ambulance and The Injured Jockeys Fund. Despite occasionally torrential rain, she managed to smash her target time of 8 hours, making it home in just over 6. Even reading about it made me feel exhausted, so I was happy to get involved in a more crafty, sofa-based way!

So, where do the Beasties come in? Well, if you pop over to Suzanne Allen’s Ride London, you’ll see that she’s very generously offering donors the chance to win prizes… one of which is Indie Rock Beastie, pictured above! Indie Rock Beastie has been out and about on the festival circuit for the entire summer, and figured this was a great opportunity to give something back.With his artfully tousled mop of black hair…

… And awesome hand-sewn checked shirt and guitar…

… he’s sure to draw a crowd to his first-ever charity benefit gig!

Anyone who donates a unique amount between £5.01 and £29.99 will be entered into the prize draw, and Indie Rock Beastie is looking forward to heading to his new home already! Go on, try your luck!

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