April 2015 – Beastie HQ

My Biggest Monster Challenge Yet!

Posted on April 28, 2015June 19, 2021 by crawcraftsbeasties in Beastie Family, Knitted Beasties

Regular visitors to the BeastieBlog will have noticed that I’ve been a little quiet of late. And for good reason! I’ve been inundated with commissions over the last month (what a nice problem to have!) and for fear of spoiling surprises, I haven’t really wanted to post any pictures. Now I’m finally in a position to start sharing the products of all my hard work, and I thought I’d start with Dog Lover Beastie.

Dog Lover Beastie was the brainchild of the very lovely Daphne, who I met at a market last month. She generously bought a pair of Beasties that day to give away as gifts, but she got in touch with me a few days later to see about getting one for herself too! As the proud owner of a gorgeous Old English Sheepdog called Crumble, she requested a Beastie kitted out with all the accessories she needs when she and her pooch head out for walkies. So I started out by making a pair of wellies, a grooming brush, a motivational bag of treats and a fetching scarlet polka-dot raincoat!

So far, a pretty standard day’s work here at Beastie Towers. But I figured that I could hardly have a Dog Lover Beastie without a dog… that would just be mean. So…

The dog is, of course, an Old English Beastdog – a very popular breed with Beastie owners! His lead can be unclipped from his collar, and that pink bone-shaped pouch attached to it is a bag dispenser – for, um, taking care of business. Dog Lover Beastie is one responsible dog owner!

Oh, and I also made a Beastdog-sized replica of Daphne’s dog’s favorite football, to keep him entertained.

But wait, folks! There’s more! Daphne’s also training to be a neurosurgeon, and she hoped that her Beastie could have some extra accessories that reflected this. Hey, no problem! All she needs is a sneaky costume change…

… And Neurosurgeon Beastie is ready for work! As you can see, she’s now sporting some hand-stitched felt scrubs…
… A pretty cotton scrub cap, and a felt head torch!

She may have a busy day ahead of her at the hospital… but she always has time to hang out with her pup after work.

And Daphne was kind enough to share photos of Dog Lover/Neurosurgeon Beastie in her new home! Here’s what happened when Crumble met his Mini-Me…

… And here are the two of them helping her out on the computer!

I’m looking forward to seeing the crazy canine capers they get up to!

Nice Day For A Monster Wedding…

Posted on April 15, 2015June 19, 2021 by crawcraftsbeasties in Knitted Beasties

Well, it’s been a long old winter… but over the last few weeks, it really has started to feel like spring is on the way! The flowerbeds in the park on my way to work are a riot of colour, there are fresh green leaves on the trees outside my window, and the sun is even daring to peek out from behind the clouds every once in a while!

The arrival of spring also heralds the start of the wedding season… and it looks like this event isn’t limited to Dublin’s human population! A recent burst of sunshine saw me taking a day trip to the National Botanical Gardens just north of the city centre, where I encountered a blushing Beastie bride posing for photos among the flowers!

I first found her standing in a patch of heather. The tiny purple and white flowers really work well with her delicate pale blue skin tone, don’t you think?

We also took a picture at the picturesque Beastie-sized waterfall that flows through the rockery and Japanese-style garden!
And of course, it’s not a proper springtime photoshoot without a host of golden daffodils in there somewhere, so…

After that, we took a stroll through the crocuses in search of more photo opportunities inside the glasshouses… the one you can see in the background of this picture is the Palm House, which is the largest in the gardens. It’s full of awesome tropical plants, such as coffee, banana trees and enormous bamboo canes!

But Bride Beastie preferred something a little less exotic as a backdrop, so we set her up against these richly-coloured cyclamens instead.

It also turned out to be a prime location for some closeups of her elegant wedding hairdo, veil and bouquet!
After all that, I figured it was time to let her get back to her wedding party! Hopefully she’ll keep in touch and send on some photos from her honeymoon…

On Yer Bike!

Posted on April 8, 2015June 19, 2021 by crawcraftsbeasties in Knitted Beasties

I have to admit that I’m more of a walker than a cyclist… I rarely fall off my feet, but I have a patchwork of scars on my knees that testify to my apparent inability to get from A to B on two wheels. That said, I do know a good few bike enthusiasts – everyone else in my immediate family, for starters – so when I was called upon to kit out a Cyclist Beastie recently, I had plenty of source material to work with!

The first thing I had to tackle (and probably the most daunting) was making a Beastie-sized cycling helmet. Anyone who looked in through my window while I was trying to figure out the template must have wondered what on earth I was up to – squeezing invisible fruit? Seated tai chi? Complete mental breakdown? Still, it must have worked…

The helmet has four air vents in the top to keep Beastie’s head cool, and is constructed from two layers of felt with stuffing in between to protect his head from knocks… just in case he takes after me! Here he is modelling it…
He also looks equally good without it, of course.

And, as a final touch, I thought I’d give him a Beastie-sized energy bar – just to keep him going on those tiring uphill slogs!

Now all he has to do is try to remember where he left his bike!

Cyclist Beastie was commissioned as a surprise Valentine’s Day gift, but I was the one who ended up being surprised by him! After he left home, the next time I saw him was when he popped up here.

Thanks to Cian at Alimay Sports for introducing Cyclist Beastie to the wider biking community… I honestly wasn’t expecting him to make his mark on the cycling world so early in his career. Hopefully he’s settling in well in his new home… and not eating all the PowerBars!

Beasties Head West…

Posted on April 2, 2015June 19, 2021 by crawcraftsbeasties in Beastie Family, Knitted Beasties

… Really far west! A couple of weeks ago, I received an update about how Reader Beastie is settling into his new ranch home in Canada… with photos! I really enjoyed looking through them, especially since we hardly got any snow here in Ireland this winter, so I thought I’d share them on the BeastieBlog!

It certainly looks like Reader Beastie is earning his keep with his new family, anyway… no staying in with a good book for him! Here he is setting out on the bale wagon to help deliver hay to some hungry livestock, for starters.

Of course, he takes his job seriously. So he supervised the feeding very closely…
… And watched his buddy Jiggs round up any stragglers!
Then there was just enough time to have a chat with the horses…

… Before shaking off all that snow and heading into the barn to share the day’s news with another new friend!

Thanks to Nicole for sending these super pictures! And if any other Beasties want to check in and share their adventures, I’d love to hear from them… you can email photos to me at crawcraftsbeasties@gmail.com, or post directly to the Beasties’ Facebook page!

Cheers for reading… more monster adventures coming soon! Who knows where they’ll end up next?

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