The Voyage of the "Beastie" - FocalHeart/CrawCrafts Beasties

Beasties Ahoy!

All Dressed Up and Ready to Dive! CrawCrafts BeastiesAttentive Beastie fans will surely remember this guy from last Tuesday’s post! Diver Beastie headed off to join, of all things, a marauding crew of pirates across the water in the UK. Incredibly, his arrival coincided perfectly with his new pirate captain’s birthday… They even had a portrait photographer handy when they met for the first time!
Diver Beastie Meets the Cap'n - FocalHeart/CrawCrafts BeastiesAs you can see, he made his journey in a treasure chest – I figured it was the best way to help him fit in.
Diver Beastie and His Treasure Chest - FocalHeart/CrawCrafts BeastiesIt looks like he’s got on the Cap’n’s good side already!
Diver Beastie and the Cap'n - FocalHeart/CrawCrafts BeastiesI reckon it’s time to meet the rest of the crew! All aboard the good ship Beastie!
All Aboard the Good Ship Beastie! FocalHeart/CrawCrafts BeastiesPirate Beastie is on the lookout for treasure in the crow’s nest, while Diver Beastie has found himself a comfy seat in the stern…
This is the Life! FocalHeart/CrawCrafts BeastiesIt looks like the hold is already packed with pieces of eight… But is any pirate likely to pass up the opportunity to find MORE TREASURE?

Nope, I didn’t think so! Off we go!
The Voyage of the "Beastie" - FocalHeart/CrawCrafts BeastiesBut wait a second – the ship seems to be riding low in the water. What’s going on here?
A Stowaway on the Pirate Ship - FocalHeart/CrawCrafts BeastiesEeeeeek! A stowaway! Looks like Pint Beastie might have had one too many bottles of grog and fallen asleep in the hold. Well, it’s probably too late to turn back now, so… Congratulations Pint Beastie! You’re the newest member of this happy band of buccaneers! Now it’s time for them all to sail off in search of adventure – and yes, more treasure!
Pirate Beastie and Crew Sail Off in Search of Adventure - FocalHeart/CrawCrafts BeastiesWho knows where this boatful of brigands will wash up next?

Thanks to NoĆ©mie at FocalHeart for sending me her photos, including some taken by the Cap’n himself! All of us here at Beastie Towers love to see how our monster friends around the world are getting on.

As usual, we’ll be back on Tuesday – stop by to find out what Explorer Beastie and I have been up to over the past week! And in the meantime, have a great weekend!

Who's That Beastie? - CrawCrafts Beasties

In Search of Sunken Treasure…

Regular visitors to the BeastieBlog might remember Pirate Beastie, who went to live with Pirate-in-Training Thom last Autumn.
Pirate Beastie, by CrawCrafts BeastiesThey’ve been having some great adventures together ever since – they even got to meet Captain Jack Sparrow at Hallowe’en! But it seems like these two daring buccaneers have run into some difficulty lately – namely, how do you get at treasure that’s trapped in a sunken shipwreck?

So a special request was put in, and this little monster answered the call!
Did Somebody Call Diver Beastie? CrawCrafts BeastiesUm, can you really get down to the ocean floor like that? Where’s all your Beastie dive kit?
Beastie Dive Kit, by CrawCrafts Beasties
Oh, super! There it is. Don’t forget your flippers, too…
Diver Beastie's Flippers, by CrawCrafts Beasties
And now it’s time to put it all together! First of all, he has a belt with a felt dive knife…
Dive Knife and Belt for Diver Beastie - CrawCrafts Beasties
…Then it’s time to put on the flippers!
Diver Beastie Gets His Flippers On! CrawCrafts Beasties
His oxygen tank is mounted on the back of his BCD (buoyancy control device, the black vest-like thing), and it’s connected to his regulator and dive mask…
Beastie Breathing Apparatus - CrawCrafts Beasties…So it’s really easiest to put everything on at once!
All Dressed Up and Ready to Dive! CrawCrafts Beasties
And that leaves just one more thing to do – a little research on some of the interesting creatures he may encounter on his underwater travels!
What's Under the Sea, Diver Beastie? CrawCrafts Beasties
(Diver Beastie is reading “Unusual Creatures – A Mostly Accurate Account of Some of Earth’s Strangest Animals” by Michael Hearst. Great fun for those of us interested in nature’s oddities!)

I can’t wait to see how this Diver Beastie settles into his new home. And thanks to NoĆ©mie from FocalHeart for welcoming another Beastie into her family!

Don’t forget that Friday posts are back, so we’ll see you later in the week for more Beastie antics with Paddy and Plunkett!

Pirate Beastie Full Length - CrawCrafts Beasties

Postcard From Pirate Beastie

Pirate Beastie, by CrawCrafts Beasties
Diligent BeastieBlog readers will surely remember this cheeky little ruffian! Pirate Beastie has been an important part of the crew here at Beastie Towers for a while, and I was wondering if he’d ever get a chance to set sail and see the wider world. But while I was on my holidays, I got a message on Etsy from NoĆ©mie at FocalHeart… Turns out her son is quite the pirate enthusiast, and he couldn’t wait to welcome Pirate Beastie aboard! Piggy banks were frantically raided, and Pirate Beastie was dispatched that very same day… Then last week I received a message in a bottle (an online bottle) to say he’d arrived safely, and it included PHOTOS!

It seems that Pirate Beastie has really landed on his feet – he’d barely arrived before he started gathering up treasure!
Pirate Beastie's Treasure - N Rimmer/CrawCrafts Beasties
A lot of treasure.
More Pirate Treasure - N Rimmer/CrawCrafts Beasties
He also got a new custom-built pirate ship, carefully constructed by his new shipmate!
Pirate Beastie's Ship - N Rimmer/CrawCrafts Beasties
And that’s not all – a couple of days later, he was invited to a pirate party!
Pirate Beastie's Hallowe'en - N Rimmer/CrawCrafts Beasties
Another great opportunity to gather up a few pieces of eight…
Even more treasure - N Rimmer/CrawCrafts Beasties
… Rub shoulders with famous scurvy sea dogs, like Captain Jack Sparrow…
Captain Jack and Captain James  N Rimmer/CrawCrafts Beasties
…And have a swig of grog with some mysterious maidens!
Pirate Beastie and Mysterious Lady Friend - N Rimmer/CrawCrafts Beasties
Yaaaaaarrrrrr!

Thanks so much to NoĆ©mie and Thom for giving Pirate Beastie such a good home, and a new name! He now answers to James – Captain James to us landlubbers, I’m sure. And I’ve been super-impressed by Thom’s photography skills… he’s responsible for a lot of the pictures I’ve used in this post, so thank you for letting me use them!

You can read the full story of James the Pirate Beastie’s arrival (including unboxing video!) and big Hallowe’en night out on NoĆ©mie’s own blog. And make sure you stick around to check out her awesome handknits and paintings!

Oooookaaaay, time for me to head below decks and get ready for my market tomorrow! Have a super weekend, everybody!

Phase 2 - CrawCrafts Beasties

Beasties Grow Up

The First Beasties, by CrawCrafts Beasties

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Change.”

Sometimes, you only notice how much something has changed when you take the time to look back at how it used to be. To me, it feels like I’m making Beasties the same way I always have… But the end result has changed a bit! Click through the gallery to witness BeastiEvolution happening before your very eyes…
https://me.sh/71jzp11

See what I mean? And who knows what will happen to them next?

Wool! Needles! KNIVES!

Rambo Beastie's Knife

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!

Guerrilla Woolfare

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!

Pirate Beastie

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…

Ninja Beastie

…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!

Ninja Beastie SwordNinja Beastie Shuriken

Oh, and then he called for reinforcements.

Blue Ninja Beastie

You’d think that would be enough, but…

Rambo on the Rocks

…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?

Helmet and Shield

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

New Chef Beastie

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!

 

Pirates, Ninjas and… Skiing?

Pirate Beastie

At last!
I’ve had some new Beasties “in progress” for what feels like forever, and last week I finally got around to putting on the last of their accessories and taking them outside for a photoshoot.

First of the new recruits is Pirate Beastie… I took him down to the Docklands on a sunny weekday afternoon so that I could photograph him alongside the Jeanie Johnston, a replica tall ship which is permanently moored in the River Liffey.
Pirate Beastie and the Jeanie Johnston

When I was making Pirate Beastie, I really went overboard (ha! Pun totally intended) with the pirate stereotypes. So he has a lot going on – natty matching hat and belt, cutlass, eyepatch, peg leg and, of course, a cheeky knitted parrot to keep him company!
Pirate Beastie Full Length

After completing my scurvy sea dog, I moved on to a stealthier project… Ninja Beastie!

Ninja Beastie

Ninja Beastie wears a black jumpsuit to help him melt into the shadows, and is bristling with teeny ninja weapons! They may be made of felt, but that doesn’t make them any less deadly. I gave him a pair of sai, to hang from his belt…
Ninja Beastie Sai

… a sword…
Ninja Beastie Sword

… and a shuriken throwing star.
Ninja Beastie Shuriken

Then I brought him to the Chester Beatty Library, in the grounds of Dublin Castle, to take his photo. This museum houses a collection of artefacts from the Middle and Far East, so it seemed an appropriate setting!
Ninja Beastie Chester Beatty Library

And finally – only a few days after the closing ceremony at the Sochi Winter Olympics (I have to admit I became kind of addicted to winter sports these last few weeks), a specially-commissioned Skier Beastie (or should that be Beast-Ski? Ski-stie?) met his new owner!
Ski Beastie

His skis and ski poles are detachable, too… that way he doesn’t have to miss out on the apres-ski!

See you next time!