Tag Archives: balaclava

Inspiration: Chicken Run

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I don’t know what you’ve been doing since the holidays, but we’ve been hanging out at home, eating the last of the Christmas cookies and watching old favorite movies.  (If you were wondering, What About Bob? and Galaxy Quest are still delightful.  And, after watching Die Hard, I discovered that apparently I have a fear of elevator shafts. Who knew?)

Do you remember Chicken Run?  It was one of my favorites when I was a kid, but my husband had never seen it!  We had to fix that.chicken-runAnd, it totally holds up!  I mean, it’s claymation chickens doing The Great Escape, how could it not be great?  It’s exciting!  Sweet!  Full of knitting!

What’s that?  You don’t believe me?  You don’t think that chickens knit?  Well, let me prove you wrong.

Chickens wear sneaky balaclavas (and not-so-sneaky balaclavas) when they are sneaking around, making secret escape plans.balaclavasAdd a pompom to this one, and you could make an adorable chicken-balaclava for your favorite kid.

Elf Pixie Ribbed Balaclava by Agnese Iskrovail_570xn-857359661_hovs_small1Ginger, the heroine of the movie and chicken escape mastermind, always wears a very cute little green hat.  It’s a rolled-brim beanie with two little I-cord nubbins on top.gingerI’d totally rock a Ginger Hat, too!

Ginger’s Hat by Becky Veverka37215300_8b600e4c0a_m1And, of course, the lovable (and loveably daffy) Babs is a character that every knitter can identify with.  With her constantly clicking needles and ever-present knitting, she might be one of the most accurate depictions of knitters I’ve seen on TV.  She’s always got something on her needles, especially when she’s trying to hold it together in the face of certain death.  (I don’t face certain death often, but if I did, I’d totally want my knitting with me.)babsMake yourself a flock of tiny chickens in honor of Babs, Ginger and the rest of the gang.

#29 Tiny Chickens by Anna HrachovecPIRATES- Amanda Vines BLAZERS U6-Rick BarrettHave you seen Chicken Run lately?  What old favorite movies do you love to revisit?

Inspiration: It’s Colder Than Balls (of Yarn)

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So, you remember when I was complaining about how cold it was?  Turns out I was completely wrong.  20 degrees is lovely, balmy weather.  Practically a tropical paradise. It seems especially lovely when you have Christmas cookies and hot chocolate, and the only time you go outside is when you feel like going skiing.

Real cold has now settled in.  The kind of cold that makes people worry about frostbite when they run to the 7-11 down the block.  The kind of cold that makes the state of Michigan (Michigan!) close down every single public school.  The kind of cold that makes you curse the first Norwegian trappers who found Chicago and said “Hey, I bet this would be a great place to start a city.”

It’s the kind of cold that cancels almost 2000 flights at O’Hare Airport.  That’s right, two thousand.  Including mine.  (I was supposed to fly back to Seattle last night).  I have still not actually managed to reach a real person to help with rebooking, but their computer system automatically gave me a new flight.  Next weekend. That means that I will be spending an unexpected week in Chicago, before getting back home.  Luckily, my folks are letting me stay with them, so I don’t have to stay hotel for a week (yay!),  But, it means I have to stay another week in -13 degree (-40 windchill) weather, before going home (boo!).

At least I have plenty of knitting to keep me busy and a good book on my Kindle, so I’ll be a happy camper inside the apartment.  If I have to go outside, however, I think I’m going to need knitwear a little more extreme than my usual hat and mittens.  Maybe I’ll make myself an emergency balaclava or two.

I could go girly:

From Russia, with Love: Cabled Balaclava by Nikol Lohr

3968160718_7d53180fb6_z[1]I could go classic and functional:

Antifreeze by Jenna Adorno

ravelry2_medium[1]Or, I could go viking:

Dwarven Battle Bonnet by Sally Pointer/ Wicked Woollens

4221424550_1a06de25f2_z[1]