Gift #1109: Owl-o-ween

And so we’ve slipped quietly into November.  While we dreamed of pumpkins, the magical Halloween night transformed into a misty November morning.  Almost without notice an ordinary miracle happens every morning as light is resurrected from darkness.  Our autumn has been long and we still have many trees yet to fully turn, which makes me happy as I love for the season to last as long as possible.  October is my favorite month and I’m still not ready to say goodbye.  I was very busy last month and didn’t get to blog much – that means I have lots to tell you about!  But since we just had Halloween this month, I wanted to show you what took up much of my time during October.

This year I co-hosted a Halloween swap with an online group on Ravelry called Tiny Owl Knits.  Since owls are our totem in this group, we actually celebrate Owl-o-ween.  This was the first time I’ve hosted a swap in this group and it was a lovely experience.  One of the perks of hosting is that I get to pick who I want to send my package too.  This year I had preselected a them I wanted to create around and found just the perfect recipient.  The theme was “Halloween Curiosity Cabinet”  I’ve wanted to do this a long time and I think this is my favorite swap I’ve designed.  The packages must include a knitted item, some treats, decorations, and whatever else we’d like to include.  I found my knitted project without any trouble.  May I introduce “Poison Ivy” to you?  I knew as soon as I saw the name that it would be perfect.

I knit it from Malabrigo sock yarn – a beautiful color called Boticelli Red.  Oh, I was so happy with how it came out!  I think I’ll be knitting another one in the future.  It was a fun pattern.  To spare you a zillion photos, I made a few collages of some of the other gifts.

Clockwise from upper left:  I made a set of stitch markers -2 cats, 2 skeletons, and a raven – strung on hand-dyed ribbon.   Because my recipient is an anthropologist, I made up this wrap bracelet that says “bone collector”.  She also had the creative idea to wear it as a choker.  I made poison tags from stickers and cardstock that I used as labels for everything, to keep in line with the curiosity cabinet theme.  And I also found a little poison vial that said “poison ivy” on it – it was perfect!

The other big gift I made for her was a haunted house curio cabinet.  This was so much fun to make!  I found a kit at a craft store filled with charms, papers, diecuts, and I spent many happy hours cutting, assembling, and gluing.

Here’s a closeup of some of my favorite “rooms”

Here’s a photo of everything together and waiting to be packed up.

In addition to the house and shawl, I found a poison notepad to send her.  The poison ivy ornament and a raven candle went together in a spiderweb bag.  The bracelet and stitch markers were packaged with some dry moss in a test-tube.  I added a selection of pumpkin truffles to a round beaker and wrapped that up in cellophane and also found some pumpkin marshmellows as another treat.  The card I made is on the far left and features an assortment of apothecary jars.  A few closeups of the wrapping and trimming are below.

I had a wonderful time creating this package and loved the opportunity to create something special with a theme that’s near to my heart.  I would love to live in a “cabinet of curiosities”.  Those who know me best might say that I do for I’m surrounded by leaves, twigs, acorns, feathers, rocks, and many other treasures from nature.  I hope you enjoyed a look at some of the creativity that October inspires.

Blessings to you,

Sarah