Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Green 'round Grenades

Atten-hut!

If you are a crocheter and a World War II soldier, it is mission-critical to arm yourself with effective gear, including crochet hooks, threading needles, and grenades.

Kaboom! Kaboom!


I made these grenades from rows of popcorn stitches and double crochet stitches, with increasing single crochet stitches between each row.

Boom!


These friendlier grenades are in love. Aren't they cute? (^_^)

Well, they may seem cute to Civvies, but explosives are no laughing matter. And as a make-believe soldier who watched Tropic Thunder and bought a Canadian military uniform from an army surplus store, I should know.


War is hell.

Now, I admit to lacking experience with explosives. You could even say I'm "green" around grenades. But as you'll see in this video from my war correspondent girlfriend, I know enough to pull the grenade's safety pin:


After that shell-shocking experience, I salute the real-life soldiers up here in Canada. Hoorah!

26 comments:

  1. Fantastic! I especially like the lovey dovey grenades. The photoshoots around your place must be lots of fun!

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  2. COuldnt resist blogging about this one.

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  3. Would you be willing to do a commission of a few grenades?

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  4. Those are awesome! I love the stuff you come up with! Sooooo creative....

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  5. Wren: Thanks! Yes, those lovey dovey grenades are incorrigible together.

    This photoshoot was fun in retrospect, but my gf and I had to endure swarms of flies, low-batteries on the video camera, a frozen audio recorder, and a noisy leaf blower. Ah well, at least we avoided encounters with Axis soldiers! ;)

    Shellie: Thanks so much for blogging about my grenades at craftgossip.com and for the resulting mention on Boing Boing!

    justred: Thanks for the invitation! I may make a few grenades next month to test out the Etsy waters, actually :) I'll let you know when I do!

    Shorty: And you're Sooooo supportive ;) Thank you!

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  6. OH MY GOODNESS!!! This was the funniest one yet! And just in time for our Memorial Day on Monday.

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  7. You are so adorable, Howie. I find myself giggling every time I see a new Woo Work creation and the awesome presentation you've created to share with us all.
    Great work!

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  8. That's got to be the funniest vid yet!!! =D
    Awesome as ever!

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  9. "taking a break from WWII" Pahahahaa.

    I love the pink one and the friendly one. So cute! Great work as always! :]

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  10. Miss Julep: Thanks, and I hope your Memorial Day skies are full of colourful (and safe!) explosions :)

    Simply EC: Merci merci :) Your talented amigurumi-making husband is lucky to be with such a supportive and creative partner as you!

    Sooticas Dream: I'm glad you liked the video! That retro helmet was all metal, and I'm amazed that soldiers wore them on the battlefield. The sound effects in the video were from The Freesound Project, which spared me from lugging machine guns out to the forest ;)

    mochaxlight: Thanks :) The two friendlier grenades are my favourite. I've always seen hot-pink as a powerful colour, so a pink grenade seemed right! :)

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  11. DUCK Howie! DUCK!!

    I think the pink grenade would probably explode into a cloud of perfume, or maybe a fountain of rose petals.

    ...oh my goodness - do you think he's alright???

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  12. LOL that is too funny...love it!

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  13. Gold again! If i had those grenades and ur ray gun, i could rule the world! *evil cackle*

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  14. Louise: Some people have said these grenades resemble perfume bottles, so maybe they DO release harmless perfume and rose petals! haha

    Julie: Thanks! :) It's good when grenades can be funny sometimes, yes?

    pixelhazard: World domination from you sounds diabolical! :D

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  15. rofl , Found your blog on Craftsters lol
    Fantastic Job lol

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  16. Renee': Thanks so much :) Your great comments on my Vimeo video pages have been so much fun to read. I hope your son grows up to be a crochet king! :D

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  17. Can not wait to see some patterns posted for these, or a book.

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  18. You are crazy (in a terribly awesome way of course).
    I still can't believe you just started crocheting a
    year ago. Maybe you should casually take up brain surgery as a hobby too?

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  19. Anonymous: Learning to write proper and detailed crochet patterns is on my to-do list! Thanks for the nudge :)

    myra: I've never been so happy to be called crazy before, yay! :D

    I was about to dabble in brain surgery, but Michaels doesn't carry surgical tools, can you believe that? I can't open scalps with a Cuttlebug!

    Thanks, and please say hi to B.B.B. for me :D

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  20. OMG, thank you for following me!!! I came over to see you and you are just fantastic, not only talented but super fun too, awesome!
    This had me in "stitches" harr harr ;D

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  21. lovely little dear: It's my joy to follow you and your inspiring blog, thank you! There is so much joy in your happy creations.

    I love the wise advice you gave in your interview with Plastic bat: "... love what you do - if you don't love it, will anyone else? If you put passion into your work, it really shows in the end product & people will appreciate that."

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  22. I am sooooo glad to have found your blog - you are like the perfect mix between me and my husband... he thinks I'm crazy being into crocheting, and I think he's crazy being into tanks, grenades etc! So cool to find someone like you out there... maybe I can finally convince him that crocheting is cool!

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  23. PaisleyJade: I love hearing stories about the potential to bring husbands/bfs/sons into the world of crochet. I hope your husband makes some crochet weapons to bring to battle :)

    Your Softies are so cute! They're so expressive and full of personality. I'll be following your blog too, thanks!

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  24. Awww - thanks heaps... someone 'famous' is following my blog!!! Do you have the pattern for your hand grenade for sale (or for free)??? My husband has requested one for his birthday ;)

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  25. PaisleyJade: haha I'm far from famous, but your colourful & lively blog would appeal to citizens & celebs alike ;)

    I don't have a pattern for the grenades yet, but I'll be spending the summer learning how to write patterns. I hope you stay tuned!

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  26. You have inspired me! I'm gonna try to make a hand grenade wristlet. :D

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