Tuesday 30 July 2013

Hey There Georgie Boy


 li'l steampunk pirate



 Mark the occasion of the birth of the new royal infant in grand  steampunk sailor style






 To capture the moment, celebrate the royal birth of li'l Prince Georgie with a Steampunk Baby Cap to knit for  your own special li'l steampunk pirate - or your favourite big steampunk  buccaneer





 This pattern is modified from a vintage knitted child's cap from a charity pattern on the back of Weetbix boxes circa 1960s

    
 Instructions for knitting and tutorials can be found on line, books or at Grandma's knee.

 Steampunk Baby Cap


 infant size / new born

 Main colour 1x 25 g ball  8ply / double ply
 2nd colour  1x 25 g ball  8ply / double ply
 4.5 mm ( size 7) needles     

 cast on  48 stitches
 work 10 rows of  knit 1 purl 1 rib in  main colour
 work 2 row stocking stitch
 start stripe pattern : work 4 rows in  2nd colour
                        work 4 rows main colour

continue in stocking stitch until work measures 6 inches, end on a purl row
 next row : knit 2 tog across row  24 st
            purl row
            knit 2 tog across row  12 st
            purl row

  Thread end of wool through  remaining 12 stitches and fasten off.
  Sew back seam being careful to match stripes

 Variations can be created with  alternative knitting stitches, motifs, stripe size and  use of single colour .


for  older infant or small child  increase cast on stitches by multiples of 8

 56 st  6 months
 64 st  18 months
 72 st  5yr     






 

 

 Adult Cap


 main colour  1x 50g 10 ply/  worsted weight 
 2nd colour   1x 50g 10 ply/  worsted weight
 5mm ( size 6) needles

cast on 96 st
work  20 rows of knit 1 purl 1 rib
continue as for infant cap until work measures 10 inches



 next row : knit 2 tog across row  48 st
            purl row
            knit 2 tog across row  24 st
            purl row
            knit 2 tog across row  12 st
            purl row



  Thread end of wool through  remaining 12 stitches and fasten off.
  Sew back seam being careful to match stripes






Friday 12 July 2013

movies for rainy days and holidays

 STEAMPUNK RETRO MOVIE REVIVAL


 with winter weather setting in and the school holidays upon us  it is time to resurrect the retro classics


 Have some  stormy night  horror and  rainy day fun with  uproarious humour


Many of these and other superb titles feature  the late  Terry Thomas  and or the late ( or is he??) Vincent Price. 

Ignore warnings otherwise, all are available somewhere online. Check out the trailers below.


   Munsters Go Home!  1966

Herman Munster inherits a title and ancient hall in England with  hidden secrets, the family travel by ship to the Old Country  where disgruntled  relatives are not happy at being displaced.

Thwarted young love prevails, Marilyn has a shipboard romance with a young man whose family have a long standing feud with hers. Haunted castles,  family secrets,  car chase, tortured love. Who could ask for more




 Picnic at Hanging Rock 1975

 "A Valentine’s Day picnic at an ancient volcanic outcropping turns to disaster for the residents of Mrs. Appleyard’s school when a few young girls inexplicably vanish on Hanging Rock."

Set in 1900 3 young ladies go missing  never to be see again at a landmark steeped in history and mysterious happenings. The lone survivors return disheveled, shocked and have no memory of the incident. Heaving corsets and suppressed sensuality .

When 1st released in the 70s many believed it to be a true story.




 The Abominable Dr Phibes 1971

The horribly  disfigured genius Dr Phibes ( Vincent Price), believed killed in a car crash  in 1925, comes back to wreak vengeance on the doctors he is convinced let his wife die. He follows out  his vendetta with  beautiful but mute assistant  Vulnavia, to use methods based on the  Old Testament 10 plagues that  befell Egypt.


 

 Dr Phibes Rises again 1972

Dr Phibes rises again to discover his home destroyed  Scrolls of Life have been stolen. In an effort to resurrect his wife Victoria  he and Vulnavia hunt down the thieves who stole his Scrolls




 Bugsy Malone 1976

 Set in Prohibition era  USA,  a child cast including Scott Baio and Jodie Foster , recreate the world of gangsters and speak easies of the 30s. Great for children of all ages. There are memorable toe tapping songs and  machine gun foam fights as Fat Sam and Dandy Dan fight over downtown and dames. My name is Tallulah .....




    Barbarella

Based on an old cartoon strip and set in 40 000 , Barbarella  ( a young Jane Fonda)  has to find the subversive scientist Duran Duran  and save the world  from his Positronic Ray  that threatens the Universal Peace that has reigned on Earth for millennium. There are many " adventures " along the way with a excessive pleasure machine, murderous feral children, hirsute warriors and the Great Tyrant Of Sogo (Anita Pallenberg  former paramour of Keith Richards).   Contains adult themes and near nudity.


 



    Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger 1977

Sinbad the Sailor  and Prince of Bagdad  sets sail to Charak seeking permission from Prince Kassim to marry his sister Princess Farrah ( Jayne Seymour). Alas their evil stepmother Zenobia has other ideas and turns Kassim to a baboon. Sinbad and Farrah set off to find the Hermit of Casgar.  This leads to much  cutlass fighting on the high seas and magical spells.  A highlight of this movie is the stop motion animated creatures. There is a a wonderful series of Sinbad movies stretching the imagination back to early cinema.


                                        



 The Three Musketeers 1973

 Young D'Artagnan travels to Paris with big dreams of becoming a King's Musketeer. On the way he crosses path with the 3 musketeers and deeply causes offense which leads them to challenge him to a duel of honour. He is saved by the distraction of the guards of the evil  Cardinal Richelieu and aids the musketeers to extricate themselves from their fate.  

All four embark on a merry romp to thwart Richelieu's hellish hold on the King, save the Queen and retrieve jewels gifted to her paramour  Duke of Buckingham before the King finds them missing.  Much sword fighting  and carousing  ensues.

 



Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines 1965

Sufferagette daughter  of a news paper magnate, forbidden to fly herself persuades him to sponsor an air race  from London to Paris in 1910.  "Intrepid Birdmen"  from all corners of the globe come to compete.  A love triangle inevitably develops. Daring do and nefarious characters abound as international rivalries  heat up to  a hilarious  hot-air balloon  duel


"The trouble with these international affairs is that they attract foreigners"




Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies

(a.k.a Monte Carlo or Bust )1969

Based  on the Monte Carlo Rally and set in c1920s. An epic car rally adventure accross Europe.

Arch rivals from all over Europe find their  greatest competition from across the Atlantic as Chester ( Tony Curtis ) owner of half an automobile factory won in a card game from  the late father of the Baronet ( Terry Thomas) who is  bent on winner take all vengeance to  gain back  the lost  half of the company. 

 An all star cast  of eccentrics and villains create great havoc and commotion with the Italian police, French women doctors, Mother Nature, convicts and stolen gems.  

 The biggest loser of the day is male chauvinism.





  School for Scoundrels  1960

"or How to Win Without Actually Cheating!"

An amusing satire of the British class system. Inspired by the book series of "gamesmanship" by Stephen Potter, School for Scoundrels  has poor rich boy Henry  fed up with being downtrodden and ripped off. He joins a class  at the School of Lifemanship and is determined to get life's upper hand

Lovely April Smith, the object of his affections is being swiftly seduced away from him. Henry with the assistance of his tutor sets out to defeat his rivals in life and love. 

His lessons take him to battles on  the  car lot, the work place, to the tennis court and on wards to the biggest life lessons of all.




 Ginger Meggs 1982

Little Aussie larrikin of the comic strip in the 1920s made into a movie. A 10yr boy's misadventures and mayhem in a small  Australian townThere is a love rival for the heart of Minnie Peters , Eddie Coogan and a big bully Tiger Kelly and his gang. Angry teachers, exasperated parents and a town in pre teen turmoil.




Friday 5 July 2013

Hair Up Dos for the Intrepid Steampunk Lady

Intrepid  Steampunk  Hair Up Dos 

 

 Occidental style


 Whether it is trekking to Katmandu, battling through the humidity of the wild Indochine jungle, held captive on a Chinese junk, on a camel train in the desert dunes or engaging in missionary service in the Southern Seas

 

- one needs a tidy and simple  hair bun.



Ideal for the  adventurous lady traveler or explorer with  only a basin  for their toilette, these styles work their best  on hair that has remained unwashed for some days

 No pins required!

 

 A Mantilla comb or  Chinese hair sticks are put to use.

 




The following set of  films  demonstrate 3  clean and tidy  buns  based on the  1 simple elementary style; the Nautilus Bun. 

 The films are wordless and demonstrate the techniques in an easy to follow method
 [the lady in question does have  glorious Titian tresses ]


the Nautilus  Bun




( silent film )


 The Artemis Bun

 




  The Hypno Bun




 [may your bun never crumble]