Toy Drop Lands In Brisbane

Brisbane’s (Australia) largest handmade collective, BrisStyle, is joining forces with the Toy Society to co-ordinate a MEGA Toy Drop throughout the South East and beyond during the month of May. Hundreds of toys with notes to “take me home” are set to be anonymously tied to trees, lamp posts or left in other prominent places throughout the immediate Brisbane region, and with BrisStyle’s networks reaching a global audience drops are set to be made the world over.

The Toy Society started this global gift giving exercise as a way to give random recipients the buzz of receiving a “something for nothing” experience as well as for creative communities to contribute to their local streetscape and encourage people to notice and engage with their surroundings.

The local BrisStyle project will give crafty souls near and far purpose to their creative passions by lifting spirits throughout the communities where they secretly drop their handmade toys. The emphasis will be to think big and drop not only in urban areas but also those suburbs which may be in need some extra care and attention such as those which have been recently affected by natural disasters.

The May 27^th BrisStyle Indie Twilight Markets will mark the end of the project with King George Square being transformed into a toy giving hub. Leading up to this celebration, the Square will see random acts of toy giving kindness bringing it to life as well as highlighting Brisbane’s sense of community.

WHEN :: From 9^th to 27^th May – ending with the BrisStyle Indie Twilight Markets in King George Square on Friday May 27^th from 5pm – 9pm

WHERE :: Think BIG! Drops can be made in your local areas (whether you are local, out of state or overseas), a flood or cyclone affected suburb or any suburb in need of some care and attention.

WHO :: Whether you are in Queensland, Australia or even the other side of the world you can participate. Get your Mum and your Nana involved; your friends at work or school – anyone who loves to craft for a purpose.

WHAT:: As featured in the courier mail our sister site CraftBits.com is chock full of plushie patterns so everyone can have a go at making something to “Drop” away.

Don’t forget to come back here and tell us if you are “dropping” something we know we certainly are and will share the pictures soon.

MORE INFORMATION: http://brisstyle.blogspot.com/2011/04/brisbane-comes-to-life-with-its-own-toy.html or http://thetoysociety.blogspot.com/

Generally I like knitting patterns where I feel like you can use whatever yarn you have (because my stash is big enough and I want to use it, thanks) and make a successful project. This is one of those times when a special yarn makes the process that much easier.

The Floral Bouquet Shawl from Xandy Peters uses a specific extended color pooling yarn from Feisty Fibers, which allows you to place the bobble flowers with increasing frequency as you knit the project.

It starts with a solid color yarn, then the two color yarn is added in, and you make a bobble whenever you encounter the color pops. This would be hard to replicate with other yarn that doesn’t have the extended color pooling built in.

The background of the shawl is ribbed, making the project reversible.

The shawl uses fingering/sock yarn and comes out to be an asymmetrical triangle that’s 54 inches/137 cm long and 36 inches/ 90 cm deep and 60 inches/150 cm across the top edge.

Xandy says the pattern is for intermediate to advanced knitters. Knowing how to work traditional bobbles would probably help, but there’s a great video tutorial for how to work the floral bobbles so you can practice on other yarn or even incorporate the bobbles into other projects.

The bobbles are five-petaled flowers but they also kind of look like starfish to me, which could be fun on a child’s cardigan or other pattern. They’d also be fun on the leg of a sock or around the brim of a hat for extra whimsy.

The pattern includes photo and video tutorials, and written and charted instructions. It also includes tips on what to look for if you choose to use different yarn for the project, and instructions on how to dye your own yarn to use in the project.

If you want to give it a try, you can find the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Xandy Peters]

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