Designer Spotlight: Murder Puffin

I’ve long had a soft spot for puffins, so of course when I found an Etsy shop called Murder Puffin I had to share it.

And I’m so glad I found it because they’ve got some weird stuff that I hope you’re going to like as much as I do.

There are cryptids and true crime, nautical themed designs, holiday wanted posters and an entire section called memento mori. So if that sounds like something you’d be into, read on.

The biggest section on the site, though, is Altoid tin cross stitch patterns. If you can’t quite imagine what an Altoid tin cross stitch pattern would be like, this mummy cross stitch tin is a pretty representative example.

Most of them have a character (in this case, the mummy, but it could be anything from an alien to a racoon to a gnome) or more than one, who is made into a tiny stuffed doll. There’s a design for the top and bottom inside of the tin; here it’s a pyramid and an anhk design. There’s also a small design for the top of the box. And finally, a kind of blanket and a pillow so you can tuck your little character into the box.

Each one is a cute little set that would be so fun to display (and play with!) on your desk or bookshelf. And there’s a great range of options to choose from.

In addition to those, you’ll find a lot of other fun stuff for the strange and unusual on your gift list. There are some delightfully creepy (and mostly cryptid-inspired) tarot cards. A whole set of dark samplers called Gothic murder family. And a section called potted cross stitch, with little designs like mushrooms, plants and pumpkins you can stitch up and “plant” in tiny pots.

There’s so much fun stuff you really just need to stop reading this and go visit Murder Puffin on Etsy. I hope you find it as delightful as I do!

[Photo: Murder Puffin]

As a knitter, I love a good sheep motif, so let’s take a look at some cute sheep cross stitch patterns.

If you want to stitch a little sheep, this mini square from Good Dog Needleworks is a nice choice. It uses just three colors and measures 32 by 32 stitches. That’s 2.2 inches or about 5.5 cm square if you stitch it on 14 count fabric.

I also love these two little sheep, which you can stitch together or in individual hoops and shown. The designs are form Threadbound Art and use six colors. They are slightly different in size, with one being 21 by 17 stitches and the other 21 by 20. They fit in four inch frames if you work them on 14 count fabric.

You can stitch a sweet sheep bookmark with this design from Kits by SA Stitch. This is not for the person who doesn’t like back stitch, because there’s a lot of that here, but it is really cute. It measures 30 by 91 stitches and uses 10 colors. That will make your bookmark about 2.4 by 6.5 inches, or 6 by 16.5 cm on 14 count fabric.

Stitch a pretty scene of sheep in a meadow with this design from Motok Nytok. It uses 21 colors and the design is 99 by 73 stitches. On 14 count fabric that makes it about 7.07 by 5.21 inches, or 17.96 by 13.24 cm.

This yarn full of cross stitch sheep has a bit of a knitting twist because the sheep all look like they have sweaters on. The design is from Soda Stitch Design and it measures 179 by 216 stitches. The full design uses 27 colors. On 14 count fabric it will work out to 12.78 by 15.42 inches, or 32.48 by 39.19 cm.

Another great one with a knitting theme is this one where the wool is coming off the sheep and straight onto the needles. This one is from Happy Cross Stitchers and uses 12 colors. The pattern is 137 by 137 stitches, which comes out to 9.7 inches or 24.86 cm square on 14 count fabric. This would be a fun one to stitch for the knitter in your life (even if that is you).

Or you can stitch the field of sheep of a knitter’s dreams with the Happy Sheep chart from Charts and Stuff. These per-colored sheep can be stitched as shown or worked in any colors you like. The eyes are French knots but you can just stitch them in white if you’d rather.

Have you read?