Glowing Kodama Tree Spirits, with Free Pattern

The kodamas are my favourite part of Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke. The way they bob their heads and make that tranquil rattling sound is adorable. Ami Amour created the pattern and crocheted these terrific kodamas. The one on the right was made using Nightlights glow in the dark yarn, which I think is a great use for this yarn since the kodamas are kind of glowy in the movie.

Want the pattern?

The kodama pattern is available free on the Ami Amour blog. I'm also so enchanted with the amazing free patterns available there that I'm adding Ami Amour to my blog list. Check my left sidebar to see when there are updates there.

They're Huge! And They Glow...

Everything is better when it glows in the dark, isn't it? And yes, I'm slightly obsessed with the going crafty MST3K chart because it is so versatile. In the back of my mind I still have plans for a giant tunisian crochet afghan made with this chart. I could then snuggle up in that afghan while watching MST3K and enjoying tasty beverages that are safely nestled on my new MST3K Glow-In-the-Dark coasters! These were made with yellow glow-in-the-dark perler beads and black beads. I bought a bag of 1,000 yellow beads and making these nearly used all of them. I have maybe a hundred left. I haven't put cork on the back of the coasters yet because I'm still toying with the idea of making them into fridge magnets. I like the idea of seeing their eerie glow everytime I pass by the kitchen when the lights are out.


I've discovered that with a basic digital camera and very little knowledge about photography it is very hard to take good pictures of things that glow-in-the-dark. Please excuse the blurriness of the photos, I just wanted to give everyone an idea of what the coasters look like when the lights are out. The top photo has been enhanced with Photoshop to show you the glowing effect. The second darker picture shows you what my photo looked like without any enhancements. In real life the glowing effect is quite nice and easy to see in the dark, especially if you let the coasters charge up for a few minutes in bright light.



Want to see my colourful set of MST3K coasters?

Glow in the Dark Yarn Revisited

A few weeks back I was speculating about glow in the dark yarn and wondering what it would be like to work with. While I was able to find a few pictures of finished products made with the Nightlights brand, I wasn't able to find any realistic photos of finished objects that had been made with the new Bernat version. Now thanks to crittendawg I have this wonderful sample:

I have to admit this is a lot more glowy than I expected an item made from this stuff would be. Crittendawg was also kind enough to share a few thoughts on my original post about what she thought of working with this stuff. Just in case you don't feel like clicking back and searching through the comments, I'll save you the trouble by reprinting her thoughts here:

I have tried out the Bernat yarn, it's not bad. The texture isn't that great but hey, it is glow in the dark! It gets stuck sometimes on the hook and isn't as flexible as other yarns but by no means is it impossible to work with. I love Bernat Berella 4 for amis because it is easy to work with, but this one feels more like Caron's Simply Soft.. it feels a little weird.
I made a couple things that I put on my flickr page with it, and here is a link to a photo of a star I made, glowing - http://www.flickr.com/photos/alyssacritt/2893589965/
So anyway I agree with you that it is good for amigurumi and other small things because it is pretty expensive. Also I'd like to point out that only one strand (I think) actually glows, so you get an interesting glowing texture after you crochet with it. Let me know if you've got any other questions?

Glow in the Dark Yarn

I just got an e-newsletter the other day telling me about Bernat's new Glow in the Dark yarn and I have to say it' s piqued my curiousity. Has anyone tried this stuff yet? If so, please post a comment and tell me what you think.

With Halloween just a month away I think this stuff would be perfect for some little amigurumi ghosts and goblins. I'm just wondering how much it actually glows, since I suspect that all the finished product photos Bernat is using with their patterns have received an enhanced glow from some photo editing software. Just a suspicion, no proof here.


I was down at the local Michael's store today and noticed they are carrying this stuff. It's about $5 Cdn for a 1.4 oz ball, which was a bit disappointing. I was hoping for a 3.5 oz ball for about that price. Of course the little 1.4 oz ball would be enough for a small amigurumi (pretty costly if you wanted to make a novelty scarf though) and I was impressed with the feel of the wool. It's about as soft as Bernat's Satin line, which was surprising, I had expected the glow in the dark fibres to make it feel pretty coarse. So maybe I'll go back...after all, the newsletter is warning me that it will only be available for a limited time.

Seeing the ad for this stuff made me wonder if this is the first time a glow in the dark yarn has been created for the general public. A little poking around on the internet and I discovered Nightlights Glow in the Dark Yarn which is 100% nylon and glows "for up to 4 hours when charged under a light source for 1 hour." In comparison Bernat's product, according to the fine print, only glows for 15 minutes, but will also recharge in 15 minutes.


Flickr user avamil used a combination of Nightlights Glow in the Dark yarn and a homespun merino wool to knit this scarf.