Pirates

The playroom door has remained firmly shut for the past couple of weeks as there has been much talk of pirates here at Flutterby Patch.
My daughter has always been a fan of ocean going adventures such as 'Hornblower' and loves the movie 'Pirates of the Caribbean', and so I wasn't surprised when she showed me these colourful pirate flags that she'd designed for her Etsy shop.

She'd also been working on a pirate to accompany the flags but wasn't sure how he should look. Should he look mean or friendly? Over Easter we put our thinking caps on and discussed various options. We both knew which book would be first out of the bookcase. This was one of my daughter's favourites when she was younger and needless to say is very well thumbed.

We searched on the internet for pirate images and were overwhelmed by the variety. In the end we concluded that her pirate should look more comical than cruel.

Once started, the pirate took shape quite quickly. He had an eye patch (of course), striped jumper, scarf, belt and long boots with turn-over top. By giving him a large nose, straight mouth and upturned eyebrow he looked like the sort of pirate you definitely wouldn't want to meet on a dark night! But very quickly we decided he looked rather lonely and needed a shipmate.

It was quite amusing to watch this little fellow taking shape. He is worked from the same basic pattern as the one above but his facial expression give him a completely different character. This pirate we decided had been in one battle too many. He has a stump and and a hook. But now surely there should be a third member of the group.

And here he is with his bead-trimmed dreadlocks.

What a terrifying trio they make!!

Daughter and I both dream of finding treasure one day so for obvious reasons this is our favourite part of the book.

As luck would have it daughter has a replica wooden chest which made the perfect prop for this scene. Some old necklaces became the treasure, although judging by the reaction of the pirates I'm not sure it was quite what they had hoped to find when they opened the lid.

Over the years my daughter has collected quite a number of nautical bits and pieces and this page in the book reminded her of another essential item in her collection.

And here it is, a replica cannon. I can't remember when or where she bought it but I know when she saw it she just had to have it. And so, several years later it is being put to good use! With beads being used as cannon balls and a bit of gun powder (or soap powder) this motley crew will be a force to be reckoned with . . . . . . . . So now you can see why the playroom door has remained firmly shut.

If you  know any young pirates who would welcome shipmates like these then you can knit your own motley crew. The pattern for the 3 pirates and the bunting flags can be found in my daughter's Toyshelf Etsy shop.