i bless the rains down in africa

So I promised all of you a sneak peek of my Africa-themed stitch markers, and now that it’s August and these have been sent in, I’m thrilled to reveal them to you! If you remember, my inspiration this month was the song Africa, by the 80s hair band Toto. It’s got a catchy chorus with just one line that everyone remembers and sings overandoverandoverandover again until they’ve gone mad. Fortunately for me, I listened to this song long enough while I was making these stitch markers that I now know all of the words. And yes, I even watched the Lion King version of this song.

These African-themed markers are inspired by that single line in the song we all know – “I bless the rains down in Africa.” I thought there was something very poetic about the concept of Africa’s heat and suffering juxtaposed with the cool blessing of rain, which during the wet season washes it all away. Refreshing and beautiful, like a terrific storm occurring when a cold front meets the hot, unforgiving August weather we experience here in the Northern Hemisphere.

These stitch markers feature gorgeous vintage garnets and fire topaz Czech glass drops. I love the garnets because they look like a dusky reddish brown when they are lying in your hand but the moment you put them up to the sunlight they gleam with this inner purple light. The topaz glass beads are shaped like raindrops, and the iridescent fire polish to them creates a subtle rainbow effect in the light.

I Bless The Rains Down in Africa

I have several of these limited edition sock-sized stitch marker sets available in the shop. They are there for the month of August in conjunction with the Phat Fiber box. I thought it would be nice that if someone received a sample in their box they could then pick up a full set.

A Phat Fiber participant, that is. I’ve joined up for the August 2010 Phat Fiber Sampler box, which means that my stitch markers will soon be winging their way to dozens of households all over the country. I know, cool, right? Inside each sampler box are TONS of samples of indie yarns and fiber, stitch markers, patterns, special insider coupons, bookmarks, and God knows what other sort of goodies. Basically, receiving a box is akin to going into yarny coma.

A Yarny Coma, courtesy Phat Fiber

The idea came into being after one woman grew tired of spending oodles of money on indie goods only to receive something she wasn’t quite pleased with, or that looked like a totally different color than the picture, etc. She wanted more of a “try-before-you-buy” approach and dreamed up the Phat Fiber Box. Etsy and ArtFire sellers send her their goodies once a month and get a chance to get promoted. Potential buyers, likewise, get a chance to try out a ton of stuff. The Phat Fiber box is sold through Etsy, and it is rather a big hairy deal in some corners of the Interwebz. Every month there are hundreds of people all fighting to purchase a sampler box, or two, without being “cartjacked” by another. There are fandoms helping with checkout tutorials and emails sending out the secret time the boxes go live and I’m sure someone has a special handshake in there as well.

Just kidding. Kind of. Anyways, I’ve heard about it for the past year or so, but only recently decided to explore it a little further. After reading up about it on Ravelry, I checked out a few videos on YouTube, where the husband-and-wife team who run the Phat Fiber program give monthly “sneak peeks” of what will be in the next box. I have to say, I think it was the videos that sold me – they were engaging and humorous and made me want to be a part of the whole crazy mess too.

I’m very excited to have my name “up in lights” as it were on their website, and I’ve got great ideas brewing for their August theme, which is “Africa.” Seriously, for days after I found out what the theme was I went around the house humming or singing “I bless the rains down in Ah-af-ri-ca…” For the record, when the only lines of a song that you know is one, it gets a little tedious. Though I was more amused that, when I finally did look up the song on YouTube, I discovered that the only really memorable lines are those. Anyways, in August, after I’ve sent my goodies in, I’ll give everyone a little look-see at what I’m contributing to the box.