This Knitting Master Created An Amethyst Geode Out Of Yarn

Nature is pretty interesting, and often times has meaning attached to it that really doesn't make any sense, but the appreciation we have for the scenery tends to leave that stuff unquestioned. Take geodes for example; they're rocks that look like no other and have captured the imagination of many who have seen it. Child folklore states that it feel from the skies and is actually part of an alien being that will come to life once you find the rest of his geode parts and put them together, while others try to run a fool's gold type scam with it and insist that it's unrefined precious rock or the like. Not sure too many people have fallen for that one, but that's the sales pitch I got at the local flea market at least once a month.

Recreating nature has been a common pursuit of mankind since the beginning of time. It started out with carvings, then paintings (think Bob Ross), 5th grade science dioramas, and perhaps most popular of all, photography. While appreciated, these mediums have become pretty common so it's easy to scroll past a photo that took two flights and a week-long hike under the right conditions to score. When the art is unusual, people tend to stop and notice. Take knitting for example. Other than ugly homemade Christmas sweaters, you've probably never batted an eye at something hand-knitted to resemble something for more than a few seconds, but today that changes.

Go into any store in the hipster part of your city and you'll find crystals everywhere, for "cleansing," "grounding," and "opening," and also because they look cool. But, for something that just comes out of the ground, crystals can be expensive—unless you knit your own, like yarn wizard Barbara Tomlinson.

It doesn't look too different from an actual amethyst geode:

Tomlinson is auctioning off her first geode. The "geometrically inferior bean bag" is going for $31 right now.

But she's also generously written up a free pattern and instructions so any crafty crystal-lovers can make their own sparkly geode.

People already have ideas for customizing the patterns.

As Tomlinson points out, she was also inspired by the website ODDknit, which also published their own instructions for knitting a geode a few years ago. And if geodes are too intimidating, both knitters have much easier and super cool patterns for beginners, too. Embrace the tweeness and start crafting!