World of WarCrafts: Cozy knitted troll mohawk hat by Anreha

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I don't know about the rest of the world, but out where I live, I just got a good 6 inches of snow dumped on me. According to the groundhog, spring was supposed to come early this year, but apparently "early" doesn't equal today -- either that or the groundhog's a liar. Hopefully there isn't any more snow on the way, but even if it doesn't snow again soon, it's still freezing outside.

With that in mind, today's World of WarCrafts looks like something that would be incredibly welcome while venturing out there in the cold: a warm, knitted hat made to mimic the style of trolls and their outrageous mohawks. This warm and fuzzy creation was put together by Anreha of the guild <Stonewall Misfits> on Proudmoore (US-A), and we were lucky enough to catch a few words with Anreha about the creation of the hat. Follow along after the break for more from Anreha!

World of WarCrafts: Thanks for taking the time to chat with us, Anreha! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? How did you get into knitting?

Anreha: There's not much to me really! I'm 30, a trained chef, and a big sci-fi/MMO geek. I'm really just trying to get by in Nashville with me, my fiancée, our dog Wookiee (Shih-Tzu/poodle mix), and our cat Imp. I've been knitting for about 6 months now; I learned from YouTube videos. I got into knitting because my current job is really not artistically satisfying, and I wanted to do something fun -- that, and the main character in the web comic The Devil's Panties knits, and they've shown a few comics about knitting and I thought it looked fun. My first project that I made was Dr. Who-esque scarf that was about 12" wide and 16 feet long for my fiancée. I've not looked back since!

How did you come up with the idea for the hat?

I came up with the hat when I saw a little kid wearing a mohawk hat at my fiancée's college graduation. I decided it would be a great gift for a friend who had a mohawk of his own but, with winter, could likely use something to keep his head warm and still have a mohawk. And loving the way the trolls on WoW look with the blueish skin and the orange mohawks, I decided that I had to have one for myself. The original story I made up for the hat was that I (as in my character) killed some troll and, being skilled in the skinning of beasts, took a scalp for a prize as well as the Horde tattoos on his shoulders. After tanning, I had a leatherworker friend finish the hat for me. It sounds rather gruesome -- but hey, it's all in fun.

Can you tell us a little bit about how you made it?

After doing some searching for patterns online, I stumbled onto one that seemed to work for me and tried that for the alpha test. After beta testing it, adjusting the pattern on the fly for my own style of knitting, that hat ended up going to my fiancée.

Finally, I made the one you see. I was trying to make it in two parts to then sew together, but it ended up a bit small for me, so I made a third part for the middle -- which ended up perfect for the mohawk, so it came out nice and neat. I finally did a super-simple crochet border, which also joined the three parts. A little felting and pulling the hair apart to look right and voilà.

It's a really neat concept! Any plans on doing other races?

I am currently planning on doing a gnome scalp hat with an Alliance emblem on the sides just as soon as I can get the yarn for it. Of course, doing the right color combos, you can call it any race you want and any emblem too. All you need is a good intarsia pattern for the emblems.

Anything else you'd like to add?

For the Light!

Thanks again for your time, Anreha -- we look forward to seeing your future projects! Check out Anreha's Photobucket gallery for a full-size image of the hat in all its mohawk glory!

If you have any Warcraft-inspired craft projects of your own, from fan fiction to art to music to knitted goods, we'd love to hear from you! Send your not-for-profit, Warcraft-inspired creations to anne@wowinsider.com, and show us your creative side!

World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including arts and crafts, fan art, WoW-themed recipes, comics, cosplay, music and fan fiction. Show us how you express yourself by emailing anne@wowinsider.com with your not-for-profit, WoW-inspired creations.