FO: The awesomely awesome bear hat!!!

Yes, I am super pleased with this hat!!! Could you tell? ;)





I actually finished the crocheting a couple of weeks ago, but I was worried about how the sewing would turn out. The muzzle looked a little small, and the nose looked a little large, but last night I decided to just bite the bullet and sew it. I did the muzzle first, stretched it out, pinned it on and sewed it, and it turned out fine! The ears were next (sewing the whole thing involved a few dozen trips to the mirror and back to check placement, but it was worth it), then the eyes and nose.

I think when sewing things made of bits, I get all worried, but then spend so much time checking the placement of each bit that it works out fine. Going back and forward to the mirror to check every piece was a bit of a pain, but I'm so pleased with how it turned out!

Seriously, I've been walking around the house with this hat on all last night, and the first thing I did this morning was to put it on and look at myself in the mirror. This hat makes me smile, which is what makes it so awesome! :D







I'm so excited, I can't wait till it's winter. Why does it have to be July just now *pouts pathetically and stamps foot* I want cold weather so I can wear it outside!!! :D

WIP Wednesday

This week I've been working on more than one project!! I finished last week's WIP - the lacy baktus scarf - but I still need to get pictures of it so I can write an FO post. I knit 3 rows on my willow scarf, another previous WIP Wednesday, but it's not grown enough to bother taking another picture of. Just imagine another 3 rows added onto the last pics :D

I started 2 more projects though - I seem to have a bit of a case of startitis going on, for small projects especially.

Firstly - my afterthought experiment sock.



It's just a plain 64st sock knit from the cuff down, but I'm going to put in an afterthought heel in this pair of socks. It'll be the first time I've ever done this, and I don't know if I'll like how it turns out, but if I don't it doesn't really matter. I'll wear the socks anyway, and its good to try new things once in a while. Keeps the brain fresh :)

The yarn I'm using is some kind of Opal yarn, possibly the toucan colourway, but I've lost the ballband. I got it a couple of years ago, and decided to use this one because it's the sock yarn I'm least attached to in my stash. It'll be interesting to see how those weird stripes look in a finished sock.

I've been knitting this one mostly in my bedroom, which has quite dim light, so it was surprising to take the sock into the kitchen to photograph and see all that blue! In my room, it looks gray, or even black at times!

Dim light is why I haven't finished my next project yet - my teddy bear hat.



I only have the nose and eyes to do now, but it was impossible to crochet with black yarn in my room. I just couldn't see anything, and with crochet I'm still at the stage where I need to see where I'm putting my hook all the time. So I had to put it aside last night :(

This pattern is the Teddy Bear Hat by Diane Langan. It's so cute!! I so want it for next year, so I can walk about with a teddy bear face on my head! My partner is in horror at this, it's far too weird for him, but it's my head, and I want a teddy bear face on it, dammit! :D

This is a project for the Harry Potter Knit and Crochet House Cup. I'm going to try to squish it into the Defense Aganst The Dark Arts class - reveal a truth about yourself (that I'm nuts and want a teddy bear face on my head?!) It's been in my queue for ages, so it's a good excuse to get it out of there and actually make it.

So yeah, that'll probably get finished today in the living room where there's actually some light, and the socks will just get worked on whenever I need some mindless knitting.

Some HPKCHC FOs

I rejoined the Harry Potter Knit and Crochet House Cup on Ravelry :)

I love this group, but I'd dropped out for a few "terms". Then I head Rachel on the KnitCents podcast talking about it, and it reminded me of how much I'd enjoyed it last time, so as soon as the new term was about to begin, I signed up.

In this group, they have "classes" where you get a task - kind of like an inspiration idea, some loose idea, and you craft something that's connected to that idea. This month I did Defence Against The Dark Arts, Astronomy, and Ancient Runes.

Ancient Runes: The task was to craft something that would enable or aid communication. I made some top-(fingers)-down fingerless mitts to "help keep my hands warm when I was texting or phoning my muggle friends on the tellyfone" :D





Defence Against The Dark Arts: This task was to craft something you would wear to the beach. I made a poncho/coverup using Cindy Kamps' Medallion Poncho pattern.



Astronomy: The task was to create something irregular (based on the asteroid belt) I made a cowl using chunky yarn, just going round and round in SC/DC (depending on what country you're in and what terminology you're using), and working bobbles randomly, just whenever I wanted to make one. I think the final effect turned out quite asteroid-y :D It looks quite interesting as a hat/head-covering as well as around the neck (actually I think it looks better that way!)











I turned them all in today (the last day of the month), so I could get my points for Ravenclaw. I'm in Ravenclaw, my favourite house, BTW!! Last minute as usual, it's just like when I really was at school, lol!

Crochet For Sewing

With all those cushions I've been making (see my last post), I've been having lots of pins lying around the house. I've been stabbed by the tiny little ******s so many times, while actually sewing the cushions, and just from random pins lying around. My poor hands are full of holes :(

So I decided I needed somewhere to store all these pins. They had come in a tiny little box, but they were overflowing out of that box. I've no idea how the manufacturer managed to stuff them all in there! I couldn't close the thing again without it popping open and spraying pins everywhere. So I moved them all into an empty Ferrero Rocher box (much larger and also seethrough) But there were still pins lying around from when I took them out of the fabric as I was sewing. So I decided I needed a pincushion.

I had some polyester thread in 20m wraps from a sewing kit that I'd been given. I decided to make triangles from 4 colours, and to then sew them into a pyramid. This meant I'd have less thread lying around that I probably wasn't going to use in sewing any time soon. Yay for clutter removal!! :D

I used a 1.75mm hook (so tiny!) and crocheted some triangles up. Because the thread was already measured out to be 20m, the triangles all turned out to be exactly the same size, and were easy to then crochet together and stuff. I'll be writing up a free pattern very soon :) (I have so many patterns to write out just now, I'd better get to it, eh?!)







I like this pyramid in these primary colours. It's lovely and bright and cheerful, and it means my pins aren't just dumped on the chair next to me any more!! Yay!! :D

Some Toys :D

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you're all having a lovely 2011, and that the whole year is good for you. I have plans (!) for this year, and a great big list of things to do. Not so much resolutions, as just things to get done. I've done some already, like started exercising more, and I've still got to do some, like phoning the dentist and making an appointment. I don't want to do that one, but I guess I have to. :( I also have a HUGE case of NewYearItis, and want to travel, to experience all sorts of new things, and generally get a bunch of stuff achieved. Still, one thing at a time, eh?

I've finally started taking pictures of my knitted and crocheted items from last year (one of the things on the list!) :D

I'll start off on this post with some toys that I made in December. Christmas was quite stressful, not so much for me, but it seemed that everyone around me was super-stressed, which was more what made me stressed. This year, I'm banning all mention of Christmas until December 15th at least! I was getting a bit fed up with being asked if I'd done everything. The way I figure it, I get things done when I get things done. And if they're not done, then they're not done, and I'm not going to stress out over it. Shame no-one else around me seems to have this attitude :(

So anyway, I was getting mega-annoyed with everyone and everything, so I decided to make some small toys to cheer myself up. Not as Xmas gifts or anything, just for me! I just picked some random acrylic odds and ends out of my stash, and away I went. The first one I made was this cute owl:




Pattern: "Tooley Owl pdf knitting pattern for beginners from fluff and fuzz" by Amanda Berry

This was really easy and fun to make. I glued the eyes and beak on, but I just noticed that in the sample, she's actually sewn them on. I just stuck some fabric glue on before it had been stuffed and put books on it overnight to stick them down fully, and it seems to have worked.

Next up is a couple of Super Mario toys.





Pattern: "Mario Mushroom" by Linda Potts




Pattern: "Super Mario Invincibility Star" by Marte Fagervik

I love all the Mario related knitting and crochet stuff that I see out there on the internet, and I figured it was about time to make some for myself :D

I also made an amigurumi Hello Kitty bumblebee, because I just love Hello Kitty.




Pattern: "Hello Kitty Bumble Bee" by Armina Parnagian. You can download this pattern from http://arminas-aminals.blogspot.com/ (the link is over on the right sidebar) I love all her Hello Kitty amigurumi, she designs them so cute!!! Here's my bumblebee kitty sitting with my witch kitty, also designed by Armina.



And just to cheer things up in the cold and snow, I made a crocheted sunflower!





Pattern: "Crochet Pattern - SUNFLOWER" by Sky Magenta

I don't have a particular thing for sunflowers or anything, I just thought this pattern was so cute! :D

All those toys definitely made me a bit happier in the run up to Xmas. They were all quick and easy to make, so there was that instant gratification thing that always feels so good with quick patterns. And they turned out really cute, I like them all. They're brightening up my bookshelves now, and I feel so happy when I look at them there :D

More Prizes!!

Yesterday was the local village annual show. Last year I entered my Bender toilet roll holder and won a prize. This year I decided to enter again, and won more prizes :)

I entered this bookmark that I knit just after last years show, when I first received the list of items for this year.



The pattern is the Kunststricklesezeichen Lace Bookmark by Utlinde. Here's the photo from last year :)



It's been in a book for the past year blocking out, and it seems to have opened up quite a bit since then. I was so pleased when this won first prize!

I crocheted this baby cardi (although it's a bit thick, it's more like a jacket lol!)



This is the Lazy Daises Layette Sweater from 100 Crochet Projects (this pattern designed by Michele Thompson for Coats and Clark). The pattern doesn't appear to be in Ravelry yet though. I figured it would be a fast thing to make and enter, and people are always having babies so it'll get a proper use at some point (not from me, before you get any ideas lol!). This one won third prize :) I added the flower just by crocheting a chain, then pinning it onto the front of the sweater in the flower shape, then sewing it on. I like the black on the lilac, it's quite unusual for babies, I know, but it just seemed to fit :)

I improvised a couple of designs for the show as well, this necklace:



And this robot toy:



(this is him before sewing and stuffing)



He's been named Barnabus the Robot by my friend's son. I think it suits him :) He was made for the "something made from scraps of wool" section.

These didn't win any prizes, but I think they're kind of cute anyway :) I'm thinking of writing up designs for these, but it probably won't be for a little while. Unless I go mad, and just decide to drop everything else I need to do right now. Which could happen, you never know. It does kind of tend to happen that way :)

I've got next year's list of items already, so I'd better get started on them! There's a lot of sewing in next year's list, so it'll be a good chance to get better at my sewing :)

FO: IntSweMoDo#7 Women's Weekly Jumper

This pullover is from an issue of Women's Weekly magazine. I'm not sure which issue - my mum rips all the crafty patterns out from her magazines and saves them up for when I visit her, so I get a whole bunch all in one go. This is the first one I've made. When I saw this one in the pile last time I went down to visit her, I totally loved it.

I used Stylecraft Special 4ply yarn in black, and a 3.5mm hook (I think). I started by making the size I would normally make but then it soon became apparant that it was going to be too small. So I went up a size, but I think really I could have comfortably gone up even another one. The arms are a little tight, but I'm hoping it'll stretch out a little with wear. Maybe even a larger hook would be good as well to open out the lace. I'm kind of thinking of making another one, which is why I'm going over what I would do differently :)

The pattern worked up really easily. It was only written, no charts, but it was totally easy to understand, and there were no errors at all in the size I made. It's kind of sad that the lack of errors in a pattern should be a plus, but there are so many patterns that I've made from magazines where I've had to check errata or just fudge bits because of pattern problems. This one though, was perfect. It was definitely a good experience making this pullover, and I'd definitely use another Women's Weekly pattern.

FO: IntSweMoDo#6 Lace On The Bias

I finally got pics of my FOs!! This is one of my IntSweMoDo2010 projects, so it gets a post all to itself. I've got a feeling there will be quite a few FO posts coming over the next little while ;) (I really need to get better at documenting things as I go, lol!)



Technical details:

Pattern: Lace on the Bias by Sam Shubitz from Crochet Today! magazine Jul/Aug 2010
Yarn: Stylecraft Life DK, Olive colourway

I saw this pattern on Ravelry, and favourited a few people's versions. I didn't think I'd be able to make it as I don't normally see Crochet Today magazine in the shops here, but then I went to WHSmith and there it was! Yay!! So I started it immediately :)

I used this Olive yarn as I figured it would look nice in the open lacework pattern. I'd tried to use it for a cabled vest before, but it didn't really work with my colouring as a solid fabric, so I ripped that and made this instead.

The pattern, once I got into it, was quite easy to work up. The lace pattern was easy to "read" in the fabric, so eventually I wasn't reading the chart, just the fabric. Speaking of charts, the pattern was both charted and written, which is good. The way I tend to work with crochet patterns is to try to read the written instructions as I get confused going straight into the chart. Then I use the chart to verify what's going on in the written directions. By doing it this way, I'm hoping to get better at reading crochet charts. At the moment, when I first look at a chart in a pattern, I get a bit confused with all the symbols going in different directions, even though I know technically what each symbol means by itself. I think it's mostly the placement of each stitch, where you're supposed to work into the in row before. Sometimes that isn't very clear to me in a chart, especially in a magazine where there's limited space and the chart can sometimes be a bit squished up.

This chart was pretty good though, and using both it and the written directions, it was easy to work up the vest, and it went quite quickly too. Yay for the quickness of crochet!! :D

I changed the straps, as the ones in the magazine picture looked quite thin, and like they would stretch out. I just worked 5 stitches in US double crochet back and forth until it was a suitable length, then sewed them onto the back. And this way, if they do stretch, then they're thick enough to sew some grosgrain ribbon on to strengthen them.

I'd definitely recommend this pattern. It's quick, fun, and I just love the diagonal lines in the finished item! I even like the fringe, even though the only time I usually like fringe is on bellydance outfits, not normal garments :)

Happy July :)

Hiya! I've been away from here for so long... :( I've been a bit ill for the past month or so (depression/anxiety) and just haven't been able to get focused enough to write anything. My mood always goes down in the summer, I'm sure last year I had a bit of a blip in blog-writing too. I'm so weird, everyone else goes up in summer and down in winter, I'm the reverse. Now that the summer solstice has passed, I'm feeling quite a bit better, and hopefully I'll be able to catch up on this blog and on reading everyone else's blogs. I've really missed this place, but just wasn't feeling up to being on it. I'm glad I'm back :)

It's been a whole month and a half since I last posted here!! I've been continuing to knit and crochet during my hiatus, and I learned to spin as well, so I've got tons to talk about. I finished my poncho that I talked about in my last post, so many weeks ago.



I really like it, and I'm totally converted to ponchos now! I know, they're so five years ago, but that's how I am I guess. I can never like anything at the same time as anyone else ;) I have some lovely artesano alpaca in my stash in a beautiful jade colour to make another crocheted mesh poncho - I must get a photo of it, it's a gorgeous colour, I'm very excited about it.

I've also finished a couple of projects for my IntSweMoDo2010, a pullover and a cardi at least (it's been so hard to keep track without updating this blog!), but they'll get their own special posts :)

I also made the Etain shrug from Inside Crochet Magazine #7:





I loved this pattern as soon as I saw it in the magazine! I love the way it sort of has that diagonal line at the back. I made it out of a red wool that I had (and still have tons of!) in my stash, but I want to make more of them from softer, more lovely yarns. It was a good mindless crochet project, lots of back and forth, just what I needed at that time.

I've also had a serious case of startitis during this past month and a half, and have a ton of projects in various stages of completion that need photos and blogged. But now I'm feeling like it just might be doable, and am quite excited about getting it all done. Yay for getting the longest day over and done with, my life can get back to normal now!

So, to wrap up I'm super glad to be back, and I'll be popping round all the blogs I normally read, and catching up, both there and here. See you all soon!!

Poncho, Poncho

I've been on a bit of a knitting hiatus recently, as my left index finger started hurting. I think I'd been knitting a bit too enthusiastically on first the lace stole because it was on a deadline, and then my third Tubey sweater, purely because I'm excited about it, and want it finished! But my finger started hurting, and rather than push on and risk hurting it any more, I decided to switch to crochet for a while. Thank goodness for alternating crafts! I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't craft anything!

I've been making first of all the Etain Shrug by Aoibhe Ni Shuilleabhain, from the most recent Inside Crochet magazine. I loved that shrug as soon as I saw it, and started it pretty much when I got the magazine! It's finished, but I haven't got any photos of it yet, so I'll write an FO post about it later ;)

I'm also making the Beauty in Bloom Poncho by Rachel Geller (ravelry link) This is my first poncho, and I have no idea why I'm making a poncho. I just got the irrational and insatiably urge to make this project. I had a random black yarn on a cone in my stash that I'd found in a charity shop, so I started it :)





This pattern is very interesting. You make all the flowers first, then crochet the top of the meshy part, then join the flowers individually, then do the bottom mesh part. Joining the flowers needed super concentrating powers to follow the pattern and to do it correctly. I had to rip them out 3 times. Firstly because I hadn't read the instructions on how to position them and they were all at different angles. Then I got confused twice about where to join it all together. Luckily, there's a close-up picture of the flower on the pattern, so I used that to help me get the idea. The instructions are all written out, so it can be a little confusing, but charts kind of scare me, so I don't know if I'd have even started if it was in chart form. The instructions do make sense when you figure out what's happening, but it did require a lot of thinking on my part. I'm not used to all that joining of motifs anyway, so that lack of experience contributed to my confusion too :)

The way the mesh is joined at the end of each round is super clever! You can't see the join at all, it just looks like continuous, seamless mesh. I'm seriously loving this pattern :)

I'm looking forward to doing lots of mesh crochet this evening. It's repetitive and kind of mindless, so it's lots of fun :)

Repetition

There's something very soothing about making the same pattern over and over, especially if it's something small that can be completed in a couple of hours. Then by the end of the day you've got three or four of the items. It makes you feel very productive!

There were the ruffley flowers that I wrote about last time, and I also discovered this other flower pattern: Spiral Flower Headband / Earwarmer by Shana Galbraith. I love this flower! I really like the spiralling effect of the petals. So I made 3 ;)









I think I like the orange one best, even though the purple one photographs best - I seem to be in an orange mood right now, which is strange since the colour isn't actually that flattering on me unless it's a very bright orange. Which this larger flower is, thankfully. ;)

I wanted to try the flower pattern in different colours to see what it looked like, and also because by the time the first flower was done, I felt like I was only just getting the hang of the pattern. I don't know what I'll use them for, maybe more tribal costuming. I'm still undecided on whether to make the headband as in the pattern, or to make a belt.

I also made this cute little bow!!



Actually, I made 2 of them in red, and I'm going to make many more in different colours!

I love it! It's so cute! I've been wandering around holding it up to everyone's head and giggling about how cute they look. (the bf looked surprisingly adorable, even with a grumpy, get-that-thing-away-from-me expression) In fact, I think I may have to photoshop a pic of Tupac with this bow on, Hello Kitty style ;D Stay tuned for that!

Oh, in all my raving, I almost forgot to say what pattern it is! It's the "Headband with Bow" pattern by creativeyarn . That one's a free download. It's actually super easy, and very quick to make. I used some random cotton from the stash for that, crocheting it very tightly. The yarn is a DK weight cotton, and I used a 2mm hook. Super tight!!

And, in the spirit of repetition, I cast on another Mariah cardi on Saturday. The first one, I wrote about here.



I've had this brown yarn for a while. It's an acrylic that my mum gave me, and I've been trying to figure out what it wanted to be for ages. I just couldn't think of the right pattern. I wanted something cabley, but not too cabley. I knew I wanted some sort of cardigan/jacket. And even though I've knit this pattern before, my brain just didn't register it till yesterday when I was thinking about all this repetition I've been doing recently. Suddenly it struck me that I could knit the same sweater pattern again!! Gasp!! (Seriously, it was a bit like that, strangely enough. It actually felt like a bit of a revelation that I could use this pattern instead of finding something new. Weird!)

I knit about 7" of the back on Saturday, and another 5 inches yesterday. I think I'm actually liking this yarn in the pattern a lot more than the red. This yarn's a little thicker, and it's showing off the cables beautifully. I decided to start with the back instead of the cabled sleeves as the pattern says because that felt just a little too involved last night. Ribbing and stocking stitch, I can just about handle that just now ;)