Earth Creature

I have decided to delve more into the world of improvisation. I sketched out a picture of a cute little creature and decided to try and knit it as best I could. I'm not going to post the picture of the sketch, so you will just have to believe me when I say that I did a pretty good job.



My only wish is that I had used smaller needles. When I was filling this guy with fluff, I noticed that you could see some of the stuffing between the stitches. But now I know to use smaller needles when making stuffed creature.

I plan to sell this on Etsy. I will probably actually get my store up sometime in the next few months. I have been amassing items so that when my store actually does go up, I'm selling more than just a hat.

In other news, I am currently working on two projects. One is an amigurumi octopus. He is almost done but is in need of some pipe cleaners to make his legs more twisty and fun. I have just been lazy about getting these, but hopefully I will finish him up in the next week.

My other project is Finn the Human from Adventure Time! This is another improvised design. I am currently making him for my sister, as she hinted that a stuffed Finn would be a pretty cool gift. I had to agree with her. Once I am done I will post the pattern here so everyone can have a Finn!

Different type of post

I was looking through some old pictures from my trip to France a few years ago and ran across one of my favorites from the trip. A fountain on the grounds of the palace in Fountainbleau.

My Outfit

Not doing much crafting this week, but here are some pictures of my steampunk outfit!

Steam it up!

I finally finished the shirt for my steampunk outfit! This is probably the best job I have done when it comes to sewing. There is only one real big mistake, and you cant see it.

The end of the sleeve.

I learned to use the sewing machine to make button holes! It's very handy.

I am going to a convention this next weekend and will get pictures of me in the whole get up then. I will post it soon!

I also did some leather work and spiffed up the bands on my steampunk goggles. It used to be black and blue elastic, but now it looks way better. Took pics of it on my boyfriends pop up top hat. I usually just wear these on my head.

Also, cool news! My blog has now had over 11,ooo views! Most of them are views of my Beartato and Reginald patterns from Ravelry and Crochet Patterns Central. It makes me feel cool!

Experiments

I have been recently been zooming round the internet and found a couple of different knitting tutorials for things I hadn't tried before, so decided to see what they were all about.

One was double knitting, which has always seems super helpful for making nice looking scarfs. So I gave double knitting a try. It was pretty easy, but I tended to knit a little loose. These are my results:













I also did some intarsia, which is more difficult than double knitting. I probably did a more intricate pattern for having it be my first try, but it turned out alright. One thing about intarsia that is frustrating is that there are sooooo many loose ends and bits of yarn! It's crazy! Anyways, here is my tester piece:



















The back is super messy! Not something you would want to have showing. But it was a very useful thing to learn as I have often run into issues working with multiple colors that this method would solve.

Winter Hats in Spring

I ended up making some hats just in time for 80 degree weather! Woo!
I first made the hat Long Leaves Beanie from the book "Weekend Hats". I used some Red Heart Super Tweed yarn that I had been wanting to use for quite a while. The yarn coloring made it so that the pattern didn't turn out as clear, but you can still see it. This is going to be a hat for a friend of mine, but I will probably give it to her on her birthday, or Christmas or something.

This picture was taken without flash and better shows off the pattern.

After making this hat, I was in a hat mood, so I decided to try my hand at an original hat pattern. I first made a sketch, and then tried it out with some scrap yarn.

Little practice pieces!

Then I sketched out a better pattern. It's super sloppy, but I could read it.

Then I went on the making the actual hat! I got to use a really pretty mustard yellow color (called Pea Green for some reason). Everything worked well! Though, I do have to say, that this hat contained the most annoying row I have ever had to do: cable, cable, cable, cable, k6, make bobble, k7 repeat. Blech, not fun! And I wrought it upon myself! But it was totally worth it! The hat turned out amazing! (I plan to sell this on Etsy whenever I get my store up)

I call it my "Hint of India" hat!

Taken without flash, so you can see the pattern better.

So overall it was a very successful hat week. I plan to next work on finishing my shirt for my steam punk outfit. It is so hard to go back to a project that you haven't worked on, but I would like to have it finished by the end of the month so that I can wear it to an anime convention. We shall see what happens!

Yarn Science

So, I've been thinking a lot recently about trying to dye my own yarn. I have stumbled upon quite a few sites that describe how to do it with both Kool-Aid and yarn dye. I'm thinking of purchasing some dye and dyeable yarn from Knit Picks (which is a super awesome store).
It looks like dying your own yarn involves soaking, boiling, mixing, and stirring. Basically, chemistry in your kitchen with yarn! Sounds pretty awesome to me!

Though, as much as I want to do this, I really don't need any more yarn at the moment. I have run out of storage space for all of my yarn, and have resorted to putting some of it under the couch. I figure I should probably try and use some of that up before running out and purchasing more just for fun.

But soon, soon I will experiment!

Also, I totally want this sampler from Knit Picks because OMG COLORS! But the same storage/use issues apply. Also it's over 300 dollars.