This knitted amigurumi snake is coming together quite nicely, I love the colors!
It took me a few moments to decide on the colors for my newest work in progress a knitted amigurumi snake…
And although I knew I wanted to knit something with bold colors, I had a hard time making a selection… After all, I have a lot of yarn that fits that description. After looking through my yarn stash, Which now has it’s own little closet I’m proud to say, I stumbled upon the above color combination.
My daughter says, just looking at the colors make her smile. I feel the same way.
This is the wrong side of the knitted amigurumi snake, it looks almost as nice as the outside.
The wrong side looks as pretty as the outside, so colorful! I would say, this is a perfect first project for someone wanting to make a simple knitted amigurumi project or someone who wants to use more than one color in a knitted project. The additional yarn is carried loosely up the knitted side of the project. For myself it’s a nice break from some of my elaborate projects. The pattern is called Snakes and is found in the delightful book, Knitted Wild Animals by Sarah Keene.
I must say it felt great playing with fiber. I was extremely busy, Wednesday and Thursday, and so I was unable to do so, but yesterday I had time. And although I have plenty of works in progress that are near completion I decided to cast on 30 stitches and knit this amigurumi snake.
Isn’t he cute? I took this picture of Mr. B a few moments ago.
I hope the recipient is pleased with his knitted amigurumi snake. The recipient is Mr. B, our Shih Tzu. The snake he has, I’ve had since childhood and it’s now looking quite ragged after all the attention it’s received from him. He sleeps with that snake. It gets washed weekly, and he’s not pleased when it’s taken away to be cleaned. Hopefully the new snake will be a suitable replacement. I’ll post pictures of the old snake, once I’ve completed this knitted amigurumi snake.
This weeks finished objects were made about a month ago, I just never gotten around to posting them for Finished Object Friday.
Both hats are ribbed stitch followed by rows of stockinette stitch. The purple preemie hat also has a diamond design that wraps around the hat.
These are preemie hats that will be given to a local hospital in my area. It just happens that my mother’s a nurse at that hospital too. No pattern was used. I’ll hold off donating them until I have about thirty hats. Synthetic yarn is what the hospital requires for all the crocheted and knitted preemie hats. Over the past several months I’ve gradually increased my supply of charity stash yarn. The yarns I selected are incredibly soft. All the yarns in that stash are either 100% man made fibers or a cotton/synthetic blend.
This is the Elizabeth cowl, you can find the pattern in Wendy Knits Lace. This cowl was simple to make. It’s squishy soft! I still haven’t decided who’ll get this as a Christmas gift.
Say hello to my knitted Elizabeth cowl. I still need to block this cowl. I found this knitted cowl in the book Wendy Knits Lace. It’s the first time that I ever made a lace project with worsted weight yarn. For some reason I was thinking that title belonged to my Diamonds and Pearls shawl, but obviously I was wrong since I’m still working on that shawl.
This cowl is tucked away in my gift bin. I only make items for those that are craft worthy. Currently I’m unsure of who will be receiving this as a Christmas gift. Decisions, decisions… But, the good news is that most of my handcrafted Christmas gifts (crocheted, embroidery, knitting, and sewing) are almost complete. Yeah! I started working on my Christmas list in April.
Today has been busy, yesterday was busy too. In fact I didn’t touch my crochet or knitting. I haven’t had a chance to do any today also.
After my clients work was complete, I knew it was time to make dinner. I could have easily prepared finger foods such as sandwiches, salads, or a filling soup but I decided to make vegetable fried rice.
We haven’t had vegetable fried rice in several weeks. It’s a dish that we love, and I had tons of produce from our garden, that were simply begging to be added to something. Besides, I wanted an excuse to play with my wok. My wok, has been getting a serious workout, ever since I found it again. I prepared it in that. For some reason, my stir fry always seemed to taste better in there. Sort of like how food seems to taste better on a wood stove…
My daughter had two bowls of this vegetable fried rice.
If I had company I would have made a lovely presentation, but since it was just my daughter and I was tired, I nixed that idea. 🙂
My nine-year old daughter helped prepare the meal. She’s already a fine cook, and will be well prepared when she ventures out on her own. The main ingredients used with this vegetable fried rice were brown rice, cabbage, and carrots. Sauteed red onions, garlic, and ginger, were included. I set some aside for myself. Afterwards, I cooked an egg in the wok, chopped and mixed with the other ingredients.
I did things a bit differently and made a sweet and sour sauce that was added to the vegetable fried rice. I didn’t use a recipe — I never do, I use whatever inspires me. The end result is it tasted great! My daughter ate two plates of the vegetable fried rice. What’s even better is that there’s leftovers!
In our household the only thing we drink is water, fruit juice, vegetable juice, and tea. I made a mango berry smoothie to accompany this meal, my daughter loved that too.
Now comes my favorite time of day, hanging with my daughter… and perhaps I’ll actually be able to work on some knitting.
Okra and Scallop squash (aka patty pan squash) freshly picked from our garden
My favorite way to eat it okra is raw, freshly picked off the vine. Before the okra appears, its bush produces gorgeous flowers. The bees love them, and our okra rows are a popular hangout in our garden.
Scallop squash, also known as patty pan squash, is another vegetable I like. It’s a summer squash that has a lovely scalloped edge. I use them in a lot of recipes, but today I chose to include them in the fried dish I made.
We don’t eat too much fried foods in our house, since we prefer baked, stir fry, or raw dishes. But once in a while, fried food is acceptable for us.
Frying garlic and sage leaves in my wok. Delicately fried sage leaves can add additional flavor to a variety of dishes such as burgers, casseroles, or even a stir fry.
Recently Suituapui wrote about a meal he prepared with his wok… I commented about the much loved wok I’d used constantly but had set aside since we purchased a smooth top stove years ago. I was afraid my wok would damage the stoves surface.
All this time I thought it had been stashed away in our shed. But, last week I discovered my hand-hammered wok, when I opened up one of my rarely used kitchen drawers.
Of course I was pleased when I found out, it was perfectly fine on our smooth top stove. It was like reuniting with a long lost old friend. You see… I’ve had this wok for over twenty years. Back then, most of my meals were cooked with this wok, I really love it. In fact, I brought it to the university I attended, and cooked many meals on it for myself and friends.
I fried the okra and scallop squash separately.
Today, it did a great job of preparing the simple but delicious dish of fried okra and scallop squash. Because of some of our garden herbs and additional seasonings that I used, my daughter thought the fried scallop squash was actually chicken fingers. I’d made a honey ginger sauce for dipping, and it complimented the fried okra and scallop squash nicely. And to drink, there was peach berry smoothie I made earlier today. I’ll try to post pictures of that within the next few days.
I’ve been craving fried okra ever since Amanda, of Monkeys are My Friends, blogged about fried okra on her site. Mission accomplished, craving satisfied!
This week, my biggest work in progress is teaching my daughter to crochet. I mainly knit, but I relearned crochet this past December, and I love it too.
My daughter crocheting a square
Earlier this year, my daughter expressed interest in learning crochet. She didn’t stick with it after learning the simple chain and single crochet, and I didn’t push. She wasn’t ready and immediately went back to her comfort zone, sewing. She’s been sewing for three years; she’s nine-years old.
This time is different, she’s determined to learn crochet, and I believe her. I know my daughter well enough to know when she’s ready to master something, and so I’ll be there to gently coax her along if she gets frustrated. She told me that after she masters crochet, she wants to learn knitting.
My daughter’s busy hands…
The crochet and knitted amigurumi dolls that I’ve made are the main reason she wants to learn. She’s seen how much fun I have turning my sketches into a lovely fiber art, and she wants design her own. She designs most of the clothing for her Monster High dolls. Occasionally, she’ll ask me to design outfits for them.
Last evening, I had her working on a simple crocheted square, and she did well. I told her initially, her crochet might not look as she’d like, and that was fine. If she persevered, crochet would become much easier, and eventually she’d be able to make whatever she likes.
Another crocheted amigurumi doll
I need some clothes!
This past Friday, I started crocheting this amigurumi doll. I didn’t use a pattern. This doll is for my daughter’s best friend, and while we gave her some lovely presents at her Girlee Gurlz birthday party, in the back of my mind, I wanted to give her more.. so this will be an extra gift.
It’s time to sew everything together, embroider the face, and root the hair.
Knitted amigurumi doll
Yesterday, I finished knitting the legs for this knitted amigurumi doll, and last evening I sewed the seams. There are a few firsts going on here…. You see, it’s my first time knitting an amigurumi doll, and it’s also my first time making a non-fabric doll with seams. With crochet I’ve always made dolls in the round. With the next doll I knit, I’ll knit in the round too, with my circular needles.
Knitted robe for amigurumi doll
This picture didn’t do a great job of showing that the collar is a different color, it’s dusky rose.
This is the robe I’m knitting for the knitted amigurumi doll. I’m using a seed stitch. Once this is complete I’ll add embroidery, and most likely line the robe. The book you see in the background, The Very Easy Guide to Lace Knitting has some lovely lace trim pattern and I’ll be using some of those as a gift to a friend. I know she’ll adore the hand-knitted lace trim.
Knitting: Diamonds and Pearls Shawl
I only managed a few rows of this shawl, hopefully I can complete this shawl soon.
And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.
Psalms 19:1
Sometimes bumblebees get caught in our Daturas….
While walking Mr. Bentley, our Shih Tzu, I took these pictures from our yard. Besides the recent post about the birthday party my daughter attended, It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything non fiber related, right? I’m thinking, it’s time I post photos of something else…
It seems as if it was harder for me to relearn crochet, than it was to learn to knit when I was eight-years old… It took me a while to manage to have even crochet stitches, but I didn’t give up, I kept moving. During the process of relearning crochet, I refused to touch knitting for about five months. I found it helpful to do this, since I wasn’t automatically running back to my (knitting) comfort zone when I encountered a new technique. I kept practicing until I got it right. I follow that motto with everything…
This crocheted amigurumi doll needs some clothes!
Using my own amigurumi pattern
If you look at my crocheted amigurumi Coraline post, you might notice that these crocheted dolls are similar, but not the same. With this crocheted amigurumi doll, I didn’t follow another designers pattern. This doll isn’t as slender as Coraline. Also, the head, torso, and limbs were created differently… I modeled this amigurumi doll after a plastic doll I had when I was a child. If I dig around, I might find it in my daughter’s doll collection.
Since I’ve always enjoyed creating my own designs, so I had fun playing with this crocheted amigurumi doll project. I still have a lot to improve, but I’m pleased with the direction of my crocheted amigurumi dolls. Eventually I’ll write a pattern, and perhaps put out a call for pattern testers, before I present the crocheted doll pattern as a downloadable file. I definitely won’t be calling it a Coraline doll pattern.
Fun with Hair rooting
I’m really having fun crocheting this doll for my daughter’s best friend. Her friend, birthday girl from yesterday, was really drawn to my daughter’s crocheted Coraline doll. The last time she was over for a play date, my daughter said she held her Coraline almost the entire time of the play date. My daughter went on to say, that she politely asked her if she could have Coraline. Just as politely my daughter said, No! Her friend really loved the rooted hair, it’s a technique I’ve used for over twenty years.
With my daughter’s doll, it took over two hours to complete the hair rooting. I did a lot, and tried to make it as natural as possible. Hair rooting is nothing new, people have been using it on cloth dolls for years. It looks similar to the hair rooting you see on dolls not made from cloth.
I must say, it felt great that she liked something I made enough to have one of her own, and so I knew I’d eventually make her a doll. After all, she’s fiber worthy! I’ve made her items before, and she has taken care of them.
Ideas abound while playing with fiber…
I started crocheting this amigurumi doll on Friday, the day before the party. And you know what? She would have been ready in time to wrap her up and sent with the other gifts… But, as with any of my projects, I had additional ideas, so this wasn’t included with those gifts. I’ll be knitting her a pair of boots, a raincoat, and the pants will be knitted too… I have an idea for a different type of messenger bag, and so I’ll be sketching out a few designs, after I return from our Lutheran church today.
And this is why I rarely make items for anyone at the last minute! Because while making an item, I do get inspired. Regardless of what fiber art I’m working with, I always want to add a “little something else”.
Crocheted amigurumi doll; it’s time to add the facial features and navel.
Breaking into my Caron Simply soft stash
You can see in the above picture, that I broke into my Caron Simply Soft stash to make this crocheted amigurumi. Almost three months ago, I found peach and oatmeal colored Caron Simply soft yarn on sale for $2.00 apiece, and while initially I was conservative with my purchase, I went back and bought them out. I’m so glad I did, these have come in handy for my amigurumi projects. When I make items for kids, those that are sensitive to animal fibers, or people that I know don’t want to be bothered with special care instructions, I always chose yarn that you can simply toss into the washer/dryer.
My daughter’s friend will receive this gift from us sometime this week. We’ll include a nice note to accompany her, wrap her up nicely, and mail her off… even though she lives about twenty minutes away from us. My daughter loves receiving items in the mail, and I assume her best friend might like it also.
