Despite my love for all things fiber; fabric or yarn, I rarely purchase items on a whim. I need a place to live, right? Based on my recent “crochet amigurumi” posts that might not be possible if I go on a yarn binge…
After church yesterday, my daughter, and stopped by Michael’s. We browsed for a few moments, before I purchased embroidery floss. When I got home, I had a chance to get a good look at it; this floss is dull not glossy. I can’t use this floss. Since I haven’t opened the floss, returning the items shouldn’t be an issue.
I’m fond of DMC embroidery floss, and have been using it for about 25 years. I do test out other brands, but DMC is my favorite.
Although I know I can use other store coupons at Michael’s, I do believe I’ll pop into AC Moore. Why? It’s been years since I’ve been in the store, and I want to check out their selection of yarn…
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I normally use the cheaper acrylic yarns when I’m working on “test projects.” Acrylics have come a long way and work up quite nicely in completed objects. Also, there are several reasons why some would choose acrylic over others; allergic to animal fiber, vegan, and cost, are a few reasons. I use all types of yarn, but I don’t mind working with acrylic.
Speaking of test projects…
I’ve only participated in one crochet pattern testing (thus far) I frequently create my own patterns for projects. Which isn’t surprising, since I’ve done the same with cooking, jewelry making, knitting, and sewing? While I appreciate an occasional pattern, I do enjoy creating my own too. I’m sure as with my other crafting projects, once I get to a certain level with my crochet, I won’t use patterns as much… But as with my other hobbies, I’ll still follow those that I like, since I’m also inspired by others creativity.
And sometimes… ‘l’ll take bits and pieces from other designs and create my own.
In other news…
I’m happy to see that Nicole is back online. I recently discovered her site, and have been enjoying her crochet and knitting adventures. Welcome back, Nicole… you were missed.
It seems she’s created a play, and has given me (and her grandparents) tickets to the upcoming attraction. Which will be held this Saturday. My daughter has quite the imagination, and it’s something I’ve encouraged her to develop at a young age.
At the age of four, I’d regularly alternate between reading stories with her, and having something I called “creative story telling.” During creative story telling, the story teller was given two topics, and we’d have to create a story from that. The topics could be about anything. My daughter generally gives me generic or obscure topics (one time she asked me to write a story about banana and pink) and expected me to start creating a story as soon as she revealed them.
My stories are usually dark…
Edgar Allen Poe and Stephen King both were big influences on me as a child. Partly because I was drawn to sinister tales, and I do enjoy their writing style. By the time I was nine, I’d read all of Poe’s writings. I can still think of how my mother would tried to suppress my desire for these books, by monitoring what I got from the library. That didn’t work too well. My father had the complete collection of Edgar Allen Poe, and he wouldn’t take those away from me.
Initially, in our storytelling, I changed my stories, they weren’t as grim, although elements of my style could be found within the story if you paid attention, but I modified them a lot/ Because I knew they’d be too scary for her. Trust me, I know, I told her one after she’d begged and although she liked it, it scared her a bit.
initially I was the main one weaving stories from the two topics. However, in those early days, I’d draw my daughter into the story, by asking her opinion on what should happen, and eventually asking her to continue. When she’d stumble, I’d offer suggestions familiar to her, and sit back and listen as she’d take off; occasionally I’d give her helpful suggestions, and I always praised her efforts. As her confidence grew, she no longer needed me to assist. She would make up a story as soon as she knew the topics.
I must say it’s nice to see my daughters writing get to the point where she’s actually writing plays. It’s not the first one I’ve had the honor of attending either, and hopefully it won’t be the last. Although I wasn’t expecting this additional mother day gift, I must say I’m thrilled. It’s so nice to see her take advantage of her God given talents
These days my daughter likes my darker tales, and begs me to tell them. Currently I’m working on a series with her, and writing down what I’ve told her immediately after she falls asleep. My daughter becomes animated while writing her stories, as she told me, “It’s as if I’m actually living it, mommy.” I know what she means; I feel the same way when I’m creating stories.
But back to Mother’s day…
Giving gifts from my stash of crocheted items
You know… I almost forgot one mother, and that was my daughter’s piano teacher. Whoops!
Fortunately, I have crocheted several items over the past month or so, and a few items I’d made with her in mind. These items; kindle covers, phone cases, facial scrubbies, and additional bookmarks. Were made without patterns. Well, I take that back, these patterns came from my head. In fact, with a few I’d drawn out sketches, and just followed those to make my “pattern”. I didn’t frog (rip out) these crocheted items, since by the time I made these items, I wasn’t making mistakes with my finished crocheted projects. I’m very critical of myself. Much harder on myself than others are if I’m to be honest, so I knew I wouldn’t be ashamed to give my crocheted items to others.
I made another mothers day present for my mother…
This afternoon, when my daughter, and I returned inside from being outdoors. I thought of an additional present I could give my mother, and so I took out one of my crochet hooks, and made her a phone cover for her android phone. She recently got a smart phone, and hasn’t purchased a phone cover for it; now she doesn’t have too. I used the star stitch. I’m a fast crocheter, and before long I had completed the crocheted phone cover. I didn’t take a picture before I gave it to her, but I’ll be making more in this way, since it turned out so nicely.
You know what I’ve been thinking about? Knitting, mainly so I can make the teeny tiny sweater from Coraline the movie. But, I’m still having a lot of fun with crochet, and my knitting needles are set to the side collecting dust.
Why should I knit? I know how to do it, and do it well. Crochet is the new craft, so I’m devoting my free time and energy to that. There will be plenty of time to pick up my knitting needles again. Which will most likely happen when autumn is on the horizon, after all I still have a gorgeous cardigan that I want to knit, and few knitted socks that I want to make for myself and others….
I normally use acrylic yarns for testing new crochet and knitting projects…
The yarn is usually cheaper, which means I’m not as concerned about damaging the yarn, if I have to rip out the stitches. Over the years, acrylic has changed a lot, and giving the buyer a huge array of choices.
I only use acrylic, bamboo, or cotton blends yarns for my vegan friends.; I’m vegan too, and although I will crochet and knit items that aren’t, when it comes to making things for myself. I make sure its vegan.
But even if I weren’t vegan, I’d still only wear fibers that weren’t created from animals. Why? Animal fibers such as wool, mohair, and cashmere, make me itch like crazy! I have no problem crocheting or knitting with those fibers; I just can’t wear it near my skin.
After dropping off my daughter at school, I returned one skien of yarn at my local WalMart. While there I had a nice discussion with the customer service employee who took my return. We got on the subject of crocheting and knitting hats, and she talked about the different ways she creates hers. Thanks for the tips!
After our chat, I decided to take a stroll back to the craft area to see what they had. Uhm, I wasn’t planning on buying anything. /whistles innocently
And what did I see? Caron SimplySoft yarn. 6oz of the Lt. Country Peach was priced at $1.00 apiece, so why did I only purchase two? I must be insane!
These will work nicely for my paler complexioned amigurumi crochet dolls. If only, I could find appropriate caramel and chocolate tone yarn for some darker amigurumi dolls. I can also see myself using this yarn to make baby afghans for our church. Our Lutheran church has a ministry that gives crocheted afghans to church members babies that are getting baptized. The afghans are crocheted by volunteers within the church. While our church does a lot of outreach work; homeless shelter, food pantry, quilts created for those in underdeveloped countries, we have numerous ministries that look after our own too.
Ok, let’s ignore the fact that I disobeyed my no more yarn for a while shall we?
I only spent $2.12! In all seriousness, even when I was purchasing a lot of yarn. You know to build up my stash while I was learning crochet? I didn’t spend a lot on it; I had a budget and stuck to it. The only time I purchased yarn, was when it was on sale. Partly because I was new to crochet, and didn’t want to waste money purchasing yarn that I might mess up while learning to crochet. But it’s a habit that has stuck.
You know, I really should have purchased more than two skiens…
This week is flying by, hard to believe its Wednesday already. Not too many work in progresses to show today, that’s because most of my projects are complete!
Hopefully, I’ll be able to feature them and my amigurumi Coraline in Finished Object Friday. I’ve missed the past two.
But, back to Work in progress Wednesday…
Coraline is one of my favorite books by Neil Gamon…
By the time I discovered Coraline, I’d already read numerous books by Neil Neverwhere, MirrorMask, American Gods, Angels & Visitations… are just a few that I read. I love his writing style, and although Coraline is considered a children’s book, the dark plot kept me hooked, so much so that I finished it in one sitting. That’s not the first time I’ve done that with one of Neil Gamon’s books.
Towards the end of last week, I did a search for amigurumi and Coraline. Makes sense, right? I’ve only been making a ton of amigurumis over the past few weeks. Might as well start checking out amigurumis based on some of my favorite book and gaming characters, right? My search led me to Sharon Ojala’s lovely site, and her crocheted amigurumi Coraline. More on Sharon, including links to her free patterns, at the end of this post…
I really loved Sharon’s Coraline, and started making my own… uhm well my daughter’s amigurumi Coraline towards the end of last week. I wanted to deviate from the free Coraline pattern, but my daughter requested it be similar to Ms. Sharon’s, ok I can do that…
Since my daughter was enamored by the Coraline she saw, I dug up my worn copy of Coraline and gave it to my daughter to read. She loves the book, and has almost finished reading it. Since she started reading it, she now carries the unfinished Coraline with her, when I’m not working on it.
I was really excited about starting this amigurumi project, making amigurumi animals, isn’t new to me, but I am new to making amigurumi dolls. Because of that, I’m having fun making Coraline. To be honest, I could have had this doll finished a lot sooner, but I’m taking my time with her, savoring the experience, and learning some brand-new techniques such as crocheting the legs in a different way than I’m used to, and crocheting actual fingers!
Thus far, my favorite part has been creating the face, and rooting her hair. I’ve done plenty of hair rooting, but this is my first time to hair root an amigurumi doll.
And here’s a closeup of Coraline. I wanted to embroider the eyes, but my daughter wanted buttons, and so buttons it is.
Coraline is almost finished. Coraline’s hair needs to be trimmed, and I need to complete her legs, boots, and create the arms, and fingers. I’m looking forward to crochet fingers, since I’ve never done that before.
Hopefully I’ll have this completed by Friday, perfect timing for us to watch Coraline the movie, again! Yesterday, my daughter was sick, so she stayed home from school. We watched the movie, instead of waiting until Friday.
Will I make another Coraline? Of course, I adored the book, and have had fun creating the first Coraline for my daughter, but I want one for myself.
With my crocheted Coraline, I’ll be making some modifications with the Coraline I create; different hair, outfit, facial expression, I’m looking forward to making one for myself.
Where can I get the free pattern for amigurumi Coraline?
This pattern is a free design by Sharon Ojalo, if you haven’t checked out her website, Homemade Obsessions, you should. Sharon’s extremely talented, and friendly. I’ve enjoyed chatting with her via Facebook. In addition to the free amigurumi pattern for Coraline (which also has a video tutorial) Sharon also has numerous other free amigurumi crochet patterns, so stop on by her site, and check out what check out her amigurumi patterns.
Shortly after I started crocheting I joined the Free Pattern Testing group on Ravelry. Of course, I wasn’t planning to do anything with it at the time, but I did want to stay in the loop with the designers. Here’s what users see on that forum…
This group is for helping budding designers and willing testers to come together and help each other in an open barter system. Testers get the benefit of getting free patterns and designers get the benefit of free testing.
What a perfect way to keep tabs on budding designers, by hanging out in the pattern testing forum, right?
But back to my first pattern testing project..
Not only was this my first time testing a crochet pattern… It’s also my first time using a super bulky yarn for an amigurumi project and creating a hat this way. I thought, this could be interesting…
What’s great, is the pattern turned out how it should.
Here’s the thing… If I’d tried this pattern a few months ago, parts of it, would have been a bit confusing. Why? What’s obvious to someone whos experienced, won’t be obvious to someone who’s either new to reading patterns or brand-new to the craft.
Part of being a pattern tester is alerting the designer of mistakes, and perhaps offer suggestions to make the pattern more readable.
When I sent my survey questions, I mentioned that it might be a good idea to explain parts of the patter better. My reasoning was that people new to patterns or crochet, might not understand some of the vague terms. I also gave suggestions. With those changes, I believe the pattern can be created by most of your newer crocheters.
Guess what? I’m still new to crochet. It’s only been about five months now, but I have learned a lot, crocheted numerous projects, devoured forums, and literally hundreds of crochet videos, so I have indeed come a long way with crochet. The beauty is, there’s still so much more to learn!
Initially, some crochet patterns were quite frustrating since the details were vague. I had to do internet searches to find out what they were talking about, because the designer assumed the user would be able to interpret those vague instructions; not so…
I ended the email, by thanking the designer for allowing me to try out her pattern. I also told her that my daughter has now claimed this Cuttersaur for her own. Which is true. My daughter has named it “Mob” (why I have no idea) and has it perched on her nightstand.
Ravelry users can check out her patterns by clicking on Babbling Bats designs. She only has three patterns listed. Perhaps she’s a new pattern designer? You can also follow her blog. She writes about cooking, crafts, and freelance writing.
Will I use this crochet pattern again?
I most likely will make this pattern again, with modifications. I’ll use a worsted yarn; possibly a furry yarn? I’ll also embroider the eyes. I wanted to embroider these, but due to the super bulky yarn, it was slightly difficult.
The bottom line, testing a crochet pattern was a good experience; even if I were a bit frustrated with using super bulky yarn… initially. I love my worsted yarns for my amigurumi projects. More important, the crochet designer did a great job responding to people through her pattern testing thread. I appreciated that.
Oh by the way, the scarf wasn’t part of the pattern, I decided a teeny tiny swirly twirly scarf was in order for this little critter, and decided to whip one up quickly to accompany this little amigurumi. I also decided to weave yarn into the hat, and tie it into a bow. My daughter loves bows.
Mommy, will you order Coraline from the library, please?”
Is what my daughter asked me yesterday.
If I’d thought about it, I wouldn’t have told her I ordered it from Blockbuster video, and let it be a surprise for this Friday.
Movies aren’t allowed during weekdays, since she’s still in school.
When I’m not working on the crocheted Coraline amigurumi, my daughter has been carrying it around. I was able to find my well-worn copy of Coraline, and she’s been devouring it, during her spare time.
The crocheted Coraline doll is about 65% completed. I still have to finish the legs, create the boots, arms, and fingers. Oh, and I must trim Coraline’s hair…
But Coraline’s starting to come together, and my daughter is excited by her progress; and so am I.
Although I don’t watch too many movies, part of my fascination has always been checking out the behind the scenes clips of the effort made to bring a movie together…
There’s so many people behind the scenes that are needed to make these movies happen. I don’t forget about them…
And for the past few days I’ve been watching a few Coraline movie clips on YouTube.
Costumes in movies have always appealed to me, perhaps because I’ve designed clothing (on a much smaller scale; of course). But I’m aware of the amount of time that can go into creating the “perfect costume.”
I really enjoyed Coraline, in book form, and would be disappointed if it were drastically changed to make it “appealing” to a larger audience.
Regardless, I’m looking forward to watching Coraline the movie at the house. And for once, my hooks will be set to the side, so my full attention can be given to the movie.
Perhaps I’m dating myself with the above title, but it’s true…
My crochet skill has come a long way, and that makes me feel great!
I started crocheting in December 2011, it didn’t come easily for me. That was frustrating. With crafts picking up a new hobby (sewing, cross-stitch, knitting, jewelry making) has always been easy, so going full speed ahead was rarely an issue.
Not so with crochet…
My first few weeks of crochet were frustrating!I was struggling with the hand placement, my single crochet stitches were too tight, or too loose! sighs
There were many occasions when I wanted to pull out my dreadlocks, or just abandon crochet, and I did for a few days, but I always returned. I’m stubborn after all, also I had inspiration from gorgeous crochet creations I’ve seen, and the helpful crochet video tutorials made those first weeks a bit easier. But I’m persistent, and kept practicing, and in time my crochet improved.
Amigurumi crochet octopus
Now I’m at the point where I can make quick crochet projects such as this amigurumi crochet octopus above. It took about thirty minutes to make. My daughter was thrilled, when she awoke this morning, and saw this amigurumi.
I attached it to her backpacks zipper, using a simple chain stitch, I then added slipstitched that entire row; to make it sturdy.
The facial expressions were embroidered before stuffing the amigurumi crochet octopus. I didn’t use a pattern, I’ve seen many pictures of these adorable critters and decided to create my own.
I still have a long way to go; after all there’s seems to be hundreds of crochet stitches to learn; and yes some of the new stitches I’m learning now. Like the shell stitch and broomstick lace…
If you’re new to crochet, don’t get discouraged, keep practicing, if you know someone who crochets, ask them for pointers, or check out videos on how to crochet. The videos I link to in my how to crochet post, were the ones I used when learning how to crochet. I enjoyed the fact, that Teresa does part of each video in slow-motion; perfect when learning something new.
You’ve come long way baby, was an ad campaign for Virginia Slims cigarettes. It was created by the Phillip Morris company. It began in the late 1960s, and I believe it continued into the 1980s.
I (vaguely) remember seeing the ads in magazines during the late 1970s. The target group was young was professional women. Although I’ve never smoked cigarettes, I remember that slogan.
