Category: Crochet

Crochet: I love this floral granny square afghan

Aynaria 8 Comments

Home Garden Flower Afghan

I’ve been working on a Yo-yo flower afghan for the past few months, but I’ve avoided crocheting granny square afghans…

Most of the ones I’ve seen, have looked nice but I wasn’t interested in making those. I wanted an afghan with lots of flowers, and the look I wanted… well, I wasn’t seeing.

I eventually knew I’d see a granny square afghan pattern that would be saying, “Come on Opal, crochet me!”

Well that’s happened…

A few days ago, Pammy posted this crocheted floral afghan on her site Scotty’s Place. I think it’s gorgeous. Look at all those flowers! We have a large and small flower gardens scattered around our property. So yes… it’s safe to say that I adore flowers.

I believe this week, I’ll learn how to make granny squares. Pammy was kind enough to send me a video tutorial of the joining method, and there’s always YouTube if I run into any issues. And… my mom is the queen of afghan making. So I should be set, right?

This week I’ll start on a small granny square project. Perhaps a granny square pillow?

Next, I’ll have to decide on the color scheme for this afghan. My colors will differ from the ones pictured in this photo. After that’s sorted, I’ll head to my local yarn store and purchase  the required yarn for the afghan. I’m actually excited about this crochet project. It should keep me occupied for a while.

Initially, I was trying to decide who should I give the completed floral afghan too? But, the more I think about it… I believe I’ll keep the first one. It most likely will grace my daughter’s bed. She loves bright colors as much as myself, so there’ll be plenty of those colors on display with the first afghan.

The second one I crochet will be gifted to someone special. I just don’t know who will be the lucky recipient…

Photo Source: Scotty’s Place 

Amigurumi Coraline; work in progress wednesday

Aynaria 27 Comments

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.

Amigurumi crochet Coraline daughter book

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.

Amigurumi crochet Coraline 2 05 09 12

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.

Sites I’m linking too

  1. Tami Amis WIP
  2. Yarn Along
  3. Frontier Dreams
  4. Crochet Addicts CFS
  5. The Crochet Way

Pattern Testing; Cuttersaur is complete

Aynaria 4 Comments

About a week ago, I mentioned that I was testing a crochet pattern.

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.

Pattern Testing Cuttersaur 1

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.

Pattern Testing Cuttersaur 2

 

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.

Crochet Amigurumi: Coraline update

Aynaria 5 Comments

The Other Mother Coraline

The Other Mother, is a character that I’ve enjoyed in Coraline, sometimes I forget and refer to the book as “The Other Mother,” since that character was seared into my brain.

Over time, Coraline and The Other Mother have occasionally swapped roles when it comes to my favorite character from Neil Gamon’s book… The Other Mother was a bit off the rails with her approach, and she’s definitely evil, but even with those glaring flaws, I found her appealing.

With my old site; VeganMomma. I knew a blogger who went by the same name; The Other Mother. Of course… she was also a Neil Gamon fan, and as I recall, it’s something I asked when I first made a comment at her virtual home. By that time, I’d read many of Neil Gamon’s books. And so began our online friendship.  We visited one another’s blog, chatted via email, and clued each other on various authors during the time we corresponded; but that came to a halt, and I never knew what happened to her.

I wish I could remember her real name, but I can’t. I do know she lived in New Orleans, and I know her blog became silent shortly before Hurricane Katrina swept through Louisiana.

Whenever I think of  the book Coraline, or the character, The Other Mother, I do think of my blogging pal and wonder if she, her son, and her husband are fine. Some didn’t survive.

Amigurumi Crochet Coraline unfinished face 2

Crochet Coraline head

This afternoon, I had a chance to work on my amigurumi crochet Coraline; I didn’t get to improvise as I’d like, since the first Coraline that I’m crocheting, is being made for my daughter.  “Mommy, I want you make it just like Ms. Sharon’s!”

As mentioned in my earlier post, Sharon Ojala of Homemade Obsessions is the one who created this free pattern. So yes, with this first crocheted Coraline, there won’t be too much deviation.

I’ve always liked to root dolls hair, but this is my first time rooting a crochet amigurumi doll. The technique used is similar to what I’ve done in the past. I used a crochet hook to attach the “hair aka yarn.”

Amigurumi Crochet Coraline unfinished face 1

Crocheted Coraline: rooting Coraline’s hair

The face, is always the fun part for me, because I get to add a bit of personality to my crochet amigurumis through their facial expressions.

I really enjoyed embroidering the eyebrows and the nose.

It’s a shame you can’t really see the detail of the nose. I worked on that to make it look like a normal nose. I wanted to embroider Coraline’s eyes, but my daughter wanted them to be, “just like the pattern!”  So we used buttons. No worries, I’ll be making my own crochet Coraline, very soon.

Next up is embroidering the mouth, I’ll print out a few photos taken from Coraline the movie, and see whether any additional features need to be added before I start stuffing Coraline’s head.

Resource: Free coraline crochet pattern by Sharon Ojala of Homemade Obsessions

Yeah! Crocheted bookworm bookmarks were a hit

Aynaria 4 Comments

Today, was “Mom’s day” at my daughter’s Lutheran school. Mothers, were invited to stop by for 45 minutes to attend their children’s class. Of course, I stopped by. I always do… but today was different, I came bearing gifts, simple to make but so cute; bookworm bookmarks.

Crocheted bookworm bookmarks

The crocheted bookworm bookmarks were featured in my works in progress from last week; it was nice to hear the excited outbursts of the children, when my daughter’s teacher showed them to the rest of the class. However due to the fact that it was near the end of the day, she told them they would be able to choose their bookmarks tomorrow.

There’s 15 children in my daughter’s third grade class, I made enough that they can choose two. I already know that several of them like to read How cool is that. I’m just happy that I am able to share some of my crafts with others.

Acts 20:35

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

35 In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

I’ve always enjoyed sharing with others, I must say I had some excellent role models, my parents did a lot of sharing when my brother and I were growing up, often to complete strangers in need.

Those acts of kindness left an impact on myself, and throughout my life it’s inspired me to share with others.

Work In Progress Wednesday: Crochet Amigurumis; Bunnies and Monsters… oh my!

Aynaria 9 Comments

When it comes to crafts, it seems that I always have some type of Work in Progress…

Judging by todays works in progress it’s obvious that I’m on an amigurumi kick, but can you blame me? These crochet amigurimis are so adorable.

Crochet Amigurumi Bunny 1 Crochet Amigurumi Bunny 2

Crocheted Amigurumi bunny

The bunny, the bunny, oh I ate the bunny…. I must get that Veggie Tales song out of my head! This amigurumi bunny is almost done. I still need to crochet another foot, and a tail, and perhaps add a prop or two? I must say, I’ve received a ton of ideas while crocheting this adorable critter. For future crochet amigurumi bunnies, I’m going to make some of them a bit bigger, and perhaps  bring some of my morbid drawings to life through my crochet amigurumis. The pattern I’m using is the free Crochet Spring Bunny pattern, which can be found at CraftZine. Since I wanted a larger rabbit, I used a larger hook, than what the pattern suggested. The next one I’ll use a smaller hook, and perhaps I’ll crochet that one in pink. Amigurumi balls Monster

Crocheted Amigurumi monsters

A few days ago, I posted this little guy. He’s my my first amigurumi monster. Since the original post, I haven’t had a chance to do anything with him.  I decided to make his eyes in two different colors. To add to the wierdness, I made his red eye point downwards. His companions still need faces added; I’m still unsure if I want them to be monsters or crocheted animals. Personally, I think this crochet amigurumi monster is too adorable to be scary, but don’t tell him that! He truly believes that he strikes fear in all the crochet amigurumis, yes even the aminekos! This little critter, which my eight-year old daughter has called ‘ole slewfoot’ , has been demanding a prop, once I crochet that, he’ll be complete. I’ve really am enjoying creating these tiny crochet amigurumis, although small, some of them have taken some time to create. If you notice, they all have crochet amigurumi eyes and their features are embroidered. It’s not that I don’t like using other things, I do, but I’m having fun playing with crochet and embroidery… As a child, and well into my twenties, I did a lot of elaborate embroidery work, some of the pieces were from a pattern, but many were my own designs. In fact, I still have my first serious embroidery piece; it’s the first afghan I embroidered, and it took over a year to make. I spent time on that project weekly. While the embroidery on these amigurumis is simple, it still feels great getting back into a craft I adored. It feels like I’m reuniting with an old friend. I’m looking to incorporate embroidery into some of my crochet projects. I’m not sure if I’ll get these projects completed this week. I still have a few clients projects that need to be finished, then there’s the garden, and of course hanging out with my eight-year old, but I’ll try. Planting season is in full swing, which means my “free time” is now spent gardening. Hopefully I’ll be able to complete my aminekos in time for Finished Object Friday.

Sites I’m linking too

  1. Tami Amis WIP
  2. Yarn Along
  3. Frontier Dreams
  4. Crochet Addicts CFS
  5. The Crochet Way

It’s official, I’m a pattern tester

Aynaria 3 Comments

 

Kitty and yarn

Yesterday, I received the opportunity to test a crochet pattern.

I’m thrilled since it’s a great way to keep my fingers active, and keep my crochet hooks busy; when I have time.

But…

It’s not the first time I’ve offered to test a pattern.

My first attempt was a few months ago, but the crochet designer didn’t choose me. While I realize that not everyone will be chosen to test a pattern. I also realize that I wasn’t doing a great job of promoting my crochet skills.

Although I hadn’t been crocheting that long, I’d accomplished a lot. Mainly because I’m stubborn, and when I’m giving something new. I tend to put a lot of energy into it, until I’ve mastered it. That’s exactly what I’ve been doing with crochet.

So yes…I had the required skills needed to complete that project; I mean, I could crochet those stitches with my eyes closed! But, I readily admit, that I wasn’t doing a good job of marketing my crochet skills. Also, I hadn’t completed anything remotely related to amigurumi. Sure, I’d started on a crochet amineko back then, but it was far from being completed. I was too distracted by other crochet projects. I wasn’t doing a good job of selling my crochet skills.

Self Promotion

When you think about it… becoming a pattern tester, in some ways is similar to applying for a position. The employer wants  proof that you can do what you claim, and I wasn’t showing that. Initially, most of my designs showed on my Ravelry page, and here, were ones I created. I believe that’s great to come pull a project from your head,  but is it really showing a designer you can actually follow someone’s pattern, is it?

Fast forward to the present, if that same designer was to visit my ravelry projects profile, although the amount I have is small, they’re able to see that I can follow someone else’s pattern.

In addition, changing my approach, has also landed me a commissioned crochet project (which pays quite nicely I might add) and that has everything to do with changing how I’m presenting myself.

Pattern Testing: What’s my first project?

So what’s my first pattern test? It’s an adorable Cuttersaur toy; For some reason, it reminds me of Barney.

If you’re a Revelry user, you can follow my progress by checking out my Cuttersaur project page. I’ll also be posting updates here. Earlier today, I purchased the super bulky yarn needed, and hopefully I’ll be able to create a few rows during my daughter’s piano practice, which means it will be featured in my Work In Progress Wednesday.

Judging by the pattern, it should only take a few hours to complete.

A survey accompanied the pattern, and so I’ll be sure to write down my suggestions, if needed. Constructive feedback can be helpful for the pattern designer, since it enables them to make improvements (if needed) before they release the pattern to the general public.