Celebrate Life! – Page 160 – I write what I like…

Teaching crochet: Crochet & knitted amigurumi dolls. Knitted robe and shawl

August 8, 2012August 12, 2012 Aynaria 7 Comments

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.

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.

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

Crochet: 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.

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 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’m linking too…

And I think to myself, what a wonderful world

August 6, 2012August 12, 2012 Aynaria 4 Comments

The heavens are telling of the glory of God;

And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.

Psalms 19:1

Flower; Datura — 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…

Curls recently posted lovely pictures of her flowers, and that was the kick in the butt I needed to post pictures of our flowers.

I love nature, and being outdoors, and I must say it’s apparent if you were to visit our home.

Flowers; small flower garden — All the pretty flowers…

Parts of our yard is heavily scented with flowers.

Peach tree — Nothing compares to fresh produce, the flavor is unbelievable!

We have a few fruit trees in our yard; pear, peach, mulberry, cherry, and apple. We also have one chestnut tree.

Flowers — I love these flowers, simple but beautiful!

While taking the pictures, I couldn’t help but think how truly amazing our world is…

God created an awesome world!

Louis Armstrong: What a Wonderful World

Crocheted amigurumi doll; almost complete

August 5, 2012August 12, 2012 Aynaria 2 Comments

This past December, I relearned crochet…

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…

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”.

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.

Girls just want to have fun…

August 5, 2012August 12, 2012 Aynaria 9 Comments

My daughter had fun at her best friends birthday party. Her BFF (best friends forever) is now nine-years old…

Initially, when my daughter received the invitation, my daughter didn’t think she’d have fun, it being a girly girl party.

Daughter at birthday party — My daughter at her best friends “dress up” birthday party.

But I did remind her that even though she loved doing “non-girly things” she still loved playing dress-up. I also turned her it was perfectly fine if she loved being girly. While it’s not my style, I’ll love her even if she loves being a girly girl.

Sometimes I look at my daughter, and am amazed at how much she looks like myself; especially when I was her age. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, right? She is my daughter after all. The pink decoration in her hair is something I crocheted for her several months ago. I was inspired by the crocheted swirly twirly scarf and the crocheted bookworm bookmarks… and I came up with this.

daughter-at-bday-party_2.08.04.12 — Girls getting pampered at the birthday party. My daughter’s BFF is the closest person in this picture.

This party had a theme, the girls were had three choices for dress up; fairy, princess, and a rock star. Not surprisingly, my daughter chose the rock star. Rock stars sing music… We both love music, we dance often, and we both play the piano. She’s been playing the piano for four years. She’s played in church, recitals, concerts…. she’s a talented pianist.

daughter-at-bday-party_3.08.04.12 — My daughter chatting with two of her friends/schoolmates. This shot was taken after they experienced the salon pampering.

In my last post, I mentioned briefly about the crocheted doll I was making for her best friend, and although it was completed. She didn’t receive it yesterday. We did go ahead and give her the other items though. Three sets of gorgeous beads on a string, and beaded thread to make her own jewelry. Since she loves crafts, she was thrilled. Later this week, the crocheted amigurumi doll I made will be wrapped up and mailed to her.

Her friends party was held at Girlee Gurlz, yes there is such a place. For two hours, the girls were pampered; makeup, hairstyles, and got to perform on a live stage, surrounded giggling girls, and a few amused parents.

Cyndi Lauper: Girls Just want to have fun

It’s Alive!

August 3, 2012August 12, 2012 Aynaria 3 Comments

Yesterday, during my free time, I found myself knitting this project.

Knitting Amigurumi doll pieces — Can you tell what I’m knitting?

It might be hard to figure what I’m making… currently, it’s just a bunch of knitted pieces, but eventually this will be a knitted amigurumi doll.

I chose not to knit in the round since I wanted to add extra stitching details to this knitted dolls body, which is definitely doable knitting circular, but not as easy. Also I’ve never crocheted or knitted a flat amigurumi project… first time for everything, right?

It’s my first time knitting an amigurumi doll, and surprisingly enough I’m liking it more than the crochet amigurumis dolls I’ve made. Shocking indeed, since I didn’t think that would happen. Of course this means I’ll be making my own knitted Coraline soon. And as much as I loved crocheting Coraline, I wondered at the time how she would look knitted.

While knitting this doll, I felt like Victor Frankenstein, prepping my little beastie that I’ll eventually bring to life, and of course I became inspired to knit another doll, that one will be undead.

As a child my mother couldn’t understand my fascination with the darker subjects such as the occult, horror, etc., and banned me from reading such material. I still managed to read those books. It’s one of the few times I secretly defied her. That fascination has continued to this day, but these days I write stories, or put my ideas into sewing. It’ll be nice to expand that to crochet and knitting.

Knitting amigurim doll — Putting the knitted amigurumi parts together

And while this knitted doll is only body parts, I’m loving her! I’m not sure you can see her little lumps on her upper torso; those will be her boobs. The knitted increases were put in the right place, so the only thing left is to give them a bit of a “lift”. Also, I’ll be adding a navel. Guess what? When you flip her over, there will be an actual butt, not just some shapeless thing. But that’s as far as I’m going with being anatomically correct. I wanted this knitted doll to be similar to my daughters Monster High dolls.

Of course, I’m using my Knit Picks Options circular needles for this project. Circular needles aren’t only for knitting things in the round (socks, hats, etc.)

Because this doll is knitted flat, there will be a lot of seaming. Since I love sewing (especially hand-sewing) I don’t avoid implementing it into my crafts. You know, I was content to start seaming when all the parts were knitted (I still need to knit the feet) I have an impatient nine-year old daughter who wanted to see at least one seamed body part.

Knitting making a dollhand — Seaming a knitted hand…

And so, last evening before she went to bed, I seamed a hand.

You know… I should have been working on a crocheted doll for my daughter’s best friends birthday party (which is tomorrow) and I promise I’ll do that… today. But yesterday the knitted doll idea I had spinning in my head, was begging me to make her, and so I listened.

Gothic Knits by Fiona McDonald

Where can I find the knitted doll pattern?

My inspiration for the doll came from Fiona McDonald. This particular pattern is from her book, Gothic Knits, as with patterns I follow, I deviated from the pattern; sometimes a little, often a lot. I’ve been a follower of Fiona’s artwork for quite some time. I was intrigued that with many of the dolls made by her weren’t knit in the round.

With my next knitted amigurumi, I’ll knit in the round, and include a lot of details that I’ll be adding to this doll. Knitting this doll has brought back many fond memories of the numerous dolls I sewed from the age of seven on into my teens. I never played with them, but I sure loved bringing them to “life”.

One of the songs playing through my mind, while knitting this doll… I love Rob Zombie’s music.

Knitting: Diamonds and Pearls shawl; work in progress

August 1, 2012August 12, 2012 Aynaria 13 Comments

I adore shawls and wear them constantly during the cooler months. I’ve designed and sewed many of my own, but I realized that I’m lacking with crocheted or knitted shawls. It’s high time I changed that, right?

This Monday, I casted on the Diamonds and Pearls shawl. It’s a simple pattern that knits up very quickly. But… between clients projects, hanging with my daughter, and other daily tasks, it hasn’t left me too much time for knitting. Yesterday, I’ve only managed to knit a few rows of the Diamond and Pearls shawl, but it’s coming along nicely. I’m over the halfway point, yeah!

With lace projects, I usually use a lighter yarn than the one used here. However, this pattern called for worsted weight yarn. Since I love the simple lacy design, I decided to cast on this project and start knitting.. I’m undecided if I’ll keep this or gift it to someone else? Decisions, decisions… Regardless of what I decide, I’ll deviate from the pattern a bit and make it longer, perhaps knit a simple crocheted flower, and I’m thinking I’ll incorporate beads into the knitted fringe.

Shelia January is the designer of Diamonds and Pearls, and can be found on Ravery. My user name on Ravelry is OpalT. The knitted shawl pattern can be found in The Book of Yarn. Please note that this pattern is written, no charts, I prefer charts, but since I really wanted to make it. I started knitting the shawl.

Knitting: Diamonds and Pearls errata page

I usually come up with my own designs, but when following a pattern, I’ve gotten into the habit of searching for an errata page. There’s an errata page for the Diamonds and Pearls knitted shawl, and while there aren’t many errors with this pattern. If I remember it’s only two, it’s still wise to check when working with a pattern before you start the project. With this pattern, the first error is located within the first row.

I’m linking too…

Knit Picks needle cable connectors

August 1, 2012August 12, 2012 Aynaria 3 Comments

It’s amazing how dependent we can become om our various gadgets right? I’m really thrilled with my Knit Picks options interchangeable needles. It makes the larger projects, like the Diamonds and Pearls shawl I’m knitting much easier to manage, since the excess stitches are hanging on the cable.

Using circular knitting needles makes the process simple. I use my circulars for straight knitting too. I sill use double pointed needles aka DPN’s for small circular projects, since I don’t like magic loop.

But back to the cables making my knitting life easier…

It’s no fun forcing a ton of stitches onto knitting needles, at least not for me, the knitting needles are only so long… With my Knit Picks circular needles I can get cables up to 60″ long. Perfect for some of my bigger projects. It turns out you can extend those cables even more…

Options Interchangeable Knitting Needle Cable Connectors — Knit Picks Knitting Needle Cable Connectors adds an additional cable to your knitting project. Perfect for knitting afghans and shawls.

I knew that some other knitting needles cables had this option for their interchangeable needles, but I didn’t know Knit Picks provided them also. If I’d known that Knit Picks had needle cable connectors, I would have purchased those along with my Options Interchangeable knitting needles set. Oh well, the next time I order from Knit Picks, I’ll make sure these are on my list. When I order from Knit Picks again, I’ll be testing these out. They’re only $1.99 for a package of three cable connectors. If I don’t like them I can just go back to my singular cable.

I can see how adding an additional cable to your interchangeable needles might make some projects like certain afghans, shawls, and scarves, a bit easier. I’ll be working on a knitted afghan in a few months, and I’ll be sure to test the knitting cable connectors to see how I like them.