Amigurumi: Crocheted Coraline

Coraline will be my first crocheted amigurumi doll. It seems appropriate, after all, I’m a huge fan of Neil Gamon’s work,  and have read Coraline many times.

Coraline Neil Gamon

When my daughter was five-years old, I read Coraline to her. It’s a children’s book.  Part creepy/part goth, with a twisted adventure that kept me consuming the pages, until I reached the end.

By the time I’d read Coraline, I’d already read many of Neil Gamon’s adult books. I was pleased that I enjoyed this “children’s book” so much.  What’s funny is, even though parts of the book scared her, she still wanted to hear the story. She’s definitely my daughter, she already loves horror,  and loves Stephen King’s books.

Speaking of King, I read my first Stephen King book, The Shining, when I was seven or eight-years old. I purchased it at a local five and dime store, tucked it safely in my book bag, and brought it home. I still remember the price; it cost me 0.25! The year was 1977 or 1978; and that was a lot of money for someone who received a meager allowance. But even at that age, spending my allowance on books was worth every penny!

And so began my fascination with horror, and I read through countless stacks of horror, along with other genres throughout my life. It didn’t take long for me to become jaded, and horror books or movies no longer scared me, but that still hasn’t stopped me from reading them.

But back to Coraline…

Last evening, I’ve printed the free crocheted Coraline pattern from Sharon Ojala website; Homemade Obsessions. If you crochet, you should check it out. Go on… it’s free!

When my daughter saw Sharon’s free pattern, she got excited and asked (quite nicely, I might add) if I would start working on her, and I did. I didn’t have any peach colored yarn, so I used white.

Amigurumi Crochet Coraline unfinished head

As you can see, Coraline’s head is almost complete.

I’m doing things a bit differently than Sharon, since my next step is to add her facial features; eyes, nose, and mouth. That’s always the fun part, for me, since I get to embroider. Perhaps, I’ll add the hair too, instead of waiting. I’ll be rooting the yarn, to Coraline’s crochet head. Just like I’d root for a regular doll. I was pleased to see that Sharon uses this technique too. After that’s completed, I’ll start working on the body. Who knows, I might have my crocheted Coraline completed before the weekend is over.

I wonder if any Neil Gamon fans read this site, at some point, perhaps a Coraline doll would make a nice giveaway?

Mother’s Day is not this Sunday…

It’s such a relief to learn that Mother’s Day is not this Sunday.

Early yesterday, I was “hooking my fingers to the bone” since I thought it was.

That all came to a halt, when I chatted with my mother…

“Mother’s Day is always the second Sunday in May!” Naturally, I felt a bit silly, rushing Mother’s Day, but also I was relieved. Since, it means that my crochet hooks aren’t top priority in my downtime.

At church this Sunday, my daughter children’s choir, is performing a few songs; for mothers. Which made me think, “Oh, Mother’s Day!”

These children have come a long way this school year, and are starting to sound like a children’s choir. The majority of that credit goes to their choir director, who just happens to be my daughter’s piano teacher, and she’s also the director of Traditional music, at our church. This amazing lady has a lot of responsibilities, but makes it look easy.

 Since, I was making it top priority to complete the gifts by this weekend, my Mother’s Day gifts are almost complete.

For my mother, I’m making jewelry. When it’s complete, perhaps I’ll post a few photos on Celebrate Life. I’ll make a card to accompany the gift.

Also on the list is my daughter’s third grade schoolteacher. She’s not your “traditional mother” since she doesn’t have children of her own, but she does an excellent job mothering her third grade class. She’s amazing with them, and so I want to make her something also. Beaded bookmarks, facial scrubbies, and perhaps a few more items are on the list for my daughter’s teacher. I know she’ll love them, she loves to read, but the bookmarks she has are bits of paper, time to upgrade her to something proper, right? 

Then, there’s a lady I used to work with, Mrs. L. She’s the other type of mother too. No… not the Neil Gamon type found in Coraline. She’s 73, which is a year younger than my dad, and she has filled the role of mother throughout her adult life. I’m working on a crocheted/beaded bracelet. It looks lovely, and in some of her favorite colors.  Crocheting amigurumi mice are also on the list. She has two cats, and I don’t want her babies to be left out.

One thing all these ladies has in common is an appreciation of handmade gifts. Of course, I’ve spent hours working on various crafts; crochet, jewelry making, and card making, to ensure the gifts I’ve made are nice.  Since I know what they like, I know these gifts will be appreciated.

Planting and grass cutting on hold; too much rain

Rose 1 05 03 12

Up until this week, they main thing keeping me from doing any serious garden planting was the weather.

It was too cold for many of the plants to survive the mid 30F temperatures we were experiencing throughout most of April; parts of Maryland also received snow, last month.

The weather is becoming warmer, this week. It reached 80F a few days ago, but… we’ve also been receiving a lot of rain.  I guess I could plant in the rain, right? But, I think I’ll pass on the grass cutting.

The plants that are in the garden, are appreciating the rain we’ve been receiving.

But it’s all good, there’s still plenty of work, inside, that will keep me busy.

Let’s see…

My daughters room looks like a hurricane has hit it (again) and my recent yarn purchases has my temporary yarn bags overflowing, and so I need to put them in a suitable spot.

My daughter has been begging for chapati, and so I do believe I’ll make some type of Indian dish to accompany that. Later today, I’ll be volunteering at the food closet. Regardless of how much I’d love to be outdoors, there’s plenty of work inside to keep me occupied.

Here’s hoping my part of Maryland, receives some dry days… soon!

The above photo was taken earlier this morning.

Yeah! Crocheted bookworm bookmarks were a hit

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!

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

 

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.

Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival; May 5 & 6 2012

It slipped my mind that the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival is almost here. I forgot it was the first weekend of May! Whoops…

Many thanks to a fellow food pantry volunteer, Ravelry member, and knitting diva for reminding me. E mentioned it  this past Saturday, while we were volunteering at our local church’s food pantry. She even asked me to tag along, and initially I was planning to do so, until I remembered that this Saturday, I have a servanthood meeting to attend at church, and so my daughter, and I will hopefully meet her there.

I’ve heard rumblings about the event throughout the years; I’m a crafty Marylander, remember? But, honestly,  I didn’t pay too much attention to it, and what the event offered, until I joined Revelry.

From what I’ve been reading on that site, and others,  the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival is a big event.  It will be the 39th annual Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival!

Sheep Shearing at Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival

One event I’m looking forward to is sheep shearing, I was introduced to this craft at an early age. The pastor of the church my family attended had a goat named… Wooly Booger. I vaguely remember him getting sheared at least once per year.

On one of those occasions, I tagged along when the pastor made the trek to a neighbor’s house (I was about six years old) a few miles down the road, to have him sheared. I found it fascinating.

And just as some animals hate to get baths… Wooly wasn’t too fond of this experience! He did look a lot cooler once he emerged without all that hair aka wool, and he bounded off (nick free) to graze on some nearby grass.

Connecting with other crafters

Besides the shearing, it’ll be nice to see a bunch of crafters in one place. Hopefully I’ll see some crafters from the various online places I frequent. Admittedly, I’m not a member of too many crafting communities. I guess I should change that.

Of course, if I attend, I’ll be taking pictures. I’d be a “bad blogger” if I didn’t, right?

 

Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival; May 5 & 6 2012

Free Admission

Address

Howard County Fairgrounds

2210 Fairground Road

West Friendship, MD 21794-9604

 

Dates and Time

May 5 & 6, 2012

Saturday 9:00 am – 6:00 pm

Sunday 9:00 am – 5:00 pm