W.I.P. Wednesday

This is my main project for the Ravellenic Games.  It is also my first sweater.  I let Chickenbutt choose her own colours.  This was the only green in the yarn I wanted to try.  I tried and tried to get her to go for a cream colour but alas she choose red.  It will look quite Christmassy when finished. 

 

There will be 22 red inserts when I have completed the skirt portion.  The photo shows 10 but I am a little farther ahead now - I am at 14.  The pattern is the Eloise Girls Sweater by Moogly.  It is even free!

I should note that I also made myself the project bag.  I have so much pretty fabric but not much that coordinates with it.  I am going to cut out a few bags and take in the swatches to buy some matching linings.  I am hoping to stash bust my fabric this way!

Mine Crab and Other Crocheted Friends

"“Mine crab?” “Mommy, mine crab!” ”I’m working on it as fast as I can!” “Mine crab done yet?”

“Mine crab done! Huge! Love him!”

 

 

This crab is waiting for the rain to stop so he can go outside.  He is from the book Crocheted Softies by Stacey Trock.  I finally returned it to the library after making Salty the Crocodile as well.  I am definitely going to purchase the book when I order Wren's birthday books next month.  Stacy Trock's patterns are easy to follow and produce very nice results.   

I also participated in the mystery crochet-a-long with Freshstitches (Stacey Trock) on Ravelry.  I was really hoping for an anteater for some reason but it turned out to be a kangaroo.  I did add a tail to the joey.  Wren has very slyly been getting to play with the kangaroo when I am out.  She convinced her dad to get it down from the shelf for her.  I have no one in mind to receive Amber the Kangaroo but it is not to be added to the general toy basket around here. 

I also completed one brachiosaurus from a PanetJune pattern.  My goal is 5 more dinosaurs this month - one more brachiosaurus, two triceratops and two stegosaurus.  I am hoping to add them to my craft sale table this year.  When I complete the six I will reward myself with another 3 dinosaur patterns.  Although I really liked the colours of this dinosaur I did not like working with the yarn.  It is a recycled cotton.  I may try again after I have more dinosaurs under my belt and see if the yarn was the problem or I was.   I like the PlanetJune patterns because they are realistic looking and small enough to be easily toted around by a little one. 

 

 

Like an idiot I joined 3 online crochet groups in July and one in August.  I completed the amigurumi of the month project with one day to spare.  It is a pretty cute Chococat.  I did have to look up what Chococat was though.  Apparently I am old.

 

 



eeek!

Chickenbutt wanted a soft black widow spider for Christmas.  I had to modify a pattern from a book (the title is lost to me, Christmas was months ago) as the spider had to be anatomically correct.  I did forget the spinnerets but so far Chickenbutt has not noticed.  I did remember the pedipalps and the fangs. 

Christmas black widow on the table topper I made my mother-in-law.

For her birthday she needed a boy black widow spider.  Male black widows are brown or yellow and have different markings.  They are also smaller. 
She also managed to get my mom to knit her a pink spider. 

All three spiders.  Happy Birthday!

 I designed Wren an owl for Christmas.  I was not happy with the first draft but had used all of the brown fabric.  I really liked the brownish chenille but couldn't find anything cute enough in my stash to match it.  In future I would like to make the body a bit longer and rounder. 

Busy Busy

I am participating in the Freshstitches Mystery Crochet-a-long on Ravelry.  I really like the colour I chose and the wool is so soft.  I have to redo one of the pieces as it is way to tight but overall am not finding it too hard.

I have been ogling Stacy Trock's patterns for a while so I thought this was the way to go.   I also signed her book out from the library - I like to preview pattern books before I make a purchase.  Like a moron I showed the girls the book and told them to each pick out one thing they would like me to make.  Wren is all over me to finish "mine crab".  "Mine crab done yet?"  She picked the thing with the most pieces!  There are 8 tiny legs to make!  8! 

Seven little legs, two claws and most of the body. 
Two eye stalks and one little leg to go.

 

More Crochet

One great thing about crochet is I can do it around the kids.  While they watch a movie or play outside.  I can be in the same room and still get something done.  (I have tried to do other things like clean cupboards but as soon as I am in just far enough not to quit a fight will break out.)

I am in love with amigurumi!   It is so much faster then sewing a toy!  I still really enjoy the sewing but there are so many patterns out there for crochet.  I can only imagine the time I am saving (and not using productively) And it is easier to hide all the yarn I am accumulating.

My friend's little girl had a Brave themed birthday so I set out to make a Merida.  I purchased three patterns from JanaGeek - Merida, Belle and Ariel.  These are excellent patterns and Merida was the first little person I have ever made.  I did forget their little smiles though.

That same friend's other daughter had a Star Wars themed party.  I purchased three patterns from Lucyravenscar - Yoda, Leia and Darth Vader.  I made Leia for the birthday party and a Yoda to practice (he has a bit of a gap in the back).  These patterns really worked out for me as well.

I also made each of the birthday girls a purse.  I could not find Brave (or any other princess themed) fabric which is bizarre since it was everywhere last year.  So one girl got butterflies and the other got Star Wars   These bags are from Diary of a Quilter and only take 32 minutes!  I also have a pattern for messenger bags with a flap closure but I cut the fabric sideways for the butterfly bag and it was too much waste to cut the Star Wars fabric correctly.  I really like the little fold on the butterfly bag, it makes the whole project look sharp and professionally done.  I think I could attach the straps on the inside so there are no seams visible.   I am going to add a few of these to my craft sale in the fall as a way to cut down my stash.

Finally!

I can not believe it has taken me this long to learn to crochet!  Just thinking about the amount of time and energy I could have saved on the Wall-Es alone is maddening!

I started by making each girl a hat.  Of course Wren needed a cat and Chickenbutt a spider.
I used the Hello Kitty hat pattern from 5PacksCrochet but left off the ear flaps since it is a spring hat.  I did have to add a few extra rows to get the length I wanted but overall it turned out nicely.

 

 

I then used the same basic beanie pattern and added a spider for Chickenbutt.

 



I have made two cats, one for each girl.  This is a pattern from Ana Paula Rimoli in her book Amigurumi World: Seriously Cute Crochet. It did not turn out quite as well I had hoped but Chickenbutt assures me she loves it.  I suspect she may be trying to convince herself.  I know it is not a problem with the pattern because I can see other people on Ravelry have had success.

 
 This is a different cat for Wren.  Our cats are all orange because our real cat is orange.  (And the poor guy would love it if the kids would just stick to the cat toys and leave him alone!)  This one turned out much better except that the ears are a bit too round.  The pattern was free from Amy Gaines and is the pouncing Siamese cat. 

Skeletons-photos to come soon!

In September we watched The Nightmare Before Christmas (which I know is not appropriate for my kids!) and both girls became obsessed.  Chickenbutt loves Halloween and wanted to be a skeleton.  Since it was already September I apparently missed my chance to buy black skeleton pajamas, to use as a costume, locally.  I found some online but they were way too expensive and finding a skeleton costume for a preschooler and a toddler was tricky.  Now I know that it would not have been hard to sew but then we saw pink skeleton pajamas online and they glow in the dark.  I ordered two sets (from different places on eBay) and we waited until the last weekend before Halloween before panicking.  Finally I took Chickenbutt to the dollar store where we found toddler size skeleton costumes.  We picked up two. 
Meanwhile I made two skeleton hats.  Despite the fact that Chickenbutt was excited for the pink skeleton pajamas she insisted that her hat look like Jack Skellington.  I explained numerous times that it wouldn't match the costume but was instructed that it had to be black. 


It is important to note that it took until after Christmas that Chickenbutt would wear the hat without the rest of the costume.

I was also told that both girls (Chickenbutt did all the talking for them both at that time) that they would both need skeleton dolls for the costumes to be complete.  I was also told that the skeletons had to be pink.  I purchased the pattern from Dolls and Daydreams and it was very easy to follow.  Once again I probably could have made this myself but the pattern was very well done and already has all the bugs worked out.  I am really happy with the way they turned out but am way happier with the way the black one turned out which I made for a friend. 

 

In addition to all the skeleton costumes and toys my dad brought over a large decorative skeleton.  After it fell over too many times in Chickenbutt's room (she has a Halloween display), I hung it in our dining room.  Then we had to decorate it for Christmas.  I have some beautiful quilted wall hangings that could go in that space.