Miss A's got a new hat

Such a labor of love to do these every year but I know doing it helps keep Miss A's childhood memories packed to the brim with nothin' but joy, happiness, and whimsy. No matter what my priorities in life giving her memories that she will happily recall is the topmost thing I will always devote myself to.

Our little bear

As it's happened, I'm not crocheting so much these days. Sad but it's hard to sit down and do such a thing with everything else going on.  Still, somehow I managed to eek out some time to devote to what has seemingly become an annual tradition for Miss A: the Winter hat.

This year I decided to go with a Koala bear design for no other reason than it seemed like it would make an adorable hat.  I saw a few pictures of other peoples versions on etsy and ravelry but I didn't go by a pattern and just kind of winged it.  Total time it took me was maybe a little under ten hours but it was stretched out over weeks because I ended up running out of yarn and blahblahblah... I couldn't finish it quickly.

Anyway, here it is...

Not sure what next year's will be but I ended up making this one so large that she might not even need one next year!  (Of course, I will probably end up doing one anyway because of the unofficial tradition of it all.)

So much cheaper than paint

Before I was married, before baby A came along, I used to paint for hours on end! It wasn't out of the ordinary for me to go to work and then come home and spend 4-5 hours (at least!) in front of my easel. And on days off? I would paint anywhere from 10-15 hours!!! And now? I've not picked up a paintbrush in at least two years and my easel is folded up and has been in storage for at least that long if not longer. Thank God I've discovered crocheting!


Here are my two latest creations. Both were made without patterns.




You can see more detailed pictures of the work overall at my new blog called Stuff She Makes. I'll try and keep posting some pictures of my crocheting adventures here but I'm going to put most of my more detailed stuff over at my new craft blog for the sake of organization and to not bore you poor folks that only want to see pictures/videos of Baby A.

My kind of Easter bonnet

I belong to this website called Ravelry that's basically like social networking for people who are into knitting, crocheting, and the like. Sounds kind of dorky but it's actually pretty cool because it provides a forum to share finished work, get free patterns or sell them for profit, and find help if you're in the midst of a project hat just won't work out.

Anyway, last week I happened upon a project idea of making a baby hat but not really just any baby hat because it's one that had horns and braids attached to it - it was a VIKING helmet for a BABY!!! *swoooooon!* I became completely obsessed with it and became bound and determined to make one for Baby A. Unfortunately, the pattern for the one that everyone has made is a knit pattern and I don't/can't knit. So, I figured that since I was able to make that Thomas train recently without a pattern, why not just swing one for a viking hat too? It's not so hard, right?

WRONG.

Here was my first attempt:

I don't even know why I'm sharing this as it's completely terrible and humilitating. Does it look like a viking helmet? Ummm... not really. But it sure does look like a Hershey's kiss, doesn't it? So weird! And how did I manage to make it instead of what I was aiming for??? I have no idea.

Just the same, I'm not one to give up without a fight. And I'm proud to say that I DID IT!!!! I totally was able to figure it out and make it happen AND be really happy with the final product! It's exactly how I envisioned it if not better.


And, of course, Baby A was more than happy (NOT!) to oblige me and model it.

Do blondes have more fun? Baby A sure seems to think so!

She's finally at the age (10 months) where she really won't tolerate stuff that she just plain doesn't like and hats sometimes fall in that category. She was okay with wearing it but when the braids started to distract her, she just automatically grabbed for the hat and pulled it right off of her head. I wish I would have discovered this sooner! Maybe then we could have gotten some more wear out of it!

In any case, I'm very pleased with how this worked out. I mean, it took a lot (and I mean A LOT!) of trial and error but I really feel like I persevered and it was definitely worth it. And now that I know I can make hats, I'm all excited about other ideas for baby hats that I have come across!!!

I can't stop!!!

I made another penguin. I KNOW!!! But they are so easy and they are SO cute!!!! This time around I made the eyes bigger (and more uniform - ha!) and gave it a red scarf instead. I think it looks a little girly-er when you compare it with the other one.


This one is being donated to the church fundraiser instead of being given away. I stylized the "portrait" of this one a little more with the classic "dutch tilt." It always makes things a little more fashionable looking.

Next up? A turtle!!! And it would be done by now except for the fact that in the midst of working on it, my creative muse overflowed my creative juices and I completely lost interest in finishing it. Not to worry, my friends! Since I know that I am my own worst enemy with project abandonment (thanks to becoming bored with things easily!), I've made a pact with myself that the turtle WILL be finished before I allow myself to start the next two items in the cue.

I'm just getting started

Looking at this is making me hungry. Perhaps it's time for me to stop and eat lunch!


Is it obvious that this is a pear? I wasn't going to even do the cheeks but it looked so plain that I felt like I kind of had to. I think I got a little carried away with them and they are kind of on the chunkier side than what I would prefer. The pattern called for felt circles but all I have is yarn. Sometimes improvising doesn't yield the most favorable results. Oh well!

This might be my least favorite so far only because of the silly cheeks! I started this one when I ran out of black for the penguin that I just finished. It was a quick one to do but it's a little too cartoony for me, I think. What do you think?

My favorite one yet!

I started this yesterday and finished it just a few moments ago. Even though I have to get crackin' with making some amis for the upcoming church fundraiser, D's best friend is getting ready to go into surgery and since penguins are his favorite, I decided to try out the LionBrand.com free pattern for the Holiday Penguin. As you can see, it turned out pretty well...


It was super easy and despite my recent proclamation that I can't bring myself to repeat patterns, I will definitely do this one over again. It was super easy and fast to make and just look how adorable it is when it's done!!! Also, it's totally customizable and I would completely do different things to it like make a more colorful scarf or do a little bow on the head for a girly looking one. This is officially the 1st amigurumi that I'm a little sad to give away!!! Guess I'll just have to make more, huh?

The Little Engine that almost did me in

It's done!!! It's hard to believe it but it's FINALLY done!!!

After five straight days and countless drafts and makeshift patterning and crocheting until my fingers hurt and ripping out row after row after seam and starting over again and again... I give you (my interpretation of) Thomas the Tank Engine...


I made this for Baby A's little friend from daycare. When we found out that Friday was his last day, we were all so sad and wanted to give him something because he's just the sweetest little boy ever. Since we money is tight, the best I could come up with was to make him something (on behalf of Baby A, of course). I found out that Thomas the Tank Engine is one of his most favorite things and I scoured the net for a pattern to crochet from. Would you believe that I couldn't find any place that had a pattern that I could even adapt to make a Thomas??? Crazy! I really couldn't believe it. But I was not willing to give up so easily.

I looked at as many versions of Thomas as I could find via trusty Google image search and drew up about five different drafts before finally being able to break the whole idea down into manageable pieces. This was my last draft that I went from and was the closest thing to a pattern as I was able to come up with:

I am so anal that I went as far as to even map out a timeline of when I needed each separate piece done by. Despite my best efforts and meticulous planning, I didn't make it by this past Friday (my deadline).

For those that know me well, I am notorious for making things without patterns - costumes, kid-sized play teepees, watermelon bassinets for baby showers - so my eventual success was inevitable. It was just a matter of time until I was able to actually finish it to my own satisfaction. It's a little bit lumpier than I would have liked it but I am my own worst critic and most all of the details have been attended to so carefully that I bet even the most knowledgable of the Thomas line would agree that I did a pretty swell job and creating Thomas. And since I am such a fan of personalizing things, I went ahead and made it so that nobody could say that this little Thomas is his other than the little boy who he rightfully belongs to.

Not sure what my next project will be but I definitely need to get cracking on less complicated things for stuffies to donate to our upcoming fundraiser at church.

Pinky

A couple of months ago I rediscovered crocheting by way of the art of Amigurumi. I've actually tried to learn to crochet at least two times before but it just never worked out. I think it's because I can't handle the long-term projects like big afghans or things that can be worn. Little hand held stuffies though? They are just enough fun to hold my attention and keep me coming back for more!

Late last evening I finally finished my first Amigurumi ever!!! I have collected tons of patterns and pattern books since my interest in making them was peaked but this one was actually made from a free pattern off of the LionBrand.com site. It was super easy and much faster than most of the patterns that I have been trying to work my way through. I would have done it in a more traditional style/color but the only yarn I had on hand was pink! It could have turned out obnoxiously funky but I'm pretty pleased with it...






I'm going to try and stitch up a whole menagerie of all different types of little creatures! Our church is having a fundraiser on Easter Sunday to help the teens finance a mission trip and all of the ladies at Sewing Circle (where I go every other Saturday) are telling me that some Amigurumi would go like hot cakes and really bring in some money!!! I'm excited to make as many more as I can and help the church out as well! My next finished one is probably going to be a red and black ladybug and I'll post pictures of it when it's finished.