Best games ever :)

The Olympic Games are over, and so are the Ravellenics. I had more projects planned than I had time to finish, but I’m pretty happy with my results anyway. Eight projects done, six of which were things that I’d been working on for far too long. Didn’t even make a dent in my pile of wips, but I’m very happy that I at least got some done :) Wish this sort of event would happen more often than every other year…

I could’ve finished one more item, but I realized that I hadn’t brought enough yarn, so I let it go and spent the rest of the weekend relaxing instead :)

I really wanted to do more for the Games, but I didn’t count on having to dig my projects out from the bottom of our moving load… Would have knitted at least one tiny Mochi, and perhaps even finished another Hansigurumi, but life got in the way. Packing and sorting out what to pack and what to throw away took too much time. Boo.

But all in all this has been a fun event! Definitely participating next time as well :D Time to get back to the Dudes and the Bug I was working on before the games. And of course back to school next week…

Blue-ringed octopus

Another Ravellenic project! My eighth, and first knitted for the games

The knitted octopus designed by Hansi Singh, from her book Hansigurumi Knits.

Started last spring, but never finished. It just needed to have the last few rings embroidered and the mantle stuffed and attached to the arms. Finished him just before midnight

I think this is one of the coolest patterns in the book. I love cephalopods! Naturally I’ve felt guilty for not finishing him sooner, but now it’s done and I’m very happy with him. The eyes are 12mm yellow cat eyes, and he has wires in his arms so he can grab stuff

I see you…

Dimetrodon

Oh look! Here’s another dinosaur

My seventh project for the Ravellenics is yet another of PlanetJune’s dinosaurs. I do have one more that I started last year, but there’s too much left on it to finish it now. So maybe later

Anyway. I finished up the tip of the tail and made the sail and all four legs right after I finished the Brachiosaurus yesterday. I guess I got a little hooked on dinos I want to maoe more, but I have other WiPs to finish before the Olympics end. Sunday, is it?

All three dinosaurs together. Soon I’ll have my very own Jurassic Park

Brachiosaurus

My sixth Ravellenic project is another dinosaur by PlanetJune.

This one was a bit more work to finish than the last one. Had to finish stuffing and crocheting the tail, plus do all four legs. Didn’t take much time to do, but I’m in the middle of moving houses, so my mind is really all over the place at the moment. So what could have taken an hour or two ended up taking three days. Heh.

I made quite a few modifications to this guy. The head is a little bit different (I wanted him to have that bump on top of his head), the body is shorter and shaped a little more to give him higher shoulders and a little bit of a pelvis, and the tail is longer. As always, the color is pretty dull, but I was going for a more realistic look. I think he came out great, I love him

Parasaurolophus

My fifth project for the Ravellenic Games is done

Not that much needed to be done, though, as it was just missing a leg. But now it’s finally all finished, yay I started several of PlanetJune’s dinosaurs last summer, but didn’t finish any of them before the holiday was over, and after that they’ve just been living in a box with my yarn stash. Pretty sad, cause they’re all awesome and deserve to be finished.

What a cutie she is

Dudes of the Dead

Fourth Ravellenic project!

Made as a mix of two Cute Little Dude patterns. He has the snowman’s hat and she has the angel’s skirt. Her hat is basically a smaller version of his.

I made them in the style of Day of the Dead skeletons (hence the Halloween tag), but really they are based on two Voodoo spirits, called Baron Samedi and Maman Brigitte. Both are connected to death, so I made them as skeletons.

I started them in early December last year and worked on them on and off for a few weeks. I bought the black tulle for her veil in January, but they’ve both been hibernating since then. Very happy they’re finally done

Wristwarmers with hairpin lace

Third project for the Ravellenic Games

Entered in the Mitten Medley event Wristwarmers are allowed as long as they have thumb hole (they need to cover the palm and not just the wrist).

I was looking around on the web for cool things to do with hairpin lace, and I came across these wristwarmers on a blog. Sadly the woman didn’t have a pattern for hers (I asked), but I managed to make a similar pair anyway.

They are made with one strip of hairpin lace and the gray parts are crocheted out from the strip on both sides and then sewn together.

Finally I added an edge on the front to make them a little bit longer (and more colorful). Nice and comfy

Ugly potholders

My second Ravellenic project, finished last night. Entered in both in Home Stuff Hammerthrow and Synchronized Stash Busting (yarn must be a year or older).

I can’t stand these colors. I like the turquoise fine on its own, but not in this combination. The reason I picked these colors was simply because they were the only ones I brought with me on holiday. I intended to use them to tie my hair (which is now dreaded) so they matched an outfit I brought. (Of course I ended up wearing something else, so the yarn was never used.)

The yarn has been in my stash for at least two years. It’s possible that the light blue was bought for the last potholders I made, in 2010, but the purple was one of the first yarns I bought back when I learned to crochet. That was in 2008. Old yarn!

Didn’t quite know what to do with this pair, but for some reason my grandmother really liked them, so I gave them to her. Don’t really match any colors in her kitchen, though…

Another picture taken in daylight. Not sure which of the photos have the most correct colors…

Mushroom rattle

My first project for the Ravellenic Games is finished! Entered in the event WiPs Wrestling, where you finish projects you haven’t worked on since May 2012.

This toadstool has been hibernating since September 2009. Three years! About time I pulled myself together and finished it. Seriously, all I had left to do was sew the two parts together. Took me about five minutes… Heh.

The pattern is from the book Virka Amigurumi by Mia Bengtsson.

Ravellenic Games!

Formerly known as the Ravellympics…

The opening ceremony of the London Olympics is just about to start, so I’m sitting here with my yarn, crochet hooks and gimping tool, ready to go

Over the next couple of weeks, for the duration of the Olympic Games, Ravelry hosts a number of events that crafters participate in to make things. For some events we will start new projects, finish old ones, and even frog projects that will never happen. Find more info about the various events HERE.

I will be finishing up some things that I haven’t worked on for ages, using up some old yarn from my stash, and make a pair of wrist warmers. If there’s time, I will make some new amis for the Toy Toss event as well.

I will have kind of a slow start to my games, because most of my things are back at the apartment, and I won’t get there until some time next week. Also these games happen to end just around the time when school starts, so I can’t let the crafting take over completely. But this is a nice incentive to get things done and finish up some old WiPs.

I don’t know about you, but I’m getting quite excited