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…

A bit of disappointed knitting

Yes, it is actually possible for me to get disappointed over something craft related. Something I thought would be really cool, and then it was just ‘meh’…

A couple of days ago I was very exited to see that PlanetJune has taken up knitting. There were some vague hints of it some time last year, when she asked on her Facebook page how we’d like it if she designed some knitting patterns. I was ecstatic, as everything the lady does is awesome And sure enough, when she posted about her first ever knitting project this week, the result was very good, and I was quite jealous.

Because, you see, she’d done something that I can’t: knit small things in the round. She posted the link to a tutorial on how to knit with a really long circular needle and using the magic loop method, and of course I was eager to give it a try. Maybe it would work for me as well, so I can finally knit my own socks and wrist warmers…

For this method you need circulars with a pretty flexible cable, which I didn’t have, so off I went and got a set of KnitPro (KnitPicks to you in the US) with a screw-on cable. And while I was there, I got two more sizes of needles. I got the acrylic ones because I love the DPNs that I have, and they’re so colorful and festive But guess what, the colors aren’t the same! All the sizes have a different color, and I just assumed that the circulars would follow the same code, but they don’t. The two smaller sizes are the same, but the 4.5mm needles are green, and they are supposed to be yellow. Weird.

Anyway. To the disappointment. There are two things, really. One, is that the joins on the needles snag the yarn a bit. Both between the cable and the needle, and between the metal and the plastic of the needle. So that’s a boo.

The other reason is that because of the method used (as you can see if you watch the video), the last stitches on every needle become super tight, because cable is so much thinner than the needle, and you end up pulling the stitches tight whether you mean to or not. And then when it's time to switch sides, it's really hard to slide the row of stitches onto the other needle because of those last stitches.

See what I mean? That last stitch is tiny! That could be why it snags so badly, but I don’t know. I guess it doesn’t help that my knitting is super tight in general. So, I thought that I would finally be rid of those stupid gaps between the needles (ladders, I’ve seen them called), but nope. They are still there, despite the tight stitches. But at least now there are only to, instead of three or four Oh, and another plus with this method is that I can hold the knitting closer to my face without fear of poking my eyes out! Heh.

Oh well. I’m going back to my Easter crochet project now. I was just so anxious to test my new needles when they arrived today. I hope to have the project done before next week, so stay tuned

Craftiness of 2011 :)

First of all, let me wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I know I'm a little late, but we've had our family visiting for Christmas, and after they all left, I kind of collapsed and haven't done anything productive for days. But I'm back now, rested and ready for the new year ahead. Will have lots of studying to do this spring (taking an extra class to make up for skipping one this fall), but hopefully I'll be able to blog a little as well :)

To make up for neglecting my blog the past months, here is a summary of the craftiness I did last year :) I didn't think I'd accomplished much, but looking back, I realize that I've done quite a lot! Starting with my own designs in chronological order:

Nesting Love Birds, a free pattern for Valentine's Day.

Three Cute Little Bear Dudes, all made after the original bear pattern (Forest Dwellers vol.1)

Cute Little Dudes - Forest Dwellers vol.4. All birds :)

Cute Little Dudes - Alien Invaders.

In April I got a smart phone, so I knitted a protective purse for it as soon as I could. Important not to scratch the touch screen! :)

Great Big Wasp.

Great Big Aphid.

Finally got round to finishing the Great Big (male) Firefly (to the left). Sorry about the pale picture, I'll never take photos in bright sunlight again! No pattern yet...

Great Big Crane Fly. Longest bug legs ever! Pattern will be done soon, I promise :)

My aunt asked me to make two little bugs for her, so I made these. Mini versions of the Great Big ones. I'm working on the patterns, but I have to remake them to get proper pictures. Hopefully the patterns will be done before Easter :)

Cute Little Dudes - Trick or Treat! vol.1. I had another set planned, but ran out of time (too much school work!). Will save the second set for next Halloween :)

A friend of mine wanted me to make a great big dragon that he could give to a kid for his birthday, so I made this. It's huge! Arms and legs are jointed. I was told the kid's birthday was in October, so I rushed to finish it, but then it turned out the day was not until November. Oh well. At least the kid was happy. From what I heard, the dragon was being fed dinner as soon as it arrived. That's a good sign, right?

Crocheted and felted witch's cauldron, a free pattern for Halloween. I had originally planned to make up lots of creepy stuff to put in it (eyeballs, severed fingers, bat wings, etc.), but once again I ran out of time. Will save the ideas for next time :)

As a Christmas present, I made this heart (from my free heart pattern) that I filled with nice smelling things and put in a pretty bowl with some pretty white stones.

And the very last thing I finished last year was a remake of the Kitty Princess, the first pattern I ever made and published. Gave it to a cousin for Christmas. I am in the process of rewriting the pattern and adding new photos, and hopeully it'll be done before school starts in about two weeks :)

So. That was all of my designs. I did some other things too, but a lot of the projects I started last year are still in progress, so I have no pictures to show you... I will post the few that I have, though :) Again, in chronological order:

In the beginning of January I took out Rose Langlitz's book Tasty Crochet and started crocheting some food. I was obsessed for a while, but I only managed to complete two things, a pear and a salami/lettuce sandwich:

I have more half-finished food items lying around, but no pictures... 

After that I knitted a new bag for my rpg dice, the Dice Bag of Doom! Pattern free for download on Ravelry.

My next obsession was bugs, as Lesley Stanfield's new book came out, 75 birds, butterflies & beautiful beasties. I made a black slug, plus some butterflies and caterpillars that I pinned to a cork board:

Then I moved on to Hansi Singh's bugs. I started with a praying mantis that never got finished, but I made earthworms, a sea slug, Kraken (giant squid) and a Blackdevil anglerfish:

 

 

Again, I have lots of WiPs that hopefully some day will be done. They are just too pretty to be stashed away in a bag...

During the summer I got started on June Gilbank's dinosaurs. I think I've started about five of them, but none are done yet. It's just silly, really. On one (the Parasaurolophus), all that remains is sewing on one last leg! Sigh. I think I have an aversion against finishing things :/

I found this really cool knitting pattern on Ravelry, of a dancing goddess figure:

The pattern itself is very simple (knit in the round, and it consists of only two parts, so very little sewing is required), but I wasn't quite happy with my knitting (uneven stitches and a few holes - I'm no good at knitting in the round on double-pointed needles!), so I decided to felt it. Unfortunately I felted it after stuffing, so it almost didn't felt at all. It just became sort of lumpy and disproportionate. I wanted to make more of these, but I'll have to do it differently next time.

The last project I finished last year (not counting the Christmas presents) was this little dice bag:

The pattern is Deep Sea Flower Dice Bag, found HERE. Well, to be honest, it isn't actually 100% finished, since I haven't made the cord yet. I just got so tired of knitting with that stupid yarn that has absolutely NO stretch what so ever, I just tied it with a piece of yarn to be done with it. Love the pattern and the bag, though. Plan to make more some time, when I can get my hands on some lovely multi-colored Noro, which the pattern is designed for.

And that was all. Whew! Longest post ever... (It's taken over four hours to write!) Well. My plan now is to finish the patterns for the things I made last year, preferably as soon as possible. I'll have a lot less time once school starts, and I think that if I don't finish them now, I probably never will. So one of my new year's resolutions is to finish all my Bugs, Dudes and any other patterns before I start any new ones. Have lots of projects going right now, but no new Bugs or Dudes before the others are done. Period. Will try to post again soon :)

Books, glorious books :)

At the start of every semester when my student loan comes I usually spend a little bit of it on either new craft books or comic books. Today three new craft books arrived in the mail, and I thought I'd write up a little review for you :) First up are two crochet books, 100 Flowers to Knit & Crochet by Lesley Stanfield and Beyond the Square Crochet Motifs by Edie Eckman.

The flower book looks great, the patterns are arranged by difficulty and knit/crochet, and there is an index of all flowers arranged by color for easy reference. The book uses British English crochet terms, not American, but I guess I'll get used to that soon enough :)

The other book is all crochet, and the motifs are arranged by shape. Both books give the patterns both in written directions and charts, which is good. Lots of clear pictures.

The only problem with this book is that it's spiral bound, and that has made some of the pages stick together, I almost ripped the pages out of the book when I tried to separate them :/

The third book is a beading book, Petites Bêtes en Perles by Marie-Claude Burel.

As the name indicates, it's in French, and I don't know any French... I think the title means "tiny beaded beetles". Doubt the language will be a problem, though, the book has lots of pictures and charts in addition to the written descriptions. (Besides, I already have loads of German beading books, and I don't know German either...)

The book looks great, all the insects and arachnids are made to look very natural, and every critter is presented with its scientific name. For a geek like me, it's perfect :) There is a pattern for a praying mantis in the book, which is my boyfriend's favorite insect (and wasps), so I'm thinking I'll make him one for Valentine's. I'm not very romantic in that I'm not into pink hearts and stuff, so I feel the mantis will be a good gift :)

Ten thousand projects!

Well, it certainly feels like it sometimes... In addition to the two (possibly three) crochet-alongs, I have several other projects going, all of which I hope to finish before school starts for real next week.

I've actually been working these color pencil holders since since Christmas, from a pattern by Amber Jolly (bought on Etsy, A. Jolly Shop). The red one is crocheted with double strands of yarn and a 4mm hook. What's strange is that I started the red one first, but only the blue is finished... The blue pencil is crocheted with thinner yarn and 3.75mm hook, and is perfect for crochet hooks :) I made a few changes in the pattern and stiffened the pencil with a cardboard roll (the ones in the middle of toilet paper or kitchen paper towels).

The next project I need to finish are these knitted wristwarmers for my mother. She used to have a similar pair, but she lost them, so now I'm making her new ones for her birthday. They only need to be felted, but I plan to make an owlet keychain in matching colors, so the present isn't ready to send just yet.

I crocheted this little bag to keep my RPG dice in, but it's too small for me, since it only holds one standard set of 7. The pattern is added to my other blog :) Please contact me if you find any errors, I had some trouble making this up (I'm not used to joining rounds of single crochet), even though I believe the pattern should be correct.

Finally I've been exploring the world of granny squares again :) I wanted to make a bigger bag for my dice, and I came up with a pattern, which is now also posted on my pattern blog, along with a tutorial for a basic granny square. The bags are really simple, if you know how to make granny squares you can do this without a pattern, but I have written it down anyway :) A lady on Ravelry commented on these bags and said she'd use them as soap bags, which of course gave me a new idea... Maybe, if I find the time and the money later this semester, I'll give soap-making a try. I mean, if I could make my own soap and sell them in these bags... They would be great as gifts, too :)

After the first two granny square bags I decided to make some in pure wool for felting. The colors are inspired by the Warhammer roleplaying game, where there are eight different schools of magic with corresponding colors (life/green, death/purple, shadow/gray, amber/brown, sky/blue, fire/orange, alchemy/gold, light/white). That means eight bags, five of which are now made (the blue is not on the picture). I have only felted one of them, though, I want to wash them separately in case the colors bleed. I will probably add photos as the bags are finished :)