Mood Scarf - Month 2 - August 2012

I'm a few days late posting... I had an oddly social weekend and therefore didn't get around to taking pictures and posting my scarf update until now! So here it is!!!

The scarf is coming along REALLY nicely! I still don't know what I'm going to do with it though it's looking like the scarf is going to need some edging because all those colour changes, mean the edges are SOO uneven! I still love it though! and I'm happy to report that at the moment, yellow is the colour that's there the most, apparently at 8pm at night I'm not as depressed/angry as I thought I was :)

Crazy Crocheting World!

I've been pretty busy so far in August! I have two cousins who are pregnant and I've been working away on presents for their soon to be little girls and trying to keep working on other ideas I've had going on in my head, and then this morning I just got 4 new hat commissions! AHH! Slightly overwhelmed, but I'll make it work, I always do!

This past weekend J and I spent most of Saturday getting my craft/storage room organized, we were looking for some camping stuff a few weekends ago and somehow the whole thing just snowballed and it was a disaster!!!!

Ohhh! and I just remembered I might be selling stuff at the market in Dalhousie in a few weeks! Great more things for me to be terrified of!

I'll post a bunch of pictures soon, I just need to wait until the mom's get them, I also have a great set of owls that will hopefully be going up for sale once they get faces, and I have slippers I still need to finish up the design of so I can start selling those!

I think I need to quit my day job or figure out a way to make the most of the 168 hours a week I could be crocheting... well 128 crochetable hours actually (I do have a day job afterall)... well 88... since I would like to sleep every night... *sigh* Good thing I love to crochet!

And last night J bought me a new crochet book! Seamless Crochet by Kristin Omdahl! I'm so excited to eventually get some time to play with this new book! I love motifs and like everyone else, I HATE sewing in ends, so yay! I tested out a pattern last night Blue Skies Chunky Cowl and the swatch worked up really nicely and wasn't as confusing as I expected. I think I would like to turn it into an babyghan eventually.

Mood Scarf - Month 1 - July 2012

So... I will be honest and say this so far, has NOT gone at all as planned... I have been recording my mood/colour every day but I definitely have not been crocheting a row a day, infact most of this scarf got completed this past weekend. *hangs head in shame*

Well shame aside! It does have 31 lovely rows of 30 sc that do coincide to my mood every night at 8pm. I'm happy to report there really are no big trends emerging so far, there were two days in a row where at 8pm all I felt was sick (green), but I'm such an emotional person (sorry J) that thankfully even my angry bouts, or stressed bouts etc tend to really only last an hour or two.

My goal for August is to ACTUALLY crochet a row a day!

Some of you, may notice, this is not the scarf I originally showed  4 weeks ago. There were a few flaws with that plan, the hdc were probably going to make this thing way too long, my math initially said it was going to be 7 feet long, but so does my math on the new sc version... so math somewhere failed me! But the bigger problem with the 1st version was the 730 ends I was going to have to deal with! OMG that's so many little 3" strands to sew in! Thankfully Lion Brand Yarn came to my help! Their blog recently showed an awesome technique for dealing with ends, that still takes a bit of time, but it does cut down a ton on the annoying little ends! Go check it out! So thrilled to learn this! I had heard about the Russian join years ago, but that method involved cutting yarn and handfelting it together, which would only work with wool. This doesn't help me at all, since I can't work with wool, but this one works with acrylic yarn! It's the little things :)

And now back to working on some commissions and presents!

Zombie Bear Stare!

This is going to be a photo heavy post! but it's because I finally finished my Zombie Bear!!! I started this guy months and months and months ago... then didn't touch him for months and months etc. but yesterday I pulled him out of his hiding place and TADA! he's done! 

 He is 100% yarn and technically would be baby safe... 

  He's 9" tall and totally awesome! 

 I'm hoping he gets bought next Saturday at the Con. but honestly if anyone contacts me before then, he is yours! $50 plus shipping (if you aren't local)

more and more cuteness!

Time is ticking away, but I'm at least creating lots! Thankfully I work best under pressure, I am and will sadly probably always be a procrastinator! Last night I finished up 4 cupcake containers, I need another frosting and cake bottom because one of the frosting and cakes don't actually match and I did some more work on Derby Bunny! This morning, I finished up some hair clips, I now have 7 done, I'm hoping to finish up 5 more (mainly because I have 5 more clips available) and I have most of a rainbow scarf done, I'll probably add on a nyan cat to the end (if I have time).

DUST BUNNY! 

Designed and created by me! woo!
His buttons are off-center... I might fix that,
or maybe it gives him character...

I  just clued in that this guy isn't actually complete...
he doesn't have a nose/mouth, I need to add that on...

Cute little poptart wristlet! It's probably 4x6 or 5x7.
The frosting is an open pocket and the top zips closed.
I used tunisian crochet to ensure that it's nearly a solid fabric.

FREAKING OUT!

I'm so thrilled with this!! from sketch to reality!!!
He's not identical to the drawing, but I love the results!

So getting ready for Animaritimes has taken over my life!!! I have 19 days left to create things, so far I have 19 items done that I for sure want to sell (still need to go through old stock to see what's saleable in there), seven more things to finish (well really 22, but 12 of those are hairclips... so I'm just going to count it as one!) and I have three or four things I would love to start and finish as well...

Just your basic everyday raspberry-coloured fawn...
She's definitely my favourite! I'm still amazed she stands!

On top of the things I need to crochet, I need to make my tags and tag everything, and I would like to be able to get a nice portfolio printed so I can hopefully get myself a few commissions at the Con. too... AHHH!

Love this little ballerina alien! Her hair was hard to make but worth it!

I'm pretty freaked out, I mean what if no one buys anything? But I'm also proud of myself, tonight I finished a scarf and the detailing on two dolls, which is quite awesome! I have finally gotten myself organized as well, I have a list of everything done and the pricing I want to give them, as well as what I have started and what needs to be completed on those projects.

I just pity this doll! He looks way too warm.

I managed to finish up to snood a friend on Twitter commissioned from me, and I need to start a hat someone else commissioned this week too... I kind of like those projects though, they give me a bit of confidence that someone likes my stuff :)

Can't decide if I like this guy, I do know he's not the most stable,
even with a ton of weights in his feet.

T- 40 days until Anime Con

So I've been sick on and off for about 2 months, which reflects in the fact that I haven't been blogging... which my mother keeps reminding me.... mostly because I haven't really been making much! I start little projects whenever I had a day or two that I felt great and am just now starting to finish things up, which is good because my first "show" is coming up! here are a few little things I've finished up for it, I have some more that I need to photograph and I will hopefully upload some better photos of these! Apparently my phone didn't like me when I took these!

Cute little cookies (sugar cookie, oreo, lemon cream, berry cream and jam cookie)!

They are life-sized and I will be turning them into hairclips!

 I have 4 or 5 more of these made in various colours!

They are cute little cupcake containers, the frosting is removable and they are perfect for little treats

This little girl, is one of many various dolls I've made, or half made and she just adorable!

So... I promise to try to start posting again... and I'm hoping to post up the cookies as a free pattern in a day or two, it's way to simple a pattern for me to justify trying to make even a dollar on :)

Completed works

Here's some pictures of what I've been up to!!!

The Tunisian crochet baby blanket I made!
Only my 3rd ever Tunisian project and it was SOO fast and easy!

I made this bikini for a customer, it's crochet thread and lined with swimsuit liner.
I'm happy with how it turned out, but I'm still undecided on whether
I want to make another one anytime soon lol

A cute little hippo I designed! I'm still working on his lion friend for a customer

Also Friday was my birthday!!!! so I haven't really been crocheting much at all! I had a few friends over on Friday night which was a blast and then Saturday J and I went to the sugarbush and then to lunch with my mom, so it's been a long busy weekend :)

Here's a picture of my birthday cake! I did make it myself, but I love to bake and
my best friend is vegan so buying a cake isn't really an option!
It was a vanilla cake with chocolate and peanut butter custard fillings
and chocolate-peanut butter frosting!

And here's the cute mug the same best friend bought me,
which went wonderfully with the keurig machine my husband bought me!!!

Pattern: Easter Eggimals and Eggs

I'M SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS PATTERN! and now I'll apologize for the caplock... With plenty of time until Easter you can create some cute critters for the kids or beautiful eggs (plain or decorated) for place about the house. The eggs measure about 4.5 to 5" tall (depending on tension, yarn brand, hook etc) and are made with worsted weight yarn. They work up extremely fast and and are suitable for a beginner (though the decorated egg, does take a bit of focus to perfect).

The pattern is available now on Ravelry or Storenvy for $5

Commissions I finished up last week!

So last week had some insane crocheting happening! A scarf, a hat and a pair of mittens! (not all for the same person ironically) Though I did score all the orders while at a kid's birthday party, so that works for me!

Noose Scarf, made from Bernat Waverley yarn. This was my first time using this yarn, and it was really nice to work with, fluffy and comfortable. The pattern for these is one of mine and can be found for sale on Ravelry.

These mittens are from a Bernat pattern and were made using Bernat Chunky Yarn, I'm not a huge fan of the yarn, but it was the customer's request, so I couldn't very well refuse :)

This hat is my own design, and not available at the moment anywhere. It's made with Lion Brand Vanna's Choice, and fits an adult male, but not my tiny female mannequin head!

Was hoping to at least have 1 pattern ready for sale today, but as usual life happened, and I didn't get to devote as much time as I had wanted to my hook... but here's a cute hat I made for my cousin, its a modified version of my popular adult bomber hat (one of the patterns in the works)... I also have this afghan on the go for a coworker who's pregnant

Little boys hat, made to match his snowsuit, made some crocheted buttons because I couldn't find any actual ones in the right shade of blue

This will eventually be a babyghan, I have A LOT more hexagons to go, the plan is to work until it's either the size I want, or until I run out of yarn and then do an edging in a different colour to get it up to size

Hats done!

It took way longer than it should have, but I finally finished the "Angry Bird" hats! They will be off to their owner in Nova Scotia in a few days

Works in progress

So I've once again found myself with a ton of projects on the go!
1. A set of three angry bird inspired hats (red bird, black bird, green pig)
2. A loom double knit cowl in green and bone Vanna's Choice yarn
3. A tunisian crochet scarf in Calypso Bernat mosaic yarn
4. A 3 coloured cellphone case for a coworker
5. A case for my new Samsung Glide!!! At 25, after years of arguing against it, I finally got a cellphone and it so pretty and fancy and I am totally infatuated!!!

Some more commissions I've finished up!

As I mentioned previously, I've been inundated with hat commissions lately! Here are a few more I finished up, the devil hat was for a co-workers daughter, the actual earflap hat design (not including horns) is a single piece that's worked from top down, I'm hoping to have time after Christmas to actually get the pattern written up and for sale because I LOVE the style of this hat! It doesn't have those earflaps that are crocheted on after fact in back and forth rows, that I find look so different from the actual hat which is in rounds.

This hat was crocheted for the daughter of one my husband's cousins... gotta love those complicated family relationships! Anyway, it's for a two-year old, which explains why, even though my mannequin has a small head (19" circumference) the hat is still too small! but it fit Maria perfectly! I also whipped up a quick cupcake hat to give the mom a few options... she of course bought both once she saw them on Maria. :)

This hat... drove me insane... I wasn't thinking when I took the commission that mohair is from a sheep, much like wool... I'm allergic to wool... I'm apparently REALLY allergic to mohair! After many days of burning and tingling fingertips, which eventually went numb, and working in 15 minute spurts with frantic handwashing between, I finally finished the hat. Many people kept telling me to tell the woman who commissioned it, that I couldn't do it, but it was a sad story, for her father who is sick and the use of mohair to make the hat was paramount as it was an inside joke, that I couldn't stop... I'm actually giving it to her shortly and I hope it fits well and makes everyone smile.

Well... that's all for now... I'm working on some mittens, a few hats based on Angry Birds for a friend of mine and a few Christmas presents... more updates to come as those get finished up :)

Some completed commissions

I've been crazy busy lately between work and crocheting. I've had an influx of crochet commissions, mainly for hats, because people seem obsessed with the hat I made my husband, which is great but means I keep putting off the projects I have in my head.

 And this is the famed My Little Zombie that I made about a month ago and is now happily residing in Missouri.

I have plans for more zombie items but they have to wait until I finish up commissions :)

Rainbow Cowl

So... I still suck at blogging... life is just too busy right now. BUT I did finish up the Time Out Cowl for the Maybe Matilda Crochet-Along! But I did highly modify it :) I used Vanna's Choice yarn, just under a ball of black, and barely any red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple yarn and a 9mm hook. I made the cowl only 5 V's wide and I did 9 rows of each colour. After I blocked it the finished size was 7" x 58" which I'm quite happy with. I'm quite happy with the final product :) I'll probably end up tossing it on Etsy eventually since my winter coat is bright red with ruffles and this would just be WAY too much for me.

Me very awkwardly modeling the cowl.

A much nicer shot of the cowl hanging out by it's lonesome.