Adventures in Azeroth

For my boyfriend's graduation, I decided to make him a 'gurumi baby murloc. Murlocs are really cute frog people from World of Warcraft. Until they kill your character that is, then they just become really annoying haha.


Here are some action shots!




I couldn't quite figure out how to do a gradient effect for the spikey finny things on his back so I just used three colors.



For the eye I just crocheted and embroidered the iris with black yarn.


For his cute little spots I used some Martha Stewart Everyday gem stickers and for his tooth I used white craft fleece.

And here he is in all his cuteness!






I might just invest in doll joints since that's really my favorite way to attach limbs on my gurumis. It makes them fun to play with and somewhat pose-able. For the time being, i've been stringing some yarn to joint, but for really heavy play I get the feeling that wouldn't hold as well. I also think i'm going to try incorporate different mediums other than yarn in my gurumis. I really like how they look and they can really accent some of the dolls features.

All in all i'm really happy with how it came out, and my boyfriend even said he could see an improvement in my technique.

I'm hoping to improve some more!

Chugga-Chugga-Chugga-Chugga-Choo-Choo!

I've been chugging along with my crochet and amigurumi projects so much that i've been a terrible blogger :(. The fact that I probably don't have any readers to apologize to is proof! (Although, if there is anyone out there still checking up on me, I am sorry)

So here's a super post filled with stuff I've been working on!

First up is a star pillow that i've been wanting to make for a while now. (pattern from http://yarn-diva.blogspot.com/2006/03/free-star-shaped-afghan-pattern.html)

This project is a perfect example of how inspiration can come from some of the simplest things! I was going though my stash and just happened to put these colors together. It hit me just as soon as I saw them that I had to make something with theses colors

I'm making the pillow for now, but i'm considering making the baby afghan version for my boyfriend's sister. She's expecting (due in December!) and i'm doing cartwheels at the prospect of having a baby to crochet for! I'm still a little young to be having kids of my own but rest assured they'll practically be in yarn cocoons with the amount of crocheting i'll be doing for them.

I've also finished a fluff monster which I made via what I call the "fluffigurumi" technique

This little guy's going to a friend of mine to replace one that her co-worker shanghaied haha.

Here's an actual amigurumi I've been working on. Hopefully he'll turn out to be a Kobald named Yip-Yip. But sometimes these things have a mind of their own.

I've had to frog the head 3 times already so for now this poor thing has no mind!

And last but definitely not least, I've started on some granny squares for a Project Linus blanket

Another color combination I've been meaning to use is bright red with light blue/turquoise. This should make a really exciting blanket and hopefully a really happy kid!

So that's about it for now. I still have to finish up the accessories for the D&D characters from the previous post and I've found some nifty colored thread crochet that I might reboot the messed up doily with.

Also for more info on Project Linus please visit http://www.projectlinus.org/. It's an amazing organization and a good source of inspiration of you're unsure what to do with that yarn stash of yours.

Adventures in Re-incarnation

When I found that one of my favorite t-shirts had a gaping hole in it (that was neither for the neck nor arms) my first reaction was pretty much expletive, expletive. But then I remembered a video I saw about making tarn on the Tottie Talks Crafts blog (http://tottietalkscrafts.com/).

For those of you unfamiliar with the clever etymology of crafting, tarn is yarn you make out of t-shirts (T-shirt + yarn = Tarn). I've always wanted to make some and now I finally had the opportunity.

I washed my mouth out with some soap and got right on to some tarn making!



My shirt stretched over a stool I had lying around



the bringer of this shirt's demise and soon after, rebirth



almost done!



my first ball of tarn!


It was a lot of fun and really easy to make. This specific shirt wasn't ideal i think because it was seamed along the sides so that instead of having one long continuous piece there are points where it's seamed together.

In any case, I can't wait to turn it into something new and exciting. Tarn, I've decided, is a great way to reuse some of those old concert/high school history club t-shirts that you don't ever wear but don't want to part with. This way, instead of a reminder of your foolish youth, your t-shirt becomes a safety conscious pot holder, or a chic clutch.

I'm doing cartwheels at all the prospects.

Half double steps

This right here is an awesome table my sister made in her props practicum class.

she went to school for theater design, and now that she's living the ex-pat life in Italy, her table has been adopted by the family, (as well as her espresso machine! ironically enough)

Well, as awesomely crafted as it is, I thought it looked a little lonely. So I decided I should pull out the thread and make a doily. This doily in fact:

which I got from free-crochet.com. I really like the pineapple look for a doily, and I decided to do it in red to match the curtains in my living room.

This is how far I've gotten:

I got to about round 10, when I realized, I messed up

I somehow ended up with too few bunches to make the pyramid things connecting the pineapples. I'm not quite sure how I did it, but the thing is, do I now pull all of what I had done past the boo-boo out and start from there or should I just improvise? Or start on a whole new one altogether!

I'm torn, and so is my doily if I don't figure out which method is better.

In other news, I've finished some of the accessories for the characters from the previous post. Will post pictures!

Character Development

Our heroes' journey continues:

Here are the characters a bit more put together. I still need to sew on the paladin's pauldrons and fashion weapons. I picked up some Sculpey and some acrylic paint. I have to tell you, the weapons that these guys thought up are pretty intense, so I've got my work cut out for me!

I'll go into some more detail with these guys. First off is the half demon mage.

.

He's got a mithril shirt and cloth vest. I made the ring belt out of a loop bracelet closure and suede lace.

Since he's half demon, I gave him some horn stubs, mostly hidden in his hair haha:

Here is the gnome rogue. I actually didn't get a look at his character sheet so I didn't even know he was a rogue until we started playing. I went ahead and gave him plate armor. The pot is along story. Suffice it to say, gnomes are pretty cunning creatures.

Here is our half elf rogue. She's got a mithril shirt (well more like a bustier) and leather bodice. I gave her some leather pauldrons as well.

And of course you can't be a half elf without pointy ears.

And here's our human cleric. He's got a mithril shirt and leather armor. I gave him a nifty cape too.

The leather pauldrons I made out of crocheting beading cord and a size 4 steel crochet hook.

I really like the way it came out. I love the look of it so much I'm definitely using it again for another project. At least something small like coasters haha.

I have to say, making all of the little accessories by hand I can't help but feel something of a kinship to the artisans of old. Of course, I'm nowhere near a master worker of any craft, but someday I would hope to be so amazing at a craft I could be considered an artisan.

Even if you're not into fantasy or history for that matter, I would strongly suggest any crafter visit a Renaissance faire. They are overflowing with hand-crafted goodies that you can't help but admire. You can find just about everything there. I've picked up handmade leather goods, perfume, candles, books, honey. The list goes on.

And the best Renaissance faires will have demonstrations of crafts like glass blowing, black-smithing, and hand weaving. They're great places for inspiration and a little bit of education too!

Looking for Group

I managed to finish (well mostly) some of the unfinished's!

I say mostly because there are still some embelleshments I want to add on to these guys, as well as one more member of the group that still needs some putting together.

What you see are three of my friend's characters from our D&D campaign. A half-elf rogue, a gnome rogue, and a human paladin. The red guy with the pins in him is a half demon warlock. I'll be sure to post more detailed pictures once they are complete. I'm sad to say one of these characters has already died in our campain, so i'd better finish them before another looses a fight to a dragon (or rolls a 1 on perform breakdance).

I'm sure it's no surprise that i'm a huge dork who loves fantasy stuff. I've actually only been playing d&d for less than a year, but i've been a fantasy fan since I was a baby.

There are so many fantasy characters that I want to make I dont really know where to begin, haha. So when my boyfriend wanted to start his own D&D campaign, I took the opportunity to learn the game myself (which I still find a bit daunting and complicated sometimes). My friends came up with such awesome characters, I had to bring them to life in cute doll form.

The idea for the look of the dolls came from Christen Haden's Creepy Cute Crochet (ISBN-10 1594742324). Her book is essential reading for those amigurumi-ers who love fantasy. She even has "expansion pack" patterns on her blog and etsy shop (http://needlenoodles.com, http://www.etsy.com/shop/needlenoodles)

Oh how I hope someone will be blogging about patterns I've published one day haha!

Unfinished Business

Behold, my stash of unfinished 'gurumis:


There's probably more where that came from. If there's a type of ADD for crocheting, I definitely have it. I'm very eager to try new things, so I'm quick to jump on a new project before the one I was working is complete.

Looking back, I can see things in old projects that I would do differently. So I wonder if it would be better to ditch some of these and just start over, or go back to where I was and keep going?

After a little light redecorating today, I've already come up with a couple pieces I'd like to make to brighten things up. Maybe I should start a netflix-ish queue for projects!

Then again, I've got about 400 movies on my netflix queue, most of which I probably will never get to haha!

The solution: an eight movie at a time subscription?

Warm weather wear

Around my neck of the woods we're experiencing some record breaking heat, about 90 degrees F. Combine that with the fact that Renaissance Faire season is approaching and you have my first crack at a snood!

I actually just modified the market bag pattern and used size 10 cotton thread. It's all double stitches worked in the round with a space in between.

I like how it turned out for the most part. I feel the cotton thread is a little stiff, it kind of stays in the same shape when I take it off. I would like a more fluid thread for my next one. My guess is a nylon thread would have more weight and would give the desired effect.

I would also like something in more of a diamond pattern like here http://www.everaftercostumes.com/snood_carolyn2.jpg (the pearls are a nice touch too), but I haven't figured out how to do it yet. Is that pattern started from the back and increased up or from the front and decreased down?

This snood is fine for now, but I would like an improved one by the time I hit up the next Renn Faire (which will most likely be July or August) so I've got a little time (but not much!)

A Lesson Learned

I was very proud of myself for having finished the market bag in one sitting!

However, I woke up this morning with a painful twinge in my left ring finger knuckle and radiating down to my elbow in one line (it must be a specific tendon I aggravated). My hand was cramping up a bit while I was making my bag, but I decided to push through since I was really close to finishing. Next time I will definitely listen to my body, I'd hate to do permanant damage and not be able to crochet anymore.

In any case, the bag came out great, can't wait till the next opportunity I get to use it (what with all the farmer's markets coming this summer!)

And I'm proud of myself for actually buying exactly the amount I needed haha!

Adventures in Yarn!

Just got back from A.C. Moore with brand new yarns to play with!

Although I find acrylic yarn like the super saver variety to be optimal for making amigurumi, I've always wanted to experiment with different types of yarns. In this case I picked up two different cotton blends and a stitch nation wool. I'm not sure the picture really shows the hue of purple the wool is in, but I can tell you it's absolutely irresistible, almost incandescent. The color is listed as "passion fruit"

I also discovered why wool is optimal for felting, as the stray strands I had pulled out to inspect it pretty much started clinging to each other just by being tossled around in the bag I was carrying on the way home. I've always wanted to learn felting, so now that I finally have some wool to felt I'll definitely be taking the opportunity.

I also picked up a few rolls of cotton yarn (including the eco blend). The brown yarn I've reserved for a market bag pattern I saw on the lion brand website. You can find it at http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/80803AD.html?noImages=. I've been wanting to crochet a market bag since watching Vicky Christina Barcelona (one of my favorite movies!)

I couldn't find a good screen shot of it but you can kind of see it here, from http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/05/12/first-look-woody-allens-vicky-cristina-barcelona/

( I guess you know you crochet too much when you obsess over props in a movie haha).

I decided to pick up the green eco cotton as well to play with. I would love to come up with a leaf pattern to use, either for flowers or flower like creatures I come up with.

The anticipation is killing me so I'm off to play with my new stuff!

Let the Adventure Begin!

Good day fellow crocheters, knitters, doll makers and crafters of all mediums! Welcome to my first crack at a blog in an attempt to document and share my favorite hobby.

To give a little background about myself, I was first taught the ways of the hooker by my dear grandma when i was but a wee one. However, being young and stupid, I didn't really make it a point to retain what she imparted. It wasn't until I was older and slightly less stupid that I came across one of the many adorable amigurumi critters scattered around the world wide web. I quickly set upon relearning what i had unlearned, and in short time i was making critters on my own for myself and friends.

Although its common knowledge that everything is on the internet (especially when safe search is turned off ;~; ), I was still surprised to discover a humongous community of amazingly talented crafters out there. Their amazing creations have been an inspiration to me.

I've since been on a personal quest to better myself at my craft, and so am throwing myself into this great global community to learn, share, and push forward the craft of amigurumi. In doing so, I hope to not only become a better crafter for my own part, but to also be a resource for those of you out there who are looking for information, inspiration, and discussion.

While this blog will focus mainly on amigurumi, I will also hopefully get a chance to discuss other crafts and aspects of crafting such as general crocheting, knitting, quilting, etc. I'm a huge fan of all things hand made and will definitly be posting my adventures in other mediums as well. I'm an equal opportunity crafter!

So without further ado, I present to you an amigurumi I cooked up to brighten up my kitchen. Summer's almost here and I can't wait for all the great fresh fruit that'll be available. So I made a little amigurumi lime and lemon:

Amigurumi Lemon and Lime

I used Red Heart Super Saver colors Bright Yellow and Spring Green, a size E crochet needle, 6mm safety eyes, and black embroidery thread. You'll need to know how to magic circle to start, single crochet, and decrease.

Key:

sc = single crochet

dec = decrease

(n) = number of stitches in round

Magic circle 6

round 1: 2 sc in each sc (12)

round 2: 1 sc in each sc (12)

round 3: 1 sc, 2 sc, repeat untill end (18)

round 4: 1 sc, 1 sc, 2 sc untill end (24)

round 51 sc 1sc 1sc 2sc around till end (30)

rounds 6-13: 1 sc in each sc (30)

round 14: 1 sc, 1 sc, 1 sc, dec in sc, repeat until end (24)

round 15: 1 sc, 1 sc, dec in sc, repeat until end (18)

round 16: 1 sc, dec in sc, repeat until end (12)

round 17: 1sc in each sc (12)

round 18: 1 sc in each sc (12)

bind off

If you have the happy fortune of stumbling upon this blog and use this pattern, I would love to hear your feedback!

And just to get the unpleasant legal stuff out of the way, please note that all patterns that I post are copyrighted by me and can be reproduced under the creative commons licence with proper attribution to me and my site. Please contact me if you have any questions about the licence for this pattern!

This work by Nicola Correia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License