Finally Christmas!

Isn't this dog's knitted get up cute? He looks just like ravelry's mascot Bob too!

Once again, it has been far too long since my last post. But I am DONE with finals, and so ready to take a break. I have been working like mad to finish all sorts of crocheted goodies for my friends before we all left to our respective homes, and sadly enough I didn't manage to take pictures of them in my haste to get everything out on time. Hopefully I can coax my friends to let my take some pictures of the goods later, but for now I will just approximate.

For a video game player who I know, a pair of fingerless gloves to keep his hands warm at night when they are frantically hotkeying at a cold keyboard... (These are actually a pair I made my boyfriend, but the ones I just made are pretty much the same. But in black.)

For a science fiction aficionado, a Jayne Cobb lookalike hat from the short though sweet show Firefly...

Picture from www.worstedwitch.com

For my stylish headband wearing friend, a version of crochetme's winter headband pattern (ravelry link) in a Lily Sugar and Cream self striping blue, purple, yellow, white yarn.

Photo from crochetme

And for a lover of primates and cute animals in general, a sock monkey hat. Which... due to my slow sewing abilities does not yet possess eyes. But it will! I promise!

Image from coffeecupthoughts

So, hurrah for lots and lots of things that I made! It really is so fun to make things for people, it is the absolute best thing ever. Especially when they accept something that didn't turn out quite perfect just the way you wanted and they love it anyway. I love you guys <3

On the theme of making lots of things... I got a bunch of yarn for my birthday! It was so heavenly to walk around Jo-ann fabrics and just pick out whatever I wanted... and now I have such a wealth of yarn that I can hardly contain my excitement. I have started another project since I came home that I have been dying to try for a while...

SOCKS! I tried making socks with regular worsted weight yarn and they came out so awkwardly that I ended up caving and buying a bunch of sock yarn on my aforementioned birthday yarn splurge. I also tried knitting again, with the misbegotten idea that it would be super easy and there was no reason that I stopped knitting in the first place. Which, unfortunately, is quite false indeed. I just can't deal with how difficult it is to go back and fix mistakes on knitting. As soon as the stitches slip off of the needle, I am done for, as my carefully knitted and occasionally and incorrectly purled slip of knit dissolves into tangles of yarn. Thankfully crocheting is superfantasticallyawesome because it is so so so easy to count stitches and go back and figure out what the heck you are doing. I still dream of knitting socks some day as I stare at vegancraftastic's many gorgeous and apparently fun and easy knitted socks, but for now I will stick to the hooks I know so well. 

Also... I have some *very exciting news*! Perhaps I should have put this at the top but, my adorable owl pattern is being sort of featured in a UK Let's Knit magazine online article! When I say featured what I really mean is that this picture that I took of it (squee!!) is in the article representing an example of a free pattern available through freeamigurumipatterns.blogspot.com . I really believe in free patterns and sharing ideas and inspiration with everybody who wants to pick up yarn and try something out, so I am super happy! The article won't be out until February but I will hunt it down and link to it when it comes out! I also have a new pattern in the works that I am really excited about, of this little guy.

Isn't he just darling? I will try and get it together sooon but given my posting speed it won't be til after Christmas. In a brief aside, I have lost a couple followers over the last few days and it makes me sad. I know that I don't update very often and my pictures are rarely the colorful explosion that other crafty blogs offer, but I really try to make every post up to certain standards of my own, which is why I don't post more. Plus, I am a college student rather than a stay at home mom like most craft blog authors. Anyway, just wanted to say thanks to those of you who stick around and read my novel length twice a month blog posts, because you guys rock.

Merry Christmas everybody!

Sketches and Ink

 

In high school I used to keep a notebook that I would just draw in all the time during class. That sort of stopped when I came to college, but in the last couple of months it has been picking up again. I draw a lot of things... and I thought that even though this has been a crochet focused blog so far, that I could share a few doodles here.

I specialize in dorky self portraits, actually.

Though this one is probably much more realistic.

And random, more serious ones. 

And then, they just get random...

These next two were actually the inspiration for a crochet pattern that I have just finished...

Which will be posted soon! 

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

Wind and Rain

Image from The House at Pooh Corner

I don't know what it is about wind and rain that makes me feel so peaceful. When the world is positively torrential outdoors, I love being cuddling up in a blanket with a good book and a cup of hot tea. I also get the strange urge to watch the Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day. I think the idea of getting carried away by the storm captivated me as a child, and continues to, to this day.

I never posted the pictures I took in San Francisco when I visited with my Big Sister from Theta... so here they are!

These hats were so cute, and I was inspired by the range and consistent adorable-ness (if that is a word) of this seller. One of my dreams is definitely to have an etsy shop of my own someday, but I am afraid that school is pretty much a full time job right now. I do manage to squeeze in a few projects here and there though. Here is my latest finished object(s), a pair of amigurumi cats for my friends' birthday. They are twins, so I wanted to give them something cute and sort of matching, but not identical, of course. That would just be tacky. 

Here they are!

High fives...

Taking the spotlight..

EXTREME CLOSEUP!!!

All fancied up with bows.

Hurrah! I was really happy with how they turned out. The pattern is available here, and is called roly poly cats on Ravelry. I didn't name them, because then I might want to keep them (sort of like real kitties), but I think the recipient of the black kitty decided to call her Batsu (the Japanese for x or false, since her eyes are little x's), and perhaps that means that the companion white kitty would be called Maru? (Japanese for an o or true.) I even whipped up a little last minute wrapping too out of some magazine pages and a shoe box!

Thank you, Marie Claire and tape.

And then we had delicious sushi for dinner. I am actually not a huge fan of raw fish in general, but for these avocado-unagi rolls I happily made an exception.

As for more up to date news, I do have something on the hook right now, but it is a Christmas surprise for a family member and I don't want to ruin it! I know it isn't even thanksgiving yet, but I love Christmas with all my heart and getting people gifts makes me really happy and excited. I have already started shopping and planning... muahahaha! I can't wait for thanksgiving next week either, and a chance for some down time with my family.

I hope you all are feeling the holiday spirit as well, and have a great thanksgiving!

Until next time!

Moments in Time

San Francisco near the Ferry Building

It feels like moments these days don't last as long as they used to. Winter is here, at least in Berkeley, as heralded by weekly showers and a brisk wind on some days. My midterms have been flying fast and furious, and I have not one, but two very important essays to write this week. Yikes! But amid all the chaos and mad panic of deadline after deadline, there are some really beautiful moments that I have been meaning to share from the month of October. So here they are.

A surprisingly thoughtful gift from my boyfriend a while back... apparently he just had it "laying around" 

New yarn from Michael's, courtesy of boyfriend's mom's car

Lunchtime! Brioche Pain Perdu (leftovers from breakfast at fancy french restaurant), ham,  fresh 

raspberries, and super delicious instant coffee

Sunflowers from my boy.

In case you were wondering... my bathroom has the best light. 

I promise that there is an even wordier, newsier post on its way regarding my doings and FO's of the month of October... but for now this will suffice. My Japanese grammar homework calls to me with its eeeeevil urgency, and so I bid you goodnight.

Rectangular Case Pattern

 While for most experienced crocheters this pattern is so basic that it is probably common knowledge, I have recently been completely hooked on these rectangular cases of every shape and size! I made one for my ipod, my itouch, my iclicker (perhaps one of the most evil quiz taking devices ever), and even a pencil case for a friend of mine. The pattern below is the pattern for the ipod case, but the general pattern can be repeated with any number of stitches to make the rectangle longer and such.

Body

Chain 20

R1: SC through back loops

R2: Instead of turning, sc though the remaining front loops to create the base of the case. Join with sl st. Rows from now on can be worked in sc, hdc or dc depending on the texture you want and how quickly you want to finish the project. I used hdc for all of my projects because I liked the texture.

R3-16: Ch 2, hdc around, join with sl st. Repeat for next 13 rows or until the case covers the ipod. Then finish off. Note: If you are going to sew on any cute felt accents etc. and you want it near the bottom I recommend sewing it on before the entire sleeve is done otherwise it will be extremely difficult.

Strap

R1: Insert hook one stitch to the left of center on the side of the mouth of the case you want to be the back. YO, pull through. 1 loop on hook. YO again and pull through loop on hook. Sc in next 2 sts, ch 1 and turn.

R2-R4: Sc in each st, chain 1, turn.

R5: Sc in st and finish off.

Sew a button on 2 rows down from the top of the front side of the case or wherever suits your fancy. 

This one my friend actually commissioned from me. Paid for crafting, who would've thought?

Here is the iclicker case! I started with chain 8 and did 25 rows.

The itouch case was chain 9, then crochet about 16 rows.

This one was chain 30, then 11 rows high. I was really excited because this was the first thing I have ever made with a zipper. And, perhaps more importantly, the zipper worked and everything. This one was also for the angry cat ipod case guy. 

Happy Crafting!

Back in the Swing

Well hello there everyone! I know that it has been a ridiculously long time since my last post, but getting back to school is always so hustly bustly busy that I hope you will understand. So much has happened since my last post too! As it has been a while the rush process is now over and my sorority is now... 

Kappa Alpha Theta! 

(This tin is now my portable sewing kit for finishing projects with buttons and the like)

I really like all of the girls so far. Here are a couple of the super cute crafts that I have been lucky enough to recieve this week from my secret big sister...

A lovely vase with yellow tulips personalized with my name and one of our mascots- the kite!

This one absolutely shocked me: a box decorated with characters from Hayao Miyazaki's famous children's movie, My Neighbor Totoro. It is one of my favorite movies, and everything was SO CUTE!!! I even got to keep the awesome jar and the Reeses!

Even though I have been quite busy, I have still definitely found time for crocheting. It is perfect for a mental break between classes when I lack the time and quite frankly the brain capacity to get any meaningful work done. I have foun that keeping the yarn inside of a plastic bag, whethe zip-loc or otherwise, keeps the yarn from becomig super tangled and terrible inside of my backpack. Here are some of my recent projects.

Bear ears! Since U.C. Berkeley's mascot is the California grizzly, I thought some bears ears would be a really fun and cute project. I keep giving away all the pairs I make but hopefully I will be able to finish another one before the next football game because they work up pretty quick!

The rest of my recent projects have all been in a similar genre: rectangular cases! Not terribly thrilling, I know, but ever so practical. Here is a preview...

And while as a creative endeavour they are perhaps not the most original or inspired, it makes me really proud when people as where I bought them and I can say "nowhere".  I intend to share this rectangular-y  joy super soon with a patterny how to thingamabob just as soon as I write it up!

It is late, and I must to bed.

Sweet Dreams!