Week 4 Project Post

Another successful week. Yippee! 

First this week I had started out working on the dinosaur pattern, but looking at it closely and seeing the sample picture again I decided that this pattern was going to need some revamping, major revamping. And that was something I didn't want to work on at the hospital. My sister did great by the way. . . . Back to projects. So I finished the head for that but I might rip it out because I'm not totally happy with that pattern, like I said.  That is another project for another time.

So my first completed project for week four was Woodstock. You know Snoopy's little bird buddy. He came out great. I was worried that he might come out super big, but he doesn't. He thankfully past inspection from a big Peanuts fan so that makes me happy. I only have two problems with this pattern: A) his hair and tail aren't the easiest to do and B) attaching his legs. 

I feel there had to be a better way to do his hair. The instructions were a bit vague and I'm pretty sure I may have done it wrong. So thats something to think about doing a different way. The trail was the same way.  This will probably be the big thing to change in the future when I make one of these guys.

My issue with attaching the legs was that they needed to be sewed into the body, which is fine, but the body's hole wasn't quite large enough for both legs (so a little stretching was in order to make it work and it really wasn't all that easy. You had to sew on the legs and make sure everything lined up right since you already had the head on the body at this point). So that should be the easier fix of the two issues. But all in all Woodstock came together easily and quickly.  He turned into about a day project. Lots of things were going on throughout the day so I didn't get to work on him for a long block of time.

My next project is for the gamer geeks. This one was a big project being made of 21 pieces total (unfortunately 2 of them aren't pictured here until he's put together because I had to make them on the fly).

I made the beloved dino from the Mario world, Yoshi. I went with a purple Yoshi rather then the original green for something a little different.

As fun as he was to make, Yoshi was at times a pain. This was because of the pattern instructions. Most of this projects pattern was straight forward, but the arms and boots could have been done a little differently and quite a bit better in my opinion. 

I know there are better ways to make boots then what they had written for this pattern. There pattern requires you to fold and sew them in half to create the boots look. I also thought there might be a way to make the boot and leg pieces into one piece and save on assembly time.

My only issue with the arms is the thumbs. It was poorly explained and I think doing them with a bubble stitch like in the Rag Doll pattern may give it an easier and better look (something to try out next time).

Assembly was laborious but fun to finally see him coming together and actually look like something other than stuffed blobs of yarn.

Yoshi's head all sewn together, minus the whites that make his eyes look like eyes.

Body and tail.

The full leg/boot piece. Of course I had to resew these because I had guessed wrong on how they go together (It wasn't explained in the instructions).

Once I got on all the major important bits (head, legs, arms, tummy/mouth strip) together they forgot to say where exactly the other pieces (saddle and spikes) were to go. Not to mention there was no mention on finishing off his eyes. I managed the saddle and spikes with a few reference pictures and realized I should have tilted his head down just a little bit more to make putting on the spikes a tad easier. But the no mention of his eyes bugged me. Then after looking closer at their sample picture I noticed that they used felt pieces. But still there was no mention of this what so ever, Grrr! So I picked up my hook and grabbed my skein of white and guessed the best way to finish his eyes. I got lucky and got it on the first try, added some black, and attached them. FINISHED Yoshi!!

The finished Yoshi.

I do like most of this pattern though and he comes out pretty well. I just wished the instructions were more complete and better written. I will most likely put this in my shop but as a made to order item.

I want to start a rating system for these patterns, something that can clearly show my feelings for these patterns. So I'm going to use a scale of 1 to 5 yarn balls (icon to your left). 1 being not good to 5 being AMAZING. Possibly with several categories to rate on with an average rating over all. Something to work on for the next time.

Speaking of next time. Week 5/6 Project: I recently bough a pair of white canvas shoes in the plan to put my own design on them. I see it all the time on pintrest and had gotten a set of fabric sharpies for my birthday this past June. So I'm going to take the next two weeks to work on them, not wanting to rush through it. I don't want these to be something I work on and end up hating because I rushed it and thus never wear. I will still do a post next Sunday with progress pictures and probably a mile long list of pros and cons to doing this kind of project with no clearly laid out plan.
I might even work on a few other projects I have lying around and post about them as well. Along with all that I will work on my previously mentioned rating system.

Thats all for this weeks Project Post. As always . . . .

Happy Crafting!!

Hey Look, YARN!!

 

Yarn Yarn Yarn!!!

Michael's has tempted me once again this week with a pretty good yarn sale. I believe I have plenty of yarn for quite some time now, and probably didn't need to add to my last big buy. My stash is as big as it has ever been. Having filled one full tote with this weeks haul (it was a squeeze).

I love these totes we picked up at Costco. They come in singles or 3-pack, and they are perfect for keeping my yarn clean, dry, and organize. I wanted these since I my work space in our basement (unfinished). PERFECTION! Plus they stack very well and I can see what I have in them without having to open every tote. Ugh, that can be suck a pain.

Project Note: I've already got one project done for the week. WOO!! Any Guesses what I've made???

And so I'm on to another project. Still from the list of possibles I made in Sundays post. This one has a bunch of pieces to it so not a quickie like the last one.

Well thats my micro mid-week update. See you all Sunday and don't forget to send in suggestions for the weeks project. And as always. . . .

Happy Crafting!!

Week Geek!

WoooHooo!! My slump was only a week, and I was back at it again this week. No extra surprise patterns this week but I did do a few Mario Mushrooms and Poké balls. Also I forgot about finishing the Elephant. Oops!

Loved the Mushroom pattern after I fixed it and it was simple to fix. As you can see by the picture, the lonely one on the right is what came from following the pattern (I actually didn't put the eyes where they said to though. No Mario Mushroom has eyes between their spots. Pish!). Two big issues with the original pattern was A) the steam or face portion, as you can see, isn't really prominent or defined and B) the spots on the caps are just too small. Both are easy fixes, I just added a front loops only row before the single crochet rows to make the sides and added a few of the single crochet rows to make the face a bit longer. Piece of cake. And for the spots I changed the magic ring row from 8sc to 6sc and doubled the next two rows. Again cake. I just thought with the original pattern you couldn't tell what it was really trying to be. I mean it looks like some funny little ice cream cone or something. I decided to make a 1-UP and a Classic mushroom and I think these guys are super cute!

The Poké balls were much simpler. There were no changes for these guys. Just following their slip stitch recommendation when changing color was all that was needed to make these lovely Pokémon homes. I made a standard classic Poké ball and a Captain's ball (my reference sheet). I did a lot of internet searching for both these and the mushrooms to make sure I was getting things right. I'm a stickler for things like that. If I'm doing a recreation of something, especially something that is SO popular, I want to do it right.

Also this week we started to get moving on Kitchen renovation stuff. We're only in the planing and getting estimetes phase of things. The demo and instilation is a little ways off, but we're getting the ball rolling.  Super exciting since the kitchen in our house hasn't been done since my parents moved in in the 80's.

We also celebrated my eldest sister and brother-in-laws birthdays yesterday. We went out to eat and then came home for cake and ice cream. I made them a red velvet cake with home made icing. YUM! Today is my eldest sisters birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SISSY!!

Yeah, so we've had other things going on around here. Plus mom starts her new job this week. 

New Weeks Projects: Not sure what it/they might be. I've picked a few from the binder and most follow the geek theme of last week. I need to pick one before tomorrow because I'll need something to do while I'm at the hospital during my other sisters surgery (she is the middle child). So the choices are thus: Robots, Dinosaur, Yoshi, Woodstock (Snoopy's little bird friend), or Pac-Man Ghosts. So for now it will be a surprise as to what the project will be. Any Guesses? Any Votes? 

Oh and Michael's is taunting me with another good yarn sale. Maybe I'll go or there again this week to have at it. 

Have a good week all, and as always. . .

Happy Crafting!

Disappointing Week Two

Ugh. . . Having one of those no motivation weeks that make it 10 times harder to do anything. But I pushed and got some stuff done. Nowhere near as much as I wanted, but I did a little.

My little train got derailed a few times this week. I did make some good banana chip muffins with walnuts though. . . . So I seem to be on a muffin kick. They were yummy and I had a request to make the apple ones again as well. Also I'll be making a red velvet cake for my sister and brother-in-law for their birthdays coming up. Crossing my fingers that it comes out okay because I haven't made one with the frosting in quite a while, not too worried though.

But back to the projects for the week. Because of one thing or another the only project that got completed was my P.J. Pal Bunny. Although the elephant came close. That Lavender and Aqua Elephant only needs his feet and a little more assembly. I think I could have gotten him done but we had some company come over yesterday and. . . he didn't.

Thursday I managed to put Ms. Bunny together after finishing up her legs Wednesday night and moved onto the elephant. I really like the P.J. Pal pattern, its easy to follow and has so many ways to make the creation your own. I'm thinking of making more types of animals other then the three it comes with (Bunny, Koala, and Bear). I haven't made any new animals yet but I believe I will get to them. This is also one of the few items I sell that I don't put buttons on. I like the look of embroidered features on these better than having button eyes like a lot of my other items.

Now the elephant pattern I was using is another one that was written in a way that isn't completely clear. Or I'm just not used to a pattern that uses mostly dc (double crochet). But I'm going with the former. The plus is that its consistent and you get used to it as long as you don't go from this pattern to another and back again. But I do like it. I think I need to work on it so it doesn't do the wonky swirl thing you see in the body when I do stripes. But as this was the first time at it I think its coming out pretty good.

I wish I could have finished a few more things this week but it is what it is. I'll have to do another catch up week some other time. I will finish the elephant and post some pictures of it some time this week though.

Now for week three: Since I haven't gotten any suggestions, I've rummaged though my patterns and decided on something. . . . . I'm gonna go for a geek week and make a Poké ball or two and some Mario mushrooms. Possibly something else but after my lack luster week and knowing that I have some stuff going on later in my week, we'll just stick to one or two for each of these patterns for now and you'll have to check in next Sunday to see if there will be any surprises. Now if you guys have a favorite type of Poké ball or mushroom you'd like me to see about making, please comment with a pic of it for me. the sooner the better!

Thats all for this post.
Happy Crafting!

Projects for week two

So I decided this morning that instead of a new pattern to try out this week, that I would finish a few projects I have laying around in different states of doneness. And that there may be a few times that a project week will turn into two weeks, but my aim is to post one a week when I can. 

The to be finished list:

• First up we have a P.J. Pal. This one is a White Bunny in a hooded p.j. set. She still needs legs and to finish being assembled along with her face. She is probably the most done of the five or so projects here.

• Here we have an Elephant. Poor thing only has a head at the moment (which made it hard not to make this picture phallic looking but I tried). But this will soon change. And I have to say I love the coloring of this one.

 

• This lovely mess of parts is going to turn into a beautifully colored Dragon. I've only made one of these before this one and they're cute despite the multitude of parts. This is another one that had come close to the finish line. It has all the pieces to its head and only the body, tail, wings, and legs to be finished and made up. This guy comes in a total of about 15 pieces. I know. . . YIKES! 

• So this doesn't look like much of anything I know but it is to become an Ugly Bunny. Something that looks like an UglyDoll. Love those guys, so darn cute. I think I started this on a whim and put it down for one reason or another.

 

• And last but no least is a Chevron cowl or scarf I started last month at some point. I thought it was coming along well. My first attempt at a chevron pattern and it isn't as had as I had thought chevrons were going to be. Didn't notice while I was taking the picture that I made it into a face. . . LOL.

 

That is the five projects to be finished up. I do think this last one might go back on the pile for another time. Scarves are usually simple but they do take up an enormous amount of time.

And if I have time for some I will probably make up or start to make up in any case some VooDoo Doll shells. My VooDoo Dolls are one of my more popular items in my shop. 

 I dress them up randomly and give some little extras like bow ties and hats. I do random hair for them as well and try to do good color combos. My aim is to make every one of them different from the others so I have no two the same. Although that is getting a little harder.
I have had quite a few custom requests from all over, one as far as Australia (ugh the shipping was crazy for that one. Took a month to get to them). They freshen up the creative juices and give me new ideas. I've done one to go with someones dance costume, a soccer theme. I've made a Mickey Mouse inspired one, as well as an anarchy one. So much fun.
Hands down one of my favorite items to make and I like it when I have a few blanks around. You never know when I special order can come in.

So thats the plan for this weeks project(s). Have a fun week guys. And as always. . .

Happy Crafting

Weekly Project Post #1: Rag Doll

 The week is over and I have a brand new item done. For this first week I decided to tackle the Rag Doll pattern.

I really like how most of this pattern is written. But the boots/shoes/feet, whatever you want to call them, are written a bit more complicated then I think necessary. Not to mention some of the short hand is a little confusing and at times the opposite from most other patterns (2sc usually means 2 single crochet in one stitch, but in this pattern it seems to mean sc in the next 2 stitches <-- hence the confusing bits).  But it wasn't so bad and after rereading and a little ripping it was fine. I'm not sure if I'd change much in the pattern other than adding a little length to her dress or try different things with her outfit in general or her hair. Oh and all the hair. I've never put so much hair on anything before. Took more yarn to do that hair then I really thought. Kinda glad I chose two tone hair for her. But back to changes though, I think I'd also change how the sleeve caps are done. It was a bit annoying putting them over the finished arm and then sewing the whole thing onto the body. This is a change to look into. But other than that it's been fun picking colors and putting her all together. Can't wait to make a few more. SO many ways to dress her up!

The Head is done!!

So she now has her body as well. I find it cute that they want you to crochet on little undies as well. Only her head is stuffed at this point because her dress is crocheted later and slipped over her body before attaching. 

All done up and finished. I almost didn't add the ribbon on her dress but thought she was missing something. Plus the original had one.

Loving the wild hair and her Alice feel (I was going for a little Alice actually). And I know she doesn't have much of a face but I kinda like her this way. Its kinda my thing, button eyes (usually) and little facial features.

Sorry there aren't more progress photos. I got so hung up on finishing her that pictures left my mind. Next time I will try harder for more photos. 

And I believe this little diddy will make her way to the shop soon enough. 

For this weeks project I think I might do a robot or a dinosaur. Haven't decided quite yet, but that post will be soon to follow. . . Possibly tomorrow. But for now. . . . . 

Happy Crafting

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Welcome to 2015 everyone!! Hope your year was a good one and if not, hopefully this one proves better for you. Mine wasn't too bad: I lost about 26 lbs and went down two pant sizes, got a lot of home improvement things done (mostly painting), and had one of my better birthdays in a while as well. So YAY 2014!!

 I did however do something awesome for the first day of the year. YARN SALE! That's right I went to Michael's awesome yarn sale yesterday morning. This is my largest yarn buy to date, getting 3 of the large bags (which have oddly gone back to plastic (odd for Oregon, since we went to paper or reusable bags a while ago)) full, 40 skeins of yarn total and 2 spools of thread. My little mini shopping cart was full of yarn and I'm sure I was getting a few looks of 'Geez did she leave any for anyone else?' Yes I did! The check out guy actually asked if there was any yarn left. I just wanted to stock up, and I kept it relatively small too.

On sale, my haul would have cost me about $106. But with coupons I only spent about $86. I don't really want to know what it would have cost had there not been a sale . . . .  who am I kidding, yes, I do want to know and it would have cost about $185 if it weren't for the sale and coupons . . .  if I did the math right. WOOO YEARN SALE!!

My new 40 skeins of yarn.

After my score I went to hang out with my brother and his family. We watched the Rose Bowl (Go Ducks!!) and had a ham dinner . . .  yumm.  Then it was off to hang out with some pups at Fairy Dogmother Pets (if you live in and around the North Portland, Oregon area and need some animal services, go check Diane out. She's awesome!!). I'm Diane's go to girl if she needs someone to hang out or do walks or things like that. I love it. Animal love forever and always.

This morning I used my new mixer (got a Kenmore stand mixer for Christmas) and made some yummy apple "pie" muffins. I think they need some work to get the pie taste in them but they were still tasty. So happy that they came out good. Possibly making some banana muffins later today or tomorrow. Who knows, it took me almost a week to make the apple ones finally. Other things got in the way that were a bit more important than baking. 

Getting closer to finishing my little rag doll. So no fear there should be a post, with photos, come Sunday. I'm actually gonna go work on it now. So see y'all Sunday for the Project Post.

 As always . . .  Happy Crafting!