Babies, Babies, Babies

Posted on November 11, 2010 by Meg-Ann

I have been all about the baby crafts lately with the impending birth of my little sisters first child Hunter James.  Also a friend of mine has just had a baby boy as well named RJ.  Today I offer two of the items that I have made and the utmost thanks to the FANTASTIC model that we have in RJ.

So first we will start with the Pumpkin Hat.

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Now this one was made so that he could go trick or treating with his new brothers and not be cold.  I found the pattern where I normally do on Ravelry :D and if you would like to make it for your own little pumpkin the link to it is here.  I do love the fact that baby items work up so very quickly means that I can make 2 in the same time that it would take for a adult version of the same project.

Next we have the Aviator Hat:

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This one I was looking for something special to make for Hunter to come home in.  Channeling my inner Steampunk I though about a pilots hat.  Ravelry again graced me with exactly what I was looking for but before I purchased it I had to call my sister to see what her opinion would be of it.  I would hate to have made it and her say “I will never let him wear that it’s dumb” or something.  Turns out that a few days before her and her boyfriend were in the baby store looking at a tiny bomber jacket that they had to buy as the cutest and coolest thing they had seen for their soon to be new addition.  At that point there was no contest I had to make the Aviator hat.  RJ gets the benefits of me working out the pattern correctly and he is a wonderful model for it.

I am so happy that my friends indulge me and really do love what I make for them.  I really think that everyone should consider a craft element in their gift giving.  Nothing shows someone that they matter to you like something that you make yourself.  Even if you are just learning the person you give it to knows that you were thinking of them when you made it.

On that note next time holiday crafts must get done so back to the yarn with me :D

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Posted in Baby, raverly | 1 Comment

How Time Flies..

Posted on October 25, 2010 by Meg-Ann

So it appears that I have not posted here in quite a while.  The standard answer of “Life got in the way” just does not seem to cut it for me.  Mostly what happened was I was sick for a whole week and that threw me off my posting.  So this one will be a large post as I have lots to talk about.

First thing is the swaps that I participated in came through and I received such FANTASTIC presents from my swap partners.  The first was from the Creepy Cute Crochet swap.  My partner Yaney is from Singapore and sent me a great swap set up as a wedding invitation.  She sent the Groom and now all I have to do is make him a Bride :D and Gummy Cola Bottles which are one of my favorites.  Here are the pictures:

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Next we have the Circus Swap which I received a package from carolinecraftz from the UK.  As you recall (hopefully) I posted Ollie the Elephant it was his brother that I shipped over to the UK as part of the swap.  I received in return a Pumpkin and a Clown along with yarn of course and some candies from across the pond that I can’t get here.  And I have some pictures of this one too:

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After that we have the section on conversion of patterns.  Normally converting a knitting pattern to a crochet pattern varies drastically.  We talked about it a bit with the Pig in a Wig pattern where the pig pattern was converted by keeping the stitch counts but completely omitting the purl rows when making it.  Just in time for Halloween I have worked out Zero from Nightmare Before Christmas.

10140010001014001000aNow this pattern I found on Ravelry was a knitted pattern and he came out very cute that way as you can see.  But I was not completely pleased with the results.  As I am better at crochet that I am knitting I felt that if I could work out how to modify the pattern to be more like the actual character I would capture him a bit better.

Here is the modified version:10140014011014001401a

Notice the addition of a Lower Jaw and the Pumpkin face on the nose along with the fact that he is considerably larger in this version.  What you can’t see is I also added an additional tummy section to give him some structure.  I have tried to contact the original writer of the pattern to get permission to post my modified version so that I can give credit where it is due.  Once I have permission I will definitely post it here for all of you :D

Now after all that I have a few more projects in the works for my Halloween post so back to the yarn with me!

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Posted in Creepy Cute, fandom, movies, raverly, Swaps | 2 Comments

Ollie, Smiley, and Batfish

Posted on October 8, 2010 by Meg-Ann

Holy October Batfish.  So time has been marching on aggressively on me lately but I have some new things to share with you all.  The first is one of the first gifts that I have made for my soon to be nephew Hunter James.  We had a baby shower for my sister.  She is a fan of super heroes but when they went to do the baby’s room an Under Sea theme seemed to fit a bit better.  I found a way to blend the two themes (or at least the best I could) and we have the first two in the super hero series.  I give you Batfish and Spiderfish.

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They are a re-imaging of a pattern out of Amigurumi Two a pattern called Little Fish and Her Daddy.  Spiderfish I have decent photos of however Batfish was finished just before the party so all I have is a picture of her opening it.  I made a baby blanket too for the occasion.

Next we have Ollie.

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Ollie is based off a pattern called Padma that was created by Dawn Toussaint.  On her blog she started a Crochet-a-long for this pattern and it was just too cute to pass up.  Chip (the dear BF) is responsible for him having a Fez.  I feel it is the perfect addition.

And last but most certainly not least is Smiley Pumpkin

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The Milford NH Pumpkin Festival is this weekend and in honor of that and the start of October we have a pumpkin.  Since I made him I have had several requests for one of their own.  Fall is my favorite season here I foresee lots of them being made and will be all over the house.

Anyway back to the yarn with me :D

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Crochet-A-Long and Baby Stuff

Posted on September 29, 2010 by Meg-Ann

I belong to a group on Ravelry called Amigurumi Army which every month they have a theme crochet-a-long.  This month was Outer Space.  As I have posted before as this month has been VERY busy I picked a pattern that was simple and worked up in about an hour or so.  This pattern by RoxyCraft had been sitting in my Ravelry queue since pretty much my joining day and I always love knocking that down :D .  I give you The Gabu.

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This little alien was a lot of fun and really easy to make I can easily see these being made for gifts in a rather large scale.  Please let me know if you like them and for those that are not paying attention they might make an appearance this holiday season :D

I will have lots to post very soon for the swap projects (they are almost done) and for my future nephew in the making Hunter James.  I would hate to ruin the surprise for my swap partners so I will wait till they are received, and the baby shower is coming so soon I will have those pictures too.

Okay enough of a break…. Back to the yarn with me :D

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Posted in Experiment, raverly, Swaps | 3 Comments

Ramping Up Production

Posted on September 17, 2010 by Meg-Ann

As September marches on I realized that I missed a week in the projects that I have been posting.   So today I offer 2 :)

The first was made on our way to Ohio and back visiting Chip’s family.  The pattern is from one of my favorite places Monchimonchi Land.  I bought her book very recently when I first started reading her blog and what she was working on just captured me.  I almost immediately went to Border’s to get it.  I am trying currently to convince Chip to take me to NYC to see her show in October.  For now I offer my version of her pattern for Pigs In Wigs.

Now I am not a proficient knitter but the patterns are easy to read and understand so I do get it :D, but my progress with knitted projects is a bit slow.  Being that I have been crocheting for so long I felt that I could do the pattern better justice if I crocheted the pig portion.  My simple conversion still used her pattern for the increases and decreases but I converted one single crochet row for 2 knitted rounds.  I am pleased with the result.

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Next we have the Snow Dragon. We are going to King Richards Fair this weekend and I was inspired by that to make something Fantasy based.  Made from a pattern that I initially found on Raverly.com but orignally (per the pattern anyway) appeared on Crochet Me.  In general the procedure here will be that if I make anything from a pattern that is not my own they will of course be given the credit as I was taught that you treat others the way you want to be treated :D

So I present to you Valentine:

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Valentine a cute baby dragon looking for a fair maiden to give his heart too. I added the rose and modified the pattern for the spikes on his back and his eyelids to make it look like more of what I had pictured in my head.

Well that is all for now.. Back to the yarn with me!!

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Posted in Experiment, mochimochi | 2 Comments

Swap-tastic September

Posted on September 9, 2010 by Meg-Ann

I have decided that Ravelry.com is a total addiction that I can not help but love.  I have signed up for my first round of swaps through this site and I have to say I am very excited.

The first is for a group based on Creepy Cute Crochet by Christen Haden one of the books that was my major inspiration in making all the movie characters that I have made in yarn.  This one is the one that I am most excited about because not only do I get to play with patterns that I haven’t made out of her book but I get the option to free style a bit which I have some cute plans for.

The next is a group for fans of Red Heart yarn which is my favorite to use for any kind of stuffed creation.  I know that there are some real wool fans out there but sadly it just makes me itchy :( So I play with synthetic fibers.  However there are some very cool options in synthetics out there like the Eco-friendly yarns

This swap however has not real theme other than Autumn.  My partner for the swap is a Halloween fan as well so I have some plans for that.

The only downside to the swaps as far as you all are concerned is that I have nothing to share till they are delivered as they are secret till the person that gets them has the initial surprise, and we would hate to ruin the surprise wouldn’t we.

So to keep up with the demands of our September experiment and all the swap patterns I will be crocheting and knitting as fast as I can.  And on that note I have terrible pictures of my first offering for the September experiment. 

Tardis Fingerless Gloves

These are knitted fingerless gloves with a seed stitch edging top and bottom and an inlayed and raised TARDIS that faces the fingers.  I promise to update the gallery with better pictures when I have a light box again.  But for now here is what I have I hope you like it.

Till next time back to the yarn with me :)

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A Sideline from Crafts for a moment

Posted on September 2, 2010 by Meg-Ann

So I am going to take a bit of a sidestep from the crafts for the moment to give a proper introduction to our future site mascot and latest addition to our little family… Lord Malcom Snufflington.

Lord Malcom comes to us from Hamor Hollow hedgehogs in Pelham NH a wonderful breeder of African Pygmy Hedgehogs near where we live.  He appears to have adjusted to life in his palatial home quickly and responds well to the large amounts of affection that we show him.  Currently his interests include burrowing into T-Shirts, wheel running, crunching, and sleeping in his custom knit “Hedgie Bag”(like a sleeping bag for hedgehogs).

He will soon be embarking on a trip to Ohio to meet some of his new extended family.  After he has recovered his trip we have planned a photo shoot for the new look of YarnyDoom so please stay tuned for that.

All in all thank you for letting me gush and now back to the yarn!

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Experiment 1:

Posted on August 17, 2010 by Meg-Ann

Yeah I know it’s lame but still I am excited.  I decided to start this site as a outlet to not feel alone in my geekness.  Whenever I crochet or knit out in the open I always have someone come up and ask me what I am making.  When I tell them there are of course the confused glances but there are lots of people that when I tell them I am crocheting Mario or a Brain Slug that look back at me and say “Ya know that is really cool.”  This leads me to believe that I am not alone in this.

I wanted not only to make a home for my work but for others as well in time and see if that connection that I make sitting on a bus or train can also be made out here in the big wide world.

So Experiment 1: Make a geek friendly fandom inspired project a week for the month of September.  I am currently taking requests or suggestions on what to make.  Lets see what comes out :D

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Posted in Experiment, fandom | 3 Comments