Thursday, February 26, 2015

Faux Fox Stole my heart


I whipped this foxxy scarf up in a bulky yarn.   I used a mix of Loops & Threads Cozy Wool (white, and black), and Lion Brand Wool-Ease thick and quick (orange).

I was inspired by the Fox Cowl I made for my niece a while back, I thought a 'fuax' Fox scarf would be a warm and cute addition to my winter gear. The body of the scarf is 6ft, the tail is an additional 2ft making it over 8ft long nose to tail.

This ate up just under 4 skeins of yarn.  3 1/2 in orange, and less then 1/4 of white and black.

If there is intrest I can clean up my notes and write out a pattern later.

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

New, news!

Ok to start off with Happily Hooked Magazine did a 7 page spread on the RESOBOX exhibit which is exciting!  They  took quiet a few photos of everyone's work.        
                   
RESOBOX has also decided they will keep the exhibition open longer then originally planned.  So it will run until the end of March so if you didnt get a chance to go by and see it you still have time!

Also coming up in March is Kawa Kon (6-8) and I will have a panel on March 7th from 5:30-7pm.  I will be showing of some Amigurumi, talking a bit about its history, and how its done, how to read patterns and interpret charts.  I will also be doing a giveaway and some of the smaller examples I bring I may give away to people who show up, have interesting questions, or are die hard fan's of the show/theme the ami is based on.
This Layla Dirk Pattern is what I have currently been working on.       
        
I took some liberty's in the pattern and made it more to my liking.  I made the hood a true hood that could be put up or down.  I gave the doll a full head of hair that can be styled.  I also opted to make fingers for the hand instead of leaving them looking like mittens.

I also changed how the legs and feet where made, I didnt like how the toes section worked up.  As well as I crocheted the scarf instead of knitting it, I didnt see a point in mixing the two styles, so I just did a simple 1 1/2 foot chain, and sc in the BLO for 3 rows then add fringe to finish it off.

I over stuffed the arms a little to much, which I did not realize till after I had gotten them fully sewn into the body so they are not as pose-able as I would like.

This will be one of the larger pieces I plan on bringing to Kawa Kon as an example for people to see.  After Kawa Kon it will become a birthday gift for my niece.

I still need to work up some more items for examples that I can give away.

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

A few changes...

Just a heads up!  I got some realy great feedback from the great people over in the reddit r/chrochet, about my blog that will hopefully help me streamline all future post's and tidy up the page a bit.

So you will notice a few changes happening here and there.

I will be working on a new header for the site.   Working on using html tweeks in my post with photo's instead of using the blogger's default sizing/placement options.   

Please let me know if there are any changes you guys think I should work on as well.

Saturday, February 7, 2015

Hearts Inside Shawl [Pattern] *Updated*


This is a bottom up shawl, which makes it easy to size up or down.  This is not an original idea, I am making it from a swatch I found and deconstructed.

The one in the photo is sized for a child, at wides its 8 hearts.  Spanning 3 1/2 feet wide.

With WW yarn (just under a skein) and a size I crochet hook.

Cluster - 4 DC worked into the same space/stitch
Beg Cluster -Chain 4 ( counts as first DC and chain 1), dc 4 into first ch space, sc into middle of cluster below ----All rows after row 2 will start this way.
End Cluster- sc in middle of last cluster, (cluster, ch 1, dc) in last ch sp    ---- All rows after row 2 will end this way.

r1- Chain 6, in 5th and 6th chains from hook work DC Inc, chain 1, DC into the 6th chain.
r2- Beg Cluster, sc between the increases in previous row (not into the top of the stitch but between stitchs), End Cluster
r3- Beg Cluster, sc into middle of previous cluster (between stitchs), chain 3, End Cluster
R4-Beg Cluster, sc into middle of cluster below, chain 3, sc around the next chain space, ch 3, End Cluster
r5- Beg Cluster, sc into mid of cluster below, chain 3 sc around next ch sp, work cluster into next sc, sc in next ch sp, ch 3, End Cluster
r6-Beg Cluster,  ch 3, sc around next ch sp, cluster in next sc, sc in middle of cluster below, cluster in next sc, sc around next ch sp,  ch 3, end cluster

---- by now you should have one full heart completed--  I will write the directions for up to 3, but its an easy 4 row repeat (rows 3-6)

r7- Beg Cluster, Ch 3, sc around ch sp, ch 3, sc  in mid cluster, ch 3 sc in mid of cluster, ch 3, sc around ch sp, ch 3, end cluster

--This is your foundation row, you should have 5 chain spaces ---

R8- Beg Cluster, ch 3, sc around ch sp, cluster in next sc, sc around ch sp, ch 3, sc around next ch sp, ch 3, sc around next ch sp, cluster in next sc, sc around next ch sp, ch 3, end cluster

---This row forms the bottom of all the hearts so you should have 4 ch sp and 2 clusters----

R9- Beg Cluster, ch 3, sc around ch sp, cluster in next sc, sc in mid of cluster, cluster in next sc, ch 3, sc in next ch sp, ch 3, sc in next ch sp, cluster in next sc, sc in mid of cluster, cluster in next sc, ch 3, sc in next ch sp, ch 3, end cluster

--This should have complete the top of all the hearts (2)---

r10- Beg cluster,  ch 3, sc in ch sp, ch 3, sc in mid cluster, ch 3, sc mid cluster,  ch 3, sc in ch sp, ch 3, sc in mid cluster, ch 3, sc mid cluster, ch 3, sc in ch sp, ch 3, end cluster

--You should see the pattern forming now--

r11- Beg Cluster, ch 3, sc around ch sp, cluster in next sc, sc around ch sp, ch 3, sc around ch sp, cluster in next sc, sc around ch sp, ch 3, sc around ch sp, cluster in next sc, sc around ch sp, ch 3, end cluster.

r12- Beg cluster, ch 3, sc around ch sp, cluster in next sc, sc in mid of cluster, cluster in next sc, ch 3, sc in next ch sp, ch 3, sc in next ch sp, cluster in next sc, sc in mid of cluster, cluster in next sc, ch 3, sc in next ch sp, ch 3, sc in next ch sp, cluster in next sc, sc in mid of cluster, cluster in next sc, ch 3, sc in next ch sp, ch 3, end cluster


For bigger shawls just keep repeating the pattern in rows 9-12.

*Updated 2/12/2016*

Added a diagram, as there was some confusion in the written pattern I hope this can help clear it up.  I color coded each row all even rows are blue and odds are black.









(wip) V-day project [part 2 the fixing]

Ooops missed a chain
So I talked about fixing this project last night after it finished blocking.  Before I blocked it I did not noticed that in my second set of hearts (each row of hearts is 3 rows of work) I had missed the first or last chain of the row.        

You can see in the top photo in the row with 2 hearts (second row up from bottom).      
                
Fixed!! 
Sadly there was not much I could do photo wise to show you the steps I took to 'fix' this issue it was just a simple 'pick me up'.

I took a scrap of the shawl yarn threaded a needle, then worked into the spot where the top left cluster meets the bottom cluster on that heart and ran the needle under the last stitch up top (leaving half the tail handing out), looped around the chain, then worked into the top of the first/last stitch of the bottom cluster.  I held the 'fix' yarn firmly, and gave the shawl a few tugs so the chain could slide to where it needed to be for the heart shape.  I then worked the end of the yarn up into the top cluster knotted it off and secured
red it along all 4 stitches and hid my tails.

Friday, February 6, 2015

Love Shawl -Child size [wip]


So I just got this off my hook, and onto my blocking mat.         
                         
This is one of those projects thats to big for just one mat, so I folded in the top edge to fit.

Once its dry and off the mat I will be doing a knotted fringe trim.      
                 
I now see where I messed up early on and never noticed, once it is dry I can try and do a quick patch to hide it hopefully. (fingers crossed)