The Squiggle

This, my dear readers, is what I call "the squiggle." It is part sea creature and  part dust bunny. This is the first thing I ever attempted to crochet. I believe it was supposed to be a scarf. My friend, Fawn, was my crochet teacher. I still remember her reaction to Mr. Squiggle. "Meg, what the hell did you do? I don't know even where to begin to figure out where you went wrong...." I think I can see portions of where I went wrong.

I'm really glad I didn't give up despite my first attempt not being stellar. I'm even more glad that I kept the weird, warped piece as a reminder that all artists start somewhere and only get better with practice. The squiggle remains with my small collection of crochet things that I cherish. I have a feeling I'll use it as an example when I teach others how to crochet.

What was your first project? How did it come out?

I sense a trend going on...

So, it all started with a brilliant idea that came to me in the shower. I was trying to think of something small and quick to make that I could sell at a reasonable price. Geeky. This is what I came up with:

Thinking on the Legend of Zelda items theme, I also decided to make a Deku Nut:

I'm really enjoying making small, familiar objects. :) My next item in the works is slightly larger, but far more iconic of Legend of Zelda. Anybody want to take a guess?

John's Many Crochet Hats

John has one of the first hats I ever made. Or rather, he had it. It's dark green with white trim, all done in single and double crochet. It looked quite stunning and professional for a novice hat. A year after I made it, I actually took it back to fix it when I noticed that the ends weren't sew in properly and that I could make it longer.

John then lost it some place.

 He has a tendency to lose things. Particularly winter accessories. He's been through at least 3 different pairs of gloves/mittens. I playfully threatened to not make him crochet things if he's just going to lose them! So, he asked for a different hat in blue, which he wears quite often. Unfortunately the yarn (acrylic) is fuzzing in an unattractive way so I dragged him to my local yarn shop and let him pick a couple skeins in something high quality. He selected a Peruvian wool in this color. It's called Saddle Brown.

I'm using Laughing Willow's Lazy Cable Hat Pattern. So far so good!

Etsy Yarn-a-holics

I had a lovely surprise today when the team leader of Etsy Yarn-a-holics asked if she could share my tutorial on the team blog. As a member of the team, I am thrilled to see my work shared with a broader audience. Etsy Yarn-a-holics are awesome! Thanks for sharing my work, Pam!

Here's a link to the post if you're interested!

Valentine's Day Tutorial: How to Crochet an Amigurumi Heart

This tutorial is my first, so please bear with me! This heart fits right into the palm of your hand and is perfect to give to that special someone on February 14th. :) It's also fitting for Legend of Zelda fans all year round. More hearts, better questing! This project is suitable for beginners. You need to know how to single crochet, single increase, and single together (or decrease). If you're completely new to crochet, I suggest checking out YouTube for how to's on these stitches.

Materials: G size crochet hook
Any color you desire of worsted weight yarn (for the sake of this tutorial, I used Red Heart in Red)
Blunt needle (for sewing in ends)
Stuffing (like polyfill)

To create a heart, you start by making two different lobes. The first is sewn to the second, which becomes one contiguous heart.

Lobe #1
R1: Chain 3 and slip stitch into the first to create a ring.
R2: Sc inc into each stitch (6)
R3: Sc inc in each stitch (12)
R4: Sc in each stitch, work even (12)
R5: Sc in each sitch, work even. Fasten off. Leave a tail of a few inches.

Lobe #2 (and rest of heart)

Start in the same way as the first lobe, but don't fasten off. Slip stitch into last three stitches of Lobe #1. Make sure to tuck the tail from Lobe #1 in the following stitches.

R6: Continue to crochet around both lobes now, creating 20 stitches. If you've done this correctly, your stitch marker should be right in the middle between the lobes.
R7: Work even (20)
R8: sc in next 5 st, sc next 2 st tog, sc in next 8 st, sc next 2 st tog, sc in next 3 st (18)
R9: sc in next 4 st, sc next 2 st tog, sc in next 7 st, sc next 2 st tog, sc in next 3 st (16)
R10: sc in next 3 st, (sc next 2 st tog) 2 times, sc in next 4 st, (sc next 2 st tog) 2 times, sc in next st (12) Start to stuff the heart firmly.
R11: sc in next 2 st, (sc next 2 st tog) 2 times, sc in next 2 st, (sc next 2 st tog) 2 times (8)
R12: sc in next 2 st, sc next 2 st tog, around (6) Fasten off. Sew up the hole and weave in the end.

I may post photos later on to clarify the meeting of the lobes. Let me know if you have any questions or need any help!


Happy Valentines Day!

Tentative Goals for 2012

Happy 2012 fellow bloggers and visitors!

It's time for me to consider goals for this upcoming year. I'm amazed at the results of my first year of selling on Etsy. Fun facts: My best selling item was my little amigurumi Portal Turret. Most people found my shop by searching for items that either contained "Portal" or "Legend of Zelda." The little ewok is quickly becoming a best seller over the turret.

Goals:
-Complete my map and have a customer in every state in the US.
-Reach 100+ sales by the end of the year
-Be smarter about keeping tabs on expenses (like PayPal fees, shipping envelopes, ect).
-Create five more best sellers (5+ purchases of an individual item)

I think that's a good start for now. Hope 2012 has been great to you all so far!

Nearing 1st Year Anniversary

So, as the end of my first year selling items on Etsy nears, I thought it would be interesting to figure out how many different states I've sold items to. This is what I created. Not shown are my international orders to England and Canada :) I find it interesting that there are weird gaps on the East coast. Hopefully next year the map will be covered!

Black Friday.

Tomorrow is the beloved Thanksgiving. I will be spending it with my family in the gorgeous Vermont. Unfortunately, all I can think about is Black Friday. Outside of my crochet life, I support myself by being a retail wench. I work as a cashier at an American chain that always has sales going on and rhymes with "holes". I loathe my job's focus on promoting a credit card with a 21.9% interest rate and luring customers back with marketing strategies.

I am working Black Friday.

And I am scared...mostly because of this ridiculousness:

This level of consumerism is terrifying.

Finger Crochet

So, I had a brief chat with the lovely Neen of NeenCrochet on Skype recently. She mentioned she was finger crocheting a blanket. That totally blew my mind. In concept, it makes total sense. So, how did this not cross my mind before? Is it as difficult as I thought? Apparently not! I found oodles of YouTube videos which teach how to do it. What appeals to me is that since it works on a large scale, a blanket can be done in a few days. I'm thinking of loading up on some Red Heart yarn and making a pretty blanket in blues and greens....That is when things settle down in Etsy land! Orders have been fairly steady, off line and on line, which is great. Anyway, here are some videos I thought were super helpful and demystified it all for me

Keeping Inventory

Today I took a moment to organize my stash and was astonished when I found yarn I forgot I had. My friend Allison recently gave me her entire collection of yarn. There's some super soft alpaca/silk yarn I need to figure out what I'm going to do with. Moreover, I discovered projects I started and almost finished. I found a baby sea turtle without fins and a GLaDOS potato without connections. I also found my first attempt at mittens (which don't quite match in size). I think I might have to do a giveaway/contest at some point. When do you know your stash has grown too large?

WIP:
I'm working on my first baby owl hat in preparation for winter. I'm also working on finishing the projects I just found!

Recently finished:
Flying mint bunny and a custom order for The Knight from The Binding of Issac, a super creepy but cool video game.

Exciting news:
I sent off my second ever international sale to England!

Hello Internet!

Sorry for the lack of posting. I started a new job as a retail wench. School has been keeping me busy as well. I bought some more yarn today (that I probably don't need)...But hey! I can never get enough of that lovely sapphire blue (or as I call it: Tardis blue) that Lion's Brand Vanna's Choice produces. I also bought some lovely shades of green to play with. What yarn have you bought recently? How are you all?

Crochet for a Cause II- Finished Hats for Reed's Relief

Wedding Bells- Cold Shoulder Capelet

So, my best friend is getting married next month! I can't believe how quickly time is passing by. Today, a fellow bridesmaid and I went to have our dresses fitted. They look quite stunning. Although the wedding is in June, and it's likely to be hot, I'm making myself a capelet just in case. I bought some lovely mohair at a yarn shop long ago with the intention on making the one I saw in my beloved copy of Happy Hooker. I'm happy to say that the yarn was made locally, just about an hour away :D It's my first time using mohair. I have to say...it's taking some getting used to!


Here's a picture of the capelet finished by Black Dove:

Hopefully mine will look as good!

Crochet for a Cause & Mother's Day

So, my first charity project hasn't ended up being for the American Cancer Society (still a work in progress). However! It is for a cause that is of great importance to me and my family.

In one of my online communities, someone posted up the need for crochet goods from bags to blankets for Reed's Relief. Their mission statement:

Reed’s Relief provides comfort and diversion to children admitted into intensive care, and to their loving family members. While providing financial assistance through the distribution of goods and services to families of children found in the NICU, PICU, or pediatrics unit, Reed’s Relief brings awareness and education to the general public.

My mom lost a few would-be older siblings before I was born. When I was born, I was three months early. My mom recounts how she wasn't able to hold me and how she would get up painfully early to go to the hospital every morning until I was able to come home. I caused quite a panic. It's easy for me to tell how difficult it must have been for her. My mom kept the hat I came home in. It's basically a rag with a string tied round one end.

So! I'm crocheting a few lovely baby hats and a blanket (my first!) for Reed's Relief. I'll show you my work when it's done. I'm pretty excited to see how the blanket comes out.

In the mean time, crafters, you should check out Reed's Relief!

I finished up a pair of plushes for Mother's Day. Check them out:

Do you have any plans for a Mother's Day project?

5 Crochet Items that made me go WTF?

Forward: I have no intention to be mean or have fun at a creator's expense. If someone can explain to me a valid point to these items, I will gladly listen. I tend towards the functional, so frivolous things tend to confuse me.

1: The Apple Cozy.

Around Christmas time, I almost bought a Tupperware Banana Guard as a joke Yankee swap gift. I can totally see the function, albeit easy to make dirty jokes about "guarding your banana"  and it's obvious phallic shape. (I have some goofy friends, what can I do?) Smashed bruised bananas are no good. However, the apple is quite a sturdy fruit. It needs no protection. I can't see myself packing a lunch and tossing in an apple and thinking "Oh wait! It needs a sweater!". Some apple cozies are pretty cute- and maybe I can see the function of having one with some sort of character for a child. Otherwise, I don't get this one at all.

2. Gloveless Fingers or "Glingers"

Alright, I first saw these on Regretsy. I had a good giggle from it. It surprised me to see a few seriously being marketed on Etsy for warmth while typing, texting, knitting ect. Pretty silly.

3. The Crochet Dog "Necklace"

This puppy doesn't look happy. Poor thing. I know some people LOVE LOVE their pets to the point of buying items like this, but personally, I can't help but feel sorry for the animal. This includes doggy costumes at Halloween. Sure it's cute for a photo op, but I can't imagine what it feels like from the animal's perspective.

4. The Crochet Bikini

Now, I should clarify, when done properly (no peep holes and tight stitching), some crochet bikinis can be cute. I'm very modest when hitting the beach. The idea of a bikini is completely lost to me personally but it works for other people. For the most part, crochet doesn't lend to proper coverage. Also, ladies, I know I like a little breast support when swimming. I can't imagine something like this being practical for any average built woman.

5. Toilet Paper Cozy

.....WHY?! Yes, it's cute. And hey! There's obviously a roll out and available if you run out of paper at a friend's house. I just don't understand going out of your way to decorate toilet paper.

Cold Pack Cover: Discovery of the Mesh Stitch

I don't think I've pulled and redesigned a project so many times as this one! In the end, my good old copy of The Happy Hooker (from Stitch and Bitch fame) pulled through for me. I used the mesh stitch as shown in the example and finally, the cover transferred the proper amount of cold. I had previously made one of single stitch (pulled it) and then hedge stitch (and pulled it all again). Sure, it looked pretty, but it didn't function. I had no idea that using mesh stitch would make the project go so much quicker. It was fun! And, if nobody buys it, I know I need it! I have knees like a granny!

Dafodill

April Showers bring May Flowers.

But I think I appreciate the April flowers most. Tulips are coming up in the front yard. Crocuses paint up browned yards. Daffodils are poking through dead leaves. Daffodils remind me of my grandmother, which at this point yields both a smile and some tears. Some years ago, she passed away from cancer. My grandmother was an avid gardener. While my grandfather hasn't kept up her garden like she used to, the daffodils still emerge as if nothing has changed. This year my dad did some fund raising on behalf of the American Cancer Society. I'm so proud of him for that.

I think I'd like to do some sort of fund raiser as well. I'm thinking about making a clutch purse with a daffodil on it. What do you all think? Has anyone had experience selling an item for charity or a fund raiser before?

Video Blog: My Crochet Story

So, I made my first video blog ever. I am super camera shy usually, so this is certainly something. Much thanks to Neen for posting her video. I've followed her for awhile on YouTube and was inspired to finally make a video because of her crochet story.

Well..here we go!

Cutie Sweets

I just finished up a trade with the lovely Gina Smith of Cutie Sweets. I met her on DeviantArt when I posted up my No Face plush. Some back story first!

By nature I am a clutter bug. I pridefully call it "organized chaos" but it is pretty much clutter. When I craft, my desk becomes an explosion of embroidery thread, needles, glue, yarn bits, felt and all sorts of tools. I recently cleaned up, and I still have half of a crochet robot, balls of scrap yarn, a pattern or two, and a couple chocolate wrappers. I'm attempting to remedy my habits. John playfully picks on me because I'm the same way in the kitchen. I should be "working clean".

This winter my crochet needle case fell apart. I had been using the plastic monstrosity they came in since I got them as a gift two years ago. My mother has the same set that she bought in the 70's. Boye's needles are still wonderful but the quality of their packaging has suffered over the years. Instead of a nice box, the flimsy plastic gave way to wear. I finally had an excuse to look into something nice for myself on Etsy. Sadly, all the creations I found didn't seem to fit me right. The fabric was either mallard ducks or bursts of pink girly flowers. Too small or much too complicated. I pretty much gave up and started using a storage Ziploc.

When Gina and I's mutual love of Miyazaki brought us together, I couldn't help but suggest an art trade. She was open to making a case, something she had never done before. I think she must have gotten in to my head somehow because she chose the most perfect fabric, buttons and ribbon. I didn't mind fussing over No Face's tiny felt features because I was so excited to see what she would come up with.

It arrived on Friday. Reaction photos as follows:

The case is beautiful and large enough to hold not only my crochet needles, but stitch markers, scissors (both sewing and embroidery), sewing and embroidery needles. With room to spare! Gina also popped in a cute little surprise of a H hook. It was like Christmas morning, my dear readers.

While clearly deft with a sewing machine, Gina makes the most adorable food accessories. Shes sells bags, home goods, key chains, and electronic covers. Here is a sample of her latest work:

Toasty Trio!

I encourage you all to check out her Etsy shop!

Over all, my first art trade was awesome. I can't thank Gina enough! I have another in the works for a project bag in exchange for two dragons. I hope it goes as wonderfully as this has :) If you would like to do an art trade with me, feel free to contact me!

Geek Crochet

Project ideas:
Pokemon Diamond Female trainer hat and scarf
Deku Scrub
Tardis case
Caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland
Alice the rabbit
Holy hand grenade