Monday, January 20, 2020

What I've been doing

Updated... tried doing the post on my cheapie phone.. clearly that didn't go very well.. editing was a nightmare.. finally gave up after 1am.. hopefully this will be easier to read lol 



Been super busy with orders over the holidays.. I have created a few of my own patterns but as of yet haven't had the time to write them out.. 

Working on learning more free form techniques so many of the items I have created I won't be able to write out patterns for but have been so much fun and such a great stash buster
 ..

A few of the projects I have been working on... latest ones first... just finished tonight
My son "displaying" Octavia lol... think I might have to give a go with doing a hat now lol


I was asked to make a paid pattern spotted on Facebook of Falkor from The Neverending Story... 
pattern was on Etsy, but the shop is currently on a break however this is the link

 hopefully they will be up and running soon..

I really like the overall finished item..
there were a few difficulties, couple of mistakes in the pattern, not hard to work out, slows you down for a bit but nothing big..
 the second issue was coming up with similar enough yarns here in the states, pattern designer is from the UK, to get the same look.... 

the first one pictured, which is actually the second one I made ...
 I went with Bernet Baby Sport in white. 
Which was so much easier to work with then the Simply Soft I went with on the first , a d hook and Simply Soft is not going to happen again lol.... normally I love working with it, love the sheen... however the endless splitting of the yarn with the smaller hook added days to the overall project.  Came out looking great but I really like the look of the second one as well..
For the ears and mane I used Yarn Bee's Snuggle Up in white, the pattern calls for eyelash yarn but I think the substitute of a fun fur yarn worked out quite nicely even though it was a real pain to knit on size 1 needles, seeing the stitches through the "fur" added eve more time.. no sooner then I posted a photo of the first when I got a second request ...  might be a couple weeks before I do another ;) lol cute pattern worth the work




I was gifted the baby Yoda pattern just before it was pulled... I didn't follow the pattern exactly, somewhat... I changed  the yarn, I had just spent a week working with bulky blanket yarn and flat out was not going to go there again.. I will do simply soft on D's again before that happens.. ugh... lol. even with 50mm needles it was a pain to deal with... so worsted weight it needed to be..

 Which meant the hook size needed to change as well, the length of the body seemed off then.. so the length of the robe plus the collar, cuffs and colors needed to be adjusted, ok the color was purely due to what I could get in the same weight lol..
       the eye size changed  as did the shape of the head.. just because I preferred it .. and how the ears were colored.. I used the marker technique instead of using blush and hairspray.. overall look came out pretty darn close.. but will hopefully last longer..
   sounds like a lot of changes but as detailed as the pattern is I'd say still pretty close..
      I am making my own smaller pattern as I wanted even more changes  Like smaller lol .. but definitely will be keeping the fingers and toes similar.. so cute .. I learned a lot from this one and the other two toys.. a plus for sure




This one was also inspired by a friend seeing the pattern online.. on Pinterest which leads to YouTube.. the link on Raverly takes you to Youtube without the bother of searching through Pinterest.. that could take hours with having to check all of the other cool ideas you will undoubtedly come across LOL
it's called

Easy Braided Crochet Cowl With Buttons on Pinterest and Youtube

  ..  on Raverly


I used 2 skeins of Big Twist in white easy pattern, but a yarn eater.. and takes a fair amount of time... end results well worth it 


This last one is just a simple keyhole scarf.. I had a ball of random yarn someone had gifted me awhile back from their stash clean out, no clue what brand just that it is acrylic.. soft textured, easy to work with and pretty, I wanted an easy mindless knit to work on.. so I just used Gardner stitch.. size 10 and a half needles ... cast on 25 stitches I think.. after a dozen or so rows I bound off the center stitches then added them back in the next row.. kept going until I had enough length to go around my neck plus the dozen or so rows to match the length before the keyhole.. very quick and easy yet warm and stylish..
A few of the patterns I am working on are keyhole scarfs and cowls.. some quick and easy .. a few more complex works..not sure when I will be able to get back to them..

I was just gifted a older model sewing machine.. the scrap fabric doggie blankets and then custom bags are getting closer to reality..  where free form, weaving, sewing and beading all come together .. stay tuned