2016 Crochet Projects Thus Far!

Hey guys!

Here's a quick, mostly-photo filled post of most (if not all) of the crochet projects that I've completed so far this year. Like always, I will try to post the link for each pattern, however please keep in mind that I almost always tweak something in one way or another so you may not get the same result!

First up: An owl and some baby hats (pink and purple-- the green was a test hat that used different yarn and therefore didn't turn out as well) for the baby from my last post, Leia! As a teeny tiny baby, she's still growing into the hats, but that just means she'll be able to wear them for many months to come!

Owl Pattern

Baby Turban Pattern

Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy dolls! I actually don't have a pattern to give you because I came up with the pattern myself. I made these dolls down to the very last details, including their screen-accurate wands, their hand-painted ribbon scarves, and Harry's glasses, which I hand-shaped and painted! They're weighted down with pennies for stability. These were given to one of my lovely best friends, Ellie. She lives in Australia, so that's where they live now!

Along with the Draco and Harry dolls for Ellie, I made a Golden Snitch for her and myself! 

Golden Snitch Pattern

My cool ripple afghan! This took quite some time and quite a lot of yarn to complete. I believe there are 13 colors in total! Maybe one day I'll add a border, but I finished the main part of the blanket and then got tired of doing it! :P (In the photo, the blanket is upside-down. The top is actually at the bottom and vice versa)

Cool Ripple Afghan Pattern

Stego! This was for my friend Kerry, who loves stegosauruses. He is probably the most difficult project I've ever attempted, and because I hate sewing pieces together,  I put the project down for a few months, so he took quite some time to complete. His feet are weighted down with Canadian quarters!

Stegosaurus Pattern

This giraffe lovey is for a friend of mine who just found out that they're going to be a parent for the first time! The giraffe is, of course, a nod to my love of giraffes.

Giraffe Lovey Pattern

This bunny lovey is also for the baby Leia!

Bunny Lovey Pattern 

(of which I only used the bunny part-- for the blankie part, I used the same pattern from the giraffe lovey)

Here is Leia and her bunny lovey!

Photo courtesy of Karen Bova

Yet another project that I don't have a pattern to give you for is this Spongebob! A request from a friend for his nephew, Spongebob took a while to complete because I was making the pattern up as I went (when am I going to finally say "Yes, $4.99 for a pattern I'll get to keep forever is worth the time it will take to make up my own"?). I wanted something that I knew would keep its shape instead of bulging out through the stretch of the pieces, so I settled on 2" foam padding for his insides. His tie, shirt collar, the blue/white of his eyes, and teeth are all bits of felt that have been machine-stitched on, and his smile and eyelashes are hand embroidered.

That's it so far! I've got two other items in the works right now, both requests, but I'm having a hard time concentrating while crocheting lately so they may take some time. :)

A Very Merry Oregon Crochetmas!

Hey guys!

So I've already showed you all everything that I whipped up for my relatives and loved ones in Michigan, but I haven't mentioned what I made for my family in Oregon because obviously Patrick and I were out of town and did not get home until after Christmas, which meant that we had to wait to open presents. I also wanted to wait to post this because Patrick's daughter was coming to town to visit with us and I made something for her, as well, so I wanted to wait until she got to see her gift before I posted anything.

TARDIS Scarf

 

So this TARDIS scarf is what I made for Patrick for Christmas! For those of you who don't know, it is a Doctor Who themed scarf, a show which Patrick loves. The scarf measures somewhere around 6 feet long and the TARDIS pieces are actually separately sewn to the scarf so they serve as pockets! And true to Patrick's love of fringe, there is lots of fringe sewn in at the bottom. I didn't use a pattern for this-- it is one of my own making. 

The wooden spoon is to show how deep the pockets go. I actually didn't have the spoon all the way in the pocket, but you get the idea. This scarf was another mixed media project, which I sewed together with a sewing machine. I felt that it was more appropriate than trying to stitch together the edges with yarn, which would just make it bulky and cause the edges of the pockets to be misshapen. Given the opportunity to change anything, I would add a grey block underneath the left window (because apparently there is some kind of sign on the TARDIS), and I might try to embroider "Police Box" onto the black bit at the top. I didn't try that this time because I was pressed for time and I hate embroidering on crochet, but I could always add it later. I also think an iron-on patch would be neat there but I would have to find one in the correct size... and the iron might melt the yarn since it is acrylic. Another option would be to embroider a piece of felt and glue that to the scarf, which I did consider but again, I was pressed for time (I actually finished this the night before I left for the airport for Michigan). 

Jack Skellington Coin Purse 2.0

Jack Skellington Coin Purse Pattern

After my sister-in-law saw a photo of the original coin purse that I made for Michigan Crochetmas, she commissioned me to make another for her daughter! The money is just to show that the purse unzips.

For this coin purse I used the same pattern as last time but I did a different face and instead of stitching up the edges with yarn, I used my sewing machine.

POT Holders

I had an idea one night and by the next afternoon I had these ready to pack up and give away-- POT Holders (excuse me while I die of laughter at my wit)! Apparently I am not the only person in the world who has thought of this because it was not too difficult to find a pattern for the leaves (though I wrote it down and forgot where I got it from). These are a set of pot holders for a friend of ours. I'm not sorry if these offend some people-- they're a pun in and of themselves and they're hilarious (and useful!).

Totoro

Totoro Pattern

In my Michigan Crochetmas post, I noted that one of the largest items that I made was a piggy (and I didn't mean to make it so large)... This Totoro takes the cake by far, and the photos don't even do justice to his true size! I didn't exactly mean to make something so large (in theory a 9 inch stuffed animal doesn't sound so big) but holy crap, this thing took SO MANY DAYS. If I totaled up the number of hours that I worked on this guy and only gave myself $7 per hour plus the cost of materials, he would cost well over $100 to sell. I had to take time off from making it because my hands started cramping up! In the end he ended up measuring 10 inches in body height, 12.5 inches in total height (with the ears) and he measures 20.5 inches around at his widest point. I will definitely start considering size from now on when I find patterns that I want to follow! 

Cat Ear Hat

Cat Ear Hat Pattern

I also decided that it's about damn time that I made myself something, because up until this point I have only ever made myself two scarves (which I ended up taking apart to use the yarn for other projects) and a pair of slippers (one of which fell apart because I didn't secure it well), so I decided to make this cat ear hat! My photo does not do it justice so I encourage you to click the pattern link to see what the hat looks like in good lighting (and without Snapchat captions). I'm really pleased with how it turned out! 

 I hope you all are having a wonderful New Year so far! 

One Month Update!

Hey everyone! I feel like I definitely over-blogged when we first moved here; I'm glad I documented that time and I was able to update you all on everything we were doing here (and how I was doing health-wise) but I decided to take a break and just let things settle before I updated again, which is what I'm doing now!

So far everything about living here had been amazing! The positive shift in our moods has been very obvious. We are much less stressed about a huge list of things and it definitely shows in the way we go about our daily lives and even the way we treat each other. 

So far in the past month we have moved to a different state, been to urgent care and dealt with some awful medical problems, gotten a new car, organized our new apartment in a way that we both feel comfortable, explored Beaverton, had dinner with friends, enjoyed fresh air and RAIN, and just enjoyed each other's company for the first time in many months. With the stress of moving and trying to get everything together finally gone, it feels like we can sit and relax.

In fact, we have both been sleeping much better. We both find that we have less of a need to nap during the day (for three reasons: we sleep better at night, we are more active during the day because it is less hot outside than it was in Tracy and we can actually leave the house, and it is no longer so hot that we have to have the air conditioning constantly on so the heat and the lull of the air conditioner doesn't put us to sleep. In fact, our apartment doesn't even have air conditioning).

We have both signed up for library cards and I am thrilled to have in my possession three books in a series of murder mysteries that are primarily solved by a pair of magical cats. (Side note: When is the last time you've been to the library? Did you know that many locations now have self check out? Amazing!)

I've also picked up crafts and crocheting again. I've made a couple of different crafts for Fall that I'm super excited to share and I've decorated our home a little bit for the season. It's so thrilling to actually have pride in your home!

I've finished a small afghan which, while it is nice and will keep someone warm, it's not at all how I hoped it would turn out because a couple of different factors including a strange yarn that was not at all the same thickness as the others (even though it is the same weight and brand) and also a pattern miscalculation. So it looks like my cats are getting a new blanket and I'll be starting over!

I survived my first week alone without Patrick while he went away to Minnesota for a short trip (Tuesday through Friday-- definitely not that bad).

We found a really great thrift store with a fitting room (which is almost unheard of!) and a really good selection. (Nooo, I didn't buy three flannels this month, you must be thinking of someone else...)

We drove for two hours (and then another two hours to return home) to get to a Cider Mill* in Washington that was more fun than any I have ever been to in Michigan (sorry guys!).

*I'll be writing a separate blog post about the Cider Mill because I have some photos that I'd like to share and I wanted to keep this post short and to the point.

And a bonus: our package-stealing, loud-thumping-music-playing neighbors moved out this week! Ahhhh, the silence.

Everything so far has been beyond my wildest dreams. I never knew I could love living in a place so much. It sounds crazy and very cliche, but it's true. I never felt this connection with California and while I adored and miss and love Michigan, there's a different vibe there that I didn't enjoy so much. Like I've said before, Oregon seems to have the best of both worlds! I'm so thrilled to call this place our home! Every single day I look around and tell Patrick how glad I am that we live here. It feels like home.

As a final side note, I thought I would include another short health update which is basically me telling you all that my underarm cysts have not changed (they're still painless when I move but a little bit tender to the touch and I can feel the nodules still) and now I have one on my face (kind of where I would have a sideburn if I was a male-- very close to my ear). However, it is no longer extremely painful and I think most of the swelling at this point is actually the lymph node that the cyst developed right on top of. I have hope that this will go away very soon, especially after I get on the second medication I was prescribed starting tomorrow (Monday). 

I want to thank you all for your continued interest and support in my life and for reading this blog. I'm glad there are a handful of you that enjoy it! Thanks for following along in our Oregon adventures!