Creepy Critters

Amigurumi are cute, but are usually fairly creepy looking.  Here's an adorable hedgehog pincushion:

Pattern: Waste Yarn Hedgehog
Yarn: Knit Picks Essential (now Stroll) in Black for details, Wild Fire Fibres BFL Sock from the sock club for the face, Madeline Tosh Tosh Sock in Loopy Ewe sock club for the body.

Needles: US1.5/2.5 mm, DPNs
Timeframe: October 2 - 4.
Mods: A few.  I started with the disappearing cast-on in black, CO 4 sts, Round 1: *K1, M1* around, Round 2: *K2, M1* around (12 sts), switch to brown and continue from Row 1 of pattern.

After the first set of increases (work rows 2 - 5), I made French Knot eyes, then switched to the darker color and turned my work so I was knitting on the inside, giving reverse stockinette as the outside.  I followed the directions otherwise, but didn't weave in the ends, just left them inside, and ran the final tail through the live stitches twice to close up.
Problems: None.

I used scraps of what I've already got to knit this adorable little guy.  I think he'll look better with pins in him too.  He's been sent off to a friend who should have him by now and so shouldn't be surprised by this post.

And a not-so-adorable Hedwig-esque amalgamation of patterns:

Pattern: Pocket Animals and Forest Friends (Owl and Robin)
Yarn: Jo-Ann Sensations Angel Hair for the body, Dupont Sayelle gold for the beak and feet, probably Red Heart acrylic for the eyes.

Hook: USF
Timeframe: July 2007 - September 17, 2010 with a hiatus of being in the US while I was in Japan for nearly 2 years.
Mods:  Some.  I crocheted the body as one piece instead of multiple, I crocheted the wings from the Robin pattern, and I didn't make the horns. 

Problems: None really, yarn wasn't the best though!.

For crochet and knitting, the yarn you use can have an effect on the finished product.  Knitting tends to be fairly neutral, depending on your technique, so a neutral yarn, with no inherent twist, is desired.  Crochet tends to induce at least some twist, again depending on your technique, so either a neutral yarn or a yarn with the opposite twist is desired so that you'll have a neutral outcome.  Of course, one can knit or crochet with any yarn one desires, but some yarns create better finished products for some techniques.  The yarn that I used for Hedwig had an inherent twist the same way as the twist I induced, so the wings and tail curl in a not-so-good manner.  A better crocheter may have re-jiggered the second wing to knit backwards so the twist remained the same, but I did not, so have one wing waving hello and one wing beckoning you closer.

Ah well, such is life!

FO: Hanging Towels

I realized that we don't really have hand towels by the kitchen or bathroom sinks when looking at an adorable towel on Ravelry. I then modified the cute pattern to make the towels hanging towels to rectify the lack of hand towels by my sinks:

Pattern: Bubble Up Towel (Ravelry)
Yarn: Bernat Handicrafter Cotton Naturals for the main color, various Lily Sugar & Creams

Needles: US6/4.0 mm US7/4.5 mm
Timeframe: October 17 and 18 - 21, 2010.  Short piece of work, waited on the blocking.
Mods: Quite a few.  CO 36, 4-st garter stitch border, when work is a square, K2, SSK, K to last 4, K2tog, K2 on RS rows, P2, P2tog, P to last 4, P2togtbl, P2 until 12 sts left, K2tog center sts, make bobble in contrasting color, make flap as long as desired with 2-st garter stitch border, make buttonhole by casting off center stitch and then casting on one stitch in the next row, K4 rows, BO.
Problems: None!

These are fairly cute and they match my washcloths.  Simple little knits to wipe your hands on instead of using your jeans!

How to Explode Your WIP Count in One Easy Step!

Crocheted Snowflakes!

(and bookmarks)

Enthusiasm

I keep my knitting group's bag of extras.  Mostly dollar store yarn and project leftovers that are most of a skein, there was some cute #20 cotton crochet thread in there.  I've added quite a bit of my leftovers and unwanted yarns, mostly dollar store stuff, acrylic, and mohair, as I can typically find uses for wools, and don't feel bad grabbing this little 20 gram dollar store yarn for my own purposes.  Especially when those purposes are as nice and pure as a bookmark or two for Christmas and snowflakes to decorate my school's Christmas-themed robot, if in fact there are leftovers.  20g doesn't go very far.

Things were all well and good, I was about to finish the majority of the work on the first bookmark, and I realize I've messed up the directions:

The outside edges of the fans are supposed to join a lower fan.  Less than an hour of work, the first two fans are okay, and I have the pattern memorized.  Not too big a deal.

Except.

Except I scoured the directions looking for such a thing because I was sure they joined.  Somehow, I missed it, and only saw it halfway through the seventh of eight fans.  Now I get to rip back to halfway through the third fan.

Bah.

I'll probably go out and pick up another skein or two of this stuff though to make another bookmark and hopefully get at least three snowflakes, preferably more like ten so the students can keep them at the end and everyone on the team gets one.

But we'll see.  Such things can only be accomplished if I can read directions correctly in the future.  I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you.

Letterboxing

I am an official Letterboxer.  I signed up for Atlas Quest, username Shlaci, and found my first letterbox when I was in Tokyo with my in-laws.  There are a few around Tokyo, and I printed out directions to all of them in case we went anywhere that had one.  We visited the Imperial Gardens in Tokyo, and there is one letterbox there, the Lotus letterbox:

I used my signature stamp to mark that I was there, and stamped their lotus stamp into my logbook as the first stamp.  Many people have a nice book, but I decided that since I may want to re-order mine by place and I want to be able to bring supplies with me on hikes like the Appalachian Trail (where weight is a big priority), I want a method of recording finds that doesn't take up much space.  I got a small trading card holding binder that comes in a box.  It's perfect for trips where weight isn't a problem, I put folded blank notecards into the slots and can write the name, date, and location of the box on the notecard.  The box holds a small stamp pad and my stamp easily as well.  When weight is an issue, I can take just a handful of notecards, a small stamp pad, and my stamp.  The notecards can be rearranged and I can of course always get better trading card binders or notecard filing systems to keep track of my finds.

Later this month, I'll be traveling to Tokyo for the national RoboCon competition to cheer on our team.  We have a few hours between the bus arriving in Tokyo and the start of the competition, so I'm going to see how many other letterboxes I can cross off my list while I'm there.  I know I'll get the Tokyo Disney one when my family comes to visit, but there are a few others fairly close together near interesting sites or museums that I should be able to get.

Hopefully I'll be able to hit all the ones currently in Japan before I leave!

FO: Bookmarks

I've knit a few of these guys, and finally knit one for myself:

 Pattern: Spider to Web Bookmark (Ravelry)

Yarn: Wister LaLa Baby, Japanese yarn in white

Hook: USE/3.5 mm
Timeframe: June 15 - 17, 2010
Mods: None.  Excellent pattern.
Problems: None!

 

I also knit up a few for a charity sale we had.  All the money collected went to a local orphanage.  I knit four, but forgot to take a picture of them before they started selling.  Whoops!

 

Pattern: Spider to Web Bookmark (Ravelry)
Yarn: Wister LaLa Baby, Japanese yarn in white, then off-white.

Hook: USE/3.5 mm
Timeframe: November 2, 2010
Mods: None.  Excellent pattern.
Problems: None!

 

All four of the bookmarks went, so I was quite pleased.  I do enjoy this pattern, it's so simple and quick and is fairly impressive, I think.

FO: Cusp

Cookie A., my favorite sock designer, is coming out with a new book.  It's called Knit.Sock.Love., and will be available in a couple of weeks.  It's up for pre-order now, and you can get a PDF version at a much lower price if you pre-order it with the book.  Highly recommended!

Okay, back to the topic at hand.  For her book, I was able to test knit one of the new socks, Cusp.  This is a great sock pattern, really simple and quick compared to many of her designs, and perfect for some gorgeous Indigo Moon I had on hand:

 

Pattern: Cusp, size L
Yarn: Indigo Moon West Coast Musings in West Coast Sunset.

Needles: US1.5/2.5mm DPNs.

Timeframe: July 3 - 8, 2010 for the first one, October 17 - November 1, 2010 for the second.

Mods: None!
Problems: None!

I do love Cookie A.'s patterns and can't wait to see the new book.  I've got it pre-ordered and I'm getting the PDF too.  This one was a really quick knit with interesting gusset construction.It is not particularly flattering to my ankles, but is a cool design nonetheless.  It may live on my sock blockers more often than on my feet!