Bye 2010!

Even though today is technically just another day, I cannot help but get caught up in this "end of the year" mentality. It seems when I wake up tomorrow, it will almost be as if the slate is just a little bit more clear. Even if it is just in everyone's heads. In light of some recent events I also cannot help but feel a little wistful, but hopeful with the coming of the new year.

We are about an hour from 2011 in my neck of the woods. In review, 2010 was pretty damn good. I was not able to crochet as much as I wanted, but the projects I did complete turned out well. Here is to a new year and new projects!

My goals for 2011 include:
- Designing more amigurumi (of fictional characters and otherwise)
- Shaking off the last two years of undergrad that have assumed the form of lbs >.<
- Crocheting my first top after said weight is lost (as a reward/way to save yarn!)

My studies resume again in January. It will only be one class to start off with, so I hope to get some crocheting in every day, even if it is just a few rows/rounds/whatever. When midnight comes around I intend to be crocheting with some of the yarn my secret Santa got me. I just need to find a quick project to work up!

I hope everyone is doing something fun and safe tonight, crochet-related and otherwise!

Merry Christmas!

A happy holidays to you and yours!

Sorry I have been away for so long. My commitment has recently been re-focused on crocheting. Perhaps blogging will follow as a result ^_^;

Have fun, and be safe!

Update!

We got the house!!

Crocheting is expected to resume soon, but there will be more dish cloths than anything else.

I have struck a deal of sorts with my brother regarding amigurumi designs and production, but that is another post for another time.

I finally brought Sanji back home to use as a model for my other experiments, but I never got around to whipping out the yarn and he has been laying on our bedside table ever since.

I would post pics but the camera died -_-;

Another measly update

Still waiting to get a house. We put a bid on a different house this time (a non-short sale that does not involve an indecisive bank). Our offer was accepted and now we are just working on jumping through financing hoops.

I started to crochet a potholder/dish towel thingie at work today. Who has good ideas for crochet household items?

Excuses

Yeah, no new crochet news. There is other news, however.

My husband and I have made an offer for a townhouse! We are excited (and I am ready to throw up). It is a short sale, so it could get complicated. But the house is 30 days out from foreclosure, so hopefully the ball will get rolling soon.

And I will have plenty of storage space for my yarn stash!

So, sorry. Boring post. I will make up for it (hopefully from my new house!).

UUARGH! (The frustrations of short amigurumi memory)

So here I am, working on my next installation of the One Piece amigurumi series and it hits me: I didn't write down the instructions for how I created Sanji's legs and feet.

I spent some time going through my "Crochet Help" folder to see if there was anything in there to jog my memory, and I got nothing. To top it off, I left Sanji at work (he is decorating my cubicle along with Onigiri and the alien).

I will have to complete what I can of the current ami, and remember to bring Sanji home so I can study his legs (hmm, sounds slightly suggestive and fangirlish of me, doesn't it?).

This post is made in lieu of actual project pictures. Apologies all around.

Project Revealed! (kinda): One Piece, and Flunked Sackboys

So, I gave some clues a while back about some grand crochet project. What were they again? Pirates, avatar, and something else (yeah, you think I would re-read my own posts). I present to you this!


**Sanji** from One Piece!

I originally set out to make the entire Straw Hat Pirates in Sackboy form (from Little Big Planet), but there were so many versions of the Sackboy out there already that I abandoned that partway through and just decided to give Sanji a huge freakish head instead. I have a much smaller version of Zoro that was created out of my first attempts, but he just will not photograph well tonight, so I will have to show him another time.

Sanji's hair is crazy thick and I had quite the time trying to get the shape as accurately as I could. I may have to trim some more tomorrow. And I had a hell of a time trying to make a felt double breasted jacket (still am)!

Is anyone out there good with making doll clothes? I need tips!!

So this is what I am working on. I hope to do a "Zoro-gurumi" on this scale and in this style soon and add more crew members from there. I expect that Chopper will be the biggest challenge of the bunch.

The job starts on Monday. I am happy to be employed, but am struggling with the fear that I will somehow lose the job. It is not like I plan on showing up strung out on meth and stabbing my supervisor with a crochet hook anytime soon. I think I have just spent so long in school and plugging away at internships, and was so fortunate to be offered this job especially considering the economy that I fear losing it. Gah!

Maybe I should make **Luffy** next. He would not be afraid!


/Hotlinked for your pleasure

Eco-friendly considerations and the surreality of job hunting

I'M BACK!

And I'm employed!

Sorry it had been a while (A long, LONG while). I have a passable excuse, namely job hunting which eventually led to job...attaining? I am scheduled to start at a real live four-year-degree-requiring job on the 12th of July. Getting the call was definitely something like a sequence out of my daydreams where I land the job I want, but I act all cool and collected and begin expertly negotiating the terms of my employment. That all happened for reals! After ending the call I shrieked so loud my husband's grandparents heard it over the phone from the next room over ^-^; After the seemingly endless resume sending and interviews I can finally rest my head for a little while...and get back to crochet!

I kind of sort of abandoned the project I mentioned in my last post to focus on job hunting, although it is still in the back of my mind. I may resume it with modifications and hope to post pictures of the projects I have managed to complete in between interviews. I just have to remember to take the pictures during the day when the light is still good!

To congratulate myself for the job offer I went out to buy some yarn (which can be a REALLY bad habit- all of a sudden everything becomes an occasion for celebration). I decided to try out a little skein of pink purple, and white cotton yarn since my experience with that particular fabric was nil. And I absolutely LOVE it. The way it feels, the visibility of the stitches, and the fact it is not as processed as acrylic (this was not labeled as "eco-friendly" but from what I have read non-organic cotton yarn is still less cringe-worthy than acrylic in terms of production).

So what I expected to be a brief fling has turned into a full-blown love affair with cotton yarn. This has me pondering other alternatives to acrylic, including recycled silk (which I actually have a bag of somewhere in my apartment) and bamboo (which is woefully expensive). I have an entire stash of acrylic yarn which I will still use, but I will have to consider the facts and options very carefully before I replenish it next. I love being able to find affordable yarn, but if the amigurumi and skirts I make are helping screw up the environment what is the point?!

If anyone has suggestions/recommendations I am all ears!

Pokemon!

I finished up the Oddish for my friend today, much to the grief of my left hand.



The **pattern** is compliments of the amazing WolfDreamer, who has many awesome Pokemon and Nintendo related patterns available on her site.

Also, as promised, I have a slightly better photograph of the Totoro amigurumi I finished a few days ago.



I currently have plans for another project, which will be kept secret for now. The only hints I can give are "anime", "pirates", and "avatar". You think I would get back to working up some pandas, but the design is still undergoing modifications!

Psuedo Update

In lieu of substantial content I instead present to you this picture of a Totoro amigurumi that I completed last night:



The ears are different sizes and I did not stuff any of it all the way and the picture stinks, but I still think it is cute. The pattern is totally not mine at all and is found **here**.

I have an Oddish amigurumi commission to finish up tonight, and then I will be back with better pics and more yarny goodies!

Graduation Zombie

Wow, I have not posted in a loooooong time!

I have been dealing with final projects and papers and other school insanity for the last two weeks. Now begins the mad rush towards graduation which means fielding relatives and arranging places to eat and hoping to God flights arrive on time and AAAAAAAAH!

Once this is all over I will lay comatose for a few days. Then I will focus on crocheting and applying for jobs.

Well, kinda. I did not think that I would have a job after graduation, but the lovely ladies at the preschool I conducted my work study at petitioned the director to hire me as an actual employee until I find a "job job." I was touched, especially considering that it made the thank-you card and cake they bought for my last day a but premature ^_^

So once this is all over I will lay comatose for a few days before returning to work at the preschool then crochet and apply to jobs in my free time.

I am also rethinking this business of selling amigurumi online. I am always super psyched when someone asks me to do a commission, because I love the thought of someone else enjoying my work, and just having it out there in the world waiting to be animated as evil minions constructed solely to do my bidding.

But mainly I get happy about people liking my work. Mainly...

I am just dubious about certain aspects of online commerce. There is the issue of venue. Depending on who you ask Etsy is THE place to sell anything and everything handmade, or it can be the devil. Then there is Artfire, which is supposed to have excellent customer service but affords no where near the levels of exposure that Etsy does (providing you are willing to spend the money to re-list things). Maybe I am just feeling this way because I am tired in general and everything has been looking hazy to me. I will have to decide on this after doing the comatose thing.

Etsy Dreams...or Artfire Dreams...or...?

I completed the panda bear amigurumi commissions!



My husband selected the colors for the orange and blue panda amigurumi. I was unsure how a little girl would react to such a pairing, but he is insistent that it looks good. ^_^;

Now that I have this out of the way and have enough copies of my resume circulating in the world, I figure I can get to work on crafting some Saffron Pandas for my Etsy shop! Or Artfire shop...or whatever I start up here in a few weeks...

The Joys of Unexpected Commissions

The other day I brought Onigiri to a game of Risk and a friend thought so much of it, he asked me to make two panda bear amigurumis for his "kinda-sorta nieces". My first ever commission! He left the color choice up to me, the only information given is that they are 4 and 6 years old. I suppose I could go the girly girl route and stick to pinks, purples, and oranges, but the thought of feeding the stereotype makes me itch. I am kicking a few color combos around but am not decided as of yet. Any suggestions?

I am doubly glad for the commissions because they give me something to focus on besides job hunting. Graduation is in three weeks and I am about to break into hives due to employment anxiety! First there's the pressure to get a job that pays decent money, then the pressure to get a job in your field (communications, or journalism, in my case). Then there is the anxiety that you may not get a response from anyone at all! I do have two interviews this coming week. One job I already know I will not accept. It is in radio, which is "cool" (though not really, my husband worked in radio and it was thankless). But it is a sales position, which is double-plus bad. The other position is with a public relations firm and may not pay very much, but the fact I am called in for an interview at all is a confidence boost.

With all the job hunt pressure I have been escaping by fantasizing about going into business for myself, selling panda bear amigurumi and a clothing line I have been designing in my head for the last few weeks. Who knows? Maybe I'll go off the deep end and really take a crack at it ^_^

Safety eyes revisited

Just when I had nearly convinced myself that eyeless pandas aren't THAT terrifying, I produce this:



This is Onigiri! Named after the ever popular Japanese rice balls, Onigiri sports snowy white "fur" representing rice and "dried seaweed green" markings. The color change on the body isn't perfect, but I have found a pretty decent tutorial to troubleshoot that (why didn't I refer to a tutorial before completing Onigiri, you ask? Well...I don't know...).

I am left to ponder if I like eyes so much better than no eyes:



Yeah, it is kinda cute. I am not hardcore enough for eyeless amigurumi -_-

Questionable manga and lessons learned with safety eyes

So, I finally got my hands on a few pairs of safety eyes a few days ago and went to work on giving my pandas the gift of sight. Having never used safety eyes before, I quickly learned that it would be wise in the future to attach the eyes before assembling the whole head. I ended up with this monstrosity:



I had to tug and pull at the poor thing, which stretched out and exposed some of the whip stitches. And after all of that, the eyes still ended up off center! It doesn't look terrible, but it is definitely not want I intended. At least I can file the experience away in the "To Don't" folder -_-

Now that it is a confirmed bad idea to add eyes to an already-assembled panda face, I am left with this:


(the black spots you see are thread on the inside I still have to trim)

I don't want to disfigure this bear like the last one so I am trying to think of other things I can do with it. Maybe I could just string it on a chain and hang it off of my backpack or turn it into a satchel and fill it with dried flowers.

I also suppose I could give it a body still, although being eyeless AND limbless would be pretty messed up...or freaking cool. I can't decide which.

----------------------
Ever hear of Strawberry Marshmallow? It sounds incredibly suspect, doesn't it? It is a manga I read a few pages of while visiting my local comic book shop some months ago. Last week I found one of the volumes on the clearance rack and decided to make a grand splurge of two bucks to bring it home. Aesthetically speaking, it looks cutesy. Sickeningly so. It is all lace and ruffles and little girls sharing shortcake with each other. But when you actually read it, it becomes something else entirely. The oldest girl is a compulsive smoker at the age of 16. Some of them swear and engage in physical violence against each other. There is enough of a stylistic difference that it doesn't qualify as an Azumanga Daioh knock-off and I have tken enough of an interest to start reading it from the beginning.

The author is a man, so that may be what keeps it from being syrupy sweet. However, wikipedia seems to suggest that the series may have had origins in a publication of...questionable repute. I am not entirely sure what to make of this, since I have not experienced any creepy feelings reading the series so far. I know reading manga and watching anime in general desensitizes you to a lot of things that would otherwise freak someone else out (repeated panty shots, robots bursting out of foreheads etc), but I am fairly confident an alarm would go off if I am ever presented with something morally reprehensible (or, I hope so).

Does anyone else ever reflect on their entertainment choices in such a way, or am I just a worrisome geek for concerning myself with the moral implications of what I do in my free time? ^^;

Saffron Pandas in the Making

Finally having settled on a design I am pleased with, I have gone about crafting a line of amigurumi I am pleased to call the "Saffron Panda" line! Inspired by the little green buds popping up everywhere I decided to try out some spring green yarn. In the absence of brown yarn, I substituted but came up with a color combo I really like.



His name is Vasanta (वसन्त) and will hopefully have eyes to see with soon. Doesn't he evoke images of a forest? The bright green of spouting leaves, the cool gray of stream bed stones...or is it just me? ^_^;

Stay tuned for Vasanta's back story and more Saffron Pandas!

Amigurumi Product Testing

I spent small pockets of time over the last few days coming up with different panda bear amigurumi designs. My first efforts resulted in this:



The eyes are "X"ed out to signal my displeasure with the end product, although it has grown on me a little since then. I think of it affectionately as my unbalanced zombie alien. And it has helped me determine that I don't want the panda design to turn out so bottom heavy.

I also learned that I don't like making limbs. I have always had difficultly with amigurumi limbs and am never satisfied with the way they look. -_- I agonized over what techniques I could use to achieve a tolerable "limb effect" and began to think that maybe I am just not meant to craft when it occurred to me...amigurumi don't need limbs at all.

I did briefly ponder the possible disturbance a limbless doll could cause, but it made artistic sense. Pandas were driven to near extinction by poaching encouraged by the desirability of their pelts. A limbless panda could represent that unfortunate past and spare me the tedium of limb construction in one fell swoop!

My next attempt resulted in this:



Ultimately I will use safety eyes for future amigurumi, but this panda ended up all-yarn because I am going to give this to a friend's toddler niece and is still in the phase where everything she comes into contact with is subject to being gummed on.

I like the proportions much better on this one, and it stands firmly on its own unlike the poor zombie alien. The ears just might need to be shortened a touch, to avoid confusion with being a mouse.

Feedback?

Impacted Wisdom Teeth and Geisha Dolls

I had oral surgery this past Friday to remove my three remaining wisdom teeth. I decided on local anesthetic only, which I DO NOT recommend for people who get nervous easily! I sniveled most of the way home then consoled myself by practicing my crochet increases and decreases. Here if what I eventually came up with:



I tried to remember the directions for these although looking at the number of stitches for the taller doll, I think I messed up >.< These are for the plumper doll, my favorite of the two:

Rnd 1: Chain 6 and join wth slip stitch
Rnd 2: sc in 1st loop, 2 sc in second loop. Repeat to 9 sc
Rnd 3: sc in next 2 lps, 2 sc in 3rd loop. Repeat to 12 sc
Rnd 4: 2 sc in each loop around. 24 sc total.
Rnd 5: 1 sc in first loop, 2 sc in second. Repeat to 36 sc.
Rnd 6: sc in next 5 loops, 2 sc in 6th loop. Repeat to 42 sc.
Rnd 7: With kimono color sc in each loop around (42 sc)
Rnd 8: decrease to 36 by sc in first 5 loops, 2 sctog.
Rnd 9: sc in next five loops, 2 sc in 6th loop. Repeat to 42 sc
Rnd 10 to end: sc in next six loops, 2 sc in seventh loop. Repeat to 48 sc

Finish body to desired height.

The hair was made by following the direction for Rnds 1-6 then increasing to 52 sc by placing 1 sc in the first 6 loops, 2 sc in the 7th loop and repeating. I went back and forth along the sides of the hairpiece making about 5 rows of sc, repeatedly placing it on the doll's head to get he desired face width. I think each row is about 30 sc.

The faces and hair are made with Red Heart acrylic yarn, and the kimono are made of Caron Simply Soft Eco, which is just so pretty and shiny and very soft. Once my acrylic stash runs out, I am thinking of using recyclable and sustainable materials exclusively in all future crochet projects. If we all do our share and show there is a demand for more environmentally friendly crafting projects, it is the nature of the market to respond to the demand.

A healthier environment and prettier yarn achieved in one fell swoop. Wouldn't that be divine?

The Shame of Bleach Amigurumi

I wonder, should I be ashamed that my first post features an amigurumi of a Bleach character?



Not if it is Kenpachi Zaraki!

At least, I hope so...

I made this little guy over the course of two days as a surprise for my husband who dislikes the series but still watches for certain characters, including Kenpachi.

Ken-chan is my first amigurumi made completely on my own with the assistance of no pattern (yay, I feel accomplished!). But looking back maybe I should have written down the steps taken to construct him. That way I could have made my first official pattern as well ^_^;


(I hope to learn how to take better pictures in the future!)

He isn't complete as of yet. I still need to make the white robe covering he wears, add some more hair, attach bells to his spikes, and make a little Yachiru to perch on his shoulder. I just had to show off the progress I have made so far despite (or "in spite of" might be more appropriate) work and school.

I am tempted to try other manga character amigurumi after Kenpachi, but I already have many other projects lined up including a baby blanket. Ugh! >.< Why did no one ever warn me about the tedium of attempting to crochet a baby blanket?!

Still, it's for a good cause. If you have more patience than me and are looking to exercise some craftivism, please check out www.projectlinus.org if you haven't already. We all deserve a good blanket, right?