lost

Posted on March 26, 2014 by trish

I lost a knit hat I made. I’ve knitted two hats for myself so far and I’ve lost them both in public places. They were both perfect spring hats, not too warm, but enough to keep my ears from freezing when the temperature is slightly below 0°c. I have thin and kind of flappy ears. They freeze easily.

So, anyway. The only way to deal with losing a hat is to make a new one.

I followed this pattern on Rebecca Bee Designs. Really like the asymmetrical folded brim. Kind of flapper-like.

Have a happy rest of the week!

faith

Posted on March 18, 2014March 17, 2014 by trish

The trees will bloom again, I’m sure of it. Even though it doesn’t feel that way now.

I try not to complain about the winter, because there’s nothing anyone can do about it. But I admit that I am getting mildly frustrated and more than a little discouraged when it feels like -22°c in the middle of March.

So when I spotted these Japanese quince flowers on Attic 24 I thought I had to make them, and to wear them on my coat, to remind me of blooming trees. I’ve almost forgotten about them, this winter has been so long. Blooming trees are one of my favourite things.

Yes, that huge snow hill behind me is going to melt, and the trees will bloom again, I know they will.

The flowers are indeed very easy to make and they turn out very cute. I especially love the fuzzy centres with the yellow yarn.

And yesterday I willfully left my snow boots at home. A bit of ice doesn’t stop me from wearing my spring shoes.

Happy Tuesday, wherever you are.

this week’s awesome finds

Posted on March 16, 2014 by trish

Impressive cat blanket! From As Receitas de Croche.

I love Celtic knots. Bracelet by Jennifer E. Ryan on Ravelry.

A giant Loch Ness monster stuffed toy! I want one too. Pattern from We Lived Happily Ever After.

Can’t wait to give this a try, looks doable and so delicious. Mushroom (and bacon!) ragout recipe by Melmaria.

Not sure what an Adipose is, but he’s cute. Adipose plush pattern on Tuts+.

How awesome are these pom pom strawberries? From Mr. Printables (there’re instructions for making kiwis and watermelons and other fruits too!)

A beautiful rendition of the Foliage Wrap on Ravelry.

Japanese Quince flowers from Attic 24. It reminds me that the trees will bloom again, very soon!

More spring flowers. I think this granny square will make a lovely coaster. From Bigu Handmade.

Revoluzzzionary Monster, love it’s little heart and little arms. Pattern by Suse Revoluzza on Cut Out and Keep.

The bunny is so marshmallowy, and with a scarf *squeal* From the Giving Bunny Project by Stitch Punk, a very neat idea. I love the idea of leaving bunnies in public places for people to find. I would just worry that the bunnies I make would get thrown out or rained on, or even stepped on, that would be really sad. Maybe I can make a few for people I know.

Have a happy week! :D

blue moss

Posted on March 14, 2014March 13, 2014 by trish

I was hoping to make a cozy sweater for the winter, kind of worried for a while that I wouldn’t have this done before it’s too warm to wear it. But this morning was a breezy -27 ℃. So I still got to wear it in the middle of March!

Working on this sweater kept me steady for the past month. Something to look forward to at the end of the day, even if I just got to knit a few rows before going to bed.

I followed this pattern, but used moss stitch throughout instead of the garter stitch in the pattern. Although garter stitch would look nice too, I might make another sweater with it. I also used worsted instead chunky weight yarn and 7mm needles instead of 10mm, so my sweater turned out quite a bit smaller than what it’s supposed to, but it fits.

Have a happy Friday!

and the winning amigurumi is.…

Posted on March 8, 2014March 8, 2014 by trish

Today is the day!

I’m randomly drawing an amigurumi suggestion from the comments everyone has left on this post, this post, and my post on Instagram.

I’m using the list randomizer on random.org. I enter all the suggestions as a list, and then the number one item in the randomized list would be the winner.

And the winning amigurumi is…

Narwhal!!

An amigurumi narwhal will be going to Amy, who made the suggestion :D

Now I just have to ask for everyone’s patience, as the finished narwhal and pattern will take me a little time… but it would be a great way to welcome spring/summer by making an aquatic creature!

Thank you so much everyone for your suggestions and comments! I’m a bit sad that I’m not able to make a pattern for all of the amigurumi you’ve suggested, because they’re all great ideas and I like all of them! So I’ve decided to scour the interweb to see if these patterns already exist, and here they are if you want to make some of them :D (you can click on the above image to see the list of all the animals suggested)

Cute and cuddly Capybara, a free Ravelry download.
A free yellow rubber duck pattern with a nice fan tail, can be made with different colours of yarn for a Northern Shoveler.
A lovely giraffe (made in one piece!) by Vampire Weasel.
I’ve posted a super simple penguin pattern before, but if you’re looking for one with more details, this penguin on Woman’s Day looks very cute.
Here’s a silly looking platypus, from Inner Child Crochet.
A seriously AWESOME looking (and free!) Emolga Pokemon pattern by Wolf Dreamer.
Super adorable guinea pigs on Ravelry — I wish I have the time to make a dozen!
Beautiful llama from Crochet Goods, looks like she’s ready for action!
Chubby red panda from (Ri)Create, just want to squeeze him.
This cardinal on Ravelry would make an awesome friend and accomplice to a squirrel :D
The loris is a bit harder to find… but I thought this lemur pattern might also work for a loris. For sale on Ravelry.
These hedgehogs also work as dusters, they make helpful plush friends :D Pattern by Pierrot.

Thanks so much for the inspirations, everyone!

capybara currently ahead of the curve

Posted on March 6, 2014 by trish

Aw, and this one is hugging a cat. (source)

As you may know in my last post I asked everyone what animal/creature/thing you’d like to see an amigurumi (crochet small plush) pattern for, and to leave a comment if you’ve got an idea. I’d then randomly choose a comment this Saturday to make the crochet plush that’s been suggested. The person who made the comment will receive the finished crochet plush (I do ship internationally), and I will write up the pattern and share it on the blog for all to enjoy :D

So far it looks like capybara has the most chance of being randomly chosen, as most of the visitors/readers have suggested it. But if you’d like a crochet plush of a different animal/creature/thing, there’s still a chance before Saturday! You can leave a comment on this post or my last post.

Have a good rest-of-the-week!

grateful

Posted on March 1, 2014March 1, 2014 by trish

I’ve been nominated for a Liebster Award by the wonderful Kirsty at Tea and Rainbows! :D

That made my day. Thanks so much for your thoughtfulness Kirsty! I’ve been following Kirsty’s blog for a while and I’m always super impressed with her sewing projects — please hop over to check them out!

Part of the award involves answering some questions for Kirsty, which are so overdue now, and I’m posting a much abbreviated response to the nomination because of lack of time, I’m sorry >_< but here they are!

1. What’s your guilty pleasure?
I eat far too much chips, sometimes I think it’s not so good for me but that’s the first thing I go for after a busy day at school/work :S

2. What’s your favourite kind of fabric to work with?
Cotton! Very easy to work with and doesn’t slip all over the place.

3. Favourite animal?
Llamas, capybaras, rabbits, giraffes, penguins, owls (it’s hard to name just one :P)

4. What’s your all-time-favourite sewing pattern to make?
The square top! (and variations of it, dresses and such)

5. What one sewing tool can’t you live without?
Needles of all sorts. I use them to sew together crochet and knitting projects as well, and embroidering details.

6. When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
An artist or a paleontologist

7. What’s the best thing that happened to you today?
I got some free time to knit, and to write this blog post :D

8. What’s your favourite seam finish?
I’ve only ever use straight stitch… oh wait, I tried French seam once, it was fun.

9. How long ago did you start sewing?
When I was 14.

10. If I gave you a cat, what would you name it?
Filbert. Or McFurson.

11. Where do you get your sewing inspiration from?
What I see people wear, or blogs. I like very simple shapes and structures.

And now, I’ve got a question for you! I haven’t been posting amigurumi or crochet tiny plush patterns lately, part of the reason is that I’m having a hard time coming up with ideas for new things to make. I’m wondering what you would like to see an amigurumi / crochet tiny plush pattern for? Please feel free to leave a comment!

And to make it fun, I will randomly choose a comment and make the animal/thing that’s suggested in the comment next Saturday, and the person who made the comment will receive the finished crochet plush :) And of course, I will post the pattern to share with everyone. Looking forward to hearing your ideas!

Have a great week, everyone!

luna

Posted on February 26, 2014February 26, 2014 by trish

Hard to believe how happy this made me, to crochet something.

Life’s been busy, and I feel rather depleted every day when I get home. But I know that if I carve out some time to make something rather than zonking out in front of the TV I would feel much better, much more energized, much more nourished in my spirit.

I’ve been wanting to make a luna moth for a while. Was looking for an origami diagram actually, but couldn’t find any on the interweb. So I thought I’d go back to what I do best, with my trusty crochet hook and yarn.

Someone I really admire once asked me what it’s like to crochet, referring particularly to the tiny anatomical heart I gave her. I said it’s like sculpting with yarn.

You see, it crossed my mine to write out a pattern, because I haven’t posted a pattern for a long time, but writing a pattern kind of takes away the spontaneity of free-form crocheting, of sculpting with yarn, which was what I needed at the moment. But you can see that the veins on the upper wings are clearly off, so I might make another one to improve on it, and I might jot down the stitches then.

I had some perfectly sparkly yellow beads for the eye spots.

Like I said, I’ve been wanting to make some kind of moth for a long time. The inspiration for it is kind of ridiculous. I keep seeing this commercial for Big Bang Theory in which Sheldon asked Amy, “are you sure your moth-like personality won’t be drawn to this blazing fire that is myself?”

I don’t watch the Big Bang Theory, but I find the description “moth-like personality” interesting. It reminds me of a conversation I had with a former supervisor, whom I also admire very much. She asked, “so you say that you have this huge fear of conflicts and angry people, yet you picked a profession in which you have to deal with people who are in conflicts and angry all day?”

I don’t know why I choose to work in social services. Sometimes I wished I could go back in time and choose archaeology or paleontology as a major. Sometimes I think I would be much happier and less stressed out in general if I studied dinosaurs instead of the various ways people hurt one another. But I’m not so sure.

Anyway, I was feeling depleted, so I made a moth, and it made me happy. That’s all I can say for today.

I didn’t sew a pin back on it yet, but I think it might look good as a brooch. Not too over the top, right?

Wishing you a peaceful rest of the week.

bread pudding revisited

Posted on February 21, 2014February 21, 2014 by trish

I should make this more often. It’s so quick and easy. And I love eggs. I’ve made it before using this recipe from Instructables. Highly recommend it if you like bread pudding! :D

Have a sweet weekend, everyone!

this week’s awesome finds

Posted on February 18, 2014 by trish

A bit bummed that I don’t have new art or craft projects to report, but I am working on a knitting project, it’s just going to take me quite a while longer to get done, so in the meanwhile, here’s another awesome find post! :D

Maybe I’ll try making soap gifts again. Last time it didn’t turn out so well with the dinosaur toys, but Lego people might work better because they lay flat. From Craft Test Dummies.

The sweater I’m making is in moss stitch. Need to make another one in stockinette stitch so I can put on a teacup pocket :D From Colorful Stitches.

Felted dryer balls, practical and hilarious. From Petals to Picots.

I’d love an octopus sweater. Video tutorial on Craft.

Love this fox and its green eyes. Clever bookmark from Wake and Whimsy.

This looks super fun to make! Crazy paper hats from Make and Takes.

One can leave hotel staff with an extra token of appreciation by leaving a hand-folded bunny in the room. Or these will make very cute gift basket items for baby showers. Or one could impress people by whipping out a napkin version of the bunny at dinner. Bunny-folding is indeed a must-have skill. From Rocket News 24.

Have an awesome Wednesday, everyone!