W.I.P.

Work in Progress Wednesday:  a day to show off what project I'm in the middle of :)

I thought I'd just let you guess at what I'm making now. Here's a hint:

Who has fuzzy red legs? Hmmmm?

☺Now that I think of it, that is sort of a trick question☺

I need to have this project done soon (in a week or two) and I'll post the completed project (and thus answer the "who") then!

Happy Crafting!

~kari

Sonic the Hedgehog

One thing that amazes me about my three children is just how different they are from each other. They may share the same squinty eyes, freckles and long piano playing fingers but their preference in food, say, just highlights my point.  For instance, my first born loves spicy meat: pepperoni, sausage and tacos. My girl has a sweet tooth and would prefer hot tea (cream & sugar, please) with graham crackers. My youngest would eat peanut butter and honey sandwiches morning, noon and night.

I love to find that their differences show up in their play as well. My eldest is fairly well-rounded: he loves riding his bike, writing stories, playing sports and video games. My girl is a bit more focused: it's all about animals with her, but any and all animals will do. My youngest, however, is even more singular. When he likes something, it is utterly and completely exclusive. He has gone through a few phases in his life. First there were cars. This phase started with chubby cars his little fingers could maneuver and grew to the smaller hot wheels and finally the Disney Pixar Cars.

Then came Mario. Oh, Super Mario! With his dazzling invincibility star and awesome fire power, this character bordered on obsession with him. The games were just the first of it. Soon after he was dressing like Super Mario, overalls, mustache, gloves and all. Then it was the figurines and plushies that thankfully coincided with the retail Mario craze so many things were purchased at birthday and holiday times. But his focused fixation changed this past year.

It's not Mario anymore. It's Sonic. Move over Nintendo, Sega is taking over. But, alas, I have found that either we are ahead of the craze or the Sonic thing is just not going to make as big a splash with retail. What's a Mom to do when birthdays are coming and there is nary a Sonic to be found? Peruse the web and land on Wolfdreamer's website, of course! She is amazing. If you haven't happened upon her website, you must stop everything and go here now. The woman is a magician with amigurumi. The things she has created from scratch and put up for free almost single-handedly inspired my blog. She is a perfectionist and her capabilities seemingly have no end. Just check out her pattern list. It is nothing short of incredible. It is in her wealth of creativity I have often found solace to my restless hook hand when I need a character to crochet. It is here I found Sonic the Hedgehog.

Crocheting the pieces was simple enough with her easy to follow patterns. Putting the 24 seperate pieces together was what took the majority of my time and energy. I followed her tips and made sure to pin first. Then there was the repositioning and repining and looking at it for days at a time until I couldn't stand it any longer and finally decided to start stitching. I was quite pleased with the end result! My only tiny addition were the buckles for his shoes that are chain stitches sewed onto the shoes in a rectangular shape over the white stripe.

My baby got his Sonic on his birthday and his face let me know that I had done well. He now sleeps with his store bought Mario plushie and his mommy-made Sonic, one in each arm reminiscent of Andy with Woody and Buzz. I wonder what the two rivals do when he's off to school and they are left on his pillow?

You got it ace, let's race!

International Yarn Bombing Day Has Arrived!

1 a.m.
Director Park

I feel like a ninja, dressed all in black save my signature fingerless gloves. Five bombs in hand. And a hook. I'm ready.

trying to figure out the best way to quickly secure the bomb

Tim drives me up to the park and I jump out having spotted the 5 lamp posts that would be the lucky recipients of my flowers. No sooner do I figure out how to attach the bomb than Tim warns that I have a police coming straight for us. Confident that I can persuade the officer that all is on the up and up,  I continue my work. "What's going on here, guys?" he asks accusingly. I look up and see that it's a night security patrolman. I explain we are decorating for the Grand Floral Rose Parade and Tim clarifies: "It's called yarn bombing," he says. And to smooth it over he adds "It's just crochet, I guess it's the new thing to do." Mr. Patrolman nods and walks away, leaving us under his watchful eye from across the plaza to dress the other 4 light poles. A few drunken people walk by making a lot of noise, but no one else approaches us. 

the tag

 It's funny how I had things planned this all out in my head and how different I ended up reacting! I had made the joining strip too long on purpose, figuring if I had measured incorrectly it's easier and quicker to undo rows than to make them. In my perfect vision I would calmly undo the rows and then fasten it up, however, in the heat of the moment I just wanted to be in and out of there as fast as possible so I just left the extra in a bunch near the back. I only hope they were secure enough on the smooth lamp posts to endure the night to be seen today.

working as fast as I could

We drove away after taking a few pictures and I said a quiet goodbye to the roses I know I'll never see again. I just hope they were secure enough to endure the night and not slide down the poles.

final result

First Ever International Yarn Bombing Day: Whoo-Hoo!

Yoshi

A couple of months ago, I was commissioned to make a dark blue Yoshi. I ☺adore☺ Yoshi. Those of you who grew up playing Super Mario Bros, as I did, will likely understand. The faithful little riding buddy to our hero plumber, Mario, Yoshi was a great addition to the series. He makes the cutest noises during game play. I can't help but smile when he gulps down the Yoshi fruit. I love how on all the Yoshi levels the trees dance. His hovering power is rather useful and seeing his little legs run in the air makes me happy. He's just a great character!

I set out to accomplish this challenge with eyes wide open - it was to be my first multi-pieced character (as opposed to the one-piece amigurumi style). Most of Yoshi is amigurumi, but with over a dozen pieces to connect it felt a bit like a jigsaw puzzle where the right location for each pieces kept evading me. But I preserved and after several days of looking at him at different angles with pieces pinned, adjusting and looking some more, readjusting and looking some more, I finally made the plunge and sewed him together. I was pleased with the end result. It was, indeed, a labor of love and I couldn't give him away with stealing a few hugs and quality time with Yoshi all assembled. Also a photo shoot was necessary.

Most of Yoshi came from an amazing pattern from robotrish. If you need to make a Yoshi, check out the pattern here. I made a few adjustments according to what I preferred Yoshi to look like. You are welcome to use them if you like them, but you have to hit up robotrish's website for her entire pattern.

Using the same hook size you started with...

Tummy/Lower mouth (white)

I liked the look of horizontal stripes down Yoshi's tummy, so this part is done in short rows. Be sure to ch 1 at the end of your rows (unless otherwise noted as the first few rows), turn, and start your next row in the second ch from hook

Ch 4
R1: sc across (3), ch 2
R2: sc across (4), ch2
R3: sc across (5), ch 3
R4: sc across (7), ch 3
R5: sc across (9), ch 2
R6: sc across (10), ch 2
R7: sc across (11)
R8-R17: sc across (11)
R18: sc across (11), ch 2
R19: sc across (12), ch 2
R20: sc across (13)
R21: sc across (13), ch 2
R22: sc across (14), ch 2
R23: sc across (15)
R24: sc2tog, 10 sc, sc2tog (12)
R25: sc across (12)
R26: sc2tog8 sc, sc2tog (10)

I love his big nose!

R27: sc across (10)
R28: sc2tog, 6 sc, sc2tog (8)
R29: sc across (8)
R30: sl st, 6 sc, sl st (8)
sl st all the way around
F.O. and weave ends
Assembly tip: Attach securely to body piece leaving the bottom "lip" of mouth loose like he's gonna gobble up a yoshi tree fruit. Use rose colored chalk to color in the inside of the mouth for his tongue.

Check Spots - make 2 (white)

I preferred flat cheeks that were slightly larger around. This section is done in the round.

Magic Circle (6)
Rnd 1: 2 sc in each st (12)
Rnd 2: *sc, 2 sc in next st* around (18)
Rnd 3: *2 sc, 2 sc in next st* five times only (20)
F.O. and weave ends

Assembly tip: Match up "flat side" of circle to mouth/tummy strip and sew on.

Boots - make 2 (start with light brown)

I wanted a two-toned shoe and chose a rounder shape over the fold over boot. This is done in the round.

Magic Circle (6)

Rnd 1: 2 sc in each st (12)

Rnd 2: *sc, 2 sc in next st* around (18)

Rnd 3: sc around (18)

**Change to darker brown color**

Rnd 4: sc back loops only around (18)

Rnd 5: *2 sc, 2 sc in next st* four times, 6 sc (22)

Rnd 6: *3 sc, 2 sc in  next st* four times,  6 sc (26)

Assembly tip: Insert small cardboard circle to make the bottom of shoe "flat"

Rnd 7: 26 sc (26)

Rnd 8: 3 sc, sc2tog, *sc, sc2tog* around (18)

Rnd 9: 3 sc, sc2tog, *sc, sc2tog* around (12)

F.O. and weave ends

Assembly tip: match up 12 st of boot to the 12 leg st and crochet together with dark brown

Saddle

Following robotrish's pattern up to R3 then my changes made it a slightly larger saddle...

R3: (still using red yarn) ch 1 and sc in same st as sl st, sc around adding 22 in the middle of rows and around edges. F.O. 
R4: (switch to white yarn) sc around front posts tightly (creates a bit of texture and bump in saddle. F.O.

Finish Yoshi following robotrish's assembly directions and you'll have an☺adorable☺ Yoshi of your very own!

photos courtesy of www.timdenison.com

Sitting down this Yoshi measure about 11" in height.

Ben 10: the OMNITRIX

My first born has rediscovered his love of the Ben 10 cartoon (NOT Ben 10: Alien Force, but the original, he's quick to point out). A few years back in Colorado, his bestie and he often pretended they were Fourarms or Diamondhead or XLR8 or Upgrade or...whatever the other six are. And then he got his very own Omnitrix. It was very cool. It had a dot matrix screen with games that he would play and made all sorts of sounds. But somewhere in the move, the watch got lost. We did a little research online and for a pretty penny he could once again own an Omnitrix like the one he had.





After the discovery that purchasing a new omnitrix was out of his budget he posed a question to me: "Could you make me a crocheted one, Mom?" I thought of how the watch was all sleek and electric and I reminded him that even if I could make one, it wouldn't be as "cool" as the original. He thought about that and decided that even though it wouldn't make sounds or move, it would be worth it. I told him I'd think it though.






Always eager for a new challenge, I took this one on in secret, just in case it didn't work out. I thought that the watch band would be simple enough, but creating the watch face may be tricky. After a few prototypes, I settled on a style I thought would work best.

I had the 2 pieces figured out but I wanted to make it really "work." Ben twists the watch face and then slams down on it to make him change into an alien. I know crochet isn't known for it's movable parts, but I thought a low tech version of a rotating face could be easily achieved by adding two small risers under the face and threading some matching yarn through the face, risers, and onto the underside of the band (not too tightly).




I admit, I was pleased with the results.

But would my boy think it was okay? ☺Yes, yes he did!☺

The side-by-side comparison

You can see that I should have made the watch band thicker. I did adjust this in the next two I made because, of course, sister and brother needed one, too (the pattern I'll post below has the thicker band)

So here it is: Ben 10's Crocheted Omnitrix

WW yarn in Lime, grey, black, white
Size F Hook
Embroidery needle, thread
1-Large Black Button, 1-lime or yellow bead, 4-lime or yellow sequins

Watch Band (in Black)
Unless otherwise noted, always ch 1 before the turn at the end of a row and insert into second ch from hook upon starting a new row
Ch 7
R1: 6 sc, ch 2
R2: 7 sc, ch 2
R3: 8 sc
R4 - R30: 8 sc **this part can be adjusted smaller/bigger to fit wrist by adding or subtracting rows**
Beginning large button hole...
R31: 4 sc, ch 1, turn
R32: 4 sc, ch 1, turn
R33: 4 sc, ch 1, turn
R34: 4 sc, ch 1, turn
R35: 4 sc, F.O.
Go back to R30 and attach black yarn onto short side and work up as a matching side...
R31: 4 sc, ch 1, turn
R32: 4 sc, ch 1, turn
R33: 4 sc, ch 1, turn
R34: 4 sc, ch 1, turn
R35: 4 sc

          (Optional reinforce button hole row: sl st 10 up and down inside of button hole, F.O.)

Attach black yarn to start R36 and connect R35 halves as the top of a button hole...
R36: 8 sc
R37: 8 sc, turn with no ch 1
R38: 6 sc, sl st into last st
sl st around perimeter of watch

In WHITE
Top stitch into the fp of first st of each row and F.O.
Top stitch into the fb of last st of each row and F.O.
This should make 2 parallel white lines up and down the length of the watch band

Omnitrix Watch Face (start with Lime)
I will indicate each ch and row turn on this section just for added clarification This section starts with the lime hourglass shape
Ch 7, turn
R1: sc across (6), ch 1, turn
R2: sk first st, sc across (6), turn
R3: sk first st, sc across (5), turn
R4: sk first st, sc across (4), turn
R5: sk first st, sc across (3), turn
R6: sk first st, sc across (2), turn
R7: sk first st, sc across (1), ch 2, turn
R8: (insert into second ch from hook) 1 sc, ch 2, turn
R9: (insert into second ch from hook) 2 sc, ch 2, turn
R10: (insert into second ch from hook) 3 sc, ch 2, turn
R11: (insert into second ch from hook) 4 sc, ch 2, turn
R12: (insert into second ch from hook) 5 sc, ch 2, turn
R13: (insert into second ch from hook) 6 sc, ch 1, turn
R14: (insert into second ch from hook) 6 sl st
Draw up grey yarn through the lime loop left on hook. Turn hourglass on it's side and begin working evenly into the row sides
greyR1: sk first row, 9 sc (four down one side, one at the thinnest point of the hourglass and four up the other side), sk last row, ch 1
greyR2: sk first st, sc, dc, htr, tr, htr, dc, sc, sk last st, sl st into that first grey connecting st
Repeat these two rows on the other side of the hourglass, stretching it to take a circular shape as you go
blackRnd1: Attach black anywhere on the circumference and sc evenly around.

Highlight hourglass by using needle and yarn to outline the hourglass with black yarn.

Add 4 sequins at 12 o'clock, 3 o'clock, 6 o'clock and 9 o'clock with sewing thread and needle.


Risers (make 2 in black)
Magic Circle (6)
Rnd 1: 2 sc in ea st (12)
Rnd 2: *2 sc in next st, sc* around (18)
F.O. and leave long tail of yarn

Whip stitch together and secure to the middle of watch. With a piece of lime yarn, thread the omnitrix face through the center of the hourglass, down through the risers and watch band and gently secure on the underside of band. The tension on this shouldn't be too tight so the face can be turned for "realistic" play :)

Once the face is attached, sew the bead onto the band just under the edge of the omnitrix (at 6 o'clock). When the watch is on a wrist, it will show.

Add the large black button to the side of watch opposite the button hole. The yarn will stretch a bit, so make it nice and snug to start with.

Action Shot

Pink Flower

My little Ballerina had her first recital this spring! She was the most graceful one in her class. No, I'm not biased. Well, okay, a little. But she *was* a perfect vision in  pink  that night!

I thought my tiny dancer needed to feel like a ballerina from head to toe. Leotard...pink! Tutu...pink! Toes...painted pink! But she needed a little  pink  to adorn her lovely ballerina bun.

photography courtesy of www.timdenison.com

 I have never before worked with crochet 10 thread (and the itty bitty crochet hook that goes with). I think I dried out my contacts for not blinking as I worked on this, but it was worth it! We pinned the flower atop her bun with bobby pins and it actually stayed on for the entire recital :)

Kari's Ponderings...Next year when all 3 kiddos are in full day school I'm thinking I may have the time to bust out some more of these darling hair frou frous for my future etsy store. I think they could appeal to little girls and big girls alike! I know I like to mix fancy with the everyday when I dress so I have sported the frou frou in my hair with a sage button-up, pair a jeans and my gold flats.  I think they'd be well received on a handmade site. What crocheted items would you be tempted to buy on etsy?

Boo Gets a Promotion

Of all the Super Mario Bros characters, my daughter seems to have a special place in her heart for the villans. My daughter is sweet as can be and adores animals, so the thought of a mean old plumber attacking turtle-esque creatures seemed inhumane (even if the dragon-y Bowser did capture the princess...she simply has more compassion for the animals than the spoiled princesses of the world). She also was attached to the flying Boos. These round ghosties are quite shy and if you look at them they will cover their eyes and stay put. But turn your back on them for one moment and they'll quickly sneak up on you! They may not be an animal, but really, they are kind of ☺adorable☺.

So for Christmas she got a Boo. Using wolfdreamer's clever pattern, I made him in a super soft acrylic white yarn and he was squishy and snuggly. I had used sticky backed felt for the eyes and the mouth was sort of a disaster of red yarn I tried to fashion into a mouth.

Boo as he was first made

At first he got played with often, but it wasn't long before the eyes would fall off and even though I'd stick some new ones on they too would fall off and eventually he got played with less and less. Yesterday I found Boo stuffed into a corner of the bed, forgotten, eyes missing and I thought to myself ...  
Boo needs a promotion.



My first improvement was to give Boo some proper eyes. I have found that sticky-backed felt is NOT  a great invention for a toy that actually gets played with. So I busted out the normal black and white felt and sewed on some eyes that should stay put.

Next, I dealt with his mouth. I make no exaggeration when I say I am not a perfectionist when it comes to embroidery. My hand stitching always turns out for the best if it's on the underside of something you'll never see. Now, I can get the job done, but...it's not pretty. Thus Boo's first mouth. So, it was back to the felt pack to make this better. I didn't even bother with taking out the red yarn, but rather cut out the mouth and teeth and secured them to hide my first attempt. I decided to not make the extra long tongue, and instead sewed the teeth onto Boos old mouth and left the red part of the mouth to hang down in a tongue-like fashion.

Now Boo had had to put up with a lot, so I made his promotion complete when I introduced him into royalty with a proper crown. Small diamond shaped blue felt was sewn on as jewels and....

King Boo

his transformation is complete! He's a lot more "put together" (as a king should be) and should be able to withstand some more love and play from his adoring playmate!