Monday, November 29, 2010
A bit of Photography
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Happy Thanksgiving
It is Thanksgiving morning. Many of us are in the kitchen, cooking Thanksgiving dinner for our families while we watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and then the National Dog Show. I guess I'm lucky this year, all I have to make is a mousse cake. I'm going to my Granny Goose's house for Thanksgiving dinner this year. It does feel strange not helping my Dad cook the entire dinner, but kind of a nice change. Tonight I'm going to watch Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving and start getting ready for Christmas. So now I say, Happy Thanksgiving! And if you dare to venture out tomorrow for Christmas shopping I wish you luck. But today have fun with your family and friends, get stuffed and stay warm!
Friday, November 12, 2010
Animal Invasion!
I have recently made three crocheted stuffed animals; a bunny rabbit, a manta ray and a whale. And I must say I love how they all turned out. I used the patterns out of "Super-Super Cute Crochet" by Brigitte Read. There are 35 different animals to crochet, including:
Pomeranian, Bunny Rabbit, Kitten, Percy Pig, Siberian Hamster, Puppy, Cat, Cow, Polar Bear, Penguin, Turtle, Crocodile, Frogs and Toads, Walrus, Manta Ray, Squid, Whale, Shrimp, Platypus, Snail, Flamingo, Tortoise, Hippo, Guinea Pig, Anteater, Butterfly, Bluebird, Toucan, Owl, Panda, Koala, Silkworm, Mole, Arctic Fox, and Dragon
I plan to make many more of these little guys and market them via craigslist and local craft fairs. The best part about these creatures is that they are much larger than I expected. I expected little tiny animals and I got nice stuffed animals that kids can play with.
There is one problem that I have found so far with this book. There are some mistakes in it. The stitch count for many of the rows is off. In the manta ray I just did the stitch count for the body is 52 single crochet stitches, not 62 stitches. I have no problem correcting them, crossing out the wrong number and filling in the correct. I have learned not to worry about "ruining" books that I use.
Personally, I do not mind going through and fixing the mistakes as I make each animal. But I know some people don't want to take the time to do that. I may over a period of time post the corrections, not the entire pattern, but the row counts on this blog. But not today.
Tomorrow, I may visit Michael's in my way home from work, use the gift card my sister got me for my birthday and buy some more yarn to make some more little animal friends.
Pomeranian, Bunny Rabbit, Kitten, Percy Pig, Siberian Hamster, Puppy, Cat, Cow, Polar Bear, Penguin, Turtle, Crocodile, Frogs and Toads, Walrus, Manta Ray, Squid, Whale, Shrimp, Platypus, Snail, Flamingo, Tortoise, Hippo, Guinea Pig, Anteater, Butterfly, Bluebird, Toucan, Owl, Panda, Koala, Silkworm, Mole, Arctic Fox, and Dragon
I plan to make many more of these little guys and market them via craigslist and local craft fairs. The best part about these creatures is that they are much larger than I expected. I expected little tiny animals and I got nice stuffed animals that kids can play with.
There is one problem that I have found so far with this book. There are some mistakes in it. The stitch count for many of the rows is off. In the manta ray I just did the stitch count for the body is 52 single crochet stitches, not 62 stitches. I have no problem correcting them, crossing out the wrong number and filling in the correct. I have learned not to worry about "ruining" books that I use.
Personally, I do not mind going through and fixing the mistakes as I make each animal. But I know some people don't want to take the time to do that. I may over a period of time post the corrections, not the entire pattern, but the row counts on this blog. But not today.
Tomorrow, I may visit Michael's in my way home from work, use the gift card my sister got me for my birthday and buy some more yarn to make some more little animal friends.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Loom Knitting
I don't know if you have ever been in the yarn section of your local craft store. But many of them carry this "new" fangled product to make knitting "easier". My younger sister and I went in on a set of round looms a couple years ago (okay, it was more like six or seven) and never really got too far with them. She wasn't into it and I was more into crochet. I also didn't find the instructions too clear. So the looms got lost at the bottom of my wicker chest only to be seen on the rare occasion that I clean the chest out.
On a more recent occasion I purchased the KB Sock Loom. I really love how knitted socks look and all the different patterns you can use. I don't really like how crochet socks look and I'm not to hot at knitting so I turned to the loom. It came with a DVD which I was really excited about. I got home, pulled out an extra skein of yarn, put in the DVD and got to work.
The first complaint I have is one of the pegs was put in the board backwards so the groove the knitting tool slides in to pull the yarn was not there making it extremely difficult to grab the yarn on that peg. I was slow going, I made the tube for the leg and proceeded on to the heel. I got through the heel with only a little trouble. Then the DVD stopped instructing! It just said the foot was just like the leg and the toe was just like the heel. I gave up. I don't like admitting it, but it is true. I was too frustrated to continue, ripped it out and turned the rest of the skein (which was a bright blue) into a floppy eared crocheted bunny rabbit.
Another complaint I have about the sock loom instruction was they didn't really explain sizing. In other words, how many pegs to use to make a sock for a baby, child, or adult. And it would be nice to know the number of pegs to use to make a sock to fit a certain size foot.
I'm sad to have to write a bad review for this product. I really wanted it to work. And maybe someday I'll drag to loom out of the bottom of my wicker chest and try again. But for now I'm going to stick to crocheting and maybe attempt sock knitting in the round.
On a more recent occasion I purchased the KB Sock Loom. I really love how knitted socks look and all the different patterns you can use. I don't really like how crochet socks look and I'm not to hot at knitting so I turned to the loom. It came with a DVD which I was really excited about. I got home, pulled out an extra skein of yarn, put in the DVD and got to work.
The first complaint I have is one of the pegs was put in the board backwards so the groove the knitting tool slides in to pull the yarn was not there making it extremely difficult to grab the yarn on that peg. I was slow going, I made the tube for the leg and proceeded on to the heel. I got through the heel with only a little trouble. Then the DVD stopped instructing! It just said the foot was just like the leg and the toe was just like the heel. I gave up. I don't like admitting it, but it is true. I was too frustrated to continue, ripped it out and turned the rest of the skein (which was a bright blue) into a floppy eared crocheted bunny rabbit.
Another complaint I have about the sock loom instruction was they didn't really explain sizing. In other words, how many pegs to use to make a sock for a baby, child, or adult. And it would be nice to know the number of pegs to use to make a sock to fit a certain size foot.
I'm sad to have to write a bad review for this product. I really wanted it to work. And maybe someday I'll drag to loom out of the bottom of my wicker chest and try again. But for now I'm going to stick to crocheting and maybe attempt sock knitting in the round.
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