Great Big Scorpion

Deathstalker (Leiurus quinquestriatus)

I'm really excited about Hattalahutta's new amigurumi pattern Great Big Scorpion for sale on Ravelry here and Etsy here.  I've decided to make mine a "Deathstalker" scorpion like her's except in this color variation.  I've looked at a lot of pictures of different scorpion species and I keep coming back to this one.  I like the blue segment on the tail!  After I pay bills, clean the fish tank, turn in my timesheet for work, and buy some more yarn, I'm on it!  I've been learning a lot about scorpions while looking at pictures.  The venom from this scorpion could aid in treating brain tumors.  But talk to your doctor or pharmacist before getting stung by this guy!  The venom is extremely dangerous!  Have a safe and Happy New Year!

Naked Mole Rat

Amigurumi Naked Mole Rat

This is a preview of one of my amigurumi Naked Mole Rats (NMR!).  I haven't seen any amigurumi NMRs anywhere on the internet- until now :-)  NMRs are fascinating creatures!  For more on NMRs check this link.

Enough Tweaking!

I've made the Gingerbread Guy with so many slightly different proportions.  It is time to pick one and get the pattern up.  This is the first pattern I've written, and although simple, it is a learning experience.  Especially the computer part.  Need to learn how to make a pdf file!

Gingerbread Guys

I've been working out my own pattern for gingerbread men.  I want a pattern that is fairly quick with a minimal amount of sewing so people can make a lot of them!  I have had this thing with Gingerbread Men ever since the first Shrek movie.  My friends give me Gingerbread related stuff for Christmas.  It's time that I gave back!  I'll be posting the pattern soon after some tweaks.

My own design!

Going Nuts for Holiday Amigurumi!

 I've really been going nuts for Christmas/ Holiday themed crochet projects!  I love this new Santa!  He's so cute!  And he has a whole bunch of  friends from Cute Little Dudes - Christmas Dudes vol.1 and vol.2 that I want to make. :-) 

Cute Little Santa (pattern by Lisa Vanvikaas aka Hattalahutta on Ravelry and Etsy)

The only modification that I made was to substitute a puff stitch at row 17 instead of single crochet.  This is the same stitch that I used for the border of my Blanket O' Cabley Goodness.

side view!

I really like these Gingerbread Cookies too.  I've been thinking about designing my own in the round instead of rows so there are not two parts to sew together.  I really do like how this pattern turns out though.

Gingerbread Men (pattern by KTBdesigns on etsy)



More Projects for Planet June's Christmas CAL

The "Merry Christmas" Cactus Garden!

Now my Cactus Garden is updated for the Holidays!

Candy Canes and Christmas Pudding

 Mmmm,  Looks good enough to eat!  But after all that food at Thanksgiving, I'm thankful that this isn't edible.


Christmas Pocket-ami

I fashioned a Girl Elf from June Gilbank's Elf pattern and added an extra Snowman.  I'm proud of  how the Girl Elf turned out! :-)

Christmas Baubles for Crochet-Along

I made these for Planet June's Christmas Crochet-Along.  I did the striped and patterned ones.  These are fun to make and give the tree a warm "crocheted sweater" feel to the tree!  I have more crochet-along patterns to do for this contest.

Norfolk Pine ready for Christmas!



12 Christmas Baubles!



Christmas CAL and contest!

Christmas CAL and contest! Yay! I want to do this!

Yay for glue!

No more loose ends!

BOCG finished! And some loose ends to take care of.

I've finished my Blanket O' Cablely Goodness (BOCG).  It is from 63  Crochet Cable Stitches by Darla Sims.  I've been working on and off on it since Jan. 2010.   Here it is on a queen bed.  Pretty good size!

 I also finished tatting a star. Pattern from Tatting by Cathy Bryant.  A lot of loose ends to deal with.  I'm thinking fabric glue. ;)

Tatted Heart!

Tatted Heart!

Ladybug wears a tatted heart edging as a tiara.

Dragonfly wears a tatted edging as a choker.

This is the most complex thing I have tatted so far!  (Don't ask me how long it took :/)  It is from the book Tatting by Cathy Bryant.  At Hobby Lobby in Longmont, Colorado, I found Learn To Tat by Janette Baker.  (And I had a 40% off coupon!)  This book has some cute butterfly patterns that I want to make.  They look fairly easy too :-)  In Bryant's book, she teaches two different methods of tatting- mostly differences in how to hold the shuttle and move it  in and out.  Baker's book teaches "method two".  I learned using "method one".  But once you know how to make double stitches, the rest of Baker's instructions seem good for either method. It comes with a DVD too.  Ladybug and Dragonfly (amigurumi patterns by Hattalahutta) are modeling some other things I have tatted.  Those tatted edgings are also from Tatting by Cathy Bryant.

More tatting practice.

Today I'm practicing joining a chain to a picot using the anchor thread, and joining a chain to the base of a ring.  This is a practice piece from Cathy Bryant's "Tatting".  (I think this is a great book for learning tatting!)  The result reminded me of a pumpkin- so I added a stem.  (Too bad I wasn't using orange)  Today, I've also been baking:  spaghetti spinach pie and chocolate-chocolate chip cherry muffins.   Waiting for the BF to get home to surprise him with muffins :-)

Hamster fix satisfied... for now.

I was feeling amigurumi deprived so I made this cute hamster from June Gilbank's new book.  It was quick and easy to make!

Practicing Picots, Joins, Chains and Rings

Yay!  This is starting to look like tatting!  I'm just practicing random techniques as I go along.  At some point, I'll actually find a pattern and try to "make" something.  I sometimes don't "reverse" when I should (or thought I did) and the work starts going in a direction I didn't expect.  I'm having fun with this!

Tatting practice

I practiced rings and chains last night.  I'm starting to feel more comfortable holding the thread and manipulating it.  Today, on a whim, I ordered online a cro-tat hook.  Cro-tatting looks fun too.  And since I'm a crocheter, why not?  I've been working on my cable stitch sampler and learning how to tat recently.  When I say I'm addicted to amigurumi, I'm not kidding!  Even though I'm enjoying doing these other things, if I don't make something cute with a face soon I'm gonna go nuts!!  I'm thinking a quick hamster from June Gilbank's new book "Complete Idiots Guide to Amigurumi"  might give me the cute fix I need!  I'm too new at tatting to tat something cute at this point.

My first tatted Double Stitch... ever!

I decided it was time to try to learn some tatting from Cathy Bryant's book "Tatting".  After making several knots, I finally made a double stitch! Yay!  I know it is hard to see, but I compared it to the picture in the book and it is a double stitch.  Now I'm making my first tatted project:  a worm!  With practice, my worm will look more regular and less twisted.  My left hand needs to get used to keeping tension in the thread without tightening into a claw. 

Harvest Time!

Yummy vegetables from the garden :-)

I'm Felting My Panda!

I made this panda when I was new to amigurumi.  The stitches are really big and the stuffing shows.  Maybe felting will tighten him up a bit?  Maybe he'll be really grumpy!

The Itsy Bitsy Spider Crochet: Plush Team October Giveaway!

The Itsy Bitsy Spider Crochet: Plush Team October Giveaway!: "Did you know that each month, the Etsy Plush Team hosts a giveaway on their blog? Did you know that this month, you could win an original ..."

Need instructions!

I got some size 10 crochet thread in white and violet, and one of the tatting books I put on hold at the library came in.  However, this book has zero "how to tat" instructions.  I'm wondering about the very basics and can't even find the answers on the web.  Do you wind the shuttle clockwise or counterclockwise?  What is the top of the shuttle and which is the bottom?  Is the pointy hook thing supposed to face up?  Once I know these things, my next question would be, how do I wrap the thread around my fingers?  I hope some of the other books I put on hold at the library have instructions! :-) 

On the way to the gym...

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Will this become my next obsession or will it just look pretty in its package?



Assembly on the Blanket O' Cabley Goodness begins!

 I had to stop by the craft store. (It was my primary motivation to get myself out of the house and eventually to the gym!)  I bought some more sock yarn and a set of two tatting shuttles.  I haven't the first clue how to tat, so for now, my crochet time is safe!  I have some tatting books  on request at the library and still need to find some tatting thread.  I have also started working again on my "Blanket O' Cabley Goodness", a crochet sampler afghan from 63 Crochet Cable Stitches by Darla Sims.  I've started working on them in the order that they will be arranged so I can begin crocheting them together as I go.  Crochet cables are so fun and look so cool!  Also, check out the haunted cactus garden!

Halloween pumpkin and pocket-amis!

These were fun to make!  Now I'm getting ready for Halloween!


Halloween pocket-ami patterns by June Gilbank.  Crocheted by me!



Small pumpkin pattern by June Gilbank.



How not to brush amigurumi and Pumpkin crochet-along.

So, I haven't been successful at brushing amigurumi because I've been using the wrong kind of brush! I was trying to brush with a plastic tipped cat brush. I got a wire dog brush and wow! It works! Instant fuzzballs! I rebrushed the cactus and now look at it!

Now the cacti that are supposed to be fuzzy are fuzzy!

Brush on left good for amis. Brush on right, good for kitties! 



And I finished the pumpkin for Itsy Bitsy Spider's crochet-along!

Cactus Gardens finished!

Patterns by June Gilbank at planetjune.com

Skunk's canoe trip

Skunk is a cute amigurumi critter I crocheted using  "Cute Little Dudes - Forest Dwellers vol.3" pattern by Lisa Vanvikaas (hattalahutta). Skunk loves the outdoors!   Every year, my dad and his friends go canoeing in the boundary waters of Minnesota and Canada.  They have been doing this since before I was born.  I have never been on this trip.  For the last two years, my brother Steve has gone with him.  I believe I haven't gone because the portages sound very strenuous!  This year, Skunk decided to go.  Maybe next year I might go... If someone carries the canoe for me on portages!



They saw Native American pictographs on the rocks.  Here is a moose.





Skunk goes canoeing!



Skunk enjoys fresh air off the lake!



Skunk at the campsite.

Skunk went on a canoe trip with my dad and brother!

Skunk arrives at the airport in Minnesota

More pictures of skunk's canoe trip to come!

An evening of random crocheting

I crocheted an apple wedge for my chinchilla (apple pattern from Tasty Crochet)

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I got a new book, Around the Corner Crochet Borders by Edie Eckman. Then I realized I hadn't done anything from her previous book I purchased, so I did a couple of patterns from Beond the Square Crochet Motifs.

Around the Corner Crochet Borders by Edie Eckman, and some new crochet hooks :-)

Motif #88 (top square) and #114 (bottom square) 

I finished sewing the pirate garb on to my Monstie Pirate...

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Fun to do!

Monsties!

My sis-in-law, nieces and I have been making Monsties (pattern by Sarah Hearn).  Here are a couple of mine.

Some cool bee pictures from my backyard!

Big Bumblebee on a Butterfly Bush!