Mini Ocean Amigurumi

 A couple of years ago, I found a cool book of crocheted birds that I made and made and made. They were cute! They were quick! And they were very easy to give away (so I did!) But a few weeks ago, I was browsing through Amazon, and found another pattern book (OK, actually 4, but this is the one I'm making from right now) by the same author. I was so excited, that I ordered three of them. Don't worry, at some point I will go back for any others they have created...

Here it is, and yes, I've been working through it.

Another fun book of amigurumi!!!

Aren't these fish and other creatures adorable? Oh my, this is fun! I dug into my tub of cotton thread again, and found my plastic bag of tiny safety eyes to use like I had for the birds, and got started!  The first creature turned out to be the lobster. 

Tiny, adorable red Lobstah!

He went pretty quickly, like most of the birds did, even though those claws gave me a little pause. They went together pretty well, though. Next I had to make a jellyfish. I had some cute variegated yarn that I though would be awesome. It was, and the jellyfish turned out really cute. It was fun to figure out what yarns to hang below it.

Jellyfish 2

   This is  not the first jellyfish I made, but it got claimed before I even got to take a photo of it. So, I grabbed that same yarn and made a second one.  I also found an orangey variegated in my stash that I thought would be fun, too so I made one from that, too. I worked so fast that I forgot to add the eyes before I closed it up, so I made eyes from tiny buttons, and I thought they worked well (but I didn't get a picture of them yet).

         

Jelly number 3

Raine saw the patterns, and was ready for a narwhal, so that was next on my agenda. Details like that horn can be problematic when you are working small, but it wasn't too bad. Since doing the gnomes, I have been using a needle to attach parts together, instead of just the crochet hook and it does help more than I though it would, especially when working with - and through - stuffing.

Narwhal goes swimmy, swimmy

The sea turtles came next. The first one was the green one (and yes I forgot to put the eyes in, but used beads for the eyes later) I had another variegated that I wanted to use for the turtle shell, but then the tan looked better with it than the green. That yarn actually has some green in it, but none of it showed up on the shell. Sigh. It would be fine for a land turtle, I think, but I'm not sure whether you would find a sea turtle like it.

Some sea turtles

Of course I had to make the seahorse that is peeking out from under the turtles. It's probably the most complex of the creatures so far, but again, this author does some good pattern writing, and it went well.

Hello seahorse!

Next up is the stingray, which isn't really complex, but for some reason, doesn't read really stingray for me. I'm going to have to give it another try, and see how it goes.

I would like more ray shape

This one and the starfish are made similarly, making a top piece and a bottom piece and then crocheting around the outside. I think that is where I went wrong on this stingray... But the starfish looks super cute. He looks like he needs a smile, doesn't he...

Pink starfish

So many more to make!!!

Tree Hat Gnomes, an Update

Retro artificial tree hat gnomes

It's been a minute. Again. But that doesn't mean I haven't been making stuff. Of course. I shared my first tree hat gnome here. But they are so cute, and a friend of mine told me I needed to make a tinsel tree. OF COURSE I DID!! But, here's the thing. I couldn't find yarn locally that read "tinsel" to me. I did find something that was almost as good, a white yarn that would work for one of those white artificial trees. You know (I hope) like the ones from the 60's and 70's that were a thing about the time the tinsel trees were a thing. So yes, that tree hat gnome happened, too. First even. 

White artificial tree hat gnome

So, there were some changes I made to this pattern, of course. First the "fuzzy" yarn is the kind they sell to make kitchen scrubbies with. It has a lot of fibers to it, that are not really soft. I used it, combined with the cotton yarn, to make this gnome's beard, but when it came to the tree, I did an extra row of crochet on the crochet strip that goes around and around the hat to make the tree. I also crocheted some to the brim of the hat. I really like the effect that has. I also extended the length of the strip so that the tree "branches" would be fuller. I have had issues with that on some of the gnomes, making the tree strip cover the hat to my satisfaction. I also wrapped the hat and then kind of spaced it the way I wanted before I sewed it on. Why didn't I do that before? 

I ended up finding some metallic yarn online, and ordered a variety to see which one I liked best, and would fit with the cotton yarn and the tree hat project. My plan was to make tan hands and nose, and a dark green shirt with the tinsel tree gnome... So, I better show you how he turned out...

Tinsel tree hat gnome

Did you notice that his shirt isn't green? Me too. I got started on that tan yarn, and didn't realize that it was shirt, not skin until the gnome's body was finished. Darn it! As you can tell, I did not take it out and do it again. I did add a little metallic yarn detail on the ends of the sleeves, hoping that would make it more shirt-like. Sigh. I did not add the extra row of metallic thread crochet on this tree because the metallic thread was easier to crochet with. I actually used a metallic, and a white with a teeny metallic strip in it together, which - I think - brightened the overall effect.

I really like how these guys turned out, and I will probably enter them into the fair this year. I finally feel like the tree part is as full as I like it. I ALSO figured out with these that the pattern used a smaller stitch and fewer stitches on the part that goes on the top of the tree than near the bottom of the tree. OHHHHhhhhh. I see now... lol.

Personal Lesson in Creativity - Quilt Edition

You never know when a lesson is going to sneak up on you. Here's what snuck up on me, today. 

I was working an online jigsaw puzzle, like I do most days, and here's the link for it:  https://www.jigsawexplorer.com/puzzles/double-wedding-ring-jigsaw-puzzle/

This is a double wedding ring quilt, from the 1940's made by an African American artist, which is now in the Museum of Fine Arts, in Boston. It's beautiful, isn't it. It speaks to me. It speaks to me about where I am right now as a quilter. (Not that I expect any quilt I ever make to be in a museum collection anywhere, at any point. But then, I doubt that this maker expected that to happen either.)

Not knowing more about this quilt than I stated above, I am going to make some assumptions, which, even if they aren't true about this quilt, are true about MANY quilts. It was made for a practical purpose: keeping someone warm. It may have been made as a gift, to be treasured for many years, and multiple lifetimes. It was made with what this quilter had at hand to make it with, so the rings aren't all the same colors. It is not an easy pattern, so skill went into the sewing of it. I love the purple as the background color. Often this pattern includes a white background, but the purple adds some life to it. I think it is interesting that only ONE of the rings is the same colors all the way around. (top right corner, red and yellow) The other bands create movement in the moving patterns of colors, so that my eyes travel around this quilt.

If I could ask a few questions of this quilter, I would ask them how they decided to spread the colors through the quilt. Is this the vision of the quilt that they started out with? Did they work to make it perfect? Or work to make it done? Please understand that by asking about "perfection," I am not asking about their skills as a sewist OR a quilter. 

For me, done is achievable. Perfect isn't always. Perfect may put a halt to ever getting a piece done. And yet, this is art. I am not questioning that. It is art. I have hopes that my skills as a do-er and a get it finished-er will continue to improve to doing a better job getting the thing done. Skills gained, if you will.  In the mean time, I will enjoy the way the color combinations in this quilt create interest and movement in a way that other orientations of those blocks would not have, and use it as food for thought.

Kids' Clothes for a Clothes Closet

I've been making some kid-sized clothes. I enjoy making them, honestly. I don't do fancy, complicated patterns, I do fun fabrics. Because I love them. Then, because I don't have any elementary sized kids living with me, I donate them.

bug skirt!

These days, many schools from elementary on up, have clothes closets as a resource for their students. Organ Mountain High School created a fabulous clothes closet for students to address their every-day needs, AND specific needs, like having an outfit to go on a job interview in. Students were not questioned about why they needed the clothing, or what alternatives they had, or anything. They were welcomed into the space and allowed to take what they needed. Yes, I have donated to that space, and may again some time. 

Denim pants with a decorative stitch detail

Most of the clothing I'm making this go-around is elementary school sized (more or less). Considering that elementary schools include kindergarten (and sometimes pre-k), to 5th grade, there is a lot of range of sizes. I usually determine the size of the garment I'm going to make by the yardage of the fabric that I am using. Sometimes I'm able to find a piece that will make more than one garment.

Red corduroy pants

I often recommend to new sewers to start with kids' clothing if they want to learn how to make garments. The patterns are often similar, but the kids' patterns can take LOTS less fabric, so if you mess something up badly, you aren't out as much money. I also like that the more you practice, the better you get at some of the details, and techniques that make the clothing nicer. You can practice collars, and button fronts, making a variety of pockets (kids like pockets in their clothes almost as much as I do), and other details. The clothing doesn't have to be fancy.

A skirt with attached shorts AND pockets! Some green leggings behind them

But for kids to be able to choose a new garment when they don't usually get to, it is pretty nice. I know that picking an item of clothing that is "home made" may not be every child's first choice. It won't be what all of their friends are wearing.  But, I feel like there are kids out there that will be happy to have something new, something happy, and hopefully, something in a style that they like.

Short sleeved top 

I've gotten to sew garments that make me happy, too.

Cactus shorts with pockets

I've gotten to practice skills, and build new ones. And share something with my community that I feel is important. Some time this week, I'll gather up these garments (and the ones I didn't take pictures of) and donate them to a school clothing closet, and when I come across a fabric I can't resist, I'll make something new.

Some years, I find like-minded sewists who like adventures in kids' clothes, too. Some years I don't. I appreciate the company, but I don't require it. I do what I like!

 

Gardening Again

 

My goodness, it has been a while. I was doing so well, posting semi-regularly, until I wasn't. And, when did March turn into MAY???

Of course I'm making stuff, but this post is about this year's container garden on my front porch. I've started it again, and including the aloe vera and the irises from last year, which are both spreading out, although the irises did not bloom this year. I really hadn't expected them to, because they've only been planted here for one year, and I think it takes a couple before they bloom, but they seem happy and thriving, none-the-less.

About half the garden, irises on the left

Last year, one of my favorite plants was the basil that I grew. It smell so good when I went out to water. I planted some in the tower again, but it was a little later than the rest of the seeds, so it hasn't come up yet (but I've seen evidence of sprouting, yay!) I have some corn this year too, and some of it looks pretty healthy. I also planted tomatoes and beans. Last year I harvested a few of each and I'm hoping for more this year. We'll see.

The other half of the garden. 

I planted almost everything from seeds again this year. Except that tomato plant. I pick that up at Walmart to give me a head start on the tomatoes (hopefully). It looked very healthy, and had blossoms on it already. It actually had a tomato on it already too, but I didn't see that until I got home. Last year all my flowers starts died (except for the irises) but this year they are giving me more hope. Some mixed seeds in the box and on the window sill, and some marigolds in the tower again this year (they are doing better than last year).

It isn't much in terms of a "real" garden. I'm not fooling myself that this is going to feed my family in any meaningful way. I am happy to have growing things, though. To feel some accomplishment when they sprout and grow. I'm not even mad if they fail. The beans in that left white grow bag grew, and even blossomed, and then dried up. I don't think I had enough soil in the bag, and they just didn't have the roots they needed. Poor babies. I put some more soil in it (and around them, in case they wanted to perk up) and planted some more beans.

What I really think I enjoy is how that tomato plant really hit me with the smell of tomato plant yesterday. I really want to smell that basil again. Did I cook with it? One time, I think, but I enjoyed the fragrances of the two varieties I had late into the fall. I want that again. Inside the house, in my plant window, I have some celery growing. It smells so fresh in with the geraniums that are also growing there (three different varieties). So, evidently, I enjoy the smells of the growing things. I never took the time to realize that in my previous small efforts at keeping plants alive. Who knew? I didn't.

Tree Hat Gnome Joins the Party!

 

I have been enjoying crocheting Gnomes. I've a good collection started of snow gnomes, and I'm not done with them yet, but I wanted to try one of the other patterns I picked up. This time, It's all about the tree hat gnome.

Snowy tree hatted gnome

This guy was relatively easy to crochet and construct. He stands up well, even. I think the less stretchy cotton yarn does the trick for these stuffies. This one took a skein plus some more because most of it, as you can tell, is done in the green yarn. I got the hat, the body (including the arms) done, but then ran out making the "tree" part that gets sewn to the hat. If there is a particular challenge to this gnome, it is getting the "tree" sewn onto the hat with the spacing to cover the hat well, and not let the hat show through.

Quick trip for yarn refill required

He's taller and bigger than the snow gnomes, so he takes a little longer to make than they do, but I thought he came together well. I do want to experiment with color schemes, though. Is it too much green? Should I try a darker green? Maybe matching tree and body is too much? I have questions! Of course, I do.

So, here is the next tree hat gnome in progress:

A little bit of an autumn vibe

The body is going to be orange, the nose and arms a little lighter brown, and the tree wrap will be the variegated green/gold with white for that early season snow. That will work, right? It isn't particularly Christmas-y, but I still want to see it put together.

I think the next gnome on my agenda is one of the nutcracker gnomes. They should be a hoot!

The Ladybug Challenge

 

Last year I started a challenge, using the crafting magazines that have been left to me. I have actually enjoyed looking through these magazines, with the thought of creating something. AND I've found them inspirational, as well. This issue has been traveling around with me for a while, with a gallon ziploc carrying some balls of crochet thread.

Annie's Crochet Newsletter Sept-Oct 1996

Inside, is a pattern for a pair of cute little crocheted ladybug earrings. Since I made those ladybug outfits for the stuffed bunnies, I was caught! No, I am not making earrings, but I thought they would be cute! cute! cute! on a hair scrunchie, or the like. Heck. They're just CUTE!

Ladybug Pattern!

  

Ladybug Pattern page 2

I've been busy making stuff, so these guys kinda have been biding their time, waiting patiently (since, like, 1996). But, last Thursday, I started one. Today, I finished the cute little guy. 

Top view

  

Side view

Small, and adorable. 

So, here's my take on these guys. The pattern was pretty simple, and easy to follow, and not super difficult with the small hook and thread. Even so, I am going to make another, and scale up the yarn and hook a little. Yes, I used beads for the spots. I have never gotten the hang of French knots. Even today, they were more like French nots! But I got to sift through my bead stash and found these guys, which I like the look of. A lot. The biggest pain in the butt was having to thread the needle to go through the ladybug to the next spot spot (hee hee) and then unthreading it, waxing the thread so it was stiff enough to go through the bead (and making it easier to rethread the needle, too) and then rethreading the needle.