EpicxCloth (banner&bkg are being naughty... coming soon ;))

Where have I been?

2011-11-25T06:57:00.000-08:00

I think a better question is where haven't I been this past 1/2 year? China, HK, Thailand, the UK... I have really been running around. Not to mention the fact that Erik and I bought a house oh yeah and we are getting married. Sadly my craftly adventures have been limited to stalking the 'Quit your day-job' pages of Etsy over and over again. Oh and making props for my VtM chronicle, but since they consist of a lot of instant coffee (don't ask), I don't really think that counts.

My resolution: I really need to get off my ass and start crocheting/sewing again. Where was all that lovely motivation I had? I think I lost it somewhere between jet lag and burn out, haha we will see!

So all I need to do now is fly home from China and move in 5 days... then I am home free... except for the new visa I need and all the wedding paperwork. Jesus being an adult is lame sometimes, how did our parents do it?

Any way new ami's soon I promise and untilllllll theeeeeen:

Bunny Bags!

2011-07-20T13:25:00.000-07:00

Well play time is over or so it seems. I am very much back to work and though it is nice to see all my awesome college's again... I forgot how much working sucks -_-. Not so much that I hate my job, but the fact that I have to be an adult and work for my money -_- (yes, that was the second slanty eyed face). Oddly enough- even when I was staying up till 4am every morning to finish my products for the craft's fair, I never thought "Wow, this sucks!" But I guess that is the difference between a hobby and work, right?

Enough of the pity party, time for some cool stuff! Since I got back from my holiday I have been obsessed with making bags that look like monsters and animals... Please don't ask me why, I am weird, but when I came back from Thailand with all that inspiration etc. this is what I came up with!

The bunny Tote bag is one in a series of tote's I will be selling on my Etsy store. They are all made out of super soft cotton a lined with fun print's like flowers, checks & houndstooth.

For the fun little purple monster pouch - I will be posting instructions to make one yourself next week! I just need to perfect the pattern before posting!

Enjoy!

A view of the two

Close up of the Bunny Bag

Pattern coming sooooooon for:

Ps - It is seriously time for a new camera! These are taken from the BF's phone, which is sadly better than my digital camera -_- (yes, that makes three!)

Back from holiday!

2011-06-21T14:08:00.000-07:00

Well, I am back from the mother country and I have mixed feelings. I miss the family I left behind, but I am happy to be back at home... maybe not back at work :P. Plus, the family is just a plane ride away so, I can’t complain too much. Thailand was beautiful, inspiring and single handily convinced me that I now want a table while watching my nephew play Warcraft 3 style Tower Defence on a 3 hr. car drive. (Seriously, love that game /drool!)

Three big highlights of the trip for me were: 1) My boyfriend proposed! Woohoo! I am so very excited and well yes! 2) Okay, to be honest you can’t really follow up a proposal in favourite things but – I also visited a silk factory that was just... awesome. Annnnd 3) OMG yarn! I bought 10 balls of yarn for the price of 5 euros. The now fiancé had to drag me away before I bought more and threw away all my clothes so the yarn could fit into my suitcase :P.

I have come back with so many ideas and have already started working on them, a set of amigurumi panda nesting dolls is on it’s way and photos are soon to come. In the mean while I am sorry, but you will have to just deal with some flashy piccies from the holiday.

xxxx

A view from the plane, everyone does it, we did it, the pic is still epic!

Matriarch elephant of the sanctuary we visited, she was in a bad mood and then got hosed down and was happy again. Pretty much the same story for me that say, but no hose down - just me being super warm hanging around with super beautiful elephants... which then made me happy :P.

Thai mermaid! Yay!

Pictures from the Chiang Mai Night Safari. For once my flash decides to do super cool things with the photos :D.

SILK!

Again, trying to make my old camera do cool stuff works. Huzzah!

Chocolate buffet: Round 1: FIGHT!

Kiss, Kiss

Crafty Markt Pictures

2011-05-26T02:17:00.000-07:00

Well, my mind is completely on holiday! Erik & I leave for Thailand at 14:00 and all I can think about is family and sandy beaches. However! I promised pictures of the Crafty Markt and pictures you will receive. The air space will be quite for around 3.5 weeks, but when I get back more picture spam.

xxx
Love, Liz

Yarn... yarn... yarn...

2011-05-16T15:02:00.000-07:00

Well I am just about cross-eyed now! I have been crocheting every day in anticipation of the market and I still feel like I have so much to do. A close friend pointed out it might help to have a few signs and well that is the last thing on my mind right now. I am mostly thinking about the 3.5 week holiday the boyfriend and I are going to have. Luckily I can do this with a crochet hook and yarn in my hands :).

Just a few pictures I have been working on. I apologize in advance for the pictures, I am back to using my own camera and I need to either get a new one... or maybe better batteries I am not too sure. I think some googling is in order.

The battlefield that was my bed last week, but trust me I am doing a good thing. Those teddies were getting put together, not dismembered, I promise!

A little doggie key chain.
The colours a bit hard to see here, but the body is a salmon creme and the ears are pale pink. He comes with jet black accents ^_^.

A little night whisp.
He has a silver black body with pink accents :D.

Getting Ready for the Crafty Markt

2011-05-08T08:41:00.000-07:00

So, in much anticipation for the lovely Crafty Markt I have taken some pictures to show you what I will be selling. This is just a sneak preview so keep your eyes peeled!

A little birdie told me...

Tree Sprite

A bear named Rose

Hanging on the street ^_^

Daisy

Tote Bag with jersey lining

Asymmetrical bag with cotton-floral lining

Ruffle cowl

Foiled?

2011-04-17T09:24:00.001-07:00

Well, it seems that for Queen's day in Leiden you either have to be a child (emotional states - don't count so I am out) or you have to be selling used things. Therefore, boohoo! However, I am still in proactive mode and therefore I signed myself up for the Crafty Markt.

Webbie: http://www.craftymarkt.nl

I have always been interested in doing the Crafty Markt, but to be honest being in the presence of so many awesomely talented crafters/artists is a bit daunting. Queen's Day was going to be my training wheels, I mean my stuff /had/ to look awesome next to all that used crap, right? Plus, my friend Floor was going to be there selling with me and she could have been my emotional support if nothing went right :P, but she can't make it to the Crafty Markt.

So there I was floating up shit creek and I thought to myself - who do I really need to turn to? So, I invited my boyfriend and his immediate family to join me. His father & sister are excellent people/sales people and his mother, well she is just awesome! I also bribed another close friend of mine into coming by letting my fricken legs hang over my ears for an hour and agreeing to do pilates with her :P. Now they have all accepted and I am happy, things don't seem do daunting when you have people you love with you!

Life Up-date & Queen's Day Gear up!

2011-04-06T14:35:00.000-07:00

Hey all!

Well some news from me I am indeed back. Since my last posts I have gotten a promotion at work (huzzah!) but to a non-design role = no creativity. However, in the end it was a really good move for me and my out of work hobbies, because it jump started me realizing that I really (reallyreallyreallyreally) need to get my Etsy shop going. If I am ever going to reach my goal of owning my own store one day I need to get off my ass!

Therefore, I have done a few things. First off, I got seriously 2.0 and you can follow me on Twitter @epicxcloth. Also! A friend and I are going to have a stall on Queen’s Day!

For all of you who are not Dutch (or don’t know the celebration) it is a big holiday here celebrating the Queen’s birthday! To celebrate we drink a lot of beer (as per any celebration), but also there is a huge yard sale basically everywhere, where everyone takes their old stuff out of their house and sells it. I have gotten some great deals from Queen’s day - a grey vintage clutch, a gold plated swan bowl etc. etc. etc. For anyone who loves rummaging through the cast-offs of someone else’s life this is the day for you!

If you are in Leiden, the Netherlands on the 30th of April – Please stop by and see us! We promise lots of crafting and cool lemonade for anyone we know who drops by! When I know where my stall will be I will post asap.

I'm Back!

2011-02-10T02:19:00.001-08:00

Lil' Zombie Stress Ball

***

DIFFICULTY: Shamefully easy

***

Materials= 2 colours of yarn (1 for body, 1 for braaaaains), 2 safety eyes, embroidery thread

Hook = Whatever you like! The smaller the hook & yarn the smaller your Zombie. I used a 3.5mm for this and it makes the little guy palm sized.

CH = Chain
SC = Single Crochet
ST= Stitch
FO = Finish Off
DEC = Decrease

***

Body

Foundation = Magic ring 6
Round 1= 2 SC in each ST around
Round 2= 1 SC in the next ST then SC twice in next ST - do this till end of round
Round 3= 1 SC in the next 2 ST then SC twice in next ST - do this till end of round
Round 4= 1 SC in the next 3 ST then SC twice in next ST - do this till end of round
Round 5= 1 SC in the next 4 ST then SC twice in next ST - do this till end of round
Rounds 6 -16= SC around ((Don’t forget to stuff the foot!))
Round 17= 1 SC in the next 4 ST then DEC - do this till end of round
Round 18= 1 SC in the next 3 ST then DEC - do this till end of round
((Add in safety eyes & stuffing here! Also stiches your lil guy a mouth with the embroidery thread.))
Round 19= 1 SC in the next 2 ST then DEC - do this till end of round
Round 20= 1 SC in the next 1 ST then DEC - do this till end of round
FO

***

Arms (make 2)

Foundation = Magic ring 6
Round 1-7= 2 SC in each ST around
FO and stuff.

***

Braaaaaaaaaaaains

There is no pattern for this, but the idea is to make a very jagged, flat swatch of fabric that you can sew to the head of your zombie. Tips: change between chaining one at the end of your round and not.

***

Sew the arms to the side of the Zombie. Now using the same colour thread you made your brains with, sew the brains to the top of you Zombie's head - just before you finish off sewing on the brains stuff them with some fiberfill! That way they are extra buldgey :D.

***

What do we want? Braaaaaainnnnnsssss....
When do we want it? Braaaaaainnnnnsssss....

Invisible Decreasing

2010-10-22T00:47:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

So this time I am not posting about anything I am doing, but instead giving you a very useful link! I checked my blogroll this morning and I found just about the coolest post I have seen in a while - how to do an invisible decrease. For those of you who alreayd know about it, I am sure this is just a 'big whoop', but for thoes of you who don't this is really awesome ^_^. I think the best part of the whole tutroial is that there are very clear, well taken pictures and this really helps.

The link is here and I suggest for all of you who love amigurumi to follow Rinske on her blog Fun & Fang!

Up & Arty

2010-10-05T04:27:00.001-07:00

Right, so I made myself a deviant art account. I have now promised myself that I am going to try to make one sketch per day and I thought that it would be fun to have some place to post them. You Can find my deviant art account here ;).

Life Update

2010-09-29T01:20:00.000-07:00

Right, so I haven't simply just posted in a while so, I thought that I would. As per normal my life has been crazy... Work harder than I expected blah, blah, blah. I have posted about it before so no point in rehashing the past.

I do have a fun update though! As some of you may know I gave my work colleges little amigurumis when I thought that I was leaving the company... well.... Now people are starting to order my stuff! I have already done two orders one of an alcoholic pig and another of an artist dragon. It was so much fun working on these orders (pics to come at one point... possibly)! It is nice to have a reason to craft, rather than just starting a bunch of random projects.

I also have a new order for a little kitty ^_^. I am going to make her a cool little house to go along and a milk bowl. I am so excited to start this project, but first I am going to relax for the weekend!

This weekend my Mom is visiting and so are my boyfriend's parents because there is a festival in Leiden called 3 October aka Leidsonzet. Basically we celebrate Leiden's liberation from the Spanish by eating a kind of mashed potato-like-thing and drink too much beer. It is our parent's first time in the celebration and I am happy that they are going to be here!

That's all from me for now!

xxx

Cuppy The Alien

2010-09-24T05:57:00.000-07:00

***

Cuppy the Alien

***

So I have been shamefully neglecting my blog, but I have put up a new pattern for all of you. I was inspired to make an alien from an amigurumi along in Raverly! I hope you enjoy the pattern.

***

Materials= I colour of yarn, 2 safety eyes

Hook = Whatever you like! The smaller the hook & yarn the smaller your alien etc.etc.etc.

CH = Chain
SC = Single Crochet
ST= Stitch
FO = Finish Off
DEC = Decrease

***

Feet (make one)

Foundation = Magic ring 6 (if you don’t know what a magic ring is please find a tutorial here. This is the tutroial I learnt from and it is awesome ^_^)
Round 1= 2 SC in each ST around
Round 2= 1 SC in the next ST then SC twice in next ST - do this till end of round
Round 3= 1 SC in the next 2 ST then SC twice in next ST - do this till end of round
Rounds 4 -7= SC around ((Don’t forget to stuff the foot!))
Round 8= 1 SC in the next 2 ST then DEC - do this till end of round
Round 9= 1 SC in the next 1 ST then DEC - do this till end of round
Round 10= DEC around - till 6 st left
Round 11-17= SC around

Now make one more foot(2 in total now), however do not FO!

Now CH 6 with the second foot at the end of round 17...

Round 18= Attach the foot with the CH6 to the other foot with a SC. Now SC around the entire thing (both legs and the little bridge connecting them.
Round 19-25= SC around
Round 26+= 1 SC in the next 1 ST then DEC till you only have 6 ST ((Don’t forget to stuff the body!))

***
Head

Continuing from your body & legs piece….

Round 1= 2 SC in each ST around
Round 2= 1 SC in the next ST then SC twice in next ST - do this till end of round
Round 3= 1 SC in the next 2 ST then SC twice in next ST - do this till end of round
Round 4= 1 SC in the next 3 ST then SC twice in next ST - do this till end of round
Round 5= 1 SC in the next 4 ST then SC twice in next ST - do this till end of round
Round 6-12= SC around ((Putting in your safety eyes here is a good idea!))
Round 13= 1 SC in the next 4 ST then DEC - do this till end of round
Round 14= 1 SC in the next 3 ST then DEC - do this till end of round
Round 15= 1 SC in the next 2 ST then DEC - do this till end of round ((Don’t forget to stuff!))
Round 16= 1 SC in the next 1 ST then DEC - do this till end of round
Round 17+= DEC till end of work & CH 6 then, FO

***

Arms (make 2)

Foundation = Magic ring 6
Round 1= 2 SC in each ST around
Round 2= 1 SC in the next ST then SC twice in next ST - do this till end of round
Round 3= 1 SC in the next 2 ST then SC twice in next ST - do this till end of round
Round 4= 1 SC in the next 3 ST then SC twice in next ST - do this till end of round
Round 5-11= SC around
Round 12= 1 SC in the next 3 ST then DEC - do this till end of round
Round 13= 1 SC in the next 2 ST then DEC - do this till end of round ((Don’t forget to stuff!))
Round 14= 1 SC in the next 1 ST then DEC - do this till end of round
Round 15-27= SC around
FO and flip one side of the little ball you have for the hand in. This forms the little cup for his hands. If you want to you can add a little stitch to keep it together, but there is really no need.

***
Sew everything together and there you go your own little cuppy alien.

Optional - To make the arms move – When sewing the arms to the body first thread a single piece of wire through the body, place the arms over it & sew them to the body.

Teasing my Spoilie.....

2010-09-05T03:04:00.000-07:00

Hahahahahha *pokepokepoke*

Okay, this swap is getting to me... too much false power etc.etc.etc.

Crochet Hook Grips/Handles

2010-08-27T06:06:00.000-07:00

Right! So today I wanted to blog about something a little different than I normally do. First off - because I am totally not not working right now, which I should be. Secondly, this is really lovely and I want to share it with everyone!

Topic: Crochet Hook Holders

So for those of you who don't live in the US or don't have access to crochet hook grips it can be very annoying! I think I have now built up a nice little callous on my finger, but before I would get blisters for crocheting too tight. This sucks. Period. But! I have found our saviour! While perusing a tapestry crochet website I found this tutorial to make crochet grips out of bake-able clay (Fimo for example).

Now I don't know if I am the densest person in the world, but I seriously never thought of the idea! It is a fantastic idea and you can make beautiful handles for your hooks. I found tutorials to make flowers, faces, etc.etc.etc. Hurrah for the internet!

Check out the tutorial here, it is a little bit from the top of the page and it is the video on the right.

Beholder Pattern

2010-08-19T01:48:00.001-07:00

Here is the patterns for Paul, the Albino Beholder. You can of course, make him a normal ruddy beholder colour if you want (it is your amigurumi :D), but I simp[ly thought the world didn’t have enough happy-go-lucky cute things ;). Also, if you find the 10 eye-stalks too much you can also put less on. (I won’t even get into an intense nerd-debate with you about hoe a beholder actually does need all 10 eyestalks in order to be awesomely magical.)

***

Beholder

***

Materials= I colour of yarn, 1 safety eye, 10 black beads (see below), yarn needle, thread for sewing a mouth

Hook = ((2.5mm)) I am not putting a 'strict' hook size here, because you can basically do this pattern with any size hook & any size yarn. The larger the yarn/hook, the larger your beholder will be. However! This is very important make sure to guage your thread around the black beads that you buy for the eye stalks. My pattern calls for a CH6 around the eye beads and you should check this before you start. If you need more just do it, there is little that can go wrong with this pattern ^_^.

CH = Chain
SC = Single Crochet
ST= Stitch
FO = Finish Off
DEC = Decrease

***

Head/Body Thing

Foundation = Magic ring 6 (if you don’t know what a magic ring is please find a tutorial here. This is the tutroial I learnt from and it is awesome ^_^)
Round 1= 2 SC in each ST around
Round 2= 1 SC in the next ST then SC twice in next ST - do this till end of round
Round 3= 1 SC in the next 2 ST then SC twice in next ST - do this till end of round
Round 4= 1 SC in the next 3 ST then SC twice in next ST - do this till end of round
Round 5= 1 SC in the next 4 ST then SC twice in next ST - do this till end of round
Round 6= 1 SC in the next 5 ST then SC twice in next ST - do this till end of round
Rounds 6 -20 = SC around ((Put in your safety eye here!))
Round 21= 1 SC in the next 5 ST then DEC - do this till end of round
Round 22= 1 SC in the next 4 ST then DEC - do this till end of round
Round 23= 1 SC in the next 3 ST then DEC - do this till end of round
Round 24= 1 SC in the next 2 ST then DEC - do this till end of round ((Stuff here!))
Round 25= 1 SC in the next 1 ST then DEC - do this till end of round
Round 24= DEC till end of piece and FO.

***

Eye Stalks
Make 10

CH 6 & slip stitch together
Round 1-4= SC in each ST around
Round 5= SC, DEC, SC, DEC around – You should end up with 4 ST’s after this.
Round 6- 17= SC in each ST around & FO, leave a very long tail of string. Feel free to make the stalks longer or shorter, depending on your taste.
For each eye stalk – Take a yarn needle and pull the FO’ed yarn of the eye stalk back through to the hollow stalk to the beginning. Then take your bead and thread it through the yarn. Finally, thread the yarn back through the stalk of the eye. Use the last of the tail to sew your eye stalk to the beholder’s head. This will allow you to secure the bead for your eyes pretty well. I am not going to say it is child proof (because everyone knows kids can find a way to shove anything up their nose), but it is pretty darn secure.

***

Sew everything together and poof! Your very own Beholder (add bow for extra style).

Life Update

2010-08-19T01:11:00.000-07:00

So! My life has been insane. Good news – I got my working visa and I can go back to work Monday. Bad news – I am super lazy and I just don’t know if I can handle a working life *swoons* :P. To be honest, I was getting a bit antsy not working and I really think it will be good for me to leave the house as it has pretty much come down to me muttering to myself on the couch and making things for my swap partner. I guess this is what happens when you are a ‘grown up’ and you have to live in the ‘real world’ and all your friends are grownups who work in the real world too /cry. Meh, I’ll get over it, I mean I still have this lovely internet world to escape to filled with amigurumi D&D dolls and people I can talk to without wearing pants that button, huzzah!

Okay enough of the cruel, cruel world rant and on to what I have been doing in terms of crochet. First off, I have some rocking patterns for everyone. But! I need to wait to post them till I send my swap package. I have one that I am very, very excited about and I hope you will all love it!

As for now, I made a small little pattern in the mean time. I sort of got bored of the zombie / apocalypse theme and went back to my D&D roots. The pattern is in the next post coming, but here is a teaser:

This is Paul, Paul is a Beholder, there is only one problem… He came out snowy white and unfortunately what is adorable to us surfacers is despicable to the xenophobic Beholders of Underdark (I mean they’re evil & Paul loves to wear a bow on his left eyestalk, which doesn’t help.) Paul is on a run for his life and in need of friends. If you have seen anyone willing enough to befriend an albino beholder call: 800-PAUL-4-FRNDS. Thank you!

Swap Partner

2010-08-06T03:07:00.000-07:00

Right! So, as you might have guessed I am participating in a swap (on Raverly)! I just got my partner's name and I am so excited to start. The swap's theme is: zombie & apocalypse so I know I am going to have a great time with this one! We have to keep our swap partners a secret so I will shut it on any more info about him/her. Sufficed to say I am super excited ^_^.

On other projects... Well at the moment I am trying to finish an angel amigurumi I started about a week ago. It is inspired by my own favourite end of days scenario a biblical apocalypse. There is just something about angels/plagues/ etc/etc/etc that speaks to me haha! Plus I grew up in the 90's/2000's (what do we call that the 00's?) and there was a whole slew of movies about biblical end of days that I religiously (pun intended) watched as a kid.

Any way! This leads me to my next question: What is your ideal apocalyptic scenario?

Happy Flower Pattern

2010-08-01T11:44:00.001-07:00

Here is another pattern, for the happy flower I made for my co-worker! Enjoy!

***

Happy Flower Amugurumi Pattern

***

Materials= 3 to 4 colours of yarn, safety eyes (or another colour of yarn for the eyes)

Hook = 2.5mm

CH = Chain
SC = Single Crochet
TC= Triple Crochet
ST= Stitch
FO = Finish Off
DEC = Decrease

***

Head
Foundation = Magic ring 6 (if you don’t know what a magic ring is please find a tutorial here. This is the tutroial I learnt from and it is awesome ^_^)
Round 1= 2 SC in each ST around
Round 2= 1 SC in the next ST then SC twice in next ST - do this till end of round
Round 3= 1 SC in the next 2 ST then SC twice in next ST - do this till end of round
Round 4= 1 SC in the next 3 ST then SC twice in next ST - do this till end of round
Rounds 5 -15 = SC around
Round 16= 1 SC in the next 3 ST then DEC - do this till end of round
Round 17= 1 SC in the next 2 ST then DEC - do this till end of round
(This is a good time to add your eyes & stuff the head!)

Body
Round 18= Switch yarn colour to your body colour and 2 SC in each ST around
Round 19= SC in each ST around
Round 20= 1 SC in the next ST then SC twice in next ST - do this till end of round
Rounds 21-28= SC around
Round 29= 1 SC in the next 3 ST then DEC- do this till end of round
Round 30= 1 SC in the next 2 ST then DEC- do this till end of round
(This is a good time to stuff the body!)
Round 31= 1 SC in the next 1 ST then DEC- do this till the hole is so small you can’t crochet anymore! Then FO :D.

***

Leaf Hands
(make two)
Row 1 = CH 2
Row 2= Turn work – Skip 1 ST and SC twice in next ST, CH 1
Row 3= Turn work – 1 SC in the next ST then SC twice in next ST, CH 1
Row 4= Turn work – 1 SC in the next 2 ST then SC twice in next ST, CH 1
Row 5= Turn work – 1 SC in the next 3 ST then SC twice in next ST, CH 1
Row 6= Turn work – SC in each ST of row, CH 1
Row 7 – till end = Turn work – SC in each ST of row. Work until the end of the row then turn your work and continue to crochet down your new row. Do not CH 1 at the end of the row as you are accommodating for the end of the leaf. Keep doing this till you can only SC once and then FO your work.

***

Flower Petals
The important thing to remember is that the flower petals should fit snug on the face so, adjust how long your CH is to make sure it fits nicely around the flower’s face.

Round 1 – CH 35 and Slip stitch together
Round 2 – CH 6 and SC in 5th ST from start – do this till end of round
Round 3 – Make 7 TC in each CH till the end of work. After each set of 7 TC make sure to slip stitch into base SC at the end of each CH - to insure you get distinct petals. When you are done FO.
Round 4 – OPTIONAL take a different colour thread and SC around the petal tops to make a sweet little border!

***

Now just sew it all together and you have your very own happy flower!

New Projects! Finally!

2010-07-22T22:18:00.000-07:00

Right! I made these for little girls for my work colleagues! They are a happy flower, punky bunny, fashion cat and a surfing seal. Yes, it is an odd bunch - but if you knew these people it isn't so odd!

These projects have been a little bit of what I have been up to, but I have a few more projects to post (I am going to save those for next week as one photo session with my horrible camera is enough.)

I am going to post a new pattern of one of my creations, but I am not sure which one. Does anyone have a vote? The one with the most will win. I know this is a bit silly as I only have like 6 followers (who count for like 1000 in their sheer awesomeness ^_^) or something like that, but maybe there is one that is more awesome than the others and in that case I will post that pattern :D.

Fighting with HR!

2010-07-13T04:15:00.000-07:00

All right I have been a bit lazy in blogging for a while due to life... issues >_<. I am having problems securing my job at the moment and it is very frustrating!(I am trying to transition from being an intern to being a fully paid member of staff)

I never thought that working with HR would be so complicated, then again I can't blame them because I am a US citizen living in the Netherlands and I guess there is always issues hiring expats. So any way it is very complicated and my internship ends on the 24th so I have no idea what I am doing at the moment. Bah!

In any case I have been crocheting, due to lack of gumption to do anything else & I will take pictures soon and post!

Baby Owl

2010-07-03T03:05:00.000-07:00

Right so I made this, this morning and I thought I would post it. I tried needle felting and I think it went pretty well. I was actually using synthetic yarn and it worked just fine.

The next thing I am going to try is using a slicker brush! My friend owns many-a-cat and so she is going to lend me her brush.

After I try it I will post so you can see what happens... I predict mayhem. :P

Lil' Monsters Dice Bag Pattern

2010-06-29T13:19:00.000-07:00

Right! So here is my first pattern. If you make it, please let me know! I am very curious to see if my instructions are clear enough or not.

Lil' Monsters Dice Bag

This is a very simple & easy pattern to replicate - so if you are a beginner this might be good for you :D. Also, I am pretty sure you can scale up this pattern a few sizes and it will be fine, so don't worry if you don't have the exact right size yarn & hook.

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Materials= 2 colours of yarn (body & hair), felt for decorating & yarn needle

Hook = 2.5mm

Final Size = 9cm (aka- holds twelve d10s quite nicely ^_^)

CH = Chain
SC = Single Crochet
FO = Finish Off

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Bag
Foundation Chain = CH 26
Round 1 = Turn work, skip one stitch and SC back down - at the end of the row instead of turning your work add an extra crochet into the last ST and ST around (eg - work on the other side of the foundation chain), this makes one round.
Round 2- 25 = SC in each SC around. At the end of the last round cut yarn & leave a long tail to sew back in
Round 26-28 = Switch yarn colour into hair colour & SC in each SC around.
Round 29 = SC 6, CH 6 skip 1 and crochet back down, repeat till end of round. (This will make the bag loops.)
Rounds 30-32= SC in each SC around
Round 33 = SC in each SC around - However! - also pick up the loops & add them into your SC’s by putting your hook first through the SC then the loop and pulling the yarn through.
Round 34-36 = SC in each SC around
FO and weave in all yarn endings

Cord
CH 100
Turn work and SC back down the CH.
FO & tie both ends together.

Fun stuff
Now you get to decorate your little monster (or whatever you’ve made up!) have some fun with it, normally the goofier, the better.

If you do use my pattern send me pictures (if you can)! I want to see what you make ^_^.

Mini! Human Wizard

2010-06-25T01:37:00.000-07:00

Right, so this has nothing to do with crocheting, but I thought I would post it any way! Another hobby I have is repainting my minatures for D&D so that they look at least some what like my characters. Unfortunetly, though WoTC tries very hard to make awesome minis, a lot of them are painted too fast. Plus, for some reason I can never find one that looks like my character, hence my repainting so many of them.

The most recent one I have re-painted is one of an Elf Druid. I repainted her to look like my Human Wizard - Gwen. Gwen was basically zapped into the Elemental Chaos as a young woman after casting a ritual that went very wrong. She lived there for 40 years, fighting for her life and growing in power. etc. etc. etc. Finally, when she figured out how to get home she was in her 60's - but when she got home it was as if only minutes had passed.... Therefore she began her life as an Adventurer!

I wanted her to look a bit odd, strange clothing (for a wizard at least) and also like she lived a hard life. I think that was pretty much accomplished, not my best painted mini, but for a project done in an hour I am pretty proud of it.

The pic above is my mini repainted & the one below is a before picture.

Cheer me up Cthulhu!

2010-06-18T11:40:00.000-07:00

So my friend told me she was having a crappy day, so I decided to finish this for her! I had a random Cthulhu body that I had made/felted just for an experiment laying around & I thought why not? She needed to be cheered up so I added some cute little pink wings and bows galore ^_^. Over all I am happy with the way this project went. It was a nice break from the epic dragon I am attempting to make. (A projects which is going... okay. Despite the fact that I have un-ravelled the belly twice now hahahah.)

Dragon's Tail

2010-06-14T14:48:00.000-07:00

Got back from my Mom's yesterday! It was a lot of fun, but sad when I had to leave as I only got to see her for the weekend. I think she is going to come to visit me some time in June though - si it isn't that bad!

Note on crochet hooks on the plane: 'Elf' was right, if they are wooden & plastic it is okay, just not metal. Haha, I wish I read that post before I got there! I only have metal hooks so I couldn't bring it on board :(. Luckily my boyfriend was there to take my hooks home so they didn’t get taken by security.

On to my crochet project! Here is a picture of the tail of the Red Dragon I am working on. Though I am planning on making it very large, I decided to use a 2.5mm crochet hook & (obviously) yarn to fit. I want to get the look of very small scales over the body. So far I am happy with the way it is turning out. I put wire in the pail so that you can move it how you would like etc. Plus it wasn't fitting to have a dragon that can't have its tail wrap around it's body. Any way! I will post more pictures once i get further with the body ^_^.

Can you bring crochet needles on a plane?

2010-06-11T00:31:00.000-07:00

So I am going to see my Mom this weekend! I am really excited I haven't seen her since I graduated University so it is going to be nice to go home. Plus, I get to see my two dogs & kitties so I am happy! Hopefully all we are going to do when I am there is eat chinese food and veg out on the couch :D. It is going to be so much fun!

But I have a conundrum! Can you bring crochet hooks on the plane? I am only carrying hand baggage onto the plane because I am only going to stay for a weekend & I don't want my hook to be taken away. I have read a few websites and everyone says something different. Then again I read the official website for flying in the states and they said you can bring scissors on the flight as long as the blade is shorted than 4inches... So I would think you can bring a crochet hook too, right?

Any way I am going to ask at the check-in desk when I get to the air port. I will let everyone know how it goes :D!

Deva Invoker

2010-06-09T02:26:00.000-07:00

He is done huzzah. Okay so making the accessories was not as bas as I thought it was going to be. Actually once I was done with the helm it was quite fun. I think the helm is what threw me off because it is pretty hard to get one that fit the doll & also fit what Deva's are meant to wear, but now I am really happy with the result.

In the end I decided to hand sew the entire outfit except for the sleeves because I used a really thin fabric on them & if I didn't zig zag the ends they would have just fallen apart. It was nice to hand sew because I could do it in front of the TV plus if you make a mistake you see it right away rather than have hours of fun with your seam ripper, which is always a plus.

In any case! My next projects: Finish felted cthulu & HUGE red dragon! But first I must wait to get paid or else my bank account will break up with me ^_^

Helms & followers ^_^

2010-06-07T04:38:00.000-07:00

Yay! I have two followers and it makes me happy :D. Plus, Rae gave me awesome advice so that is just the cherry on the cake.

I finally finished a helm that I like for my Deva. It is tall and ridiculously ornate, which is basically perfect for the look I am going for. Seeing as it has taken me a few tries to get to this, I am pretty happy with how it came out. Now to make all the other finicky bits that Deva's like to wear. We will see how that goes. Hehe, the accessories are taking longer than crocheting the actual doll.

Therefore! Note to self: Next project - HUGE Red Dragon. All crochet & no accessories! Till I got crazy and decide that the Red Dragon needs a treasure pile. If you don't hear anything in two weeks you will know I have died under a pile of Fimo clay :P.

Felting

2010-06-04T03:48:00.000-07:00

So I tried felting last night! I just got some wool yarn and I made a little kitty out of it, very cute and very small of course. So I decided why not wash it and make even smaller (and cuter?:P) In any case I am not sure I got the correct results. I can still very much see all my crochet stitches and though it shrunk - it wasn't that much.

Why did this happen? Okay I have a few ideas. My aunt said maybe my washing machine isn't harsh enough to the clothes so it doesn't get enough friction to shrink. (But I mean this can't be true because I by mistake felted one of my boyfriend's favorite sweaters, by washing it too warm >_<). But! Okay second idea - I put my little cat in a sock before I felted her because I didn't want her to get sucked up by my washing machine so maybe she didn't get knocked around enough. Hrm, hrm, hrm!

I am going to try again this weekend and post when I see how it goes!

Deva Invoker

2010-06-03T01:01:00.001-07:00

Okay I finished the body of my Deva Invoker last night! I will post it later here when I upload the photo. I am working on the armor right now and it is kicking my butt. I am using Fimo clay to work on a aluminum foil mold and the mold is too bumpy. Hrm, I am going to try to make a better mold today. If anyone is reading this and has tips let me know! Haha, I think that I am going to have about 15 helms before I make the right one.

Tiefling Warlock

2010-06-02T02:27:00.000-07:00

Right, so for my first project I made a Tiefling Warlock. I am really happy how her hair turned out as I orginally bought that yarn to make a baby cap for my boyfriend's nephew, but stupid me over-estimated my crochet skills and it was comepltly un-doable. :P So! I found another purpose for it, huzzah! I also made her an implement and a purse for her GP, because well every adventurer needs that.