Saturday, December 29, 2012

HollyDays - Chanukah with the Extended Family

i sent out an email to my cousins, asking what they thought their kids would like. these are the crochet critters i made for them all:

Matt is really into science.....


Sarah's reminded me more of Halloween than Chanukah...


Paxson likes blue and dragons.


Liam loves Zebras


Hannah & Lilly (they're first cousins) got one of these:


Nathan likes Mario:


my Aunt and my mom got different ones of these...


my brother J loves to play golf:

i made a hat for his wife M:

i made an Elmo (and a Dorothy, but i don't have a picture of the goldfish) for their son J (my nephew)


my brother M has a chocolate lab named Mookie:

he and his wife R also have a Siamese cat, Keppi:


I also made a Pig from Angry Birds for hubby... he does their "heh... heheheh..." real well!



prices vary; email me at trystan830 at gmail for current prices.

Tuesday, December 04, 2012

Floppy Hat with Brim pattern

Floppy Hat with Brim

i made this hat after i tried making one from a pattern i found online. but either it was my yarn, or my doing double crochets instead of the single crochets called for in the pattern, i couldn’t get the first few rows to lay flat…. so i tweaked it a little, and used the original pattern as a guide as to how the rows should go. please enjoy making this hat, for yourself or others, free or paid; but please do not sell the pattern.


*K hook
*chunky yarn, i used weight 6.
*worked in spirals, and rounds are not joined, use a stitch marker to keep track if you need to.
*US terminology
*BLO = Back Loop Only, FLO = Front Loop Only
MR = Magic Ring. there is a great vid tutorial at Planet June.

1. dc 8 into MR - your chain doesn’t count as a stitch. Close the ring with 1 sc, then dc into the same stitch. (9)
BLO for Rounds 2-9.
2. 2dc in each around (18)
3. 2dc in each around (36)
4. *dc in next 2, 2dc* 12 times (48)
5. dc around (48)
6. *dc in next 5, 2dc* 8 times (56)
7-9. dc around (56) (if you want to make a longer hat, add more rows here.)
10. FLO: *dc in next 1, 2dc* around (84)
11. Both Loops: *dc in next 6, 2dc* around (96)
12. hdc in first, sc around (96)
13. sc in next 3 or 4 stitches before sl st in next and finishing off.

this of course is made to fit my head. you could add another increase round after Row 6 if need be, and then adjust the rows and stitch counts accordingly.

this pattern has not been tested. please feel free to let me know of any corrections or typos by leaving a comment, or PMing me (trystan830) on ravelry.

Friday, September 14, 2012

it's beginning to look a lot like... Halloween!

Halloween is my favorite time of year! so, i made a few critters.

group shot of everyone:


a little witch:


a bigger witch, Sienna*:


their cat:


a caldron of candy corn:


Jack, of course:


Boris the Spider:

Batty:


*this is Sienna's dress and shoes. while i found a pattern for the doll, and a tutorial for the hair, i made up the dress and shoes myself. i'll be posting the pattern soon, i hope.


A Guy and Gal for Day of the Dead:


and finally, a Ghost Girl for a Crochet-a-Long on Ravelry.com:


Happy Halloween!

prices vary; email me at trystan830 at gmail for current prices.

Tuesday, September 04, 2012

amigurumi Little Ghostie pattern

amigurumi Little Ghostie pattern

this guy worked up real quick and easy, i thought i'd share the pattern with everyone. there's also a variant at the bottom. ;) please enjoy making my Ghosties, for yourself or others, free or paid; but please do not sell the pattern.


Materials:
*white yarn. these Ghosties were made with Loops & Threads Impeccable White, weight “4.” They are about 7mm tall.
*crochet hook. I used Crochet Dude/Boye “E” hook, 3.5 mm. A larger hook will make a larger Ghostie.
*Tapestry or other blunt needle
*a small amount of black felt for the eyes
*hot glue & gun

Techniques used - note: this pattern uses US terminology:
single crochet, double crochet, slip stitch, increase, decrease, Back Loop Only, magic/adjustable ring/circle

Notes:
*This pattern is worked in a spiral, without joining rounds. Use a stitch marker to mark either the first or last stitch, whichever is your preference. This pattern is also worked from the bottom up.
*Gauge is irrelevant.
*as you work the pattern, sometimes the first stitch seems to “move.” when this happens, I just sc in the next stitch(es) until it’s lined up again. You can see the beginning of the spiral in this picture:

this is the stitch I use to line up the rows with. once row 6 (BLO) is completed, you have another visual with which you can line up the first stitch of each row. These re-alignment stitches are optional, and don’t change the number of stitches in their row.

Main Body: (I prefer to mark the first stitch of each round with a stitch marker.)
1. 6 sc in magic ring
2. inc in each st around (12)
3. (sc in next, inc in next sc) around (18)
4. (sc in next 2 sc, inc) around (24)
5. (sc in next 3 sc, inc) around (30)
6. In BLO, sc in each around (30)
7-13. sc in each sc around (30)
14. (sc in next 3 sc, dec*) around (24)
15. sc in each sc around (24)
16. (sc in next 2 sc, dec*) (18)
17. sc in each sc around (18) I started stuffing here.
18. sc, dec* (12) and finished stuffing here.
19. dec* (6)
20. sl st in next stitch and finish off. leave a length of yarn to close up the hole. I use what i call the “drawstring method” - weaving the length of yarn through every other hole in row 19 and then drawing it closed. Hide end in ghostie.

*the decrease can be any variation of sc2tog or an invisible decrease.

Bottom Edge:
*Go back to row 6, where the back loops were worked and now work in the visible front loops.
*Starting in the back with the head facing you, pull up a loop through the first stitch, ch 1, sc in same stitch, 2 dc in next stitch, sc in next stitch, (sc in next sc, 2 dc in next sc, sc in next sc) around (40)
*after last stitch, sl st into first sc and finish off.

**Note: if you have a different way to do the bottom edge that looks more "ghostie," feel free to do that, and please share. i'm curious about all the edgings that are out there.

Eyes:
*cut out ovals from black felt and glue on. I used a template/pattern i made out of a 3x5 card to ensure that both eyes were the same size. The eyes could also be stitched on with black thread.


Variation: Aliens!

*I used a pipe cleaner/chenille stick, and pushed it in one side between rounds 4 and 5 from the top, and pushed out the other side also between rounds 4 and 5. i used my crochet hook to curl the ends.
*Wiggle eyes were hot-glued on.

thanks for making my pattern! comments and pictures are welcome at any time.


this pattern was created by Caren Franco ©August 2012. Any resemblance to any previously created ghost patterns is completely coincidental.


Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Birthday Gifts for my daughter J

J asked me if i was getting her anything for her birthday. i told her i wasn't getting her anything..... i made her a few things!

we started off with dinner. i mean.... dessert for dinner.


i decided to give her her presents a few days before her birthday & party (which were on the same day). first up, was another Castiel. many times, she tried taking my Castiel up to her bed room with all her other crochet toys... so i made her one of her own:


she loved my sushi/fish! she keeps calling it sooooshi. hee.


Birthday Gifts for my nephew J

my nephew will be 2 at the beginning of september. this is what i made him.

a Panda~


a Bunny with floppy ears~


and a Goldfish~

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

yes, i do have a weird sense of humor

since this is my crochet blog, you know this something i crocheted. it's a fish.


it also turns into....


sushi!

Cats & Dogs

J only wanted a puppy. a real one is pretty much out of the question, so i made an ami one. heh.


M participated in a 4-week Summer Music camp, and really long story short, i dropped her off at a friend's in the morning and picked her up at the same friend's in the afternoon. so as a gift at the end of the summer, i made a dog that resembled the friend's dog, Goldie.


my friend F had a kitty named Belle, so i made her an ami version of her:


there's something about white cats, my friend R had like three of them. so i made her an ami Missy.

Monday, August 27, 2012

Potpourri of Amis

B got a new cell phone in July, and then another new one in August. don't ask. anyway, i made him a cover for it


one of the Crochet-a-Longs i participated in was to make a "Munchkin."


remember my post where i made K-9? i made him a TARDIS to go with it. it's a good thing the TARDIS really is bigger on the inside!

Crafts for Others III

a friend on LJ asked for a monkey for her niece. and she wanted a giraffe too.


another friend wanted a monkey for her son too.


and then, M decided she wanted one of each. and i crochet quicker and better than she does.


(her giraffe has purple spots. *wink*)

both the monkey and giraffe sell for $15 each.

Mario Bros Characters

i think it started back when M got a Wii for Xmas, and got Super Mario Bros to go with it. and then sometime this summer (july?) M got MarioKart Wii. so here's what we've created with the various patterns out there:

M made a Mario:

(pattern from WolfDreamer off the Hook)

J made a Chain Chomp

(pattern from WolfDreamer off the Hook)

and i made a Yoshi for my hubby (since he's Yoshi when he plays MarioKart

(pattern from robotrish.com)

M is also in the process of making a Toadette and several Toads.