Nautical Pot Holder and a New Project!

After much work yesterday and this morning, I finally managed to finish the Nautical Potholder I have been working on. I forced myself to sit there and do as many rows as I could before needing a break. Eventually my hands adjusted and I managed to finish it this morning, some time before noon.

I even made it six rows longer than the pattern called for - mostly because I felt it was too small, even for my hands, which are quite tiny. I really like how it all blends together.

Anyway, after packing and going through boxes that never got unpacked from the last move, I found a completely unused sheet of plastic canvas! Needless to say, I started on a project that has been running through my head since I was working on the Coin Block Piggy Bank. 

Awesome, right? I wasn't sure if the sheet of canvas would be enough for what I wanted, but it turned out I was able to make four of these pieces, with canvas to spare!

I know I said I really didn't want to start any more projects until after the move, but I just couldn't help myself! However, I think I'm going to have to wait to finish this idea, as I will need more canvas to continue on, however, I shall do what I can until then! 

I am very excited to do this. I even used to my plastic canvas stitches book! It took me a bit to figure out which square pattern I liked the best and would work well with this image, I finally settled on this. 

However, I ran into a slight dilemma. This particular square pattern calls for a 5x5 square. As you can see on the cut out sections of the stairs, they become 4x4. So, I need to find a new pattern to use for making this a 3D figure - I didn't quite think this through before I started it, I never really do, though. So, I'm going to have to study my new book and see if I can find a 4x4 square pattern that is similar to the 5x5 one, for consistency.

I also realized that in trying to make this accurate, I may have complicated things for myself. As you can see, the lip of the pipe is one square bigger than the shaft, meaning that I'm going to have to cut out and work with a simple square width piece. That ought to be fun. =\

Anyway, now I have to figure out how wide I want these figures to be, which will probably have to wait, as I don't have many scrap canvas pieces that I can work with. Unless I get lucky and find another unused sheet, or even just a partially used piece. 

But, in other news, I've been finding a bunch of old projects from when I first got back into crafting. It's kind of neat to see just how far I've come since January. However, I had a bunch of Pokeball coasters and a Pokebox made, and I can't seem to find them anywhere! D= The coasters were kept inside the box. 

I know I took those with me to Anime North, along with a bunch of Pokeball amigurumi I made. I still have to amigurumi, but all my plastic canvas work is nowhere to be find, so I'm hoping it's just misplaced - as I'm still not finished packing - and that I didn't actually leave it at the convention. That would suck, and I don't think I'd want to redo them again. :(

But, I think that is all I have to post for tonight. I do plan on working more on the boa scarf, hopefully I'll do that tomorrow. I am trying really hard not to start any new projects until after the move, even though I have a million ideas going through my head of plastic canvas creations, and some crochet ideas. Luckily, I am too broke from moving to even afford anything for a bit - I can't tell if that is good or bad. Oh well.

Oh, one more thing, if anyone actually reads these, it would be wonderful to get some sort of feedback. :) And perhaps a follow on my DeviantArt, maybe? =D

Good night, all! :)

From the Middle Baby Blanket!

So, it took me a bit longer to finish the baby blanket than I thought it would. I blame the fact that I had to run around the city looking for a third ball of the yarn I was using. At the end of the second ball, it only measured 15 inches from the middle.

However, I lucked out and the only place left to look carried it - the last ball, to boot! 

So, finishing off the last couple of rows took up most of yesterday - it's a lot more time consuming than it looks! But, I managed to do it.

As you can see, it's huge - it ended up measuring just over 20 inches from the centre. I was thinking of finishing it off with a row of white trimming, but I'm not too sure. I do have the yarn to do so, though! So, feedback on that idea would be greatly appreciated!

As you can also see, I'm wearing my awesome Ariel and Prince Eric leggings - I love Disney so much, classic Disney, I should say.

Anyway, just ignore the mess in the background, as you all know, I am in the middle of packing and whatnot. Also, my cool scarf collection in still just hanging around, if anyone is interested. =D

But, I think that's all I have to post for today, nothing exciting going on and no new projects underway. Just the ones I've been procrastinating on. That pot holder just relaly hurts my thumb area after about a row or two, so I've been slowly working on that. And knitting a few rows of the scarf whenever I have the urge - which isn't as often as it should be!

Hopefully I'll have something else to post before the end of the week, which is when I move. Until then, take care!

On Going Projects

Today is just a quick post of the things I'm working on. I suppose I'll start with the Nautical Potholder - which I haven't done too much more on, maybe five or six rows, as it really hurts my hands to do more than one row at a time.

However, I can happily say that I felt confident enough to continue on the scarf I was working on, I managed to get three inches down without incident, which is good. I really need to start putting an hour or so a day aside to work on it. 

Now comes the exciting news. The other day, my boyfriend and I were out shopping with his parents, and his mother decided to buy me this really soft and adorable yarn for making a baby blanket!

 

It's Bernat Baby Blanket. IT's so soft and thick, it will be extremely warm for when the baby comes! She bought me two balls of this stuff, just in case one isn't enough to finish the blanket. It was super sweet of her!

This is how much I've finished thus far.

I've just been following the crochet pattern on the back of the label that came with the yarn, it's called "From the Middle." It should be somewhere on the Bernat website if anyone is interested.

From the centre, as you can see, it measures nine inches, the pattern says to finish off entirely when it's eighteen inches from the centre. As I'm already more than halfway through the first ball of yarn, I'm thinking I'll have just enough to finish this project - which is going by super quick!! Depending on how much yarn is left over when I reach the recommended length, I might just continue until it's gone. 

Gosh, I just love how the colours look all blended together - even though the pattern calls for three different colours of yarn, with switching colours every two rows. 

Anyway, I have more exciting news! At the beginning of the week I order a plastic canvas stitch book from Etsy. It came in! I was so excited for it, but I'm out of plastic canvas since my last project, and I don't want to buy anymore until after the move. 

I left it in the wrapping with the shops name on it, just in case anyone wanted to go take a look at her stuff, she has so much, especially for plastic canvassing.

I am so excited to start using this book, my projects are going to rock now! 

Anyway, that's all I have to post for today. I must get back to packing - which I've done a lot of, today! - and crocheting - which I've also done a lot of today! 

I'm hoping to be finished the blanket by tonight or sometime early tomorrow. I noticed on my DeviantArt that my next post will be my hundredth deviation, and I want to make it something special. So, I figured, why not something that means so much to me right now - the baby blanket! <3

Until it's finished, I don't think I'll be working on much else. But, be sure to check back in the next day or so for more posts, I'm sure I'll be finished soon!

Nautical Potholders and Warp Pipes!

After such a busy day yesterday, here I am finally posting. And with something completely new and finished, to boot! But, first I shall start off with the potholder.

This is as far as I managed to get yesterday - twenty-one rows in, so about half way. It's actually a lot harder on the hands than I initially thought it would be, so I was working on it off and on yesterday.

However, this is what I spent a majority of my time doing, in between crocheting and packing.

Pretty cool, eh? You'll have to excuse the lack of proper colour, my camera decided today that it didn't want to work properly. The green is actually this colour.

Also, the proportions are slightly off, but I didn't have any pattern to follow, this is done completely from the top of my head. But, oh well, trial and error, if I ever do this again, I'll know what to do instead, hopefully.

And now, for anybody interested, here are the pictures I took of the progress. You'll have to excuse the quality of the pictures.

I decided to try and make the seem as invisible as I could, I think it turned out alright.

  

Just a simple bottom, nothing fancy.

The bottom one I made first, only to discover that it was too small. The second one was a bit too big, but it worked out just fine. They also remind me of Xena's weapon, the Chakram. I love Xena. <3 She was my idol growing up.

I just really like how it looks like a tap hat here. I was calling it the Mad Hatter's hat. Which I might do one day, now that I think about it.

I decided to add this as a bit of support in the inside - and realised that I should have just made one piece like that, instead of two separate ones. Oh well, next time.

 

This was my last long piece of canvas, I didn't think it would fit, but I so lucked out! 

Because this was the last stretch of the project, it felt like it took forever to complete! But, I did.

The finished product!!

I think that is all I really have to blog about right now. I'm probably just going to update my DeviantArt and spend the rest of the day crocheting and packing. 

Hopefully I'll finish my potholder for tomorrow!

Coin Block Piggy Bank and New Projects!

Last night I finished the piggy bank I was working on, after I worked up the nerve to cut up the fabric I was working with - got it right on the right try. :)

I would have posted last night, but it was the pay-per-view wrestling and I decided to watch that, instead, then I went straight to bed. And while I was watching wrestling, I was working on my scarf, as well, and somehow managed to mess up there a few more times. I got really upset and just put it down again. I don't know how I feel messing up, but I do. It's stupid. And annoying.

But, anyway, here is the finished project!

I scrounged up whatever change we had lying around the house and put it inside, just to be able to say I used it!

I really like the way it turned out as a whole, even if my sewing skills suck. I had thought of making more of these, but I decided I probably won't, unless someone requests one. :)

Anyway, having put the scarf down for a bit - probably a few more days - I decided it was time to start using up the last of my cotton yarn. It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to use the nautical twist cotton yarn for, then I found a pretty simple pattern that I thought would make it look cool. I was right.

I really like how this is starting to look. I'm about a fifth of the way done, I'm only on row 8, the pattern - which can be found here: http://stitcheryprojects.com/2010/08/15/the-best-crocheted-potholder/ - calls for 43 rows. I am hoping that I will be finished it by tomorrow.

In other news, today is the day that we decided to start packing, only ten days left until the move! So, I figured it would be a good idea to go through my bins of yarn and really organize them - I rummage through them without care more times and a but of balls got tangled. After spending about an hour organizing and reballing some of my yarn I finished. And in the process I found some Bernat Softee Chunky yarn - with the patterns still attached to them! 

I really want to make this:

I read over the pattern quickly and it seems simple enough to make, like, super simple. So, I think after I finish the Nautical Potholder, I'm going to start working on a baby blanket, it will be perfect for when my little bundle of joy arrives!! <3

I was thinking of using these two colours - as they are currently the only bulky yarn colours I own.

Though, I'm not too sure how I feel about using the green. But, I think it's a light enough colour that it will work out in the end, besides, I can't think of anything else to really use it for. So, a blanket for the baby would be perfect.

Let me know what you all think! Remember, just feel free to comment with any tips, criticism, advice and what-have-you. I love feedback of any sort!

Thank you all, and hopefully I will be back tomorrow with more things to post about!

Piggy Bank Progress

Today I spent the day working diligently on my piggy bank. And it paid off, mostly.

First, I would just like to show off how neatly this panel turned out.

I think it's made all the better by the fact that I wasn't paying too much attention to what I was doing - I was kind of focusing on a horribly great documentary on Bigfoot. I really love watching/listening to documentaries of mostly any kind.

Anyway, I managed to get the bottom of the piggy bank together, having spent most of the day getting to this point.

When I finally finished the box, I realised that I needed to devise a way to keep it closed - I really didn't think this project through before starting it, but it's worth it. I decided Velcro would be a good idea. I managed to find something around the house that I wasn't using that had Velcro on it I could salvage, I didn't need much.

You can see here where I attached the Velcro to the little white squares. On top of sewing them on, I ensured they stayed securely in place by adding a bit of crafting glue I had kicking around underneath. 

I crocheted these little guys to attach to the top, they were quick work. Again, I sewed and glued on the Velcro pieces for added security before I attached it to the top piece.

Now, all I have left to do is line the top panel, I've been procrastinating on that because I'm a bit nervous about trying to cut out the coin slot in the material and, sadly, I don't have anything in the place that would rub off on the fabric as a guide. :(

From there, all I have to do is touch up the plastic canvas edges and attach it to the rest of the box, then I'll be finished! I'm so excited, I think it's going to be awesome when it's finished. 

Anyway, it's very late and I'm about ready to go to bed. I decided to write out this blog tonight because I know myself well enough that I'll end up lying awake thinking about posting until I actual do it, might as well skip a step and make everything easier for me.

Hopefully I will finish the top tomorrow and won't procrastinate. Then, I can get back to working on my friends scarf, I've finally stopped being upset over my major mess up.

Anyway, good night, everyone. :)

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Mario Block and Good News!

Hey, all. Just a quick post on what I've been up to today. It may not seem like much, but I've spent a large portion of the day working on these things.

First is this:

I decided to make this piece into a regular old coaster, so nothing special there. It was a quick job.

However, I have finished all six panels of the piggy bank. Trying to figure out the top piece was tricky. But, I managed it smoothly and quickly.
 

Not bad, eh?

Anyway, after I finished making all the panel pieces, I realized that I should probably line the inside of the box so that none of those awkward stitches on the back show. Luckily, I had some fabric kicking around - a bunch of friends keep trying to convince me to learn sewing, but it's just not my thing - and so I started to use that. This is how far I've gotten - not very!

As you can see, my sewing skills are quite below par. But, oh well, I get by doing what I can, I'll learn to see properly when I absolutely need to.

This is probably as far as I'm going to get tonight - as much as I wanted to try and finish it, I was dragged away from it by my boyfriend.

Tonight is the first draft of the new set of Magic: the Gathering - even if it is just a core set. We haven't been to draft in almost two and a half months, with good reason.

And now for the big reveal. About two and a half months ago, my lovely boyfriend and I found out the most exciting news ever - I am with child. :) We're not sure if it's a boy or girl yet - I'm only 14 and a half weeks along, they don't check for gender until about twenty weeks.

But, anyway, this is why we haven't been to draft in a while and - if you've been following me on DeviantArt before this blog - why I become inactive for a while.

So, I shall leave off on this happy note and hopefully I will be done the piggy bank for tomorrow!

Coin Blocks and Failures

I'm going to start this post of with the good news, which will hopefully cheer me up as I write this out.

Yesterday I started on making the squares for the Mario Coin Block piggy bank that I want to make. Now, here is the reason I didn't end up post about it last night. On top of having a rather busy day, I decided I wanted to try difference plastic canvas stitches - not that I know too many, but I'll be learning more soon! - which took up a fair amount of my free time yesterday. Mostly doing it hole by hole.

Here is the comparison photo between the two:

 

I really like how the one on the left turned out. A lot.

I made the first one by following this pattern:

 
I can't remember where I found it, or how designed the pattern. But, I can say it's not mine. At all. However, for the second one, I decided it would be easier to draw out the pattern that I wanted to use - basically just a longer stitch version of this one that I copied on to graph paper. See:

So, I'm not entirely sure if I can claim that pattern as my own, seeing as I just modified a pattern.

Anyway, I'm thinking that my piggy bank will be done in the style of longer stitches - it's faster and it looks much better, it makes the question mark pop out a lot more. However, now I just have to figure out how I'm going to make the slit in the top for coins to go in to. Also, I have to figure out if I want to have a trap bottom opening, or just make the top so it can open and close. Decisions, decisions. Any suggestions on this one?

And now, I shall move on to what has irritated me - though, it has diminished quite a bit. So, I was working on that scarf for my friend, when something went horribly wrong. I'm not even sure how, but one of the knitting needles slipped and I lost a couple of stitches. I mean, I tried to fix it the best I could, but I still ended up with these unsightly holes and I have no idea what to do about it. It's slightly upsetting.

So, I decided to just finish my row and put it aside for now - I know better than to work on something when I'm feeling agitated and upset. I may or may not attempt to work on it some more later in the day. However, I did message my friend and show her this picture, she said she liked it, and that made me feel a bit better. But, I still feel bad for messing it up in the first place. So, if anyone has any tips on how to rectify this mistake, please, please let me know. :)

Friend (Poke)Ball and Tomorrow's Project!

Good evening, everyone! 

To start, I will ramble a bit. I moving shortly, so I decided now would be a perfect time to go through all my crafting supplies - largely just yarn, plastic canvas, various sheets of felt, some paint and, oddly enough, sewing needles and thread - that's really not my area. 

Anyway, while I was going through my bins of supplies, in some deranged attempt to organize it, I found this:

 If any of you are here because you followed me on Deviantart, you'll know that it's been quite a while since I've made a Pokeball - the main reason is I want to try needle felting the designs on the balls, but that stuff is rather expensive currently and I have yet to learn how to use it. All in due time.

So, I had a pattern saved to crochet little rain drops, but after several failed attempts, I finally said 'screw it'. As I found my sheets of felt, I decided to just be lazy and cut out the rain drop pieces - again, not so easy >.>

After putting far more effort than was probably needed into finishing this Pokeball, I finally ended up with this:

I know, it's not entirely centered - and yes, I crocheted the yellow dot as I lacked yellow felt - but I tried. The glue I was using dried too quick, and left an unsightly stain on the yarn when I tried to fix my mistake. This was the best I could get. Oh well, I still like how it turned out. Practice makes perfect! I will eventually revisit many of the Pokeballs I have made and attempted once I learn the art of needle felting - I'll youtube it eventually.

Other than spending more than an hour trying to finish the Friend Ball, I haven't been up to too much today. I worked on my friends scarf a bit, nearly doubling what I had done yesterday. Take a look:

So, as I was knitting this, I realized that I was a fool yesterday for not measuring my progress in a day. So, I decided to start today - also because I send my friend a picture update at the end of every day, just so she knows I'm working on it for her. :)

I know, I'm a bit of a slow knitter, it took me over an hour to nearly double what I had done yesterday - and no, I will not be attempting to double the length tomorrow! 

I have some plans for what I wish to get up to tomorrow. As I said, I was going through my bins of craft supplies and found some odds and ends of plastic canvas pieces. A bunch of squares that I have no idea what I was going to do with. Then it hit me - or rather, I hit it - A Mario coin block piggy bank! (See what I did there, with that pun? ;D)

Anyway, I was originally thinking of doing it in the classic Mario style, but I realized I don't have the appropriate colours and I really don't want to buy more yarn until I've either sold some projects or used up more of what I have.

So this appearance:
 

 Instead of this:

Maybe one day, when I have a sufficient amount of funds, I will track down the right colours to make a retro Mario coin block. I have so many ideas on how I want to do this! I can't wait for tomorrow!! I just might start it tonight. Or not, I'm getting a bit sleepy. So, I'll wrap this up and bid you all adieu! Be sure to check back tomorrow for an update on the progress of my projects!

Angels and Rainbows!

Hey, everyone! I can start off with some good news, I finished the second angel last night, however, it was late and I was too lazy to post about it.

Here it is:

 The lighting in this picture is far from good, despite my best efforts. Even though it was around noon when I took the photo, it seems like it will be a very gloomy day here, today.

I decided it would be nice to pose this one on the stove instead of near the sink, just as a reminder that it can also be used as a pot holder! And for some reason, I just wanted to take a picture of it hanging. 

I think this one turned out much better, especially now that I had practice doing it. See:

I'm still very proud of how both of them turned out. Though, the ball of yarn I used went from this:

 To this:

Not sure what I'm going to do with the left over balls, as they're so tiny. However, I do have a full ball of pink, and one that looks like this - it's called Nautical Twists:

I'm sure I'll figure something out soon enough. If anyone has any ideas, though, I would love to hear it! Sp far I was thinking of just making more angels, but I have nobody to gift them to, and I doubt anybody would want to buy them. Oh well, something crafty will come to me eventually!

Moving on, I started making a boa scarf this morning. This is my progress so far:

I really love how all the colours mess together, and it's different looking on both sides, slightly. Though, knitting isn't my strong point, I have only messed up once. I dropped a stitch somewhere, and I'm not entirely sure how, but it's all good. As this is going to be for one of my best friends, she's confident in my knitting abilities. And naturally, she's lenient on my mistakes, as she knows knitting is something I'm still (re-)learning how to do.

I used to knit a bit when I was younger, but nothing more complicated than what I'm doing now. And it was never very good. I liked crocheting more as a child, though I never stuck to it. It was something I dropped for almost fifteen years. In fact, I stopped crafting all together for that long. But, I've decided to get back into it. Especially now. :)

Anyway, I think that's all I really have to post for now. Be sure to check back often for updates, I forsee that I shall be crafting a lot in the future. :) And don't forget to follow me on Deviantart! - http://wykked-as-syn.deviantart.com/