Finished Projects and the Surprise!

Nothing too much to blog about today. I finished the baby blanket completely. Nothing too special.

I also started and completed the wall hang that my friend wanted me to make her. Here are the pictures I took of the process. :)

Here I took a full sheet of canvas and put the words on, not knowing just how much I would end up needing - a lot less than I thought, that's for sure!

Here it is, all cut out and the start of the background - she preferred the look of the long stitch to the single one. I agree, it looks much nicer!

And now, just a couple of fill in pictures.

I love how it slowly comes together and with each row the letters really pop out! She decided to go with the colours I used on my bookmark for the font and background. However, the border she chose, I didn't think would look too good, boy was I wrong.

A nice dark green. I decided to make a hang thread for this. I started by crocheting a chain, leaving long tails at both ends, and then just bordering the tails on to the canvas. It was pretty simple. :)

A close up of the chain attached.

And now, the finished product! So, you're probably wondering why it's hanging from two thumb tacks instead of one. Well, I didn't think it through - do I ever, though? - and the canvas I used was the flimsier stuff, so when I tried to hang it from the center of the string, it just kind of bent and drooped. My bad. I know better for next time, at least!!

And now, for the exciting news!! I am finally going to enter a contest on DeviantArt! I've been following the group Amigurumi-Challenge - http://amigurumi-challenge.deviantart.com/ - for a while now. They've had a few themes that I wouldn't have minded trying, but I didn't feel confident enough in my skills. This month is Woodland Creatures.

I asked if they would allow things like Pokemon and such, they agreed. At this point, I had so many ideas going through my head. This ball of yarn is why.

It was all the store had at the time, and I have been really wanting to do that project I was talking about with the brown fuzzy yarn - which is now on hold - and I figured, might as well just get the giant ball, as it's the only yarn I've seen - out of four shops! - that have the colour closest to what I need! Needless to say, the idea I had for the amigurumi challenge is brown - this shade of brown. With a ball this big, I'll have more than enough to do the challenge and the other project I have in mind. :)

I have until the end of the month to complete the project for the Amigurumi Challenge, which should be more than enough time. I'm hoping it only takes me about a week to completely. I know, I'm being optimistic. It'll probably take closer to two weeks.

So, until this is finished, I'm not sure I'll be blogging too much. However, I think I might do little teasers on my DeviantArt - http://wykked-as-syn.deviantart.com/ - as my work progresses. And maybe a blog or two in between. :)

Ta ta for now!

A Wild Venonat Appeared!

After nearly a week of diligent work, I have finally completed my newest project! It took a while, and it was torture on the hands, but I worked diligently on it. I even made sure to take lots of pictures to show my progress. :)

It starts with this adorably fuzzy circle - one strand worsted weight, two strands of the purple fuzzy yarn. :) Luckily, because of the thickness of it all, I was able to work in a larger hook size - not that it felt much different on the hands at that point.

This is what it looked like as I was beginning my decreases - not so easy when the loops are a bit difficult to see. But, I managed! And it turned in to this fabulous ball.

Here is a very good lighting photo. My phone has been on the fritz with taking pictures. I might eventually invest in an actual camera. Anyway, as you can see, it's pretty big - bigger than the Ghastly I made ages ago, yet only the same amount of stitches I use in a Pokeball. :) I really need to find my measuring tape to see just how big this guy it - I'm not sure if I hid it on the cats or if they hid it on me. >.>

This was the next step, figuring out the face. It took a while, but I eventually got it. The teeth are sewn on with an actual needle and thread - I got annoyed at trying to do it with yarn on such a small piece!

And here we have the creation of the cute little arms - I know, they look nothing like they're supposed to, but I was trying my best! Besides, these look adorable. And claws just don't seem easy to make. :)

This was the fun part - making the antenna! I decided it would be a good idea to make them poseable, that and I don't think they would have stayed up without doing so.

Isn't it coming along nicely? Then we ran in to a problem, I really didn't like the eyes.

Even without eyes, he's still pretty darn cute!

There, now isn't that better? And guess what? I'm almost finished at this point! Just needed to make the feet and sew things on.

Surprisingly, I made the feet on my first attempted and they turned out pretty good! I had to write down the pattern so I wouldn't forget when I went to work on the other foot.

Last pose before he's finished!

Voila! Venonat lives in dark forests, in the underbrush, where very little light reaches. This is the best I could find, and it worked out perfectly!

As always, my works are for sale. However, I just haven't figured out a price for this guy yet. So, feel free to ask. :)

Also, be sure to check follow me on DeviantArt - sometimes I post teasers before I blog about them here. :) Also, somebody suggested to me that I start using Instagram..? What do you all think? I have no idea how to do it, though, so I'd have to look in to it.

And now my hands are in need of a serious break - I didn't realise a crochet hook could actually pierce skin, until I did it. >.> I also punctured my finger a couple of times with a yarn needle, even got under the nail once. So, that was an experience. Well worth it. :)

I also have some exciting news before I wrap this up. We get to find out the gender of the baby today! In five hours! I'm so excited!! We even have a friend coming from out of town to be there with us - she's really close to us. :) However, due to her coming down, she will be staying for a couple days. Which means I probably won't be doing much crafts. But, we shall see. She's the one I'm making the scarf for - you know, the scarf that totally got pushed to the farthest depths of my closet, yeah, that one.

Anyway, that is all for today!

Slow and Steady

Hey all! I know, I've been inactive this last week. But, that's because we finally moved! I love our new place, but we're still getting settled. In the mean time, I have been working on my plastic canvas project. And I've been taking lots of pictures of the process. But first, a picture of the near complete one!

I really love how it's turning out so far! Though, it has been a long process!!

I had to make a total of 34 of these little guys. I really like the pattern I decided to use, it goes well with the rest of it.

This was a tricky little bigger to work with, especially sewing it on, but I managed successfully! And I only had to make two, which was good.

In hindsight, making all the stairs as one and then connecting them to the side panel was a baaad idea. And I learned from my mistake.

It was not fun trying to see the other side panel on to this, as it liked to move as though it were an accordion! You can imagine the frustration of this. Like I said, it was a bad idea.

And here we are with the back panel on, but it a still not complete! I didn't have any more canvas left at this point, so I started on the second set of stairs, which I tackled in a completely different way!!

I decided it would be a smarter idea to attach the two side panels to the stairs at the same time, doing the top stairs and bottom indent - which was the hardest part on the first stairs - first. and let me tell you, it has been much easier to work with.

I am hoping to finish these by the end of the week - hopefully sooner! But, I have a lot of appointments coming up in the next couple of weeks, all for the baby's sake. :)

However, I finally bought more canvas do that I can work on this whenever I have the time! Sadly, the craft store didn't have the sturdier canvas I prefer to use, but the stuff I bought will do the same thing - I just don't like the feel of working with it, it's so...flimsy.

But, good news! When this project is complete, I have a couple more lined up.

Yesterday, I went out for lunch with a close friend of mine, and then we went to the mall. And during our mall trip, my friend bought me these!!

Aren't they awesome?! I have a bunch of yarn like this that my grandmother gave me - I call her Nanny, Nan for short, and is how I shall henceforth refer to her as, I just wanted to let you all know that Nan is my grandmother.  Papa is my grandfather. Anyway, my Nan gave me a bunch of yarn like this, but only pinks, whites and a ...maroon colour, I think it is. I think once I'm settled in my new place, I'm going to take picture of my yarn stash, as tiny and insufficient as it is!

Also, more good news! While I was at the craft store today, I found more of this stuff!

This is the yarn that I used to make the Ruffle Scarf! I just couldn't resist buying more of it. I had so much fun making the last one, that I just had to make them in all the colours the store had in stock - I'm tempted to go back and get one more of each colour. 

And yes, I will be selling these once I've made them - I think $15 is a fair price. :) If anyone is interested, please feel free to let me know. :)

And I think that is all I have to blog about for today. 

Wow I just realised, this is probably my longest post yet! I chalk it up to being inactive for a week. Hopefully you'll hear from me again in a few days!! 

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! :)