Crochet Oops #1

There are always crochet, "Oopses." Sometimes, those oopses are good things. Like, the time I accidentally cut the thread on a crocheted flower too early. It was originally intended to be a pair of earrings. As I hate attaching things after the fact, I wanted to make the chain the earring would hang from right out of the ending thread from the flower. No sewing, because I HATE sewing. Anyway, I naturally cut the thread too short and was left with just a flower. No earring. So, what was I going to do with this flower? I turned it into a ring! Now, those rings are things I make all of the time. I never even finished my earring project because I was so pleased with the rings.

But then... there are the bad oopses... like this one:

Unfortunately, I was almost completely finished with this crocheted egg before I realized my oops. I suppose it really wouldn't have been an oops if I had realized it in time to fix it... Anyway, This is SUPPOSED to be a blue egg with pink and yellow stripes. Instead, it has one blue end and one half completed pink end, so the stripes now make little sense. When I went to pull out the pink on the end so that I could replace it with blue, the yarn knotted and broke. Thank you, baby soft yarn, for being so thin and breakable... As you can see, I was getting ready to close the egg, having stuffed it and everything already, when I realized my fate. Now, this egg serves as a reminder that when crocheting at 2 a.m., one must be a little more attentive...


Then, there are the oopses that are sort of, "whatever." This is one of those oopses. I found this photo while browsing My Flickr Account of some Easter Eggs that I really liked. I loved the color combination, and thought I could incorporate them into my own Easter Eggs.

Easter Egg Inspiration

So, I set out to create my own yellow and green Easter Eggs. Clearly, the photo shows my "planning" stages for the egg keychain. It is very well marked that I wanted the ends yellow with two white stripes and a green band in the middle.

However, when my brain went to pick yarn colors, I guess I decided that Y=Green and G=Yellow. I'm not sure why this happened. I mean, it was ME who created the design. It's not like I found it in a book and decided to tweak it. It was all me. If I decided the colors, why did I decide to screw them up... and right from the start? I mean, the STARTING color is wrong. It's not like the last crochet oops where my mistake at least happened LATER. No, I decided to ignore the pattern right from the get-go. When I was finished, I looked at my egg and my design and said, "whatever." This oops is relatively harmless. I mean, the colors are still there, it's just a little different. And, now I get to make another one with the CORRECT colors, :)

This crocheted keychain can be found on My Etsy Site

So, I've had a few oopses. I'm sure there will be more for your musings. I never cease to amaze myself with the amount of random wrongs I create. I just started knitting as well, which is an ENTIRELY different thing for me. Goodness. I'm sure I will have stories of that to share with you, too!

Question: Do you have oopses? What's been your best/worst oops?

Thanks for reading!

~Paige

My First Amigurumi - a beginner's review

This was my very first attempt at amigurumi.

He was created on New Years Eve 2011. I remember because while all of my friends were gathered together playing board games and having a grand old time, I was at home sick with some kind of cold or flu. I sipped my theraflu and started on this little guy. I had just recently purchased my first amigurumi books and couldn't possibly wait until I felt better to crack open these books and dig in! I wasn't content with just looking at the pictures. It needed to happen, and it needed to happen whether I was sick or not. So, I started. I managed to finish his head before the theraflu kicked in. Then, four hours later, I woke up from my sleep and finished him off.

I was really surprised with how easy he was to make. Most creatures I've done so far are entirely single crochet. This stitch is like the first one you learn as a crocheter. Well, perhaps I shouldn't say that. When I learned to crochet, my grandma taught me the Half Double Crochet first. I didn't know it was an hdc until a lot later... a LOT later... but that is a different story entirely... So, they are all single crochet, and once you master crocheting in the round, it's a cinch!

The other really necessary trick to Amigurumi is the magic ring. *cue dramatic theme music* I used this link to find out more about the magic ring. Yes, it may be hard to seriously investigate a crochet technique called "the magic ring," but it is so worth it. At least, I had a hard time not laughing as I typed it in my google search bar. I thought for sure all of the search results were going to say, "Are you serious? Have you EVER crocheted before? That does NOT exist! :D Anyway, I have found out, also, that it can interchangeably be called an adjustable ring. I get super annoyed when I'm researching something and it has 400 different names. Hopefully, this will save you some trouble if you are looking for it as well. ANYWAY, the adjustable ring is WAY cooler than the other ways I've seen of doing it. The other instructions I've seen say to ch 2 and make however many stitches you need for the first row in the second chain from the hook. It makes a circle and everything, but the hole in the middle is HUGE. The point of using single crochet is to prevent stuffing from leaking out. If there is this gaping hole in the top of your project, it doesn't really matter that the rest of it is all nicely and neatly bound together. So, in my opinion, go for the magic, (hehe), or adjustable ring.

The other tid-bit I learned in my first Amigurumi project was to actually read the list of supplies before you leave the shopping center to create your cuties. I definitely didn't do this. This is why my poor purple bird has eyes that are made out of lots and lots of knots, and a beak (yes, I am aware that you probably didn't know it was a beak until now) that looks like nothing I've ever seen before. If I had read the supply list, I could have gotten beads for the eyes and felt for the beak. (I have a whole rant about felted accessories and bead eyes that I'll get to at some point) However, when I was finally able to begin the quest for cuteness and sit down to make this guy, I finally understand that I forgot to get materials. I'm lucky I had fiberfill lying around for the inside!

So, that's how I spent my New Year's Eve. There was no ball dropping, no champagne, and no confetti. I had a mug full of theraflu, a lap full of yarn, and the introduction to making some of the cutest crochet things I've ever made. Plus, I got a 4-hour nap! Perhaps this is how I will spend next New Years...

I'm happy to say my amigurumi skills have improved since this test-drive bird. Check out some of my finished products at My Etsy Site.

Thanks for reading,

~Paige

QUESTION: What crochet projects are you MOST proud of?

Why? - a look into the yarn obsession

There was a time, long ago, when crocheting was just a hobby. It was just something to do to pass the time. I had a skein or two of yarn lying around that I would find time, every now and then, to blend into my project. I even remember a time when I used yarn for other crafts. If i needed string, it all came out of the yarn pool. I was foolish, I admit.

Now, all of my yarn is rightfully used for yarn things! Crochet is at the forefront of my crafting activity. If I need some average string, I'm liable to ask a neighbor for it before I consider delving into the valuable pile of scraps that I may need for that Amigurumi bunny's nose or for the handle to that crocheted basket. It's admitedly, an obsession. My "to do" project list is a mile long. It ran off of the two sheets of paper I was using and is now expanded on a bulletin board filled with yellow sticky notes.

Recently, I started learning how to knit. I know, I know, my allegience is waning. Pretty soon I'll be cut off from the whole yarn craft community! But really, knitting isn't so bad. For years I've been a solely crochet advocate, but now, I feel like we need to band together and bridge the gap between needle art. No more stereotypes! Ok, I realize this is getting sort of out of hand... moving on...

Now, to the heart of the issue. Not only did I realize that crochet was something I thoroughly enjoyed, but over time it became more and more necessary for me. As one gets older, one adopts more responsibility and has less time for fun things. (Epiphany... for sure...) Crochet for me, was one of those "fun" things that I saw slipping away. I slowed down to only making enough handmade gifts for Christmas. Otherwise, my crochet hooks laid dormant and abandoned. What about growing up took me away from this fiber winding productivity? Answer: college. As I state in my profile, I'm a musician. I went to school for music, and as any classically trained musician will tell you, it is a RIDICULOUS amount of work. It isn't just the work, but also the judgement, the expectations, the competition, the physical demands... like I said, ridiculous. Don't get me wrong, I'm really passionate about music. The whole college sitch just wasn't what I expected. I had this idealized dream that college was going to be me, playing my flute all day in ensemble after ensemble, loving learning about music theory and history, and making those life-long friends everyone tells you to make in college. Well, one of those things went as planned. I met some of my favorite people at college, and that I wouldn't change for everything. The curriculum, however, I would like to take a whack at.

For four and a half years I did nothing but music. Oh wait, I forgot those other hugely important classes like Geology and Shakespeare. Those were definitely game changers in my music profession. (This is my sarcasm if it isn't evident, haha). So, when I wasn't practicing, performing, studying, reading, going to clinicals, and writing papers, I was sleeping. So, I got a full night's sleep of about 3-4 hours regularly. I discovered the world of caffeine and held on tight.

All this to say, while I was in college, I did what I was told. I followed their instructions. I did all of the practicing. I went to all of the concerts. Most of all, I lost a lot of the drive I had initially for music. I got burned out. Music was just what I did, it wasn't what I loved anymore. I still, "liked," it. I imagined switching majors 3 or 4 times a day (as we all do) and couldn't really see myself doing anything else. So, I sucked it up. However, in that time, there was no crocheting. Once in a while, I would find a quick project I could whip out on a Sunday while I neglected some other pertinant assignment. However, that was the extent of it. I had been an avid reader before college, too. However, I traded all that for reading textbooks. I had previously enjoyed journaling. I traded all of that for writing reflections. I wanted to slow down. Most of all, I wanted to sleep!

I can't pretend I hated everything about college. Like I said, I met some of the most wonderful people there. I just know it took me away from a lot of the things I enjoyed and I felt chained to my music education. SO, being graduated, I all of the sudden realized I had time to do WHATEVER I WANTED. My life, from here on out, is whatever I choose it to be. It is no longer being chosen for me.

So, graduated and in Barnes and Noble one day, I stumbled upon a book of Amigurumi crocheted animals. Now, I am spending all of my available time doing this thing that I missed so much. I am now sharing it with you.

Welcome to my world of unemployment, :)

~Paige