I Found This on the Internet So I Made It, Part I

I don't know if anyone observed the sheer animalistic awesomeness that is my big-ass blue crochet hook in the Skull Blanket post, but I just couldn't resist crocheting something new with it. As it happens, I had some impulse-purchase lavender Super Chunky yarn lying about. I also had a mad hankering for a circle scarf, and I happened upon the perfect pattern over on Handmade by Anne Potter, namely the Soho Bulky Cowl. I'll admit that I was sceptical at first, because whilst her scarf looked awesome, the pattern seemed way too simple for it. I was super happy with the result though, and it crocheted up in no time!

It is super warm and cozy. And my ratties freaking love riding in the folds like a pouch. Easy pattern, brilliant result, mad props to Ms Potter <3

Pretty Vacant Night Market III Haul

Recently, Gandalfs (an alternative club in Observatory, for those who don't know) started a monthly night market, the Pretty Vacant Indoor Market. I've been lucky enough to be a seller at two of these markets, and it's always awesome to meet other alternative types from the Cape Town region. Of course, I always have trouble not throwing all of my money at the other crafters, and when I saw this little dude with her giant eyes staring at me from across the room I was absolutely smitten! My inimitable and most excellent sister purchased it for me, and I am now the proud owner of my very own Boudica Designs monster! Isn't she the cutest? I'm very into pastels at the moment (more on that later), and she looks like a hairball coughed up by a unicorn! I love her to bits. Each monster comes with a little birth certificate. Check out Boudica Designs on Facebook, she has plenty of monsters that need loving homes <3

She's so fluffy I could die!! 

HorrorBunnies Live!

I have finally taken pics of my HorrorBunnies, after they were in my craft basket for AGES. Anyway, here for your viewing pleasure:

Zombie HorrorBunny

Frankenstein's HorrorBunny

Werewolf HorrorBunny

Cthulhu HorrorBunny

Teaspoon Bunny

Vampire HorrorBunny

Faux bear skin rug

I have decided that what I truly need from life is a faux bearskin rug... preferably made to look like a teddy bear skin ^_^ I have a great love for anything fluffy, and the thought of having something big and fuzzy to bury my face in makes me way too happy. However, animal fur (particularly taxidermy *shudder*) freaks me right out, so this is an adorable, cruelty-free fuzzy alternative!

A quick Google search yielded some awesome pics from really creative people, and I'm so amped to take a stab at making my own :)

(From BarnabyHuxley)

Then there are also more unusual, and nonetheless very awesome designs, like this Wampa rug:

(From Think Geek. I suspect that the Princess Leia cosplayer is optional...)

But I must admit that my favourite so far, hands down, is this monster rug I found on Deviant Art

(By missmonster)

Definitely a monster-hunting trophy worthy of note!

A Very Cthulhu Christmas

I made this tiny Cthulhu for my dad for Christmas, based on the pattern in Creepy Cute Crochet :) As you can see, it turned out perfectly fine, and I make all apologies for every negative thought I have ever had about the patterns. As I said (at length) in a previous post, reading instructions on whether to crochet in both loops rather than in the back loop only is rather important -_- I will at some point post a picture of an earlier attempt at a Cthulhu from the same pattern. I also made another tiny Cthulhu, with slightly different eyes, for a friend for her birthday.

Anyway, just so that you can see that I do actually ~make stuff.

Gadzooks! A post!! a.k.a Musings on amigurumi basics and why reading instructions is important

A NOTE BEFORE I BEGIN: My posts will henceforth be written offline and then dragged around on a flash drive until I get somewhere with internet. Hence the date on this and hopefully future posts. I have not lost my mind (that I'm aware of), despite what the contradiction between the written date and the posting date may imply. That is all. As you were, gentlemen.

As I'm sitting here writing this (overly delayed) post, I am mentally facepalming so hard my brain might haemmorhage. If you'd care to listen to my misadventure in the form of a melodramatic rant, read on :) If not, skip to the TLDR (Too Long Didn't Read, for those who don't know) at the end ;)

I've been crocheting for around a year now, after learning how to do so from a series of magazines called The Art of Crochet, which I bought whenever I happened to wander into a CNA. I don't wander into CNA's terribly often, so I have the magazines more or less in pairs with a ten to twelve issue gap between each pair ;) Regardless, I learnt how to do the basic crochet stitches, and learnt that most patterns are simply modifications of those stitches. Simple, right? And really, since all I really want to make is amigurumi, I should be fine, right? So this intrepid little crafter promptly bought all the yarn she could lay her grubby hands on, and started making things from a friend's copy of Creepy Cute Crochet.

And they were hideous. Tiny malformed abbherations which looked oddly ribbed and stretched and god knows what else. I went onto the internet (yay for the repository of all knowledge!! \o/) and the all-knowing internet told me that all I really needed to do was turn my crochet work inside-out before stuffing. Ta-da, no more ribs! Yay, mystery solved, shove the tiny abbherations into the corner, my world is good once more.

Or is it? Ever in the back of my mind was the niggling doubt about the tiny abbherations... their tiny bodies all weirdly elongated... in a night-sweat of being haunted by my past failure (what? crocheting is serious business, yo) I looked up some product reviews of Creepy Cute Crochet, and some others complained of the same problem. So it's not just me... I'm not the problem, right? RIGHT??? And in a fit of denial I have not made anything from someone else's pattern since. I made up the pattern for my Bunnies based loosely off what I have seen in other patterns, and a vague understanding of the effects of increasing and decreasing on the shape of an amigurumi. For the most part, I think I did pretty well. But my stitches still didn't look as tight or neat as some others, and the tiny gaps left by decreases bugged me. I finally sucked up my pride today, and happened upon Planet June (who has recently come to Cape Town! Where I live!! How cool?? *dies*) and her lovely tutorials.

MIND. BLOWN.

Because I had learnt to crochet normally, for non-amigurumi purposes, I had been taught to crochet in the back loop only (BLO). Which is dandy when you're doing someting like double crochet (UK treble crochet) back and forth, makes a pretty pattern, world is shiny. But as a method for amigurumi, it sucks quite a lot. Your stitches are immediately longer and more open than they would be if you crocheted under BOTH loops. Which makes sense. Also, it makes your invisible decreases, you know, invisible. *claws at face a little*

Which brings me to the point of my long and melodramatic rant... I may have to rework all my patterns, because the shaping is entirely different depending on how you stitch. I do know that how you do it is a matter of personal style, but I feel that the methods suggested by June are far superior to what I've been doing. Wibble. But at least I have learnt something new, and hopefully my amigurumi would be better for it. I wonder if maybe I should try my hand at Creepy Cute Crochet again, and see if my results are better this time round?

Aside from all that, I have been working on some very enjoyable projects and ideas. Now that I'm on holiday I will hopefully do more crafting. And more blogging! My lack of internet has been very frustrating, but I think by writing my blog posts and then just dragging them along on a flash drive until I get to somewhere with internet I will end up being more prolific. Rather than just ranting at myself in my mind like a crazy person ^_^

TLDR:
- Read Planet June's tutorials. Your life will be better for it.
- I will have to remake my old patterns and am being a big girls' blouse about it.
- Crochet patterns often assume you know things that you don't. Always make sure what they expect of you before whining about your amigurumi looking mangled.
- I hope to blog more by writing my posts as they occur to me, and then posting them when I can.

Promises, promises...

In an attempt to remind myself of what I want to post, and out of an inability to leave my new toy alone, I have compiled a brief list of projects I am working on and favourite recipes that I wish to share.

Recipes

• Baba ganoush
• Hummus
• Chickpea patties

Crafts

• Black steampunk gloves
• Totoro amigurumi (made from the free pattern designed by Heavens_Hellcat)
• Cthulhu amigurumi
• Zombie-Killer t-shirt dress
• Shoulder Cthulhu (don't ask... all will be explained and revealed).

As you can see, I suffer from a short attention span, so things tend to happen at once.

This list reminds me of the fact that I need to make a disclaimer: I will only be posting patterns or recipes which I created (should I feel inclined to do so); however, I will be posting pictures of the results of recipes or patterns designed by other people, and credit them. Obviously.