FO Friday - Getting Stuff Done

This week I've been trying to catch up on some crocheting that I have sadly been neglecting.

Firstly is a pretty random request that I received on a night out - my friend asking was just a tad tipsy!  She asked me if I could make 'aaaanything' and so I hesitantly enquired what she had in mind and was met with -  a bunny disguised as a zebra with one ear up and one ear down.  Random, I know!  After checking that she still wanted it the next day, I set out making it.  I only wanted to make a simple shape so the stripes would be more effective so here is my finished bunny-disguised-as-a-zebra.

Next is the pattern I was testing for Lucy In The Sky - 'Granny Chic 'Granny Stripe' Wrist Warmers'.  Sadly, I didn't make it quickly enough to give feedback about it - I was kicking myself for that!  So I let it hibernate for a bit but I've been crocheting it madly for the last couple of days as the temperatures have dropped again and I am rather chilly.  The pattern is really easy to follow and I think they look great and fit really well too.  The hardest part for me was choosing the colours.  I decided to make it symmetrical from the centre and I chose 2 colours that worked with the main colour and 2 that clashed with it.

I also want to say "Hi!" to my Best Friend who is off work ill at the moment - I hope you feel a bit better today.

He's in the middle of buying his own place so I'm planning to make a housewarming present.  I'm going to need to start making it soon as I don't know when he's likely to move.

And, finally, because I saw this idea on Kittens With Mittens and it looked like a good way to keep track of projects:

FO’s 2012 =  18 + 2 =20

WIP’s =  6

Queued = 8 

That wasn't as many as I thought it would be actually so I'm quite pleased!

Mothering Sunday

I know it just looks like I've forgotten to post since last week but we decided to put off Mothering Sunday for a week so it wasn't the same day as Eve's birthday.

As I have been feeling rather creative with my card-making recently I decided to make my card for Mum:

I love the little buttons and I have to admit I'm still surprised by how symmetrical the heart looks

We had a lovely day and watched the F1 (what an exciting race it was!!!) and generally made Mum feel special.

Design Week Review

Ok so I didn't post for days 4-6 of Design Week but I had coursework and a class test which were priority.

But I have been making great progress with my little barn owl I'm designing - he's called Titus by the way.

So here is my summary for each day:

Day 4 - Progress Photos

Day 5 - Trouble Spots

Besides struggling to find time I haven't had any problems


Day 6 - Turning a design into a pattern

I've been writing out the pattern as I go along - so far it's scribbled on the back of a train ticket and on an envelope but I will type it up when it's finished.

So here is Titus so far:

Look at his little face!!!  Just need to make the wings and sew on the feet then he's all done - so watch this space for the pattern.

All growed up

Anyone who follows my Mum's blog will know it was my little sister's 18th birthday on Sunday you can find her post about it here. I can't believe she's an adult (but she can't believe I'm 20 so it's fair)

Here is the card I made for her:

I also crocheted some presents for her.  Firstly, she had been saying for years how she wanted to make Day of the Dead Fellow by NeedleNoodles because it looks like the skeleton in The Corpse Bride with the famous Clark Gable line "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn" but she never got around to it so I decided to make it instead.

 

Next I made her favourite character from Spirited Away: Boh by Emily DeYoung it's a great free pattern and I love how it turned out.

The last thing I crocheted was the one that took most planning and effort.  I saw that the book 'Austentatious Crochet' had a 'Memento Board' which was basically like the earring holder I made but full of pretty things rather than being functional.  The crocheted lace pattern I used was Gilded Fans Stitch from Lion Brand's Stitchfinder.  I bought various charms and ribbons to decorate it.

Catching up - Design Week

I've been wanting to take part in Knit and Crochet Design week this week since I saw Stacey Trock's post about it last week.  Well, I had been wanting to release a new design anyway so I thought I'd go for it and join in.

Sadly, I've had loads of work this week so I'm only just getting around to posting about it now.

Day 1: Sketches
I've decided to design a barn owl amigurumi as they are my favourite owl - I love their heart-shaped faces!

I started off by doing some research to get the basic shape and features.

Then I made a few very simple sketches of what I wanted to make - you can tell I have a GCSE in art can't you!

Day 2: Techniques
The next step in the Design Week was to sort out what techniques should be used in the project.
My Barn Owl is going to be made:

• Start from top and work down
• Head and body made in one piece
• Worked in spiral rather than circles
• Separate face and chest panels
• Feet same as my Genghis the Eagle pattern

Day 3: Yarn Selection
Today's Design Week Topic is to select the yarns needed for the project.

I always use cheap acrylic DK wool for amigurumi so I have no specific brand that I will suggest

For the face and chest I'll use white wool and for the head and body I'll use tan/beige-ish colour.  I'm not quite sure what colour to use for the beak and the feet but I am thinking of a pink or an orangey colour depending on what looks best.

WIP Wednesday - steampunk phone case and birthday surprises

I can't wait for Eve's birthday to be out of the way so I can make other things.  Sadly I can't show the photos of what I've been making for her yet but I can show you the phone case I've been making.

The sides are just basic panels but the cogs are based on the ones from here.  I had to make it up as I went along though as even the smallest cog was too large for the phone case.

I haven't sewn the cogs on yet but here is a picture of them pinned in place waiting to be finished.

Yummy!

Last week we had a Sunday roast at a friend's house and the girls of the house did the cooking so this time The Boy and I cooked the roast and (my speciality) dessert.

The Boy did most of the work on the roast (with help from his friend) and I helped with some peeling.

UPDATE: I got permission to show this picture of The Boy and the friend who cooked with us:

Obviously potatoes are very interesting.

For dessert we decided that I would be baking a pie so I went for an apple and mixed berry pie - Granny Smith apples and a tin of mixed berries.  Since I had my camera, The Boy insisted on taking a photo of me chopping apples:

It was quite funny, when I was checking what I needed to take with me, I was asking Boy and it ended up that I had to take my scales my Mum donated to me and then when I got there and there was no mixing bowl I had to use a pan and a pyrex dish to mix.

I think the above picture looks a bit gruesome but it did taste great - honest!

I do like making pie - they all loved it and it was the most people I've baked for - 5 (I actually managed to cut the pie into 5 pieces and they were surprisingly even).

It makes me wish I had more time for baking!

FO Friday - Birthday Surprises

March is full of birthdays it seems.  Last week Boy and I went to a friend's birthday party so I decided to make him a football like the Celtic one I made in December but in red and white (because he supports the opposite team to the one my Dad does).

He really liked it and I think he'll definitely enjoy kicking it around his house with his housemates.  It's based on my Mum's pattern for a patchwork ball.

While I'm on the subject of my Mum it's her birthday today so why not pop over to her blog and say Happy Birthday to her!

Here is the card I made for her:

The crocheted part is from her own Compass Rose Earring pattern and she recognised it straight away.

And, finally, I made her some yellow, pink and sparkly bracelets using this great free pattern: Beaded Bracelet with Leather Weave by Fatima Lasay (or can be found here)

Anyways just one more birthday to make things for then I can get back to all of my other projects.

Excitement!!!

Yesterday The Boy returned from his friend's house with packages for me (we always send our parcels to there).  I knew I had ordered a book and a DVD and could identify one as a book but the other most definitely wasn't a DVD.  I turned it over and saw the postmarks from America... could it really be the robot figure I had ordered?

It is!!! Isn't he adorable! He's only about 2inches tall and was handmade by Lisastarchild from sleepyrobot13.  I love how intricate the owl is and how happy and smiling the robot is!

WIP Wednesday

This week there's not much I can show you - I've got 2 birthdays coming up (Mum and Eve) so I've been sorting out things for them.

I've also started making a case for my phone as I wanted something that can be taken off more easily like the Angry Birds one I made for The Boy.  I'm making it based on the steampunk style which I've fallen in love with so I'm making it light green with grey cogs (from this pattern).

The other thing I'm halfway through is Lucy's project that I'm testing for her.  Actually I'm exactly halfway through and it looks really good!

International Crochet Month

Isn't it exciting! A whole month devoted to crochet!

Today I had an adventure to the post office to send wool to Grace Paretree which was fun - I've never sent more than a letter before.  The wool was the stuff I used for The Boy's mitts for his birthday and I only had about 25grams left so I figured I would send it to a better home.

Also The Boy and I have bought Al Murray tickets for November which will be good fun.