More Creations

I enjoyed making the whale amigurumi so much I decided to give another one a try.  I've been holding on to this one for a long time because it is so cute.  I didn't really have anyone specific in mind when I made it but now it has a home and I'll be making more. 

This is Fruitloop made from a free pattern called Hermione the Unicorn by Dawn Toussaint.  I called her Fruitloop because the variegated yarn I used has the colors of fruitloops.  She was fun to make but it was hard on my hands so I had to take frequent breaks.  I made this mostly with yarn from my stash that I wasn't sure what to do with because there wasn't enough of it to make anything else.  The white and solid purple had no labels and is most likely discontinued anyway.  I'm really glad to be able to use it up.  I plan to make more of these to donate to pediatrics or the ER.  I think the kids there would love something like this to cheer them up.  I'm very grateful to Dawn Toussaint for the free pattern!  

I also made another whale because, well, why not?  I used up another small skein of stash yarn for this.  I thought I'd have enough to finish it but I was a nose short.  I just had to add some red heart in Royal to finish it and I also made one of his fins in that color so he has one in each shade of blue.  I think he's really cute.  His eyes look yellow but they are green.  The pattern for this guy is in my last post.  I can't think of anything but Free Willie for some reason.  

Happy Crafting,

DJ

I have been busy

I haven't posted here in a long, long time.  I tend to post more on my main blog (https://fiberplusalgia.blogspot.com/).  This is more stitchy related so I decided to post here.  I have been knitting and crocheting more lately and finished some things.

First, I finished a baby blanket for a friends little baby boy.  This is Baby Blanket Arthur, a pattern I purchased on Ravelry from Le Petit Mouton.  I love this pattern and plan to make it many, many times.  It is an easy pattern that works up quick and doesn't take much thinking.  I used the new Lion Brand Coboo yarn though and while the finished blanket feels really nice the yarn splits so bad it slowed me down.  The yarn is actually so loosely spun that it almost has no twist at all. 

The color in my pictures look more gray but it is a gray blue.  The color is called Denim.  I'll add a better picture of the ball of yarn that shows the color better.    

Since it is thinner and the individual threads are so thin I had to wear my glasses all the time to watch for missed threads.  I had to take out a lot of work to fix places were I missed one thread, usually of the back side from where I was working, and that was frustrating.  When I was blocking it out I found a few I missed too but they are hard to find, I hope.  Maybe I'm just blind.  I almost don't want to work with it again but the blanket feels amazing.  The drape is lovely.  I also love the colors it comes in.  After about half way though I found a groove and didn't have as much trouble.  I guess you just have to learn to work with it and then it isn't so bad.  I am sure I will buy more of it.  This blanket is perfect for summer time when you don't want something too hot. 

You can see in the picture below that my phone camera tends to loose blue tones.  Where you can see the foam mat the blanket is pinned on it looks yellow but it is actually bright green.  

I decided to make a toy whale to go with this blanket.  This is I think my first amigurumi if you don't count the little bone I crocheted for my dog buddy when he was a puppy.  Again, my counter he is on is sage green and it looks more yellow there and he is more blue.  This is a free pattern called M. Richard the Whale by Stacey Trock.  The yarn I used is Cotton Ease by Lion brand which I heard they discontinued.  That makes me sad because I used it so often.  They really shouldn't discontinue something that really is a staple item.  I hope they are going to come out with something good enough to replace it.  

This pattern is very fast to work up and I quickly got to the point where I needed to add the eyes and was stuck waiting for them to arrive in the mail.  I just had to have those eyes though.  I couldn't fit any felt behind them though or they wouldn't snap closed.  

Okay, I do have more to share but I'll end this post for now and later I'll post more of my creations.  

~DJ

YOP 10.31.16

BOO!

Bet you didn't expect a post from me.

I had a really bad flare up of pain that wasn't like what I'm used to with the Fibromyalgia.  My doctor suspects it may be RA and put me on a round of steroids to calm things down and then started me on a med used for RA.  I guess it take at least 13 weeks to start to work.  I also had a cold and I've been very tired (which may be from the cold or a side effect of the new meds).  We will see.  I've been feeling a little bit better and was able to do a few things.

I started learning how to tat again and I made this tatted awareness ribbon.  I thought it would be easy to do since I used to tat before but it I had forgotten how to get started again.  I pulled out my 3 ring binder I put together for my tatting notes and patterns but I didn't have anything on there about how to start lol  I had to learn the basics again and I used this site http://www.georgiaseitz.com/  I actually learned from another site and some youtube videos originally but Georgia's site is very helpful.

I wanted to make this into a Fibromyalgia Awareness pin for obvious reasons.  I wanted to find a purple butterfly to put on it but I couldn't find one at Joann's and our Michaels store is closed due to a fire.  Anyway, this is what I ended up with.

I also was finally able to knit the Bankhead hat. I could have made about 4 of these with all the work I did if I didn't have to take out so much to fix mistakes.  The fibro or whatever is causing the pain makes it really hard to focus sometimes.

It kind of bugs me that the ribbing slants.  I thought it wouldn't show when it was on someone's head but it does.  My husband said his hat should be longer so he can fold up the edge and pull it down over his ears when it gets really cold.  Plus he said it should be black to go with his gloves.  It is also a bit thin.  This is lion brand wool ease yarn so it has some wool but I think the wind we've been having will go right through it.  I'm going to get some bulky wool yarn in black to make him a hat.  One of my boys will wear this one.  I already got some bulky yarn in royal blue to match the fleece lining to his coat but since he made the comment about matching his gloves I'll do that for him.  I'm just so happy to finally finish my first knitted hat!  I had a hard time with the dpn's at first.  I didn't have a problem when I was making socks but I guess it is a little different.  Mine are mostly metal and I got right up to the last row and a couple of my needles just slid out and dropped several stitches.  I couldn't figure out how to fix it with all the decreases so I had to start over.  I finally found some needle tip stopper things that came with something I bought.  I didn't understand why I would need them.  They were called "needle point protectors" so I just stuffed them away thinking I didn't need to protect my needle tips since I'm always at home.  I used them to stick on the ends of my dpn's to keep the stitches on while I was working on the other areas.  That worked and I'm thinking that is probably what they are actually for.   They really should call them "Stitch protectors."

Well, that is all for me for now.  I'm happy to finally have an update after being MIA for several weeks.  I will be flying to Anchorage (Alaska) to see my Rheumatologist this Thursday and I always enjoy seeing the mountains there.  I'll try to get a few pictures to share.  It really is amazing to me that you can be in the middle of the city surrounded by cars and shopping and restaurants and you can look up to the horizon and see the mountains.  It looks like the city is built right up to them.  I don't fly well but it is only a 30 minute flight from here.  I hope it isn't too bumpy this time.

YOP Update 9.26.16

I finally finished my Meandering Rib Scarf and I am so glad. I was getting tired of the same thing all the time. Of course I couldn't wait to give it to my husband at Christmas and just gave it to him as soon as it was finished. He really liked it which is really nice. He isn't big into "crafty things," especially if they are things to wear. I knew he would like the color and also pretty sure he would appreciate something knitted over crochet. Now I want to make him a knit hat in the same yarn to match it. I've never knit a hat so I am looking for a good pattern that isn't too challenging to start with.  I've already got enough challenge going on in the new project I just started.

I'm taking on an intarsia wrap using 8 balls of yarn (each one is half a skein - 71 g). It is already making my gray noodle hurt but I'm figuring it out. Hopefully by the time I'm finished it will look like the pictures in the pattern, Japanese Weave Wrap. The pattern is great with photo tutorials for how to do a multi-color cast on and other necessary things. I watched some youtube videos to learn about intarsia before starting.

Multi-color cast on

The first time I started this I got my yarn and myself and some furniture tied up together. I knew there had to be a better way. I decided to lay the balls out in order and instead of flipping my work I just moved myself to the opposite side. That way I have a lot less tangling. The little bit of tangling I get because of crossing the yarns when changing color I just fix as I go.

For some reason I'm always good at getting half-formed ideas and then I have to run the idea by my husband or one of my sons to get a complete, workable idea. My oldest son (22) is super smart (Enrolled in public school Gifted & Talented class/ELP when he was only 3 years old!) but he is book smart and if it isn't math, statistics or he hasn't read about what you're doing he doesn't have a clue lol. He was so confused when I tried to explain to him what I was doing. It was funny because he stood in front of my yarn balls for 30 minutes trying make sure I wasn't totally crazy. He was drawing diagrams and writing out number sequences and I was trying to explain knitting in very basic language and what I was trying to do. He was sure I was wrong about how this thing was going to come out and wanted to save me from wasting so much time on it. My youngest son (19) always compared himself to his brother and never thought he measured up.  He didn't see that he had his own talents when he was younger. I did though. He is very clever and he is my main go-to for color questions and things like "Is there something in the garage (or backyard etc) I can use to (do whatever)?" Anyway, my problem was my kitchen table is way too wide for my idea of moving myself to the other side instead of flipping my work; It's a big circle. I didn't have anything else that would work and I couldn't use the floor or Buddy (beagle puppy) would make a mess of things. My younger son came up with the ironing board set up with a bar stool on either side. Later he grabbed my yard stick and put it behind the balls to keep them from rolling off.  

Now I'm learning to change colors properly when on the right side or wrong side of the work and praying I don't make any mistakes. I really wish I had a couple of 12" double pointed needles.

I'll leave you with a new picture of my dwarf maple looking a little more glorious than last week. You can't tell from this picture but it frosted this morning and the air was frosty and white-ish like there were very fine particles of ice in the air. It looks almost foggy but it wasn't fog, it was ol' man winter's breath hanging in the air.

I got my laptop back!

I am so happy!  Now I realize just how much I love it!  I'm just too old to have small screens. Eventually I may need a large screen TV as a computer screen so I can see but for now this full size laptop is really nice. I was surprised when I picked it up to move it to my lap that it seemed so heavy! The chomebook weighs nothing and I'd gotten used to how easy it is to move around. It also has a good, long-lasting battery so I could move to my room or the kitchen for a while and it weighs less than most of my books. One thing I will miss about that little guy is how easy it is to adjust the brightness. There is a row of buttons across the top and one of them turns it up and one turns it down instead of having to remember where to go to find the settings to adjust that. That was really handy when I had a migraine and I've been having a lot of them lately. I can still use that when I want but for now I'm a happy dancing fool with my ol' pal back!  Oh and now I should be able to print the pattern for my new project. I'm so glad.

I also got a new toy for Buddy today.  Here is a little video.