Year-end balancing the books -craft wips

***2008***

was a good crochet year for
me so I thought I'd finish it
off by posting all my wips
as a statement that they would
indeed get done...eventually.

I only have 4... which I think is
a respectable number.

#1: Sew together the knitted horse
mum made me and also crochet
it's blanket of flowers.

#2: Finish the second %$#^&
knitted sock using dpn.

#3: Finish my applique

#4: Finish designing my crocheted
sheep teacosy

Happy New Year Everyone
I wish you health and happiness!!!

geekcrafts

I've been lucky to have had my works
show up on other craft sites and
just got the nod from geek crafts
for my south park amigurumi.
It's got everything from
Dr. Who to Mario to Star Wars
so check out this great site.

I'm still not happy with their eyes

I got tired of making Cartmans
so I switched to Kenny
(Xmas present for my youngest)
Working the head.



The two trouble makers.





Kenny is a bit unstable and
falls over easily.
Cartman needs his right
eye slid back up.
It must have been a rough
night for them both.

Link to South Park Afghan
Link to amigurumi Butters

A trio of French bears

Aren't these cute?



At first I thought that these were
needle felted.
They are actually made from
recycled wool sweaters.
The patterns are in the
December 08 Marie Claire Idees.
I really want to make these!

Barack Obama lives at my house

My oldest son asked for 2 books
written by Barack Obama
for Christmas so when I saw
this pattern I thought I'd
make it for him.



He's 2 1/2 inches tall which
is smaller than if you
followed the yarn and hook in
the pattern.
I decided to make him using
a dk weight yarn and 2.5 mm hook.
I also made him into a stuffed toy
instead of a puppet.
I think he would also look
cute as an ornament to mark
this historic event.
Here is the free pattern.
You just need to sign in to Lion Brand

Another knitted scarf

One of the wonderful things about the gorgeous
yarns that are available now is that even
a beginner knitter (that's definitely me)
can make a pretty scarf using
the simplist pattern.






 
This scarf is for my son's girlfriend and
as this is my first gift to her
I wanted it to be special.
It's a simple garter stitch
using 20 stitches on 15 inch needles.

The yarn is lovely,it is Lang's Mille Colori
and are stripes of deep chocolate browns with
amazing jewel purples and reds.

But what made this scarf come out so lovely
was the addition of a second thinner yarn
called Rowan kidsilk haze made from kid
mohair and silk. Not only does it add an
incredible softness to the scarf but
it also adds a slight shadowing affect
which unfortunately doesn't show
up in pictures.

One-Skein crochet scarf

I wanted to make a quick but nice present
for mum and I knew that
this scarf would fit the bill.
When rolled up it looks
like a perfect rose.



When worn it can be wrapped once
or several times around the neck.



1032 people (counting me)
have made it Ravelry's
most popular crochet project.
I used Paton's Classic Merino
and I would guess that
I used only 3/4 of a skein.
I've seen it made with acrylics
and expensive yarns and all
of them resulted in a very pretty scarf.

You can find the free pattern here
or in the Happy Hooker book.

Crocheted Ornaments-sweaters and skates

What fun it was to make these
mini sweaters!
They along with the little skates
were sent to Coltpixy
for a swap over at
Creative Living.


I love the sweater pattern
by Marci Senders.
She has done a great job not
only with the pattern but
also with a great tutorial
complete with step-by-step
pictures.
Thanks Marci!

I was also very happy with how
the little ice skates came out.
Thanks to Myra Ann Shaw
for a really cute pattern!
I'm planning on making
another pair but this time I will
make them into hockey skates
for my referee son.

Russian join- a technique for joining a new ball

I learned a wicked new way to join a new
ball of yarn without any tails to weave in;
it's called the Russion join.
I learned this technique from
a helpful clerk at Romni Wool
in Toronto.

Instead of posting a long winded how-to,
here is a great link with pictures.

When I used it on my scarf
it resulted in a strong invisible join
so I was very happy with the result.
To me it seemed to take less time
than weaving in ends and
the result is much cleaner.

Since I'm such a novice knitter
I'm not surprised that I haven't
come across this before
but......

My question is,
Why is it that I'm not seeing
crocheters using this technique?

Tagged

I've been tagged by amber
at Crafty all over the place
so here goes...

7 Random Things about sukigirl
---------------------

1. When I was around 5, I almost drowned in a pool,
but being the clever red headed girl that I was,
I wore my hair in a lovely ponytail...perfect for my mum to pull me out of the water.

2. I have painted my work space the brightest pink
so that my male family won't venture inside my space.
Sometimes it gets a bit much for me, but we all know
that we have to suffer for our art.

3. I still regret having to tell my son that there was no Santa Claus. He told me that all his friends didn't believe in him and asked me to be honest.
I was ..and he cried ....and it broke my heart.
4. My hubby and 2 sons have no idea that I have manipulated them into choosing female pets only. I do this in an attempt to preserve the estrogen balance in the house.

5. When I was 7 years old my brother and I were picked to be the King and Queen of the London Fair. We got our picture in the paper, a free teddy bear (which I still have after many, many years), lunch with the fair president and a bucket load of tickets for rides.
I think of it as my greatest achievement.

6. When I was 7, I also slipped on our back step and the back of my dress got caught on the clothesline hook and I hung there for about an hour before my mum
came to rescue me.
It was, of course, one of my lesser achievements.

7. That despite how #2 and #4 sounds, my family is my greatest joy!

As far as tagging, .....most of the blogs I visit have done the tag thing so I'll bend the rules and just list 7 sites.

1.LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this site attic24

2. If I could only visit one it would be Craftzine

3. She is so talented, I wish she would post more
coltpixy
4.Crochet Liberation Front
I belong to this subversive group on Ravelry.
Yes, the words crochet and subversive can be used together.

5. I just discovered this one and I'm really enjoying
the mix of crochet and sewing projects.
My cuppa'charms

6. I've picked up some great recipes from here.. smitten kitchen

7. future girl
Great designs, tutorials and craft book reviews