Where did the summer go?

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Well Spring has long since sprung a leak and sank, and Summer has come and gone so fast I’m not even sure if it was really here at all. And now it’s time to settle into Autumn and Fall and very shortly Winter.

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And with that I am working on several new projects to blog about into the fall and winter. Here are a few highlights of what is coming up.

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I’ve started to make the yearly Halloween costumes and they are turning out great this year. Luckily my husband always has several ideas about what to be for several years into the future and I wrote a list down of his ideas a few years back so I don’t have to worry what to make, just what I want to make the next year.

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The husband wasn’t super excited about me creating a template for the Halloween costumes out of paper, but I find it is the easiest way to do it.

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The husband also wanted a new shirt for Halloween this year too so I’ve been working on that as well. While I was at it I made myself a few new work shirts and a few shirts just for fun too.

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I also have been making some cold weather kids clothes. But stay tuned for all that and more in the coming weeks.

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Here are some photos with some fun things I did over the summer, plus a few just for laughs…

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Let’s Make A Deal

Remember the old game show with Monty Hall called Let’s Make A Deal? I  loved that show! Remember how the contestants were offered either what was in the box, what was behind door number two, or what was in Monty’s pocket? That is how I felt the other day as I opened the three mystery boxes of fabric hidden in the bottom of the sewing room closet.

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When we moved into our current home, most of the fabric made its way from the sewing room into the spare bedroom closet except for three boxes that were tucked at the the bottom of the sewing room closet. These three boxes were quickly covered with everything else, patterns, fabric scraps, UFO’s, mending, ironing, and so on. At this point, they were more of a table in the closet than boxes of fabric. After the devastating trip to the stash a couple of months ago, I knew it was time to pull these three boxes out and see what surprises they held.

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On the day of the opening of the boxes, I had to start by clearing off the boxes to get down to them. This proved to be a big job in itself. After I pulled the three boxes from the closet, I opened them one at a time, and found gorgeous pieces of fabric that I forgot I even owned. I piled all the fabric into neat stacks around the sewing room, and then the hard part started. I really did not want to just poke the fabric back into the boxes and the boxes back into the closet, so, I decided to part with some of the pieces. After much touching of fabric and debating its possible uses, I had one third, one box, of the fabric put in the donation pile.

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As I sorted through the remaining pieces of fabric to keep, I ran across 4 pieces that really caught my eye and I decided that they would not be returning to the boxes at all. Instead they would be sewn up next. There was one piece for me a shirt, one piece for the husband a shirt and two scrap pieces of fleece, enough to make a couple of kid’s sweatshirts. The remaining pieces were placed back in the two boxes and moved to the spare bedroom to be counted among the rest of the stash.

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Although I am missing the table they had made, I am loving the extra space in the sewing room closet. Plus I am excited to get sewing on the beautiful pieces of fabric that I had found hidden in the boxes.

Get a Job

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Since he cost me one and a half skeins of yarn and a half of a bag of stuffing to make, I told the three eyed monster that he was going to have to get a job to help pay for himself. After combing the help wanted adds and checking out a few options, Three Eyes decided that he wanted to work at Five Guy’s Burgers and Fries. He loves their hamburgers and fries as much as I do, so I agreed to help him get the job.

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To start his new job slinging burgers, Three Eyes needed an apron. This was easily made from some scraps that I found in the stash. We cut out the front of the apron, turned the edges and stitched them down. Next we made the ties and neck loop and attached them to the apron. Quickly enough, the apron was done, but it was too boring. That was when the husband stepped in. The husband designed the logo for the front of the apron and printed it out on some iron on transfer paper. Then he helped us iron the transfer on to the apron. The end result was a perfect apron for Three Eyes new job at Five Guy’s!

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Next, Three Eyes needed a hat, well, three hats really.  We tried to design baseball caps, but after checking out Five Guy’s uniforms, we decided to make sun visors instead.

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Three Eyes’ visors are made from red felt. We glued a piece of cardboard under the brim to give the felt some shape. So, that his visors didn’t just look like two pieces of felt glued together, I did some top stitching around the edges for a more professional look. Stitching cardboard is a good way to dull a needle, so now Three Eyes has to make even more money to buy me some new sewing machine needles.

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The big day finally arrived when the husband and I took Three Eyes to Five Guy’s Burgers and Fries to apply for a job. The manager thought he was very cute and decided to let him try a few different jobs at the restaurant to see how he would do.

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First, Three Eyes tried to help serve the complimentary peanuts they offer, but with no arms this was proving to be a little difficult.  Next, he tried to help at the register, but he would not stop flirting with the other register help. Working at the ketchup and mustard dispensers was his next job, and then at the soda machines, but neither of these positions were working out either. So, Three Eyes finally decided that a job at Five Guy’s was just not going to work out for him. With that decision made, Three Eyes decided he was hungry and needed some food since it was lunch time.

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Having some lunch made the pain of not getting his dream job a little less terrible as he wolfed down a delicious hamburger, fresh cut fries and a Coca Cola.

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I think Five Guys Burgers and Fries makes some of the best Burgers and Fresh Hand Cut french fries anywhere. They are one of my favorite burger joints. I love all of the great toppings they let you load up your burger with for FREE. I also enjoy Fatburger as they have some really good burgers too but their french fries are not nearly as good as Five Guys are. Steak and Shake has awesome burgers and shoestring french fries and really great shakes, but I still like the simplicity and the freshness of Five Guys food when all is said and done.

A Tale of a Tail

The three eye monster crocheted up very nicely, slowly, but nicely. As I already stated, he is HUGE! It took a full skein and a half of yarn plus a half a bag of stuffing.

I purchased the pattern called three eye guy for him on line from craftydeb. It is the same place that I got Frank and his bride’s patterns from that I really enjoyed making.

The pattern was easy enough to follow with a few techniques I had never done before. The body was done as a whole piece, attaching two of the eyes and one leg as you crocheted. Except for attaching the eye balls and tail, there was no sewing the body parts together. This was great, since sewing the parts together is my least favorite part of making amigurumi’s. . 

The only part of the pattern that I did not like was the tail.

The author of the pattern made a long bent tail that was supposed to help the monster stand on his own. I crocheted the tail exactly like the pattern called for, but I did not like it at all. The tail was actually a third leg. It stood out from the body about 4 inches. .

He is already big and this tail just added to his size, making him both extra wide side to side and front to back. This monster was made as a decoration, but I can see a kid wanting to play with it, but not with this huge tail extending from its butt.

So, I decided to redesign the tail a bit. . . .

I started by crocheting a whole new tail making it smaller around and shorter with no bends. After stuffing it that tail looked worse than the original tail. So I unstuffed the tail and tried one long and flat without stuffing. This was better, but still not the look I wanted.

I then tried to lengthen and shorten this tail, as well as place it higher and lower on the monster’s body. It just was not right. . At this point, I returned to the original tail and started unraveling rounds. Every few rounds I would hold it to the monster’s body to see if I had the look I was after.

After unraveling more than 3/4 of the original tail, I unstuffed the tail and held it flat to the body. The flat tail was just not it either. It was too wide when flattened out. I unraveled a few more rows and then re-stuffed the tail. This time the look was close, not quite right, but closer than I had been yet. I unraveled a few more rounds and there it was, the tail I had been looking for, a fat bobbed tail. . .

Since I had lost his third leg to help him stand, I placed plastic pads in the bottom of his feet before I closed him up. The pads help him stand on his own without the need for the huge tail. .

I gave him three brown eyes to match the cherry cola colored yarn. I am pleased with the final results. Although he is big, I like his fat bobbed tail and the fact that he can stand by himself.

He has taken on a personality all his own and I named him simply Three Eyes.

As he stands there on the sewing table, he has a wild imagination and is ready for some mischief.

A Yarn Story

The title of this post should really be “A Yarn Horror Story”, but since everything worked out fine, I will let the title be. Now for the story. I am going to give you the long version.

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About 9 months ago when my Mom was visiting, I finally broke down and bought a skein of Red Heart cherry cola variegated yarn. I have looked at this yarn many times and really liked the colors, but just never purchased a skien because I had no projects in mind to make with it. While shopping at Walmart with Mom, she saw the yarn and liked the color so well that she decided to purchase a skein, so I decided it was time to purchase one as well.

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The skein has sat in the yarn stash since then waiting for just the right project to make with it. After finishing Blue, I sorted through my patterns and decided to make a three eyed monster, and I knew just the yarn I wanted to use, the cherry cola. I read the pattern before I started and knew that this monster was going to be big, but I had no idea how big. As I crocheted, I watched the skein become smaller and smaller. It became obvious quite quickly that I was going to need more than one skein of yarn to finish this amigurumi project. I have never used a whole skein of yarn on a single amigurumi before. I was not worried though since I had purchased the yarn at Walmart. I figured all I needed to do was stop by and pick up another skein after work some day.

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When I finally ran out of yarn, I made the trek to Walmart only to discover, you guessed it, no Red Heart cherry cola yarn on the shelf. Not only was there none in stock, but the shelf tag had been removed too, meaning no more ever. I panicked a little, but I knew we were headed for California that weekend and so I would just stop by a Joann’s there and pick up a skein.

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So, while in California I stopped by the first Joann’s I found. Guess what? No Red Heart cherry cola yarn anywhere in the store. Panicking a little more, I checked on the internet and found a yarn shop 10 miles away. So, off to the yarn store we went. The yarn store was awesome, they had miles and miles of fabulous yarn, all colors and types except Red Heart brand. RATS!

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Now, sweating a little, I started to search for other options. I could call Mom and ask for her skein, or even part of it, if she had not used it yet. Or I could have her check the little five and dime store in her town that carries yarn to see if they had any. And I could always order it on line as long as it was still available. Luckily, as we left the yarn store parking lot, there was a Michael’s just down the road. The husband sat in the car while I ran in and there on the shelf was 4 skeins of Red Heart cherry cola yarn. YAY! I grabbed all 4 skeins, but then put 3 back. I really only needed one to finish my project.

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Wiping the sweat from my brow, I returned to the car with a big smile on my face. Michael’s had saved the day and my amigurumi project.