Sarah B

This is Sarah B. The B, of course, is for brachiosaurus. She is my latest completed amigurumi project.

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Sarah’s pattern is from an old book my sister gave me. It was published back before the term amigurumi became popular. This book contains the pattern for 4 dinosaurs, with each patten having a larger adult version and an smaller baby version. I decided to make the adult brachiosaurus first.

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When I first read the pattern, I thought to myself “No, way. This pattern is too weird.” But I decided to make some changes to the pattern and give it a try. The pattern called for two hooks with the main hook being a size K. I don’t know if I even own a size K hook, no less used one to make any amigurumi. Wouldn’t a larger hook make larger holes in the crocheting for the stuffing to come out of? To fix this, the pattern called for two strands of yarn to be used at a time. I have never done this before either. If I followed the pattern, it said that my brachiosaurus would be 27 inches long. What?!? That is over 2 foot long. I want a brachiosaurus, not a monsterasaurus. Plus I only had one skein of yarn in the color I wanted to use. About ready to fold up the pattern and say forget it, I decided to use a size H hook with 1 strand of yarn and see what I got. If I did not like the results, I would just abort the project.

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So I got started with one of the feet, my H hook, and a single strand of yarn. I followed the pattern and got the cutest little foot, so I crocheted on. I followed the pattern and made 4 feet, the tail and the body. I continued to follow the pattern through the head to the neck. At the crook of the neck, the pattern calls for the rows to be half hdc and half slip stitches. I had a really hard time crocheting this part. Although I followed the pattern, if I make another brachiosaurus, I will modify this part of the pattern to make it easier to crochet. At first I was not sure how to crochet the head bumps and thought about just leaving them off, but I gave the pattern a try and they turned out to be very simple to crochet.

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The eye lids were not that easy. The second hook the pattern called for was to make the eye lids. Since I had used a size H hook for the pattern, I got out my F hook for the eye lids. I followed the pattern and got an eye lid that was too short to curve around both eyes but too long for one eye. I undid this eye lid and made a shorter one to fit around just one eye. I did not like the height of this eye lid so, I started again, and just slip stitched across instead of sc. I liked the results in the height but length was still wrong. The next try was the charm. I got the length and the height I liked, so I made a second one the same way.

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Unfortunately, one of the biggest challenges in making this brachiosaurus was the yarn. Well, to be fair, not the yarn but its dark blue color. I had difficulty seeing the stitches and had to turn on extra lights while crocheting and sewing. Certainly not the pattern or yarns fault, but disappointing to me none the less.

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As mentioned on another post, the sewing together of this brachiosaurus was made much easier with pins, so the sewing together was not the dreaded chore it has been previously. I did spend some extra time on the details. I tried several different looks, head bumps no eye lids, eye lids no head bumps. I finally decided on both head bumps and eye lids. I embroidered her mouth and nose with black yarn as the pattern called for with the dark blue yarn but you could not even see what I had stitched. So I dug through the yarn stash and found this nice gold yarn to match the eyes and the end result is much better.

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As I crochet an amigurumi, it takes on a personally all its own, sometimes quickly in the crocheting and sometimes not until the very end. From the first foot to the finally eye lid, this dinosaur turned out so cute and took on a feminine quality almost immediately. I struggled with this a little. Dinosaurs are boys, not girls, but Sarah is all girl and I have just fallen in love with her. I do not have a place to put her so I must find her a home, but I will have a more difficult time parting with her than some of the other amigurumi’s I have made.

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 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.

An Ode to Yarn

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No! No! No! No more fabric!

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Since my dreaded trip to the stash, I have purchased very, very little fabric recently. We even made a trip to see Mom and Dad, where Mom showered me with pieces of fabric she was parting with, and I only took 4 small pieces, not the usual 4 boxes. Mom and I even made a trip to the Walmart fabric department and I did not buy any fabric there at all. I am proud of myself for this but I quickly realized that the pride was in vain, that my habits had not changed, that I was just substituting the purchase of fabric with the purchase of yarn.

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My acquisition of yarn is really not my fault. Well not this time anyway…

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There are really two culprits to blame for the piles of yarn that are now accumulating next to the piles of fabric. The first is Walmart. My local Walmart just went through a remodel. Luckily, the fabric department wasn’t discontinued, but in the process, many skeins of yarn went on clearance. The clearance skein’s were mostly speciality type yarns which saddens my heart as I realized that my local Walmart would only have the basic Red Heart yarn styles and colors from now on. So, with this in mind, I started to buy. I felt that I had to stock up because my Walmart would not be carrying these yarns any longer. When Mom and I went to her local Walmart, I had to check out their yarn too and I found that they were also clearing out selected yarns as well. So, once again, I just HAD to buy it. So, as you can see, it is really not my fault. I had to buy the yarn while I could.

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The second culprit is my mother. Upon arriving at her home, she pulled me aside and said, “Look at this.”  She had purchased 5 skeins of Sensations Boucle pattern yarn at the local thrift store for $3.00 a skein. “You can have this if you want it.” For that price, I could not leave it. I quickly handed Mom the money and ran my new treasure out to the car before she changed her mind. It is now sitting in my pile of yarn, waiting for its turn to be crocheted into something amazing.

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Oh, what have I done?!? I might as well go back to buying fabric if I am going to replace it with yarn.

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Help. Please. Someone.

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Well you know what they say. The first step to solving the problem is admitting that you have a problem.

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So here goes: “Hi, my name is Lanita and I am a Fabriholic and now a Yarnaholic and I need help…”

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Does anyone know any local Yarnaholic chapters I can join?

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Well until next time…

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Frank

Well, you can’t have a bride without a groom, so my next project, of course, had to be Frankenstein.

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His pattern was from the same website as the bride’s pattern. I used the same Jiffy yarn for the skin. The challenge to Frank was his hair. The pattern did a good job of making his head square and the hair matched that closely, but the fit of my hair on his head did not go as smoothly as I think it should have. My best guess as to why is the Jiffy yarn. Because the Jiffy yard is a little thicker than the Red Heart I used to make his hair, his hair seemed a little short and tight on his head. If I was making him again with the Jiffy yarn, I would make the hair longer and wider to accommodate this. Even with this, I am pleased with the look of his hair on his head.

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I did get a chance to try my stuffing theory on Frank and, yes, it did work better. I stitched a few more rows before I started to stuff Frank’s body. It did not make the stuffing any more difficult and I like the look of the closer stitches better.

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As before the sewing of the detail stitches was the best part of the construction. When it came to stitching his mouth, the husband said that Frank is a monster and to give him a frown. I said he was frowning because he was getting married.

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If I make either Frank or his bride again, I think I will use the pipe cleaner technique that I created for Domo-kun in their arms. That way I can pose their arms out in front of them like you see in the monster movies.

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I am pleased with the final results of Frank and he looks very handsome by his bride.

A June Bride

I am not quite sure where the desire to be a June bride comes from, but I have created my own June bride. Well, technically she is the Bride of Frankenstein and I have had a great time crocheting her.

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I found her pattern for sale on line and just had to buy it, as well as an additional $38 dollars in patterns. Oops! I fell in love with this amigurumi author’s monsters and creatures. I was not very wise with my purchase though. What would have happened if I did not like the way the patterns were written or they involved a technique I couldn’t figure out? I should have just purchased one pattern to make sure it worked for me before I bought more, but luckily the patterns are fairly basic and are written very well.

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The first thing I had to do was find the right color of yarn for her skin. I finally found the color I wanted at Hobby Lobby but the yarn is Jiffy from Lion Brand Yarn which is bumpy and fuzzy. I decided to give it a try even though it wasn’t just good old Red Heart 4-ply yarn. The Jiffy yarn worked up great with most of the fuzzy parts going to the inside. This was a little disappointing because I was picturing some fuzz to the monsters skin, but it looks fine without the fuzz. This yarn is a little bit thicker than I am used to but it did not seem to distort the size of the head, arms or legs.

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The crocheting went smoothly. I followed the pattern closely and the only thing I would change is when to stuff the body. If I make the pattern again, I will go ahead and stitch a couple of more rows before I start to stuff the body. I think that will give me a smoother, closer stitch on the bottom. Her hair accents were a bit of a challenge. I tried to follow the pattern but I am not sure I did exactly. At the end I was just making it up as I went.  Although my hair accent is a little different than the picture on the pattern, I like how it turned out and the way it looks in her hair.

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My favorite part of the construction was sewing the detail stitches on. There were no instructions and so I just stitched whatever looked good. It was fun to decided when you want a stitch to go up or down or diagonal. The choice was mine and I am pleased with the results.

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All in all, the Bride of Frankenstein was great fun to make. I am very excited to start on my next monster pattern.

No Longer a Toy

When I decided to make the penguin a hat and scarf, I did not know what a job that was going to be. I picked the color forest green to make the hat and scarf. The hat crocheted up quickly and easily, but I was not happy with the end result. The scarf was not as easy. I followed the directions from the pattern, but did not like how wide the scarf was turning out, so I decided to half the count. As I crocheted, I was not happy with this either, so I decided that a color change might help, but that turned in to a disaster. A 3 stitch row was too small for a color change. There was no where to hide the knots or the loose ends. I had a mess. I tried several different methods of changing yarns. I read tutorials on the internet, and watched videos on YouTube to try and make the color change work, but to no avail. It was time for me to go to work, so a little flustered, I left my failed attempts laying on the sewing room table.

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When I got home from work, the husband had heard my frustration, and had stopped at lunch and bought me a skein of variegated yarn. He had picked out the color called cherry chip. He thought this would make a great hat and scarf. Excited about the color, I quickly crocheted a new hat for the penguin. This time, though, I crocheted 4 extra rounds at the bottom of the hat, 3 the same size as the last row, and decreased by a couple of stitches on the last row. I then folded the 4 rows up so that it looked more like a stocking cap. This gave the hat the finishing touch that the first hat did not have, changing it from a clown’s hat to a stocking cap.

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Next came the crocheting of the scarf. With the yarn changing colors for me, I chained the length I wanted for the scarf and then single crocheted 3 rows. The scarf turn out beautifully. I then put the fringe on each end to complete the scarf. The husband had chosen the color well. The cherry chip yarn made a wonderful hat and scarf for the penguin. In fact, I like the colors so much, I am going to go buy more cherry chip variegated yarn and make me something to wear with it.

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The only problem now to me is that the hat and the scarf changed the penguin from a toy into a decoration. Without the hat and scarf, I could see a child playing with the penguin. Now, with the hat and scarf, I see the penguin sitting on someone’s desk. So, now what do I do with him? He was on his way to one of the nieces or nephews or maybe even the neighbor girl, but now whose desk should he sit on?  So, the penguin is still in need of a home. Does anyone want to provided  a home for a penguin with a new hat and scarf?

Ninja #5: Half Complete

Hawk, ninja #5 in the husbands army, is a stealth fighting machine as he battles evil doers with his sleek nun-chucks.

Hawk comes from the teddy bear pattern found in Amigurumi World by Ana Paula Rimoli, minus the ears of course. The husband said to try and make bigger ninjas for the next ones, so I returned to the regular teddy bear patterns. Hawk is the largest ninja of the group so far. I was going to make him solid gray, but while looking at the yarn at Walmart, I found this new Fiesta yarn from Red Heart and just had to try it. I love the color of the yarn and I think it crocheted up into a nice looking ninja. I made him a felt face like Tiny Bears instead of a crocheted one like Roja’s and I like it much better. Because he is bigger, I decided to stitch his face down. The husband picked black floss to sew the face on with. I was not sure about the using the black floss on the felt but tried it anyway. After completing the face it reminded me of a hawk, thus this ninja’s name. Once again I crocheted his ties from the pattern in my Creepy Cute Crochet book.

The nun-chucks are a whole other story. I had to make the pattern for them myself. I used a size E hook and black 4 ply yarn to make two tiny handles. I then crocheted a small chain out of gray yarn and tried to attach the chain to the handles. This was not as easy as it sounds. I did a lot of knotting, pulling and cussing when the knots pulled through the handles. It seemed like it took me longer to make his nun-chucks than it did to make Hawk himself. When the nun-chucks were finally complete, I knew they would not take a lot of abuse so I carefully glued them tightly to Hawks body. I hope this will protect the nun-chucks if Hawk is every played with as a toy. The nun-chucks look good, but I don’t know if any of the other ninja in the army will have a pair. Stars and Swords were much easier to crochet.

So now the army is half complete. Even though the husband likes the looks of Hawk, minus the Fiesta gray yarn, the husband said to go ahead and try other patterns to complete his army.

P.S. We saw the movie Despicable Me, and now the husband thinks he needs a minion of minions. I told him not until the ninja army was complete.