Memyselfandpi Minecraft Doll

One of my students requested a Minecraft doll called Memyselfandpi. I’m not sure if that’s what it’s really called but he said it was a Youtuber character. This all went over my head but I looked the character up to assure him and myself I could make it. This is what he looks like:

He looks an awful like Steve from Minecraft to me 🙂

Very easy to do. Basically, he looks just like Steve but with a different color shirt and what appears to be a Rubic’s Cube on his hands. But I wanted to try something new with these dolls so I shook things up and made him with Tunisian crochet. I love Tunisian crochet and the ability to make fabric that looks like knitting. I thought it would look good on this character. Here’s what I came up with:

The hands didn’t turn out exactly right but I think it was close enough for this round. I keep all the little scraps of yarn we collect at work so I used those to make the different colors on his hands. Since they would be hidden, I made individual cross stitches and tied them up with a double knot inside.

My student (and his dad 🙂 loved him so I was quite pleased with the result.

One of my kinder students wanted a Mario Minecraft doll. What?! There’s a Mario Minecraft doll? Sure enough, I found an example of this character doing a google search. Where would I be without the internet to help me out! (clueless I’m sure LOL)

That character is a bit more complicated so I’m spending some time contemplating how best to approach that project (while my student is in the background asking me if I’m done already!). In the meantime, I’m finishing up a rag doll style mermaid. The head is made up of two abandoned square pieces made by a co-worker. I hate wasting anything so I took this time to work on something other than Minecraft and turned the head into a wannabe Ariel from the little mermaid. I’m working the body in the round instead of my rag doll motif of rectangles and squares. Should be interesting: square head and round body. Hey, it’s my doll and I can do whatever I want. 🙂 I will post pictures when I am done, even if it looks wonky.

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Freebie Friday – Granny Squares

There are a gazillion bazillion (and whatever means infinity) granny squares out there. I was looking them up because I am contemplating using different granny squares than the ones called for in the pattern for the black sweater I want to make.

I’m not sure yet if I’m going to switch it up but I found these granny squares that totally captured my attention.

This granny square rocks!

I kept staring at it and mentally fondling it so I knew I had to share. You can find the pattern for this here. It’s on Ravelry so you need an account. If you don’t already have one, you really need to get one. There is so much content to explore.

This granny square is so colorful and thought it worthy of being shared. 

This one can be found here.

And last but not least, I thought this was too beautiful to pass up.

The pattern for this one can be found here.

I am not affiliated with any websites nor do I make any money from these sites. They are simply patterns I like or would like to try myself.

 

Student Work

My 4th grade student is close to finishing her first rag doll. I am so proud of her! Working with kids is always a joy and being able to teach them how to crochet is a bonus. I look around me while I’m working and get so happy when they ask me if they can crochet on their free time. I wonder how many life-long crocheters I’m turning out into the world (hopefully a bunch!). So many of them want to make dolls like I do and the rag dolls I’ve been making are a big hit. Their sole purpose was to inspire the kids to move on from chains and into single crochet so they could make their own dolls. So I’m very excited that my student is close to finishing her doll. Our program is built on finishing homework and then having fun so there are a lot of choices and things to do vying for their attention, with crochet being just one of them. But amongst all that, she’s getting close. I couldn’t wait to share her almost done doll!

She’s gorgeous!

Yarn Shopping Spree!

I was cleaning out my wallet when I found a gift card to Joann’s. I received it for Christmas from a friend. I treat gift cards same as cash and sometimes agonize over how to spend them properly. I have a frugal heart already and when someone gives me a gift card, I want to honor that by spending it as wisely as possible. I went to Joann’s awhile back armed with a 60% off coupon for one regularly priced item and my gift card. Joann’s is very smart. You can’t you use that coupon on sale items and usually what I want is on sale. I did have a coupon for 15% off all purchases but not on door busters. But naturally, what I wanted was a door buster. I walked around looking at things with my 16-year-old son in tow.  He wasn’t rushing me but I knew Joann’s wasn’t his favorite place. I didn’t really want anything specific and the sales and my coupons weren’t in sync to optimize what I did want so I didn’t get anything at all. I forgot about the gift card until I noticed it in my wallet yesterday. I was also thinking about that pretty sweater I posted about recently and how I wanted to get the yarn for it. Now was a good time to get it because of my gift card AND some good coupons. I was going to need 13 skeins of yarn. I had five 60% off coupons and a 20% off any purchase coupon. I was ready!

I went into the store and looked for my yarn. It was not on sale so that meant I could use my coupons. The first problem was that I could only buy five skeins of yarn when I needed 13. I already knew this and was prepared to reprint my coupons two more times and make two more trips to the store before they expired on Sunday. It was inconvenient but doable. The second and bigger problem was that the store didn’t even have all the skeins I needed. One color was completely out and the main color I needed (8 skeins) only had three or  four. The third color was fine. I didn’t want to buy what they had and run the risk that they wouldn’t get more when I needed it so I went on a search for similar yarns. I pulled out my phone and spent a long time looking at yarns and calculating prices based on the coupons I had, whether they were on sale or not and if they carried a similar yarn. I was going a little coo coo but I was having fun. No one was waiting on me and I had all the time in the world to calculate to my heart’s content.

I eventually settled on a compromise between price, available colors and softness of the yarn. The yarn I chose wasn’t as soft as the yarn called for in the pattern but it wasn’t bad. The colors were good and very close to what was needed. The pattern calls for black and two grays. This line only had the black and one gray. I could work with that. I thought might even have a gray I could work with already in my stash but if not, I could make do.

Soon to be a sweater!

Freebie Friday -Dragon Scale Bikini Top

In honor of the Renaissance Faire that’s coming to town, I thought my Freebie Friday would be something I could wear to the fair (if only in my dreams). I found this top years ago when I was looking for a stitch that might resemble fish scales. I wanted to make a mermaid costume and this pattern was one of the firsts I found. I loved it so much I have kept it and fondled it all this time (yes, you can fondle a pattern). I never actually made it exactly as it was written but it definitely inspired me to make some of my favorite pieces with that crocodile stitch. I finished my mermaid skirt and made a top go with it. I was a little too shy to make the top as revealing as this one but it was still pretty.

I’ve seen similar attire to the dragon top worn at previous Ren Faires and perhaps one day (after working out like crazy and losing a few pounds) I might be bold enough to make it and wear it. I love looking at it though. It is hands down something a dragon slayer would wear under her dragon cloak!

So for those who would dare, you can find this gorgeous Targaryen Dragon Scale Bikini Top here.

And for those of you dying to know what my mermaid skirt and top looked like, here it is being proudly worn to Ren Faire one year. I was supposed to fan the bottom portion out and fill it with stuffing so it would look like a fin but I never got around to it. I just let it hang but most people still recognized it as a mermaid outfit.

This outfit was inspired by the dragon top. I should have found better shoes though!

I am not affiliated with any websites nor do I make any money from these sites. They are simply patterns I like or would like to try myself.

Renaissance Faire

Yikes! Is it almost time for the Renaissance Faire? My hubby and I go every year and I wanted to finish a new costume I wanted to  wear. I thought I had all the time in the world to finish my ‘dragon’ cloak! I vaguely remember putting it down in frustration a while ago and was contemplating ripping it back and chucking the whole project. I was using the crocodile stitch that I absolutely love but this project was so large, it was straining my hands and wrists. I just threw it in a project bag to think about later.

Well, later is here! I was cleaning my office/project room and came across this WIP and kinda set it aside. But as time went by, I started getting more and more emails about Ren Faire. In my mind, it was still an event way off in the future. But I suddenly realized that it was just around the corner. It starts in April and runs through May. If I want to finish my cloak, that’s not much time. This cloak is very time-consuming since I need to take it slow.

The road so far.

I decided to go for it and see if I can finish it in time. First problem, it’s been so long since I last worked on it, I forgot what I was doing. I’m not following a pattern, just a notion in my head so it took me a few minutes to shake out the cobwebs and remember what my original plan was. Since I couldn’t remember, I just started a new plan and started crocheting…very slowly…(didn’t want to strain my wrists again). Luckily, I had left the hook I had been using in the bag. At least I didn’t have to try to remember what size hook I was using! Unluckily, I was using a hook that has two different sized ends on it! I’m pretty sure it was the end with the larger size. That’s my story and I’m sticking with it!

I finished a couple of rows before bed and was feeling hopeful about the cloak’s ultimate completion. Second problem, I was using up a lot of yarn and I was suddenly worried I would run out before I finished. I can’t just run out and get more of this yarn. My sister gave me several skeins many years ago and I’ve had them for many more. I know I wouldn’t be able to buy more. That got me thinking about redesigning the cloak (in my head) in a way that didn’t use up as much yarn. I wanted the cloak to reach down to my feet but I’m flexible. If it falls short and I run out, I’m okay with a shorter cloak. It’s hot when the fair is running so maybe it would be a blessing in disguise to be forced to make a shorter cloak. Always think positive!

Now I am armed with a new plan and the hope that I can finish the project. Then I need to figure out what I’m going to wear underneath it. What does the slayer of a pinkish dragon wear? 😉

Freebie Friday- Death Star Pillow

A close friend (and sis-in-law) sent me a link to a Star Wars Crochet Pillow. I followed the link and saw this!

We are Star Wars geeks in my family so this was an awesome find. The link she sent had the picture and another link to a video and pattern. My first thought was, “I can make this without a pattern. Who needs a pattern? Not me!” My next thought was, “Maybe I should check out the video.” I didn’t bother clicking on the second link to the pattern. I went straight to YouTube and did a search. I thought it would be a straight forward pattern that increased in a familiar way with even increases and decreases but the first thing I noticed was that she follows a very strange (to me anyway) stitch pattern for a ball. In my head I was thinking I didn’t have to do it that way. I was making plans for when I would start the project but the different way she made the sphere was nagging me. After all, there had to be a reason she increased and decreased the way she did so I followed the second link to her site. Sure enough, she had tried the conventional methods to make a sphere and wasn’t happy with the results. She found a tool that helped her make the shape she wanted and came up with the resulting pattern she liked. I’m glad I took a second look because thanks to her research, I now have this tool (sphere pattern calculator) myself and so do you! You can find it all here. Enjoy 🙂

I am not affiliated with any websites nor do I make any money from these sites. They are simply patterns I like or would like to try myself.

Freebie Friday -(on Sunday :-) Cardigan

I have a tale of woe to tell. It is the reason I didn’t get out my Freebie Friday post out on, well, Friday. I hate to admit that I accidentally dropped my cell phone into a tank of water. This, after having done the exact same thing about a few weeks prior, but that time, my phone survived its swim. Alas, this time, it was destroyed. Worse still, I have only had my phone since November! There was a heated debate in my household as to how I could do the same thing twice when I had never done this with my previous phone. My very good argument was that the case I had purchased for this phone was very slippery and was a catastrophe waiting to happen. My hubby seemed to be of the opinion that my new phone was larger than my old phone and that’s why it kept slipping out of my hands. We are probably both right. Being without my phone was difficult. Who knows how many important texts I missed! (None probably 🙂 ). I was scrambling around trying to  get it repaired but in the end, I was forced to get a replacement. I am now up and running again and can now focus on getting my post out!

Lately, I’ve been seeing some really nice sweaters while out and about. I would go so far as to say I envious of the beautiful sweaters I’ve been seeing. I always wanted to make myself a lovely sweater and just never got around to it but lately, I have the itch to make one. I used to have this long, black, sweater that was made from yarn but I’m sure it was mass-produced. I’m not even sure where I got it from but it disappeared at least a year ago (but probably a lot longer). I loved that sweater and vowed I would either buy a new one or make one. I never did find one I liked and just didn’t get around to making one. Here’s one I found online that I think is worth trying. It looks pretty and not too difficult to make. Hopefully I can make it before the winter season is over. I don’t have much time so I better get started soon! The pattern can be found here.

I am not affiliated with any websites nor do I make any money from these sites. They are simply patterns I like or would like to try myself.