Crochet Disney Bounding

I get on kicks sometimes. I get hyper-focused on an idea and stick with it for awhile (I’m looking at you emojis). And right now I’m caught up in costumes. I finished, not one but two crochet costumes for the Renaissance Faire this year and I’m contemplating making another for Comic Con Revolution that I’m attending this coming Sunday!

But then, I got distracted by Disney Bounding. What’s that, I hear you ask? Until just recently, I didn’t know either. We have Disneyland passes, and I started noticing that many adults were dressing up. My hubby called it bounding. To my hubby’s chagrin, I called it binding, bouncing, binging and everything else that sounded remotely the same as I could never remember it right. 🙂 I was curious about the difference between bounding and dressing up in costume, and he tried to explain to me that bounding was not a costume. It looked like a costume to me. He said it was more like regular clothes you wear that looked like a costume or something like that. At least that’s what I heard. He pointed out examples of this, and I pointed out examples that looked like costumes. We let it go.

Apparently, people over 14 aren’t allowed to wear costumes at the parks for various reasons, so adults wanting to get in on the fun turn to bounding. Well, since I’m all in with making costumes right now, and I watched a video from a blogger I follow where she explains bounding and how she tried it, AND my hubby and I are going to  Disneyland for the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge (yes! we scored a reservation for the opening month), I was primed and ready to try some bounding of my own. Excuse the run-on sentence but I’m excited.

Bounding or Disneybounding is a way to dress as your favorite character using street clothes as an inspiration.

I wanted to do that! So on Mother’s Day, I had my family go shopping with me to find an Ariel bounding outfit. I was looking for a purple top and green bottom in anything (pants, shorts, skirt), as long as it was the right green. I found a top I really liked, but it was much harder to find a bottom.

I ended up getting a greenish skirt, but it wasn’t exactly the green I was hoping for.

Advertisement

Progress on Crochet Fairy Costume

I’ve made some pretty good progress on my costume. Is this considered cosplay? I’m going to say that it is. I’m a cosplayer!

I was nervous the outfit wouldn’t look good or that it would look nice but wouldn’t look good on me. I tried it on (as much as I could) and it fit nicely and it’s looking promising.

I’m liking what’s happening here. 🙂

I’m pretty encouraged and motivated to finish it as soon as possible. I also got ahead of myself and started working on the wings. That was supposed to be last. LOL

I got creative with two wire hangers.

I’m bouncing back and forth but I that’s ok. 🙂 I’m going to be so ready for the Renaissance Fair!

Freebie Friday – Habitat Cardigan

Habitat Cardigan

That yarn (Red Heart Unforgettable in Tealberry) for the first cami kept calling to me. It’s so pretty, and now that I purchased more to finish the cami, I had extra. I had one full skein and one slightly used skein. I racked my brains about what I could make with it that I would actually wear, when I found a pattern for a nice looking cardigan. It’s the Habitat Cardigan and it looks easy to make. The site has a video and links to the printed pattern. Bonus!

Not my photos. I got them from her site.

My yarn isn’t the one called for so I’m hoping it works, but so far, I like how it looks.

This stitch reminds me of scales and waves. I might use it for another mermaid costume.

I knew I didn’t have enough yarn to finish this project so I hunted down a coupon that was 50% off one item and it was only good for one day! I figured out I needed 8 more skeins. I know, I know, I shouldn’t have started the cardigan with just one full and one partial skein of yarn. I realize it’s a dangerous thing to do. What if Michael’s runs out or the yarn gets discontinued? To add insult to injury, hubby loved how the pattern for my cardigan was working out. At the stage it was in, he said it looked like the kind of scarf he wanted. He said the colors were perfect. Ok, so now I needed enough yarn to make him a

New Sleeves for Crochet Bavarian Coat

I know I was supposed to set the unfinished coat aside and contemplate its sleeves at a later time with a clearer head. I was to use that time on other things and come back to it with all kinds of ideas and possibilities. That lasted 24 hours.

I’m trying out star stitches and I’m working both sides simultaneously so I can see the progress and so that I don’t forget what I did from one sleeve to the next. I know, I know, I should be writing it down and I tried. But I’ve written things down before, only to go do the second of whatever I was making and it didn’t turn out the same. I know I wrote it down right! Sooo, I reasoned that if I do them at the same time, there’s more chance of success. I can try on as I go and if it’s not working, I can rip it back before I get too far.

I think I finally found the solution I like. They look good to me so far. Hopefully they will look good all the way to the end.

 

 

Crochet Fail – Bavarian Sweater/Coat

I normally have no qualms about ripping back work when it isn’t right, but this time, this time, I have a lot of qualms about it. I had set aside my Bavarian square sweater in lieu of other projects. Why? Because it got hot! Who needs a thick and cozy sweater when it’s bloody hot outside! Plus, I couldn’t figure out what to do with the sleeves, so it was easily abandoned.

All my other projects are complete and there aren’t any crochet fires I need to put out, sooo… I picked up the sweater and continued work on the sleeves. One of the problems of working off-the-seat-of-your-pants, on-the-fly, make-up-as-you-go type of creation, is that you don’t always get what you envision in your mind (or is it only me?). I’ve been working the sleeves separately from the main coat in Tunisian Crochet. I ran out of black awhile back and was too busy (lazy) to go buy more. PLUS, I had so much of the grey yarn I’d already used on the sweater (and spent good money on already), I thought it would be good enough. The panels themselves I like. Once I finished them (after trying out different solutions), I sewed one of the sleeves onto the sweater last night and tried it on to see my handy work. Yuck! I didn’t like it.

Doesn’t look so bad here, but trust me, it’s no good! 

First of all, the sleeve didn’t drape right. I  was still going to make a few rounds of half double crochet with deeper decreases for the cuffs, but after trying it on and not liking the drape, I didn’t proceed with that. No matter how much I tugged and pulled on it, it still looked bad. The problem was that I needed more decreases further up on the sleeves. The sleeves were too big. Second of all, the color just didn’t work. I kept squinting and looking at it from different angles, but I couldn’t make myself like it. Fail!

The only good thing was that I only attached one sleeve. Now I needed to take the sleeve off and rip back both sleeves. That’s when the qualms hit me. I didn’t want to rip back all that work! I don’t usually struggle so much with frogging my work. I’ve ripped back entire queen-size blankets. But I just couldn’t do it. In the grand scheme of things, they are tiny panels that no one would miss (except me apparently).

I suppose it could be a skirt or top instead.

And yet…

Instead, I played with the unattached sleeve (I hadn’t removed the other one yet). I held it up to my chest to see if I could turn it into a top of some sort. I held it like a skirt. Hmmm… nope. Maybe.

I’m trying real hard to turn those panels into something else so I don’t feel like I wasted my time. I’ll probably just set the panels aside and think about them later. That way I’ll have some distance from all the work and I won’t be so torn about undoing them. In the meantime, I’ll start some new sleeves. This time, I’ll might start them straight on the arm holes, in black. I have black now. I probably should just make more granny squares for the sleeves. I was resistant to do that because the coat is already so dense. I thought it would be granny square overload. Maybe I’m over-thinking this. I’m most definitely over-thinking this.

I have until next winter to decide…😀

 

Off to the Renaissance Faire!

A mere hour before I was set to leave for the Renaissance Pleasure Faire in Irwindale, I was tenacious in my determination to finish a few more pieces for my outfit. I know, craziness, but it was absolutely going to happen. It should have happened before but life sometimes gets in the way. Plus, I wasn’t inspired like was I was that hour before we were supposed to leave, honest.

I wanted to have a true mermaid necklace, and I already had a table full of shells and beads strewn about so I knew it wouldn’t take me long to quickly piece something together. I already had the shell picked out, namely because it was one of the few that already had holes in it, but it was pretty too and would look perfect as a mermaid necklace.

All I had to do was string some beads. Plenty of time!

Look at all that mermaidiness!

The next priority was a mermaid purse. I obviously couldn’t make one from scratch and I had planned to throw my stuff in my hubby’s bag, but when I woke up in the morning, I had a stroke of genius (or insanity). I remembered my first attempt at a Bavarian square that wasn’t much of a square. I’d had no idea what I was going to do with it but now I knew! The colors were even close, not exact, but close enough. I sewed up the sides and added a handle and voila!

Just big enough for my phone, my comb and some makeup. The rest still went into hubby’s bag. 🙂

I finished it all off before hubby woke up. Score!

And then it was off to the Faire.

I always love going to Ren Faire. There are so many things to look at from the wonderful outfits, the booths, and the fun performances. I’ll post about our trip soon. 🙂

Bavarian Crochet Coat

Dense Bavarian Crochet Coat

I went off and started another crochet coat (sweater, cardigan, I never know how to label it). I’m almost done with it and realized I hadn’t done a single post about it. Well, if you count the post I made about the Bavarian square, then I guess I did post about it (at least the idea of making a sweater from it). And here I am , almost done with it.

The process for this one has been interesting. Here’s what I knew I wanted in a new sweater (coat, cardigan): It needed to be long. It needed to be dense (i.e. no holes to plug up). It needed to be easy. Lastly, it needed to fit! Oh, and feel good too, let’s not forget that.

Progress on Crochet Sweaters

Now that the frenzy of Christmas is over, I can go back to finishing my projects languishing in craft bags all over my house. My number one priority at home is to finish my two sweaters. I profess that I will not start anything new until I’m done with at least one. I proclaim that I will wear one of those sweaters before winter ends. (Don’t hold me to any of that!!!)

My granny square sweater will NOT be worn this winter. Those plugs are taking for ever!!! I get discouraged more quickly so it gets put down more often. Instead, I’m working on a new sweater that actually has a chance of seeing the light of a cold day.

I’m working this new sweater in a beautiful star stitch with alternating and complementary colors from my yarn stash (I didn’t want to buy anymore yarn). As usual, I jumped in head first, armed with an idea and a plan. I arranged my colors and got to work. I thought I knew what I was doing. I’ve done the star stitch a million times (it’s one of my favorite stitches). I went for it measuring along my body and deciding lengths and widths that way.

As I was crocheting along, after row upon row of star stitches, I noticed a slight lean to my garment. I was supposed to be getting rectangular panels that I would sew together later but I was getting a parallelogram instead! When I first noticed the lean, I didn’t believe it. I convinced myself it was my imagination so I kept working. By the time I noticed it again, it was too late!

Those are some shifty rows there.

New Crochet Sweater

I  couldn’t help myself! I couldn’t wait until I was done plugging up all the holes on my old sweater. I haven’t even finished it and it’s already ‘my old sweater’. Sheesh! I did manage to plug up the granny squares on the outer rim of the sweater.

24 finished squares is good for now.

I just couldn’t do one more square. Images of a new crochet sweater just wouldn’t leave me alone. I kept asking myself why I had become obsessed with making a new sweater when I had a perfectly lovely sweater that just needed finishing. What would be so great about starting a new sweater? I asked the universe (my yarn stash) and the universe answered. It was because I wasn’t crocheting, I was sewing and no matter how I sliced it, sewing just isn’t as much fun as crocheting. I needed a break from the sewing and needed to be creative for a bit. That’s why I needed, NEEDED, to start a new project. That’s all the excuse I needed to start rummaging through my stash to see if I had enough yarn to start a new sweater. The answer was yes, if I used different colors and didn’t bother trying to make sure the yarn was all the same type. What was the worst that could happen? If I didn’t like it, no harm no foul. I could always go back to plugging holes.

But I’m liking the look of the new sweater. I’m using the star stitch and so far I like the colors. This is going to be the bottom panel. I’m going to repeat the color pattern one more time and then start on the vertical rows (as mentioned in the previous post).

 

I feel better now. I think I can alternate between  crocheting this sweater and plugging up the other one without getting all twitchy. I’ll probably finish them up at the same time and then I’ll have two sweaters. 🙂

Sweater Progress

I have a whole week off from work for Thanksgiving and I was ruminating about my granny square sweater and its million and one plugs hanging around in my craft bag. With all this time off, I thought I should really get cracking on that and try to fill in some holes. But then…I had a new thought. Perhaps I could just start a new sweater. I would probably finish it sooner than plugging away at my old sweater.

Visions of stitches I could use and color patterns I could configure danced in my head. Enticing pictures from the web flitted across my screen screaming that they wouldn’t take long at all to make. I was tempted, I still am, but no, I couldn’t abandon my granny square sweater. I needed to tend to that first. So, I finished 10 squares in one day! Unfortunately that meant I spent most of my day sitting but I felt very accomplished even though my bones were very creaky with atrophy.

Don’t know if I will convince myself to pick it up again today. Starting a new sweater still sounds tempting. This photo keeps calling to me.

Pattern

I’m looking at it as a template. The star stitch and colors are buzzing in my head. I like the idea of the horizontal section at the bottom  with the vertical stripes at the top. I’m thinking the start stitch would look really nice with alternating colors. The star stitch would make a very thick and warm coat. No holes to plug! Might be too thick though. I would need a yarn that wasn’t too thick. And that is what’s stopping me from starting a new sweater. I would need to buy more yarn. I have so much yarn in my craft room but not enough of any one kind to finish a sweater.

Then again, I could challenge myself to come up with something that could incorporate what I have into a pleasant design. Hmmm…this needs some more thought…

Meanwhile, back to plugging.