Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Getting Cute

Katherine has been very interested in learning how to crochet. She loves all things cute and Japanese and has been studying all the amigurumi toys on Ravelry. I don't blame her. If I was thirteen, I would be doing the exact same thing. I ended up getting her this book.



The tricky part is that I am a mirror image lefty. I really am not too fond of crochet in general. I can do it and have made some cool beaded crochet bags in the past. I find it to be not as flowey and drapey as knitting, and it is murder on the wrists after extended time (carpel tunnel stuff). So we practiced a few of the basics and then chose the easiest project in the book. The egg. The big one was her first, kind of like an ostrich or dinosaur egg. I had her use a very big hook so she could see what the stitches were doing. She was a little disappointed with all of the holes. For the second egg she went down a few hook sizes and the results were much more eggy. She should make a nest full.



I started on my Frosted Fern (aka Murky Fern) and it is a challenge and total bliss at the same time. I can only work on it when nobody is around because it requires complete concentration. I also find myself mumbling the little repeats to myself kind of like an ancient chant or prayer. I love it.



The only thing that is freaking me out is that I am having trouble with focusing from the written pattern to the actual knitting. I keep peeking under the glasses or take the glasses off to read which is becoming bothersome. I've come to accept the fact that I might need.......BIFOCALS! There, I said it. I scheduled an eye exam with eye doctor on base and going to get a real exam (with the pupils dialated and all). I'll get over it. Maybe I will look smarter.



So here is another dose of cute. I made my first Etsy purchase. I found these pendants that are made from Scrabble tiles. The couple that make them have a good range of images and I had no trouble picking out these for me and the gurls. I will probably go back in a few months and get some more (there was a Woodsy Owl one tempting me).




Here's their shop:


Stitches West is coming soon. I am really excited. I should start getting organized for that trip. Squee!

4 comments :

Jill L said...

I was wondering if you where going. Maybe I'll run into there!

kaoticorchid said...

Amigurumi is awesome!

I'm surprised that you haven't already done some Etsy shopping. I think between there and Ravelry, I live on the interwebs! I just posted a bunch of stuff for sale on my Etsy shop. I can't keep from checking every 5 minutes to see if anything has sold!

woolydaisy said...

loe the eggs! i love all those creations-looks way to hard for me. 3 dimensional crocheting-that's where i draw the line-i'm just too flat i guess. i waonder if marcia brady could have done them? no, but i bet jan could!

Jen-Jenny-Jennifer said...

I had meant to tell you, when I read this last month I flew to etsy and bought 3 for my daughter and sisters from a similar seller. My fav was the cupid face down, arrow in his back, with the caption 'Valentine's Day Sucks.' Hilarious!

And I loved those eggs! Hopefully we'll see a lovely baskefull come April?!