Janie Crowfoot's Crochet Club 2014 - February

At last I have time on a Sunday to sit down and show you the first part of Janie Crowfoot's 2014 Crochet Club.  Unfortunately, the reason I have time on my hands is because I am sitting at my mum's hospital bedside, occupying myself whilst she sleeps, so there may well be a few mistakes littering this post, as my mind becomes preoccupied by other things.  

The observant of you will note that these are photos from the February pattern, which I've got round to writing up on 30th March, so I'm sure you can imagine how far I am along with the March parts of the pattern - hardly at all!  However, this in no way reflects my enjoyment of the club; whilst initially I was a bit worried about the whole tension thing (amigurumi allows me to have the free reign to use whatever hook I like with no consequence other than  larger or smaller toys at the end of it!) it was nice to actually push myself to use the right hook at the correct tension to go forward for an end purpose.  

I was surprised by how many pattern pieces there were to make.  I've done a few kits and CALs and am usually underwhelmed by what you are given to do, but not this time.  Oh no, this club could easily fill a good few weekends if you want to do a nice job of it all.  Here are the first few (sorry about the colour overload):

This presented another challenge - blocking.  I don't think I've ever really blocked anything, I perhaps have half-heartedly attempted it on a couple of things but this was the real deal; making sure things were the necessary size and shape for when they finally come together as one big piece.  I scoured the Ravelry Group looking for advice and decided to try a hot steam iron hovered about 1 inch above the pieces and luckily it worked out very well.  

There was one part of the pattern that I was particularly hesitant to make a start on, the Quant Flower.  Partly because I hate working up and down the stems of flowers (chains, how I hate you) and partly because it looked almost lacy (slip stitches, I hate you too).  Eventually though I made a start and eventually ended up with a curled up, scrumpled looking colour ball.  But, with a little bit of blocking...

It looked just like the pattern picture! 

March's patterns involve bead work which I am very much looking forward to.  Now just to find the time to make a start...

Unbelievable things to see...

This week has been the most unbelievable week for me.  Sheldon has hit the big time and it's taken me completely by surprise.  Don't get me wrong, I think he's a cool little guy (yeah I know I'm biased but still... he's a little cutey, right?!) but when I posted a pattern link to the Yarndale forum on Ravelry I didn't expect the reaction I got.  To be completely honest, I was waiting for someone to tell me they'd deleted my post because it was cheeky of me to put it there in the first place.  

But that's not what happened.

Things went crazy!  I have been completely overwhelmed by the lovely, kind, warmhearted things people have said.  That crocheters and knitters from all kinds of places have taken the time to not only stop by and read my blog but to comment, email, like and follow things has just astounded me.  I was so worried about how Sheldon's pattern would be received; anxious about any mistakes or confusions that might be discovered but it seems I had no reason to panic.  In fact, there are a few Sheldon's already made! It has been the best feeling to see other Sheldons cropping up around the internet.  You can take a look at a couple here if you like.  Aren't they fab?!  All of this has just proven once again what a gracious, accepting community the crochet world is, and I'm so grateful to be a part of it.  

Spending so much time replying to these messages has confirmed one thing to me though.  I need glasses.  Really need them.  I used to wear glasses for work, but over time became certain that I did just as well without them.  Now however, that's not so true.  I've noticed that the laptop page is magnified a little more each time I need to read something, and at work my nose is almost bumping the screen I'm sitting so close to it!  

So today I picked up two new sparkly pairs of glasses.  Thick plastic geeky ones, as I just don't like the really normal looking ones (perhaps I can't fight the true geeky scientist in me any longer).  I'd forgotten how good things were supposed to look.   That small print on the bottom of the letter?  Read it.  The man and his dog that Sas has got his eye on in the distance?  Saw it.  People's faces on the telly?  Blur free.  All day I have been putting my glasses on and off, admiring how much clearer things seem.  I decided to settle down with a book, iced bun and cup of hot chocolate just to appreciate how much better reading is with my glasses on :)

It's going to take a while to get used to wearing glasses again, and at the moment I'm wearing them around the home so I recognise myself with them.  Maybe one day when I'm feeling brave, I'll let you see me in my new geeky glasses, but for now, it's just Coop and Sas who have seen them, and neither seems to have particularly noticed a difference!

Cute Handmade Gifts

I love to use my crochet skills for good.  And the best good is giving cute, handmade gifts.  It's not without anxiety though.  After spending hours getting your blanket, scarf or toy exactly so, packing it up ready to give to the lucky recipient, a doubt creeps across your mind.  What if they notice that the eyes aren't perfectly level or that you missed that stitch on row 34?  Or worse, what if they just don't like it?

The more gifts you give however, the better it feels.  People are generally so pleased that you took the time and effort to handmake a gift for them, that they don't notice the slight mistake that is all you can see.  Besides, as with most things, you are your own worst critic.  I bet if you actually asked someone to point out the mistakes, they wouldn't even be able to find them.

Over time I have given a fair few handmade gifts to people.  Dolls, blankets, scarfs, baskets and toys.  I think a good measure for me is that if I really don't want to give it away, it must be pretty good.  This super cute, stripey giraffe is just such a toy.    He's quite possibly one of the best things I've made.  I love the colourful stripes...

I love his cute little face...

I added a little giraffey tail for him; all self-respecting giraffes need a fluffy tail...

I'm really happy with how he turned out.

I made him from this pattern, I Love Buttons by Emma.  It's a pretty popular one, lots of these giraffes floating around Ravelry, but that's probably because it's a nice easy pattern to follow and gives you the cutest baby gift.  I didn't follow the colour scheme suggested in the pattern exactly, so I spent some some time beforehand working out how many colours would work for the number of rows, as I wanted the stripes to match up on the legs, arms and body.  I also made a few other adjustments; I shortened the length of his horns (fact of the day, apparently these are really called 'ossicones') as they seemed a bit too long to me.  I added a little fluffy tail, and I extended the length of his legs so he looked like a proper giraffe.  

I always have a dilemma over safety eyes; they look loads better than stitched eyes and officially they are 'safety eyes' so should do what they're supposed to, but I always feel I need to mention that the eyes shouldn't be swallowed, just in case.  I packed the giraffe up with some floral (Cath Kidson inspired) dribble bibs and some dog treats for Tic Tac and sent them off to my friend, hoping they would bring her new little family some enjoyment in her home town up North.

It was also my bestest buddy's 30th birthday recently.  She too has the crafting bug (although she is a dirty knitter, but I'm trying to get her over to the dark side!)  and asked if we could go to a craft class together for her birthday.  My answer was of course yes!  That sounds like a win-win situation to me; a birthday present that I get to enjoy as well!

So that she had a little something silly as a present on the day, I made her a slice of birthday cake, crochet of course.  Stupidly, I used two different types of cotton, one slightly thinner than the other I eventually realised) and so the slice was a little squiffy.  Not my bestest work, but I was on a time budget and I was working on 'it's the thought that counts' kind of vibe.  

Here it is...

The pattern was from Ravelry by Charlotte W and it looked pretty sweet once I'd finished with it.  In return I got two slices of Percy Pig actual birthday cake, so I think I did pretty well.  I can't wait for Leanne Leanne to choose what class we're going to so we can plan our girls day out to Norwich; I'm thinking lunch, craft class and a little shopping.  Perfect.

Have you made any handmade presents for anyone?  How did they turn out?

Ravelry, Amber Mystery CAL and a few other things

I love the crochet community.  I honestly can’t remember anytime in my life where I have welcomed by a collection of people who were so supportive, so uplifting, so generous with their words and so kind to take the time to offer words of compliment or encouragement.  

The discussion groups on Ravelry are a perfect example of this.If you have a question, someone will happily give you an answer.  If you’re stuck on something, you will be overwhelmed with people who will offer solutions.  And if you have completed a project, you will receive more praise than from anyone who doesn’t quite appreciate quite how complicated that stitch was or how many times you had to pull it out and start again.  This experience has made me take a little step back to look at my attitude and how I approach things and inspire me to be a little better, a little nicer.  

I particularly enjoy the Fresh Stitches Discussion Board for this.  Friendly, interesting people who treat you like a friend the moment you get involved.  And there’s so many exciting things going on in the group.  Buddy crochet swaps, Kit clubs and my personal favourite, mystery CALs.  

For those of you who haven’t come across a CAL before, it’s a crochet-along, where during a set time period, everyone crochets the same pattern all at once.  Fresh Stitches takes this to a new level.  MYSTERY CAL!  I participated in the last mystery CAL, the Archer CAL.  This turned out to be a dog who stood on four legs, and although the end product wasn’t quite to my liking, I loved getting a little part of the pattern each week and trying to guess just what these funny shapes might turn out to be.

The June/July mystery CAL is almost complete.  Two clues down, one to go, which will include how to put the pieces together and the big reveal.  I have a couple of bits from clue two still to complete (I’m madly crocheting when I should be working to get them all done in time!) so that I’m all set for the last clue.  Here are the pieces I have so far:

Personally, I have no idea, some pieces look like antennas but then the other pieces don’t fit with any kind of insect, there’s definitely some ears in there I think so who knows!  The Fresh Stitches forum is busy with suggestions! A Kangaroo and Joey, dragonfly are just a couple of suggestions.  I’m torn about whether to follow this thread closely or not as I don’t want to spoil the surprise but also want to know.  Only a couple of days until my curiosity is satisfied.  

The yarn I have used for this was from my cute little local yarn shop and the adorable owner Paul.  I have been wanting to use this Knitcol trends yarn for a while now, the colours are so bright and I love the different shades that work through each skein.  When the mystery CAL materials list was released and it said 1 colour, I knew exactly what I had to use and I completely love the results so far.  

It’s also really nice to crochet with and doesn’t split at all.  I usually make most of my amigurumi out of aran weight yarn, but this is dk so my mystery cutie may turn out to be a little smaller than on the pattern, but I’m sure he’ll look just as cute! I’m looking forward to getting the last piece of the puzzle and will be sure to show you the completed result.  Until then...x