Knits for Needs: Use your stash for charity

As soon as I decided to learn to crochet, I began collecting yarn like a maniac. A ball of this, a skein of that. I have tons of mismatching yarn and scraps leftover from projects sitting in my closet.

I started following @KnitsforNeeds to help myself find some new projects and inspiration because I haven’t been knitting or crocheting much lately. Knits for Needs is a charity that you can donate knitted and crocheted items to throughout the year to help those in need.

Most recently, Knits for Needs has posted about Prayer Squares, four-inch knitted or crocheted squares used while praying. Prayer Squares sent to Knits for Needs will be sent to Knit Wits who attach charms and prayers to the squares before donating them to chemo patients in cancer centers. These Prayer Squares are great for using up leftover yarns and yarn you just don’t know what to do with. Soft yarns will work best as they’ll be more comfortable to hold (- don’t use wool). For more information, read Knits for Needs Prayer Square blog post and/or join in the discussion on Ravelry.

I’ve started my Prayer Square and will post pictures when I’m finished. Is anyone else working on Prayer Squares? They’re a quick and easy project that will help give someone a little comfort, so I urge those of you that knit or crochet to start a Prayer Square and send it to Knits for Needs.

Cupcakes, Candy and Crafts

I got more done this weekend than I thought I would. Because of those many games I bought, I figured I probably wouldn’t be knitting or crocheting at all when I had free time (except at lunch). Alas, I could not stay away from my hooks and needles. Something about just laying in bed with my yarn and tool of choice helps me slowly forget about the rest of the world. Concentrating so hard on one task, I sometimes get way too deep into my thoughts and what I’m doing. I’m sure if I concentrated hard enough, I could get close to a meditative state.

I read somewhere that Friday was International Crochet Day, so I decided that even though I hadn’t picked up my crochet hook in quite a while, I was going to do something that involved crocheting this weekend. I started crocheting because I fell in love with amigurumi. I got out my copy of Amigurumi World, picked out some yarn and started creating a little cupcake of doom!

Unfortunately, I got to the part of amigurumi that I almost can’t stand—sewing all the parts together. This one isn’t even that bad, it’s just two parts connected to each other. I got almost all the way around when I realized that somewhere along the way, I’d started sewing into a different row than I’d started on. Frustrated, I undid all of the yarn and quit. Someday little cupcake will be whole but today is not the day!

During lunch today, I finished the I-cord on my most recent baby hat made from delicious “Candy Baby” Bernat Softee Baby yarn. When I got home, I sewed in the ends and ta-dah!

I really like the shorter I-cord on this one. It’s cute as a button!

Crafty Monday: How do you start to design your own patterns?

I’m still fairly new to the world of crochet and knitting. I’d really like to be able to start designing my own amigurumi patterns so that I can sell my finished projects without getting in trouble with anyone for copyright infringement.

Does anyone have any advice as to how to get used to designing from scratch? How did you learn to design your own patterns if you do?

I’m sure other people around the web who are just starting out have the same types of questions, so any feedback would be appreciated!

Stitch Markers!

I received some cute tea-inspired stitch markers from tinkistwinkling.etsy.com! Very well-made and haven’t snagged a thing!

Crochet Monday: Not much to report.

I’m almost done with my friend’s scarf but I haven’t picked it up for almost a week now. Same with the purse.

I’ve also restarted my knitted hat, there were some holes in it near the bottom that I didn’t notice until much later. I had cast on 44 stitches the first time I started the hat and I realized once I restarted the pattern that I had needed to cast on 64 stitches. Glad I didn’t bother continuing!

In other news, I just fell upon this site: What Not To Crochet. Now, I feel a little bad for the designers of these patterns who took many many hours of their time to create these patterns, but wow. These are the things that make people who don’t crochet think that crocheting is for old ladies or crazy cat ladies!

Crochet Monday: Yep, another scarf!

I have a few projects in the works right now. Two are gifts, one for a friend who’s moving away and a birthday present for my sister which will probably be late. I’m about 90% done with my friend’s project but only 10% done with my sister’s gift. I’m making a purse for my sister-my first attempt at a purse. I hope it doesn’t turn out too bad and that she won’t be embarrassed to use it. I bought some dark navy suede to crochet it out of. I really like how the suede looks! Maybe I’ll have pictures next week.

My aforementioned friend, Rachel, is moving to Denver. I’m a bit jealous but not of the cold! She grew up in Ohio so I’m sure she’s used to it but I don’t think I’d be able to handle it. I heard it’s actually kind of hot during the summer, just like here, so I don’t think she’ll need a scarf just yet. Hopefully she likes it ’cause I’ll be sending it along pretty soon! I followed this very beautiful pattern using JoAnn Sensations Licorice yarn. I love the colors in the yarn and hopefully Rachel will too, but it’s not the softest stuff I’ve ever felt. Maybe she’ll be able to wear it over a turtleneck or something. I’m not too wise in the ways of the scarf.

As for the baby accessory project, I started a new knitted hat this weekend and have gotten farther on it than I have on any other knitted project. I’m definitely getting the hang of the knit stitch and finally figured out how to work in the round. It looks tiny on the needles but I’m hoping once it’s all done, it’ll stretch a bit and fit a little head. We’ll see! Doesn’t look like it’ll take too much longer. I’ll probably finish this hat just using the pink Country yarn, then start another hat and try to switch out some colors to make a few horizontal stripes. Wish me luck!

Also, I’ve put the little squarish hat up for sale on Etsy! I’ve opened a shop but it’s looking a little bare right now. Hopefully I’ll have some more to sell soon!

Crochet Monday: Cancelled.

Due to a bad migraine, I’m going to be skipping this week’s crochet post. Sorry, guys.

In the meantime, here’s a post on some really cute little crochet projects: My Little Mochi: Babies in the shop!.

Crochet Monday: My first hat!

I finished my first attempt at a hat! It’s baby-sized and square. It’s all single crochet stitches in Sensations Angel Hair yarn—which is a dream to work with! I finished it last weekend and added a cute little star button to it. I’m hoping that Amanda will be able to use it for a photo shoot at some point for a little boy.

I’m hoping the button isn’t a problem as the hat would only be used for photo shoots. I could see that an unattended baby might get a hold of it. :/

That’s about all the crochet news that I have. I’ve started my next hat. I’m not following a pattern, so I hope it’ll turn out well! Wish me luck!

Crochet Monday: Baby Stuff

I just wanted to write a quick post today because I should be crocheting, rather than writing about crocheting.

I was asked by Amanda Kern, one of my teachers from college and now a partner in crime (haha!), whether I’d ever thought of opening an Etsy store to start selling any of the crafty bits I’d started to make. I had been considering it for a while, though I couldn’t really sell anything that I’d made thus far because I’d been following patterns that didn’t allow for the selling of the projects created with them.

She has been great so far, giving me ideas for new projects having to do with the baby photography scene. You can see some photographs she’s taken of newborns on her photostream. So, Friday night we went out and she graciously (and generously) bought yarns so I could get started on making baby hats for her photo shoots!
So, Friday night I started creating a little square hat. I even worked on it through the commercials and movie trailers when I went to see The Happening that night. (Great movie, by the way, if you like M. Night Shyamalan.)

And yesterday, I went back to JoAnns and bought a couple more skeins of yarn and some cute little buttons that may adorn some future hats! They’re so cute. Button-buying could be addictive. :/

Crochet Monday: Finished with Totoro! And need some advice.

Well, I finally finished my amigurumi Totoro that I started for my sister!

The hardest part was sewing everything onto the body. Sometimes I don’t mind sewing, other times, I can’t finish fast enough.

And during this project, I learned a few things. Buy two skeins of yarns that have dye lots. Dye lots can look really different sitting right next to each other! Ack. I took a chance, thinking that the new skein I bought of the Sugar’n Cream yarn wasn’t going to look noticeably different. I know yarn companies warn you but I figured it was to appease really really picky people. How wrong I was. Oh well, you live and learn. Hopefully my sister won’t be mean and say she hates it because of the color differences.

As for advice, I want to start an Etsy shop selling crochet projects and illustrations. Does anyone in Blog Land have any advice for finding patterns that actually allow you to sell the finished project you create? The only ones I have found so far are on Lion Brand’s website.

And how much would you modify a pattern before you would consider calling the pattern your own? I’ve read some discussions on Ravelry about this but I never saw a straight-forward enough answer for me.

Crochet Monday: Mostly pictures, not much progress.

I don’t have too much to report on. I didn’t carve out very much time to work on my projects this week.

I have gotten much farther on my “secret” WIP, which I must finally unveil as being an amigurumi Totoro. I’m making him for my little sister (I think she’ll definitely catch on to what the surprise is when she sees the eyes I just sewed on). We grew up watching My Neighbor Totoro by Miyazaki because our grandfather, with no knowledge of anime or probably that the movie was originally in Japanese, bought us the Fox version of the movie on VHS. We watched that movie all the time. This stemmed an obsession of anime for years to come and an even bigger obsession of all things Totoro (and Miyazaki). We’re actually planning on getting matching tattoos of Satsuki and Mei (the older and younger sisters).

The movie is a big comfort to me. Sadly, I don’t own it because I don’t own a VHS player. The only English version of the movie that came out on DVD is the Disney version and they redubbed the voices. To me, the re-dubbing of the voices is bad but I’m probably biased because the Fox version was so much a part of my childhood. The inflection in the characters’ voices are all so different from the previous version. My sister and I were both disappointed. If anyone’s ever seen the Fox version, some of the random quotes my sister and I blurt out are, “I’m not stupid!!” and, with hands slapped together, “Hey look sis, I got one!”

I should probably just invest in a Japanese version of the movie and have it imported over to me.

Anyway, enough about Totoro.

I was able to crochet a couple rows of the Tiramisu blanket. So far, so good. (I know, it looks like a scarf at this point. So puny.) I am loving the red color of this yarn and the stitches are so soft. I can’t wait to finish this! I wish I wasn’t so easily distracted by the Internet and life. I could get more crocheting done!

Last but not least, a question. I was looking through my stash, taking pictures of a batch that I had ordered online a while ago but never took the time to take pictures of (for Ravelry). I bought this green Reflections yarn, thinking I would make myself a scarf with it. I enjoy making scarves but I honestly have no business wearing them here in Florida. So I was just wondering if anyone had any suggestions for a different project that might be better suited for this yarn. I have 2 skeins (164.0 yards/150.0 m).