Amazing

I really want to see this movie now.

MAC Hello Kitty!

MAC Cosmetics came out with a Hello Kitty collection this month. While sitting here drooling over the collection pictures I got the idea to crochet my own "MAC Hello Kitty". I used the basic components of the other Hello Kitty I made, but reversed the black and white and improvised a dress and bow. The dress was really hard for me, I had never really worked with switching colors so much and I had little patience for it so I just rushed through it instead of forcing it to work out the way I envisioned it. But I think it still came out really well and I am excited about it. A comparison:

See the rest of the promotional photos here http://www.temptalia.com/mac-hello-kitty-collection-promo-photos

Naturally I had to order myself some of the makeup... ;) (http://www.maccosmetics.com/)

Twinkletoe frogging and calorimetry

Frogging. Think of a sound that a frog makes. Riiiiiiipit.....rrriiiiiiiipit. Yeah...

So last week I decided I wanted to make something out of my handspun "mandy" yarn. After much research, I settled on the "Twinkletoes" slipper pattern. I took the project with me over the Superbowl weekend and worked on it while at my mom and dads. Yesterday I had the first slipper finished and the second one finished but the trim... and I decided I didn't like the way they looked and fit. Well crap. Really the whole point of me making these was to have something I would get a lot of use out of and would have plenty of opportunites to look at my handspun yarn all knit up into a creation. But if I was never going to wear the slippers, it kinda defeated the purpose. So I frogged them. Then I wound the yarn back up into a ball.

Then I sat around annoyed, thinking I really wanted to make somethng out of this yarn. So I decided on "Calorimetry". I printed the pattern out months ago and knew that I wanted to make it sometime. I worked on it last night and today and when it was finished... it was too big for me. Meh. So in the spirit of not giving up, I decided to make a second modified Calorimetry. With the second one, I cast on 1/3 less stitches. I got that one done in a couple hours tonight and it turned out well and fits me more like what I imagined it should.

I still have the too-big calorimetry. I might frog that one and make the yarn into something else, some fingerless gloves perhaps. We'll see.

More handles

Ok, so I am really getting into making these things. It's pretty fun. I did 3 more today. Here's how they came out:

The collection thus far:

Personalized crochet hook handles

I found this great video on youtube talking about how to make your own handles for your crochet hooks. I had to try it. So today I went to Michael's craft store and got some Sculpey clay in a couple sparkly colors and 2 new silver crochet hooks, size F and H. I really wanted a size G but that store was totally out of size G hooks in all the brands. What the heck?

Here's the materials I used:

Each bar of Sculpey is scored into 4 segments. I tore off 1 segment each from 2 colors and kneaded them together and twisted it to make a swirly pattern. I rolled it into the shape of a hot dog and then pushed the hook down inside. Then I squeezed the clay at the top to close it upon the needle and rolled it on the table til nice and smooth. Then I took a toothpick and made indents in the shape of an F and an H in order to mark what size the hook was. Then I placed them on a cookie sheet lined with foil and baked them for about 40 minutes at 275 degrees.





After they came out of the oven and cooled, I painted them with some Sculpey brand gloss glaze. It really brought out the sparkle. Here are the finished products:

I will definitely make more of these in different sizes!

The video that inspired me

The Neverending Sweater ... ended?

Yes! I finished it up late last night after annoying myself for a few hours by doing the crochet trim on it. I steam blocked the bottom half and let it dry overnight. Today I went to JoAnn Fabrics and got some ribbon to thread through to create a tie belt. Here are some pics:



I think it came out pretty good. I knit it tighter than the pattern gauge, so its a little smaller on me than I would have liked. I could have gone up a needle size or two probably.


I'm still trying to decide on the best way to work the tie belt thing. Right now it is one long ribbon threaded through from one end to the other. I'm sure there's a logical way to do it but that is eluding me.


I'm really proud of myself for finishing such a big and ambitious project. Really this was the first sweater I ever made despite my finishing 2 since I started this.


I've got a million other things I want to work on, so now I am giving myself the freedom to start on some new things since this work-in-progress is now checked off the list =)

Helooooooo Kitty!

I finished my first Hello Kitty amigurumi today. The original pattern in the book “Hello Kitty Vol. 3 Knit Dolls and Goods” is written in Japanese, which I am unable to read. I followed the charts and illustrations in order to make the doll as similar as I could to what was pictured in the book.

I improvised a little on the dress, adding 4 rows of 2sc per row on each side of the front to make straps to go up over her shoulders and connect to the back. The dress was a bit snug on her, and I left the bottom of the back open a little for her tail to show through and give the dress a little more room.

I also added an extra row to the end of the head portion that included 4 sc decreases to take the total final number of stitches on the head opening down to 16 sc to match the 16 sc of the neck opening.

I cut out little felt ovals to use for the nose and eyes and glued them on with fabric glue.

My doll measures roughly 14 cm to the top of her head in her seated position. The pattern indicates 18.5 cm finished height.

She came out really cute and Neil just loves her.

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So now I am back to Giselle again... I am determined to get this sweater finished. I have completed all of the knitting, and I have also done a quick steam blocking of the top portion and sleeves (pictured below). All that's left is to crochet the trim on the bottom half and join the 2 halves together and do a final blocking where needed.

(Blocking using my garment steamer, a bath towel laid out on a cork board, and thumb tacks to hold the sweater in place while drying to retain shape.)

I spent tonight listening to the most recent Stitch It!, Lime & Violet, and Stash and Burn podcasts while working on the final knitting of Giselle. But now that I have stayed up half the night, I think I will go to bed.