Amigurumi Fantasy.
Where do I even begin? Maybe the five creatures you see above aren't amazing, but they represent the first step of a much larger project. Creatively, I'm inspired by cuteness and whimsy. I also have an affinity for little things (like electrons; GET IT?) Love of cute little objects sounds like the dossier of an obsessive collector of Hummel figurines, but fortunately I'm much too frugal to be a collector of anything. Instead, I find it satisfying to create lots of cute little objects, as evidenced by my portfolio of sculpture and installation work.
The above project represents the start of my next creative piece (should I see it to fruition) where I intend to create HUNDREDS of little amigurumi animals to adorn my cubicle at work. I do about one per day with a size B crochet hook and each of these animals fits in the palm of your hand. The yarns I used this week are leftover yarn scraps from previous finished objects. A lot of the yarns were the wrong weight and/or I didn't have enough yardage to follow the pattern exactly, which explains the odd proportions. Also, my hand-sewing and finishing skills need a lot of practice, so hopefully these animals will get cuter as I make more. I think right now they look really rough and sad.
From Left to Right:
Turtle: Teeny Tiny Turtle by Little Laura
Bird: Birds of a Feather by Hannah Kaminetsky.
Cat: Gumball the Kitten by Samantha J. Montgomery
Bear: Tiny Amigurumi Bear by Tatyana Krivosheev
Bunny: Love Bunnies by Erika Huges.
15 November 2009 Comments (0)
Lol Hat
I wanted to create something ugly. There was this inhibiting perfectionism in my system and I felt the only way to let go was to make a most hideous accessory and be proud of it. It looks like a bad tye dye hat made entirely of bobbles.
The yarn is a homespun thick-and-thin but mostly roving regrettably dyed with primary colors atrocity I picked up at a yard sale. I originally wanted to make felted beads out of it and because it's dyed with primary colors I could effectively get all the colors of the rainbow out of it. Felted beads is still an option as I would have no problems unraveling this hat if I don't decide to leave it behind at a hipster location in my neighborhood as a joke. I decided to work in crochet, as I feel that it's very "forgiving" (imprecise).
I debuted this hat at my party last weekend as part of a discussion as to whether crochet is ugly (THIS PARTY ROCKED?). My position was that in general, crocheted garments are ugly because a crochet stitch has too much going on and that it's best suited to borders, finishing, and afghans. Imagine a sewn garment made only of trims. To prove my point I modeled this hideous hat and it was declared that this is not representative of all crochet.
Pattern Pretty Puffs Slouchy Hat by Jessica Suzanne
Yarn Yard sale atrocity
Hook Size J
Whatcanyoudo?
04 October 2009 Comments (0)
Squid.
My favorite coworker collects squid figurines in his cubicle. I crocheted him this in pink, my second favorite color. I would have loved to have had some crochet cotton on hand because the yarn is extremely fuzzy and un-crochet-like, but Portland was experiencing the SNOWSTORM OF THE CENTURY and the whole city was impassable.
In my last days in Brooklyn, I actually came across this finished object at a fancy store in Park Slope. It was among some crocheted reef and a crocheted octopus. Jessica Polka also features those patterns on her Etsy page. It inspired me so much I took a picture!
Pattern Squid in Love by Jessica Polka
Yarn Pink Valley Yarns Berkshire Bulky
Hook Size F, metal.
Other Two small beads, black, and some black thread.
Jessica Polka's work in Brooklyn.
What else? So speaking of Etsy, my friend Jack makes ceramic pillow bookends that I just adore. So check out his Etsy page!
04 January 2009 Comments (0)
Urchin Beret Redux.
Ladies and gentlemen I redid the Urchin! It reminded me too much of my slouchy Foliage and I didn't want it to become too much of like a thing like, "Oh Chloe knit another slouchy hat (because she has gauge issues)." I just followed the pattern for the Medium size, no edits, no modifications. I keep forgetting that knits stretch so I always knit things all big and whatnot.
I single crocheted around the "brim" and it made a world of difference with how it fit on my head. I want to crochet around everything! Crochet hooks have more use than just picking your nose with them.
SPEAKING OF CROCHET HOOKS I also added this crocheted flower because, in a once in a lifetime occurrance, my mom and I agreed on something and that something was that this beret was missing something. Then the universe exploded. I made the flower out of the same yarn and then steeped it in hot, saturated, Wildberry Zinger tea with the intention of overdying it a little bit reddish, but instead it turned out this oxidized copper color, which I like. I didn't care what color it came out, just as long as it was different than the color of the beret.
These photos were taken in the dark to match my mood. Morrissey Morrissey. (Just kidding. They were taken in the dark because it's just too hot today.)
Pattern Beret: Urchin by Ysolda Teague; Flower: Button Flower Pin by Catherine Lindsay
Yarn Catskill Merino Yarn in Indigo from the Union Square Market; gifted by Ruchi
Needles/Hooks Size 11 Susan Bates straight needles; H Hook
This is an homage to someone who rocks!
16 September 2008 Comments (0)
The Couv.
Blog, I knit another hat - why? Because it's August!!
I knit this while listening to one of the two knitting podcasts I subscribe to. Most people listen to only zero knitting podcasts, whereas I am marooned on the tail end of a bell curve, and with TWO knitting podcasts. I've been tending toward talk radio more; a habit which I attribute to being prematurely welcomed into my mid-40s. KNITTING AND TALK RADIO IS A NICE WAY TO SPEND A SATURDAY.
So this hat is really cute and different from most hats. I did the crochet part before the part about the brim inside out so it really stands out from the seed stitch pattern, like horizontal ribbing almost. I repeated the brim a bunch of times, but I think if I had to do it over I would have also made it wider. I steamed the shit out of the brim, you should have seen me all with the iron. I also added this button detail. Why not, right?
Pattern Couvercle by Kira Dulaney, Summer 2008 Knitty.
Needles Size 8 bamboo DPNs, purchased at WEBS and I love them.
Yarn Berkshire Bulky in pink, undetermined amount.
Yeah this pose, cliche cliche, but it shows off the seed stitch pattern and that's what we're here for.
Senior portrait.
I can wear it to the side.
But I think I like wearing it backwards.
20 August 2008 Comments (0)
Brulee Scarf.
Hi it's been awhile. My head's felt like a FEMA trailer lately and I haven't been inspired. Since this is a craft blog and not a Chloe blog, thankfully I don't feel obligated to talk about it further.
When Cirilia posted pictures of her new scarf on her flickr I knew I wanted to knit it. So I was extra excited to discover that she had designed it.
This pattern was ideal for me because I didn't want anything too challenging for my emergence out of my black hole. I got to use up some stash yarn that I had otherwise no plans for, and I happened to have four large buttons on hand. I like pink and gray.
I think this scarf looks awesome because of the interest that the shell lining adds, and the cool button functionality. Since it's a fast garter stitch scarf, it's ideal for gifts too.
Pattern Brulee Scarf by Cirilia Rose
Yarn Valley Yarns Berkshire Bulky in light gray, between one and two balls
Needles Size 8 Susan Bates Quicksilvers, size G crochet hook.
Anyway I totally forgot to white balance these photos.
06 July 2008 Comments (0)