Skill + 1UP

And it's day two of blog week (2KCBWDAY2) and the prompt is:

Look back over your last year of projects and compare where you are in terms of skill and knowledge of your craft to this time last year. Have you learned any new skills or forms of knitting/crochet (can you crochet cable stitches now where you didn’t even know such things existed last year? Have you recently put a foot in the tiled world of entrelac? Had you even picked up a pair of needles or crochet hook this time last year?

 Hmm.  I rather wish I was better at keeping note of what I've made so that I could do a proper job of this prompt.  Frankly, I'm probably more curious about the answer than anyone else.

Pater's hat that I gave him for Christmas was both the first bit of stranded color work I did in the round and managed to keep even tension with so it didn't pucker and look strange.  Here's Pater's hat, what you can see of it because he liked it pushed back on his head:

I also bought a copy of Custom Knits by Wendy Bernard which has know convinced me that I can make sweaters that actually fit me in the way they're meant.  I haven't shown you a finished picture of Slinky Ribs (Ravelry link) here on the blog yet because it's still technically unfinished.  I still have the sleeves to do.  But, I know it fits and fits well because I might have worn it as a vest once or twice.

Ahem.

I've also learned quite a bit about shaping knitting when it comes to making toys.  I got the hang of making various geometric shapes (like Cezanne, I see toys as basic geometric solids that simply need to be put together in the correct way) and so have gone from Monkey Mark I, who I made after quite a few improvements when it came to thinking three dimensionally in knitting, I should add:

to the more appealing Monkey Mark IV (it was apparently quite the learning curve):

On the crochet front, I've finally jumped on board with granny squares.  It's not that I didn't like them, it was that it took quite a while to power through my mental block about crochet.

My great aunt made me this granny square afghan out of bits and bobs and it's one of my most treasured possessions.

Now, once I'd thought I'd gotten the hang of crochet one of the first things I did was make a basic granny square, so I can't say that this is much of a step up.  It just took me a while to get there.  But I think that I finally understand granny squares, enough that I can stop following patterns to the letter.  Now, I don't want to say that I've come up with an all new afghan block, I used motifs from several existing squares to get where I am now.

Unfortunately, all the finished squares have been packed up because of the impending new floors, but I can show the center of one of the squares:

Sorry about the dark photo, the red was making my camera have a nutty under the lamp.

If you could just imagine the usual granny square dc 'shells' in white around it until its about seven inches, then a black sc border, I'd appreciate it.

And that's all I can think of.  Aside from learning that I should use the project notebook on Ravelry more frequently because I like the time capsule into my crafting that it provides.  But as that's a lesson I didn't learn until today I don't think it should count.

Totoro: The Next Generation

My friend, being a good auntie, is introducing her niece to the wonderful world of Miyazaki films.  The kid's birthday is coming up and as part of her education in awesome she'll be getting My Neighbor Totoro on DVD.  For a fully interactive experience my friend wanted to give her a plush Totoro to go with it.  After perusing some options what she decided she wanted was something like Lumpy T and asked me to make one for her.

Revisiting the pattern after gaining some crochet skills has been an adventure in 'man, what a difference it makes when you know what the hell you're doing.'

Meet the New Totoro:

He has his own problems because while I might be a lot better at this than I was when I made Lumpy T, I am by no means a crochet super genius.  I'd be hard pressed to call me an anything super genius, but if there was something in which my geniusness was super it wouldn't be crochet.

But still.  Have a helpful comparison shot:

I'd like to point out that I didn't change the pattern in any way- that's the size he's supposed to be. 

Another comparison shot:

I don't want to play favorites.  Lumpy T may be problematic but I love him.  In fact, I'm kind of wishing that I hadn't stuffed the New Totoro quite so firmly- he may avoid lumpiness in the future this way, but he's not nearly as squashable.  Besides, even though Lumpy T's eyes are crazy pinwheels at least I placed them better.

I like to think that while I'm not around Lumpy T and New Totoro will get up to crazy adventures. 

'Whooo Arrrre Yooooou?'

Have fun guys.  At least until New Totoro goes to his new home.  Hope he works out there.

Totoro

This is Lumpy T (and Fat Bill, because she loves to get in the middle of project photos.)

Lumpy T was the first thing I'd ever semi-successfully crocheted.  My mom is a champion crocheter and has made many delightful things for me that I never appreciated enough as a kid.  Thanks, Mater.  Despite my mom's crochet aptitude I was never able to do more than make a chain.  I had some sort of weird mental block when it came to single crochet, let alone any of the other stitches.

Then a few years ago amigurumi hit big in the craft world and I Wanted it.  So.  Bad.  My life was incomplete without anthropomorphic food made of yarn and what not.  So, I decided to put on my big girl britches and set to learning how to crochet after 20 something years of failing.

Oh, the determination.  I hid my knitting needles from myself so that I'd be forced to use a hook.  So many tangled messes.  A metric butt ton of chains.  Squares that stretched the geometric definition of 'a shape' let alone 'a square.'  I jumped into making circles, thinking I could use them as coasters, pot holders, funky outfit accessories- the possibilities seemed endless.

Serious increase failure resulted in several tubes closed on one end that I dubbed 'toe cozies' because they fit over my big toe perfectly.  I may have failed spectacularly but I invented a new article of clothing.  Because I don't know about you but there have been many times when just my big toe has needed an extra layer of warmth.  Ok, that's a lie.

Still, it eventually came together and I felt confident enough to try my hand at an amigurumi pattern.  Enter Totoro (pattern available for free here.)

Several things about my so-called crochet skills here: I was pretty much consistently crocheting into the back loop only, I didn't understand that for stuffed animals you want a dense fabric so the stuffing won't poke through, and I had never sewn anything together before.

And thus, Lumpy T took shape.  I ran out of polyfill while stuffing the body and so he's pretty floppy and lumpy, hence the name.  Because of my deep, deep lack of understanding about gauge he ended up rather on the huge side.  And because I had never sewn crocheted fabric together before he has those crazy pinwheel eyes.

He was supposed to be my niece's Christmas present but she rejected him pretty firmly.  He lives at my house at the bottom of her toy box except for when I need a model because Lumpy T can stand still for as long as it takes me to remember how to use the camera (a long time), never judges the amount of photos I have to take to get one that's reasonably in focus, well-lit and has a minimum of my finger in it (a lot), and never blinks or makes funny faces.  Seeing as I have a compulsive need to screw up my face and act like I'm picking my nose when someone tries to take a picture of me this is a definite plus.

Yes, Mater, I know my face will freeze that way.

The Black Doll

A crochet pattern for The Black Doll, as it appeared in Edward Gorey stories such as The Willowdale Handcart, The Raging Tide and The West Wing.

The Doubtful Guest

A crochet pattern for The Doubtful Guest, from the Edward Gorey story of the same name.