Monday 25 April 2011

Mr Fox Stole

Yarn Forward Issue 35

This is only the second issue of Yarn Forward (renamed from Issue 36 as Knit magazine) I've ever bought. I've always found it to be rather garment-orientated and with little for the novice knitter. However, I was flicking through the contents page in my local WH Smith (yes I know it's not a library), when this unusual knitted stole caught my eye (who knew shopping could be so dangerous).

Stephanie Dosen's gorgeous fox is knitted from Rowan Cocoon in amber using 7mm needles. Stephanie recommends using two other yarns held double for the white and black bits of the fox. However, I find using yarn double to be a pain so I splashed out on more Cocoon (it's £8.50 for 100g)  for the chin, ears, tail and legs. It's a beautiful yarn so having some left over for another project isn't a problem.

The body and tail of the fox is knitted flat in one long piece and the head is knitted separately. I sewed the head together with mattress stitch, inserted safety eyes and then embroidered the nose. I lightly stuffed the head with toy filler.

Now, for some reason the ears are knitted in the round on 6mm double pointed needles. Given that the rest of the piece is knitted flat, this seemed a bit unnecessary. I gave it a go but I'm still not quite there with my DPNs and it was taking ages so in the end I knitted the ears on straight needles and seamed them up the back. I don't think you can really tell?

The legs are added by picking up stitches from the body, knitting with the amber and then finishing with icord with the black.  This was the bit I held my breath for, but I just about managed it.

In the magazine, you sew the head to the body, but it doesn't mention making up the rest of the legs, body and tail, so they are left open. I decided it would look neater to join the edges of the legs, body and tail so it was like an unstuffed toy.

And there you have it. This is probably one of the most complex but also one of the favourite things I have knitted. It's a shame the sunshine is here so I probably won't get the chance to wear it until next winter. In the meantime, Mr Fox is resting in style on the back of my rocking chair.

Melx

Wednesday 20 April 2011

Crochet Grim Reaper

What a cute scythe you have...

As I mentioned in my last post, I've been struggling a bit with my amigurumi crochet efforts. My first three attempts turned out a bit big and gappy, but I now finally have something I feel is fit to show in public.

This is my second attempt at the Grim Reaper from Christen Haden's fab book Creepy Cute Crochet. It's also my second attempt at buying the book. I first purchased the book in 2009 and, after I learned to crochet last month, I went looking for it, couldn't find it and had to get a second copy. Doh!

Anyway, the book contains crochet patterns for zombies, ninjas, vampires and similar based on the same basic body and head shape. I chose the Grim Reaper here, because it was one of the easiest ones (there's a surprise).

I made attempt #1 with Rowan All Seasons Cotton, which is an aran weight, but it just turned out too big and I ended up with holes on my increases and decreases. This time I used a double knit - Rowan Hand Knit Cotton with a 3.5mm (size E) hook and it seems much better after I made more effort to keep my tension tight. The finished size is about 3.5". I think it may be a little bigger than in the book, but not too bad.

The body and head are crocheted in the round in single crochet; the body in spirals and the head in individual rounds. You made the hood by crocheting around both sides of a foundation chain. I stuffed the body with plastic pellets to help Grim stand up and the head with toy filler. I think my body looks a little bit plump though. I've started the Ninja, which is quite similar, and altered the pattern a little bit to counter that.

In the book, Christen makes her eyes from polymer clay, which seemed very effective but rather hard work. I glued on a couple of felt circles from the centre of some felt flowers and then embroidered the mouth with yarn.

The crowning glory, though, is of course the scythe. I have to confess at this stage that I am not skilled at sculpting but I know a man who is. Hubby made my scythe using two-part epoxy over wire (or that least that's what he told me to say). He then painted the handle and blade with acrylic paint. Super cool, non?

So, I feel I'm at least on my way to amigurumi heaven and I'm looking forward to making many more of the cool creatures in the book.

Melx

Tuesday 12 April 2011

Crochet Strawberry Drawstring Purse

I'm feeling some tension...

I am bravely continuing with my crochet endeavours. Three attempted amigurumi creations (one elephant, one grim reaper and one cat) are in the bin. Everything seems to turn out too big and I'm ending up with gaps, especially when decreasing. I am still searching for the perfect hook-yarn-tension combination to get the firm, well-defined crochet fabric you need for toys. I'm trying Rowan hand knit cotton with a 3.5mm hook next. Watch this space...

In the meantime, I did manage to produce this lovely drawstring purse. One advantage with taking up crochet is that I can stalk Amy Gaines in a whole new media. This is a PDF pattern from her Etsy shop for three cute drawstring purses. I picked the strawberry as it looked like the easiest one to make.

I crocheted the body of the purse with Debbie Bliss Rialto Aran and a 4.25mm (size G hook). I actually bought three wonderful polymer clay crochet hooks from NK Designs so I have some proper US sizes now.



I am not doing badly with the crocheting in the round now, although I do seem to accidentally lose and gain stitches a fair bit. The stitch marker for the end of the round also occasionally falls off. I have been surprised by how yarn-greedy crochet is compared with knitting. I nearly ran out of a brand new 50g ball making this.

I found adding the eyelet row in green much easier than the equivalent in knitting. The drawstrings themselves are just two long crochet foundation chains tied at the ends.

Amazingly, given the size of my bead stash, I had to go out and buy the two irridescent green beads that are fastened to the ends of the drawstrings as well as the gold bugle beads that I sewed on for the strawberry seeds. I was very diligent and sewed each bugle bead on individually rather than trailing the thread across the back.

So, at least one fairly successful crochet project. Grim reaper attempt #2 is next, so we'll see  how we go...

Melx

Tuesday 5 April 2011

Pocket Watch Pendant

Make Jewellery May 2011

The latest issue of Make Jewellery Magazine is a Steampunk special, which I thought was intriguing. There were several pieces I contemplated making, but I settled on Claire Humpherson's Turn Back Time project. I've bought a few pendant watches recently so I thought it would be fun to make my own.

All the materials for the pendant came from Beads Direct, which was handy and they even had most of the bits in stock (I had to choose a different chain and key charm but compared to many of my attempts to buy beads I've seen in magazines, it was a breeze). The whole lot cost £22.50 with a 20% discount voucher that was helpfully included in the magazine.

The pendant was fairly simple to construct. After removing the pocket watch chain, I built up the necklace from sections of Figaro chain interspersed with 6mm Swarovski crystals in rose pink that I mounted on eye pins. For extra interest, the project included a swallow connector and a couple of woven vintage effect connectors, as well as the key charm.

In the magazine, the design included a brass butterfly that you were supposed to attach to the front of the watch casing with a glue gun. I didn't fancy my chances of doing that neatly and I was a bit concerned about it obscuring the time. I therefore opted to dangle a small butterfly charm from the watch casing with a jump ring.

The project also called for three further chains with key charms dangling from the bottom of the watch, but that was just too fussy for my taste so I missed them out.

One thing I wasn't sure of was that the project mixed a bronze watch with antique gold chain and charms. I normally like everything to match but it does actually look fine in the flesh.

So, quite a statement piece that provides a practical function too...

Melx