The first will be up for sale soon. Her name is Calliope and she’s quite spunky.  This is her second set of hair as the first just didn’t look quite right.  Now its quite luxurious. Let me say “quite” again. Quite.

Her body/dress is made of Berroco Suede.  Her hair is as well, actually.  The hair color is “Belle Star” but the dress color seems to have been discontinued which is really too bad.  Its a neat variegated colorway that reminds me of the ocean.  I like working with Berroco Suede especially for my little friends.  It ends up really nice and soft.  I usually see it in the clearance bin at Windsor Button and scoop it up.

I came up with a different technique for the doll hair that I’m really liking. I basically make a cap out of the yarn hair, then weave some pieces into that and sew the whole thing onto the head.  This makes the hair look more full and so you can’t see the “scalp” underneath.

The second doll I just finished is for a friend’s little sister, who loves to figure skate.  My friend sent me pictures of his sister in a recent competition and I tried to duplicate her costume and hair style.  Here she is:

If there were a gold medal for cuteness, she would so totally win.

HOW ADORABLE ARE THESE SKATES.  I’m just gonna go ahead and pat myself on the back for these.  I kept trying to think of the best way to make the actual blade part.  Pipe cleaners? Maybe, but I didn’t have any silver/grey ones.  Metallic paper? I have that, but how to attach it? Then I remembered the sad, lumpy robot I had knit for my boyfriend and that I still had some silver metallic yarn. Voila!

Since I wanted to make the hair a little more lifelike for this one, I used a sock weight (very thin) yarn and did the same technique as with Calliope (a cap, long pieces woven in, sewn on)

Apparently, this is gonna get my friend a “Best Big Brother” award.  Whatever I can do to help, man.

I’ve also started making a new “product”:

Crocheted Beads!  These will be strung onto a silver chain and sold…soon.  More colors will also be available.  I’m trying to make this inventory completely out of yarn I already have (do you realize how difficult it is NOT to buy new yarn? I’m breaking out into hives here.)

1. “Personal issues”

2. “It’s not you, it’s me”

3. “My dog ate my internet”

Etc. etc. etc.

To be honest I hadn’t gotten much crocheting done in the months since I posted either.  BUT that should be a-changing.  There is more free time opening up in my near future and some projects planned.  ALSO there is an exciting possibility that I may be selling at a local craft fair in July. Details on that later.

I’ve been tossing around the idea of making this blog not just about crochet and make it more a personal thing (see: more free time coming).  While I know I’m not the most interesting human on the plan, I could probably think of more interesting things to talk about than JUST crocheting.  Plus, as I try to build up an inventory, I’ll be making a lot of repeats of what you’ve already seen.  Plus plus, I think it will make me update more often.  We’ll see.

Now, on to the (very) few projects I have done recently:

oink!

What do pandas eat? Uh they eat bamboo! (If you know what this is from, lets be best friends.)

BFFs

Cupcake Mobile made for my friend’s cousin’s baby (got that?)

With sprinkles!

Here’s what I’ve been working on:

Turkey Leg

He’s happy because he knows he’s too darn cute to eat.

Or is he?!?

My friend became…obsessed…with the u900 videos I posted a few weeks ago. So I made him some u900 inspired friends:

BFFs

I really love how this bear came out. I much prefer having one continuous form through the head and body rather than sewing the head on. A lot more stable (and I hate sewing so its more fun for me). Yes, I know his mouth/nose is on crooked. I’m just gonna pretend that was on purpose (remember how I said I hate sewing?)

First time using felt for facial features.

I’ve been crocheting really slowly the past few weeks.  I split my down time/quiet time between reading and crocheting, and recently reading has won. I renewed my library card and have been catching up on my long list of books including Love Is A Mix Tape (A), Blindness (B-), and The Alchemist (A-).

So rather than my own projects, I wanted to share some crochet projects from others.

Crochet Coral Reef

Image via Margaret Wertheim Flickr

“The Institute For Figuring is crocheting a coral reef: a woolly celebration of the intersection of higher geometry and feminine handicraft, and a testimony to the disappearing wonders of the marine world.” – IFF

Started in 2005 by sisters Margaret and Christine Wertheim, this project has become a worldwide movement to bring attention to the Great Barrier Reef and the effects of pollution and global warming.  Crocheters from around the world have contributed their work.  Click here for an exhibition schedule and more information.

Crochetdermy

Photos by Scene Photography 2009

Shauna Richardson creates these true-to-life “taxidermied” animals. Slightly less creepy than actual taxidermied animals, way more impressive. Read an interview with the artist here.

Yarnbombing

Yarnbombing by WooWork

Yarnbombing or Graffiti Knitting is a type of street/installation art made by knitters and crocheters.  The amigurumi sample above of  was made by WooWork. If you can’t tell from the photo, its a bunch of raindrops with cat and dog heads attached. These were hung in Vancouver during the winter olympics.  Click here for more info and adorable pictures.

Meet Lorelei
(this picture is hanging in my bathroom)

The official mascot of Molly Knight Crafts, Lorelei is a sweet little girl who loves fashion, beauty products, and modeling.  Her favorite TV show is Project Runway, followed closely by The Rachel Zoe Project (which is O.O.C.)

Pink is the new black.

Her skin and leggings are made with various nylon/acryllics and her dress is made from Berroco Suede.  Her hair is made from some funky yarn I found in the clearance bin.  I forget what its called exactly but it looks like Berroco Zap.

I got some better photos of the ladybug I made last weekend.

Lorelei just loved her.

Top down view.

I’m pretty pleased with how she came out.  Made with Berroco Comfort and Caron Simply Soft

Maybe there will be a giveaway here sometime during this celebratory month. Just sayin…

In the name of NCM, lets chat.  I get really excited whenever I have a comment to moderate on here.

Do you crochet? How long have you been crocheting? How will you be celebrating this exciting month?

1. Toasty

My sister requested a crocheted piece of toast as her treat for donating to Haiti relief.

Toasty and his drink of choice (also for size comparison)

Toasties are $5

2. I got an order for four birds, with colors to match the customer’s “real life” birds:

Birds are $7 each, any color (different wing colors are an option as well).  I have a blue and teal bird ready to ship but I keep forgetting to take pictures of them.

3. Then got an order for a pink lady bug. Only one picture of her for now, I tried to take some more but its really grey and yucky out (gettin REALLY sick of the weather in Boston lately!) so the lighting isn’t good.

Ladybugs are $15

I seem to get orders in waves.  I won’t have any custom orders for a few weeks, then boom, three in a row. Not that I’m complaining

Right now I’m working on a family of birds – the colors match those of the customer’s real life not-crocheted birds! I can’t wait to see pictures of them together. Next up is a lady bug, a monkey, a bunny and a bear. Busy couple weeks ahead!

And check out their other videos here.

Basically, its an amigurumi bunny and bear who play music thanks to stop motion animation and it is TOO CUTE. (I should count the number of times I’ve used “cute” on this blog.)

203gow is a Japanese crochet blog that I so wish I could actually read.  Check out these amazing crocheted 3D glasses and ami “3D” figures!!

I have no idea what they’re saying but the pictures in their posts are AMAZING.