Yarn addiction

I have a confession to make. I’m addicted…to beautiful yarn. Soft yarn. Vibrant yarn. Unusual yarn. I love it all.

I didn’t know, when I first started crocheting, that there was a world of yarn outside Lincraft and Spotlight. But as I got increasingly dissatisfied with the range of yarn from those two stores, I started to look further afield. And on my travels, I have found some amazing, unique yarns that I would love to have in my possession someday. Early on in my yarn quest, I came across Mademoiselle Chaos’ blog, where she spins yarn out of unlikely objects like umbrellas and newspapers. I found a listing for some yarn on Etsy that has been spun out of cassette tapes. I’ve found yarn made out of milk, cotton, bamboo, camel, alpaca and soy. I’m currently wrangling a project out of yarn that has been spun from old saris.

Sadly, I have also discovered that unusual yarn doesn’t come cheap. The most amazing skein of yarn I have come across costs a whopping 52USD, and that’s without postage. Worth it? You tell me. I can just imagine the projects I could make from that yarn, but I don’t think I could ever justify spending that much on one tiny skein of yarn. For now, I’ll just have to be content scouring Ebay and Etsy for deals on luxurious yarn, so I can dip my toes in the world of yarn art and imagine what it would be like if I was rich.

accessories, bag lady, crochet, Handbags

A crocheted bag, WIPs and ideas a-plenty

I’ve had the pattern for the Nordstrom hobo bag in my Ravelry queue for ages, and after enlisting the adorable Katu to ship me some Wool of the Andes yarn from Knitpicks and sourcing some cute bag handles, I was finally ready to start! It took me far longer to line the bag and sew the handles on than it did to actually make it – although at first I found the pattern somewhat confusing. I don’t know whether it was my fault interpreting the pattern, or whether the pattern isn’t written very well, but I had to frog the first three rows about three times before I got the hang of it. And the instructions for lining the bag are very vague and not very helpful – if I hadn’t already had some experience lining bags, I would have been in real trouble. But all that aside, I’m really proud of how it turned out!

I’m going to do another one in red (crimson, actually), but not before I’ve finished everything else I have queued up at the moment. I have a lot of projects on the go, including but not limited to:

Two pairs of crocheted legwarmers

The Noro Plaid Scarf

A Japanese-style bag

My husband’s birthday present

My brother’s birthday present (I won’t put what it is here in case a miracle occurs and he shows an interest in what I do with my time)

A super-secret afgan design

A Totoro costume for myself to wear to this year’s AVCon. Fingers crossed I have enough time to do it in!

A couple of amigurumi patterns I have ideas for

A bag for my Mom to keep her cross-stitching bits and pieces in

A pink Reddit Alien for my mother-in-law

Phew! Still, it’s nice to be kept busy. This weekend I will be descending upon the annual Salisbury Craft and Hobby Fair in search of yarn bargains and other bits and pieces to help me with my sewing and crocheting endeavours. I hope everyone has a good long weekend!

Amigurumi amp; Plushies, crochet, patterns, reddit

An Arbitrary Alien

After having so much fun participating in the Reddit Secret Santa gift exchange last year, I just had to sign up for the next event, which was Arbitrary Day! My match listed one of her likes as the Reddit Alien, and so I got straight to work. I have now produced the little guy you can see below, and he turned out quite well! So, I thought I’d post the pattern so other fans of Reddit can make their own little fluffy alien (provided they know how to crochet, of course ;P).

Ingredients:

White yarn. I used Paton’s Big Baby 8ply yarn, but I wouldn’t recommend it. It was slippery and quite difficult to work with.

Black yarn or thread (for the alien’s mouth)

A 4mm crochet hook

Small red pom poms (for his eyes – or you could use felt, or crochet little circles)

A black pipecleaner (for his antenna)

A white pom pom (once again, you could use felt or crochet to make the circle at the end of his antenna)

A needle

Stuffing

Glue

Method:

Head:

Sc 5 in a magic ring. Alternatively, ch 2 and sc 5 into the 2nd chain from your hook.

Round 1: 2sc into each sc around (10).

Round 2: *Sc in 1st sc, 2sc in second sc* around (15).

Round 3: *Sc in next two sc, 2sc in next sc* around (20).

Round 4: *Sc in next three sc, 2sc in next sc* around (25).

Round 5: *Sc in next four sc, 2sc in next sc* around (30).

Rounds 6-11: Sc around (30).

Round 12: *Sc in next 4 sc, dec* around (25).

Round 13: *Sc in next 3 sc, dec* around (20).

Round 14: *Sc in next 2 sc, dec* around (15).

Round 15: *Sc in next sc, dec* around (10).

Fasten off, leaving a tail for sewing head onto body, and stuff. Squish it down a bit so it has the oval-shaped head of the Reddit Alien, rather than a round ball.

Body:

Follow directions for head up to (and including) round 4.

Rounds 5 – 14: Sc around (25). Begin stuffing gently

Round 15: *Sc in next 3 sc, dec* around (20).

Round 16: *Sc in next 2 sc, dec* around (15).

Round 17: *Sc in next sc, dec* around (10).

Fasten off and sew in ends. Finish stuffing.

Ears (make 2):

Sc 4 in a magic ring.

Round 1: 2sc in each sc around (8).

You should get something looking roughly like a semi-circle. Sew ears onto head with the flat part of the semi-circle against the head. Sew tightly so the ears bend towards the head.

Arms (make 2):

Ch 6

Row 1: Sc along chain (5). Ch 1, turn.

Row 2: Sc along chain (5). Ch 1, turn.

Row 3: Sc along chain (5).

You should have something a bit like a small rectangle. Fold it in half, and sew onto body with the curved side facing away from the body. There’s no need to stuff the arms.

Feet (make 2):

Sc 5 into magic ring.

Round 1: 2sc around (10).

Round 2: *sc in 1st sc, 2sc in next* around (15).

Round 3: Sc around (15).

Round 4: Sc, dec around. (10)

Round 5: Sc around. (10)

Round 6: Dec around. (5)

Flatten foot out (no need to stuff) and sew onto bottom of the body. I sewed a stitch into the middle of the foot, creating a concave space that allows the alien to stand up without assistance.

Finishing details:

Glue the white pom pom to the end of the pipecleaner, and allow to dry. Stick pipecleaner into the top of the alien’s head and bend at a 90 degree angle.

Glue red pom poms onto the alien’s face and allow to dry. Sew on black mouth.

Sew head to body, and voila! Alien is completed!

If you have any problems with this pattern, email me at kirsty [at] whimsicalkitty [dot] com and I will get back to you as soon as I can!

PS: Of course this isn’t the only thing my Arbitrary Day match is getting…but the rest will have to be a surprise for now ;D

accessories, crochet, etsy, Hats and other stuff, scarf

Scarves and a welcome

First of all, a big welcome to all those who have come to check this blog out after seeing my neckwarmer pattern at Crochet Pattern Central! I hope the pattern was to your liking 🙂

Second, I have put two new scarves up on my Etsy store! They are Maiden’s Blush and Tropical Sunset respectively, and I hope they do well 🙂 The Maiden’s Blush is a delicate, pale pink scarf that is 10% cashmere, so it’s wonderfully soft and has a beautiful drape. Tropical Sunset is 100% high quality wool, and has gorgeous vibrant hues fading into each other. If you’re in need of a scarf for winter, check them out!

Amigurumi amp; Plushies, crochet, fish, otter, patterns

Sea Otter and Fish

I saw this pattern for a sea otter on Ravelry recently, and I just HAD to make it. He’s so adorable! I honestly think he is the cutest thing I have ever crocheted 🙂 I used some Moda Vera Jazz yarn I had bought on a whim a while ago from Spotlight, and although it was a royal pain to work with, I think it turned out perfectly! What do you think?

Although the pattern called for him to be holding a starfish, I felt that a fish would be more fitting. I searched Ravelry and the Crochet Pattern Directory looking for a tiny fish pattern to crochet – but I couldn’t find any that matched what I wanted. So, I made my own!

Ingredients:

A little bit of blue yarn, either worsted weight or dk. I used Spotlight’s Premium Marvel Plain, 8ply.

A little bit of black yarn, for the eye.

A 4mm crochet hook

A needle

Method:

Sc 4 into a magic ring. Alternatively, you could ch 2 and sc 4 into the 2nd chain from the hook. I like the magic ring because it looks neater and leaves less of a gaping hole at the end.

Round 1: *2inc, sc* twice (6)

Round 2: *2inc, sc 2* twice (8)

Round 3: *2inc, sc 3* twice (10)

Round 4: *2inc, sc 4* twice (12)

Round 5: *2inc, sc 5* twice (14)

Round 6: *2inc, sc 6* twice (16)

Rounds 7 – 11: Sc around (16) Stuff the fish.

Round 12: *dec, sc 6* twice (14)

Round 13: *dec, sc 5* twice (12)

Round 14: Dec around, finish stuffing and fasten off. (6) This is the body of your fish.

For the tail:

Sc 10 in a magic ring.

Round 1: 2inc around (20)

Round 2: Sc around, fasten off. (20)

Fold the tail in half so you have a semi circle, and sew onto the end of the fish. Sew a black cross onto the fish’s head with your black yarn and needle. Ta-ha! Insta-fish! Would make a great cat toy if you popped some crinkly material or cat nip inside! If you have any questions or problems with the pattern, email me at kirsty [at] whimsicalkitty [dot] com and I will get back to you as soon as I can!

accessories, crochet, Hats and other stuff, scarf, tips

Scarf mathematics

Just finished off a scarf for a rather nerdy friend of mine’s birthday! It’s a Fibonacci Scarf! A Fibonacci sequence is a mathematical sequence of numbers that’s special for some reason. No, I don’t know why, and I don’t particularly care. The point is, my nerdy friend will appreciate it. You may have noticed that the pattern I linked to is a knitting one – I don’t know of any crochet versions out there. However, since I am fundamentally incapable of knitting, I just tweaked the pattern and crocheted it instead, entirely in single crochet. I started with a chain of 30, and then just followed the row numbers on the original pattern. I had no idea if it would work or not while I was working on it, but it ended up looking pretty good!

Another thing about my nerdy friend is, he’s a vegan. This meant I had fewer options when it came to yarn selection for this project, and was quite troublesome. I know in theory that there are probably hundreds of various acrylic, bamboo and cotton yarns out there – they’re just not in any of the Spotlights in South Australia 😛 Every time I found a nice, soft acrylic, it was only available in unsuitable, odd colours. I was looking for navy blue and red. These are not unusual colours. I would imagine they are quite popular colours. Apparently, the yarn manufacturers disagree. I saw all manner of oranges, pinks, teals, purples and multicoloured yarns, but the only brand that had both the colours I needed was a brand called Thorobred, which unfortunately is not known for its stellar quality. In fact, when I crocheted the first section of the scarf, I was about ready to throw it in the bin. It felt like a scourer! Luckily, my homies at the crochetcrochet community on Livejournal introduced me to the art of “killing” acrylic. I did try washing it with fabric softener before resorting to murdering it, but all that did was make the scarf smell of apples. Not bad, certainly, but not helpful either.

“Killing” acrylic is basically blocking it, except it’s an irreversible process. There are a couple of methods, I chose to pin it to the ironing board, cover it with a damp cloth and press it with lots of steam, and that worked just fine. It’s really, really soft now, and it grew a bit in length as well, which is always handy! I’m really pleased with how it turned out in the end, it far exceeded any of my expectations.

Now, to make a pi plushie and I’m all set for his birthday!

accessories, crochet, Hats and other stuff, patterns, scarf

Blueberry Dreams Neckwarmer

I am very happy to introduce you all to my very first pattern! It’s ok, you can stop applauding now. It’s a neckwarmer, which is kind of like a mini-scarf – a scarlette, if you will. It’s super warm and comfy, and looks pretty stylin’, too! The pattern is really simple; it’s great for beginners who want something easy to make that still looks good. So without further ado, here is the pattern! The stitches you need to know are single crochet and double crochet – that’s it! I use US terms for my patterns, just fyi.

Ingredients:

1-2 50g skeins of worsted weight yarn. I used Araucania Rehue Multy, which is an absolutely stunning yarn, hand-dyed in Chile. I got it on sale at yarn.com, for an insanely cheap price. I needed 2 skeins of this yarn because there isn’t much yardage to a skein, but I think you could easily get away with 1 skein of a less fancy yarn.

A 5mm crochet hook

2 buttons of your choice

A needle

Method:

Ch 25. If you want a wider neckwarmer, chain more. This pattern is very customisable, as you’ll see.

Row 1: Sc across (25)

Row 2: Ch 2, dc across (25)

Row 3: Ch 1, sc across (25)

Repeat rows 2 and 3 until you get to row 71, which, if you’ve been following the pattern correctly, should be a row of single crochet.

Row 71: Ch 1, sc 7. *Ch 2, skip next 2 ch, sc 7* twice. These are your button holes. If you’re using tiny buttons, you might only want to ch 1 and skip 1 ch. I recommend you use large buttons though.

Row 72: Ch 2, dc across (25).

Row 73: Ch 1, sc across (25).

Row 74: Ch 2, dc across (25).

Row 75: Ch 1, sc across (25).

Row 76: Ch 1, skip 2 stitches and dc into the next stitch 5 times. skip next stitch and sc into the next stitch. Repeat until the end of the row. Finish off and sew in ends.

Try the neckwarmer on and see where you need to sew the buttons on. This is really personal preference – I just placed the buttonholes where I thought they seemed good on the opposite end of the neckwarmer, marked the places and sewed the buttons on there. Then I tried it on to make sure it wasn’t too tight/too loose. Voila! You now have your very own neckwarmer for the upcoming winter! **NEWLY ADDED** Click here to download the pattern in pdf form!

If you have any questions about this pattern, feel free to email me at kirsty [at] whimsicalkitty [dot] com and I will reply as soon as I can!

Amigurumi amp; Plushies, crochet, Hats and other stuff, patterns, scarf, tips

Tea Scarf 2.0

I love the tea scarf pattern on Ravelry – it’s one of the simplest, yet prettiest scarves around. However, it’s quite a small scarf when worked in worsted weight yarn (as it suggests it should be), both in length and width. I don’t know about you, but I like a scarf I can wrap around my neck a couple of times. So, without further ado, here’s how to make a long tea scarf in a dk weight yarn.

I used 2 balls of Moda Vera Wool/Cashmere Blend (which I highly recommend – it’s beautifully soft and has a bit of stretch in it) for this, with a 4mm crochet hook. First, ch 250. I know, I know, it seems like a lot. But it really doesn’t take that long! Then, simply follow the original tea scarf pattern – but double the amount of rows it says to do. At least. Really, you can keep going with the rows as long as you like, depending on how wide you like your scarves. Once you’ve finished adding rows, switch to a 5mm hook and do your edging as per the original pattern. If you want a really pronounced ruffle edging, do 3 dc in each stitch instead of 2. Ta-da! A long, elegant tea scarf is born! You may find it curls a little at the ends when you’ve finished, but that can be cured by blocking it.

Blocking is when you dampen your scarf (or other project), pin it out on a surface and wait for it to dry. That’s a very simple explanation, by the way, there are a few different types of blocking that can be used for different yarn types. For instance, when I made my first tea scarf, I made it in Noro Silk Garden yarn, which is worsted weight, and I put that in the washing machine on the wool cycle (without detergent), then pinned it out on a towel on a futon and left it overnight. For the wool/cashmere one, because it was a more delicate yarn, I pinned it out on an ironing board and steamed it with an iron – being very careful not to let the iron touch the yarn! Blocking a project just gives it a bit more of a professional look, in my opinion, so it’s something I’ll be doing from now on.

I gave the above-mentioned scarf to my mother-in-law for Mother’s Day, incidentally, and she loved it! I used a cream coloured yarn for the main body of the scarf, and black for the edging. I almost wished I could keep it for myself! For my mother, I made her a Japanese kokeshi doll trinket box that I found a pattern for on Ebay. One day I hope to have the time to come up with my own patterns for this stuff – maybe after the craft fair is over!

Kokeshi Doll

crochet, Hats and other stuff, noro, scarf

Stop! Rainbow scarf time!

I am so super super busy at the moment with a million different craft projects (all for other people, I might add), but tonight I took time out to make the delightful tea scarf that I found on Ravelry a while ago. It’s such a pretty pattern, very easy (perfect for a first crochet scarf!) and so easily customisable!

Rainbow Tea Scarf

I used the famed Noro Silk Garden yarn to make it, and I love how it turned out. I’ve been lusting after Noro yarn since I first started crocheting – it seems to be the holy grail of yarn in some circles. Unfortunately, it’s not too easy to get hold of here in South Australia, and it’s very expensive. But! My all-time-favourite online yarn store came to the rescue with half price Noro Silk Garden in discontinued colours! I got three balls of yarn for only $26 including postage, which is a real steal considering one ball is about $14 anywhere else.

I’ve heard it said that you either love or hate Noro yarn. While the colours are amazing, the yarn has a few undesirable aspects to it – namely, for me, the feel of the yarn. While it’s 45% silk, it’s raw silk, so the yarn feels a little rough to the touch. I’m a tactile creature, and I do love me some soft yarn. However, I’ve heard it softens up a great deal after washing, so it’s currently on my dryer rack after a run in the washing machine on the wool cycle. Fingers crossed. Other complaints I’ve heard about Noro are that it contains a lot of vegetable matter, and that there are knots in the skeins, joining two completely different colours together. So far I haven’t experienced either one of these, and I admit, I am totally in love with this yarn. If I could, I’d marry it and we’d move to Portugal and have tiny, Noro yarn babies.

I have a feeling I’ll be throwing a lot of my spare money in Noro’s direction in the near future. Until then, I’ll have to put up with the pedestrian yarn selection my local Spotlight has to offer. Now, it’s off to madly make as many things as I can for my first every craft fair on the 15th of May!

accessories, crochet, etsy, Hats and other stuff

Finally, something to put in my store!

So recently I’ve been experimenting with different yarns and patterns to make something to put in my Etsy store 🙂 I’ve decided on a range of headbands to begin with, because they’re cute and I love wearing them myself, so I hope other people will too! They’re being put up slowly at the moment, because I am trying to utilise my Dad’s super awesome Nikon camera for the photos because they end up looking SO much better than mine. Unfortunately, he’s only available sporadically so I have to make as many as I can and then stalk him until he has a free moment 😛 So far, I have this pretty magenta coloured one, with a little pink heart button in the middle:

Magenta Flower Headband

And this black sparkley one with silver sequins in the middle:

Black Sparkle Headband

Good thing I don’t have dandruff, right? ;P I have a couple of others waiting to be photographed, which I’ll put up later on. I found this absolutely fantastic ribbon yarn, which is a bitch to work with, but the results are totally worth it. I think the ribbon one looks the best of all! I wore the black sparkle one out yesterday and got complimented on it, which made me happy. So check them out on my Etsy store and see what you think! If you become a fan of me on Facebook, I’ll even give you 10% off your first purchase 🙂

KJ Sews

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Author Archives: KJ