FO Friday: Summer Fun

Well, I had the itch to try something new over Memorial Day weekend. I'd come across  a pattern for crocheted flip flops and knew they'd be the perfect experiment. So here they are:

I used the Flip Flops pattern by Tara Murray of Mamachee. She is a new designer to me and she has such cute designs! Since this was meant to be an experiment, I just fished in my stash of cheap cotton yarn (that I never use!) and chose the two colors that looked the best together. The soles are made from Peaches & Cream Twists in the Limerick colorway and the tops are Lily Sugar's & Cream in the Kiwi colorway. The greens aren't the same (the Limerick is a bit more olive), but I think they look good together. I'm glad I had several skeins on hand of the Limerick though because no joke this took all by 5% worth of 2 skeins just for the bottoms! The yarn is held in double, so it disappears really fast.

I made the size 9-10 and I used one hook larger than the pattern called for since I crochet very tightly. The soles are actually 2 pieces that are sewn together as one. They do fit, but they're just barely long enough. If I was making them for an actual size 10, I think I would need to go up another hook size for the bases (but again, that's just because of my tight stitching, not the pattern). These only took a couple hours to make and the pattern was really well written. It had great pictures to explain everything.

I've just been using them as house shoes since I doubt they're last very long in the real world, and they do their job fairly well :) My only regret is that I went the lazy route and didn't stabilize the soles. The pattern includes instructions on how to attach them to cheapy rubber flip flop soles or to make them cushier/more stable, but those options all required extra materials that I just didn't feel like going upstairs to grab, lol. The problem with not doing anything to stabilize them is that as you're walking they can fold up under themselves. So they kind of drive me nuts, lol,  and I have to pay attention to how I walk in them. I may cut the soles apart and add some foam or some cardboard eventually. 

And I realized that in my crazy month of illness/hectic work schedule, I only just realized that I never fully posted about my pattern testing! I was lucky enough to be asked to test the new Bethany the Butterfly pattern from Adrialys Designs. 

For my Bethany, I decided to make a bi-colored butterfly. I used Red Heart With Love in Violet and Jade for the wings and some old Patons Canadiana in Gray for the body. I also chose to embroider a mouth on mine to make it a little happier :)

I just love these colors together!

I really liked how the wings are made - it's done with a combination of double crochet and single crochet so you get that great shape. One thing I will say is you definitely need to make sure you count out the first 2 rows correctly. I was watching a movie while making my wings and I had to start over 3 times because I'd get to round 3 or 4 and the numbers weren't right. This was totally user error, lol, I just wasn't paying close enough attention. Eventually I realized my mistake and gave it my uninterrupted attention for a few minutes while I started off and they came out great.

Back view

So my own personal butterfly was made with a size H hook, but again that's because I crochet so tight. I would definitely recommend going with the G if you make this to keep everything tight enough to hold in the stuffing. Also, be careful not to over stuff the wings because this can cause the dc section of the wings to separate and show the stuffing. I had to play with it a bit to get the amount just right.

Closer look at wing shaping

I had a few random ideas while making this. I think this pattern would double great as a throw pillow on a girl's bed - imagine a butterfly themed room! And you could make it in any colors you want :) I also think you could easily make your butterfly look more realistic by adding black felt outlines to the wings. I could see that working for a monarch or blue morpho or swallowtail - you name it!

I had a lot of fun making this/testing this pattern and I would highly recommend it for any butterfly lover. Also, my nephew really likes that you can flap the wings :) Incidentally, Adrialys is having a Spring Crochet Along and this pattern is included in the selection. You can get the pattern here and join in the fun.

That's all I've got finished for this week :) Head over to Tami's Amis' Blog to see what lovely things others have made!

FO Friday: Springy Animals!

First on my finished pile this week is my new pal, Hazel :)

I used the Well-Dressed Bunny pattern by Fuzzy Mitten and absolutely love how he came out :) 

The bunny is made using Patons Canadiana yarn in Flax, the jacket using Lion Brand Microspun in Turquoise, and the waistcoat Red Heart Designer Sport in Mint. I picked the Canadiana because it was the color I want, and it was really nice to work with except one thing ... his ears! The yarn is actually a little too soft for this pattern it seems, because the ears just don't want to stand up. I can position them and then with the slightest movement they fall down. I'm still contemplating starching them :) Also, I think the yarns I used for the clothes were too large because his clothes came out a bit big. I doubt anyone really sees it but me though - it's just a small thing.

Hazel graced our table at Easter dinner and he was definitely a big hit :) Even my nephew likes to hold him by the ears and make him hop (this is a big deal because he usually couldn't care less about my animals, lol). He made a great center piece.

Here's a full frontal nudity pic, lol. Isn't it funny - all my other animals I would never think of as 'naked' even though I've never made clothes for them, but since this one has clothes I just look at this pic and think he's incomplete. By the way I named him Hazel after the main character in Watership Down :)

And here's his little accoutrements :) I never would have thought making what are basically doll clothes would be fun, but I really like it. I'm sure there will be many more articles of clothing in my future.

I also finished my pattern test for Adrialys Designs :) I'm not sure how much she wants me to divulge about it since the pattern hasn't been released yet, so you just get the one pic for now. I'll post about it fully once she releases it! It was lots of fun to make.

So that's what I've finished this week :) Head over to Tami's Amis' Blog to see what others have finished (and this week she did actually post an FO Friday, lol, so there are things to see!)

WIP Wednesday: Testing ... Testing ...

Going on a mini vacation this past weekend really put a damper on my WIPs this week. I managed to finish my Easter animals, but then I picked up a special project. I'm testing out a pattern for Adrialys Designs :) I was kind of ridiculously excited to be asked to test, especially because I've never gotten to do it before!

Here's just a little sneak peak for you - I have to say I love the way you do the shaping and I think it's a super cute design. I can't wait to finish it!

I've also been listening to the audio book of The Devil In The White City by Erik Larson. It's about one of America's first documented urban serial killers who preyed on visitors to the Columbia World Exhibition in 1892/1893. I was excited to read this book when I learned about it, but I'm currently almost halfway through and it's ... kind of boring me to be honest. I never would have thought that since I have a weird interest in serial killers in general. It's more the writing style - it's like every paragraph is designed to be read by a newscaster off a teleprompter. I understand it's hard to create a 1st person narrative more than 100 years after the occurrence, but you can totally tell that all of the info in the book was gained from old letters. The things you would want to learn more about are mostly speculative, and the things you wouldn't really care much for are described in crazy detail. I swear if I have to hear how someone's "striking blue eyes stood out from the drab Chicago background" one more time, I may just not finish the book, lol. As bad as it sounds, I hope that once the killing begin the story picks up. We shall see.

That's all I've had going on this week :) Head over to Tami's Amis' Blog to see what others are making too!

FO Friday, Part 1: Meet Petunia Pig!

Well, I gave a little teaser of this project on Wednesday, and today I finally get to reveal my first animal since December - I've been in withdrawals, I swear! Meet Petunia Pig!

This pattern was gifted to me by the oh, so generous Natasja from My Crochet Plush and I was itching to make it all month. I needed a baby gift for a girl at church so I used it as an excuse to make this, lol, what baby girl doesn't need a cute little piggy friend?

The pattern is Phoebe the Pig by Adrialys and the yarn happens to be unknown acrylic yarn that I bought from a thrift store for 25¢ each! They just happened to be the perfect color combo, if I do say so myself. The yarn was really thick, plus I crochet really tight, so my piggy came out a little less plump than the example photo in the pattern, but I still like just as well.

The things I really loved about this pattern were the nose and the hooves. Just so cute! The nose was my teaser photo (posted here) - I lined it with a piece of a milk jug to stabilize the shape. I wish I'd had a clear jug handy because you can sometimes see the yellow a bit, but at least this makes it still washable. The arms and feet hooves are actually done in two different ways to make the arm a bit smaller than the leg. I love both methods and think they came out super cute.

And of course the back view. I like how the ears are droopy, kind of like a dog's would be. 

And no pig is complete without a curly tail! The tail has a hidden secret - there's a pipe cleaner in there so you can bend it in a spiral. I even had a pink pipe cleaner on hand, what are the odds :)

I really love this little piggy and I hope that its new owner does too!

This is just PART 1 of my FO Friday posts. Stay tuned for my other - it will be epic as promised!

Crochet Update: Meet Fritz the Fox!

I've had this pattern for a few weeks - I consider it a birthday present to myself :) - and I've been very excited to make it up, but I had to order the yarn for it so it had to wait for a while to get made up. I took a break from my giraffe this weekend to get this guy made and I just love it!

This is Fritz and he's a fox :) Isn't he cute?! He was made from the Fabian the Red Fox pattern by Adrialys. I fell in love with him immediately. His pointed cheeks are my favorite part and I just had to have one.

Look at his cute little face! I used Vanna's Choice yarn in Terra Cotta for the orange (to be honest it looked much more orangey-red online than it turned out to be in person, but it was close enough I guess so I went with it) along with Everyday Soft Worsted in black and snow white for the rest.

I tacked down the back legs so they don't move, but the front ones can flop around. This comes in very handy for making him wave at people, lol, and my nephew loved it. Also, yet again these feet are the perfect size to fit right in Lucas' mouth which always means it's a win with him.

And what fox would be complete without a tail? This one curves because that whole side is done with slip stitches. I like that it is constantly curved like that because he doesn't require a huge area to sit on. The slip stitches are never my favorite, but this time I made super sure to not pull them as tight as my other stitches and it went much easier.

Honestly, this guy was pretty complicated - much more so than I expected from how he looks. The ears in particular were pretty tricky and the assembly ended up taking me a few hours by itself. Even though it was a bit tricky, I'm really happy with my little guy. He's just so cute that it's worth the effort :)