FO: Starting The Degas Project

As you can probably guess (from my lack of posting anything else about it, lol), I did not win anything in last year's Mochimochi Land Photo Contest. It was my first try though, and to get honorable mention on my Letters To Santa photo I put together a week before the deadline is pretty cool in my book :) The whole competition experience though got my head in mochi photo mode. I had several ideas even during that week, but I had no time in which to execute them. Not this year! I'm planning ahead, and I'm making things mostly because I think they will be really cute, but if I can win something at the end of the year that would be nice too, lol. One of the first things I wanted to make happen involved lots of little ballerinas.

Anna Hrachovec has an adorable Tiny Ballerina pattern which I happen to have, and I made this little lady up in April. It's one of those things I've always thought was cute and wanted to make but never made the time. Flash to this year when I had the idea: try to recreate Degas ballerina paintings with knitted ballerinas! lol That will, obviously, take a lot more ballerinas then just one, but I wanted to make one to see exactly what I could accomplish as far as posing the little ladies.

I used Knit Picks Palette in Oyster Heather for her skin, and Golden Sun Bamboo in Nude Pink for her tutu and brown for her hair. I was unsure how the slick bamboo yarn would work for this project, but it was the best ballet pink sock weight yarn I had, so I gave it a try and I am pleased :)

Here's the back view. I had to lean her on an empty Gutterman thread spool to stand up, but it should also give you an idea of her tiny size :)

Since I was trying to copy a Degas painting that hangs above my bed, I gave her brown hair and tried to make the top of the tutu look like it was off the shoulder.

And look at her tiny feet! The only change I made was to make the skirt of the tutu with the knit side out (the pattern calls for the purl side, which would give more of a balloon to the skirt). I liked that it curved gently this way. It did make the skirt a bit longer, so I may have to take that into account next time.

Then I tried to pose her :) This was all done with pins and photoshop, but she does look like she's balancing, doesn't she? I may have to make future ones with longer arms if they need to touch above her head, etc. And obviously I need a better background then plain white (man was it difficult to get details with this stark situation).

So I made a ballerina :) I love how cute she is, and now that I have an idea of what I can do with posing her, I will be able to keep my Degas project going. You'll be seeing more of these little ladies in the future!

FO: Flapjack Frogs

This is a project that I've wanted to make for quite a while. Back at the beginning of March, I found myself without a toy project. I had just finished my baby doll, and I really just felt like knitting toys quietly in the evenings. So I kind of haphazardly picked a pattern I liked from my stack and started knitting. I've always loved the Flapjack Frogs by Anna Hrachovec, and it was one of the first patterns I ever bought from her. Such a cute idea, right?!

So I dug through my stash of green acrylic, worsted weight yarns (of which I actually have quite a selection, lol). I started with Premier Everyday Soft Worsted in Shamrock, then Red Heart Super Saver in Spring Green, then I Love This Yarn in Jelly Bean. I liked the variations between light and dark all represented in the one project. Because of the bright colors of the frogs, I went with a hunter green (Caron Simply Soft in Dark Sage) for the lily pad. The white is Vanna's Choice on their tummies and the fly's wings. The black is Premier Everyday Soft Worsted, and the pink is Red Heart Super Saver in Perfect Pink.

One of my favorite touches is the little tongue - it's just so funny, lol. I didn't want to over do it though, so I only made one frog with a tongue. I used 9 mm safety eyes for the frogs.

Speaking of cute touches, look at that little fly! He's cute on his own, but I think what really makes him super adorable is his little colored eyes. I was lucky enough to test out some Suncatcher Craft Eyes and I got a multicolored pack of size 6 mm. Not only was this the perfect mini size for the fly, but this limey green color is so vibrant that it even showed up on a totally black background. Isn't that awesome?! This is the second set I've used and they are just such nice quality. I'm definitely a believer :)

So, what do you do when you're taking pictures of a fun set like this? You make little scenes, of course, lol. My nephew helped name the frogs, so this is Frank with Flynn the fly, lol. 

And how about a little synchronized swimming? It's like they're sky diving or something, lol.

And why not add in the lily pad? Also aren't their knees cool? I love all the little touches that Anna adds to her patterns. They are small touches, but they make the project so much more interesting and they have much more character.

So now I finally have my set of Flapjack Frogs :) They are fun for playing leap frog with, as well as stacking in various ways. Anna has a few other patterns that keep with the theme of stacking (Pile-Up Pups and Stackable Cats) which I will eventually make as well. They're just so fun! I'm glad to have them on hand "for future children". In the meantime, they will looks really cute in my sewing room :)

Christmas FO: The Littlest Lumberjack

Back to my Christmas gifts - this is one of the ones I've been most excited to post just because it's so dang cute. Meet the tiny lumberjack!

This was made for a family friend who "has a thing for lumberjacks", lol, particularly red-headed lumberjacks. I dug through my stash of fingering weight yarn and used a tiny bit of my beloved Plucky Knitter Plucky Feet that I won from Hunter Hammersen's blog last year. That's dedication, folks - I hoard that stuff and fully plan on only using it for myself, lol, but I figured I could spare a yard for this project. His bear is quite springy.

I made this guy with the Tiny Lumberjack pattern by Anna Hrachovec (p.s. she's having a sale on her website this whole month so you can get 20% off this pattern). I've always wanted to make this up, so this gift was the perfect excuse. At first I'd planned on a red plaid shirt, but when I held the red up to the beard color they clashed really badly making me decide to go with a yellow shirt instead. I think it turned out much better this way.

All the yarns used (other than the beard) were Knit Picks Palette or Golden Sun Bamboo (bought from China on ebay). This is an incredibly cute project, but I can't lie - it is pretty tedious to knit. I think he took 3 hours to make and it's all because of all the color changes. I love the result, so I'm happy I made it, but just be aware that this is a more involved project than it seems to begin with.

I added a little lanyard so this can be used as a key chain or hung from something if desired. I love these little lanyard things - I picked up 100 off ebay (from China for seriously $1.60 shipped total) and they really make these little projects so much more purposeful. Cute as they are, what can you really do with a 1" tall knitted lumberjack? This way he can be seen daily and be useful:)

So there's the little lumberjack :) I really love the tiny patterns like this and I definitely plan on making more. I need at least one for myself after all, lol. I've been told that the recipient of this little fella thinks he's fantastic, so that's always nice too. Yay for teeny tiny knitting!

FO: Super Shannon Key Chain

This past month has been a really tough one for my younger sister. Having a horribly dramatic and life altering year myself, it's been very hard to sit by and watch her go through a similar anguish, especially since she lives 1300 miles away. At the beginning of this year, Shannon was honestly one of the things that helped me get through my hard times. She's done so much for me and I will always be grateful. I know that nothing can truly stop the pain of such situations, but any little cheerful thing helps to just get your mind off your problems. After a particularly sad conversation with her, I knew I wanted to do something to brighten her day. This happened to be the day that Anna Hrachovec announced the winners of her recent photo contest for her mini knitting patterns. I put two and two together and decided to finally make a Teeny Tiny Mochimochi, and to make it a special gift to boot.

Meet Super Shannon :) She is made from the Knit Kid and Purl Girl pattern by Anna Hrachovec (it's a free pattern) combined with the kindly written instructions from KittyKat77 on how to make the pattern look like Wonder Woman. I knew this would be the perfect little cheesy gift since Shannon has always been super to me and she certainly saved me :) So what better way to commemorate that fact than a mini knitted Super Shannon? Right?!

Super Shannon was made in about 2 hours (while watching Sense and Sensibility, so it's infused with even more sisterly goodness) and entirely from yarns I had in my stash. The yarns are as follows: skin - Serenity Sock in Soft White; suit, shoes, and crown - Knit Picks Palette in Serrano, Canary, and Blue Note Heather; hair - Golden Sun Bamboo in Brown (bought from China on ebay). Even her facial features were a scrap of Valley Yarns Charlemont in Black from my recently finished Emelie sweater. Super Shannon also has a teeny tuft of polyfil inside. At first I was bummed that I didn't have a more skin-like color, but Shannon is super pale like me, lol, so it worked out fine.

This little lady was knitted on size 2 double pointed needles ... which are basically a set of really long, skinny toothpicks. I've never knitted with needles that small before, and to be honest I am still kind of amazed that I didn't break them, lol. I'm glad I didn't though because now I can make more tiny creations. These things are seriously addicting! I think I've finally found my new quick and satisfying animal making activity.

I picked up 100 of these little key chain pieces off of ebay several months ago when I got it in my head to make Japanese style charms for things - I had never used them until now, lol. If you're wanting these pieces but don't need them very quickly, it is so worth it to go to ebay. You can get 100 of them for something like $1.69 shipped from Hong Kong, but it will take about 3 weeks to arrive. I looked on Etsy first and it was going to cost $1.00 for just 5 plus the shipping cost. Craziness! Anyway, the little lanyard thing has a lobster clasp that I just hooked into a few stitches on Super Shannon's hair so she can fly, but it can be easily removed if need be. Look how tiny she is! It's crazy. I love it :)

So, I hope this little effort brightened Shannon's day a little bit :) Who wouldn't like a little super hero style effigy of themselves to carry around? No one, that's who! So keep on being super, Shan. As Buddha says, "The only way out is through." Things will get better. At least now you have a little super talisman to keep you company :)

FO: Paulie the Poly

This is a project that I actually finished two weeks ago! I was hoping to have a funny photo shoot, but it just hasn't happened yet and I am so excited to show this off, so maybe you'll get funny photos in the future. For now, meet the biggest amigurumi I have ever made: Paulie the Polie.

He was made using the Roland pattern from Huge & Huggable Mochimochi by Anna Hrachovec. My sister bought me this book a few months ago and I hadn't made anything out of it until now. All of the patterns in the book are designed for super bulky sized yarn, so the projects come out enormous - much bigger than I was expecting, to be honest :) This guy is about the size of my nephew, lol.

I started making this after a particularly bad day - it was kind of comical in hind sight. I just needed a frivolous project to have fun making and not worry about it fitting anyone or being finished by a certain time. I also needed it to be made from yarn in my stash, which was the biggest deciding factor in making up this particular pattern. Back when I first started knitting, I went a bit crazy at a clearance yarn sale and bought a ridiculous amount of Lion Brand Hometown USA at $1.00 to $1.50 per skein. I've used a little here and there over the years, but most of it has just sat in a bin untouched. Thanks to this book, I know I will have use for it at last! This Roly-Poly used 1.65 skeins of the Charlotte Blue colorway and 2.20 skeins of Dallas Gray. That's almost 4 skeins of yarn in just one amimal! Craziness!

While I was making this up, I actually reached the point of thinking I would have to give him away simply because he was so incredibly large I would have no place to put him, lol. That shell took way too long to make, and I was getting a bit sick of it, lol. Once I had him put together though, I knew he was mine to keep. The night I finished him, I accidentally fell asleep on the couch using him as a hugging pillow - this has been his job ever since! He makes a perfect side pillow, even if it looks ridiculous to have him sitting in my bed, lol.

Just in case you don't believe me about the size of this guy, here is a terrible photo of him in action, lol. See - he's huge! When I was ready to stuff him, I was afraid I wouldn't have enough polyfill, but happily I did. This did take about half of my 32 oz bag though!

I really like how the body is constructed - the head and butt are just domed circles, but the tummy area is all done in garter stitch - this helps him stay bendable so he can roll up. Also you create yarn over holes as you work which is where each of the legs go. Believe me when I tell you - don't question the yarn overs! I just couldn't figure out what they were for (and I didn't read far enough into the pattern to find out, duh!), so when it came time to put them on the head I questioned their placement and ended up putting them in his chin. Yeah. I had to sew those holes closed and then try to ram his antennae through the bars between stitches, which was no easy feat, trust me. It worked out ok on his head, but I can't imagine having to figure out each of his legs the same way, so I was glad I obeyed the pattern.

The pattern calls for 25 mm safety eyes, which I definitely did not have in my stash. 25 mm is just shy of 1 inch in diameter, and I've never seen eyes that large at Joann's or Hobby Lobby before. Rather than order some online (and postpone my project until they arrived), I decided to make some out of felt. I used my Sizzix Paddle Punches and the balloon punch is almost 1" wide, so I just cut off the little balloon tip and called it a circle :) I embroidered French knots just to give him more life, and then I whip stitched around the eyes to secure them to the head. I think it came out really cute, and now he is baby safe :) Just look at that face!

All in all, I am thrilled with my roly-poly buddy. I had no name for him until he was completely finished, and I was just calling him "The Poly" and "My Poly" while I carried him around in one arm like a large baby, lol. In the end I thought that Paulie was a good name for him. He now sleeps with me every night - talk about an unforeseen practical make! Even though I made him at a crazy time when I should have been making gifts for others, he was just the bit of fun I needed to keep me sane. Yay for enormous Roly Polys!

FO: Vernon the Winter Walrus

Well, it's a Friday and I actually have a finished object I can show you! It's a small miracle, folks. The last few weeks have found me in a peculiar situation - I finish a gift item, I know I have others I need to finish, but I just want a break to make something frivolous for myself. It's childish, sure, but sometimes you just need your hobby to be a stress reliever, amiright? This little guy ended up being just what I needed :)

 Meet Vernon. I made him using the Deck the Walruses by Anna Hrachovec, which you get free right now with any $5 purchase on Mochimochiland.com until January 1st. I never have a problem finding one of her patterns to love during this yearly freebie-type-sale (last year I got the Teeter Totter Reindeer pattern for free with the same deal), so I grabbed the Pile-Up Pups pattern and got this one for free :) Yay for half price on two designs I wanted anyway! Anyway, the pattern includes the walrus and 3 hat options to "deck" him out in. My favorite was easily the ear flap hat.

I kind of pulled my stripes a bit too tight on the hat - oh well, he's still adorable :) I made Vernon last Sunday during a Lord of the Rings view-a-thon with my husband. I used Vanna's Choice yarn from my stash in Dusty Rose and Linen along with a mystery blue acrylic yarn I picked up at a thrift shop. I really love how quirky the color combo turned out.

Vernon's hat is removable, but not tie-on-able. My nephew loves to play with Vernon ... until his hat falls off. It's pretty funny how distressed this make him, lol. If you were making the pattern up yourself, you could make the ties maybe double their length and then you could tie a cute bow to keep the hat on, just so you know.

The pattern was pretty good - I could have done with a close up shot of the back or side especially considering the pattern tells you to place the tail at a 45 degree angle, but I was able to figure out the tail and flipper placement. I did put the tail lower than the pattern tells you because he kept falling forward the other way. His mustache is just the linen colored yarn tied to the bars between the stitches macramé style, then trimmed and untwisted.

The only other change I made was to use size 6 dpns instead of the called for size 5s - I knit tightly, so I figured it would help. The only spot this made a difference is at the increasing on the head - the holes are a smidge bigger than I'd like. Oh well, that's what cute hats are for :) His stuffing still all stays in just fine - it's really a nit picky thing on my part, not that big a deal. Also I had to look up how to do a 3 needle bind off to make the separation in the tail - again, not a big deal, but I had never needed to do that before. You Tube came to the rescue, as ever.

So, there you have it :) I'm really happy with this cute little guy. He makes for a nice holiday decoration, but I will certainly keep him out year round. Vernon turned out to be just the break I needed to get my head back in the gift knitting game. Huzzah! 

*I am not being compensated for mentioning the Mochimochi Land sale at all - I just thought you might like to know about it too :)

FO Friday: Confusion and B-Days

Well, I had a pretty awful day on Wednesday, which of course meant a prescription of lots of knitting :) I finished my moose!

This is the Confused Moose pattern from Knitting Mochimochi by Anna Hrachovec. I've always thought this pattern was cute, so I finally decided to tackle it. This little guy was the perfect antidote to a really bad week at work.

Just look at his little face! I used all Caron Simply Soft yarn except one. The simply soft colors are chocolate, strawberry, blue mint, pistachio, orchid, mango, and black. The antlers were made with Bernat Satin Solids in Sable. I picked all these yarns because they are all similar in weight, so I knew the birds wouldn't end up different sizes :) I just love how they all came out.

And it's just as cute from the back :)

And just check his little feet! I'm so excited about my moose and his bird friends. Just like all of my knitted animals, this is one I will be keeping for myself :) I think it's because they take so much longer than the crocheted animals, I become more attached to them. So this guy will be keeping me company in my sewing room.

I also made a gift for a good friend of mine :) These are the Lacy Patterned Boot Cuffs which is a free pattern on Ravelry. They were specifically requested by my friend Tara, and she is always giving me so much I just had to fulfill the request. Plus it was her birthday just a few days ago!

These were made with Red Heart Soft yarn in Off White. I made them 51 stitches around (hopefully they fit!), and I started with foundation single crochet - other than that I just followed the pattern. I think they came out great and I hope Tara likes them.

So that's what I've finished this week :) I've been working on a few other items as well, but that's a post for another day. Head over to Tami's Amis' Blog to see what lovely things others have made this week!

FO Friday: Meet The Stylish Nadine!

I'm so excited to have this as an unexpected finished object this week - and it's the last FO Friday of the year! I'm so glad I got this finished and it gets the distinction of the last one of the year :)

Nadine is a fashionable young pig, and as such likes to switch up her hair style as the mood strikes. So once I made Nadine herself, I made her a selection of wigs to accessorize to the fullest :)

 Nadine herself is seriously the cutest little knitted pig ever! My sister kept threatening to steal her and called her "the perfect pig"! She's such a cute size and she's so symmetrical! I just love it. I made her using the Pigs With Wigs pattern from Knitting Mochimochi by Anna Hrachovec. And yes, I will confess I purchased this book mostly just for this one pattern - it was totally worth it!

The pattern includes 4 different wigs: a bouffant, a bob, an afro and a mohawk. I actually made the piggy back at the beginning of September, but I wanted to wait to unveil her til I had all the wigs finished. I have them listed in the order that I made them. I started with the bouffant, and I went with white so it would be oh so Marie Antoinette. I wish I could make some type of removable beauty mark to go with it :) Then came the others. Each wig has i-cord straps that you just tie on.

The other nerdy part of this project is that it is made entirely of Cascade 220 Superwash yarn, lol. I'm sure most people out there don't mind mixing types of yarn when making a toy, but I'm a purist I guess so I just had to make them all out of the same. It worked out though, because all of these yarns were technically in my stash and purchased for other projects! The pink and cream were from The Ruffled Cloche Hat, the orange and yellow were from The Not So Itty-Bitty Giraffe, and the blue/purple was purchased to make a sweater (I have 10 skeins of this stuff, so I could certainly spare a wigs' worth). In fact, I only have 1 color of Cascade 220 Superwash that I didn't use - the red from my Rosie Hat. Maybe Nadine will get another wig later on :)

I'm seriously in love with this project. It was a nice satisfying project to pick up in between other things I was working on over the last few months, even more so because you get newly excited about it with each new wig! I love that this was my first Anna Hrachovec pattern, and it really gave me a great stepping stone into the Mochimochi Land world. She has such incredibly creative and cute designs. She has the most fantastic imagination! You should check out her books and countless other patterns, you'll be hooked too, I promise.

So that's my final FO Friday for the year - sigh - it feels so good! I'm so glad I was able to finish so make long standing projects over the last few months. It's such a nice feeling to get them done - I'm down to only 5 UFOs! That is really a big accomplishment for me, and 2 of those projects have hit a snag that I need to sit down and sort out to be able to finish. I am determined though, so they will hopefully not be too much longer in completion.

That's it for me this week :) I'm not sure if it's even still going on (I think she's been sick), but you can check out Tami's Amis' Blog to see what others have made this week.