Video: My Spooky Cute Halloween Makes! (PLUS plans for more!)

 

I've been making all the Halloween themed items lately, so I decided to show all my latest projects :) Head over to My YouTube Channel or click the link below to scope out all my spooky cute makes.

 

FO: Chill Pill-ow

This project was a request from my sister about 2 years before I made it, lol. Can't rush. Last summer I was on a big kick to finally fulfill the promised makes for my family, and this one turned out to be a huge hit.

About 2 years before, my sister sent me this photo and asked if I could crochet her one. The original is tufted, but I knew I could translate it into crochet without much difficulty. So I said yes and the promptly did not make it up, lol.

I did make a chart for myself back when she asked me initially for this pillow, which was handy. I just guessed at the size and it turned out to be right - woo hoo. I didn't know what to do for the actual outer size of the pillow itself, so I made it as a bit of a rounded edge rectangle knowing I could serge off the areas I didn't need later. This file is large enough to print just in case anyone else needs a chill pillow of their own.

And this was the finished top! I made this while watching old Twilight Zone episodes, lol. I was pretty pleased with it. I did this as tapestry crochet where you carry the other color along and crochet it into each stitch so it is available when you need to switch. I remember I did have to fudge the chart in one place because it didn't look right - it was somewhere on the 100mg part, I just can't remember specifically what I had to do. Once it was all crocheted, I just made a template of what shape I wanted the pillow to be that would use the most of the crochet I could while still making it look uniform and deliberate. I then used that template piece to cut out some white denim from my stash, and I sewed and serged the pieces together, leaving a few inches to flip it and stuff before closing it by hand.

The back is plain but sturdy, helping give this a good finished shape. I find it's hard to get a fully crocheted pillow to keep the shape you want without it bulging in odd areas since it has so much give built in. Also, I stuffed this thing within an inch of its life. My philosophy with anything you will be hugging and squeezing or laying on is that you want to stuff it very firmly in the beginning because the stuffing with compact over time. So this was very firmly stuffed when it went to its new owners.

It turned out a nice bolster size, which has now made this pillow legendary in our family. My mom brought this along with a few other things I sewed for my sister when she visited her for the birth of her baby. She had the baby, and this pillow became invaluable. She now swears that I should make this pillow for everyone as a baby gift - they use it to prop up the baby, to prop their arms up when feeding, all kinds of things. Who knew? 

My other 2 sisters also just had babies, so now I have to make more pillows similar to this but without the crochet. Maybe this can be my signature baby gift? A firmly stuffed bolster pillow. I really like how this came out initially and I'm very glad that I buckled down and got it done in a time that my sister could get the most use out of it.

Summary:

Yarn: I Love This Yarn in Soft Blue and Antique White - $3.00

Pattern: My own 

Fabric: 1/4 yard of white denim - Free

Time: 2 Days
 

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!