I'm trying to post here a little more often. Being a busy writer and spending time with family doesn't always leave me a lot of time for blogging. So forgive me while I play catchup...
I will eventually be posting about the house renovation, just have to dig the pictures I want off the portable hard drive, sort and resize them, and put together an explanation. Working on the house is an ongoing project, so we're far from completed yet. This was just Phase 1 of a long string of things this old house needs to have updated. We kind of ran out of money, so it will be a while before we can get anything else done.
Anyway, almost all of today's post is about crochet. So on to the recent projects...
Remember the crocheted bald & naked dolly from my last post? Well she now has clothing and hair. My granddaughter loves her, and named her Rosie. So here's Rosie, who had 100% removable clothing, right down to her white granny panties.
That ombre yarn on the dress is from that last thrift store visit. The rest is from my stash.
I didn't think of the buttons for the straps until after I designed the jumper, so they are on the back. Pretty easy to get on and off.
The panties were made first. Must have proper clothing!
I didn't follow any patterns for the clothing, it was all trial and error. You should have seen Terralyn's eyes light up when she saw the doll. Makes it all worth while.
Halloween was coming, and since I've had a full year of crocheting holiday decorations for the house, I had to make something for that as well. I planned to make garlands again, so I started thinking about ghosts and pumpkins, and began researching patterns online. I wanted something on the small side. One night I sat down with hook and yarn and made a ghostie freehand.
Well, he turned out too big to hang on a garland and I didn't like the idea of looking up inside his winding sheet, but he happily sat on an end table in the living room for quite a while.
Then I found some pumpkin and ghostie patterns online that looked promising (can't recall where I got them) and went to work.
The initial pumpkin was far smaller than I wanted, about the size of a quarter. So I increased the size and got the jack-o-lantern I wanted. It was just a matter of adding extra rounds with increases. Each one is doubled; in other words I made two pumpkins for each side, decorated them with faces using yarn and my terrible embroidery skills, and sewed them together with the bad side inward before adding the little stem. Below you can see the results.
This is one side of each jack-o'-lantern... These are about the size of golf balls.
And here's the other side. Where they were hung, both sides could be seen. The pumpkins were going to be alternated with ghosties on a beaded garland, so a dozen was plenty.
Here are the ghosties I chose, a really neat pattern. One again, to get the stiffness I wanted, I made two for each and sewed them together. Getting French knots in the right spots for eyes was a little challenging because I was using worsted weight yarn on a big blunt needle, but it worked.
The beaded garland. With a string through the top of each ghost or jack-o-lantern, and some trial and error, I was able to space them out properly along the garland.
The finished result. My helper hung them in the wrong area, and we moved them later, but I took a couple of quick shots.
You can see how I hung them. The fine little strings really don't show that well at a distance.
That knot at the top helps hold the crocheted decorations between the pony beads.
Actually, we used that area with the hanging baskets for the second garland, which somehow I neglected to get a picture of after it was done. All I have to show are the component parts below, as I finished them. But they were hung on an orange pony bead garland base, and alternated just like the ghosts and jack-o-lanterns.
I knew from the get-go that I wanted black bats, and had to try a couple patterns before I found what I wanted. While I was researching all that stuff, I kept seeing the Mexican Day Of The Dead skull motifs, and decided I had to have skulls. I had just the right color yarn for something a little more sinister.
I never used the bigger bat with the feet, because the little ones were perfect. Love those bright orange eyes. The first skull I made was far too large and floppy, so I modified the pattern and came out with this:
As with the first garland, everything is doubled. Lining up the eyeholes in the skulls proved problematic, so I would up crocheting little discs in 4 bright colors and shoving them inside. They stayed in place nicely and gave the skulls some 'pop'.
Now a lot of people might wonder, why go through all this trouble to make decorations when you can buy some really nice things after the holiday for quite a bit off? Or perhaps get something from a local crafter and avoid all the mess and hassle. Well, maybe it's hard to understand, but I actually enjoy making things. I like the planning process and all the little surprises along the way. As with writing, what I had envisioned and what the end result was are often two different things, but that's the beauty of handmade. It's always one-of-a-kind, and there's a lot of self-satisfaction that goes into being able to say, "Yes, I designed and made this myself." My family gets a big kick out of looking at my creations, and I like to think of them as heirlooms for future generations. I will be leaving something tangible of myself behind when I part from this mortal coil. It also says a lot about how my time here was spent.
I do most of my crafting at the end of the day. It gives me a chance to unwind while I watch TV, and something else to focus on if I'm not particularly interested in whatever is on. I'm still sitting with family regardless of what I'm occupied with. Writing is my primary occupation on the days when I am home, and that requires incredible concentration, and so I must shut out most of the world. By evening I am done writing and want to be in a more gregarious situation, though I still prefer it to be fairly subdued. I could be wasting that time online involved in social/political debates, taking pointless quizzes, or playing games. Those things don't necessarily lead to anything remotely productive, though I suppose they provide some self-satisfaction.
I see people endlessly bent over their smartphones and I have to wonder, just what is the big attraction? I stare at a far larger and very bright screen for hours during the day, so the last thing I want to do is stare at one all evening too. So no thanks, I'll pull out the crochet hooks and yarn, the beads, buttons, and other trinkets, and make something. That's more my style.
Till the next time,
I will eventually be posting about the house renovation, just have to dig the pictures I want off the portable hard drive, sort and resize them, and put together an explanation. Working on the house is an ongoing project, so we're far from completed yet. This was just Phase 1 of a long string of things this old house needs to have updated. We kind of ran out of money, so it will be a while before we can get anything else done.
Anyway, almost all of today's post is about crochet. So on to the recent projects...
Remember the crocheted bald & naked dolly from my last post? Well she now has clothing and hair. My granddaughter loves her, and named her Rosie. So here's Rosie, who had 100% removable clothing, right down to her white granny panties.
That ombre yarn on the dress is from that last thrift store visit. The rest is from my stash.
I didn't think of the buttons for the straps until after I designed the jumper, so they are on the back. Pretty easy to get on and off.
The panties were made first. Must have proper clothing!
Halloween was coming, and since I've had a full year of crocheting holiday decorations for the house, I had to make something for that as well. I planned to make garlands again, so I started thinking about ghosts and pumpkins, and began researching patterns online. I wanted something on the small side. One night I sat down with hook and yarn and made a ghostie freehand.
Well, he turned out too big to hang on a garland and I didn't like the idea of looking up inside his winding sheet, but he happily sat on an end table in the living room for quite a while.
Then I found some pumpkin and ghostie patterns online that looked promising (can't recall where I got them) and went to work.
This is one side of each jack-o'-lantern... These are about the size of golf balls.
The finished result. My helper hung them in the wrong area, and we moved them later, but I took a couple of quick shots.
You can see how I hung them. The fine little strings really don't show that well at a distance.
That knot at the top helps hold the crocheted decorations between the pony beads.
Actually, we used that area with the hanging baskets for the second garland, which somehow I neglected to get a picture of after it was done. All I have to show are the component parts below, as I finished them. But they were hung on an orange pony bead garland base, and alternated just like the ghosts and jack-o-lanterns.
I knew from the get-go that I wanted black bats, and had to try a couple patterns before I found what I wanted. While I was researching all that stuff, I kept seeing the Mexican Day Of The Dead skull motifs, and decided I had to have skulls. I had just the right color yarn for something a little more sinister.
I never used the bigger bat with the feet, because the little ones were perfect. Love those bright orange eyes. The first skull I made was far too large and floppy, so I modified the pattern and came out with this:
As with the first garland, everything is doubled. Lining up the eyeholes in the skulls proved problematic, so I would up crocheting little discs in 4 bright colors and shoving them inside. They stayed in place nicely and gave the skulls some 'pop'.
Now a lot of people might wonder, why go through all this trouble to make decorations when you can buy some really nice things after the holiday for quite a bit off? Or perhaps get something from a local crafter and avoid all the mess and hassle. Well, maybe it's hard to understand, but I actually enjoy making things. I like the planning process and all the little surprises along the way. As with writing, what I had envisioned and what the end result was are often two different things, but that's the beauty of handmade. It's always one-of-a-kind, and there's a lot of self-satisfaction that goes into being able to say, "Yes, I designed and made this myself." My family gets a big kick out of looking at my creations, and I like to think of them as heirlooms for future generations. I will be leaving something tangible of myself behind when I part from this mortal coil. It also says a lot about how my time here was spent.
I do most of my crafting at the end of the day. It gives me a chance to unwind while I watch TV, and something else to focus on if I'm not particularly interested in whatever is on. I'm still sitting with family regardless of what I'm occupied with. Writing is my primary occupation on the days when I am home, and that requires incredible concentration, and so I must shut out most of the world. By evening I am done writing and want to be in a more gregarious situation, though I still prefer it to be fairly subdued. I could be wasting that time online involved in social/political debates, taking pointless quizzes, or playing games. Those things don't necessarily lead to anything remotely productive, though I suppose they provide some self-satisfaction.
I see people endlessly bent over their smartphones and I have to wonder, just what is the big attraction? I stare at a far larger and very bright screen for hours during the day, so the last thing I want to do is stare at one all evening too. So no thanks, I'll pull out the crochet hooks and yarn, the beads, buttons, and other trinkets, and make something. That's more my style.
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