Big crochet update!

Hello everyone!

It feels so strange to be sitting at my computer and to finally open a new blog post that isn’t a hand quilt along update (!!). In the last year, with the birth of baby Clark, my life kind of has been turned upside down and I have suddenly found myself with no energy or will to blog. I also stopped crocheting for a while, which is very strange because crochet has been my favourite fibre art media for years now (in fact, since I learnt how to in 2011). I haven’t blogged anything about my crochet since March (where did time go?) but in the last couple of months I’ve actually been back at it full force and I am very excited to share with you what I have been up to!

1. I have started designing again and I have made quite a few new little critters!
   

   

   

   

   

   

   From left to right, top row: Lara the love bug, Nate the narwhal, Daisy the duckling
   From left to right, bottom row: Little fish, scientist set, Unnamed caterpillar

2. The patterns for Lara and Nate have been released! You can find Lara on my Ravelry store and Nate for free (which leads me to point number 3!)
3. I have a new website where I am posting only my free patterns and links to my Ravelry patterns. I really wanted a space where I could have all my patterns in one place and I’m so happy with how it turned out!
4. I have participated in a very cute crochet along organised by LexInStitches (Alexa Templeton). The pattern is super cool and it is available here! Here is my finished puppy.
   

   

   

   
5. If you have been following me for a while, you will know about my lord of the rings blanket (the blanket of shame I have been ‘working’ on for 4 years!). Well I have started the last square, and I have started joining it! Hooray!

That’s it for now, I think I will be back next week with some knitting update! I hope you have all been great and I will aim to catch up on some blog reading this week 🤞🏼

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A bit of a life and craft update

Hello everyone, I know it’s been ages (almost 3 weeks in fact, as our next HQAL post is scheduled for tomorrow).

I just wanted to update you on a couple of other things I’ve been working on lately and on life in general, as it seems I have had no time to blog at all lately.

We have had a really really hot summer here in Melbourne, Australia, in fact it is currently over 40 celsius which means that my knitting and crochet have been quite slow working as I don’t feel like sitting under yarn. I have made a couple of amigurumi though when my little overlord lets me enjoy some free time.

I have finished sewing together Nate the Narwhal and I have designed a cute little love bug named Lara. I think I will publish a free pattern for my narwhal and a paid pattern for the bug. I have also decided that this year I will create a new website to display all my patterns together. They will be more accessible and I will also link all of them to my Ravelry store (where I put all the PDFs for sale). That way, I will keep this blog for more personal interactions and to show you all my crafty projects rather than to promote patterns.

On other crochet notes, I still didn’t finish my huge Lord of the Rings blanket last year but I have started the last square and I have started to join the blanket together.

With knitting, I have a no stress project on the go, it’s a very simple seed stitch blanket with 2 colours. I’m hoping to finish that before this winter to keep Clark warm in bed without fear of him suffocating. I’ve noticed he loved to pull blankets over his face and I get super worried, so at least with a knitted blanket there are holes for him to still breathe through.

I’ve also signed up with our local library and I have been reading and listening to audiobooks so much since, it’s been really great to have access to so many books for free and because the loans are for 3 weeks I actually read the books rather than procrastinating with them on my bedside table! This is probable the most I’ve read since I was a teen, I’ve already finished 12 books this year and we’re only just in March!

And finally I’m starting back work next week (in 2 days in fact, I start on Monday)! I can’t believe how fast time has gone, Clark is already 5.5 months and I got a job teaching at uni. I’m really looking forward to that and I hope that with Clark in daycare I will have more time to catch up on reading your lovely blogs and posting here too.

Here is the culprit for my lack of posting, you can probably tell it’s hard for me to even be mad at him for it when he is so cute!

Hope you all had a great start to your year ❤

A bit of an update

Happy Thursday lovely readers!

I am so sorry I’ve gone missing again for a few weeks, I even missed the hand quilt along post last Sunday ☹️ The truth is I didn’t have much to show for (just some covered hexies) and I ended up also being super busy with Clark. Here there are though if you were interested!

I should have some progress for the next update though so I’m definitely not giving up!

In other news, Clark has been growing so so much! I can’t believe he is already past 2 moths old, time has just gone by so fast. We’ve already taken a couple of Christmas pictures with him too and he was just too cute in his first Christmas outfit.

And finally I have some exciting news! This year, despite being so busy with bub, I’ve decided to participate once again in Amigurumipatterns.net contest. This year the theme was Prehistoric Times and my entry was Archie the Archaeopteryx. I’m so proud that I actually finished him in time to enter and I’m looking forward to see how many votes I get compared to last year. Probably less, but I’m just so happy I entered at all.

Here is Archie! If you would like to see the other entries and maybe vote for Archie, clicking on the image below will bring you to the entries (bonus: you enter the draw to win some yarn!). There really are some amazing designs this year and I’m very excited to see who will end up winning!

I hope you have all been well!

Cooper the Copepod pattern release

Happy Monday everyone!

Yes I’m still here, and baby is still in but I have exciting news! The pattern for Cooper the Copepod is finally live in my Ravelry store! I’ve had the pattern tested in August and my testers did a great job. If you read this Hannah, Lex and Heidi thanks again!

I’m already working on my next pattern but it might get interrupted for a few months. Here is a sneak peak though, it will be a double pattern that you’ll be able to convert between a blue whale and a narwhal. I’m super excited about it!

I hope you will all have a great week and if I suddenly disappear off you know where I’ll be 😉

18 for 2018 – August update

Happy Monday!

It’s the beginning of a new month which means it’s time for another update for my yearly goals! Not a huge amount of progress but any progress is good progress with how drained I’ve been feeling.

18 letters sent to friends – 2/18
With the interstate move I would like to keep in contact with friends so I want to make the effort to send them handwritten letter throughout the year.

No letters sent, I might still make up for this goal around Christmas, we shall see. 

17 new recipes tried – Completed in July
If you’ve been following me for a while you will know that I love cooking and baking so this should be pretty easy. Plus, the monthly bake-along will definitely help me with this one!

No new recipe this month at all, I’ve not been feeling very adventurous with meals and we didn’t bake along. 

16 painted units of miniatures – 4/16
My husband and I play a miniature game and one of the fun parts is to build and paint our own miniatures. I haven’t done much last year so I hope to catch up this year by painting more models.

None this month but I’ve started painting a new unit. I don’t think I’ll get 16 done this year but I still have done more than last year so it’s a win!

15 books read – 8/15
I’ve decided to tune down this goal from last year, as I don’t have a lot of time to read. But I feel like 15 would be a good number to reach this year.

I’ve read the two next books in the French series I’ve already talked about, Ellana and Ellana, l’envol. Those are real tear jerkers so I had to make sure I was safely at home with a box of tissues before reading them but I still enjoyed them so much. There is something very special about how those books are written that gets me every time. 

14 mitered squares added to my memory blanket – 5/14
I have started a knitted memory blanket using my scraps of yarn from previous projects (mostly socks) and I’d like to see it grow this year.

One more added this month. I should be able to add a couple more next month as I have some left over sock yarn from previous projects.

13 batches of baked goods made and eaten – Finished in August
Again, with the bake-along this should be quite easy to accomplish!

I’ve baked so much again this month, with 2 new batches of the peanut butter cookies (Kate they really are amazing and they have been perfect pregnancy snacks) and another batch of montecaos at the express demand of hubby who loves them. 

12 pairs of socks – 4/12
We have real winters in Melbourne, so hubby and I will definitely need new socks, I thought one per month was a manageable goal.

None this month as I was trying to get my jumper done as much as possible but my needles are hitching to start a new pair!

11 new stitch markers made – 0/11
I have been playing with shrinking plastic lately and I’d like to make new stitch markers using some cute drawings.

Does receiving at least 50 stitch markers counts? Still haven’t gotten around to play with shrinking plastic. I think I might end up failing this goal 😅

10 new movies seen – Completed in May
We go to the movies almost every week, so I think this goal will be easy to reach, but it will give me a change to blog about movies I see a bit more.

We are taking advantage of baby now being here yet to go to the movies almost every week still. This month we went to see the newest Mission Impossible, Darkest Minds and Crazy, Rich Asians.

9 amigurumi made – 6/9
I obviously love amigurumi enough to design some! I want to precise that those 9 amigurumi will be from other designers, I might even participate in another ami-along.

I have finished the second Orbit and I’ve also made two Eevee for a grand total of 3 new amigurumi this month, not bad!

8 months cross-stitched on the snowflower diaries calendar – 2/8
This did not get worked on at all last year, so I’d like to finish it this year.

It’s funny that winter really makes me lose all want to cross stitch. One of my new friends I made at the pre-natal class does embroidery and cross stitch though so I might get back to it with her. 

7 games of 40k played with hubby – 3/7
The good thing with painting miniatures is that I will definitely want to play more (I’m hoping anyway) and this will definitely be a fun activity to do with my husband.

No game of 40k this month but I just got hubby a new miniature war game so we will be playing a lot of that (and as a bonus the game uses the same miniatures, win!)

6 new designs published – 2/6 
As you know I already have two new designs that I need to write up and publish. I have also started on a knitted shawl design using the beautiful yarn I got in NZ. Very excited about this one!

I really wanted to publish the pattern for Cooper this month but I’m still waiting on pictures from one of my testers so that should come soon. I’ve also been working on a whole new pattern that I’m pretty excited about, a blue whale/narwhal convertible amigurumi!

5 k steps walked every day – 4/31 
I changed this goal. I am still trying to keep moving during my pregnancy to not transform into a couch potato! Hopefully this will help me keep healthy despite the weight gain.

Hum hum, can we talk about an epic fail here? Okay I got a great excuse but I’ve just been feeling a bit down about this goal. On the other hand, I can’t really walk more than 10 minutes without feeling pelvic pain at the moment so it’s probably better that I didn’t overdo it. 

4 LOTR squares finished – 2/4
Yes I know I’ve been making this for ages but 2018 is the year I get it finished!

Still working on the third square, but not much as I focused on my jumper and my spinning mostly.

3 jumpers knitted – 1/3
Similarly to the need for socks, I will need more jumpers this year! I already have the yarn and a pattern for my first jumper so I’m hoping this goes smoothly.

I’ve made progress on my second jumper yay! I’m not dividing for the front and back, and I hope that means I’m almost there!

2 getaway trips – Completed in July
We are trying to save money for a house deposit this year, but I’d still like to get a couple weekends away with hubby. We already have one planned, we will be going to the Bendigo sheep and wool show in July

1 thesis submitted – Completed in June
I’m so keen to finish my PhD, so this is definitely my n°1 goal this year!

That’s it for me this month. I hope you’ve been productive too and have achieved what you wanted. It was a bit slow for me but I’m still happy there was progress on some bigger tasks. Bring on September!

 

FO Friday – Eevee amigurumi

Happy Friday!

I hope you’ve had a great week, mine was quite productive and I’m looking forward to the weekend as we have family visiting for an engagement party. It should be heaps of fun!

Another cool thing happening this weekend is the Pokemon Go event for shiny Eevee. If you’ve been following me for a while you will know I love Pokemon, probably best reflected by the awesome Pokemon alphabet I crossed stitched a few years ago. In honour of the event, I’ve decided to make my very own Eevee and shiny Eevee, in amigurumi form of course! I found a really awesome free pattern from 53 stitches (I really like this minimalist style) and I got hooking. Those were just so fast to make that they were started and finished in a couple of days!

I didn’t add felt for the ears because I didn’t think it was necessary, they are super cute even without it! I’ve been really liking making those, so maybe I’ll challenge myself to make small amigurumi of all the event Pokemon until the end of the year, this should be fun and I would have quite the collection by December, who knows?

Have a great weekend everyone!

P.S. if anyone is interested, my PokemonGo friend code is 6477 9936 2570, I’d love to play with you!

FO – Orbit the dragons

Hello lovely readers!

I made it, I finally managed to sew together my second Orbit the Dragon (pattern is from Projectarian) and take pictures. For some reason at the moment, I’m quite good at finishing things but not so good at taking pictures straight away, which means I end up with finished objects that I can’t really blog about (because I know that you’re probably like me and love pretty pictures!).

Anyway I digress! Here are my two finished dragons, I’m so happy with how they have turned out and I’m looking forward to my next amigurumi (I think I’m back into wanting to crochet more rather than knit).

Aren’t they cuties? The one we are keeping for baby is the one on the left (with the darker green and lighter belly) and the other will be gifted to one of my childhood friends also expecting a baby boy around the same time as us (it will be sent to France with my dad when he leaves after his visit).

I hope you’re all having a great weekend and I’ll be back tomorrow with progress on my EPP!

A parliament of owls

Hello lovely readers!

I have decided I would like to make some handmade gifts for our baby shower coming up in July, to thank our friends and family for coming. I have decided on little amigurumi keyring using a free owl ornament pattern from Josephine Wu. I just love how cute those look and they are quite easy and fast to make. Which is great, considering we are planning on inviting lots of people!

I have completed one so far but I’ve crocheted a few more, which need to be stuffed and have eyes and beaks added. So far I’ve decided to glue the felt on but I might secure the pieces with some extra embroidery if I have time.

Hubby and I have decided to use a whole heap of colours and I think I’ll hang them on branches on the day for some extra decorations before people take them home 😊

Have you hand made small gifts for people to take home after a party? Did you feel like people appreciated? I’d love to know what your thoughts are on this!

Knitting afternoons and updating patterns

Hello lovely people!

I hope you’ve had a great weekend. I sure did! I actually went to a crafter noon at a local yarn store on Saturday (Little Woollie) and it was so much fun and really cool. I got to meet so many lovely ladies and the owner, Julie, spoilt us with chocolate eggs, raspberries and grapes as well as an endless supply of tea! How great? A lot of the ladies were making Julies newest amigurumi, a sweet little rabbit that she designed for a workshop and I met a left handed crocheter for the first time. It was just a really fun time!

On other news, I have been re-writting my pattern for Naiad the nudibranch and so I made a new one to take some more pictures (as the original was gifted to a friend when I first made it a couple of years ago).

Here it is, in brand new colours! I have seen a few issues with the pattern too so I will update it, add new pictures and upload the new free PDF on my Ravelry store as soon as I’m done 😀

Have you written a pattern before and then realise that there was a better way of laying it out? I’d love to hear your experience with that 🙂

Monday design – Cooper the Copepod

Happy Monday beautiful people!

I am very pleased today to show you my newest design idea, Cooper the Copepod! I got the idea for this little guy from one of my friends when I was back in Brisbane. We were in undergrad together and she suggested I made a copepod (we are all pretty nerdy and really enjoy plankton, weird I know!).

Anyway, this is what I came up with 🙂 You will notice that it is pretty similar to the design I drew last week as well.

I’m very happy with how he turned out, and I think I will ask for pattern testers when I get back from my second trip to Brisbane in April. I hope you all have a wonderful week!