Monday, October 28, 2013

Running, Pumpkins, & Witches...Oh, My!


Last week was a very busy week.  In addition to a busy work schedule, I also found time for a run, pumpkin carving, crafting, and t-shirt painting.


Pumpkin Carving
Husband and I are Adventure Time fans, so we decided to do a Finn pumpkin this year.  Cartoon Network has free pumpkin stencil pdf's of Finn, Jake, and LSP.  The stencil was fairly easy to use, and I think the pumpkin looks pretty good.  We taped the pattern to the pumpkin, punched holes into it, and then connected the dots.  The arms were difficult, but the other parts were easier to carve. 




Run and T-shirt Painting
My husband and I finally participated in a 5K.  I've been wanting to do one for years, but have just been too nervous to ever actually sign up.  We trained some for it, and we ready on race day.  Both of us ran the entire 5K, and we were pretty have with the results.  Our scores put us in about the top quarter, and I was very happy with how I placed in my division.  The proceeds for the run also mostly go to charity, so we were helping out the community while running.  :)

This run was a little different from most other runs in that it was at night by the beach.  Because it was at night, participants were encouraged to wear glow sticks and other glow materials.  We had a blast, and we're actually already planning our next run.

In preparation for the run, I bought a cheap workout shirt from Wal-Mart and some glow in the dark paint.  The paint I found was called Glow-Away, and it actually comes off with soap and water.  It glowed in our house with the lights off, but it didn't hold the glow very well.  By the time I got to the run, it was not glowing anymore.  Well...at least I got a new workout shirt out of the deal.  I think this paint would work a lot better on walls and other materials.



Witch Amigurumi


I finished this witch tonight.  The free pattern for this cute witch can be found on Ravelry, and it's by Renske de Busschere.  For a more in-depth look at the pattern, check out my Halloween Amigurumi Roundup from last week. 


Monday, October 21, 2013

Halloween Amigurumi Roundup and Pattern Testing



I recently went up to North Carolina and Virginia to visit friends and family.  As I was leaving to come back, it hit me that I wanted to try out some more Halloween amigurumi home decoration patterns.  So, I found many, but just tried out a few.  I haven't been able to finish all of them in time for this post, but I will share the ones I have already finished this week and the others next week.

I also decided to do a roundup this week to highlight some of the really awesome free patterns available online.  I already did a fall pumpkins amigurumi roundup, so this one will be more of the Halloween ghoul and witch variety.


15 Free Halloween Amigurumi Patterns

1. Baby Ghosts Ornament by Josephine Wu
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(pic from her ravelry store)

I thought this picture was super cute; however, I had a little bit more trouble following this pattern, and my ghost isn't quite so perfect. But I think it still turned out well. Here's how mine turned out:




2. Halloween Candy Corn Creatures by Josephine Wu
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Here are the results of my attempts at this pattern.  FYI, this one was very easy to follow and they are really cute.





3. Ronnie the Halloween Cat by Justyna Kacprzak

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4. Jack Skellington by Assunta Cicalese

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5. Lil' Halloween Witch Teddy by Rachel Hoe
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6. Zero the Ghostly Dog by Meg-Ann Skilton
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7. Boo Ghosts by Beverly Mewhorter
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(pic from The Needlecraft Shop)

I am currently in the process of finishing this one.  I started out joining the rounds as directed by the pattern, but I found it to be too slow...and I don't think I was doing it quite right, so I changed to continuous rounds.  I just need to sew all the parts together, and then I will be able to share my attempt at this pattern.

8. Ghost Child Doll Inspired by Coraline by Sharon Ojala
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9. Inma, La Brujita Azul by Hastaelmonyo Patrones en espaƱol
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10. Amy the Little Witch by Renske de Busschere
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This witch is super cute.  I'm almost done trying out this pattern.  I think I just have 1 arm and the monster left to complete it.  The pattern was easy to follow, but make sure that you notice where the 2nd purple line should be as it is not marked in the pattern. 

11. Free Little Witch Halloween crochet pattern by Sayjai Thawornsupacharoen
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12. Graveyarn by Shove Mink
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13. Distinctly Batty by Karissa Cole
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 14. Halloween Pou by Teresa Alvarez
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 15. Halloween Batt Tutorial by Miss Dolkapots
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(I tried to link to all patterns.  If I failed to cite or messed up a link, then it was by accident and please let me know, so that I may correct the error.)


 If you like this roundup, then you should check out my Pumpkin Roundup post.


stitch by stitch

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Amigurumi Jake



I finally finished this amigurumi Jake for my husband.   We are big fans of Adventure Time and Jake is his favorite character.  I was afraid it would not sew together as well as I would like, but I think he turned out great. 

I used this free pattern from a poster called Vash.  It was fairly easy to follow.  If I could go back and do it again, then I would do both loops, rather than back loops only.

The following pics are from the photo shoot with Jake and my husband:










Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Taffyghan Part 2



So...it finally happened.  I didn't do my weekly blog post.  It was difficult. I missed blogging and participating in the weekly linky parties, but I had nothing to share.  I got busy at work and I took on a loooong craft project.

I finally "finished" my first afghan.  I love how it turned out, but it was not a quick project.  By finish, I really mean that I reached a point where I could crochet no more and decided that the project was complete.




It's not so small as to be a baby afghan, but it's also not a large one.  I'd say it's more of the medium variety.  It should also be noted that "finished" does not include fully threading in the loose ends of yarn.  (I threaded in each strand a little bit as I did a color change to prevent the afghan from unraveling.)

I'm very excited to have completed by first afghan, and I looove how it turned out.  Here are some more views of it.  As you can see, I decided to continue with it as a square, rather than eventually changing to stripes in order to make a rectangle.