Done and Done

Before: 

After:

Okay, I know my closet is still a mess, but what else would you expect for an apt in NYC? And in any case, it's a definite improvement. Every little bit helps. 

I did end up finishing off the skein of yarn I was using, and the end result was about 20" (it stretched another inch or so when I stuffed it), and it fit 25 plastic grocery bags. Here's a close up of the top and the bottom. 

Problem Solving Crochet Projects

My plastic bag situation is not pretty. I try to remember to bring my canvas bags when I go shopping, but I still manage to accumulate plastic bags faster than I use them. They're currently stuffed inside a large plastic bag that's living in my kitchen closet. And because of the placement of the rod in the closet, the hangers all stick out, which means that the door doesn't like to close. So I get to look at this giant plastic bag overflowing with more plastic bags all the time.

I had been thinking about getting one of these do-hickies for a while, but they are just so ugly. And then I came up with the idea to make something similar, but crocheted in nice yarn. Here's a picture of the one I'm making for my apartment, still in the early stages. The yarn I used is Bernat Berella 4, which I had leftover from the afghan I made about two years ago. So not only is it not ugly white plastic, but it actually matches! :) Here's a picture in the early stages. It's about 12" now and I'm probably about 3/4 of the way through the skein. I think I'll just finish off the skein so I can fit lots and lots of bags in it.

Oh, and I plan to make one of these for my etsy shop, but made out of wool and felted. So stay tuned :)

Fuzz Monster the Second

A couple months ago, I made one of the Mini Rectangle Creatures from the free crochet pattern on the Lion Brand website. It was the very first item I listed in my etsy shop, and also the first item that sold. (Yay for sales!) I had only taken up crochet recently, so this was one of my first crochet projects (actually, come to think of it, it may have been the first). And boy, crocheting two strands of fun fur really was not fun. I kept hooking only one of the strands (or extra strands), and the fuzziness makes it rather challenging to see what the heck is going on.

So I decided to make another one of these guys, but much bigger (I was actually going for throw pillow size, but ran out of yarn, so the body is only about 8" tall), AND, most importantly, with a KNIT body. Granted, fun fur isn't much fun to knit either, but it was a lot less torturous than crocheting. Anywho, here's my (heavily) modified version of this pattern.

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Materials:

1 skein fun fur in "confetti"

1 skein fun fur in "raspberry"

¼ skein Lily sugar 'n' cream in "hot blue" – or any worsted weight cotton or acrylic of your choice

Small amount Lane Cervinia Amalfi in "black" – or any sport weight cotton or acrylic of your choice

Fiberfill stuffing

Size 10 straight knitting needles

Size 4 (E) crochet hook

Yarn needle

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Skills Required:

Knitting: Cast on, knit stitch, cast off (purl stitch NOT required)

Crochet: magic ring technique for starting a circle, single crochet (sc), increases (sc2 in st), decreases (sc2tog), slip stitch (sl st)

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Notes:

The black yarn I used is considerably thinner than the blue I used. This is for no other reason than it's what I happened to have around. If you have sport weight yarn for the outer eye & pupil, great - no changes necessary! If, however, you have worsted weight for the outer eye and pupil, you might need to adjust the pattern by doing one less round on these pieces. Just lay your three eye pieces on top of each other to see if the relative sizes are giving you the desired effect.

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Body:

Holding one strand of each skein of fun fur together, CO 40 st

Knit until piece measures approx. 8" (Make sure you have enough yarn left to sew the body together!)

Bind off

Fold piece in half

Using crochet hook, slip stitch edges together, leaving one end open.

 

Outer Eye (make 2):

With black yarn, using magic ring technique, sc 6 in a circle

R1: sc2 in each st around (12 st)

R2: (sc, sc2 in next st) six times (18 st)

R3: (sc 2, sc2 in next st) six times (24 st)

R4: (sc 3, sc2 in next st) six times (30 st)

Bind off, leaving long tail

Inner Eye (make 2):

With blue yarn, using magic ring technique, sc 6 in a circle

R1: sc2 in each st around (12 st)

R2: (sc, sc2 in next st) six times (18 st)

Bind off, leaving long tail

Pupil (make 2):

With black yarn, using magic ring technique, sc 6 in a circle

R1: sc2 in each st around (12 st)

Bind off, leaving long tail

Legs and Arms (make 4)

With blue yarn, using magic ring technique, sc 6 in a circle

R1: sc2 in each st around (12 st)

R2: (sc 2, sc2 in next st) four times (16 st)

R3: (sc 3, sc2 in next st) four times (20 st)

R4-13: sc around (20 st)

R14: (sc 8, sc2tog) two times (18 st)

R15: (sc 7, sc2tog) two times (16 st)

R16: (sc 6, sc2tog) two times (14 st)

R17: (sc 5, sc2tog) two times (12 st)

***Begin stuffing***

R18: (sc 4, sc2tog) two times (10 st)

R19: (sc 3, sc2tog) two times (8 st)

***Finish stuffing***

Sl st closed

Bind off, leaving long tail

Finishing:

Attach pupil to inner eye, as follows (Pictures show inner eye being attached to outer eye):

~Using yarn needle, pull center tail of pupil through center hole of inner eye. Remove needle.

~Thread needle with edge tail (the one you left when you bound off). Use thistail to sew down edges of pupil to inner eye.

~Once you have gone all the way around the pupil, bring the yarn to the back and tie both tails in a square knot (R over L, L over R). Trim ends.

Attach inner eye to outer eye using the same method.

Attach outer eye to body using the same method.

Stuff

Sl st top edge closed

Using yarn needle and tails, attach arms and legs to body.

Weave in ends.

CONGRATULATIONS! YOU'RE DONE!

Here I am

Entering the blogosphere...