Hats, cowls, and mittens

Since I haven't been stitching amigurumi right and left like I have in years past, what have I been making?  Stuff to wear.  It really is too bad that I moved to a state where a lot of this clothing isn't seasonally appropriate for more than two months out of the year....

Hats are so fun to make!  Yes, they need to fit correctly, but they are a heck of a lot easier to fit than, say, a sweater.

Anna from Frozen (this is more a hat/wig combo!!)

Yoda

Super Mario (for my Super Mario-loving nephew! What a crazy-awesome pattern.)

Declan's hat (I have done cabling on many knit projects, but this was my first cabled hat!)

November Cabled Hat (I loved the first one so much that I jumped right into another!)

Cowls are also so much fun to knit and crochet.  They are relatively small projects and you don't have to worry as much about fit issues.  For my first cowl attempts, I wanted to give Red Heart Boutique Unforgettable yarn a try....  If you haven't seen the amazingly beautiful color ways offered in this brand of yarn, RUN, don't walk, to your nearest big box craft store to check them out.  GORGOUS!!!  First, I crocheted a cowl:

Turquoise V Stitch Infinity Scarf

And then I knitted one:

A Very Braidy Cowl (This pattern showed off the gorgeous colors so much better, I think! And what a ridiculously cool pattern...)

With these successes under my belt, I asked my sister if she would like a cowl.  She ordered a chunky chocolate brown one, and I decided to make this project with my first ever purchase from a store that is devoted to yarn and yarn only (Holley's Yarn Shop in Dallas).  I think it turned out so beautiful....

Vite Cowl

I think the Vite Cowl might also have been my first attempt at knitting lace.  Once I figured out the whole "yarn over" thing, I was entranced.  There will be more lace to come in future blog posts....

With my knitting confidence climbing, I attempted my first pair of mittens.  How fun are these?!

Frozen Mittens (made by combining two patterns: Basic Cuff-Up Mittens and Warm Mittens)

Unfortunately, I didn't take into account that the mittens twist a bit when you put them on (due to the placement of the thumb on the palm as opposed to the side), so the snowflake stitching is a bit off-center.  Oh well, hopefully Avery doesn't mind!

Amigurumi of 2015

I have definitely slowed down on crocheting amigurumi since I accepted the fact that it makes my hands ache, but the benefit of waiting 8 months in between blog posts featuring amigurumi is that it looks like I am somewhat prolific!  Here are the amigurumi I have created since February:

Summertime Dolls #3 and 4

Spring Bunny

Kwazii, Kwazii, and Dashi (these patterns are amazing and worth every penny!!)

Frog (I just heard that a dog munched on this and I am going to attempt some repairs...)

Race car (I'm not happy with how the wheels turned out, but it was totally user error and not the pattern's fault!)

Hippo and Lion Loveys (both of these patterns are SERIOUSLY AMAZING and were written by genius pattern designers)

Yoda (from the incredibly awesome Star Wars crochet kit!!)

Chipmunk (Holy cow, how cute is he?!?)

And presenting.... MY FIRST KNITTED AMIGURUMI!!!!!  Wow, this bunny was hard for me.  Well, harder than crocheted amigurumi, anyway.  The bunny's dress marked the first (and still only time) I have attempted any sort of color work with knitting.  I think she turned out pretty nice!

I discovered, sadly, that knitting amigurumi also hurts my hands.  So, I have determined that I need to stop knitting and crocheting items in which the yarn needs to be pulled tightly.  Sad face.  I might try another knitted amigurumi with worsted weight yarn sometime with the hope that knitting this bunny hurt my hands because I was using sport weight yarn.  Hope springs eternal.

Erin's past projects

I first taught myself how to crochet right after grad school, in the summer of 2000, in an effort to combat boredom during the weeks between graduation and starting my job in Chicago.  For the next 9 years, I crocheted a lot of doilies and afghans, but I sometimes took a year off in between projects, so I wasn't all that prolific. Then, Sonia was born in the spring of 2009, and I stopped crocheting altogether.  My brain just couldn't handle childcare AND being creative.

But, as Sonia got older (she's about to turn 4), I started thinking about crocheting again.  Niki got me the Amineko book (which is utterly hilarious and awesome), so I picked up my hooks and gave crocheting another try.  The first blue amineko (that's Japanese for crochet cat) was a success, so I crocheted a little pink one.  Niki finally convinced me to give Pinterest a try during this past Christmas, and when I saw the insane amount of awesome free crochet patterns available on the internet these days, I got instantly and hopelessly addicted to crocheting once again.

Here are a few of the projects that I've made since Christmas:

Octonauts!!  Because Octonauts is a relatively new cartoon and series of books, the British and American crocheters of the world took it upon themselves to create their own toys.  People posted a bunch of free patterns!  I found Kwazii (the orange cat) here, Captain Barnacles (the polar bear) here, Tunip (the turnip-fish vegetal) here, Peso (the penguin) here, and I free-handed the rest. These guys were some of my first forays into the world of amigurumi (that's the Japanese word for crocheted or knitted plush figure), and now that I've completed a lot more amigurumi work, I kind of want to go back and re-do the Octonauts to make them better.  But Sonia barely even watches this show anymore (it was a brief love affair), so it seems like a bit of a waste.

Hello Kitty hats for my two favorite girls in the world, Sonia and Charlotte!  I found the pattern here.

Batman hat for Peter!  I found the pattern here.

After I made the Hello Kitty and Batman hats, I wanted to try to find a dragon hat to make for Sonia's BFF, Ike.  None of the patterns I found on the internet looked all that great (I couldn't even find a good pattern to buy!), so I decided to create one myself by copying an awesome crocheted dragon hat picture that I found on the internet. I used the Hello Kitty base hat design and then emulated the picture as well as I could.  Unfortunately, I only have cell phone pictures of the hat because I keep forgetting to take better pictures of Ike the Dragon!

Crocheted purse!  I made one for me and one for Niki....  She lined them both with her mad sewing skills.  Niki, we need to take pictures of the linings!  I bought the leather strap from Joann Fabrics and found the pattern for the purse here.

Ladybug backpack!  Free pattern from Red Heart Yarns, my favorite cheap yarn to use!

Owl change purse! I decided to try out using a clutch clasp that I found at Joann Fabrics by adding it to this pattern.

Ella's dinosaur purse!  This was completely freehanded because as far as I could tell, no crocheted dinosaur purse exists on the internet either for free or to buy....

Sonia's Easter basket.... Freehanded as well because I wasn't able to find a pattern that I liked.  I did model it after this pattern a bit.

Max's Yoda hat!  I still need to tweak the forehead wrinkles a bit, but it turned out okay.  I made it using a pattern posted on a craft forum, and the pattern wasn't entirely complete or detailed, so I had to do a lot of extrapolating.

This post just scratches the surface of all the crocheting I've done over the past 4 months....  When I find or take more pictures of my projects, I'll post them!