WIP: nautie-alien!

still working on this one.

i followed the pattern, however, my "client" has requested a few changes:  a smaller head, a tighter curl, many more tentacles and big eyes on the sides.


if you take a look at the real deal, his suggestions are very good.

he should know!  the nautilus has long been near the top of his "favorite animal" list!

Research Friday: Dopamine

ever get to the end of a row and feel that little "kick" of accomplishment and then, go on to do another row--

--EVEN THOUGH IT IS 1:20 AM ON A WORK NIGHT AND YOU ARE SO TIRED YOU CAN HARDLY FOCUS ANYMORE? yeah. me, too.

it occurred to me that just as some folk love video gaming (and by "loving" it, i mean craving it and unable to stop once they start), i am loving stitch-wrangling.

science says:

"Dopamine is commonly associated with the reward system of the brain, providing feelings of enjoyment and reinforcement to motivate a person proactively to perform certain activities." wikipedia

"A number of studies have revealed that game playing triggers dopamine release in the brain, a finding that makes sense, given the instrumental role that dopamine plays in how the brain handles both reward and exploration." discover magazine

"Pain specialist Monica Baird explains that the action of knitting actually changes brain chemistry, decreasing stress hormones and increasing feel-good serotonin and dopamine." press release log

i wonder if i am "under the influence of crochet" when i look at the wiki entries and think how cute a serotonin and dopamine amigurumi would look?

Research Friday: Tapestry Crochet

several years ago, i picked up one of these guatemalan hackysacks at a cool world trade store and it ended up a perennial christmas ornament on my tree. i love the super-bright colours and tight stitches that are typical of guatemalan crochet craft. in some ways, it is like amigurumi since it is essentially spirals of single crochet, but what i found out recently is just how the colour changes are done!

dr. carol ventura is essentially the johnny appleseed of tapestry crochet! she came upon the techniques while serving in the peace corp and has published several books, videos and a website rich with demos, free patterns and examples of tapestry crochet from around the globe. she also teaches where ever she travels, spreading the technique to people who can then use the craft to enhance their incomes. :)

tapestry crochet is essentially a form of crochet colourwork in which several different colours are carried at once until they are needed. unlike fair isle knitting, the thread does not float along the backside of the piece, but is actually crocheted over so it travels along hidden inside the row. both sides of the piece show off the pattern. it works up easily in the round, which is why you see it most often in hackysacks, kippots, bowls and bags.



carol also shows techniques to do flat tapestry crochet that lead to a nice smooth picture. crochet has a slanted quality due to the stitch that force designers to incorporate sharp right angle triangles. carol has some free graphs available for people to work out their designs that will give them a good idea of what they can expect within these limitations.

i would love to what else could be done sculpturally with tapestry crochet that would take it beyond the traditional caps and bags. carol ventura has moved into flat portraiture as has jo hamilton and xenobia bailey makes those awesome urban crowns.

where else could this go?

i think it might be time to pull out my sketchbook! :)

First Forays into Stranded Knitting

trying out stranded colourwork by doing continental style knitting with the green yarn and english with the blue! actually, it is not hard at all. i watched eunny's demo and just had at it.

to keep my eye focused on one line of the pattern grid at a time, i cut a skinny window in a 3x5 note card and slide it down as i go . "crimson and clover" is the name of this pattern and i found it in vogue knitting stitchionary 3.

next time, i will try steeking to see how that works. :)

----

also on the needles:

i accidentally cut a hole in some of my yarn while struggling to sew my nautie's head on his shell. argh. i'll need to tear out about 2 inches and re-knit, but i am really quite close to finishing him. (he has lots of tickly tentacles!)

i am also working on an amigurumi version of noah, our parakeet. unfortunately, the pattern i bought offline has not worked out to my satisfaction so far. i will need to tweak it--tweak it good!

i also learned how to do the tubular cast-on required by the fingerless glove pattern i mentioned a few posts ago. i used this video by interweave. i think i will start them tonight!

...

Research Friday: Xenobia Bailey

(click photo to view larger)
xenobia bailey crochets these amazing "urban crowns".

here is a video of her working where you can see that she is using tapestry crochet (more on that soon), but these hats also have shaping techniques you might use while doing amigurumi.

look at all the layers of colour changes and how the stripes flow up and around her shapes almost like topographic maps!

each one is a little jewel!

what's on the needles/hook?

on the needles: i am halfway through the nautilus pattern. the colours requested were black for the shell and acid green for his little head and tentacles. working with black was tough at first, and i do wish i had bought that bag of black fiberfill i saw a year ago. i have about 2 inches to go before i switch out to green.

on the hook: i have some squares that i am sampling from the book the crochet stitch bible by betty barnden.




also: i have spent the last couple of days sifting through prospective patterns for my new yarn and am leaning toward knitting fingerless gloves. of course, i love the crazy-intricate ones, but i think i will try a straightforward yarn-showcasing pattern by verabee.

yeah, THAT VERABEE! d'oh! she's one of my favorite illustrators!

Research Friday: Tracy Krumm

contemporary artist tracy krumm creates sculptures from layers of crocheted wire netting bound to heavy rusty iron chains, rings and bands. like ruth asawa's work, many of tracy's pieces hang, thus retaining their delicacy, in spite of their heavy iron elements. to me, they suggest artifacts from fishing vessels or long-forgotten industries and i am a sucker for an artifact.

flexibility vs sturdiness, light vs heavy, translucent vs solid, hand-created vs machined--the work is yin and yang in metal. i like it.

these smaller pieces remind me of the delight of cactus blooms: delicate flowers sprouting from places you would not expect.

YARN HO!

my pal, addreamy, recommended i try knitpicks.com both for their for yarn and for their wonderful harmony wood knitting needles. today my box arrived (free shipping over $50!).



inside:

• 100 grams gloss dk in "grass" (70% merino wool, 30% silk)
• 50 grams stroll "sprinkle heather" (75% superwash merino wool, 25% nylon)
• 50 grams stroll "tidepool heather"
• 462 yards of stroll handpainted "make believe"
• size 8 harmony 10" straights
• size 2 harmony dpns
• size 4 harmony dpns
• size 4 clover dpns

looking at this palette, i think i am all set to do some wizard-worthy projects over at the HPKCHC. (eta: i just checked their FAQ page on ravelry. the cup takes april off and the next sorting is may.)

using double-pointed needles

pictured above is my fourth (and so far, successful) attempt at taming multiple needles to do my bidding. i have five rows behaving nicely as the knit stitches jump from point to point around the needles. this is a new skill for me and practice for the amigurumi nautilus i mentioned in my last post. i still need to learn how to make the i-cord and practice m1.

thank heaven for youtube how-to videos! here is the double-pointed needle video i watched in order to learn how to do this.

also: i-cord video and m1

WIP: amazing divine hat

My latest WIP is this spiraling Divine Hat designed by Sarah Arnold. I had to learn 2 new stitches for this pattern: front post double crochet (fpdc) and back post double crochet (bpdc). Front post double crochet makes those lovely ridges stand out--a bit like cable knitting!

The "Amazing" yarn looks a bit fuzzier and more muted than this picture above, not quite so rainbow bright. It is not the most froggable yarn ever, and you should know, I frog and rework about about 30% of every project!

sweater PWNage!

the hooded cardigan is finished!

i really like it. i think it has a nice overall boyishness. :)

purdy pearly grey buttons!

i confess, due to not-very-neat turning, my edges were not perfect enough to start the placket with ordinary single crochet stitches as per the instructions. instead, i ended up using a line of slip stitches along the edge to give me nice straight line on the front of the sweater. then, i worked single crochet all the way through the front layer and up through the front loops of the neatly done slip stitches. it isn't perfect, but i thought it was a pretty good save for a beginner...and it kind of gave the placket edges some oomph!

i sized up to a J hook and used worsted weight yarn instead of the hook and yarn weight recommended by the designer. that upped the size to 9 months easily (maybe even as big as 12 months.) i was shooting for something this kid can wear next winter and i think i pwn'd it!

oh, by the way, here are some nice measurement references i just found:
baby sizes and other assorted sizes including toddler

my version's final closed-button dimensions:

19” chest
11” length
10”from edge of neckline to end of sleeve
hood: front edge is 15” diameter and 8.5” deep

double strap booties for hudson

eric's baby shower is friday and his boy is getting these double strap booties in colours borrowed from eric's artwork. both colours are from vanna white's collection and i especially like the grey marble. such a great nubbly yarn full of hairs and weirdness--just like eric!
this is actually my 4th completed pair of double straps. for nearly a whole month they stood almost finished--except for the buttons. i had to give them a long break after they made me rip them apart and redo the straps. but now, they are done and i am giving this pattern a rest.

olive's cecily baby cardigan

my co-worker cube-neighbor gina is about 25 days from her due date and i am making the lovely cecily baby cardigan for her daughter-to-be (aka olive).gina has had a tough first pregnancy with gestational diabetes, high blood pressure and heavy swelling and i realized today that gina and i are now in a race to see who finishes first their "project" first! i did make some headway today: i stopped at hobby lobby and bought some pretty caron simply soft yarn in aqua mist, then crocheted up to row 5 on the yoke.