Xmas Week

Well, Not much has gotten done this week due to it being chirstmas and all. I did manage to finish my Christmas Tree bust and decorate it and the snowman before chirstmas day though so i was happy with that.
Picture of them both complete but not decorated:

And them now decorated and under the tree since there is no more presents there:

I hadnt started anything else this week since i did a lot of travelling and visiting family and just didnt have the time, But today i decided it was time to find another project so i picked a few items out and posted a vote on my facebook page for my friends and family to help me choose, Some were Pokemon, The black Angry Bird, Kenny from south park, Gir in his puppy suit, Gir in normal form with a cupcake in his head.

Turns out it was a tie between Kenny and Puppy Gir. But i was going to make all of them anyways. But im also making a Dog for my dad for this birthday next week. So ill be posting some process pictures of each of the new projects im doing through the next week.

I am sorry for the lack of entry this week but it was one busy week as im sure it was for many of your out there. But i figure i would keep up with the updates every Sunday of the week.

Until next sunday, Merry Chirstmas and Happy New Year! ( as the next post wont be till 4th of Jan)

xD Jamie.

The Week Before Xmas

Well hi again all,

Its been just over a week since my last post and i was meant to write this out last night but i was a little tired from the week of work and i was just relaxing then i realised how late it had already gotten, So i thought since i have the morning off that i would get in and get this done otherwise i wouldnt till next week.

Well first off this week i finish off a xmas present for my unborn neice or nephew of a baby blanket. Took me a while as i had run out of thread and then i had to wait to buy more. Anyways below is the finished project, Its a little smaller then i had hoped but being 3days from xmas i figured it will be fine as is.

After i finished this i was thinking what could i make to help on xmas day with a little decoration and i did a little search and found these great xmas busts. I thought these would be great for the middle of the table so i decided to first make the snowman, Below is the process of the project then the final result.

The start of the project, turns out this would be his head.

Starting the body now.

Body complete and made the scarf. Now for the nose and hat. 

My completed snowman, Im going to add two buttons down his chest once the next bust is complete. 

I then decided that i would do a xmas tress bust from the same collection and so far ive made the scarf, the star and started the bust this is my progress picture of this moment.

In my next blog i will have the completed picture. 

But for now this is all i have managed to do this week with work aswell (ended up doing a 42hr week) and the busts are a pattern i found online at this website http://www.dendennis.nl/ and all greeted goes to them for the bust patterns, The blanket was just from a granny square and just kept going around and around till i ran out of yarn. 

Hope you enjoyed the projects this week and i will hopfully get some next week but unsure as it is xmas soon and i have a lot of travelling to do xD.

Jamie.

Toothless the dragon, from the movie "How to train your dragon"

First off the pattern for this crochet project is thanks to Sarah and the link to her pattern will be at the end of this blog.

I found this pattern while i was making Olaf and started to make it at the same time then it took over while i had to wait for materials for Olaf, But to begin with i started with his body.

It seemed simple at this stage so i went on to complete the body and stuff it as stated in the pattern,

Once i complete the body i started on the head, this part was a little more difficult as once you had completed the section you had to stuff it then try to mould it, this part was hard as you had to keep remembering which part was the front.

From here i went on to start the feet, In this part i learnt a few stitches that i had never actually tried before so i had to do a little youtube to get visual of how to make these stitches but in the end i made it without any trouble.

Once i had completed all four legs, i decided to attach them to the body to start to get a little shape. In the pattern it does say to attach the head and body first but my way i found that it was easier as i could stitch up through the opening in the body. I just placed the head on in this picture so i could get a rough idea of the size of Toothless.

After these, I went on to make the tail which actually was used from a horn pattern. But i had to end up changing mine a little as following to pattern it didnt end up the same but still worked out.
Then i started on making 6 of the mini horns for around his face, Then his ears. All of these were easy enough to make. Then i started on his wings, These were hard as i followed to part to begin with and it failed so i pulled it all apart and started the wings again. Second time round they ended up the way there meant to. I learn another new stitch with this part a foundation single crochet. But in the end i had almost completed all of the pieces to put toothless together.

After this i went on to make the fins to go on his tail, In the pattern they give you the option to really make him toothless, as in the movie his has one RED fin on his tail due to they way he was found. But on the chart he has both black fins, I decided to make mine more like the movie and make one red fin. In the end i put him all together and since his was a more difficult project then Olaf was he didnt turn out quiet the way i had hoped. So his eyes are a little off and his ears and mini horns are aswell, because when i had placed the one on the very top i realised i has placed then to far apart as well as a little to far to one side. But i coudnt change it so i kept going and decided it was another lesson to learn from. In the end i was really happy with the result and i think that later on douwn the track i will make another and take what i have done with this one and hopefully improve on the next.

As stated at the top of the blog, this is the link to the pattern:
http://sarselgurumi.blogspot.com.au/2011/05/toothless-amigurumi-pattern.html

Currently im not sure what my next project will be as i just finished toothless yesterday and being close to xmas i may not have time, But i am hoping to write a post every week just to keep up to date with what i do manage to complete or start during the week. I do have a pattern for Teddy from Mr Bean for my fiance so that might be in this weeks post. Hopefully you have all enjoyed my posts so far and i hope that i do get a few followers. Please feel free to leave comments as long as there not nasty.

Jamie.

Olaf (Frozen) Amiguimi

So i was thinking what else could i make for my other niece for xmas and i thought since i didn so well with the pony blanket that maybe i could find a picture and do an Olaf blanket as his niece loves Frozen. I was looking around and couldnt find a good picture to use as i template. So i started to look at what else i could find on the net. Then i came across this amazing thing called AMIGUIMI. This was making somewhat dolls of crochet and i feel in love and thought first i have to find out if there is an Olaf pattern i can do before finding something to make for myself.

I then found this great youtube video, that came with a facebook page and there own website called YarnWars. They had a full tutorial and pattern for free on how to make Olaf! I was set all i had to do was find the right material and get started.

So i started with making the feet for Olaf and played with the descrease as there is a invisible and non invisble and i used each techniquie on each foot and realise that from now on i will be using the invisible descrease as it was so much better and really was invisible.

Then i started on the body and took a picture half way through, i was excited and had to rememeber to stop and take picture to show my progress

i placed the feet to see what it would look like, there were meant to be under the body but i thought about making him be seated.

Once i had completed to body i then started to nose, this was the worse and most difficult part of all!

i then attached to feet and found a googly eye to see what it would look like.

Then i had to wait till payday again to get some brown yarn to make his arms and hair. Then i used some black felt to make the buttons on this chest and made them look like buttons with the way i stitched them on, aswell as using the felt for his mouth. And this is the completed result.

I was so proud of my first complete amiguimi that while actually making him i found a Toothless"how to train your dragon" free pattern and thought i have to make this one!

Next blog will be showing him being made he was a lot more complicated then Olaf, but i still had a go and got him completed!

"My Little Pony" Blanket

I have decided that i would make a my little pony blanket for my niece for chistmas as she is a massive fan and i can only make blankets at this stage. So i did a little search of the net and looking for a cross stitch pattern that i could use as a guide for a granny square blanket. I then ended up finding this picture.

i worked it out that every bead will be a granny square, but then i thought if i make then the normal size they will end up massive, so i thought how about i do the squares only 2 rows big instead of the traditional 4 rows. Turns out this was the way to go. So i made a few squares just to get an idea.

Counting how many this would take i decided these where the best size. So i then got on to making all of the squares and making sure i hadnt missed any.

At this point i had come to the realisation of how big this project was going to be. But i was almost complete and wasnt going to stop now. So when i had completed all the squares i layed them on the floor and positioned them to get a better idea of how big this was going to be.

Turned out it was still big but at the same time a great size. I thought about filling in the edges to make it a proper sqaure but then thought of how much longer that would take me and i had already planned on making two of these for xmas and i was running out of time. So i put it together as is and this is the end result.

I was so proud of myself making my first proper project and for my niece who i know will love this blanket. I have realised that it may not be put together as best as i couldve but at the same time i didnt care i was happy that i had made it and if she got a week out of it i would be happy. So now its all wrapped up and under the tree ready for xmas day xD

In my next blog i will be showing my process in my first every Amiguimi project of Olaf from Frozen.

The start of my new obsession - Crochet

Back in July of this year (2014) I was searching the net for a new project to keep me busy in my spare time when i wasnt at work. As i had to stop my cross stitching as i was getting frustrated with it and i was making mistake and was tempted to throw the whole lot out.

I then came across a youtube video of a tutorial and thought i may give this ago, So on the next payday i went out and bought some crochet yarn and some hooks, I now realise they were very tiny hooks and i used crochet yarn instead of just normal yarn.

Below are my first attempted as using crochet wool and just normal yarn.

I then decided i was using the wrong materials after looking at the videos, So i then bought myself some knitting yarn and found some bigger hooks and decided for the first go of just learning the basics from Single crochet, double crochet and triple crochet that i would make a scarf and just practice.

I then got the hang of it and finish my first scarf and i was really proud of myself.

I then went on to make a "Tigers" scarf inspired by their colour (NRL football team) for my Fiance.

I also found a tutorial for a granny square, so thought i would give them ago and see how i went, My first one turned out horrible but i kept at it and ended up making heaps. I then thought how much different would it be to make one out of the crochet wool i had and here is the difference.

It turned out to be so much smaller yet it was the exact same amount of rows and work done.


After getting the hang of granny squares i thought i would make a blanket of them and maybe used the colour changing skills i learnt from tigers scarf that i make and this is the process so far of the blanket, unfortuantly i have been distracted with alot of my other projects but it is Summer here and i wont need it for months.

In my next blog i will be showing pictures of my progess in making my first granny square inspired blanket for a my little pony blanket.

Some of my Cross Stitch projects

Following in this post are going to be some pictures of my cross stitch project i have completed over the years,

First is the Winnie the Pooh project i mentioned in my first post. It was too small for the frame i had so i added a few other stitches i completed to fill up the space.

This one was a project i did for a good friend of mine that is a massive fan of Blink 182

First attempt at using wasted thread on clothing

My Christmas Card mentioned in my first post aswell

Pillow i made that was meant to be a tablet cover but didnt work out so changed it

These are just a few i do have a page on Facebook that i use to update alot of my projects, Finished or in the process. Feel free to have a look at the more extent of my work as i will take me forever to upload then all on this blog.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/262387177204336/

A lot of this patterns were free that i had found on the net ages ago. Unfortunatly i can not remember where i go them from to give created to them. The winnie the pooh was bought from ebay, Some were also free from the UK Cross Stitcher Magazine that i would buy. I am in no way taking created for any of this patterns, i did not make any of them.

A Little about myself

Hi all,

First off, Im a 24 year old,I am from Australia,  I live with my Fiance who ive been with for almost 9 years, we have a wonderful 6yr old daughter together and two lovely male cats. I work full time at Aldi aswell and use all my spare time to make little projects

Ive decided to start a little blog of my projects, I've been doing alot of crafts from scrapbooking, to card making, cross stitching and my latest is crochet. I started back when i was about 10 with cross stitch and was just doing many simple things like bookmarks or just little pictures. I then stopped and only just got back into it about 8 yrs ago. But with just small things again but then i have purchased a lovely Winnie the Pooh stitch and was determined to finish it so i started and i think it look me over 3years to finish on and off.

I then got pregnant with our daughter Abigail and i thought that i would start a little scrapbook to track and keep my progess for ever. I ended up making 3 scrapbooks all almost bursting their that full. I havnt been doing them for a while now, but i did end up making one for my niece of her first year and have it to her mum n dad for xmas last year (2013).

During all this time i was always cross stitching and making cards and i would sometimes mix the two. Last year (2013) for xmas i made cross stitch xmas cards to give to people and looking back now i have realised just how much work that took.

To get up to date, about 6 months ago i decided i would give crochet a go. I did a little googling and ended up finding a great person on youtube and watch her videos and taught myself from her videos. I then started with a few simple scarfs, blankets and granny squares. I then thought about making a simple blanket for my niece consisting of tiny granny squares (2rows big) and make her a "My Little Pony" blanket. I found a picture and used it as a guide and made my first blanket and currently i have another in the process.

I then was doing a little more researching finding some new projects to give me some ideas of what to do next and i came across a think called Amigunimi and i fell in love. I then found a perfect pattern to make my other niece for xmas, An Olaf from the movie Frozen. I completed him Yesterday and was so happy with myself. He turned out so great!. While i was doing Olaf i found a Toothless pattern from "How to train your dragon" and thought that would be another great project. So i was doing this while also completeing Olaf, I did finish Toothless this afternoon and as he does look great for my second amiguimi with alot more pieces to attach. He is a little off centre but i just think of it as a lesson i can learn from.