Category Archives: Creative side

May21

Crochet fun: Amigurumi Link from Zelda games

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Crochet fun: Amigurumi Link from Zelda games
Crochet fun: Amigurumi Link from Zelda games

Recently, it was my brother Jacob’s birthday, and I made him a special gift: a Link amigurumi figure from “The Legend of Zelda” games that he was a huge fan of growing up. He also loves playing Link on “Smash Brothers” and as soon as I came across this pattern from Tanoshimou and these accessories and great pictures from All About Ami.

Of course, I did make a few changes. The biggest change is that instead of the traditional green getup, I had Link in red, since that’s his favorite color!

I am thrilled with how my little buddy Link turned out:

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The awesome part about this pattern is that his head can swivel! It was kind of funky to crochet the ball and joint for his head, but it actually turned out better than I thought it would! 🙂

Once he was done (A LOOOOONG process!) it was time for his shield, sword, and sheath!

2013-05-15 22.24.13  I followed Stephanie’s instructions mostly for the shield. The main difference was that I bought gray yarn JUST for this project, and so I used it for the back of the shield as well instead of blue.

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As for the sword and sheath, I had to be a little more creative. I didn’t have any good dowels or materials for the “blade” so I crocheted it. Because it was a little bigger, I had to make the sheath a little bigger, too. I didn’t follow a specific pattern for either- I just eyeballed what seemed to work well in proportion to my Link.

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After all that, you put it all together and TA-DA!

Jared had to inform me that I had the sword and sheath going the wrong way on Link (NERD ALERT!) so I had to do some small adjustments for his photo op and packaging to be sent to his new BFF Jacob, but all in all this was such a fun project. I think this makes up for the lack of gifts that I couldn’t send to Jacob when he was off doing missionary work in Fiji for two years. (Have you ever tried shipping anything to Fiji?! It’s ridiculous!)

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Oh, and did I mention the hat comes off, too? So awesome. Seriously, get busy and make this for the resident nerds in your life. They’ll love you all the more for it. 😉

 

 

 

 

May16

Crochet fun: Zombiebot

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Crochet fun: Zombiebot
Crochet fun: Zombiebot

The Mister’s birthday was last week, and I had been working on a special project for him based on his recent renewal of love for all things zombies!

Welcome to the house: The Zombiebot (yet another Pinterest goody!)

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HOW CUTE IS HE?!

This was a really fun project, just using simple spotted beige yarn (I used Vanna’s Choice Oatmeal from Lion Brand) and just some black yarn. It’s ALL single crocheting in the round.

Find some random screws and/or nails, a few springs (or in my case, some wire wound around a small screwdriver will work) and voila- your very own little minion.

I think that the hardest part was the assembly and stitching on the scars- mainly because I was a bit of a perfectionist. I wanted him to still have a little bit of “cuteness” even if he was a zombiebot, so I gave him a little scar-mouth smile.

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This was a fun, quick project and Jared loves his new little minion. He will soon be living at Jared’s place of work to constantly remind him of what to do if a zombie apocalypse ever occurs. 😉

May6

Pay it Forward: Happy Hippo Times

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Pay it Forward: Happy Hippo Times
Pay it Forward: Happy Hippo Times

You might remember a few months ago when I posted a gift that I received from the Pay It Forward 2013. I have since been working on several small projects for the people that signed up under my Pay It Forward campaign. 😉

The first gift for one of my four people arrived last Friday, and I am so excited to share it with you because I think it’s pretty cute:

SAMSUNGI made this for my favorite sister-in-law (does it matter that she’s my only sister or sister-in-law? I don’t think so!) She said her favorite color right now is purple, and at least for a while, she LOVED hippos, so I found some purple yarn and this Shasta The Hippo pattern from Ravelry.com (I don’t like how the pink in the original project almost makes it look more like a pig than a hippo!) and got started.

This hippo even comes complete with this darling little tail:

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And check out this happy smile! I love how the arms turned out like the hippo is about to give you all a hug:

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Hope the hippo’s new home is happy to have this cutie pie. It was hard to give this one away! 😉

Apr7

Baby Boy Gift projects

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Baby Boy Gift projects
Baby Boy Gift projects

I’ll admit it.

Staying at home with Evelyn is one of the best things that has ever happened to me.

Every day I am grateful that I get to stay home with this little girl and focus more on my family, home, and things that I never seemed to be able to do when I was teaching full time and constantly stressed out.

After we had Evelyn, it seemed like everyone else started to be expecting. We sort of came between waves. Example: At church, about a year before we got knocked up, it seemed like half of the ladies were expecting/having babies! Then, Friday, I went to a baby shower and in a room of twenty people, I’d say 7 of them were expecting. Evelyn doesn’t have too many buddies her age yet, but I’m not too worried about it.

Anyways, for the latest round of babies, and on our tightened budget, I’ve been experimenting with my new-found love of yarn to give our friends meaningful and thoughtful gifts that don’t break the bank.

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First up: more converse shoes for a little boy who should be arriving near the end of April in his parents’ school colors!

SAMSUNGOld gold and blue for this little one. His mom seemed pretty happy with them at the shower, and I think they turned out even better than the cyan blue ones that I made for Evelyn.

Next, for the other mom who was at the joint shower the other night, I didn’t want to make two of the exact same thing. So I tried another pattern I found online for a baby cocoon that looks like a little football.

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I will admit, I am not crazy with how this one turned out. I don’t know if it was the instructions or what, but I just wasn’t madly in love with the final product. And it’s a LOT of long, boring rows. I did add my own flare by adding a rim of dark red/maroon for the parents’ school colors as well, but there is definitely a lot I would change if I were to do it again. In fact, who wants me to make them one so I have motivation to improve? (just kidding.)

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Last, but not least, for a little one that was born earlier this week, I made the boy version of the I’m Topsy Turvy Crochet Infant boot. I really like how they turned out… but they are so tiny! Was my sweet Evelyn ever really that tiny to fit into this size of little boot? Good heavens.

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Again, we have school colors on display with my own little addition of the burnt orange stripe.

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How cute are they? I love making this baby stuff, and it’s getting easier every time I do a pattern.

Y’all, I have some other EVEN BETTER projects in the works. Since they are gifts that I haven’t been able to give to the recipients yet, and those recipients MIGHT chance upon my blog, I can’t share them yet. But I am REALLY excited about them and can’t wait to show them off to you all!

Mar15

Crocheted Converse shoes and Barefoot Sandals

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Crocheted Converse shoes and Barefoot Sandals
Crocheted Converse shoes and Barefoot Sandals

When I came across this FREE pattern for crocheted baby Converse-style shoes, I couldn’t help myself. (Thanks again, Pinterest and Ravelry, for feeding my yarn addiction). I just had to make them for Evelyn.

Turns out, they are DARLING.

The first shoe took me a really long time to make. The pattern was really tough to follow and you kind of just had to pay close attention as you went with it. Jared found my frustration amusing, I think, as I may have cursed the creator of this pattern several creative ways under my breath.

By the second shoe I had gotten the maker’s style and was able to complete the shoe much more quickly.

Not too shabby, right? The first shoe probably took me four or five hours to make, but I think I cut the time nearly in half with the second. If I were to do it again, I think it would go even more quickly.

Oh, would you like to see these shoes on my lovely model?

Hmm… Nope. Bonnie photo-bombed, too. Let’s try again:

Huh. Still nope.

Guess it’s harder when the baby learns you can crawl away from the camera. I’ll have to try again sometime when my 8 1/2 month old will hold still long enough for me to take some better pictures of the product.

Another fun (not to mention QUICK and EASY and FREE!) pattern I tried was this barefoot sandal. This style is all the rage in the baby fashion world.

I did make little flowers to attach to the top, but this little girl’s daddy thought

  1. Sandals with no bottoms seem ridiculous.
  2. Sandals with no bottoms and a giant flower on top are even more ridiculous!

I don’t think my eyes can roll far enough back into my head for this major silliness. Just imagine me with my hands on my hips saying, “Men!” in the most exasperated way possible.

I will have you all know that I had at least A DOZEN people stop me and ask about those “Ridiculous” sandals when Evelyn and I went adventuring to Michaels, Target, and the vet on Monday. (AND in case you were wondering, they all LOVED them and wanted to know where I had gotten them, JARED. I still love you even if we disagree on Evelyn’s style.)

Fun times for yarn in this household. I am making some other new stuff that I am excited to share with y’all soon!