Wednesday, July 6, 2011

May I Introduce...Baby Junior


Here he is, Baby Junior.
A small version of one of my first amigurumi I made for our 3rd son.

He named his large ami bear 'Junior'......hence Baby Junior.
This little guy is a custom, repeat order from a good friend.
She bought a monkey amigurumi named Mon-Kee.



Trademark heart...I actually have to do a heart replacement
on Baby Junior's monkey brother Mon-Kee this weekend.
Baby Junior and Monkee will be so happy living at the same house.
Mon-Kee has had his heart loved off by my friend's darling little son.
He must have his monkey at night and rubs the heart to fall asleep.

Kill me with cuteness!



Here's a side sitting view...Clarence Giraffe also sits up well.
I think I have a good thing going with the body to leg attachment.
I love Baby Junior's posture! His tail is very cute too.




Front view with a scarf I whipped up...
he's a blue doll with chartreuse stripes.
Something orange had to be involved.




I had a lot of fun making Baby Junior.
His pattern is mostly written.
I would love for you to make one of my dolls for yourself.
I also do a lot of custom work.
Send me an email and we can scheme something up.
I can add you to my queue. xo



Bye for now :) Thanks for looking!


Tuesday, June 28, 2011

A Giraffe and a Lakenvelder...



Introducing my newest giraffe amigurumi...Clarence.
I designed him for my good friend's who are
having their sweet baby son ANY time now.
I will be selling the pattern to this as well as my other amigurumi creations.




-My- heart is in every ami...handsewn on.
Just found out a mini monkey ami I made has been a nightly rut for friend's sweet 2 yr old. Said monkey also needs a heart replacement because their little E rubbed the heart off by caressing it each night to put himself to sleep. Awwwwwe!!!

Honestly, photo taking this time was rushed. I probably could use a new camera. I will probably hold off and buy an iPhone 4 when their price drops. For now I found and LOVE LOVE LOVE Instagram... it's an iPhone app that will make me procrastinate buying a real camera, probably forever.




More spots on the tush. By the way, toy giraffes are only mostly like a real life giraffe...sort of like apple or watermelon jolly ranchers. It's our interpretation of the animal or the fruit. Circle spots are widely used on toy giraffes, but their spots are not so circular. Also, their head was a little challenging with their horn thinga-ma-jigs.
I did not install a tuft at the top of the thinga-ma-jigs...my only regret.




A good shot of Clarence and his 20 inch height.



Clarence's tags...




Almost simultaneously, I finished this little gem.
A Lakenvelder chicken mama amigurumi.
I designed this chicken mama to go with a present
of baby chick amigurumi in March. (pictured below)



-This- is a Lakenvelder chicken. My beloved friends have 27 of these beauties.



Alpaca crochet circles on top and bottom of a wool/wool-silk blend ball.
I tried to get an irregularity in the top crochet circle. I was mostly successful.



Here's chicken mama...big heart, ready to take care of AT & Baby C's chicks.



Six baby chicks...the one in the bottom of the picture is the baby lakenvelder.

My new business cards till I can place a moo card order. I can't wait for my cards.
I started an order late one night. It was a lot of work trying to pick out what photos I want for the front side. I've been asked for my business card more lately...
so I just need something in my wallet for now.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Covert Stitch Making


This fine day I added a ladder to my knitting and crochet notions. The other large notion I have is my pug Phoebe. My tool kit is pretty diverse. Fortunately/unfortunately, the ladder wasn't tall enough. It served as a good 6 foot tall holder for my basket.


I was eager to head into the city to help artist Suzanne Tidwell in her efforts to yarn bomb Occidental Park-Pioneer Square. Charisa, president of our fine knitter's guild (Snohomish Knitter's Guild) had put out a call on Facebook for knitter's to come and assist with the installation. I had been meaning for -at least- a year to dive into yarn bombing. With Charisa's and other bomber's encouragement, I finally took the plunge.

The weather was stereotypical for Seattle. I knew I was going to be terrifically cold AND happy while I worked. The grey skies weren't bumming me out at all. It is different being out of the house looking at the clouds.


So, I arrived at Occidental Park and this was the scene. Suzanne wrapping these well deserving trees in earnest, stitching away merrily. She had Ikea totes of knit panels and a nice tall ladder. Right away I felt welcome by my fellow knitter. I have been enamored by yarn bombers for a long time and this was my first face to face. We chatted a bit and then I unloaded my gear. I had been cranking on my panel for a week and did the bulk of the knitting in 4 of those days. It was so sweet to have it there complete.


This was one of my favorite pictures from the day. It rained the whole time we worked...this is my wee little knit-kit in an altoids box. I have a mobile studio cart, but when I'm in a hurry I can grab this little do-hicky and be on my way.


This picture is from my first attempt at wrapping my intended light pole. Here I am on my 6ft ladder. Because of the rain and the weight of the panel, my 97 inch long fabric had now stretched into a glorious 132 inches. All of the sudden, it was too long for it's intended target.
We looked around at the park for another taller pole.

Here's the view from Suzanne's 9+ foot ladder. Keep in mind it was raining, a lot. I had to be quite intentional about where I was in the world while maneuvering on this ladder. I did get woozy at one point balancing at that height fastening the top of the piece. I had done a lot of rock climbing in my 20's, so I dialed into that frame of mind.


Here's my beauty...


And from another angle... So pretty. I miss my piece.


Here I am...giving one last snuggle to my pole. It felt good to be done and see my work.

The gorgeous Suzanne Tidwell in her element. I love her tree wraps. They start looking like painted stripes. I am sure they look that way from a distance. Then there's the puzzling fact that it's knitted. The funny question I get a lot is *how* you get the fabric on the tree. I guess all those hours of finishing over the years have paid off. It's fun making it look seamless...mysterious :)



Now on to my city...

The following Saturday was International Yarn Bombing Day. If you are a yarn bomber, then, this is a holiday of yarnie proportions. I felt like a holiday to me. I had planned to stay up ALL night Friday night, but, alas I did get in bed. I stayed up till 3am. I was so tired that I didn't hear my alarm go off though. So, I unfortunately I lost a bit of my covertness...especially with the first tree wrap.

This first tree wrap is crochet with two strands of Red Heart yarn. I used the biggest crochet hook they make (I think). This was supposed to be wrapped around a stop sign. Right away I realize I had more width than I had planned. Also, a woman stopped and reminded me that the police don't really like stuff pinned to stop sign poles. So I looked for another target.

My son Li-jo (Eli) was with me, filming and taking pictures. We looked together for a new location and noticed a good light post over by the library. After we got over there I saw this tree. It was PERFECT.

After I had been working for a few minutes we realized that the city council was having a meeting that morning. YIKES! I was talking with different members as they arrived. Then, all of the sudden, my son says, "Hey Mom, it's the mayor!" We talked a bit while I worked and I answered her questions about yarn bombing/knit graffiti. She asked if I was going to do all the trees. I told her I had some other things planned. She said I should wrap the other trees, too.
I'm like YAYAYAYAYAY! It meant so much that she was supportive.



Here I am working away...


Eli having a well deserved mocha


A railing at my church's office...made from an entrelac UFO (unfinished object). I raided my ufo box that day before to see if I had some pieces I could use.

Finished



This might be one of my favorites. The doggie do station wrap. Our skate park is fairly new and I thought it could use some color. I was going to wrap a tree with this piece, but it wasn't wide enough. These squares were in my ufo box, and I crochet them together.


This is probably my favorite one so far.
I had dry skies that morning. I was thinking that if it rained I would use it to my advantage like I did with the Seattle piece. It seemed to help the fabric stretch. Like I was blocking it on the post.


Last but not least, the absolute most covert part of the day was the flower bombs. I made 7 tawashi (japanese crochet washcloths) Click here for the Super Simple Tawashi Flower Pattern and others I made one for each gutter at the library/city hall. Each one had two strands of cotton and one strand of sock yarn.


Here is one in action.


Here's some of the tags for the tawashi flower bombs.



I had my men come with me for the last installation. They were so excited to 'help' under the cover of darkness. This definitely felt covert. These flowers were gone easily by noon the next day.

Thanks for reading...I hope you have a great Worldwide Knit in Public Week. I know I started it off with a bang. Tomorrow I take 3 of my boys to knit in the city with our guild. It's gonna be great fun!

Monday, May 16, 2011

Overdue Baby, Over Due Present... WORTH IT!!!


My good friend's little baby came and her knitter friend (me) was backlogged by amazing Christmas custom orders. A happy and hard place to be. I wanted to make her something no matter how long it took.

I am a little granny on the inside...
I WANT WANT WANT to make presents for all the little babies
in the whole world.
At this stage of life tho: sort of impossible.

I know some people think I might not love their baby...but I do :)


This baby hat is a variation on a lot of baby hats I make. I don't know what it is about baby hats. But baby hats and amigurumi dolls are so fun to make. Probably because I can finish quickly with a big 'ol splash. I asked my friend if I could use some non-traditional baby colors for her baby. I think I was going to make it brown/fushia/orange, but was basically done when I remembered. I think the grey sets off the bright colors well.


The 6 point star decrease is becoming one of my trademarks. I did a little experiment with stripes in the decrease this time. It worked out JUST GREAT!!!



A little close up of the colors and stitches...all the yarn is Stitch Nation by Red Heart and a Stitch and Bitch Nation product. The grey is Alpaca Love and the fushia and orange are Full O' Sheep. Pattern may be available from me soon soon.
I am writing patterns for three amigurumi at the moment :)



Here is the top down baby cardigan I finished for my delicious nephew. He was a few days late and seriously, I can't believe I finished this for him. My sister loves celtic things, so I added the cute little pewter buttons. The yarn is Bernat Alpaca Blend in 'tundra' and 'ebony'



A close up of the killer buttons.



VERDICT:
Overdue babies AND gifts...
...worth the wait!!!






Saturday, November 27, 2010

Cats On Parade, At Last!!!




Here are the infamous Maneki Neko Cats I finished Tuesday night. Oh holy moly this was a big order BUT they are done and I am celebrating a job well done.

These very lucky cats were ordered by my friend M.G. last month. I broadcast on my Facebook business page that I had room for two custom orders before Christmas. M.G. did not waste any time booking those two spots plus one. She asked me if I had heard of Maneki Neko cats. I had not, so I looked up some images. I pulled 8 images that I liked. I made some sketches and M.G. purchased a custom order listing through my etsy shop.

The listing and sale can be viewed by clicking here...
M.G.'s Maneki Neko listing and sale

The two cat's images that she picked were quite spherical, which is a good thing for designing an amigurumi pattern. It took me a month + 1 day to complete the design & pattern for my Lucky Cats. This includes crocheting all the parts and construction. I also have most of one more doll's parts made. I am relatively quick knitter and crocheter, but I have 4 busy sons that I homeschool. My boys are 13, 11, 8 and 2.5 yrs old. I don't have much continuous time to work...but I will have more time in the future. I didn't even give M.G. a deadline for when her dolls would be done because my life is nuts right now. So a month and a day is pretty good for accomplishing these little beauties...especially when I do most of my work here at home.

So here are my Cats On Parade... enjoy. I will be creating a listing for the 4th doll and making a pattern by chance in the future. Please let me know how you like these :o)



All my amigurumi have heart...these gals have theirs hiding under their medallions.



Two of the little gals...you can see their facial details are embroidery. I had to learn to back stitch in a hurry. Hurry is not a word I like to mix with crafting, EVER!!!


I am learning to carve outs time during my day to knit or crochet. I am going to be sewing some clothes soon, which stops life around here.
I won't be able to clean or think about anything else.



The lucky cats are doing a super hero thingy with their super cool upright hands.



MEOOOOW x3



My baby talking to the cats and trying not to touch them.
He really did well...and did touch them.



Lucky medallion...hopefully I didn't mess up the Japanese lettering...



A little packing shot. I am still loving my yellow yarn, most passionately.



We've got tags and we're complete !!!!!

Three sweet cats with their tags. I cannot wait for these little gals
to get to their new home and get out of the box.

Thx M.G. for the special custom order.
These guys were so theraputic for me to complete.
Stay tuned for the 4th doll to be on sale in my shop.

I cannot keep my eyes open any longer...will check for typos tomorrow.
xoxoxox
shan

p.s. Update 11/29 via MG via knit shan knit on Facebook
'The Cats have landed' plenty of time before Christmas where they will
be given as gifts... What a fun thing to be a present...