Wolf Amigurumi Pattern Update

Pattern testing has been done for a couple of weeks now. I just need to add some more photos. The pattern should probably also go through another round of testing before it's released.

Sorry for taking so long. I haven't been able to find enough time to work on the pattern lately. Mister baby is almost 8 months old. All he wants to do is play and his naps are getting shorter.

P.S. 

Most of my recent posts are actually old posts that I scheduled weeks before to keep the blog active. 

First Handspun

My first handspun yarn since my attempt at spindling years ago! It's a super bulky thick and thin yarn (3-5 WPI). I spun about 26 yards. I think this might be more fun than crocheting/knitting!

In a previous post, there's a photo of it on the spindle and here is the skein after setting the twist:

  
Then comes the dyeing! I've only dyed yarn once before with one color.

For this one, I really wanted to make something similar to those fancy kettle dyed yarns. I looked up tutorials like this one: Tutorial: Crock Pot Yarn Dyeing! by leethal as well as some Youtube videos.

I used Kool Aid in Strawberry, Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade, and Lemonade:



I was in a rush since mister baby was going to wake up soon. I put in too much of the red and didn't wait for it to spread.

The red turned the blue into purple and when the red got to the yellow, it turned to pink. There's also little spots of blue, white, yellow, and brown. It's not quite what I was going for but it still looks nice.

Here's it knitted up using US#11/8mm needles:

I couldn't wait to spin more so I got more fiber. I want to make a blue/green yarn and maybe try plying.

Amigurumi Crochet Color Change Tips

Color Change Decreases:

When you get to the decrease rounds of a piece that that has color changes in the middle of the work (e.g. a penguin), you might need to decrease when you get to one stitch before the color change:

 

You can just move the decrease somewhere else but this may be troublesome if you need to increase evenly or do shaping. You can also decrease the next two stitches using the current color and then switch colors afterwards but that might look weird depending on the design.

I like to change the color in the middle of the decrease. Pick up the first loop with your current color and then pick up the next loop in with your new color:

I do these decreases through both loops:

 

 

If you do invisible decreases, it doesn't look as neat because the next stitch's loop will peak through:

 

 

Balanced Increase/Decrease Color Changes Rounds:

When doing decrease (or increase) rounds with color changes, you can also do the instructions about halfway through the round and then mirror it for the rest of the stitches to make it more balanced:

*Sc2tog, sc 3* x3, *sc 3, sc2tog* x3.

You can't line up the color changes 100% when working in spirals since the stitches shift over but doing this will help the decrease rounds look better.


Crocheting Over Yarn Ends:

Instead of cutting the yarn and tying knots or carrying over long floats of the colors, just crochet over the ends! It can be more convenient when you're doing a lot of color changes.

 

Also, if you don't cut the yarn of the old color when crocheting over the ends and your next color change is that color, you'll have it ready to go:

 

Here the 4th black stitch is being worked and the next color change is beige. The black yarn is dropped and the beige yarn that was crocheted over gets hooked to complete the stitch. 

 

 

Front:

 

Back:

 

I hope this helps! I'm also working on a jogless stripes tutorial post.

 

Craftsy Spindling Class

Last month I mentioned I was taking a Craftsy Spindle Class~! I'm about halfway through the videos. I got some BFL fiber shortly after and finally got a drop spindle a few days ago!

I really wanted to make a drop spindle with a wooden toy wheel but it turns out the stores in my area don't carry those anymore. They have wooden boxes, letters, dowels, bird houses, rocking horse... but no more toy wheel stuff?

I'm already thinking about getting other kinds of spindles like the Turkish one:

(Photo credit: Weekend Knitter)

It took me a while to get the hang of spinning and I reviewed the videos to see what I was doing wrong. It was a bit difficult for me to draft when spinning so it came out too bulky and lumpy.

I predrafted the rest of my BFL and started over. It's a lot better than before! Here's what I've got so far:



I need to finish the rest of the Spindling videos and then I'll take Spinning Dyed Fibers class. I don't think I'll find time for a while to actually dye the yarn but it'd be fun to learn anyway!

Amigurumi Swap Spring 2013

I got to be a Swap Angel for MalonB in the Spring 2013 Amigurumi Swap!



I received a cute octopus amigurumi, handmade pincushions, crochet & knitted accessories, mini sand bottle souvenir, and 2 yarns!

Here is what I put together:



I made a wolf amigurumi and fairy stitch markers. I also sent 2 yarns, little notepad, crochet hook, safety eyes, and some felt.

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There were no sign ups for the 2 previous swap sign ups so I've decided to just keep it open until there's enough. More information will be posted at a later time.

I really want to keep the group active so that there's at least one swap every 2 months. If you're interested, please join the group! :)

Invader Zim Gir Hat

Oops! Forgot to post this in March. 

The pattern is Invader Zim GIR Knit Hat by Yarngear (Mei Lynne Travis).

I think I've had the pattern in my Ravelry queue for years. I don't remember adding it so when I stumbled on it when updating my queue last week, I had to make it for my sister.

It has a knit in hem which is really awesome. You basically knit your brim 2x as long as you want it to be, fold it, and knit the stitch and the corresponding cast on loop together.

I used Red Heart Super Savers and US#8/5mm needles for everything since I don't really have needles in other sizes. I also crocheted the eyes instead of knitting them.

Wolf Amigurumi

I made this for MalonB in the Amigurumi Swap. It's about  8" tall standing and about 5" at the widest. The tail is about 4.5" long and 2.5" wide. I couldn't decide on how I wanted to position the legs so I made them jointed! Now it can sit or stand! :D

I made another wolf because I don't make jointed amigurumi often enough!! It's fun. I made the arms, legs, and tail jointed. Mr. Baby already claimed it by spitting up all over it though.

I remember getting requests from deviantART users to make a wolf version of the Sleepy Fox and I'll still do that. I may make it soon while I still have some gray yarn left.