"Point!"

Squirrel latch-hook pillow! Not a completely original pattern - I based it off an online image of a cross-stitch pattern with two squirrels in some wintry environment, but cropped it and changed the background to a leafy setting:

I used Red Heart Super Saver yarn for the dark brown and black, and Caron Simply Soft yarn for all the other colors. This was because these were the only brands I already owned for the colors I wanted... if you actually want to create your own latch-hook pieces, you ideally shouldn't use either. Red Heart Super Saver is very stiff and on the rough side (for a pillow, anyway) while Caron Simply Soft is fairly thin for the latch hook canvas size and unravels easily.

In terms of both softness of texture and possibly yarn weight, I would recommend trying Red Heart Soft or Lion Brand Vanna's Choice yarn (though no guarantees because I actually haven't tried these myself.) Caron also makes a "craft & rug yarn" that might be good for this - they sell their own DIY latch-hook kits and this could be the yarn they use for those.

Playing with Clay

Haven't posted in a while... so I decided to share some creations that I made a while back! These are clay gifts made out of Sculpey UltraLight clay (they float in water!), painted with acrylic, and covered with gloss.

I wish I'd taken more pictures of these before I gave them away, but I made them in batches and evidently didn't document everything. Sad. Here are some closeups:

Also, a carrot.

Giant Dalek Amigurumi

A pattern for all the Doctor Who fans out there! This came from Lucy at Ravelry and is for a cuddly plush version of the fearsome Dalek.

I used the pattern for the new series and modified yarn colors to create a blue Dalek. Using Red Heart Super Saver yarn in Royal Blue, Black, and Soft White, and Vanna's Choice Charcoal Grey, this came out to around 10-11" from base to top of head - although if you count the eyestalk, the height increases even more!

Be careful when reading the pattern, as there are two or three minor typos! (If I have time, I'll try to find them again and update this post.) For the grey and black grid in the head, the pattern says to slip stitch in the front loop (for example, in round 13), which is what I did here. However, it seems like Lucy single crocheted instead, from the pictures on the site. If I make another one, I plan on testing this theory... or if you decide to make one, please try it and let me know the results!

::click me!::

Firefly Latch Hook Pillow

The ++ part of crochet++... also my first self-designed pattern!

Important fact: I absolutely adore Joss Whedon and everything he's ever created ever. My friend also really likes Firefly, so I decided to make him a pillow with Serenity's logo:

This was 50 squares (at 4 squares per inch) on each side, and was made with a latch hook and 2.5" lengths of yarn (of assorted brands based on existing stock and colors needed, but in retrospect this was not the best idea, since worsted weight yarn differs in thickness and texture across brands.) The back is just a giant piece of black felt. =)

Baby Toothless Amigurumi!

Inaugural post! ^_^ I've mostly been working from existing patterns, with small adjustments here and there. During my search for awesome patterns, I found this fantastic Toothless pattern, which I bookmarked and then promptly forgot about until months later when I tried searching for Toothless again and stumbled upon Lemmy Loop (which also contains some other awesome patterns that I will eventually try someday!)

Here is the result:

I used Red Heart Super Saver yarn in black and burgundy, and most likely a G hook (or possibly F). The eyes were made from black and neon green felt - I stitched the pieces together first, and then to the head.

View from the back! I lengthened the tail to 17 rounds to accommodate for the tailfins close to the body. I also thought the pattern provided for said tailfins turned out much too small, so I ended up making them up on the spot. I don't remember the specifics (sorry) but I believe I chained 6 or 7, sc'ed for 2 rows (minus one stitch), and then ss'ed into the last stitch.

Sewing everything together was a bit nerve-wracking, but then I realized that Toothless isn't perfectly symmetrical anyway, and then everything got better. Baby Toothless, complete! =D