Shelly-Chic

So a few weeks ago, my parents dog, decided to eat a crochet rabbit that I made my sister about 3.5 years ago - not that it really looked anything like a rabbit, being the 3rd thing I crocheted (it would have been the second but my first attempt went really wrong and I turned it into a squid).

Like Butter Wouldn't Melt!

To be honest I wasn't really bothered. Katie however decided that she simply MUST have something to replace it with, so I gave her my copy of Zoomigurumi 3 that I got from my Secret Santa, and let her pick something. She decided on a turtle, but she wanted it to be all green

 And so "Shelly-Chic" (like Shabby-Chic) was created

And while I had the camera out, I decided to try out some of the different backgrounds for my light studio

    

 Then I got a little bit silly















But not as silly as my beautiful sister

New Camera!

For Christmas my lovely lovely boyfriend surprised me with a snazzy new Cannon 1200D camera and a portable light studio so I can take better photos of my crafting. It's such a thoughtful gift, he always seems to know what to get me, and its often things I would never think to get or ask for myself.

We finally got some time and decided to set up the light studio, I started with taking a few photos of my crocheting, but we soon got distracted by the knick knacks on the shelf in our dining room.
Here's the Little Red Riding Hood Doll I finished over the weekend. The pattern is by Lee Mei Li at www.amigurumei.com. It was a really nice pattern, and I loved the way the dress was made, you crochet the white underneath part first and then make the blue bit and flip it over the top.

This is my next project, I'm making a turtle for my little sister. I love this colour wool, it's left over from when I made a Snorlax for my friend Lewis.

Then I let Dave take control of the camera....

Here is Steve the Octopus riding a triceratop...

Then Han Solo and Boba Fett had a stand off.....

Iron Man popped by

I then got some practise in changing the focus using the camera 

I think this one is the favourite one I took! I love Jack Skellington!

I know I still have a way to go to get to the same level as a lot of other bloggers out there, but practise makes perfect!

x

(This was meant to be posted last week but I have had terrible terrible Internet)

2015 - An Explanation

So in the whole of 2015, I wrote 11 blog posts - less than one a month.

A lot has changed in this last year, and some things still are, and I think always might, remain the same. I'm still ill, barely any progress has been made this year into why I'm ill. I'd like to say I'm surprised but as a pessimist I'm not, however I am trying to be positive that 2016 might be the year they fix me!

Dave is still the same, it's nice having someone so reliable. I doubt he'll ever change, and I'm OK with that.

We're still in the cottage, but our Landlord has changed. The house was put up for sale in the Summer and lucky for us, another Landlord bought it and is happy for us to stay. Something I'm very glad of as I really hate moving house.

The time I have spent crafting this year has taken a dip, which has probably then impacted on my blogging because I had less content. The main reason for this is because I started a new job. At the end of August I finally left the call centre after 3 years! I've gone back to working in a Letting Agents which is what I did during the University holidays. Going back to full time has been hard, but I won't deny its been nice to bring home a normal wage again! I don't have the time to crochet at work like I did at the call centre, and I've then been coming home and having no energy to do anything except eat my dinner and go to bed.

So one of my goals for this coming year is to get back on track with my crafting, especially as I never have to work a Sunday any more so could potentially dedicate the entire day to crafting (and laundry because its never ending). I have the added incentive of the lovely posh camera Dave bought me for Christmas and the portable light studio to photograph all the things I make. This is proof, once again, that Dave knows me better than I'll ever know myself and that's why he's so good at gift giving. I'd also like to finally get my Etsy shop up and running, but I'm trying not to be too optimistic!

To anyone who may have stumbled upon this post, I wish you the happiest of New Years, and I hope that you accomplish everything you set out to do!

xx

How to add Fluff!

As I've mentioned in the previous post about the sheep I've been making (will from now on will be referred to as "Brians"), my inspiration came from Stephanie's (at All About Ami) Lambert pattern but with one main difference....

I HATE FLUFFY WOOL

I don't like working with it, I tried, I promise! its just so fiddly, it makes it so hard to see the stitches, which meant the numbers of stitches didn't always add up like they were meant to. So frustrating!

So I had to find a way to ensure Brian was still fluffy and sheep like without using fluffy wool that would make me want to tear my hair out!

TaDa!

So here's how I made him fluffy, just using normal Aran Yarn.

The cream coloured parts of the sheep are ALL crocheted back loop only (BLO)

This leaves us with an extra layer on the outside that we can work on.

I didn't want the waves on the sheep to be too tight but I still wanted to have a bit of curl to it, so I attached the yarn into the first stitch, chained 3, skipped 1 stitch and then did one sc in the next stitch.

Then I just continued it all the way round in spirals. Just make sure that you are only attaching your stitches to the main body of the sheep and not to the other rows of fluff otherwise you won't get the desired textured effect.

At this point it looks like a flower from the top :)

And here's how it turned out

Now I'm not going to lie, this is time consuming, and not exactly necessary for the item to be finished. It's just a nice finishing touch to make Brian look more sheep-y. Plus he is amazingly snuggly - always a bonus in my book!

What do you think?

Hope you all have a lovely day :)
xx

Brian the Sheep!

Brian the sheep, (named by Dave because he thought he looked like Brian from the "Go Compare" adverts) is the biggest amigurumi I've ever made. I know that usually amigurumi are small but I've found that people seem to like to order things that are more standard cuddly toy size.

Brian was a (very belated by the time I finished) Mother's Day present for my lovely mum. She has always been very encouraging of my crocheting. More so since I've moved into my own house and no longer leave bits of yarn all over her carpet!

I had a go at making Stephanie at All About Ami's Lambert pattern, The only fluffy yarn I had was purple (didn't like working with it at all) and my sheep ended up looking like a lion/monkey hybrid.

Slightly disheartened I decided to use the Stephanie's pattern as a basis to make a larger sheep and so Brian was made.

I wrote out a basic pattern which was altered several times while I was making it. I didn't actually intend for him to end up so big (he is about 14 inches tall now he's finished!) but by the time I realised I was too far in.

My mum loved him and he has pride of place on top of a unit in their living room.

I've mentioned before that I crochet at work, and many people saw parts of Brian in the making so once he was actually finished he was taken on a tour round the office for people to see.

I will admit I did have another reason to make Brian, he was a trial run. I have several work friends who have relatives who are having children this year (the year of the sheep) and have ordered sheep off me as gifts. One the same size of Brian and one is smaller with a pink face because they know the baby is a little girl (not sure what the feminine version of Brian is? Brianita?).

Lots of happy sheep crocheting to come!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend

xxx

BEDM - Day 3 - Self Care Sunday

I, like probably the majority of people, don't take as much care of myself as I should. I'm reluctant to spend money on things that I feel are unnecessary or frivolous, even though I'd happily spend the money on something equally frivolous for Dave. I think its because when we buy things for other people its easier to justify; passing it off as a gift, or thinking, they deserve to be treated.

Luckily I have people who buy me the things I would never buy myself. At Christmas my friend Bekki treated me to some lovely Soap and Glory products, and told me she had bought them because she knew it was something I would never buy myself, and she's right. Then on mornings when I'm not running late, I can take the time to "treat myself" and even though its something small I feel it sets me up for the rest of the day.

Today was a nice day, spent with my in-laws meeting Dave's brother new girlfriend. She's lovely but much to Dave's mothers horror, she (like me) isn't really interested in having children. I think she feels left out as her younger sister already has 2 grandchildren and another on the way.

It's nice having another "outsider" in the group after it being just me for the last 6 years, although its hard finding a table to seat 7 people while out for tea.

On that note I'm going to sign off and pester Dave until he makes me a brew...

Hope everyone had a lovely Sunday

xx

BEDM - Day 2 - Adventure

As a child I loved Winnie the Pooh, a love that has stayed with me into my adult life and when I saw the theme for today's post he once again came stumbling into my mind.

An adventure doesn't have to be something huge. The definition is:

 An unusual and exiting or daring experience.

It can be an adventure even if its something that everyone else does, as long as its new to you.

It can be an adventure even if no one else thinks it is, as long as its exciting to you.

When I went off to Uni it was an adventure.

When Dave and I moved in together it was an adventure.

The first time someone ordered something crocheted from me, it was an adventure.

Maybe not to everyone but it was to me.

I feel we spend too much tome worrying about what other people think. My mum doesn't understand that at our age (24) me and Dave are happier to sit in on a Friday night, me crocheting and him playing computer games, she thinks we're boring. In fact we enjoy it far more than we would going out. We do enjoy going out occasionally, but spending money that could be spent elsewhere and getting blind drunk every weekend doesn't appeal to us anymore. Maybe that makes us odd, but we're happy. We're happy strolling along and having our own little non-conventional adventures.

Which led me back to my favourite bear. When I was 6, the film "Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin" was released. In this film Christopher Robin goes to school and the toys mis-interpret the note and think he has been taken to "Skull" and proceed on a grand adventure to save him. At the end of the day Christopher Robin explains where he has actually been, and although he wasn't part of the "grand" adventure he has had one of his won; as his first day at school.

It's not as big but it's an adventure all the same.

Not all of us can be Pooh Bears, some of us are Christopher Robins. And that's OK.

It also gave rise to one of my favourite inspirational quotes, Christopher Robin was clearly wise beyond his years:

"If ever there is a tomorrow when we're not together, there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we're apart, I'll always be with you"

Wishing you all a weekend full of adventures

xx