Lucy – Page 24 – Hopefully Creative

O.O. the Octopus I

Sometimes you (re)find something that you just cannot ignore anymore.

Eye Right Eye

This happened to me at the start of April. I had found the free Octo the Octopus pattern on Ravelry (posted on Knitty here) way before this time, but I was afraid that it would take too long and would be too many stitches for me to actually finish. Since the first discovery I made some dinosaurs, some dragons and some other large projects. Then, my office wanted to have a knitting project for themselves. They really liked the Allosaurus even though it looked quite angry and wanted something for their own office that could be a group project. I suggested this Octopus that I’d found ages before. Everyone can knit a leg and I can join them to a head at the end with Kitchener stitch.

Starting this project in the office gave me some real craving to make one for myself. I didn’t want to make it in the same colours as the office one, but they had picked all the fun colours: blue on top but the entire rainbow for the bottom of the – legs? arms? – tentacles. This meant that I had a choice to make!

Flat Spread

I decided to buy a grey and brown ball of yarn and make a striped octopus. I googled ‘striped octopus’ after I’d already knit 4 stripes and found that there is a striped octopus, but it has white too. So off to the shoppy I went again and got some white. The stripes at the top were very regular, so I sewed in a line of white stitches to break it up a little. Then I just went and did completely irregular stripes. All the tentacles follow the same stripe composition and the bottom of the tentacles and his belly are blue. I followed the pattern closely (including errata), however, I did not want to knit with fingering weight yarn. So I substituted with some thicker yarn not knit double and changing the knitting of the eyelids. Google pictures told me that there is an octopus with white eyelid edges, so I chose to do that to get an even edge.

It went a lot quicker than expected. I finished him in under three weeks with most of my free time knitting him. You can find my notes on Ravelry here, they are quite limited *cough*. The reason why this post is posted a little bit after he was finished was mostly because he didn’t really have a name yet. After extensive discussion, we have come up with something…

We are pleased to hereby introduce O.O. Octopus I, Otto Octopuff Octopus The First, to the world. He was finished on April 21, weighs 539 grams, and measures 88 centimeters from head to tentacle. He will rest throughout working hours.

To scale

Otto will live on a stool in my living room, actually the black one you see on the left of the picture above. In the picture I’m holding him for scale (note, I am 1.58 m tall), he is quite big! Right now, I do believe that O.O. and the Dragon tie for first spot of most awesome knitted animal..

Time Crunch Sweater

This sweater was actually finished on March 28. I started writing this post a while ago, and then forgot to finish it. So here it is anyway, the first two paragraphs were written in March, the rest today.

Most people have bad habits, or so I’d like to believe. One of my bad habits is going to the Wibra (local shop that also sells yarn) to check whether they have new yarn in stock. — Now, I don’t need more yarn, I have tree boxes full of the stuff and a sheep to spin. It’ll be years before I get through the stash. This however does not seem to be enough for me to stop setting foot in the yarn shop. — Three weeks ago they did have new yarn in stock. A variegated white to black, bulky, 100% acrylic yarn. I needed to have it, so I got 5 balls.

The ‘problem’ with bulky yarn is that it’s often used to make fairly warm sweaters. Spring was approaching, which meant that I had to start and finish this project quickly. I’d found an inspiration on Ravelry, namely the Eased pattern by Alicia Plummer (here on Ravelry). I thought that the yarn would work nicely with this type of project. However, I was not willing to really follow a pattern for this, so I improvised, more on that here.

Front

I figured I’d gotten enough experience with knitting sweaters in the round so the body wouldn’t be a problem. For the neckline, Eased shows some kind of join or something, but I wasn’t interested in that, so I just cast on stitched and ended up with a seamed tube. I put a shoelace through it and continued knitting. Using a raglan increase to get the sweater shoulders/sleeves/body. Then the mantra ‘keep on knitting’ got stuck in my head, for both the body and sleeves. I knit until beyond the wrists and created a hole for the thumb. This may be the reason this sweater is inappropriate for summer…

Thumb hole

This sweater also has a new skill, the Russian join, which meant that I only needed to finish four threads (sleeve, sleeve, neck, bottom), a true revelation! The project has been worn a couple of times since, so it really was just in time. Right now it’s actually pretty warm here in the Netherlands, and the sweater is in the cupboard for the time being. It’s very comfortable and I like it a lot!

Front Back

I’ve been saving up my projects, so prepare for onslaught!

Smurf Hat

I’m slowly but surely attempting to make a winter coat, although it’s been in a corner for a while now. It will have a large white/black/blue check pattern with houndstooth within (see below). I am planing to add a yellow lining to the coat and at some point in time (October 2015) decided that it would be a good idea to make hat to go with the unfinished coat.

Fabric

This required yellow and blue yarn which I already had. While looking through Ravelry I found a free pattern for a Garter Ear Flap Hat by Purl Soho. I knit it up in two days because it was really easy and fast. Then I put it on for something outside, and everyone told me that it looked fairly stupid. There was a pointy end which elicited comments such as a condom, a smurf hat, too bright, a minion and some other non-flattering things.

Old smurf hat

It sat untouched upon my globe. Until yesterday, when I took out the pointy bit and finished it like a normal hat. I also finally finished the ends and it’s officially fit for wear. It may still look fairly minion-y, but I’m hoping it doesn’t look like a condom anymore..

Smurf hat

It covers the ears nicely but I think I used needles that were too big, and the wind does come through quite easily. If I were to try another iteration I’d only use the ear flap section and make something else for the body of the hat. For the project details (which are few) check Ravelry.

Floral Party

Friday was the moment the Floral Party dress went out to play. Floral Party dress came into being because the first batch of students from work graduated. Graduation means a ceremony and a perfect excuse for a new dress. The dress needed three elements: a fabric, a pattern and a sewing machine. All those elements were new to me, and I’ll explain below.

How I wore it

How I wore it

Now, I’m usually not a floral person. In fact, I hadn’t even noticed that the fabric resembled something florally when I bought it. I thought it was just random smudges of colour, silly me. The fabric is stretch and has a seemingly waffle like texture to it, it felt very interesting and not something I’d really used before, so that was new. I had about 2 meters, maybe a little less of the fabric to make work.

Fabric

Second, the pattern. The pattern is called (I think) “Odkodowana sukienka” or “Decoded dress” from Papavero and can be found here. Now, this site is completely in Polish, and my Polish is *cough* very limited. It does however, have some very nice free patterns. There are no real instructions, apart from a link from someone else who made it, and the comment that the sleeves are tight. This was my first time with a Papavero pattern, so that was new too, but with a stretch fabric I figured not much could go horribly wrong. I decided to pick size 36 based on my measurements and sewed it up according to what I figured made the most sense. I added pockets, reduced the length of the back bodice about 2 cm in the centre and took at least 10 cm from the hem.

Front Back

The third element was the sewing machine. You see, I got this very old-looking sewing machine from my friends for my birthday. I didn’t know if it would work, or how it would work. So sometime in the past two weeks, I figured it was high time to get the machine out of the corner it had been stashed in since April. I googled the serial number, eventually finding a site (ismacs.net) that told me that V machines with my number were a type 15K and made in 1909. That’s old! With the model type I could YouTube a movie on how to thread and use it. So I did, and it worked! It might originally be a treadle, but I only used the hand wheel, so it is slow sewing. Very interesting to do for a change.

Singer Cluttered

This is the difference between how I should work (left) and how I actually work (right). Spot the differences..

I used the old singer for all the seams, apart from the waist seam. I figured the waist might need some stretch to be able to go over my head and stuff. The Singer is a pure straight stitch and cannot do the zig-zag necessary for stretchy seams, so I used the old machine for that. I didn’t overlock the edged since it wouldn’t ravel, and I’m not sure my serger is back to a decent stitch again.

Hem Scarf

I even hemmed it with the Singer. First stitching along the bottom edge, then cutting the 10 or so cm excess, and turning in the left over length and stitching again. I like that hem and I think it is either straight, or longer at the back. While I like the dress in general, I do think it benefits from something to break it, so that’s why I’ve added the scarf.

Verdict: another successful and comfortable Graduation Dress!

T.M.A.K.P.E or The Dragon!

The Most Awesome Knitting Project Ever.

I have accomplished my life’s dream and made a Dragon. Some time ago I found, I don’t even know how, a free knit pattern for a dragon by writer Kim Harrison. After I’d convinced myself that I would be able to knit on multiple tiny (2 mm) double-pointed needles, I decided to go for it and buy all the supplies. I spent hours and hours knitting on what felt like something we in the Netherlands call a satéprikker, it’s loosely translated as skewer in English. Very thin sticks that you would ordinarily stick through meat to put on the barbecue. I was actually excited to come home and continue knitting..!

I followed the pattern almost to the letter, but I have no idea of what my actual gauge turned out to be. I have the feeling my Dragon is a little bit smaller than others, but I don’t mind. I think he doesn’t mind either, as he’s happily sitting on my window sill.

After knitting the entire thing, I had to decide on his finishing. This mainly concerned the eyes. I followed the instructions and initially had the treads come out next to his nose, like a sort of Oriental Dragon. However, he’s more Western in appearance, and I decided to give him a moustache trim. I think I prefer it, but here’s the comparison.

And the wings open and closed. For the next one (and I think that there will be a next one, maybe rainbow coloured wings?) I want to put the wings on with the purl side down, such that he can be displayed with spread open wings.

Anyway, this was one of my most favourite projects of the year. It’s a dragon after all. For notes from Ravelry, check here, and this is where the knit-along is posted. Thanks again Kim Harrison for providing us with the nicest dragon pattern I’ve seen so far!

Beanie Bribe

Yes, I did spend way too much time figuring out a (semi-)suitable synonym for gift that would alliterate with Beanie. However, this was problematic, in the end I decided on bribe and just tell the rest of the story also. You see, last year, a friend of mine had his birthday during a larp event we would both attend. I wasn’t really sure what to gift but I think I vaguely remembered him telling me that he didn’t have or had had stuffed toys. I believe stuffed toys are necessary for sleeping, but he apparently didn’t. Strange stuff… Anyways, I’d produced a teddy bear (this one) that needed a new home and decided his home would be great. Long(er) story short, he was very happy with the bear. It apparently ended up high in the list of best presents ever.

Hat

Now, this year, we would again meet at a larp event on his birthday. You understand that I had to keep my reputation up and produce another winning present. Not just for the reputation, but also because the friend is one of the nicest I have and he deserves good things. So at some point weeks before his birthday, he mentioned that he’d worn his friend’s beanie and loved it. Clearly that was the answer. So I very subtly asked him his head circumference. It wasn’t obvious at all..

Looking through my stash of yarn, I found something black/brown/grey-ish that wouldn’t be too fluorescent to wear outside. For his protection you understand, he might have worn a hot-pink one just to show appreciation. Anyway, this is the finished item, modeled on my globe.

There are some gradual colour shifts due to the yarn choice, but I like that. It’s also supposed to be a bit slouchy, which I think worked fairly well. He seems to like it too, so I consider this a win! Next, another present, also of the knitting variety.

Baby Dinosaurs

Some time ago, we did a one day table-top session in our larp. At some point I got the knitted Allosaur I was (am, it’s been thrown in a corner) working on out to show. I also had the book, Knitting Dinosaurs, with me. I then got a request for a Triceratops. Now, I didn’t feel like knitting the full size Triceratops, as that one is large! However, the book also has a pattern for Troodons, very small dinosaurs. I figured I could improv the additional features around a Troodon base and have them done quickly. That’s exactly what I did.

First, a Triceratops (purple and red). The defining elements were its four equally long legs, its collar and the horns. The legs were created by simply making four back legs and attaching those. The collar was improvised from the Triceratops pattern in the book, but smaller. It’s a little big, but who cares! The horns were short icords attached to the head, because a Triceratops without horns would just be a Cera, right!

The second was a Parasaurolophus (white and red), which completely the normal Troodon with the addition of one horn on its head. There was some shaping involved and the person who received this Dinosaur thought it was a duck at first, when it was upside down.

The last was a Tyrannosaur Rex (green). It’s a Troodon body, Troodon back legs and shortened Troodon front legs. I made a little ridge along its back to make it stand out a little. I also added the teeth to make it more intimidating and T-Rex-y. I don’t know if that worked.

All dinosaurs have safety eyes with white felt behind them to mimic real-ish eyes, see the last picture for all the dinosaurs for a close-up of their faces. Their legs are attached in such a way that they can still move. That’s why the dinosaurs can both sit and stand. This was a successful project and I still have two Troodon bodies lying around that can still become dinosaurs!

Cheapskate Makes Cute Mugs

What do you do when you walk around the shops looking for awesome mugs, and there are either a. none fun available and b. the semi-fun ones are more expensive than you are willing to pay.

You buy cheap plain ones, grab the glass and porcelain pen that you bought years ago for this purpose and start drawing! No, first you browse the entirety of pinterest only to find that you suck at drawing and that rules out the first ideas you had (this, can’t draw symmetrically, this, can’t draw tails, this, can’t draw cats, this, can’t draw the lines in proportion or this, mug has the wrong shape). I was smart enough to try these ideas on paper before committing to my mugs. In the end I found this page via pinterest and I decided that I would actually be able to draw those. Especially since it doesn’t matter too much if the legs of your zebra are a little to wide etc.

All animals have their butts towards the handle, and they are split up in groups that are semi logical together. Semi because I didn’t think about it beforehand and just started drawing. The first one has an elephant, antilope and zebra (African plains). The second one has a bizon, a bear and a raindeer (Nordic (ish?)). The third one has a rabbit, an armadillo and a fox (Small and cute). The fourth and last one has a giraffe, a camel and a rhino (Africa-ish again?). So without further ado:

I think they are super cute and they even go together, magical! Once they go in the oven they should also be dishwasher safe. Even if I don’t have a dishwasher (yet). I liked this project and I now also have enough cups to have a teaparty for four!

High-High Waisted Pants

As I mentioned before, I made pants! I made, what I consider to be the prettiest pants I’ve ever made. Sadly, not everyone agrees with me and apparently I look like a hillbilly. I will be ignoring the nay-sayers and continue to wear my fancy pants.

Anyway, these were fashioned after a free pattern. The pattern is called the Helena Culottes by Ralph Pink and can be found here. The pattern looks to be shortish pants, but when I made a muslin they already reached the halfway mark of my calves. I decided I wasn’t going to wear shortish pants anyway, so I added one A4 to the bottom and decided that that should be long enough to wear. It turned out that I was right!

The pants were made from a red thin wool fabric. It feels like I’m wearing pyjamas that hug me the entire day. It’s wonderful. I especially like the side view. The second picture is the front, with three covered buttons on it. These buttons are just decoration, they are not functional. In the original pattern, the flap wasn’t supposed to have the fold over that my version has, but I’m too short waisted apparently for the original pattern.

The amount of closures is quite large. The first layer is a waist stay to keep the pants up (the beige thing). There are also zip ties in the darts for a bit of stiffening. The waist stay has two sets of hook and eyes. The next layer is the zipper that closes the pants, and the hook and eye at the top of the zipper. The last layer is the snaps. There are two large snaps attached to the waistband and eight small ones to keep the flap flat. There are also two pockets in the front and two double welt pockets in the back. The welt pockets only took 3 times each side, I was staying up too late to work on those. However, they did work out wonderful, I’m also not scared of making them anymore.

In my opinion, pants don’t usually fit me this well, so I’m planning on adapting this pattern to become a multitude of different things. I’m going to try to make ‘normal’-waisted pants, a playsuit and maybe a swimsuit? But that’s all future talk. First I’m going to try to finish a long sweater, a scarf and a shirt with little vintage people on it. Wish me luck!

Interrobangs and Cats

A while ago, I was browsing the internet (and pinterest) looking for interesting earring inspiration. I found a few pins that I really liked, namely this one, this one and this one. And some others, what the heck, here’s my entire board of crafty things. Anyway, a friend of mine had her birthday a while ago and I still wanted to give her a small present. So I delved into the fimo stash and produced ‘inspired’ by earrings from the three pins above.

Let’s start with interrobang. The interrobang is a symbol used to ask a question in an exited manner, expresses excitement or disbelief in the form of a question, or to end a rhetorical question. It was a marketing idea in the sixties and never really took hold (Wikipedia), but I for one love both the name (BANG!) and the idea it expresses. Nowadays, the interrobang still isn’t used, but we do use the two symbols the interrobang is composed of separately. Say what‽ or She’s pregnant?! (Again Wikipedia). I came across the name at some point in the past when I was reading a post about (potentially) useful punctuation marks. That might also be where I learned that the &-symbol is called an ampersand. Which is information I actually regularly use in my day-to-day life.

So, I didn’t make the interrobang, I just really wanted to talk about it. I did make earrings with a loose ? and !, one for each ear. Black & Metal, a good combination right? I deviated from the original by putting the pin through the question mark completely. I actually like this maybe better? Anyway, here they are:

The second was an adaptation from the other two pins, one for each ear. So one dangling cat, and one graceful jumping cat. Well, my cat faces aren’t nearly as nice as the inspiration, but I still quite like them. The friend did say they were heavy, so we’ll see if they work out. It was mainly for fun anyway. So the pictures you’ll see will have a plastic cookie box in them. My ears aren’t pierced and I couldn’t find anything that would work well to show they were supposed to look, so a pierced cookie box it was.

I also need to improve on cat faces and I still want to try the biting shark, and maybe mix it with a surfboard or something. For now though, I liked the results and I think my friend was somewhat interested in them. I had to wait until I’d given them to my friend before I could post them, you understand. On a different note, now I can already tell you that my next installment will be about the pants I finished yesterday and test-wore today. Very high waisted, woolen red pants. I love them.

Category: Lucy