Category Archives: Crochet

It’s Adventure Time!

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How appropriate that, while on our first big adventure back to Florida since we moved away, I’d be asked to crochet Finn, Jake, and Lumpy Space Princess from one of our favorite TV shows, Adventure Time. If you’ve never watched it, you should give it a try. The show is incredibly charming and fun.

I had already crocheted these three characters before, but it had been a long time. In fact, Jake was one of the first things I ever crocheted. I realized a few weeks after I had finished that first Jake that I had crocheted the whole thing inside out! I made a Finn counterpart for Ben’s birthday one year, but wasn’t entirely satisfied with how he turned out either, so I was a little nervous about how I was going to improve upon both designs.

I was also incredibly nervous about our trip back to Florida. It was just me and the kids on the long flight there and back and I knew there would be a lot of scheduling and organizing upon our arrival as we wanted to see as many people as possible while we were there. I also knew there would be a lot of conflicting emotions and that it might be especially difficult for my son Jhonen who definitely misses his friends and family and the familiarity that comes with calling a place home for your entire life.

As usual, I didn’t really need to be nervous. The flight there went amazingly well. We enjoyed lots of Disney time, pool time, and family/friend time. We wore lots of sundresses, sunhats, and flip-flops. We rode horses, built sandcastles, posed for photos with Alice in Wonderland, and, lazed in a lazy river. We had so much fun spending time with the people we’ve missed for months, though I noticed Jhonen excitedly talking about his new California house and friends, too.

When we weren’t out on our adventures, I was crocheting these new Adventure Time buddies: Finn from Adventure Time!DSC_0093Jake from Adventure Time! Lumpy Space Princess Amigurumi   DSC_0113 It was hard to say our “until next times” to Florida, but we are happy to be back in California, a place that really is starting to feel like home. And just as we were settling back in on the West Coast, I had to ship my new and improved Finn, Jake, and Lumpy Space Princess right back East.

It was hard to say goodbye to them, too…though I hear they love their new home. And starting next week, Finn and Jake will join Lumpy Space Princess in my shop. Hopefully these guy’s counterparts are going to have tons of adventures with wonderful new people…from coast to coast.

Meet Brody the Surfing Frog!

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Meet Brody! He’s lean, he’s green, he’s a surfing machine. At just over three inches tall, Brody is small of stature, but big and very brave of spirit. This little froggy surfer dude wears orange board shorts, always has his white surfboard at hand, and there’s a smile on his face every day…as long as there is sand beneath his…feet?

Brody, the kids, and I went to Crown Memorial State Beach recently. Being a Florida girl, it feels pretty weird to wear closed-toed shoes and sweatshirts to the beach, but there’s something charming about it, too. The kids got filthy, Brody enjoyed watching the parasurfers, and I took lots of pictures. We loved it.

DSC_0059DSC_0047-001DSC_0016  DSC_0056 DSC_0065  DSC_0068 DSC_0087 DSC_0089 DSC_01108748056721_031b18e061_b DSC_00668749182738_92d03eb997_b 8749183634_b7a515b32c_b Crown Memorial Beach Alameda8748062305_6427fb3881_bIn case you were wondering, under that volleyball net is the San Francisco skyline…something else I may never get used to. It still delights and surprises me every time I see it.

Brody flew across the country to Florida to check out Jacksonville’s warm waves. The kids and I will be headed that direction soon, too, on our first trip back since we moved. I look forward to digging my feet into that familiar, soft, white, Florida sand after kicking off a pair of flip-flops…but for those two weeks I’ll miss the California rocks and those misty, curving Bay area hills.

 

Latest Creations!

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Amigurumi Elephant

Lately, I’ve made my usual elephants,  narwhals, and turtles and shipped them off to all corners of the United States. This week, I’m sending a pig to England!

Amigurumi BuddiesBut 2013 has started off with many other varied and unique custom order crocheted buddies – from Sprout Network favorites Star and Chica to crazy Starcraft creations like an Overlord and a Colossus to Bubba and Raiden, a pair of very special doggies. Amigurumi Buddy Amigurumi Buddy Starcraft Amigurumi Buddy Starcraft Amigurumi Buddy Amigurumi Buddy Amigurumi Buddy Amigurumi Buddy Amigurumi Buddies Amigurumi Buddy Amigurumi Buddy

I can’t believe it is already mid-March. I’m finding my business growing slowly, but still steadily. For the first time ever, I have 20 items for sale in my shop and I hope to have 25 up by the end of the month. I also hope to start posting a new amigurumi pattern for sale in my shop each month, something I’ve been wanting to do since I started this Etsy site. I have a hard time sitting down to the computer for long periods of time with two kids under 5 years old always needing me for…something! It’s a good thing crocheting is a portable hobby! Still, I have many patterns sitting on my computer written in my own weird shorthand, begging to be written out properly and shared.

And for my next custom order project, I have a very special albino alligator to create for a very special little birthday girl. It blows my mind when I think of how many little crocheted critters have been a part of so many people’s special celebrations. That’s the BEST.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christopher Robin (and his silly old bear)

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The request for a nine-inch-tall Christopher Robin made me smile. I have fond memories of my mother teaching me about pooh sticks and tiddly poms and Christopher Robin saying, “silly old bear.”  The excitement turned to nervousness when the reality set in that I had to somehow differentiate him as Christopher Robin vs. any other male figure.

I don’t make human figures often and any time I get a request to make one I get nervous. It’s weird. I don’t like painting or drawing portraits, either. In amigurumi world, though, humans pose all sorts of tricky problems. There are lots of ways to make hair, but they are all a little tedious and problematic. Embroider it? Knot it on? Crochet it?

Getting the right proportions are also really important, but hard to judge as you go. Are the legs a bit too long? The arms a bit too skinny? Plus, you have the debate about how cartoony vs. realistic to make the person. Should it actually have fingers? Should the legs start fat and get skinnier or the other way around?

Then you have to try and get it to stand on it’s own….or should it sit? Make a neck or don’t bother? Should clothes be part of the  body or separate from the body? How the heck am I supposed to make a V-neck??

I took a deep breath, stared at lots of pictures and made several to-scale drawings. By the end of the project, I had really learned a lot. Most of all, I learned to trust that I have finally gotten to the point where I can really make just about anything I set my mind to making!

I sat down one evening with the goal to get the right shaped head. That way, I could judge every other piece against the head size. I went to bed that night with a head – a head I was sure was all wrong. This was going to be impossible. How could I make him actually look like Christopher Robin? How can I impart youth into a crocheted person?

The next morning I thought, if starting with the head wasn’t going to work for me, then I’d start with the feet and build up from there. I worked on one shoe and, when I was finished with the shoe I found myself surprised and delighted by the result! From nothing, I ended up with this cute little loafer! I could have just made it bigger and Margot could have worn it! Then I thought, if I could do the shoe, then I can do the sock to go in it. Before I knew it, I had a sock! It was easy enough to stick a leg inside that sock and some shorts on top and I realized, I can do this! Why hadn’t I trusted that I would make this work? Why can’t I remember that I always make it work in the end? I was also glad for the extra practice making clothing that looks like it’s being worn (the sleeves go over the arms, the shorts go over the legs, etc.)

Even once I had the entire body finished, including that darn collar, I still looked at the smile-less head staring at me and worried. He still didn’t look like Christopher Robin. I actually had to tell myself to just go for it. Start some hair, increase when it feels right and decrease when it needs to be a little smaller. Before I knew it, this little boy had a full head of hair and had been transformed from Charlie Brown into Christopher Robin! It’s hard to stare at a blank head and imagine that it can turn into a cute little boy, but it just did. It sort of shocked me this time, I’ll be honest. The hair swoop was the definite crowning achievement.

Then came the final test. I stood him up (my heart pounding a bit faster than it should be considering we’re talking about amigurumi not, like, heart surgery). He stood! Without propping! Oh, happy day.

And, hopefully a happy birthday to a little girl turning three. I hope it’s something she cherishes, even if just for that day. It feels good to complete a project, proud of the result, but it feels especially good when you know the finished product has a good home to go to.

He also needed a little something, so I decided to make him a tiny Winnie-the-Pooh. He just didn’t seem to be complete without his Pooh-bear.

Final, and maybe most important note about this project, this Christopher Robin picture shows him standing in front of a watercolor painting I did years ago. I’ve been wanting to paint and create other mixed media backgrounds for my amigurumi creations for a long time, but just haven’t had the time or mindset to really go for it. I also wasn’t sure that they would look very good. At the last minute, before packaging up Christopher Robin, I remembered that picture of the forest I had painted and thought I’d use that as the Hundred Acre Wood. I am really excited by the result! I know that it will probably be a while before I can realistically commit to making my own photo backgrounds, but I now know that I definitely want to.

 

 

 

Happy Handmade Hearts: Part Two, What To Do?

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Now that you’ve crocheted a dozen of your own Happy Handmade Hearts with this pattern or have collected a dozen ordering little crocheted buddies from me, here are a few ideas for what to do with them!

Share the love!  

Stick one  inside a tin full of tea. I like Republic of Tea’s Ginger Peach. Tie a heart around a jar full of candy. Sour Patch Kids, preferably. Decorate the neck of a vase. I wish mine were holding handpicked daisies. (Make that vase using this tutorial!)

 

Tie your heart onto a gift box or tag.

Make pretty groupings of them and sew or glue them together with a buttton on top. Weave in the ends or use them as added decoration.

Wear your heart on your…hair? Take a simple dollar store barette and hot glue the heart right on!

Keep your Happy Heart close to your happy heart. 

Take a premade chain necklace (I used a Blue Moon Beads 18 inch metal necklace) and find the middle point. With two little jewelry-making pliers, open the two middle chains. Hook the left side of the crocheted heart onto one of the open split rings and close it up again. Repeat on the right side and you have a Happy Heart necklace!

Now, don’t let those Happy Handmade Hearts go to waste! I’d love to know how you have used yours! Pictures or comments would be awesome!

 

 

Florida Fun Friday – Reptiles in the Rain

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Meet Bruce, the Black Mamba.

Another rainy weekend in Florida…what to do, what to do? A couple weeks ago I tentatively agreed to visit the Reptile Discovery Center in DeLand, a place I never knew existed, even though I lived in DeLand for 4 years. Just off International Speedway, this little spot feels like a snake museum and would have been really awesome if I hadn’t been so nauseous and tense the whole time. I am extremely scared of snakes. Still, I found the place to be enjoyable and educational and would recommend it to anybody. If you happen to like snakes and other reptiles, you should definitely visit!

I was recently asked to make an amigurumi Black Mamba and had pictured myself making a happy little black snake. Come to find out, black mambas are not actually black….nor are they the happiest of snakes. Deadly? Yes, very. Happy? Not so much. Apparently Black Mambas get their name from the black color in the inside of their mouths.

What was the very first snake I came across at the Reptile Discovery Center? Yep! A Black Mamba. It was more brownish-gray than anything…a pretty nondescript color that I found difficult to replicate. I ended up using a rusty brown cotton yarn mixed with a shiny silver bamboo yarn and the result was really cool! It’s not entirely accurate. The Mamba had more of a brownish back and a silvery underside, but I do like the way the mixed yarns looked like actual snake skin.

The Reptile Discovery Center is home to Medtoxin, billed as “a large-scale commercial venom production facility that collects venom from an array of venomous snakes for use in pharmaceuticals and medical research.” It’s really intense and interesting to watch the extractions. If you want to see what it’s like, here’s a short video we took while visiting.

Other than the extractions and the galleries of the most venomous snakes in the world including the gorgeous green mamba, cobras, pythons, boa constrictors, rattlesnakes of all kinds and many more, there is also a trail where you’ll find alligators, tortoises, many types of lizards, a basilisk, and turtles. There are bug spray stations available which you should definitely utilize. It was Deer Fly-crazy in the woods. Plus, before the venom extraction, we were given the opportunity to hold a baby alligator and a few big snakes.

The experience didn’t cure me of my snake fears, but I am proud of myself for having faced them….even if I did need ice cream afterwards. I’m also proud of myself for making this snake. I procrastinated as long as possible but, like the Reptile Discovery Center, I was glad I did it, once I’d done it.

I have another fear of blank white surfaces. Maybe I should go to the newly opened Hobby Lobby in Orange City this weekend, pick up a giant canvas, and fill it full of paint. What fears can you face this weekend?

 

 

 

 

Meet Sandra!

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Meet Sandra…(Sandy for short). She’s one of the latest additions to the Happy Handmade family. She looks a lot like the guinea pigs I used to have…good ole Rocky and Bullwinkle…may they rest in peace…

There have been many new creatures made lately in preparation for my very first craft festival. Mark your calendars!! Sunday, May 6 from 2-6pm at the Home Builder’s Association Building in Maitland. 

I have to admit, I’ve been driving everyone around me a little crazy lately trying to decide what to make for this event. I got so many awesome suggestions on my Facebook page and I’ve actually made, or plan to make, just about everything that was suggested, but it’s impossible to make everything I want to make. There are so many possibilities and so many ideas, I just can’t make them all happen fast enough!

How many things do I make? Do I make 10 of 4 different things? Do I make 4 of 10 different things? Do I make tiny keychains? Giant animals? Mobiles? Wall hangings? Do I make traditional pink pigs or funky colored pigs or pigs in UF or FSU colors?  Do I make food? If so,should I make all the food have faces or make them more realistic? Do I sell my happy fruit a la carte or in big crocheted fruit bowls? Maybe people would like silly, unexpected foods like smiling chicken legs or frowning filet mignon? AGH! So many decisions to make!

I am a notoriously terrible decision-maker. My usual method of decision making, if left with no one to make a decision for me, is to just not decide and do EVERYTHING…so that’s what I’m trying to do. However, the days are flying by and my list is growing every day rather than shrinking. I keep coming up with new ideas or as some ideas I think will work don’t or as things I’m not sure will work out work out great and I want to make lots more of them.

I’m going to try not to make myself crazy and just use this first festival as a learning experience to see what people seem to like. After the show I’ll post everything I made to Etsy so, even if the festival is a bust, I’ll have built up an inventory of new cute buddies… like Sandra.

Sandra reminds us all, but especially me, to take a break from decision-making and stress to enjoy the blooming wisteria. Happy Spring, everybody!

Fun in Florida Friday: Easter Eggs Part 1

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Easter is a sneaky holiday.  It sneaks up on me every year. I even predicted that would happen in an earlier post. I thought, this year, I will think ahead and prepare accordingly. Again, I failed. I have no bunnies or chicks or peeps to share. I started making a bunny weeks ago and hated it, so I stopped and never tried again. I think bunnies are discouraging to crochet because there are already so many dang amigurumi bunnies it’s hard to think of how to make one special or different. Plus, I’ve had lots of custom orders keeping me busy. That said, yesterday I had such a fun Easter project idea and really wish I’d thought of it weeks ago!

I’ve always found the whole Easter-egg-dying tradition a little underwhelming. First off, I hate eating hard boiled eggs…nothing is worse than faintly pink or blue, rubbery egg. Gross. Second, once you dye them (a messy, smelly process) then what do you DO with them? Do they sit around and rot? Do you actually hide them? What fun is it to find stinky, dirty, cracked eggs? Do you do what I did last year and make beautiful eggs that took up way too much room in my refrigerator until I figured they’d gone bad and just threw them away? And the alternative, blowing out each egg, makes the eggs extra fragile, plus you nearly bust a gut trying to blow the gunk out! Third, you either eat them or you throw them away. They don’t last. It’s just this weird thing you do every year just…because.

So what’s the solution?

Use crocheted eggs! Then (attempt to) dye them!! As long as the fiberfil doesn’t soak through and never dry….my only real concern about this process…I think the results are going to be beautiful. Plus, this is the perfect time to test out a variety of dye brands and shades to see if I can get the colors I need that have been recently discontinued.    

I will write up a complete report in the next two to three blog posts. I only have those three eggs crocheted so far and, as I said earlier in the week, I am crocheting as fast as I can for this Homespun Chic Marketplace event in May. Still, I really love the idea of dying my own reusable Easter eggs….eggs that can double as non-fragile decorations year after year and that can be used for tossing and juggling! I wish that I had been able to make them by the dozen and sell them, but there will not be time. Instead, I will take part in the tradition in a non-traditional way….my favorite way of doing things.

Besides crochet egg dying, this weekend is jam-packed with events all over Central Florida. First I will take my kids to the free story and music time at the JCC of Maitland from 10:15-noon Friday. Then I’ll be meeting a friend at one of my very favorite places to have lunch, That Deli to celebrate National Soup Month (they don’t fake fresh). Then I’ll come home and crazily clean up the house and make Ben’s favorite dish (Linguine with brussel sprouts, bacon and shallots from Good Life Eats, one of my favorite food blogs) for an early Easter dinner with both our Moms. I highly recommend the recipe.

Then I plan to attend the Sanford Food Truck Bazaar on Saturday night to introduce my Mom to the joy of waiting in super long lines to eat delicious food prepared in a vehicle. Never been to a Food Truck Bazaar? Shame on you! They happen all over town. Find your local Food Truck event here. If only the Food Truck scene had been this amazing when Trio Gelato was open. We would have been a hit! Oh well. I’d probably rather be the one eating than the one serving for the time being.

Other than all that, I will also try and get some Easter crafts together for the kids, take tons of pictures of them, maybe go to the giant Deltona Easter Egg event, and hopefully hit up Bok Tower Gardens, which seems like a lovely place to spend an Easter weekend. It’s so amazingly beautiful there with the carillon bells ringing as swans glide by on the water surrounding the gorgeous tower and blooming flowers.

Whew! Stay tuned to find out if my crocheted Easter egg dying was a hit or a flop and I hope you have a great weekend full of fun, too!

Happy Easter, everybody!

p.s. Even though I said all that stuff about dying eggs, Jho and I did go over to our best friend’s house today and dyed really awesome Easter eggs using all-natural dyes she made by hand from ingredients like red wine, spinach, turmeric, pomegranate, and grape juice. Look how cool! If you want to try, this is the website she used for her recipes and info. Look how pretty!

Here were all the natural dyes she made!

Always fun to make an old tradition seem new again. I was glad to get to try it…without having to do all the dishes. ;-)