Matthew the Bunny

I decided to take a break from my little amigurumi dogs and cats when I saw this bunny. I just love his feet and knew I had to make him. 

He is mostly done on straight needles but his ears and arms are done on DPNs (double pointed needles). I used Premier yarn in 'greige tweed' I got at the Dollar Tree months ago. I really like this yarn for animal dolls.

He's also a little bigger than I like to work but he is worth it. He's 12 - 1/2" tall. I like him at this size because you can see the detail in his vest better. I shortened his shorts so you could see his legs and next time I will make a different waist on the pants, probably a rib knit for a few rows. I don't like the fold down waistband.

I am in love with his little vest. I had to make my own buttons from polymer clay. I couldn't find any that I liked in the stores. In fact, I love all the sweater patterns. You can get them from Alexprettytoys on etsy. I hadn't done much with cable pattern stitches on a purl background before so it was a learning curve for me. The sweater patterns are not simple looking but once you make one they get easier to knit. It's wonderful to see the pattern coming together while you knit.

I just happened to have some mustard colored 50% merino wool yarn that I wanted to use for his vest. I love it! I will probably make more of these bunnies because I love the stocking feet! He has a cute pom pom tail too. There is a bunny photo shoot on my blog  DustBunnyGazette.

And of course he needs a blanket, a scarf, a girlfriend and a picnic basket. More to come...

Amigurumi Dogs and Cats

These are the cutest crochet patterns. The pups and kittens are so easy to crochet and the instructions are easy to read. They are called Ami Ami Dogs and Ami Ami Kittens by Mitsuki Hoshi. 

There are a total of three of these books and she has more of different kinds of crochet items. They are written in diagrams and listed by stitches and rounds instead of row by row instructions.

These are the easiest diagrams to read because it's all single crochet and in the round. Very simple.

You can use plastic eyes and noses or embroider them. I also insert pipe cleaners into the legs and tails so I can pose and bend them. 

I can get one or two a day done depending on how busy I am. They go pretty fast and I stuff them with polyfil. 

The largest one is about 4-1/2 inches tall but it depends on the size hook and type of yarn you use. I used four ply worsted with a D hook for all of these.

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I'm not going to make one of each one but I'm not all done yet. I still want to make a Papillion, Boston Terrier and a Schnauzer of the dogs. And I still want to make an American Shorthair, Munchkin, Siamese and Calico of the kittens. 

I love these little faces!

 

Journals Re-visited

While working on some new journals I got to thinking about the ones I've made in the past. There are so many different types of bookbinding and journaling out there. So I thought I'd just share some of my previous makes. I went through a wrapped journal phase.

Here are some of the inner pages:

And then a "save the bees" phase.

And then a "house book - bird" phase.

But before all those, I went through a miniature "domino" book phase:

I'm sure I've posted these before on my previous blog called Bookittie. I spent all of 2020 making journals and crochet trims until I finally decided to get more into crochet. I like to do both actually and I have many hobbies. Sometimes I just like to look at them and be reminded of how pretty they are.

I've learned so much making each type of journal. Mostly I've learned what I like and don't like in making them. My favorite journals are the lacey house ones because they have lots of fibers and fabric sewn in. I'm a doll house enthusiast anyway but there is something about them that I just love!

I'm currently in a ribbon bound die cut phase with a big Anna Griffin influence on the design. I love the lacey die cuts and the beautiful vintage graphics that go with them.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Getting Too Predictable

I'm afraid I'm getting too predictable and seasonal in my crafting. I am through the Christmas knitting and crocheting season with dolls and handmade decorations, etc... and now I'm trying to think Spring and Valentine's Day. I naturally go into paper crafts mode about this time while still carrying on with my yarn arts into the drying times and while waiting on supplies to arrive. I often work on two or more projects so I can take a break from each of them while I'm working

This time I decided to make variations of a 5-1/2" X 7" ribbon bound journal. I've made journals of this type before so I have a head start on assembling them from scratch. I also have several digital paper packs previously used that I can print out for these. I got this paper pack off of Etsy from Janeybjournals. I started out with a 12" X 7" square of poster board and covered it with papers. I will be binding in three signatures with ribbon on the spine.

I used to make "junk journals" from scratch back in the day. I've made paper covered theme journals and leather covered folding ones too. I've made them from junk mail and brown paper bags. These are actually "designer journals". There is no junk mail in them. I also have a boat load of scrapbook paper to use up already.

If you really want to do these journals up right you should use punches on the corners, ink the edges of the pages and tags, use fibers and sew in touches of fancy fabrics or paper and cloth lace here and there. Don't forget to add dimensional stickers, tags, pockets and plenty of room to write or journal. You can also draw or paint on the pages if you like to. I also like to use key words all over the place to enhance the theme of the journal. And I love to use little charms or beads on the binding. This paper pack is gorgeous!

I'm still in the starting phase, gathering all the things I'll need to put it together. Making tags and swags and shiny things to go into it, printing and gluing everything together on layers.. My satin ribbon should be here soon. It can be quite an extravaganza of craftiness to really make one of these beautiful journals. I'll have to do a flip through when I'm done.

Fancy Affordable Yarn

I got all this beautiful, fancy yarn for less than $13.00. I didn't get it at a yarn store or a church bazaar. I'm not a member of any knitting club although sometimes I wish I was. I would take donations of unwanted yarn in a heartbeat.

The price of yarn is always going up. It never comes down. When the dollar stores started carrying yarn it seemed like a pretty good deal. And it was back then but your dollar only buys 109 yards per skein now when it did get you 220 yards a year or two ago. Not so much a bargain now. You'd do better to catch Joann's Yarnormous sale which is going on now (12-25 to 01-12). Basic 4 ply worsted "Big Twist" yarn for $1.99 a skein of 380 yds. It's a no-brainer. I stock up every year. I never pay full price for yarn. I wait all year for this sale to come along. But there is a better way to get the pretty fancy yarns cheaper than that.

If you're on a fixed income or a very low yarn budget like I am then you need a way to get some of that fancy yarn that few of us can afford. The sparkly stuff, the variegated, eyelashy fibery stuff. All the prettiest yarns cost at least six dollars or more per skein. I'm much too frugal to pay that much.

So I'll let you in on my little secret. Yes, you can join a club or a church knitting group and maybe they would donate you some yarn. You can sometimes pickup bags of donated slightly used or leftover yarn from a thrift store. But (and I'll bet you never thought of this before)...

Right before and after Christmas is the best time to find hand knitted and crocheted scarves at Goodwill. How often do you wear your winter scarves? Hardly ever I bet. So the yarn is still pretty new. People do the "out with the old and in with the new" thing around this time of year. You can buy some pretty fancy handmade scarves for .99, bring them home and wash them in lukewarm water because you never know how much wool the yarn may have. Spin them out in your washing machine then hang them up to dry. Unravel each scarf and wind up the yarn into a new ball. I only use a smallish amount of yarn for my projects because I make mostly dolls and soft toys but you can get a good skein out of each scarf - sometimes more. 

You could also try your hand at unravelling sweaters too but in my experience, the selection is much less in quality and variety of yarns than scarves and harder to unravel. They are also more expensive  and you don't get as much yarn for your dollar. Go for the scarves! My favorites are the sparkly sequin yarns and the variegated fibers.

These Sweet Little Dolls

So I've been looking and did find some yarn head doll parts. They can range in price from less than three dollars apiece up to twelve dollars for one set. You have to shop around. I got about eight of these for about three dollars apiece in two different sizes so far. I need some more larger heads for my patterns. 

That's about the right price for 1980's doll heads. The smaller ones went for about a buck and a half with the large ones at three to four dollars a set back in the day. 

I am enamored with these dolls. They have the sweetest faces but I think they all need new hair styles. I don't care for the mop look so I'm playing around with changing their hair and colors a little. 

It's not that hard to re-root the hair on these. I just cut the loop end half off of a large eyed needle and use it to push the yarn through the holes. Once I get the hair all set in, then I use a good flexible craft glue poured to the inside of the head and rolled around to catch the thread ends and then I let it dry. These dolls should never be washed in a machine or soaked in water, only surface and hand washed if needed.

These faces really are sweet and it's addictive to make these dolls. It's almost as addictive trying to find the right colors and sizes of parts to make them. I brought in last year making LCR dolls and I'll probably be making these for a while. It's a pretty good way to bring in a new year. 

 

Old Patterns & Christmas Surprises

So I went up in the attic to get some ornaments down for the tree and ran across a box of old patterns and yarn that belonged to my Mom. I also found an afghan and brought down some vintage dishes I also found. There were about a dozen or so skeins of yarn, an old copper bottom pan that needed cleaned up and a corelle ware gold butterfly patterned large serving bowl. I remember that pattern from the 70's. I used to have a set of dishes with that pattern.

I made one of the doll dress patterns and just crocheted the head and hands because they are vintage vinyl doll sets and you can hardly find them anymore unless you want to pay out the wazoo for them. They are rare and expensive. This pattern is called "Bubble Gum".

I remember back in the 80;s when she made those dolls. They were pretty popular dolls around the crochet crowd. You could say they had a following way back then.

It turned out cute but I still want the vinyl ones so if and/or when I get them, I will be swapping them out but until then, my doll has a face and hands. I want to make some more because the patterns go pretty fast but I need some head and hand sets. I even thought about sculpting a head and making a mold but that takes a lot of time. Maybe after Christmas. 

Oh, I did shine up that old pot and guess what? It's a 2 qt Revere Ware pot, stainless steel with copper clad bottom and those things last forever. 

I wish I had done a "before" and "after" picture cause I got it looking pretty good with salt and vinegar. And you can call it coincidence but I went to the thrift store a few days later and found another pot a little bigger and with a lid and brought it home for five bucks. I almost didn't get it because it was so grungy and blackened that I couldn't even make out the stamp on the bottom. But after I cleaned it up it was "Revere Ware" too. I did some research after that.

The one at the thrift store was older and worth a lot more than the one in the attic. So now I'm a Revere Ware collector too.

Those are just a few of my Christmas presents so far. Gee I miss my Mom. I can't help but think she wanted me to find this stuff this year. It's been in the attic for over 15 years. 

You never know where the blessings will come from.