Anyway, despite not having made Christmas presents since school, this year I've planned a few. Two (I hope) are easy knit toys. The other, well its a dolls' house. Of course, I could buy a dolls' house, but I want it easily portable and appropriate for a 2 year old ... so I'm going to make it sort of like a soft toy: wish me luck!
I told you blogs are a bad influence: I've not felt stressed about Christmas presents before!
(after packing up)
Reporter: Umm Maggie, I didn't want to mention it, but I think your shoulders are getting a little sunburnt
Maggie: Oh no! I was so worried this morning about the photo, I completely forgot my sunscreen!
So there you have it, an entry for Whiplash 5. I've been admiring the art dolls here and here for a while, not quite knowing how to start. Maggie is my first attempt at a doll (and Super Sculpey), and, yes, I won't burn the shoulders or knock the ear off next time ;D Oh, and I realised that the joints I did might be better on a puppet.
Mood: Squiggle said her second definite word on Wednesday 'apple'. She also stood by herself last week ... on Lster's computer desk!!
Huh? You were expecting someone more goth looking? What, all black and grey?
Someone told you I usually wear black eyeliner and grey dresses with raindrops?!? And I'm all gloomy and wintery looking? No way, that was a stage, i'm over it!
Oh, you can hear someone muttering in the background about using what they have and not having any decent black fabric paint or decent black pens? Yeah, i dunno who's muttering either.
Look, it's Autumn colours, ok? It's Autumn here now and it hasn't rained in days.
She's my April entry for A Month of Softies. She's a proof-of-concept doll. The concept is graphix girl, number 19 on my to-do list. Yes, I think the concept is proven, I'll make graphix girl one day ... but not in May, I'm working on back-tack!!!
And just to show you even prototypes have their prototype:
I've been seeing so many great robots arround recently. I love Claire's / Loobylu's links and wow, how much effort were Mimi's softies here and here? And great use of sewing items to make them look mechanical! It seems all the best ideas are already taken!
So what's new in the world of robots? Baby-bots?
Ballet-dancing vacuume-cleaning bots?
Menacing assembly-worker bots?
Surely not!
Happy Easter everyone! You may see a little bunny hop by here in a day or so.
And yes, the experiment was successful, thank you for asking. I've recently had this radical idea that pinning the pattern to the fabric would be better than trying to follow wobbly fabric marker lines. And yes, it was. Shhhh, stop sniggering at beginner sewers!! ;D
Participation
1+ participate in Illustration Friday most weeks;
2+ participate in A Month of Softies most months;
should I add ... participate in whiplash? I'm interested to see what whiplash's going to be like ;D
Practical
3+ knit at least one hoodie for Squiggle;
4+ knit "blu" for Squiggle;
5+ a pencil case for me (felt?);
6+ make some covered boxes for Lster to keep all his stuff in;
7+ make a Roman blind / curtain;
8+ a necklace like I learnt to make when I was a teenager (see photo);
Learning from other's patterns
9+ a rag doll (not too country-fied, I may have found the pattern);
10+ Doo Ka Ta;
11+ a Wee Wonderfuls pointy kitty (a punky one, made from Lster's old jeans??);
12+ the penguin;
13+ a Jess Hutch bunny or Kate;
14+ a Camilla Engman bear from The Happy Hooker;
15+ a Nekomimi or Dachshund by Runo;
16+ a sock doll or monkey or bird;
Softie characters in my head
17+ Miss Priss (needle felting), maybe even her boyfriend;
18+ 'facture' duck or hen, probably duck;
19+ ocean girl or graphix girl;
20+ finish Mr February;
21+ amigurumi alien (I have the wool);
22+ amigurumi dog;
23+ Japanese fan cat (moulded felt);
24+ tattoo girl/boy;
25+ make a softie or series of softies, consciously thinking about the design;
Challenges
26+ knit socks (and find a decent pattern);
27+ learn more Japanese by making something from a Japanese book or magazine;
28+ knit and felt a bag or slippers (from this book);
29+ try painting with oils (I never have);
30+ sew something on my Mum's sewing machine (the Roman blind, perhaps?);
31+ knit something aran or intarsia;
32+ learn a fancy crochet stitch, like a leaf or flower;
33+ make a Fimo doll.
Well, that should keep me busy!!
Yesterday, I received a really lovely package from Soozs as part of the Use What You Have April materials swap ...
I hope my partner enjoys their bright colours (yes, I like 'em!) and origami challenge ;D. Can't reveal where it's going yet, but they're really, really lucky they didn't get a heap of wool...
Mood: Relieved ... and I will finish Mr. Feb one day
So, did I buy some amigurumi books? Umm, no. Why not, I hear you ask? Well, several reasons. There's a definite upper limit to the amount of cuteness I can handle. Sure, I like cute stuff, but there's a point at which the head is just too big, too distorted. I think my limit is rather lower than other people who are interested in "crafting Japanese". (By the way, there's an interesting post on that phenomenon here). Also I'm rather enjoying figuring it out for myself, and thinking about exactly how I want MY amigurumi to look. And I'm being a bit careful with money.
What I did buy was a magazine, "country craft" 2006 Spring edition. I noticed a lot of (French??) country style inspired magazines actually. I'll post a full review once I've had more of a read (and slowly, slowly spelt out more kana ;D).
Mood: I'm working on an amigurumi and a softie currently, I'll show you when I'm done
And I'm rather proud of her ;D. She was inspired by these photos of a vintage amigurumi on needle book / Claire Milne's blog. Inspired, because my little amigurumi girl is rather different. Same green, same flat face and little stubby arms. But she has peachy / red hair, skinny legs and looks overall a modern Miss. Not quite as demure as she looks, I reckon!
Details: She sits 5.5cm or 2.25 inches high. Green chenille, peach mohair from Lincraft, other wools from Kmart, wooden bead from empire beads, painted with nail polish.
I think she might be the prototype for a few other little amigurumi people / animals.
Mood: Spent all Saturday struggling with the green chenille. No way could I crochet with it! I tried different sized hooks, no luck. Went through all the wools in my stash (which is very small, only 5 balls really), no luck. Different sized hooks for each ball, no luck. Then on Sunday ... suddenly, no problems!
Dunno why, but my best guess is - all that changing my mind was good practice, got my eye in so I could see where the loops where in the funny chenille. Or I was over tired, and stopped fighting with the crochet, just went with the flow ;D
This was meant to be a depressive post - about how difficult Mr. February is to finish. And yes, that's true.
But actually, I'm excited!! I just finished his arm, and it turned out pretty much how I imagined it, yay! Unfortunately, that means I have to redo the legs, because they didn't turn out as well. I reckon the reason the arms turned out better was the gingham, so I'll have to be thinking "measure twice, sew once" for the legs.
By the way, note the plastic lid - I'm proud, it's a cunning way to keep my sewing away from little Squiggle, even when she wants my attention immediately. Just chuck the sewing in the box, and keep the scissors, pins and needles there. It's only the size of a lunchbox, easy to carry around.
Mood: I always knew the arms would be difficult, but now I definitely know why most beginner sewing kits come with thimbles ... not that I have one. ;D
Feverishly working on Mr. February (yes, it's nearly ended) and getting ready for Uni - tomorrow.
Mr. February, remember him? He was meant to be finished by the end of this month, for the Month of Softies theme a "Heart-shaped Box". Yes, he's started ... but not finished, and I've been thinking about why:
I like the concept for Mr. February, so I want him to turn out well. He's also my first softie. But beyond that, I have so much more confidence in my knitting compared to my sewing. I have lots more knitting experience: my dolls had a full knitted wardrobe of jumpers and overalls (80s fluro green and orange!!) Hardly any sewn dresses, my stitches were too big!
I guess that's the problem really. I've developed techniques for keeping an even tension in knitting. I've even transferred them to crochet, without much fuss. Something to do with visual checking; pulling the wool around 2cm along the needle after each stitch; but not pulling stitches taut until I'm at the next one. I don't have similar techniques for sewing, so it takes lots, lots more concentration, so I procrastinate and do other things, like seals ... ;D
Does anyone else find knitting so much easier?
Mood: How much do you wanna bet my next softie will be felted?
Needle felting! I've been hoping I'd like it. Waiting and waiting for the local woolshop to get in some wool, finally going to Tapestry Craft on Friday ...
I wanted to use this book, which I bought in Berlin. It came with one needle - phew, I didn't realise how hard it is to buy a felting needle in Australia!! And instructions for making various naturalistic animals (yes, I can read German). So I had a go making a seal, one of my all-time favourite animals - and I'm really pleased with how he turned out. I want to make more and more and more ... the only downer is, I broke the needle just as I was finishing him.
Heaps more images at my flickr. Sorry about the quality of camera-phone images.
Mood: up, up, up oops down ;D
BTW: if you want to envy the resources available in other countries, go to the German Amazon, and type in "Filz" (felt).
So that's why Squiggle always comes with me to the woolshop!
Usually, because I have Squiggle with me, I rush into Tapestry Craft, tear down the stairs and hurtle up to the counter saying "Hi, do you have100% wool for felting, 8 ply pink shhh shhh sorry i'm in a bit of oops a hurry oh that's great shhh shhh yes, yes i'll take that thanks lots bye!" But today I left Squiggle with Lster, and the result is ... one pattern book, 2 balls wool, very nearly alot of other patterns and wool ... oh and some expensive-ish wool rovings, the real purpose of the trip.
The book is by Cleckheaton "Wildlife in 8 ply". What's with the Australiana? Well, I think Squiggle would enjoy a good-looking fairy penguin and Lster's Mum is an avid bird-watcher, so I might make her a birthday Kookaburra. The Bilby, Frill-neck Lizards, Wombat and Galahs look like interesting knits to learn more about softies, and I'm sure Squiggle will enjoy the results.
Mood: Only one week's holiday left!! Argghh!!
Well, that's what happens when you don't follow a pattern! I was intending to make a cute amigurumi, like the ones in this flickr group. But I went ahead by myself, working out the pattern as I went along. While I like the result so far, I've decided she seems too dignified to be called "cute". Funny how you start seeing personalities in toys you make. :)
What brought on all this introspection? Well, I was trying to work out what proportion her limbs should be in relation to her head and torso. I started thinking that she reminded me of something, and after a few days, I realised it's Mum's reproduction of a Cycladic figure. Must have been in my mind unconsciously or something ...
On the subject of patterns, I've just found Crafty Pants' blog. It's so cool, she's collected together lots of fabulous free crochet patterns for cute creatures - I want to make this duckling, this elephant and this seal.
Mood: Yay, it's finally raining outside!
Not what I'm meant to be doing, but fun anyway. When I started this blog, I told myself I'd always finish my current project before starting another. Hmmm, there goes another New Year's resolution ;D
I'm rather proud of learning circular crochet over the last few days - now I'm even shaping shoulders!! I've never been a big crochet fan, preferring knitting. Learnt crochet from a flatmate a couple of years ago, but was still at the stage of consulting books, even for basic stitches. Now I'm going totally patternless, and, after a few run-throughs, it's going ok.
I'm learning from my all-time-favourite craft book: "Fun With Wool", published by the Australian Wool Corporation. As it's a kid's book, it's got nice clear diagrams of the basics. 'Tho for anything more advanced it challenges you to experiment and work it out for yourself - perhaps that's what's been inspiring me?
Stay tuned for further amigurumi updates, including the name!
Mood: Hurried. Baby Squiggle has just learnt to open and close drawers. And open, close, open drawers and pull stuff out ...
Or do I mean the bit about nothing new under the sun?
Looking further into the blogs at the side, I found these robots: 1,2 and 3. Exactly the look and cuteness balance I was going for, only how could I hope Mr. February would turn out so well? Swear I didn't see them before I designed him. It's so hard to think new thoughts ...
Well, I'll make Mr. February anyway. Perhaps he'll somehow look a bit like me or there'll be an interesting accident or something ?!?
Mood: hmm
Introducing Mr. February.
At least, I hope he will come into existence soon. He's my answer to a "Heart-shaped Box". A big, boxy robot with heart-shaped ears and a heart-shaped pocket filled with pens and glasses. A nerdy valentine perhaps?
Seriously, it was interesting coming up with him. Got me thinking about whether a softie could portray questions about masculinity/femininity ... and even work/life balance. Originally his colour theme was to be business grey and feminine pink, but when I went looking for fabric today, it was blue and pink I found - equally appropriate I think.
Mood: calm, happy.
Well, 2006 looks like being the year of challenging myself. Not only I have I felted for the first time and started a blog, but I've decided to attempt my first softie!
Actually, making a softie is surprisingly confronting. You see, my Mum's a visual artist (painting / drawing). I know she tries hard to steer away from commercial art. And a softie / plushy / stuffie is surely commercial art - cutesy, kitschy art at that. I guess commercial art would be almost too easy for Mum - she can do fine detail, perfectionist accuracy and patience, it's just not what interests her. Whereas for me, trying to be a perfectionist is quite a challenge. So that's why I'm trying a softie.
To keep me on track & give myself a deadline, I thought I'd enter it into a Month of Softies for February. I've been reading about how MoS started here, ogling the galleries here. I was thinking my first softie might be a rabbit, but the theme for February is a "Heart-shaped Box". Hmm, I can't really see a rabbit as a box, heart-shaped or not.
Mood: distracted.
