Since I started getting hand pain I’ve been trying to mix up my crafts so I can give the hurting parts of my hands breaks every once in a while. I’ve had these awesome crocheted flower hot pads in my queue forever because they look awesome and they’d make great gifts.
Crocheted Flower Hot Pads
Every couple hours I knit on my mom’s Bergen Street Cardigan this weekend I’d stop and take a break to crochet a little Flower Hot Pad. This pattern is nuts. Maybe it’s because I don’t do a lot of crocheting or maybe it’s truly because this pattern is nuts, but just looking at these I had no idea how they were put together. It was really fun crocheting blindly and getting one of these hot pads.
Foldy and Mysterious
We are headed to New York in a few weeks for Renegade Brooklyn and we are going to make a whole trip out of it – spending time at PT’s family home in New York state, in NYC, and driving up to Boston for a few nights. Everywhere we’re going we are sleeping on friend’s couches, so I thought these would make nice hostess gifts.
Two down, two to go! You know, I’m really starting to think I’m going to finish everything I need to before Renegade. It’s a MIRACLE!
I haven’t picked up a crochet hook since finishing my Amigurumi family I made for Christmas. Until now!
Almost a Blanket!
What is it with gifts that I turn to crochet?
My friends Jamie (of Jamiegurumi) and Diana (Tremble Tremble!) are getting married in May, and I’m making them an afghan. I love making things for the home as wedding presents and I usually stick to blankets and pillows.
Knitting a blanket, though, is the wost thing ever, so a standard zig zag afghan pattern is a perfect go to.
Smalls and Large Zigs and Zags
This pattern is Zig-Zag ‘Ghan, and I didn’t even notice that it had different size zigs and zags before starting it. I changed the colors the pattern calls for to more gender neutrals, and I think it’s turning out really well! This is 1 color pattern repeat, and there are 5 pattern repeats to make the blanket.
I went with Red Heart Super Savor yarn. It’s pretty much the lowest of the low quality acrylic yarns, but it’s my favorite yarn to use for blankets. It’s sturdy and holds it’s shape, when you spill on it you can just throw it in the washer. They’ve got a ton of colors to choose from and it’s cheap! This blanket takes almost 3,000 yards of yarn. Any way you slice it you are spending a ton of money on yarn when you make a blanket, so you might as well make a blanket that will last, and won’t make you cry when it gets chewed on by a dog.
Stripes!
I expect this to be a WIP for a long time, it being a blanket and all. Their wedding isn’t until May 7th so I’ve got some time.
More progress pics to come!
Maybe it’s just because I’ve already carried all of this stuff from Chicago to Minneapolis, and I’m gearing up to carry most of it from Minneapolis home to Allendale tomorrow, but I had a hunch that I did a lot of knitting this season.
Most Everything!
I took a few pictures in Chicago before I wrapped and packed these up. That is pretty much everything.
The Amigurumis!
From left to right, a flamingo for my grandma (four flamingos in all), Adamgurumi for my brother, Adam (naturally), a Twin Cities Headband for my friend Colleen in Adamgurumi’s lap, Emilygurumi for my sister in law, a blackberry Hello Sailor Knot Necklace for my roommate Elizabeth, Matthewgurumi for my brother, and another flamingo.
And to the right...
A sweater for PT and another flamingo.
To the right and over the top!
To the left of PT’s sweater is Rachel’s Two Boyfriend Cardigan, and my mom’s Granny Bomber Jacket.
And to the left!
The Baby Nolan corner! Baby Nolan’s snowsuit and matching ear flap hat.
Not pictured here are Dadgurumi and BabyNolangurumi, because I finished them up here in Minnesota.
AND I’ve got one surprise gift for my mom to finish! I won’t get a chance to post it until after Christmas because I’m saving him for my 13 hour CHRISTMASEVETRAVELDAYFROMHELL, so stay tuned. It’s a DOZY. And I’ll need all the distraction I can get to keep from stabbing people in the Megabus and Amtrak. Seriously.
One of the best things about having a blog is you get to look back on your past project, and it sure looks like I knit a lot for last Christmas, but not nearly as much as I did this year. I don’t like where this is going. 2011 is already making me nervous.
I hope you all had a successful holiday knitting seasons as well!
Let me preface this by saying that BabyNolangurumi looks weird.
Baby Nolan? Or Alien?
I did a quick search for baby amigurumi patterns before starting Baby Nolan here, and found nothing. There were a couple finished babygurumis I found pictures of, but they just looked ridiculous.
…
Yes, kind of like mine.
BabyNolangurumi Hanging Around
I ended up using the person amigurumi pattern I’ve been using for all of my amigurumis and just making it a lot smaller. But when I finished the body I realized there wasn’t a lot of other things I could do to make BabyNolangurumi more Baby Nolan like.
BabyNolangurumi in the Christmas Tree
He’s got no hair or hobbies. He is perfect so I can’t make fun of him for anything. He is five months old. I’d cut him some slack but he is sure making for a boring BabyNolangurumi post.
Baby Nolan Real Life!
Alright, that is better!
Pattern: Just winged it, and didn’t do that great a job!
Yarn: Worsted scraps
Hook: Size G
Ravelry Project Page
I’m making quick work of the amigurumis for my family! Thank god, because I’m officially pretty sick of crocheting legs and arms.
Dadgurumi in a Blizzard
But, every time I get another finished amigurumi it’s so hilarious that I just can’t help but make more!
And I’ve got to keep mixing it up because everyone has such funny little quirks. My dad, for instance, has huge ears that you can see poking out from under his hat.
So, this is my dad.
Dadgurumi in a Snowbank
There are three thing my dad loves more than anything else in the world. They are, in no particular order:
1. The Detroit Lions
2. The Detroit Tigers
3. Blizzards
Tigers Hat, Lions Jersey
If my dad had a uniform it would be Detroit Tigers hat on his head and wearing a Detroit Lions jersey or tshirt. His amigurumi got an upgrade to a Calvin Johnson jersey, which I’m sure it won’t go unnoticed.
And yeah! That is our street! Minnesota is on pace for the snowiest December in the history of the state and you can tell by the 7 foot piles of snow everywhere. I could be laying in that snow drift and it would look just as big.
So it’s fitting that on the first official day of winter (yikes) that I share some snow shots, and my dadgurumi enjoying it.
Two gifts left!
Pattern: Basic Humanoid Amigurumi Pattern by craftster.org
Yarn: Worsted acrylic leftovers
Hook: Size G
Ravelry Project Page
