Nerd Dollz

I don't normally do this, but I found this Etsy shop when I was browsing "Supernatural" things (talk about going down the rabbit hole... It all started because A Dog's Life Animal Rescue posted a Groupon, that charity coincidentally being one that Jared Padalecki endorses [I chose the charity as the one I wanted to donate some of my ebay proceeds to since it seemed cool and I <3 my dog... and then see that there is a random Supernatural connection to it, haha]).

I digress.

I found this shop, NerdDollz, on Etsy. Normally, I see something like this and am a bit "meh" about them, but not only are these dolls seemingly very well made and designed, but they are realistically priced. (I am NOT a fan of overpriced sh!t on Etsy... it, IMO, goes against the community feel). I am very tempted to buy myself an early present of these:

How awesome are those?! And they're just, like, $70 for all 3.

Also quite fabulous is this:

Yes, that is Ezio Auditore from Assassin's Creed. Cute, right?

Think of a nerdy character and this shop seems to have it! Star Wars, Harry Potter, Kick Ass, Avatar, Shrek... even Twilight. And I'd imagine the seller is open to suggestions as well.

I've seen other amigurumi (though not Sam, Dean & Cas) and am seriously inspired! I'm going to have to see if I can make anything nearly as cool (maybe as gifts, but also maybe just for me). And if & when I am unable to (whether it be skill or time lacking), I'm going to have to pay the awesome Shannon Nix from Shawnee, KS to make me some!

Speaking of fantastic crochet nerd amigurumi, I also wanted to plug PigCorner.com's ami patterns... She, too, has an Ezio that is awesome:

Pattern and video tutorial found here.

Creative and crafty nerds are so fun!

Been awhile!

Domo-Kun Hat
(note: I tried to list this on Etsy and was reported as having
violated copyright for Domo... Just FYI, the company who
owns the rights are nazis and not especially friendly people)

I have been crocheting, but I haven't been updating here for awhile! I've made quite a few Castle Crashers hats for fans on Etsy, as well as baby hats and starghans for friends and family. I also made a domo-kun hat with a bit of pseudo-intarsia.

And a dog sweater for my puppy (though he has since grown out of it, ha).

Right now, I'm working on play food again, this time for a different friend's daughter. I've been looking all over the internet again for inspiration and patterns and have, again, found several.

So far, I've made several more strawberries (what can I say? I like how they come out!), a few chocolate chip cookies (a different pattern than the one I did before smaller)

Christmas Tree Sugar Cookie (crappy cellphone photo - sorry!)

- a Christmas tree cookie: Created using Suzie's pattern for a tree here. My modifications:
For the bottom tree, I simply added another row to each section and adjusted the following rows accordingly (9hdc after row 3, 7hdc for row “4”, 11hdc after row 7, 9hdc for row “8”, 17hdc for the final row).
Then, I embroidered white lines to the front of the green tree and sewed the green tree to the bottom tree.


- A few fried eggs
- A donut
-Some sushi rolls:I intend to make some with red in the middle, some with red & green and maybe some with red, green & orange.

5sc into a magic ring with “filling” color(s)
ch1, 2sc into each sc with white, join w/sl st - 10 sts
ch1, 1 sc, 2sc all around, join w/sl st - 15 sts
ch1, Sc in fr loops only with brown, join w/sl st - 15 sts
5 - sc around - 15 sts
6 - ch1, sc in fr loops only with white - 15 sts
7 - ch1, sc, sc2tog - 10 sts
8 - ch1, sc2tog with “filling” color(s), finish off - 5 sts


I intend to also make another banana, probably another corn, some more cookies, maybe some pizza, toast, sandwich...

I also want to finish making some rattles for another friend's daughter (donut type with the heads of Hello Kitty, Minnie Mouse, Princess Leia and perhaps a 4th girl one).

New projects!

It's been quite a busy time for me lately. I've made a small (12x16) pillow for a friend's daughter and 12 Sanrio characters. I'm also getting close to finishing the star afghan for my other friend's as-yet-unborn daughter. And I've been taking a cake decorating class at Michael's this month.

Oh, and I got old this month, too. I'm now nearly 26 and one month old and on my way out of my mid-20s!

My first Keroppi (I used the Tiny Hello Kitty pattern (Raverly link) as a base.

Mods:
I added an extra row of scs to the head (rows 6-10 go 6-11 instead and then start decreasing), obviously didn’t do the ears and did the arms a bit differently.
Eyes: (with white - the pupils are safety eyes)
magic circle, 6 sc
1: 2sc in each (12 sts)
2: sc around (12 sts)
3: 4 sc, sc2tog, 4 sc, sc2tog (10 sts)
4: 3 sc, sc2tog, 2 sc, sc2tog (8 sts)

Arms:
magic circle, 5
1: 2sc in each (10 sts)
2: sc around in BLO (10 sts)
3-4: sc around (10 sts)
5: * sc2tog, sc * 3 times, leave remaining unworked (6 sts)
Turn arms inside out

Oh, I also made his underwear white instead of blue, haha. ;)

“Blush”/Dimples/Cheeks:
ch2, 6 sc into 2nd st from hook
Fasten off. Trim excess and sew onto face.

My army!

GlassEyesOnline and Hello Kitty

My order from GEO was shipped 8 hours after I ordered and arrived a couple of days after that! I think I've found myself a new place to buy from. :)

Upon receiving my eyes and noses, I made a little 3.5" Hello Kitty using this pattern (that's a ravelry link, just fyi).

Buying Bulk (or Not!) Safety Eyes - Harvey's Hobby Hut or Glass Eyes Online?

Upon getting a request for Hello Kitty, I started looking into the best way to make her eyes (as she has slightly oval eyes that are bigger than the 8mm round safety eyes I have). I was thisclose to ordering from Harvey's Hobby Hut when I happened upon Glass Eyes Online. You can buy eyes by the pair there and they give bulk discounts depending on how many you buy. The nice thing is that you can get a variety of eye colors of the same size and get a discount. They also have yellow Hello Kitty noses, oval noses (or eyes) in a few different sizes and colors, pink heart noses (I have no clue what I'll put them on, but I got quite a few 'cause they're cute), triangular noses, "sparkle" eyes, and all sorts of other things. And if you spend more than $25, you get free shipping!

I still like Harvey's and will have to write a proper review when I receive the order I sent to Glass Eyes, but it was nice to not have to pay $5.35 for s&h.
GSO's eyes are a bit pricier for the amount you get at HHH:
Price per 25 pairs of 9mm safety eyes:
GSO = 19 cents per pair of 9mm safety eyes
HHH = 12 cents per pair for 25 pairs
But not when you consider s&h:
GSO = $8.35
HHH = $9.25
AND the fact that you could have 3 pairs of blue, 5 pairs of black, 7 pairs of green, 2 pairs of red and 3 pairs of orange for GSO's price rather than just 25 pairs of black.

HHH is in Idaho while GSO is in South Carolina, so it will be interesting to see how quickly I get my order! HHH got them out to me in a couple of days and they arrived a couple of days after that.

P.S. Naturally, I've made 3 cupcakes since I last posted and gave them away before photographing them! I had every intention of doing it this time, but didn't even finish sewing and stuffing the last two until literally a minute before arriving at my friend's surprise party! (10 minutes late, but thankfully 10 minutes before she arrived! And no, I wasn't driving :P) I made a tan/light blue one, a red/white one and a brown/pink one with embroidered faces on them.

PATTERNS: Play Food!

It's been a busy couple of weeks with hats and photos! But I fortunately finished up my most recent order on Thursday and had enough time to make some crochet play food for my friends' daughter for her 4th birthday.

I do not have photos (sadly) of any of my handiwork this time since I wanted to spend my time making food for her instead of documenting. I made her:
- A banana and corn (with faces, using THIS fantastic pattern!)
- A giant chocolate chip cookie (I winged this one: start with 6sc into a magic circle and increase until it's the size you want. Make two of those, embroider "chips", then stuff and sc together)

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- A set of duos and "oreo" sandwich cookies:
I basically did 3 layers - cookie, cream filling, cookie - all the same and sewed them together.

Rnd 1: 12sc into magic/adjustable ring (12 sts)
Rnd 2: 2sc into each st (24 sts)
Rnd 3: Sc through both loops all around. Fasten off. (24 sts).
Sew cookies with “wrong” side out so that you get the texture.

While I feared they may be too flat, I think that making the filling the same size as the cookies helped keep it from disappearing (I’m not sure if others do it that way as well as I didn’t really look around much).

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- A cupcake (using THIS pattern, modifying it only slightly by combining the first 2 rnds into: 12 dc into a magic ring for both the cake and the frosting.
- A piece of cake (using THIS pattern with white cake/pink frosting/"raspberry" filling and a flower as decor)

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- And three strawberries ("body"/red part of strawberry uses THIS pattern, but I made up my own stem & leaves:
My leaves & stem:
Rnd 1: ch2, 6sc into 2nd chain from hook, do not join (6 sts)
Rnd 2: 2sc into each st, do not join (12 sts)
Rnd 3: ch4, sl st into same st, sl st into next st, ch3, sl st into same st, rep from with all sts. Fasten off.
Stem: Join yarn to a st in the center of the leaves ON THE “WRONG” SIDE (one of your sc from rnd 1), ch 5, sc back 4, sl st into another st in center of leaves, fasten off. Pull stem through center of leaves.

My stem and leaves need to be sewn to the top of the strawberry and means skipped rnds 7-9 of the Easy Peasy pattern.

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They were well received! :) I'll likely make some more and post photos of my handiwork eventually. :)

White Elephant for Valentine's Day

I'm not exactly sure where the inspiration came from for this little guy, but boy was he an exercise! His trunk is pose-able (fun, no?) and I'm likely going to attach a heart to his hands that can hold a love note or gift of some sort. :)

He is currently available in my Etsy store!




He is currently available in my Etsy store!

Puppy With a Big Heart

On etsy: Pup

A little break from posting projects: Amigurumi Eyes!

So I have made a few things with eyes and I know that eyes for craft projects are something many people experiment with.

Suggestions I've seen (and have not necessarily tried!):
- Sewn-n small black (and white) pom-poms. Available at most craft stores, great for baby, small child and animal toys.
- "Safety eyes" (little plastic screw-like bits complete with "nut" to screw onto the back). These can get fairly pricey, IMO, but are great if you want a certain look. The best place to get these online in bulk is Harvey's Hobby Hut. Otherwise, you can get a pack of 10 eyes (5 pairs) for a couple of bucks at Joann Fabric & Craft.
- Embroidered yarn eyes. I've done this a few times with varying results (I'm not the best at embroidery!). For baby, small child and animal toys, this is also a great option.
- Sculpey/clay eyes. Create eyes out of clay and glue or sew them on.
- Plastic "wiggle" eyes. I've used these a couple of times so far and like the look and the price.
- Button eyes. I've used buttons a few times, though I'll admit it's not always easy to find eyes that work exactly how you want (my experience stemming from purchasing 11+ pounds of various buttons and sifting through them even after I've sorted them by size and color!). Definitely nice for larger projects (i.e. hats) and can be painted if you want pupils.
- Crochet or felt eyes. Crochet a circle the right size or cut some felt the right size. Sew or glew them on. Definitely not a bad option.
- Yarn knot eyes. I haven't used this method exactly yet (I have made french knots and attached those, however), but it looks promising! Knitty Cat Knot Eyes (scoll to the bottom of the page for the PDF.

Halloween Star Man

Halloween Star Man, originally uploaded by SykoSam.

A little spookiness for the holiday :)

Amigurumi Sprinkle Donut

Lion Brand® Wool-Ease® - Microspun - Pattern #: 80114AD. Used Red Heart Super Saver Cafe for base and White for frosting. I altered this just slightly by opting to stitch the center of the frosting to the hole in the donut (rather than glue it) and then sew a single stitch at the “highlights” (where the dc and hdc stitches were) to attach it.

, originally uploaded by SykoSam.

I made this for my husband and used a bunch of scrap pieces of yarn for the sprinkles