The Artful Dodger

Crocheted Dishcloths

I have gotten a little crocheting in.  I took part in a swap for a crocheted dishcloth in yellow, or shades thereof.  I also sent along the fat little one on the left, which would probably serve better as a hot pad.  They're both made of worsted weight cotton with a G hook.

R2-D2 and Princess Leia

My husband has a friend from childhood with whom he saw the original Star Wars Trilogy over 40 times.  His friend is now married and has a young son whom he has introduced to Star Wars.  For Christmas I crocheted each of them an R2-D2 hat from The Star Wars Craft Book by Bonnie Burton that came out last year.  I made the mom a Princess Leia hat so she could join in the fun. (I also made her an aqua scarf that she could actually get some use from.)  The Leia hat is just a double crochet skully that I added double crocheted circles sew around pieces of timtex for stiffness.  I could have made them bigger for authenticity, but since it's just for silly fun, I thought the buns were big enough.

Christmas Dishcloth

 
I wanted to crochet a Christmas dishcloth for a swap-bot swap so I went to the store to pick up some cotton yarn in Christmas colors.  I was hoping to find some variegated, or at least red, green and white and there wasn't a skein of Christmas anything in sight.  Not a single skein of Christmas green.  So I settled on red and white and made a simple six sided granny square dishcloth.  I love crocheting dishclothes, they're a fast project with almost instant gratification.  The truth is I don't use them myself.  But I appreciate receiving them and have started to build quite a collection. They make great last minute hostess gifts when tied up with a ribbon gathered round something else, like wooden spoons or a jar of some delicacy.

Cotton Crocheted Dish Cloths

 

I recently took part in two swaps that called for cotton dish cloths.  The first picture are the two I made for a sender's choice swap and the second is a de-stash cloth.  While I was looking for partial skeins of cotton to make this one, I came across an almost finished potholder, so I wove in the ends, added a hanger, and sent it along.

Crocheted Mini Pin Pillow

 
I crocheted this little pillow to hold jewelry pins.  It's about 7 inches square.  It's made of rows of single crochet and has a ruffle of a double row of shells.  I believe I first saw the pattern made in pearl cotton as a sachet.  Using worsted weight made it an ideal size for holding jewelry.

Amigurumi Dog

 

This is the cute dog I received from Jennifer Squillace in a swap-bot swap.  He's about 12 inches long and made from very soft yarn and is quite cuddly.  He (she?) came wrapped in a blanket matching his neckerchief.  I love him, he's a great addition to my growing amigurumi collection.  Thank you so much Jennifer!

Amigurumi Dachshund

 
 
This is the toy I made for an amigurumi dog swap for swap-bot.  Amigurumi is Japanese for a knitted or crocheted stuffed toy.  They seem to be amazingly popular in Japan and have been picking up popularity here in the states for the past few years.  The pattern is a free one available at www.lionbrand.com.  Since I made him with worsted weight yarn, he's about 10 to 12 inches long.  I think he came out pretty cute, even if I do say so myself.  He's on his way to Sam (Samantha) in Illinois.

Duckbill Platypus - Crocheted

 

These are the duckbill platypus I crocheted as Christmas ornaments for a swap-bot swap.  They are each about 4 1/2 inches tall (not including their hanging ribbon).  The idea was to make an ornament based on the other participants profiles.  One of them lives in Australia and the other one loves all things platypus.  So I thought these little fellows where the perfect answer.  I found this pattern at http://www.craftster.org/blog/free-to-be-crafty-how-to-crochet-an-amigurumi-platypus/.  It was designed by someone who goes by the sobriquet 'Beavisfreak'.  I'll have to make one for myself.

Amigurumi Bunny

 

This is the springtime creature I made for a swap-bot amigurumi swap.  I tried to show her little pink pompom tail in the side view, but you can barely see it.  I started out with an egg cozy pattern from Lion Brand's website.  I stuffed it and crocheted the bottom closed.  I starting making it before I realized that the creature needed a shirt.  So I added arms and crocheted a little pink peplum top.  She's about 4 inches tall and rather pudgy.  I hope my swap partner likes her.

Springtime Amigurumi

 
This is the cute little crocheted duck I received from GinaMarie of Illinois in a swap called Amigurumi My Heart - Springtime with a Twist.  The twist was that the springtime creature had to have a shirt.  Mine came with a hat as well.  He sits about 4 inches tall and has already taken pride of place next to my other little crocheted fellows and sock creatures.  Thank you Islander76!

Swap-bot Amigurumi Monster

 

Here's  my little amigurumi monster hanging out in the fig tree awaiting his departure for Oregon for his new home with Mary K.  He's based on a pattern by Allison Hoffman shown on her blog 'Crafty is Cool'.  He's a bit bigger around (I added a few stitches) and has a ruffle added for balance.  Measuring to the tip of his topknot, he's almost 5 inches tall.  On my screen, he's about life size.  He's supposed to have 3 eyes, but it looks a bit more like 2 eyes and a nose.  But I think he's cute, though he does need some orthodontic work.  He's so buck-toothed, he could eat an apple through a picket fence.

Little Green Monster

 

I just received this little amigurumi monster from Gina Casteneto in a swap-bot swap.  He's only about 3 inches tall and is so ugly he's cute.  I'll have to show you a photo of the one I'm making before I mail him off.

Crocheted Sock Monkey

 

I finally completed my crocheted sock monkey.  He's sat in a terrible state of dismemberment in a basket for several months and I finally sewed his face, arms and tail on and crocheted him a hat and scarf.  He's 20" long from his toe tips to the top of his pompom.  He's made from I Love This Yarn Brown Tweed  from a pattern in Patons' Monkey Business.  The pattern is shown worked as I have done it, also with striped legs and arms in pastels.  There's also a knit version with several variations, and a few other knitted animal patterns in the book.  Somewhere in my sewing room I have a pair of brown work socks with red heels to make an original version, but he'll have to wait until I finish a few of the sock creatures I've already started.

Ripple Afghan

 

I haven't posted in a while, but I haven't been completely idle.  I went into JoAnn's the other day looking for something to liven up the 20 Valentine ATC's I made (soon to be finished, shown and mailed) and they had Pounds of Yarn on sale.  So I bought white, lavendar and purple and started a ripple afghan.  It's nothing fancy, but being made entirely of single crochets, it will be warm.  So many afghan patterns I look at have too many holes in the pattern to really be warm and I don't want an afghan just to look at, I want something to snuggle under.  We'll see exactly how long 3 pounds of yarn will go.  I have nothing in the house that is purple or lavendar, so I don't know what made me choose those colors, they just appealed to me at the moment of unbridled consumption.  I scanned this picture because I can't seen to find my digital camera.  No doubt I left it in some pocket or shelf or cabinet, thinking it would be so easy to find later, and now I've gone completely blank.

1975 Revisited

My mother was cleaning out the top of a closet the other day when she came across this gem she made in 1975.  Inspired by the Bicentennial, red, white and blue were all the rage that year.  You'll notice even the buttons are red, white and blue.  I have some of those in my button collection and just realized that they would make perfect eyes for some of my sock creatures.  I just started a new one this morning and, hopefully, he'll be making an appearance soon.