Friday, April 24, 2009

"King of the World" Kid Crown



Another product of a rampant imagination! This was made from scraps I had left over after a yoga mat bag, and 4 GaBu - so why not make something else!

Baubles, Knick Knacks, and Doodads

A bracelet...






A Flower "Doodad" as I will call it...



A 4-petaled flower ring




This is really just a testament to me being creative with scraps of yarn I have lying around. Likely enough for a super small project or a piece of something - but not enough to complete anything start to finish for the most part.

However, even with these little bits it's surprising how much you can come up with!

New Sandal!!!!



Okay so I've decided to forego just sticking with the regular pattern and wanted to start embellishing right away - nothing like a spur of creativity! You'll notice a decorative stitch at the top and a change in the rows and positioning (it's slight if you are just viewing just these pictures versus if you compare it to the original). This version is using one of my favorite yarns and a special button that I will not be able to get again!

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Constant Inspiration...

I seem to be "chockful of awesome" in the creativity department this morning and have just progenerated another idea that may be of interest and use to others. Some time ago I had spoken of doing a monthly update, and while I usually do updates such as this (the spur of the moment, just popped into my head kind) I am figuring that I ought to also do a structured style for such time when I have billions of follower :-p.

So part of our monthly updates will be "What's Brewing" and "A Peak Inside Our Project Bag" that way you can see the myriad things I've come up with and what is being worked on. Generally I try to keep everyone abreast of whatever is going on and what I am doing projectwise - however I know that sometimes I decide against continuing a project for the moment or altogether. And then other times I dream up things out of the blue and often late at night. So there we have it, the next update will of course be on May 1st or very close to it. (Note: there may be some delay in this update because I'm due to be out of town on personal business and may not be able to satisfy this deadline - so it might end up being done the day earlier and published remotedly the next day.)

To Design or Not To Design...

I know a see many folks who put up patterns as "free" and others who choose to make them "for sale". And while I appreciate the free as much as anyone else, I still do, being an avid crocheter understand why one would put these things up for sale. It's easy as pie to copy a design, and to read directions (although beginning crocheters may notice that this is easier said then done if they are not overly familiar with crochet stitches and the cryptic representations they come out as when in a diagram.)

So as we speak my brain is percolating and I am contemplating the idea of making my own patterns and selling them. This will likely at first not be a prolific endeavor as I have so many that I am already working on so many that I have acquired and wanting to see the outcome of. BUT here and there I do have these random ideas, sometimes variations on originals, sometimes things pieced together (liking this stitch but not the sequence, wanting ribbing, and just plain experimenting with the look of using different loops or posts.)

So if you have any thoughts on this, feel free to leave a comment, I'd love to hear your input.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Yarn Madness


Nothing like a little inventory to eat up your morning!

Okay so now that I've posted this, I have thought better of it - since the random posting of a link in the blog does look a little out of place. So here's a little backstory about what was going on yesterday morning...

Seeing as how my little one was sick I was grounded for the day with one eye firmly planted on him. Poor thing woke up and got sick very soon afterwards, so I opted for him to stay downstairs with me so I could monitor his actions and notice if he was acting "funny". Needless to say, this meant no ordering or errand running for "work" which though it was a bummer it was necessary.

So I contented my morning (as I had received my "ravelry.com" invitation via email) by browsing among Ravelry and making my page and looking at patterns. And of course stashing my yarn. Needless to say, I didn't realize how much yarn I had and how varied. I personally favor a softer yarns, but not baby soft, like Vanna's Choice by Lion Brand, and I absolutely adore the colors (there is a lovely purple entitled "Eggplant" that is part of my current major project of the 5 1/2 Hour Throw).

Soooo, o.O I finally finished entering yarn after naptime and wanted to show off my handiwork :p it also allows me to show people the yarn I have access to if they want a custom project (however I could also, with adequate description get what one might be looking for).

It's also nice if you see a yarn you *love* to know what it's called, as I recently had a run in where I ran out of a scrap yarn, and couldn't replace it - (not realizing it ahead of time that I wouldn't be able to find it again) and it messed with an order I had to place :(.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Singing Bowl Mat



I had thought not to blog about this at first, but then changed my mind. I'm rather proud of my handiwork and of course I like to give anyone following me a chance to check it out before it's up for sale - feedback is always nice ahead of time! :D But I figured, I put the work in and I have the intent to sell it and make more to sell, so why not?

I used a pretty mesh stitch, although with the variegated pattern to the yarn, to the untrained eye it may not be apparent. They are "checkers" essentially.

But my singing bowl enjoys his perch very much, and I'd wanted to make something just for me (aside from the flute bag) of this yarn since I like it so much.

Barefoot Sandals...



And voila! I'm actually very excited about these things. I've had the pattern lying about for a while, but at times patterns aren't the clearest (or I just plain mis read them) so they laze about in my pattern book until I feel the urge to mess with them again. Which is generally proceeded by an epiphany or inspiration of some kind and so there we have it.

I like them a lot, particularly the button that has an eagle on it. But now that I have the pattern down I can embellish them any way I like (the ideas are already percolating inside my brain on what to do with them next). Sure to be a favorite among dancers :D

Check in soon to see it and the next two sets in my store!

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Hippo Ballerina






I've been tweeting about it constantly, and though it's not for sale, it is something that I will be making in the future for other people. Originally the pattern calls for it to be standing as you might imagine a hippo would stand, but I changed it around so that she stands like a person and is posing in a ballerina manner, as well as altering where the head meets the body and adding a tu-tu.

A little more background on this piece...my neighbor's daughter just had a birthday and she takes ballet, trying to think of something to get her (on a tight budget) and it occurred to me, I'm rather handy with a hook and some yarn, and I remembered the ballerina hippos from Disney's "Fantasia". I figured I could give it a shot, although the colors aren't quite right, and I didn't embellish it further with "lipstick" or eye lashes, or the ballet shoes I'd considered. However, seeing as this is my first one, it was more a artistic experiment than anything else and if it turned out great than that was fantastic, and if not I'd just have made a regular hippo.

I also had some other things I wanted to make, including leg warmers, a dance bag, and the like - but the hippo is what's featured here.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Updates ~

Looking at my blog, I realize that I just updated yesterday, but it seems like it's been forever...new "rule". Faith Works will have a guaranteed update blog once every month. The precise date of this update is to be determined at the moment, since I don't have set schedule and things are always in flux, our prospective dates are the 1st day of the month, the last day of the month, the 5th of the month, or the 15th of the month.

If you have any specific tips or dates you'd like to suggest, feel free to make your suggestions as comments!

Friday, April 17, 2009

Flute Bag!




Okay, so here we see what happens when you don't pay attention to your stitches, rows, etc. Look at ALL that character :D

Seriously though, this was a huge experiment in just "making" something. I made it so there really wasn't any assembly required. (I don't much care for having to sew crocheted pieces together when you just crochet them all in one piece.

Part of the major design flaw, I mean originality ;) is in that I changed from a single crochet, to a double, to a half double, and the moved around from back loop, to front loop, to both loops. Now if it had been in any set pattern the ribbing would likely be much more evident. But as it is it's not so much unless you handle it.

I opted out of stitching any more of the flap together, since this bag houses a wind instrument and I thought it having a "window" it could look out of would make the flute happy and deter any moisture build up in the mouth piece area as well.

All in all it was a wonderful little "just for me" project and learning experience!

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