Two finished pullovers and a cowl!

Well...finished and finished... Two of these have been finished for a few days, but again, I've been lazy and haven't gotten around to photograph them until now. The third are still left with a bunch of ends that needs to be weaved in. ALL THE LAZY!!!

But lets take one project at the time now. First lets do the cowl. I started this, thinking I could get ridd of some scraps and at the same time make something a bit different from my usual preferences and also kind of mindless. I'm currently stuck in a yarn block (the yarnsters version of art block...totally made both those therms up myself) and need something that don't demand much brain useage.
So yeah, I started this cowl from one scrap skein of Drops <3 You #3, thinking I would use up a bunch, but ended up just using just the one. Casted on 100 stitches on a 7mm needle and alternated between doing parts in garter stitch and parts with drop stitch, simple, easy, done!

A few days ago, I finally recieved the baked bean buttons that I needed for my blue hoodie, and after sewing on 42 of them (36 of which on the hood alone). Had a lot of fun just placing them around randomly. This pullover has been nothing but fun and games and references! So refreshing! I used two strands to make it fluffy and textured, one was Bernat Mohairlaine in the colourway 7566 and the other was Drops Alpaca in the colourway 2919. Got the Mohairlaine from Brooke ages ago and the Alpaca I got on a crazy sale. Again, 7mm needles, no pattern.

The last thing is another pullover! This thing I finished up back in june but didn't give a rats ass about weaving in the ends and actually finish it up. It's still not finished really, I just wanted to photograph it and get it over with, it's been a month overdue already. Weaving in bamboo (and cotton for that matter) ends are pure nightmare fuel. The best (and kinda only) way to do it is to split the ends in half and weave in each of those ends. Example: look at a dishcloth with one end in each side. You'd think you got only two ends to weave in, right? Wrong... You actually got four if you want then to be fastened good and have durability and quality on it. Since cotton and bamboo is so slick and hard, it doesn't attach itself to...itself in the same way wool does. Hopefully I'll get enough courage to weave in these ends...some day...

New projects!

No idea how I managed it, but my yarn storage has actually shrinked since the start of this year! Just did another round up of my used yarn (I keep a list on my laptop of each new skein I break open, and when this list is long enough, I add it up and update the yarn count widget on my blog here and on dA), and I am currently at 16900 grams of yarn. That's 16,9kg (37,2 pounds) and translates to 338 skeins! Of course, there's a huge amount of scrap yarn and some skeins that's both smaller and bigger, so my yarn storage has a lot more yarn in reality, but it still feels good! For your information, I'm only counting whole 50gram skeins which is pretty much the standar size over here.

But what I was originally going to blog about is my two newest projects! I finished up Sips and Sjin the other day and washed the blue hoodie yesterday...which I now realise I haven't shown off yet (I've become lazy with this blogging, yo)... I'm still waiting for the buttons for it, so I'll talk more about it on a later time, but here's a sneak peak on my baked bean sweater! 10 points if you get the reference!

Yes! Two new projects! That's what I was supposed to blog about! Since I finished up Sips and Sjin, and the hoodie is on hiatus until the buttons arrive, I've been at a loss for what to do next. I eventually got started on the little matching jacket for the baby rompers I finished not too long ago. I'm using this pattern from Drops for it. It's pretty simple, but it matches the rompers better than the jacket that's supposed to go with. Using the same colours of course. Hopefully I'll have enough green to go around, but I might just have to do the sleeves solid yellow. The yoke will be solid blue and it will have buttons going all the way up in the front. So much fun working with thin needles again! 7mm is a hassle while 2,5mm feels so tidier!

 

But that's not the only new project I've got! I've also started a pair of fingerless mittens! Crazy you'd say, it's the middle of summer and the sun are blazing hot, burning my skin as if it were crispy bacon! Calm down, I'm not planning on using these during summer. It was a rather impulse project and I started it based off the colours only!

For a while now, I've been looking for the perfect pattern and colours for a pair of fingerless mittens for myself, but I'm a picky bastard and nothing's good enough! I do however enjoy this pretty pattern called Susie's Reading Mitts on Ravelry. I've made these once before for the Jane Austen contest on dA last year. They're simple, yet decorative and I've been wanting to make another pair of these that fits more my style. I'm not saying that the ones I'm making now will be more my style, but I am serriously making these based of the colours ONLY!

As you've probably already figured out, I've turned into a crazy Yognau(gh)t with Lewis as my favorite. It has gone so far that I am currently using his skin in Minecraft and I've drawn up a similar one in Animal Crossing New Leaf (sorry Nostalgia Critic, but I'm replacing you). I just love his burgundy coat with gold details.

While roaming though my yarn storage earlier today, searching for yarn for the amigurumi Lewis, I rediscovered this beautiful burgundy merino skein I got ages ago, from England none the less! It was too thick to use for the amigurumi doll, but perfect for the fingerless mittens pattern! It also hit me that I had some scraps leftover from the retro Marius sweater I made earlier this year, so BAM! I had a new project and I had to start it right away!

Merino also regulates heat more easily than normal wool, so it wouldn't kill me if I started using them as soon as they're finished. MUCH FUN! SO GREAT!

Sips and Sjin!

They are finally finished! Sips and Sjin! My little cuties! Only two more and my Yogscast will be done!

Sjin's hair and spacesuit has lighter colors IRL, but of course my camera had to ruin that beyond the point of my editing skillz.

I just got to show off some pictures I took while I was making their hair. I had too much fun playing hairdresser.

Too much fun, but it took forever! Next up will be Lewis, no idea when I'll start him though. Currently taking some time off from crocheting. But I can't wait to have them all done so I can complete this picture:

A little technical information.
They're both made with different yarn brands, Senjagarn, Silja, Trysilgarn. 80% wool, 20% nylon fiber mix. Crochet hook 2,5mm and the squares on their chests was a long crochet chain that I needle felted on.

WIP - Blue pullover

It's getting there! I feel like I'm taking my sweet ass time on this pullover, but it still grows really quickly! The wonders of using huge needles. I must admit that it is kinda fund seeing a project growing so fast, but it takes a lot more effort to work with these.

I finished up the sleeves really fast and moved on to the raglan. I was a bit scared that I might have to frog it down and do more increases on the sleeves to make the raglan more loose, but in the end, I think it'll work out just fine.

At the end, I decided to work a hood on it. I haven't really done a hood without a pattern before, so hopefully I'm not making it too weird. It's turning out huge though! Just like I want it!

I'm also planning on knitting a kind of tube on the front so that I can put a string through it, just for decoration.

Speaking of decoration. I've ordered a lot of orange coloured buttons off eBay. While I was still working on the body, it hit me that the color was the same as the Heinz baked beans can...which again translates to Yogscast...of course! When you're obsessed with something, you see references in just about everything. And in this case, Simon, Lewis and Duncan built a gigantic can of Heinz baked beans in their MoonQuest series and launched a rocket to the moon on top of it. So this pullover has become my baked bean pullover, and I'm gonna sew buttons on it to represent the beans. I'm too nerdy!

Pullovers and amigurumis!

So, after knitting on the blue, fluffy pullover straight for a few days, I started to worry about the amount of yarn that went into it. After some measuring, I found out that it was 50cm (aboout 20") too wide! I could easily fit two of myself inside of it! After some rethinking, I ended up frogging it all and started over, this time with 64 stitches less in the round. Now it grew really fast and seemed to be the perfect size. Took me two days to finish up the body alone at snail speed. I also started the first sleeve last night, so it's currently looking good!

It's impossible to get the colors right on picture though. It has a green hue to it, and it's still very bright. I'm using Alpaca from Drops in the color 2919l, called "light petrol", but even the website can't get the color right on it. It's beautiful though! I'm not usually a blue person, but I am really digging this shade.

Also, my little Yogscast amigurumis are slowly getting there. I am now currently working on Sips and Sjin. They both wears these Portal inspired space suits, so I had to work them both side by side to make sure they turned out equal. They're joined by the hip in real life, so making them both at the same time makes sense.
Just sewed on their little heads a few moments ago. Yes, Sips (the blue one) has white skin. Next will be their arms.

Finished projects!

My lazyness continues when it comes to blogging, but not on projects! Yesterday, I finished up two projects I tell you, and I started a new one!

Simon from Yogscast was finished early in the morning hours yesterday. I've been working on him for about 10 days, and maybe you remember me ranting about getting the right skincolor for him.
I do love how he turned out! I maybe should have left his beard a bit longer, but it'll just have to do. Next  up is Sjin, he'll hopefully be easy with his white/orange space suit. I might just work up Sips at the same time so that I'll get their suits right.

The second project that I finished up yesterday, I started back in february. It's another pair of baby rompers, but this pair's for my 'Murican crafting friend Carolyn whom are expecting a baby boy in august. I'm planning on working up a matching cardigan as well, and maybe some socks and a few hats. Made in merino wool on 2,5mm needles. Pattern can be found here.

I just love colorful projects! So much fun! And speaking of colorful projects, I did start the cuddly pullover sweater last night. It's impossible to catch the colors on camera. The Alpaca, the darker thread has a green hue to it, while it appears bright blue in every picture I take.

The last pullover I made, the bamboo one are still lying around, waiting to get the ends weaved in.

Work in progresses!

I must admit, I've been REAL slow with my yarnster crafting these past few days. Minecraft snuk up on me again...and I can't help it when it does. So here's a little WIP of things that has happened since last blogentry!

The mindless shawl that I frogged have reached it's stopping point once again. I've misplaced the third skein in this colorway (that happened some time ago) so I can't continue it. This picture here are pretty old. I managed to finish the third stripe of red before I ran out of yarn, but this was the only picture I had that gave a good look at the pattern itself. If you're wondering what I did, I knit the row facing the front and the back was knit 1k, 1p all the way till the end. I also increased two stitches at the end of each row, that's four in total for one round, which made it a lot wider.

If you compare it to this picture, you can clearly see the differences. This version has a sharper point and boring garter stitch as the pattern.

I really hope I'll be able to locate the third skein cause I really want to finish up this shawl at some point.

I've also done some progress on Simon. I had an episode with Pepsi here the other day though... He had managed to grab my skin color dyed skein and turned it into a mess! I woke up to this vision...

It took me forever to unknot it and then wind it up neathly again. I was pretty upset cause I did put a lot of work into this skein, getting the right color. Lucky for me, he didn't manage to chew over the thread anywhere.
So far, I've finished the head, helmet, feet and body for Simon. I've just started the gloves/gauntlets. It's looking good so far and he's comming along nicely! Hopefully I'll have enough skin color after this for the others.

Otherwise, I haven't really done much. I spent most of the morning/afternoon trying to work up a project for the Super Mario contest over at KnC, but it didn't really work out too well, and I've got only 4 days left to work up something. Me not entering a craft related Mario contest is like blasphemy! What I did work on though, was a question block. I got the sides worked up, and my plan was to stitch on the question mark afterwards, but it didn't look good at all, so I gave up. I might just give in and do some of the Super Mario dishcloths from Ravelry, but I feel like that's uncreative. I might try and work up a Luma since I've got more yellow crap yarn lying around...

As a last note, something I've forgotten to mention on the blog here. A few weeks ago, I ordered  a truckload of yarn. Drops had this mega sale during may, but sadly I was too late for that one. I did manage to find this one page that had an extended sale on the Drops yarn, so I snatched up a good bit of Karisma, dirt cheap with free shipping. All the dark green will become a Marius sweater eventually.

Along with all of this, I did order a bit of Alpaca yarn in a bright an beautiful petrol color. I've been looking for some soft yarn in a striking blue color to go along with some vintage mohair yarn I got from Brooke ages ago. This will eventually become a cuddly, fuzzy pullover.

Again, got this dirt cheap cause of the sale, and I almost regret not buying yarn for a green version too!

Getting the right skin color ain't easy!

As you guys know, I'm working on these crochet amigurumis of some of the Yogscast members. But as I started working up the belly of Simon earlier this week, I suddenly realised how idiotic using white as their skin color. Duncan, Sips and Sjin all got white clothes and it would look ridiculous.

So the horrible search for a good skincolor started. Ofcourse I wouldn't be able to find one in the same yarn thickness that I'm working with for these... Not even eBay would help me out!

In the end, I decided to try and just dye some yarn, hoping to get a good color. Turned out to be a bit hard, and I was limited with my tries cause I only had two white skeins lying around.

I figured the best way to get the right shade would be to tea dye the yarn. Since black tea got a really strong color, I decided to try out herbal and green tea. Green's on the more yellow side while herbal got a more grey/pink hue. Combining these seemed to be the best way in my head. But the result sadly turned really light yellow.
Then I got the great idea to use just a tiny bit of pink lemonade Kool-Aid to give it a more blush feeling. Ofcourse, Kool-Aid is really annoying if you want to get a even spread of the color, so it didn't work out too well... It looked perfect at first, but it only colored 1/4 of the yarn. I figured I could try and add small doses of the Kool-Aid on the un-dyed parts... But all in all, it turned the yarn pig pink and really uneven...and also impossible to catch on camera... To add on with problems, this one here poofed out a little, so the tention didn't work out quite the same afterwards.

My second skein and third try on the other hand, I decided to be very careful with. Since black tea do have a warmer color to it, I decided to try ever so lightly to try dyeing with that this time around. With only one bag in the water, I started dyeing. The yarn sucked up all the pigments in the water as soon as I dumped it in there. Really didn't expect it to do that with tea, but the yarn still turned out too light. With another bag of tea, I dunked the skein back into the water. This time it worked perfectly. I got a good color, sitll a teeny bit too much on the yellow side, but it's the most perfect color I could ever make to resemble the color of skin.
This here picture underneath is pretty much spot on with the color.

And here you'll see all three of the colors side by side. Mind you, the colors aren't 100% here.

The one all to the right is clearly the best one for these amigurumis. So now I can finally continue with Simon and finish him up as soon as possible! BTW, here's the pants for him! I'm working off their Minecraft skins, and crocheting gives me little room for details since I'm still a n00b at it. You can also see the white yarn clashing with the rest. It doesn't look natural. British people do have pasty white skin, but not THIS white!

And there she goes again...

This time, I'll admit that the blog hiatus has just been my lazyness and upside down day rythm that has kept me from blogging every day.

Ofcourse, there is some progress on my projects. The pullover is done! Or...done knitting... Still need to weave in all the blasted ends and sew up the holes under the arms. That'll take forever so I'll get to that at some point or another in my life... But it looks good though. I wish the body was a bit longer, and after I finished it up, the sleeves got longer too, so it's not perfect. Welcome to my dirty bathroom BTW...

Watcha think? Does it look good? Or does it look crap?

Vaporeon got his legs and arms sewn on, same with the head and even the back spikes. I did screw up a bit when I sewed on the head though. It looks like he's flaceplanting on the ground ranter than flopping around on the ground.

Kinda bummed me out so I've put it aside for now. Not sure if I'm to continue with it or make a new one.

SO! To keep my thought off that one, I started my next crochet project! Cause now that I've gotten all of these stitches in my fingers, I need to make sure I use them before they're forgotten again. I promise I'm not a crochet junkie! But with my current obsession with the Yogscast (which has been building over the last couple of months and sky rocketed the last weeks) I've started my Lalylala based, Yogscast inspired amigurumi dolls! I've been wanting to do Simon for way too long now, so I just started with him the other day. I MIGHT go through all of them, atleast the dream team (Simon, Lewis and Duncan) as well as Sjin. I NEED to do Lewis and Sjin atleast, since they're my favorites in the whole of Yogscast, but Lewis' character is very complicated and detailed so I'm not sure if I dare jump to him first.
BUT SIMON! I did start him as I've allready said! I got the head (minus the beard and hair), the helmet and I've started the body.

Woop woop! I'm so excited about starting these dolls! So much fun!