Success!

My felted bag experiment finally worked. I was so happy how it turned out that I kept it next to my bed the first night it was complete. Seriously. I wouldn't lie to you. Or would I?

Merlin & his dragon

My brother works on a cruise ship and all of his belongings have to be able to fit into two suitcases. This can be rather problematic when it comes time to give gifts. What can you get for someone that has no where to keep it? When I asked him what he would like me to make him, he picked a Corporate Zombie amigurumi from the book Creepy Cute Crochet. I was about half way through the zombie when I realised a flaw with it. I made him with flesh coloured yarn that made him look more Shaun-like (Simon Pegg♥) and less zombie-like and I didn't have the correct colour yarn that looked undead enough for me. Instead, I decided to put the zombie away (although I do intend to finish him as Shaun) and find a different project that was still small enough that it could be tucked away in his suitcase. Then one day while surfing the internet, I came across a pretty cute dino amigurumi pattern that I could make a few adjustments to and turn into a dragon! For years my brother has gone by the name Merlin online so I figured a dragon would go great with Merlin! Plus, I told him that he if didn't like it, I'd be emotionally scared for at least 16 years. The use of Little Sister Guilt is awesome, I might add.

I love Geeks.

My hands have never hurt as much as they did after this project. Honestly. Using my clay gun once makes my hands go red and raw. Using it about a hundred times within a few hours, made it impossible for me to touch anything for awhile without squirming in pain. I've been making polymer clay canes for a few years now but I've never really tried making any pictures within them (except for a once failed skull, so bad). I decided on an 8-bit Nintendo character as it would be pretty easy to work with. I printed off a pretty basic picture of one, broke it down into a grid pattern and got to work! Originally I was going to do with the more typical mushroom colours but I was lacking in orange and red so I decided to go with cute (and would match most of my clothing) instead.

Epic Fail!

I finished off the felted bag today and sadly, it did not turn out as well as I was hoping. The only reason being is that one of the grey yarns that I was using, did not felt to the same degree as the rest of the yarns so the bag doesn't have the same consistency the entire way around. It also didn't shrink as much as the rest so there are parts of the bag that are much looser where the dark grey yarn was used. This will teach me to felt a swatch before finishing the entire project next time.

Before Felting


After Felting


Damn you dark grey yarn. Damn you!

I'm still at home sick. My head feels like a bowling ball and I haven't had a good sleep in days. So unpleasant.

Let's try this again!

I've been trying to set up a crafting website for literally the past year but I just haven't been motivated to do so. I've been doing tonnes of crafts but sitting down at the computer and working just hasn't quite happened. I figured I'm out of work for the day due to a rather unfortunate cold (I have to brace myself every time I sneeze for fear of passing out). So here we go. I'll try again.

I've recently discovered felting and I find it rather fun. You can take an ordinary item that you've crocheted or knit, throw it in the washing machine and it turns into a completely different item. I started with a small change purse that I crocheted last week with this lovely Peruvian Highland Wool that I picked up at The Loop Craft Café. I am now working on a small bag with the same wool and some different shades of grey wool that I had laying around the house.