The wedding planner

My cousin is getting married today and I almost forgot to crochet him and his fiancee a little gift! Luckily, Google always has the answer when it comes to quick little projects and I found a really cute pattern on Lion Brand.

They look adorable together, don’t they?

This morning I said to Boyfriend that when (not if :P) we get married, I want all the guests to give me a skein of yarn. He then decided that he wants a set of guitar strings from everyone. He also thought my idea was weird, but let’s ignore that part ^_~

I’ve got a bit of a headcold, so I’m pretty much rambling today. I have built a little crochet cave on the couch with a blanket and food and all my supplies together and I’ve been watching Graham Norton all morning.

And now I’m babbling again… I’d better get back to bed or something, seeing how I need to go to a wedding party tonight ^_^

Cheers, Lydia

Friendship is Magic

Around the beginning of this blog, I’d worked on Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash from the series My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Back then, I’d already mentioned that I might make the rest of the set, The Mane Four (which is not a typo) when I’d run out of projects. And this time has come. Well, I didn’t exactly run out, but I didn’t know what to work on next.

I’ve already got Rarity finished:

And Pinky Pie is well on her way:

I should be able to finish her up this weekend and then it’s just Applejack and Twilight Sparkle to work on. I’m going through them a bit quicker than the last time I worked on the ponies, but then again, being familiar with the pattern goes a long way. Also, I don’t have to make wings for them, so there are a few less parts to work on.

The basic pony pattern is from HookedOnAnime as before, but the manes I’m working out myself. I’ll post a quick how-to when I’ve finished all four, in case anyone is interested.

In other news

One of my friends -the lovely Jaqueline over at EenMooiMomentje– has been going through a pretty rough time. There are plenty of things that can cheer me up and at the top of that list is crafting with friends, drinking tea and eating sushi. So that is exactly what I invited her over for a few days ago. We had a great day, me working on my latest project and her knitting away at a warm hat for the coming winter. Our cat Wisky was especially interested in her knitting needles (something she’d never seen before in her life), while our other cat Japie thought of them more as something he desperately needed to murder as soon as possible. Despite all the distractions, Jaqueline still got a bit of work done.
The sushi was awesome as always. (I still believe I don’t get to eat it nearly enough)
After dinner she had to go home again, but we will definitely be meeting up more often (as long as both our work schedules allow it ^_^” )

Check out her blog sometime, it’s a great read about anything from knitting and crocheting to beauty products! (It is all in Dutch though, keep that in mind *cough*googletranslate*cough*)
Have a great weekend!

Cheers, Lydia

Creepy Crawlies

As you might know, me and my boyfriend came back last week from a vacation in Greece. We had loads of fun there, but sometimes, things got a little… creepy. I will now tell you all the horror story of “The bug under the fridge!!” ~dundundunnnn~

I’m not regularly afraid of bugs in general. Frankly, whenever I come across one I don’t feel like catching and releasing myself, I set one of our cats on it. That usually clears up the problem in no time, especially since one of them loves to eat bugs. It’s like we don’t feed her anything, whenever she can get her claws on one, she will eat it. Sometimes she runs around the house with a huge blowfly still buzzing in her mouth, trying to find a quiet place to enjoy her snack. But I degress.

It was our second to last day in Greece and I had just gotten out of the shower when I noticed something underneath the fridge. So I bent down to look at what had caught my attention and I saw that it was a rather large, black bug. Since we didn’t have the cats with us on this trip, I decided to call out for Boyfriend so that he could swoop in and save this damsell in distress, yours truly. Now, if there is one thing I have learned from this experience, it’s that I should never, ever again call for Boyfriend when there is a large bug to be taken care of. He ended up being more grossed out by it than I was. Eventually, since the bug didn’t seem to want to come out from under the fridge and we couldn’t clearly make out what it was, we decided to leave it in peace. Problem solved, you would think. Everytime we came close to the kitchenette, we could see it scuttling back under the comfort and safety of the small fridge, so I figured it was more scared of us than we were of it and everything would be just fine.

Boyfriend didn’t feel quite the same. He really wanted to know what it was, but, since we hadn’t seen more than just it’s huge antennea, we could do nothing more than speculate. He eventually decided that it just HAD to be a cockroach. I had my doubts, figured it would much more likely be one of the crickets you could hear all day, but couldn’t see. But as I said, we hadn’t seen the whole thing yet, so I couldn’t debunk Boyfriends idea. We didn’t see the thing for the rest of the day.

That night, I was exhausted as usual (waking up every morning at 6.15 and not getting any sleep until the evening, plus doing loads of touristy stuff will do that to me) so I went to sleep early. Boyfriend was still up, but in bed next to me, playing on his Nintendo DS. Right when I was falling asleep, he suddenly cried out and jumped onto my side of the bed, scaring me wide awake in an instant. He’d heard something next to him and when he looked on his nightstand, The Bug was right there! According to Boyfriend, it flew at him when he saw it and then mysteriously disappeared, either behind his pillow or somewhere else in the room. The bug-hunt began, me looking all over and Boyfriend asking me if I’d seen it from the other side of the room. (Okay, maybe I’m making this worse than it really was. He could’ve just gone to the bathroom while I was trying to find The Bug, but humour me ^_~) I couldn’t find it anywhere, so I got ready to go back to sleep. But Boyfriend had another idea. We needed to switch sides, since The Bug might be behind his side of the bed. Also, he wanted to know what he should do when he saw it again. So I went into the kitchenette, got one of the cooking pans and told him that if he saw it again, he should put the pan over it and we would see what we’d do with it in the morning. As long as he’d let me sleep, it would be fine.

No more incidents through the night and the next morning we both woke up refreshed. Boyfriend was still wondering what The Bug might be, since he saw it flying across the room. He figured it couldn’t be a cockroach, since it flew. Unfortunately, I watch too much Discovery Channel and spend too much time on the Internet, so I was able to tell him that yes, cockroaches can in fact fly. They don’t seem to do it a lot, but still. During the day, he kept thinking about that creepy Bug crawling all over our appartment while we were enjoying our last day next to the swimming pool. I tried to comfort him, but I guess I’m a little too sadistic to really get him to feel better.

Around late afternoon, I started to fall asleep over my book, so I decided to go back to our room to get a little nap in. Boyfriend went with me so I wouldn’t be alone. And of course, right as I was falling asleep, Boyfriend suddenly started slamming the drawers of his nightstand, scaring me awake once more. When I asked him what was wrong, he told me The Bug was in his nightstand. He was looking for his DS Adapter, but instead, found the huge, black bug in there. It was time to take action. As soon as he’d told me that The Bug was moving slowly in there when he’d opened the drawer, I figured it couldn’t be a cockroach, they’d be running like crazy if you suddenly exposed them to light like that. I told him to get a bowl or a glass or something, put it over The Bug and we’d put it outside. He did just that.

And here is the nastly little bugger, keeping me awake the last few days of my vacation:

A cricket, just like I thought. We set the little guy free on the grass behind our room and at least I could sleep well the last night.

You might be wondering where I’m going with this extremely long and slightly senseless story.

Well, when we got back home and I had access to my crocheting gear again, I just knew I had to make something for Boyfriend to commemorate this aweome adventure we’d had. I set out on a quest to find a Cockroach pattern, since I wasn’t feeling like looking at loads of cockroach pictures in order to figure a pattern out myself. I stumbled upon the blog of Zpiderdzigh, who had the cutest (if possible) little cockroach pattern for sale. When I got the pattern, it turned out that the body was knitted! But don’t fret, crocheting it works out just as well ^_^

So withour further ado, here’s Carl the Crochet Cockroach:

There he is, just sitting on the bed, waiting for someone to discover him so he can scuttle away to safety

And here he is again, right next to the fridge! I hope he can’t get in there…

He’s found the catfood! Now we’ll never get rid of him.. Oh well, welcome to your new home, Carl!

I put him in Boyfriends nightstand last night, right next to his DS so he had to find it. We had a good laugh about it and he said he loved it, so I guess it’s all good now ^_^

How do you handle creepy crawlies? Are you scared of them, kill them, or catch them and set them free? (I’m pretty much all of the above..)

Cheers, Lydia

Rain, rain, go away…

It was quite a bit of a culture shock to get home from Greece. Especially the weather is hopeless. There, it was nothing but blue skies and loads of sun. Over here, not so much. All I’ve seen so far is gray clouds and raindrops. (Typical dutch weather for this time of year, but still)

So to get back into the swing of things, I made a ‘Teru Teru Bozu’, a little charm to call for good weather.

The pattern can be found here and it is really easy to follow. I do think the lower part came out a bit small, but still, it looks very cute ^_^

I hope it will work, but if it doesn’t, I’ll just have to fill this rainy day with loads of crochet!

Cheers, Lydia

I’m back!

For anyone wondering where I was: I had a lovely vacation on Rhodes, Greece with my boyfriend. For ten days nothing but sun, sea, culture and nature. We’ve spent our time there visiting many different places and really just being touristy ^_^ (with the occasional day at the swimming pool to rest our feet)

But now, we are back home and it’s back to everyday life. Which, to me, means a new crochet project. But there’s one problem… I finished all my projects before we left and now, I’m not sure what to start! So if anyone has suggestions, feel free to share ^_^

Cheers, Lydia

Bring your amigurumi to work friday

Except I don’t have to work this week, since I’m on vacation 🙂 not much room in my suitcase, but this little guy insisted on coming along to help me write the postcards ^_^

Every first Friday of the month is byatwf, so be sure to save the date and bring your creations with you to whatever you’re doing and where ever you are going! Did you join me and others today? Or will you do so next time?

Cheers, Lydia

New pattern: Dedenne!

It has been a while since I’ve posted a pattern of my own, but today, I finally finished a new one! I’ve been keeping up with news about the new Pokémon games X and Y (I desperately need X once it comes out!) and fell in love with this little guy:

Dedenne

Luckily, I had all the colours I needed in my stash already, so I could get to work as soon as I’d finished all the other projects I’d set out for myself.

And here’s the result:

Some parts came almost naturally to me and others I had to frog over and over again to get them right. Some parts can be replaced by felt (like the whiskers and back stripe) but I really kind of wanted to try to make some more difficult shapes with yarn. And I have to say, I believe I succeeded pretty well ^_^

Well, without further ado, here’s the pattern, so you can make one of these cute little guys yourself! If you do, feel free to share your work with me, I would love to see what you can make! Sometimes I really wonder if people use my patterns at all >_<”

Dedenne crochet pattern

Materials
Golden-brown yarn, (fuzzy) black yarn, orange yarn and off-white yarn. Black and white felt, wire.

Abbreviations
ch – chain
ss – slip stitch
sc – single crochet
hdb – half double crochet
db – double crochet
tc – triple crochet
dec – decrease
st – stitch
fo – finish off
repeat ** – repeat what is in between **
(x) – x is the amount of stitches you should have at the end of the row

The Pattern
The pattern is worked in rounds unless it says otherwise. You do not need to join rounds.

Head
With golden-brown yarn, ch2
Round1: 6sc in second chain from the hook (6)
Round2: 2sc in every st around (12)
Round3: *1sc in first st, 2sc in next st* repeat ** 5 times (18)
Round4: *1sc in first 2st, 2sc in next st* repeat ** 5 times (24)
Round5: *1sc in first 3st, 2sc in next st* repeat ** 5 times (30)
Round6: *1sc in first 4st, 2sc in next st* repeat ** 5 times (36)
Round7: *1sc in first 5st, 2sc in next st* repeat ** 5 times (42)
Round8-17 (10 rounds): 1sc in every sc (42)
Round 18: *1sc in first 5st, dec1* repeat ** 5 times (36)
Round19: *1sc in first 4st, dec1* repeat ** 5 times (30)
Round20: *1sc in first 3st, dec1* repeat ** 5 times (24)
Round21: *1sc in first 2st, dec1* repeat ** 5 times (18)
Start stuffing the head
Round22: *1sc in first st, dec1`* repeat ** 5 times (12)
Finish stuffing
Round23: dec6 (6)
Fo and weave in the ends.

Body
With golden-brown yarn, ch2
Round1: 6sc in second chain from the hook (6)
Round2: 2sc in every st around (12)
Round3: *1sc in first st, 2sc in next st* repeat ** 5 times (18)
Round4: *1sc in first 2st, 2sc in next st* repeat ** 5 times (24)
Round5: *1sc in first 3st, 2sc in next st* repeat ** 5 times (30)
Round6: *1sc in first 4st, 2sc in next st* repeat ** 5 times (36)
Round7: *1sc in first 5st, 2sc in next st* repeat ** 5 times (42)
Round8: *1sc in first 6st, 2sc in next st* repeat ** 5 times (48)
Round9-13 (5 rounds): 1sc in every st (48)
Round14: *1sc in first 6st, dec1* repeat ** 5 times (42)
Round 15-19 (5 rounds): 1sc in every st (42)
Round 20: *1sc in first 5st, dec1* repeat ** 5 times (36)
Fo, leave a long tail of yarn to sew the body to the head. Stuff the body and sew the head on top.

Ears (make two)
With black yarn, ch2
Round1: 6sc in second chain from the hook (6)
Round2: 2sc in every st around (12)
Round3: *1sc in first st, 2sc in next st* repeat ** 5 times (18)
Round4: *1sc in first 2st, 2sc in next st* repeat ** 5 times (24)
Round5-7 (3 rounds): 1sc in every st (24)
Round8: *1sc in first 2st, dec1* repeat ** 5 times (18)
Round9: 1sc in every st (18)
Round10: *1sc in first st, dec1`* repeat ** 5 times (12)
Flatten the piece and stitch the hole closed with 5 or 6 sc.
Fo, leave a tail of yarn to sew the ears to the body.

Inner Ears (make two)
With off-white yarn, ch2
Round1: 6sc in second chain from the hook (6)
Round2: 2sc in every st around (12)
Round3: *1sc in first st, 2sc in next st* repeat ** 5 times (18)
Fo, leave a tail of yarn to sew the inner ears onto the ears.

Fold the ears a bit so that they get a bit more rounded at the bottom and sew them onto the top of the head.

Tummy
With off-white yarn, ch2
Round1: 6sc in second chain from the hook (6)
Round2: 2sc in every st around (12)
Round3: *1sc in first st, 2sc in next st* repeat ** 5 times (18)
Round4: *1sc in first 2st, 2sc in next st* repeat ** 5 times (24)
Round5: *1sc in first 3st, 2sc in next st* repeat ** 5 times (30)
Round6: *1sc in first 4st, 2sc in next st* repeat ** 5 times (36)
Round7: 1sc in first 12st, *1sc in next st, 2sc in second st* repeat ** 5 times, 1sc in next 12st (42)
Round8: 1sc in first 18st, 2sc in next 6st, 1sc in next 18st (48)
Fo, leave a tail of yarn and sew the tummy onto the body. Make sure the round end is on the bottom of the body, so that the pointed end is right beneath the head.

Cheeks (make two)
With orange yarn, ch2
Round1: 6sc in second chain from the hook (6)
Round2: 2sc in every st around (12)
Fo and leave a tail of yarn. Sew the cheeks on the sides of the face.

Whiskers (make two)
With black yarn, ch16
Round1: working your way back along the chain ss2 then ch3, ss in second ch from hook, ss and return working along the original chain. Ss2, ch2, ss in second ch from hook and return working along the original chain. Ss along the rest of the chain (should be about 11ch left) and continue on the other side of the chain. Ss10, ch2, ss in second ch from hook and return working along the original chain. Ss2 then ch3, ss in second ch from hook, ss and return to original chain, ss2 and fo, leaving a tail of yarn.
Fold the whiskers in half and sew them onto the cheeks so that the halves without the antennae are at the bottom.

I’m sorry, but I can’t find an easier way to make the whiskers using crochet. You could of course always substitute these with felt whiskers, which should be a lot easier to make ^_^”

Front paws (make two)
With golden-brown yarn, ch2
Round1: 4sc in second chain from the hook (4)
Round2: 2sc in every st around (8)
Round3-6 (4 rounds): 1sc in every st (8)
Stuff the paws lightly, flatten the piece and stitch the hole closed with 3 or 4 sc. Leave a tail of yarn and sew the paws onto the body, just beneath the head and to the sides of the tummy.

Feet (make2)
With golden-brown yarn, ch2
Round1: 6sc in second chain from the hook (6)
Round2: 2sc in every st around (12)
Round3-7 (5 rounds): 1sc in every st (12)
Round8: *1sc in first 2st, dec1* repeat ** 2 times (9)
Round9: 1sc in every st (9)
Round10: *1sc in first st, dec1* repeat ** 2 times (6)
Fo, leave a tail of yarn to sew the feet to the body. Flatten the piece and pull the tail of yarn through the feet to the top, then sew the feet to the bottom of the body, a little bit apart and pointing slightly outwards.

Back stripe
With black yarn, ch22
Work your way back along the chain, starting from the second ch from the hook.
Round1: 1sc in first 3st, 1hdc in next 3st, 1dc in next 3st, 1tc in next 3st, 1dc in next 3st, 1hdc in next 3st, 1sc in next 3st, continue on the other side of the chain, 1sc in first 3st, 1hdc in next 3st, 1dc in next 3st, 1tc in next 3st, 1dc in next 3st, 1hdc in next 3st, 1sc in next 3st (42)
Round2: *1sc in first 6st, 2sc in next st* repeat ** 5 times (48)
Fo and leave a tail of yarn. Sew the stripe to the back, starting at the 6th round of the body and ending about halfway on the head.

Tail
Start with fuzzy black yarn, ch2
Round1: 6sc in second chain from the hook (6)
Round2: *1sc in first st, 2sc in next st* repeat ** 2 times (9)
Round3: *1sc in first 2st, 2sc in next st* repeat ** 2 times (12)
Round4-5 (2 rounds): 1sc in every st (12)
Round6: dec6 (6)
Change to normal black yarn, ch1 and turn (this is so you don’t have to turn the fuzzy yarn ‘right side out’ since most of the fuzz tends to go on the ‘wrong side’ of the piece. The normal black yarn is turned ‘right side out’ by turning your work)
Round7-57 (51 rounds): 1sc in every st (6)
Fo and leave a tail of yarn to sew the tail to the body. You don’t have to stuff the tail, but I did insert a length of wire so that it is pose-able.  Sew the tail to the bottom of the back stripe.

Cut two ovals out of black felt and glue them onto the face, in between the cheeks. Then cut two small circles out of white felt and glue them on top of the black ovals. Cut a small tooth out of white felt and the shape of the mouth out of black felt and glue them onto the face. Either embroider the nose onto the face or make it out of a tiny piece of black felt.

Your very own Dedenne is done!

Note that Dedenne and all other Pokémon are copyright of Nintendo.

Please do not sell or publish this pattern as your own. If you do use it, please give credit to me and link back to my site, thank you in advance! And, of course, feel free to send me pictures of your work ^_^

Also, if you find anything wrong with this pattern or if you can’t figure something out, feel free to contact me 🙂

Some more pictures to finish up!

Cheers, Lydia