Crocheting Again

I've been crocheting again, and it feels great!  Ok wait, I might need to clarify on that!  I've had to put my personal projects aside for a few months because I had a big order and summer time slowed down my crochet productivity, LOL!  Now that I've finished that order and my daughter has started all day kindergarten, I've been able to devote a lot of time to crocheting the projects I love!

First, I'll show off the custom order I was working on.  It was a remake of the monkey blanket I did on the knitting machine for my son, only this time it was completely crocheted.

I will start by saying that I wasn't happy with how this pattern was working out with my crochet technique.  I used the same crochet technique as described by Todd Paschall and the crochet by numbers portrait afghans.  In the portrait afghans there are so many color changes that you can't see some of the inconsistencies when you're working on the wrong side of the crochet.  With this pattern the technique just didn't work with the black lines and I was unhappy about that.  I ended up having to go back and embroider over those lines to fill in the color gaps the technique created.  The picture above shows it before I embroidered it, but I forgot to photograph it after I worked on it.  In the end, it looked better, but my perfectionist nature still wasn't happy with the outcome!  So that was a big reason why I just didn't enjoy working on it, because I also didn't have the time to devote to it to fix it the way it needed to be fixed.

So, in more exciting news, I finished a work-in-progress that was sitting around for over 2 years.  Can you believe it?  My daughter dragged it around and around for those two years, even in it's ugly duckling stage, and it was dirty and fuzzy and needed some serious love.  I actually thought about tossing it and never looking at it again!

As you can see, this little guy (or girl?) was a sight for sore eyes!  But she got a quick make over and is now even more of a favorite of my daughter's.  Of course I finished her leg and did the shoes.  I actually had to redo the first leg to add the shoe.  Originally I had thought of doing separate shoes and clothes that could be removed, but that quickly went out the window this time around.

This little girl got some cute details around the eyes and a cute ponytail with a little matching bow!  I'd been calling her Dolly, because that's what I call all the girl dolls I make, LOL, but my daughter has now named her Sally the Ballerina!  :D

Now, for the last update!  I'm only going to talk about it briefly because soon I'm going to post a little more extensive update on this piece.  It's my personal photo portrait afghan!  This little puppy was on hold for quite some time but it's so exciting to be working on it again!  Here it is at about 45%!  Can you see it coming together?  I sure can, and I can't wait to finish it!

Mystery Crochet-a-Long at Totallee

So now that I finished my other crochet portrait piece I was going to continue crocheting my personal one of my husband and I for my daughter.  While perusing my fave blog, Totallee.net, she's posted an awesome crochet-a-long (CAL)!  I honestly can't wait to get started.  I'm using some left over colors from my Edward CPA and stealing two colors from my personal one!  I'm super excited!

So, if you don't know what a Mystery CAL is then here's the low down, LOL!  A pattern is posted without the picture of the final outcome, therefor it's a mystery.  You do the pattern and find out what it is, voila, a Mystery CAL!  So, Lee of Totallee has posted a color palette that consists of black, grey, and white, and a light and dark shade of a color of your choice.  I've decided to switch out the black for a lighter grey and I'm using purples as my color of choice.

So, I'm so excited about this that I started it last night! I got a few rounds done before my hands couldn't take anymore but it's on its way!  I'll post some progress pics when I get some more done!

Head on over to Totallee to check out the Mystery CAL for yourself!  Follow along and do it for yourself!

I'm Back

In case you haven't noticed, I have had no luck being able to use my computer like I used to since I moved! My little boy just doesn't like to hang out in the basement where our computer is set up. Luckily for me I've finally found the Blogger App on my iPod Touch, so now I can update on the go! I tried going on the web from my iPod and updating that way, but it wouldn't allow me to add photos! :( So without further ado, here's what I've been up to!

I've been diligently working on this awesome portrait crochet piece for my dear friend and it's finally at the 76% mark! The only now is that I've run out of red yarn! I'm in desperate need of a trip to the yarn store and hope they have this color! I certainly don't want to have to order it online! I bought the yarn in Colorado while I was staying there, and the store is still fairly new to the Michigan area, so fingers crossed!

It's coming out rather nicely if I do say so myself! I can't wait to finish it for her! It's been taking much much longer then I ever had anticipated! :(

But that's all for now! More to come soon!

I'm Back

Woohoo, I'm back and boy am I happy to have my computer back! I've been spending the better half of the past two days trying to get everything in order and fixing my programs.

But, while my computer was away I managed to get my crochet portrait piece to a good point. It's exciting to see it all coming together where before it looked like a mess, LOL!

So here it stands at 25%! (Can you see my son trying to grab it in the bottom-left corner? hehe) Can you see it coming together? On the left is my plaid shoulder, and on the right is my husband's shirt with an old english E on it! AWESOME!!!

Progress

So I've been trying to focus hard on getting somewhere with this crochet piece. It's of my husband and I, and I'm really loving how it's coming out.

The lighter colors on the right are the bottom of my husband's shirt while the darker stripey colors on the left are of my shirt. I know I picked a crazy photo to do because I was wearing a plaid-ish shirt, so the detail is CRAZY!

Right now it's at 11% and going really good! Better get back to work on it right away! I can't wait to get to a point where you all can really see the details! It's going to be amazing. Here is what it will look like when it's finished! :D

New Ideas

I'm so excited about making a new crocheted photo piece and I can't wait. It's a personal photo of my husband and I and it's going to be in 8 shades of purple. My daughter really wanted it so I thought that would be a perfect color for it since it's her fave. Here are the shades I chose.

I know they are all sorta jumbled up looking right now, but I've put them in order according to my pattern's numbers. This box is actually the perfect size for holding them all together and keeping them in the right order. It's going to be easier this way to know which ones to use when.

I'm still trying to decide if I want to make them and sell them in a new etsy shop or in my 7pd shop. I'm afraid it's going to be a jumbled, hodge-podge mess if I put too many different things in the same shop. I'm still trying to decide. But that's ok! I can't wait to post my progress!

Edward Cullen Crochet Piece

I'm so excited to say that I finished my Edward Cullen crochet piece!

It did take me longer to finish then I expected because I didn't have as much time to work on it toward the end of my pregnancy. I got so inspired and decided to work, and work, and work on it until it was finished! I swear I'm so excited about it that I don't know what to do with myself, LOL!

Now I only need to put a back on it and that can be a trick within itself. The piece is pretty thick so I have to pick a back that won't add to the bulk but also easy to attach. I thought about crocheting a back or knitting one, adding fabric, or even fleece. There are so many choices.

I know that crocheting would be easy to attach but it would take longest to create and add too much bulk.

Knitting might be easy to attach but I'm not sure it would be the best idea either!

Adding fleece or fabric could be really cool but attaching it could be harder. I wouldn't be able to sew it on with my sewing machine because the crochet is too thick. I would definitely have to sew it by hand.

Well, those are my choices! :) I guess my progress will be another update!

Picture Afghans on the Way

So my newest love, and hopefully items in the shop, are picture afghans! I absolutely love love love them. This is my first attemp at creating my very own from my own pattern so I'm really excited about it! Here is my progress on my first one and I've added the little pic of what it's supposed to be. Yes, I'm a HUGE Twilight fan and I can't wait to finish this one! It's 35% done and I can really see it coming together nicely!

Wanna try this sort of thing for yourself? There is a master of Crochet by Numbers named Todd Paschall and he will give you your first pattern for free. Visit his website for more info and tutorials.

There are also some awesome ladies who've adopted this method and created some free patterns of their own. Visit Totallee's Free Patterns for some Harry Potter and another Edward pattern. Also visit Tracy's Crochet for her Edward pattern.