They're Breeding Like Rabbits!

Who knew that September was the Cthulhu breeding season? I just got a message from sewhooked who made this minty green tiny Cthulhu using my pattern (Tiny Cthulhu under My Free Patterns on the left sidebar.) She says she made this one for her hubby because he's currently running a Call of Cthulhu game. Yes, these little guys make great mascots and props for the roleplayers in your life. I originally started making crocheted cthulhus so that I could give one to my boyfriend along with a copy of Munchkin Cthulhu.


Sewhooked did such a great job on the wings that I just had to show them off too. I'm so happy that my wing instructions are actually making sense to some of you. Feel free to leave me a comment if you are struggling with them.

Of Cats and Cthulhu Cousins!

New cousins are just popping up all over the place lately. Becky sent me the link to this evil old one that she made using my Tiny Cthulhu pattern. (Look in the left sidebar under My Free Patterns for the link.) I'm not sure if kitty here is all that pleased with his new playmate, but I think he looks pretty cool. I like the mult-colours on the tentacles. I'd never thought of using the Tiny Cthulhu as a cat toy before, but now I'm wondering what would happen if you stuffed it with a bit of catnip and gave it to your favourite feline friend...Becky also added a pretty cool new detail to the cthulhu, which I think can best be described as the Sinister Brow! Click on her name above if you want to see how you can make this eyebrow piece for your own cthulhus.

As I'm sure you can tell from the last two posts, I'm always happy to show off the things people make with my patterns. Right now, when I don't have much time for updating the blog, it's so nice to log in every few days and see that people are still commenting on posts I made months ago and still discovering some of the patterns for the first time. If you want to share something you've made with one of my patterns, leave a comment somewhere on the blog and share a link where I can see a picture of your creation.

Welcoming Another Cute Cousin!

Tiara left me a comment to let me know she'd made this cute little Cthulhu using my Tiny Cthulhu pattern. On her flickr site she says she doesn't think the eyes are very well embroidered, but I have to disagree. I think they look great. Very sincere and sweet. I have yet to master embroidering on details like this, which is why I usually take the easy way out and just use safety eyes.

And in other completely random news, you must check out this Milk Vids video. I was so excited when I saw this because some of the critters in here are quite obviously crocheted. Yay crochet! Maybe someday there could be a whole Saturday morning cartoon with cute computer animated amigurumis. Let me know if any of you invent that, okay?

Jedi Themed Stacking Dolls! Cute Thing of the Week!

I don't think I've ever owned a set of stacking dolls, but they've always intriqued me. These Jedi themed ones are amazing. Great attention to detail. Although I'd be happier with a Vader doll rather than the Revenge of the Sith Anakin. Very cool though. I could use them to organize my amigurumi eyes or store some of my other crafty notions...

You can check out more pictures of these in katysshop on Etsy. She's a first year graphic design student living in the UK. This very cute set of Jedi themed stacking dolls is currently available for $44. She also has a hoodies and alien themed set available. And even better news, she'll take custom orders if you have your own idea for a set, but don't have the skills to make them yourself. I'm thinking Mario Brothers or maybe Firefly?

Smiley Bone of Boneville (with Free Pattern)

A note about Smiley: In the comics Smiley is always wearing his vest, but only occasionally wears the bowler hat. In some issues the vest is black with brown trim, in others it is brown. Feel free to make your Smiley using whatever colours you like. I’ve crocheted both items of clothing, but I’m sure you could sew them from felt if you’re crafty in that way.

Materials

white worsted weight yarn (one skein or less)
brown worsted weight yarn (one skein or less)
blue worsted weight yarn (one skein or less)
yellow felt or yellow worsted weight yarn (a very small amount)
black embroidery thread
fiber fill or stuffing material of your choice
size G (4.25mm) Hook

Note: The head and nose pieces start separately and then are joined together later. I recommend starting with the nose, then stitching the head, and body. The body and head are all one piece. I find this helps prevent the head from flopping around too much.

Nose
5 sc into magic ring
RND 1: 2 sc into each st around. (10 sts)
RND 2: *sc in first st, 2 sc into next st* repeat around (15 sts)
RND 3: *sc in first 2 sts, 2 sc in next st* repeat around (20 sts)
RND 4: *sc in first 3 sts, dec over next 2 sts* repeat around (16 sts)
RND 5: sc in each st around (16 sts)
RND 6: *sc in first 2 sts, dec over next 2 sts* repeat around (12 sts)
RND 7: sc in each st around (12 sts)
Finish off, leave long tail for sewing.

Head
5 sc into magic ring
RND 1: 2 sc into each st around (10 sts)
RND 2: *sc in first st, 2 sc into next st* repeat around (15 sts)
RND 3: *sc in first 2 sts, 2 sc in next st* repeat around (20 sts)
RND 4: *sc in first 3 sts, 2 sc in next st* repeat around (25 sts)
RND 5: *sc in first 4 sts, 2 sc in next st* repeat around (30 sts)
RND 6: sc in each st around (30 sts)
RND 7: *sc in first 14 sts, 2 sc in next st* repeat around (32 sts)
RND 8: 2 sc in first st, sc around (33 sts)
RND 9-10: sc in eac st around (33 sts)
Now we attach the nose and head pieces together.
RND 11: instead of crocheting into head piece, sc into the first 15 stitches of the nose piece, then skip 5 stitches on the head, sc into 6th st on the head and continue sc around the head. (35 sts) Use the long tail from the nose piece to whipstitch the 5 sts you didn’t stitch on the nose to the five stitches you skipped on the head piece. Also use this thread to tighten up any holes near the joined pieces that are too large.
RND 12-15: sc into each stitch around (35 sts)
RND 16: *sc into first 5 sts, dec over next 2 sts* repeat around (30 sts)
RND 17: *sc into first 4 sts, dec over next 2 sts* repeat around (25 sts)
RND 18: *sc into first 3 sts, dec over next 2 sts* repeat around (20 sts)
Place eyes and embroider mouth and eyebrows now.
RND 19: *sc into first 2 sts, dec over next 2 sts* repeat around (15 sts)
Now we start the body shape
RND 20: *sc in first 2 st, 2 sc in next st* repeat around (20 sts)
RND 21: *sc in first 3 st, 2 sc in next st* repeat around (25 sts)
RND 22-27: sc into each st around (25 sts)
RND 28: *sc in first 4 st, 2 sc in next st* repeat around (30 sts)
RND 29: *sc into first 2 st , 2 sc in next st* repeat around (40 sts)
RND 30-33: sc into each st around (40)
stuff head and nose section to your desired firmness level.
RND 34: *sc into first 6 sts, dec over next 2 sts* repeat around (35 sts)
RND 35: *sc into first 5 sts, dec over next 2 sts* repeat around (30 sts)
RND 36: *sc into first 4 sts, dec over next 2 sts* repeat around (25 sts)
RND 37: *sc into first 3 sts, dec over next 2 sts* repeat around (20 sts)
RND 38: *sc into first 2 sts, dec over next 2 sts* repeat around (15 sts)
stuff body
RND 39: *sc into first st, dec over next 2 sts* repeat around (10 sts)
RND 40: *dec over next 2 sts* repeat around (5 sts)
Finish off and sew shut.

Arms(make 2)
5 sc into magic ring
RND 1: 2 sc into each st around (10 sts)
RND 2: sc into each st around (10 sts)
RND 3: *sc in first 4 st, 2 sc into next st* repeat around (12 sts)
RND 3-4: sc into each st around (12 sts)
RND 5: *dec over next 2 sts* repeat around (6 sts)
RND 6-11: sc into each st around (6sts)
Finish off, leave long tail for sewing. Stuff only the widest part of arms.

Legs (make 2)
6 sc into magic ring
RND 1-11: sc into each st around (6)
Finish off, leave tail for sewing. Legs are not stuffed.

Feet (make 2)

4 sc into magic ring
RND 1: 3 sc into first st, 2 sc into each st around (9 sts)
RND 2: 2 sc into each st around (18 sts)
RND 3-5: sc into each st around (18 sts)
RND 6: *sc into first 7 sts, dec over next two sts* repeat around (16 sts)
RND 7: *sc into first 2 sts, dec over next two sts* repeat around (12 sts)
RND 8: *sc into first st, dec over next two sts* repeat around (8 sts)
stuff foot
RND 9: *dec over next two sts* repeat around (4 sts)
Finish off. sew shut.

Vest
This is a flat piece worked in rows, not rounds.

ch 22
Row 1: sc in second ch from hook, sc in each chain space across, ch1, turn (21 sts)
Row 2-3: sc in each st across, ch1, turn (21 sts)
Row 4: in back loop only *sc in first 2 sts, 2 sc in next stitch* repeat across, ch1, turn (28 sts)
Row 5: *2 sc in first 6 sts, 2 sc in next st* repeat across, ch1, turn (32 sts)
Row 6: sc in first 6 sts, ch 5, skip 5 sts, sc in next 10 sts, ch 5, skip 5 sts, sc in last 6 sts.
Row 7: sc in each st across, crocheting into chain spaces when necessary (32 sts)
Row 8-9: sc in each st across, (32 sts)
Row 10: *sc in first 7 sts, 2 sc in next st* repeat across, ch1, turn (36 sts)
Row 11: *sc in first 8 sts, 2 sc in next st* repeat across, ch1, turn (40 sts)
Row 12: sc in each st across, ch1, turn (40 sts)
Row 13: sc in each st across (40 sts), finish off, weave in tails on wrong side.

Hat

You can do the stripe on the hat in one of two ways, either cut a strip of felt out and glue it around the hat, or change to your stripe colour of yarn for Rows 5-7, and then go back to the main colour.

Note: The hat needs to be crocheted in circular rows, rather than spirals otherwise it will be crooked. To do this you need to slip stitch at the end of each row and make a chain.

5 sc in magic ring, but join end of ring with a slip stitch, then chain 1.
Row 1: 2 sc in each st around, slip stitch into first stitch (10 sts)
Row 2: ch1, *sc in first st, 2 sc in next st* repeat around, sl st into first stitch (15 sts)
Row 3: ch1, *sc in first 2 sts, 2 sc in next st* repeat around, sl st into first stitch (20 sts)
Row 4-7: ch1, sc into each st around, sl st into first st (20 sts)
Row 8: ch1 Front Loop Only *sc in first 3 sts, 2 sc in next st* repeat around, sl st into first st (25 sts)
Row 9: ch1, *sc in first 4 sts, 2 sc in next st* repeat around, sl st into first st (30 sts)
Row 10: ch1, sc in each sts around, sl st into first st (30 sts)
Finish off, weave in end on underside.

Assembly
Wrap the vest around Smiley’s body and use pins to hold it in place. Pin arms to body centering them in the arm holes of the vest. Whipstitch arms to body (you may need to remove the vest to do this. The holes in the vest should be large enough and should stretch enough that you can put the vest back on Smiley’s body after the arms are sewn on.)
Sew feet to legs and attach legs to body. Secure and hide all thread tails.

Use a glue gun or wool to attach the hat to Smiley’s head. You may also want to tack down the vest with glue or stitch it in a couple of places with yarn.

Enjoy!

(Check out my other Boneville related free patterns in the left sidebar.)

The Boneville Family Portrait!

Just finished crocheting a few hours ago and wanted to show off the whole Bone crew happily sitting down together for a family photo. For those not in the know, these are the main characters from Jeff Smith's wonderful Bone comic. From left to right we have Bartleby the Baby Rat Creature, his best pal Smiley, Fone Bone, and Phoney Bone.

Getting these four guys done was a project that I started back in March. Although I didn't really know it was a project when I made up the pattern and crocheted Fone Bone. Then it was so easy to do Phoney because his body was so similar to Fone, plus Phoney's always been my favourite. Then I had to do Bartleby because he's the cutest. I didn't really plan on making Smiley, but it just seemed odd to have the baby rat creature without him. I'd never been much of a Smiley fan. For the most part I found him irritating. Then while rereading Ghost Circles in the new colourized Scholastic edition I came across this panel on page 55:

Something about this made me rethink Smiley's character a bit and consider him from a different perspective. Maybe he's a lot more intelligent than I'd given him credit for previously, Plus the way he befriends and cares for a baby rat creature, despite the villagers' hatred for the rats, is pretty admirable.

So, at last I've put together a Smiley Bone and now my collection is complete...okay, maybe not complete. I'm thinking of making one of the bees since I still have a full bag of red stones to make the eyes with, and maybe someday the pair of quiche-loving adult rat creatures. The boyfriend is thinking of making a clay version of Ted the bug and maybe someday Fone will need a Thorn to moon over...

In another post I'll be putting up the full pattern for Smiley. I reworked the nose piece from what I'd done for the previous cousins to make it a little longer and narrower. Smiley's head is actually narrower than the other two and he's about an inch taller than them. I know in the picture he looks about the same height as Phoney, but I did make him bigger. His torso is longer and his legs and arms are double the length of his cousins'.

I spent some time debating the colours for Smiley's clothes since they seem to change a bit throughout the Scholastic books. Sometimes the vest is black with brown trim, other times it's completely brown. The bowler hat disappears after the first two or three graphic novels, as does the cigar. Do they make a reappearance in the final issue? I don't have a copy and it's been years since I've read it. I decided to keep the bowler hat, but lose the cigar, mostly because I figured it would be hard to position on his mouth. If I ever make another Smiley I'll invest in some small magnets then I can put one inside his mouth and one in the end of the cigar so it can be removeable.

Want the Pattern?

All my Boneville related patterns are free and you can find them in the left sidebar under "My Free Patterns." Expect the Smiley pattern to go up sometime this week. And now I leave you with one final picture:


Bartleby and Smiley about to indulge in their favourite snack.


Comic picture from Jeff Smilth's Treasure Hunters, Scholastic edition, page 88.

A Few Renovations

If you're a regular visitor here you may have noticed I've made some changes to the left sidebar. For now I've added a picture, a Blog List and a subscription button. I also put a link to my 100th post under Crafty Favourites since I figure it explains any long absences I may be taking from the blog. Hopefully more readers will stumble across it there than in the acrhives.

I'm not sure if the changes will be permanent or not. I already have a couple of quibbles with the Blog list. For some blogs it takes you to the homepage for the blog while for others, specifically I've noticed this with Sprite Stitch, it only takes you to the most recent post. I'm also unable to add Geek Central Station to the list even though it's on Blogger! For now GCS will stay in the Crafty Favourites cause I certainly don't want to give up the quick link to it.

Feel free to comment and let me know what you think of the changes. If anything isn't working for you I'd like to know about it.

Also, some of you will be happy to know I'm working on the Smiley Bone pattern now. As in right now, as soon as I log off from Blogger. His body and arms are complete and I'm about to tackle the vest. I should have a picture to post tomorrow, and if things go really well, I may even have the pattern written up by tomorrow evening. I've been making notes as I go which is much easier than trying to write the pattern after you've finished the crocheting!

Want the Pattern?

Can you believe I actually found a picture of a crocheted pylon? This comes from Etsy user theselovinghands and the pattern is available for $3.50 U.S.

Scarymerry Clay Knitting Accessories! Cute Thing of the Week!

The only knitting stitch markers I own are a set of boring white plastic rings that came with my first "Learn to Knit" kit. They certainly do the trick when you need to mark your place, but if I was ever going to splurge and treat my needles to some fancy markers I think I'd start looking at Scarymerry's Etsy shop.

I really couldn't pick just one set from this store to be the Cute Thing of the Week because everything shop owner Mary makes is amazing. I love when people create food with clay and it looks so delicious it makes my mouth water. Mary has a fine menu of clay food here as well as pop culture characters, novelty items and animals. I'm showing off a few of my favourites, but please take a moment and check out the shop for yourself.

And be warned, items move fast. Last night I was eyeing a set of sushi markers and today they're gone!

Glow in the Dark Yarn

I just got an e-newsletter the other day telling me about Bernat's new Glow in the Dark yarn and I have to say it' s piqued my curiousity. Has anyone tried this stuff yet? If so, please post a comment and tell me what you think.

With Halloween just a month away I think this stuff would be perfect for some little amigurumi ghosts and goblins. I'm just wondering how much it actually glows, since I suspect that all the finished product photos Bernat is using with their patterns have received an enhanced glow from some photo editing software. Just a suspicion, no proof here.


I was down at the local Michael's store today and noticed they are carrying this stuff. It's about $5 Cdn for a 1.4 oz ball, which was a bit disappointing. I was hoping for a 3.5 oz ball for about that price. Of course the little 1.4 oz ball would be enough for a small amigurumi (pretty costly if you wanted to make a novelty scarf though) and I was impressed with the feel of the wool. It's about as soft as Bernat's Satin line, which was surprising, I had expected the glow in the dark fibres to make it feel pretty coarse. So maybe I'll go back...after all, the newsletter is warning me that it will only be available for a limited time.

Seeing the ad for this stuff made me wonder if this is the first time a glow in the dark yarn has been created for the general public. A little poking around on the internet and I discovered Nightlights Glow in the Dark Yarn which is 100% nylon and glows "for up to 4 hours when charged under a light source for 1 hour." In comparison Bernat's product, according to the fine print, only glows for 15 minutes, but will also recharge in 15 minutes.


Flickr user avamil used a combination of Nightlights Glow in the Dark yarn and a homespun merino wool to knit this scarf.