Unfinished Circular Pop Tab Purse (crochet)

Recently I hit burnout #1 in the midst of my Yoshi blanket. Since I couldn't bring myself to even think about making another Granny Square, I decided to mess around with the bajillion pop tabs I have and have been wanting to try and crochet a purse with.


Tons and tons of pop tabs!

Now on to the (semi) final product. Drum roll please....


Front of purse


Front detail

I wish that the pop tabs had shown more but there's always next time! haha


Back of purse


Back detail

Like I said, I was totally winging the pattern. There wasn't really any hope of me being able to replicate it for the back so I just decided to do a solid circle with all the colors and hope that it would work out. Magically it did; size, number of stitches, everything!


Inside Shot #1


Inside Shot #2

It needs a handle and lining and I can't sew very well so I have no idea when it's actually going to be done. I'm very proud of it since it's my first original pattern even though I don't intend on keeping it for myself (I love the colors but it's too small for my liking haha). I know I couldn't possibly write up a pattern for it but if someone really wanted one, I could try and explain what I did. At the least I could give some pointers...

Hope everyone likes! :)
-Erin

Firefly/Serenity Jayne Hat (knit)

I knit this awhile ago but since I've had to take a break from crocheting to get ready to move back into the dorms at school, I figured I'd post something I already made.

I'm a diehard Firefly/Serenity fan and for anyone familiar with the tv series I'm sure you can guess what one of the first things I wanted to knit was....Jayne's hat! (for anyone who hasn't seen the tv series or movie I highly recommend it!)



It was almost all stockinette stitch and very easy to make. I actually made two, one for a friend and one for myself, and cranked each one out in about a day. It was also my first time working in the round which I liked a lot more than using double ended needles (they actually annoy me quite a bit...)


Stitch detail


Pom pom detail

It was my first time making a pom pom (well technically this picture is of the second hat I made...) and I loved it! In fact I got a little carried away on my second pom pom, that thing is a beast compared to the first one! haha



Of course I had to try and give my best Jayne face when modeling it. I think it's kinda fail but whatever.



If it's any indication of how much my friend loves her hat, this picture has been her profile picture on facebook ever since she got it. Thanks for modeling Sarah!

Pattern can be found here:
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=19076.20

Wash (Alan Tudyk): "A man walks down the street in that hat, people know he's not afraid of anything."
-Erin

Yoshi Already in Use

I hadn't intended on making another post so soon but, after I had finished adding another row to my Yoshi blanket and had it on my bed still, my cat George decided that he wanted to break in my blanket already.



It started off innocently enough with him barely sitting on it at all.



Look at that sweet face that says, "Don't worry. I'd never lay on your blanket and get hair all over it." So I turn my back and come back to this...



The little twerp is lucky he's so cute.



He seemed to like it enough to sleep on it for 3 hours or so. I take that as a good sign and can't wait until I get my chance to use it :)

Impatiently Yours,
-Erin

Current Project: 8 bit Yoshi Blanket (crochet)

I figured I’d jump right into things with pictures from my current crochet project. I’m crocheting an 8-bit Yoshi blanket, a great start to a blog with nerdy in the title if you ask me. Please excuse the distracting background but I didn't want to lay it out on the floor and didn't feel like stripping the quilt off my bed for the picture...



I’m making it from simple, double crochet granny squares with each square measuring roughly 3 to 3.5” depending on the type of yarn used. The body itself is 28 squares high by 26 squares wide which should put it a bit over 7’ tall when done. I love huge blankets since I’m 6’ tall myself and like having plenty of material to wrap myself up in so it should be perfect :). The Yoshi body itself should be 341 squares total if my math is correct so this is indeed a rather big project. I made the chart up from a picture I found online. If anyone wants, I can send you the chart and/or link to the original picture I used.


Close-up of the eye

I’ve finished his nose and mouth and have two rows of his eye done which make puts me about 1/3 done with the whole body. It will eventually have a blue background to fill in the spaces and make it a rectangle but that’ll roughly double the amount of squares I have to make so I’m not entirely anxious to start on that yet haha. That and I haven’t found the right color yarn yet.

I’m using Bernat Super Saver for all the colors but the light green. It’s my favorite type of yarn I’ve used thus far and I can easily pick it up from my local grocery store. The light green is Red Heart Super Saver because I couldn’t find the right color in anything else. I quite dislike Red Heart SS because I find it to be quite scratchy feeling but they had the color I needed and I didn’t really want to spend forever searching for the color in another brand.


Complete granny square


Close-up of square stitched together on both vertical sides

As I mentioned earlier the Granny Squares are simple and all double crocheted. They don’t really stay square by themselves but when stitched together they look much more square. I’m stitching them together vertically first and am waiting to stitch them together horizontally until all of the row is there first (you’ll notice the very top of his nose and bottom of his mouth are stitched horizontally).

So that’s where 1-2 weeks worth of effort has gotten me so far. I think it’s been two weeks but I can’t remember when I started, I really should have made note of the date somewhere… I’m in love with the project already and can’t wait to get it done! I don’t know how much time I’ll have to work on it in the near future since I move onto campus this upcoming Thursday and classes start the following Wednesday but we’ll see! Like I said earlier, if anyone wants the chart or original picture or even directions for the granny square just ask!

In the immortal words of that adorably strange dinosaur creature,
Yoshiiiiiiii!

-Erin

First post calls for a "brief" introduction!

I’ve spent weeks religiously visiting crafster.com and checking out everyone’s lovely crafting blogs and figured I’d give my go at one of my own, so here it is! :)

I’ve always been a bit of an artsy/crafty person, something I got from the women on both sides of my family. My paternal Grandmother was on the crafty side of things: she knit, yarn hooked, sewed, and most of all crocheted. My maternal Grandmother lovingly called “Grambo” (of course there is a funny story behind the name) tended to be more on the artsy side, her medium of choice being watercolors. We have so many beautiful paintings around the house that she made and I have a picture of 2 loons she made for me that was one of the last paintings she did before she passed away. She wasn’t all about art, though, she was also amazing at sewing.

My mother is an amazing blend of both artsy and crafty. She is an excellent drawer, painter, sewer and crocheter, and can sculpt, knit, macramé, and cross-stitch among other things. This has directly and indirectly led to my diverse crafting experience. Over the years I have painted, drawn, sculpted, written, macraméd, shrinky-dinked, made various beaded jewelry, and have sewn rather rudimentary objects along with numerous other things I’m probably forgetting.

I remember playing with my mom’s circular knitting needles as a young girl, puzzled at how 2 connected chopstick-type things were supposed to make clothing. I asked her to teach me how to knit but I failed miserably. She also taught me how to crochet but, while I excelled at making chains, that was about as far as my skill developed. I never gave either of them a thought again until this past school year. I was a sophomore at Michigan State University and it seemed that everyone on my floor knew how to knit which sparked a long quelled interest in me and over winter break I had my mom again teach me to knit. I took to it immediately, cranking myself out a 7 foot, full-length scarf in less than a week. It wasn’t anything special skill-wise but I proceeded to make two more scarves and a hat that were much more complex.

Eventually I grew tired of seeing all the crocheted amigurumi patterns online and decided to have my mom teach me how to crochet as well. I had to wait until mid-summer but it was well worth the wait; every since I picked up that crochet hook, I haven’t been able to put it down!
Most of this blog will probably consist of crochet with a bit of knitting thrown in, as well as whatever thoughts I may have and probably a bit of my writing as well as well as whatever other random things get thrown in here (hopefully someday I’ll have my mom work on bringing my sewing skills up to par haha). As of now, everything I’ve made has been from free patterns I’ve found at ravelry or from the people on crafster (I am a beginner after all) but hopefully I’ll be seasoned enough to come up with some of my own!

Anyways, I think I’ve written a book and a half for my first post and most people reading this probably already know me. If you don’t, I’m sure you’ll learn more than you care to about me soon enough if you haven’t already! And if you ever have any questions about anything all you have to do is ask! :)

Patiently awaiting your feedback,
-Erin

P.S. I figured I should give a brief explanation of the blog name for those that don’t get it. Hooker = someone who crochets (not a lady of the night you dirty minded people :P). Nerdy because probably 80% of what you see here will be just that. I not only embrace but revel in my nerdiness and use crafts to express it :)