The Crocheted Butterfly

Saturday, May 12, 2018

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers, including mothers-to-be, mothers to fur-babies, and mothers in spirit! I believe most women have a nurturing aspect to their personalities, and I like to take Mother's Day to celebrate this. I know this is a rather broad definition of this holiday, but I think the world would be a very different place without the caring of women. So I hope all of you have a wonderful day!
I won't be able to spend Mother's Day with my Mom, but of course we'll talk and I sent her a card with a little contribution to her pig collection. I took the Little Crochet Bunny Pattern from Amigurumi Today.com and did a few tweaks to the pattern to create the girly-girl piglet for my mom.

The little dress is technically removable. I tried using tiny snaps but it didn't look right, so I just sewed the pearls to the dress. Looking at the dress now I realize I should've blocked it, especially the hemline. Oh, well. I'm sure my mom will excuse me. Other than that faux-pah, I was really happy with how she turned out.

Till next time, have a great day and happy crocheting!

Friday, May 4, 2018

It's About Time!

I've been a little sluggish with my crocheting lately (and my posts!). I needed to take some pics too, and of course "sunny" California decided to be grey and drizzly for the past few days. However - TA DA - I have a few new things to show you. One item isn't totally new, but I've finally completed it and have the pattern available now in my store, which you can find here. This is the afghan I mentioned in an earlier post, and I've named it Aqua Dreams. The Caron Simply Soft yarn is so pretty and the sheen is really nice. I was very angry at myself for making my traditional mistake of crocheting the beginning rows loose and tightening my tension as I go along - yes, I did it again - but I was able to work it all out with the single crochet/crab stitch border, so everything is fine now. And I am very proud of myself for using up an additional 10+ skeins of my stash!


Aqua Dreams Afghan

I was so happy with the way the Caron yarn looked that I decided to make another item with it - a long cowl with a lacy edging that you can double loop for added warmth. That's still on the blocking mat, so you'll get to see it in my next post. I've also finished my version of the Metro Kerchief by Yuliya Tkacheva. I didn't design these two items, so they'll be going in my store as 'products for sale', a new category I'll be adding shortly. I've also designed a scarf/shawlette, I'm working on a summer cowl, and I've finished my mom's Mother's Day present, but I'll have more on those later. By George, i think I'm out of my slump!

My version of the Metro Kerchief

Till next time, happy crocheting!

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

I've Been So Bad...

Well, I certainly hope that all of you had a wonderful Easter and didn't go overboard on the sweets, like I did! I had plans of showing gorgeous carved eggs (that you can see here), or at the very least sharing a cute GIF (which can be seen here). Somehow those never came to fruition. I think I've been stuck in some kind of slow-motion gear that I can't seem to get out of. However, I did get into the Easter spirit and decided to try out a pattern that I fell in love with some time ago. It's the sweet "Little crochet bunny pattern" from Amigurumi Today (available for free here).

Little crochet bunny from Amigurumi Today

I do have yarn appropriate for making this, but I ran into a problem. The yarn is fuzzy and I was having great difficulty seeing the stitches. So I decided to switch to another yarn I have - sock weight without all the fuzz. Even though my version isn't quite as cute as the original, I still think it turned out ok. Mine just looks a bit sleepy!

Arthur took pity on my Sleepy Bunny and shared one of his heart pillows with her, originally seen here. I decided that Arthur shouldn't have to sit on a box anymore, so I ordered a comfy retro-modern chair for him. However, I need to find a way to wire him, because Arthur has a terrible problem with falling apart. (The chair, while being very stylish, won't give him a lot of support.) I did find a site that showed how to make an "upholstered" chair and I think Arthur would be ecstatic if I could make one of those for him - but crocheted, of course. Perhaps this will be my next project? But only after I finish the current WIPs.....

Monday, March 12, 2018

Easter is Coming...

I always seem to be "a day late and a dollar short" when it comes to holiday themed posts. I know that St. Patrick's Day is on March 17th, but I think I'm going to take a pass this year for posting wondrous Irish things. If you have an insatiable desire to see these lace beauties, please refer to a previous post of mine here.
Lately I've been working on an afghan that's almost complete (yes, really!) and the Metro Kerchief by Yuliya Tkacheva (see pic below). I love the design of this kerchief, although if you make it slightly larger it would really be a shawlette, and I'm about halfway done. I know, I know - I'm supposed to be designing my own items - but sometimes it's nice just to go with someone else's pattern. If I don't find someone to give this to I'll probably just list it in my shop.


Metro Kerchief by Yuliya Tkacheva

But I digress. Easter is coming, and I think I've been looking at this adorable bunny for so long that I must make her. There is no designer listed that I can find, but the free pattern is available at Amigurumi Today. If you are a Pinterest Peruser, I'm sure you've come across her - along with a million other items we all would like to make. Well, enough with the talking. I've got the yarn - I've got the hook - now wish me luck!

PS. I want the pattern for that little bear, too!

Friday, March 2, 2018

Pretty in Pink

I'm late. As some of you that follow me may have noticed, I have done several blog posts using a "national day" as a theme. Well, March 1st was National Pig Day and I missed it. The reason this is a big deal is that my mom loves pigs (Hi, Mom!) and has a wonderful collection of them. They're mostly ceramic figurines, but she has a few other items too - like the iron flying pig doorstop or the pig-weighing-herself salt and pepper shaker, for example. Quite a while ago now my mom told all of us not to give her anymore pigs because she felt she had more than enough. I don't always abide by that wish, but I'm sure she'll find this "ode to the pig" blog post quite acceptable!