A better place

The other day I was glad to discover that a wonderfully creative person had decorated the otherwise ugly bridge that leads me into town and back again :)




My son absolutely loved it, and he reached up and touched the knitting and couldn't stop talking about how beautiful it was, and what nice colors the creation had and how soft it was to touch :)

So, thank you M.L., whoever you are :) You made my day a bit brighter, and your work makes me smile every time I see it :) People like you makes the world a better place :)

Geekery

Oh, I absolutely looooove geek craft :) The total commitment for an interest which makes a person spend hours after hours not only to watch a certain tv-show or movie - but to actually create art from it. Like the swedish lady who cross stiches the Super Mario World. Or like this:

I mean, Boba Fett in crochet - it's just fantastic! :) And of course there is a Flickr page which enables you guys to watch a lot more of the artist's work. Cred!! It's almost better than Fett's vette :)

Crochet at work

Trying to crochet at the night shift at work. It's calm and silent, the patients are yet asleep and the hours are long. Note to self: Don't crochet amigurumi when you're far to tired and can't keep count. I don't know for how many rounds I've found mistakes..! I guess I'll see if this non-round thingie soon developes to an actual head to the color changed Pachirisu I'm trying to make for my son. Or if it just is going to meet the garbage god under the sink...

A true success

The brain slug rised to a true success when my soon-to-be 4 years old son got home from preschool. "Mooom!! It only has one eye!!!", he shouted - and he instantly wanted to pin the little beast to my head :) And in just a couple of minutes he had ordered a yellow monkey, a yellow monster with A LOT of eyes and NINTY-FIVE feet with claws! And of course a yellow T-rex ;)

Brain Slug

My turquoise brain slug turned out rather small and a bit fluffy, because of the leftover yarn I used. A couple of weeks ago, I got a whole bag of different wool yarns from a colleague, who had got it from her late mother in law. And because she herself is totally uninterested in craftmanship, she gave it to me. The material isn't my favorite, I'm more of a soft acrylic/cotton-mix person, but I'm trying to use yarn from the gift I got, 'cause I like the re-use thought and the love that lies inherented in the balls.

Since I don't got any felt at home, I had to embroider the eye. I'm not very good at it, so I wouldn't give this creature to a small child if I didn't want it to be absolutely slaughtered. But it can sit on a little shelf and just be adorable, that's alright with me :)

You can too make yourself a brain slug! The pattern can be found here!

Next project

My next little project is a brain slug! Since Totoro ate most of my fiber fill, I'll have to make something rather small until the paycheck comes... But don't feel sorry for me, 'cause I found a wonderful pattern at hookandneedles, and I just HAVE to try it out! :)


Brain slugs are an parasitic, invertebrate species native to the Brain Slug Planet, which feed on cognitive energy in the form of the Alpha and Delta brainwaves. They attach themselves to their victims by using their adhesive slime to the scalp. The host's personality becomes totally supressed and their body is controlled by the slug. Brain slugs have a single, rudimentary eye that can only see the heat signatures of their prey, but they gain the use of their host's senses when they begin feeding. The slugs, as a species, are telepathically linked but prone to communicate with one another through their hosts.

The slugs will attack their hosts by crawling up their bodies until they reach the cranium. The only sure way to prevent infestation is to wear a helmet on the Brain Slug homeworld and use a garlic shampoo when in close proximity to an infested individual.
(Copypasted and slightly edited from http://www.gotfuturama.com)

The only drawback is that I don't have the right yarn color at home. I mean, I would prefer a sligtly neon green yarn, but the closest I can get right now is a turquoise one! What kind of brain slug would that be?? But I think I'll go for it anyway. It's not like I have any plans for the turqouise yarn anyway...

Modified Totoro

Original pattern is made by Angry Angel. You can find the original pattern here! And please, check her Flickr! She is totally amazing! :)

This was my first modified pattern, and I'm quite happy with the changes I managed to make. I crocheted the body, arms, tail and tummy as the original pattern, but I chose to crochet the eyes instead of using safety eyes, simply because I don't own any safety eyes and I didn't think buttons would be appropriate for this guy. But - haha - as you can see, Totoro got two different shapes of his pupils, which give him a totally crazy look. Totoro on LSD, or something! Hahaha. That HAS to be changed, but I didn't have a great deal of luck with the embroidery tries I did on him this afternoon, so I'll try again another day - I'll keep you posted on the progress.

• I remade the ears less pointy than the original pattern to match the reference picture better. I wonder if Angry Angels' pattern is written correctly, or if it was just bad luck that they got so pointy when I made them the first time? However, the new ears fitted perfectly! :)
  
• Though I followed the pattern, my Totoro turned out a bit taller and slimmer than the original. Maybe I didn't stuff the body heavily enough? Maybe it was the yarn? Or maybe it was just me ;)
• I usually crochet in back loop only, 'cause I like the texture it brings to the creatures. In this case I believe it was a mistake, since I discovered that one row at the bottom of the body should be crocheted with back loop stiches. Now I didn't, 'cause I already had crocheted the whole piece with back loop stiches... ;) But I guess it would have made Totoro a bite more stable if I had followed the pattern.
• I also believe that it would have been a good idea to stuff Totoro's bottom with something heavier, like pellets, since he dosn't have feet or legs to balance him. Luckily, the tail and his reached-out arms gives him some balance.

I made the following changes in Angry Angels otherwise lovely pattern:

Abbreviations:
ch: Chain stich
sc: Single crochet (US), double crochet (UK)
ss: Slip stich
hdc: Half double crochet (US), half treble (UK)
inc2: Increase by working 2 sc into 1 st
dec2: Decrease 2 st down to 1 stich
FO: Finish off

Evenly spread the increases to avoid a hexagon shape. In the pattern I've just written the number of increases in each series.

Ears (make 2):
1: Ch 2, 4 sc into 1st ch, link to 1st sc with ss. (=4 st)
2: (1 sc, inc2) x2 (=6 st)
3: (2 sc, inc2) x2 (=8 st)
4: (2 sc, inc2, inc2) x2 (=12 st)
5: (5 sc, inc2, inc2) x2 (=16 st)
6: (7 sc, inc2) x2 (=18 st)
7: (8 sc, inc2) x2 (=20 st)
8: (9 sc, inc2) x2 (=22 st)
9: (10 sc, inc2) x2 (=24 st)
10-14: Work 24 sc for 5 rounds
15: (4 sc, dec2) x4 (=20 st)
16: (3 sc, dec2) x4 (=16 st)
17: 8 sc, 8 hdc (=16 st)
18: 1 sc, 1 ss, FO.

Eyes (make 2):
1: With black yarn: 4 sc into magic ring (=4 st)
2: With white yarn: 2 sc into each st (=8 st)
3: (1 sc, inc2) x4 (=12 st)
4: Join with first st with ss. FO.


This pattern is linkware. Of course, you are free to use my alternations if you find it suitful for your Totoro, but if you'll post it online or someplace else, please do not reprint my pattern - instead, link me from your blog and feel free to notice me that you've done so by email or otherwise :)

Fierce but friendly dragon

My next project was a fierce but friendly dragon, as it was called by its' pattern designer, Angry Angel (or heavens_hellcat as she calls herself at Livejournal). I'm dreaming of making the perfect dragon pattern myself, but since I have no clue how to do it, I try to find decent dragon patterns to build up an inner picture of what my dream pattern could look like. This was a first try on a dragon, and I made it a bit of my own by using different colors than the creator did. I know, I'm such a dare devil!! ;) But I think the orange spikes on the back make a nice contrast.

It looks a bit like he's going to fly away. Or maybe he'll just fall ;)

Baby Snow Bunny

This wonderful little baby snow bunny was my first amigurumi. I found the pattern over at Darncat Crochet, and it inspired me to actually stop dreaming of crocheting and actually learn how to do it. I was a true beginner when I started crocheting this little cutie (had just crocheted granny's before), but with a little help from different sites on the web, I found the pattern really easy to understand. And after just two or three days, I had myself a little bunny in the couch. She doesn't have a name yet, somehow it feels a bit strange to name other peoples' pieces...

It took me a couple of weeks before I dared to embroider her eyes. But look at the difference! That thing people say about that the amigurumi's soul is in their eyes really is true. Now when I've seen her true self with embroidered eyes and a lovely little nose, I think she looks so naked on the before pictures ;)

Limelight

Finally I've come to the conclusion that it's time to give my soft little friends some limelight in the bloggosphere. This is Kawaii crochet, the blog and place for my amigurumi and my crocheting. English is not my first language, but since a great deal of you amigurumi crocheting people out there seems to live outside Scandinavia, I thought it would be better to try blogging in a language people actually can understand. However I hope this can be inspirational both for you and also for me to continue to learn and develop further knowledge.

Right now I consider myself as a beginner in the crochet area. I've made three amigurumi so far, and have a desire to concentrate on monsters, dragons and anime fanart. Kawaii style, of course. Surfing the internet, I've come to the conclusion that there isn't very much free wellmade patterns out there that matches my desires, so I realise I have to crochet all kinds of stuff until I've developed enough skills to make my own patterns.

And when I do, I was planning on posting them here so that you can crochet your own :)