Blue Ribbon!

After my not-so-great experience at the State Fair last year, I was hesitant to sign up for any more competitions. However, I decided the County Fair should be given a fair chance.

It turns out, I had a much better experience overall! The staff was much nicer this time around, and they treated items respectfully instead of squishing them into deformed blobs. 

As expected, the County Fair is much smaller than the State Fair. Thus, it was a much more pleasant environment. 

This is how I fared at the fair: 

Two Blue Ribbons (First Prize!) and two Red Ribbons (Second!). 

There were some incredible entries across all of the crafts-- quilts, embroidery, pottery. 

This experience was much better-- my amigurumi look like amigurumi still, they're displayed much nicer, and the staff was much friendlier. 

I'm still debating whether or not I'll do the State Fair again. We shall see! 

Inspiration!

I was hit with a fact over the weekend-- the absolute best place for amigurumi inspiration is the zoo!!

Seeing animals in-person made me want to make their crocheted counterparts as soon as possible!

Here are some pictures from my trip to the Phoenix Zoo:

Baby Komodo Dragon

There were plenty more animals, but these are in my favourites. The baby Komodo Dragon was just born recently, and will grow to be something like 8 - 10 feet in length! 

It was good times, and fun animals. :) Now to make them crocheted...!

Scrap-a-long Scrapbook

I mentioned in an earlier post that Stacey Trock (FreshStitches) is hosting a Scrap-a-long. Scrap projects are not really something I lean towards, but in the spirit of really wanting to participate, I grabbed my scraps and got ready!

So far, I've finished 2/3 projects I intend to make and I've realized a beautiful fact. These scrap pieces are not just some random pieces of yarn; they are remnants of previous projects.

It's pretty common for projects I make to leave my possession. They're often gifted, donated, sold, etc. etc. Thus, all I usually have to remember them are the pictures on my Ravelry project page. 

However, making these scrap projects was like looking through a scrapbook! I remembered using this yarn to make a scarf, or that yarn to make a teddy bear. It was so much fun seeing it all put together! Now, these stuffed animals will be carried with me as reminders of those projects. 

I added words onto the pictures of my finished projects to show where those pieces of yarn came from-- and these are only the ones I remembered off the top of my head!

I can say with confidence that scrap projects are going to be an annual thing for me, or however often as needed to maintain a decent "scrap pile". I love these projects, and I love how fun they look!

Thank you, Stacey, for hosting such a fun idea for a crochet-along. 

And if anyone wants a scrapbook idea for their crochet projects-- make a stuffed animal with them! Trust me, it's a lot more fun than attempting to glue yarn to paper :) 

Scrap Yarn

FreshStitches is having another CAL, and I plan on participating fully this time. This time around, it's called a Scrap-a-long, where we'll be using scrap yarn to create finished amigurumi. 

Using a technique called the Russian Join allows for one to make a "Magic Ball" of yarn scraps with no knots/frays. 

Well, I had quite a bit of scrap yarn, so I thought I'd go at this full-speed ahead. 

The blues and greys on the left hand side are where I started, and I used the Russian Join for that first Magic Ball. 

My reaction? 

Seriously, it took me way too long trying to get the Russian Join to work. Thus, the two skeins I wound using scraps have little bits of knots where the connection is.

The Russian Join is a great technique, and I'm glad I know how to do it; it's handy to have in your Yarn Related Toolbelt. However, for amigurumi, I can easily make sure the knots are on the inside of the fabric. So to take the time to make the joins just wasn't working for me. Plus, the overlay of the yarn where the join happens for a Russian Join is just too thick for my liking-- I thought it'd get complicated and add weird bulkiness to certain spots of the stuffed animal. 

However, I ended up with three scrap-filled magic balls to be turned into finished amigurumi.

Stay tuned to find out what exactly these magical skeins will turn into! 

Passing Down of Yarn

It's been an interesting weekend thus far. An impromptu family gathering led to a sleepover at my Grandma's house. While the night consisted of a variety of discussions, meals, and good times (as per usual with trips to Grandma's), there's something in particular I want to record here.

My grandmother passed down her yarn to me. Not all of it, of course, but all of her Worsted Weight acrylic yarn. 

This includes all kinds of yarn. Red Heart Fiesta and Super Saver; Bernat; Caron Simply Soft, plus many, many others I haven't even heard of! There are vintage skeins, as well as new ones. Colourways that I've wanted to try for months, and ones I didn't even know existed. Seeing it all handed to me (I mean literally handed to me, skein by skein, as I put them into a pile) was really something special. 

It's a big deal to me. 

When I first started crocheting, my Mema gave me some of her crochet hooks. And now I've inherited yarn from my Grandma. 

People who crochet and knit pass down heirloom items, but it never hit me before how the legacy of crocheters and knitters can pass through a family as well. After we had finished going through her yarn, she looked at this pile and said "It's time this yarn be passed to a new generation"

Yeah, it's a big deal. 

Now I find a place for all of this yarn... 

Cloudy Skies

It was cloudy the other day and it was beautiful. There was even some rain! 

Cloudy days always get a rep for being depressing in books, but I find I'm happiest when there are clouds-- maybe it's because they're rare in Arizona? Just maybe... 

But when there are clouds, there's also inspiration to snuggle in a blanket and crochet! Studying has trumped crocheting recently, but here's a recent project: 

It's a crocheting crocheted-hedgehog! The pattern is another by FreshStitches and comes highly recommended if you are learning the loop stitch. Click on the picture for more pictures of Hedgehog (real name pending).

Hedgehog may be an entry into the County Fair in the "Crochet: Toy" category. I wanted to make an owl to enter, but I just don't have the time, to be honest. Think Hedgehog would have a good shot in a fair? He thinks he's Ribbon Material! 

(Also, yeah, I know I said I wouldn't enter amigurumi again... but I love making amigurumi!)

Other entries into the County Fair will also include a crochet Reindeer, lovey, and Christmas stocking. I have a lot of loveys currently made, so I will be entering one already completed... the only question is, which one? 

I'm hoping there is enough time during Spring Break to crochet more. My to-crochet list is starting to get way too long! Hopefully there will be Work-in-Progress pictures to show this upcoming week. Official "Relax Time" starts Friday morning!

Idealist

Part of having a blog is letting people get to know you, right? Even if it's just one side of you (such as crafts or fitness or any-other-blog-theme).

So do you want to know something about me, that relates to my crocheting? 

According to an unofficial test I took in a business course: I'm an Idealist. Out of the four temperaments, I am most definitely an idealist (the other ones being Guardian, Artisian, and Rational). 

I thought about the characteristics of these temperaments and how they apply to my crafting/crocheting. Here are some examples I came up with: 

1. Idealists look for meaning in absolutely everything. If I make a gift for someone, everything about it has some sort of subtle (and probably ridiculously out-there) meaning. For example, the colour will most definitely be significant, as well as the facial expression of an amigurumi. Below is an example. I made this cow for my aunt: Cows are her favourite animal, purple is her favourite colour, and the sideways smile is to increase the expression. Meaning = seeped through this entire project and on purpose! Sometimes, it's not as subtle. Such as when I used red-shimmery yarn in a Unicorn project because my grandmother wears shimmery red nail polish.

2. Idealists may not have realistic time estimates/requirements. This is especially true! I've taken a major project (which will be elaborated on throughout the year) that requires about 75 big amigurumi by December. December seems so far away, but I better get started on it now. I have 3 done for the event, which leaves about 40 weeks to make 72 more. 

3. Idealists tend to be optimistic and encouraging. I'm not sure what this says about my crafting style, but the thought makes me smile-- I use bright colours. Maybe that makes me optimistic in crafts! 

Our personality and temperament plays a big role in our crafting style; sometimes they determine how many projects we take on at one time, whether we stash supplies or only buy as we go, and what we make in general. I'm sure there are tests online to determine your own temperament, if interested! :) 

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Also, the Triceratops Lovey is now ready to download on Ravelry. Check it out!