I’m finding crocheting really satisfying at the minute. More so than knitting. Last Saturday (I can’t believe it was only last Saturday) I bought some yarn and started knitting what’s called a ‘bolero’ to where to a wedding I’m going to this summer.

It’s from the Sitch ‘N Bitch: Happy Hooker book, called Short ‘N Sweet.

This is what it should turn out like:

This is how far I got after about 2 hours:

This was a few days later on, the rectangle is the back, the L shapes are the front. It’s quite clever, the whole thing goes together without sewing it at all.

So, I completed what was called the back, left and front, then I start on the ‘body’ which connects them all together.

What you see there is what will be the sleeve hole.

This is that same thing seen flat. You can see how it’s shaping together. I’ll post again when it’s all done!!

Enough crochet! I’ve been practising my knitting skills too. I’ve finding knitting much harder to commit to, for some reason. I think because crochet is so much faster at showing results and has fewer crazy things to remember. However, I’m determined to learn both, so here are my early stabs at knitting things.

First up, I wanted to practice my purl and knit stitch. So, since I’d lost my DS case recently it seemed like a good opportunity to make something useful. I essentially just made a big rectangle of 2 knit, 2 purl stitches and then folded it in half and sewed up the sides.

You can see the ribbing better in this one, it stretches out a lot!

Then, I wanted to go crazy and try something with two colours. But I wanted to keep it small. So I found a pattern in:

for little wrist bands that had a star or said GEEK. The star looked easier, so I went with that.

Again, it’s really just a rectangle that gets folded in half and sewn up the side. I’m not sure I did the star correctly, based on what the pattern wanted (it’s a method called intarsia and none of my books REALLY give great pictures about how it should be done, so I winged it.) Here’s the star from the back:

I sadly won’t be sporting it any time soon because I didn’t really pay attention to the size and it won’t fit over my hand. However! That’s what nieces are for, so I’ll be shipping this off to my niece hoping she likes purple as much as I do.

Well, I finally finished the Tentacle I’d started a few weeks ago. Here are some pictures of the process!

Here’s the completed body. Turns out I really didn’t understand the pattern and made a little hump on the back. But, now I know how to do it right, so it was a good learning process.

Then I made the suckers. Here’s one:

There’s more pictures of the back and other sized suckers at Flickr.

Then I sewed the suckers on, before stuffing him! I keep making this mistake on other projects where I stuff them then realise I have lots to sew on. It’s a lot harder because you can’t hide the excess thread inside as easily.

And here he is, ready to stop Purple Tentacle taking over the world:

Pattern from:
Amy’s Odyssey

I started a new crochet project! I’m making Green Tentacle from Day of the Tentacle the video game.

I’m using instructions from here:
http://amysodyssey.wordpress.com/2009/10/14/day-of-the-tentacle/

I have to admit, I don’t understand them very well, but I’m just bludering onward, hoping for the best.

This is how far I’ve gotten, you can see the cone developing:

Jack decided he wanted to help. He just can’t stand me playing with string!

Also, on another topic, best statues ever:

Spotted them in the back of one of Cambridge’s colleges while riding the bus.

Update on my crochet. I’ve been working hard at making my ninja. It’s slow going while I still learn the stitches and get used to reading the crazy patterns. I’m pretty certain I’m not doing it entirely right, and I really wish I had someone to ask in person. Google is only so good.

Anyway, here’s my half way photo:

That’s the body on the right and half the head on the left.

The yellow yarn is a marker so I know where I started my row.

And I meant to take more photos during the process but I got so eager to finish it I forgot to pause and shoot! So, I only have a completed pic for you. Next time, I’ll stop and take photos.

Compared to what it was in the book:

I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.

I haven’t decided what to do next, though. I thought I’d dig into some knitting, but I don’t really want to make a scarf, but I’m not really good enough to do anything more advanced. Maybe I’ll crochet more!

So, I have a new hobby! I’m going to try and post about it as I work on new projects. I’m teaching myself to crochet and knit. I’m reading these books to learn:

And these websites:

Amy’s Odyssey

Planet June

Hook and Needles

My first thing was this little flower, from Amy Odyssey website:

And then I found this book:

And now I’m going to make a ninja!!!

(That’s a picture from the book of what it will look like)

This is how far along I am! That’s the body, it looks like a little hat at the minute, I know. But I’m getting there!

Then, I might try and do this:

Day of the Tentacle Pattern

But I have so many things I want to make! I found this website:

Raverly

Which lets you organise your projects and keep track of your yarn and find new patterns. I’ve already found like 5 more I want to do. I just need to find the time!