zombie boy

Sometimes you just stumble across an amazing pattern, amazing and quite pricey, something that will not fit your monthly budget because, despite trying to save, you have already bought that yarn and this yarn (although, you promised yourself to only use what you already have at hand in 4 large Ikea boxes and never buy a skein until you unstash) and have like a $50 pre-order for eyes.. But then you suddenly receive something extra, and it's so conveniently transferred to your PayPal account that the temptation is hard to vanquish. So, yeah, I submitted and bought the patterns I wanted :)

This is the Zombie boy called Vasiliy. It actually seems to me that was the original name when I first saw him, though later he's become a nameless zombie boy.

Have you ever bought a perfect pattern? The one that you just folow along and everything looks according to the picture? Well, this is the one. Except that I stuffed the head too firmly, and Vasya got a chin :)

But look at these sweet hands with fingers,

 

these lovely feet with toes,

  

And an awesomely ugly and detailed face :)

He was exactly what I needed for a change, my meditation and brain cleaner. Next time I hope to give him a kawaii-er look :)

You can buy the pattern here: Zombie boy

The author also offers a Christmas version.

crocheting vs knitting

I have recently bought over a kilo of kids' cotton yarn for 2 garment projects.

The upper row of off-white cotton was going to become a light springy pullover, which I planned to finish before May holidays.

It was supposed to be something very simple: simple 3/4 raglan sleeves, plain stockinet.  I bought knitting needles and decided to refresh my skills. The pullover grew very slowly. About a fortnight of morning drives to work and several lunchtimes allowed me to almost finish the back. I actually started the raglan part yesterday. The stitches weren't very neat, but blocking should've corrected that. Anyways, it looked airy and light - just what I wanted.

Until I discovered a mistake in the raglan part. 5 rows below the one I was working on... Taking into account that I had already slipped a stitch in the front part and had to fix it on a different set of needles with more adventures, well... This time I didn't cry or threw tantrums, I just pulled out the needles and made two tight balls to straighten the thread.

Yesterday evening I picked up one of the Japanese pullovers from my to-do list and in an hour with Dean and Sam managed to finish a decent part of the hem. Let it be airy but lacy, it's its fate then.

That was a little reminder to myself why I DON'T FREAKING KNIT!

32

I was reflecting for quite a long time about the necessity of this post.. And yeah, it's necessary.

Every year I become emotional mess right before this day. Because every year I feel that I've accomplished NOTHING, that a year just flew past me. Since crocheting has become my obsession, my itch,  it's become the main measuring cup of accomplishements. And apart from the usual stuff that makes me feel like a complete loser and time-waster, my latest design wasn't successful. Like, at all. Yep, it happens, but a very smooth start had spoilt me, so, I became emotionally messier than usual.

But then I thought, "Hey girl, look what you've done in a little more than a year working freaking 55 hours a week:
- a blog, that is more or less on the run;
- 10 patterns, written from scratch but with still imperfect photos - and you had no idea how to do this at all;
- guest contributions for a popular crochet blog;
- participation in World Amigurumi Exhibition vol. 2, which was very honorable.."

Yeah, I'm not satisfied, because I could do better. But this means space for improvement. I want to design more, but I want to knit and crochet more, as well. So, it will still be the juggling of priorities. But there will be a book, mos def. Even 2 books. Maybe, it will take me 5 years to accomplish, but there's a dream to pursue. A book of amigurumis and a Mori girl book. Yes, and a CAL. Or even more than just one...

Dear Universe, send me a couple of maternity leaves to fulfil all that I plan!

Bunny McCarrots: tests and mistakes

I usually make 2 or 3 prototypes for a pattern: it starts with the inspiration and a rough hand-written sketch, then a model plus the yardage, and the third one is worked for the pattern photos. So, it was time for the second Bunny to check the pattern, make corrections and measure the amount of yarn. The thing is, the yarn I use in most of my projects is a wool blend in DK weight, but the factory has recently changed the manufacturing process and the acrylic they have used since 2015 makes the thread thicker. And I have both the old and new yarn. I took the skein in pearl-grey and a hook and started making the head and body parts. Hmm.. The head turned out to be a bit, no, not a bit, just bigger. I blamed it on yarn, as it contained the high-volume acrylic. But when I turned to the outfit details, which used the earlier manufactured yarn, the parts looked really loose. I stuffed the legs and body and - yep - the stuffing was peeking through. Hmm.. never happened before.. unless.. And here I checked the hook. Holy cow.. It was 3 mm instead of 2.5 mm. Most of my hooks look the same, differing in the plates with the size numbers, and I had the same models for these 2 sizes. So, I just didn't check the digits. A real facepalm. His face is less sweet and less kawaii, because his head is bigger.. And it's a disaster..