HOLY SHIT.

“This garment defies categorization… Andalusia is a skirt, a cardi, a dress, a tunic, a poncho, a shrug, a cape – and more. Since it is created in crochet Hairpin Lace and Broomstick Lace, this garment is a very quick project for its size. We feature 10 different ways to wear Andalusia, but our suggestions are only meant to prime your imagination. Stretch your wardrobe with this versatile design.”

From the book Amigurumi!: Super Happy Crochet Cute! Reminds me of that cartoon Heathcliff.

Here’s a description taken from the Smithsonian website, where the exhibit will show from this October through April of 2011:

A sea of vibrant colors and fantastic structures, the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef evokes a sense of stewardship of their real-life counterparts through a whimsical and beautiful display. Atolls and clusters of crocheted corals, made of both yarn and found materials, weave their way into unique coral communities. By using particular crocheting techniques that employ hyperbolic geometry, these reefs take shape into complex, natural-looking forms.

The exhibit also features work made from crocheted plastic to raise awareness of the growing problem of plastic in the oceans:

In addition to the beautiful yarn-based Reefs, the Crochet Reef Project includes a large sub-reef made from yarn and plastic trash. Known fondly as “The Toxic Reef” – aka Bikini Atoll – this is the only one of the IFF sub-Reefs that will be allowed to grow indefinitely, because plastic trash in the ocean is itself growing exponentially. The Toxic Reef functions as a kind-of evil twin to the yarn-based reefs; a malevolent, synthetic analog to the delicate fiber-forms. This dichotomy in the Crochet Reef Project mirrors the dichotomy of the oceanic realm, for here too, while the natural wonders of living reefs are disappearing, the great island of plastic trash continues to acrete. Giving the project an historical slant, we might also say that where the yarn reefs reference the past and the glory of organic evolution, the plastic reef represents the future and what we humans are creating with our profligate waste and consumerist addictions. (link)

Wow, I’m completely smitten with this site. What’s cuter than amigurmi? Teeny, tiny amigurumi!

(panda to gnome machine, from mochimochiland’s flickr)

When I learned to crochet, I learned on flowery lace motifs, and simple block stitches. I have been avoiding granny squares like a plague. I came up with the idea to crochet over 100 flowers and join them into a quilt for my mom. The flowers were easy to make, and turned out beautifully- but have since been sitting in a bag because I have NO CLUE how to join them. I tried crocheting leaf motifs in between the flower petals and stitching down the sides to connect them, but that was taking forever. I tried to crochet a grid around each flower, but it sagged and gaped horribly.

The project sat in hibernation for a little over a year. I had intended to give it to my mom as a mother’s day/birthday present and it was starting to really bug me that I couldn’t finish it. Well, as I was flipping through an old issue of Vogue Knitting, I saw a lovely lacy-flower granny square. Problem solved. I can easily turn the flowers into squares, and connect as I go:

These guys will see you at EsoZone. Patterns will be coming soon.

Zeroing in on my presentation. Can’t give much away, but it should be fun. Here’s a tidbit from the Wikipedia entry on Gestalt Therapy:

“In field theory, self is a phenomenological concept, and is a comparison with ‘other’. Without other there is no self, and how I experience other is inseparable from how I experience self. The continuity of selfhood (personality functioning) is something achieved rather than something inherent “inside” the person, and has its advantages and disadvantages. At one end of the spectrum, there is not enough self-continuity to be able to make meaningful relationships or to have a workable sense of who I am. In the middle, personality is a loose set of ways of being that work for me, commitments to relationships, work, culture and outlook, always open to change where I need to adapt to new circumstances, or just want to try something new. At the other end, it is a rigid defensive denial of the new and spontaneous. I act in stereotyped ways, and either induct other people to act in particular and fixed ways towards me; or I redefine their actions to fit with the fixed stereotypes.

From the perspective of this theory of self, neurosis can be seen as fixed predictability—a fixed Gestalt, and the process of therapy can be seen as facilitating the client to become unpredictable, really, more responsive to what is in the client’s present environment, rather than responding in a stuck way to past introjects or other learning. If the therapist is working from some theory of how the client should end up, this defeats the aim of the therapy.”

This is what I accomplished on my sick day:

These will be sold @ EsoZone and the pattern will soon be available here.

Crochet is amazing. I wish I didn’t have to work, who knows what I could accomplish.

Well, here’s to hoping my fever/cold gets better.

These were really easy and fun. One of the huge reasons I learned to crochet was that it is so easy to improvise as you go along. Unfortunately, it makes it very hard to write patterns (i.e. “how did I do that?”) So, consider this a basic tutorial. This project is a stash buster- all those little endlings of different skeins will come in handy here.

First, google a picture of the character you want to do, and pick a few outstanding features. Using a G hook, ch 10 sts into magic loop. Join with sl st, then, without turning, sc2 into each ch to make a dome shape, or to make a pointy head (for yoda, etc), sc into ch, then sc2 into next ch, repeat. Continue increasing until diameter is as large as you want amigurumi to be- for me it was 3-4 rows, then continue sc into each sc in a spiral. When amigurumi is as tall as you want it to be, stuff it with filling, and something to weigh the bottom down. I use pennies, whatever I have laying around. Do one of row of sc2 into every sc stitch, then skp 1, sc1, repeat, until you have 1 st left. This will give a nice, flat bottom. Pull yarn into a knot, and you’re finished. For Leia, I did one additional decrease & one increase row for the neck:

To make her hair, I crocheted a bunch of strands of yarn into a line across the top of her head, the way you would do fringe, and then parted them down the middle. I then braided 3 long pieces of yarn, cut out a piece of felt, and hot glued the braid in a spiral onto the felt. I then hot glued the felt onto the sides of Leia’s head, pulling in the loose ends of yarn underneath. I also crocheted a “hood” onto her back from a small rectangle. Just crochet one long side of a rectangle together, voila, easy “hoodie”.

For Chewbacca, I used a super fuzzy yarn, and crocheted a simple dome from top to bottom. I then cut eyes, teeth, and a bandolier from felt and handstitched them on.

For yoda, I made a pointy head, and then separately crocheted 2 long triangles for pointy ears. I attached my yarn and did a single crochet row for each eyebrow. For the feet, single crochet 3, then turn and sc2 into sc, sc, then sc2 into sc, turn, and sc, slip, sc, slip, sc. This will create a web-like foot.

Bobba Fett was just like Chewie, except I cut out a felt mask, armor, and cape instead.

For the bottom edge of Darth Vader’s helmet, I increased for 2 rows, cut yarn, then reattached & crocheted a regular row into the *underside* of the increase rows. After finishing, I went back and crocheted a row of sc for the face part of the helmet. I used beads for eyes, and used felt for the cape and other details.

For R2D2′s feet, I attached yarn to the bottom, then created a square by crocheting a sequence of sc, hdc, dc, tc, dc, hdc, sc. Do this twice to make a square. Repeat for each foot. If you are using thinner yarn, you may want to do a sc around the edge for more width.

Don’t worry if these instructions don’t make sense just reading them, once you get going, it’s easier to see how it works. Best of all these are small, so no big loss if it takes a few tries to get the right shape. It’s truly amazing how much personality a few pieces of felt can take on… so cute they are hard to give away!