I’m not very good at following directions.

You know, maybe I should change that title, just in case a future professor or employer reads this.

Or at the very least, explain.

So, Sis spent the week at Mom’s house, and, apparently, Sis can’t take the kids to Mom’s house unless I go along to help.  (I’m not complaining, Sis, at least not very much.)

I had bought a crochet book called “Crobots” a few days earlier, and Sis wanted me to bring it down so she, Mom and I could do some crocheting.  (I’m a little disgusted with that Amazon link–I didn’t pay full price for the book, but what I paid is closer to full price than what Amazon lists)

The ‘bot I chose to do is called Mechabot.  This is what he’s supposed to look like:

This is what mine looks like:

Yeah… you wouldn’t have been able to see the connection unless I told you it was there, right?

So, here’s the thing; the yarn and the hook I used was much bigger than the book recommended, and once I got the basic head made, I pulled out buttons for eyes, and, while choosing the sparkly blue ones, I just tossed them onto the head, and I liked the off-centered look. Once I had the eyes on, I decided that my robot needed antenna, and used them to balance out the off centered eyes.

While looking for eyes, I found a sparkly heart button, and decided that my robot needed a heart–and the springs and hardware didn’t look good with a pink sparkly heart.

And Sis stole the book to start working on her project–so I pretty much just winged the body.

Now, here’s the thing, when it comes to stuff like crocheting, or cooking, for that matter, I think that directions are more of guidelines.  I think you need to know what you are doing, but once you do, you can and should stray from the outlined path, and figure out something new.  That’s how I learn, anyway.

Right now, I’m just glad to be home–almost as glad as Max and Lulu are to be away from little hands.

Craftiness

Max has claimed any current and future crochet and knit projects for himself.  He’s discovered that he loves to play with yarn, probably because I don’t like him to.

Well, I’m nothing if not an indulgent dog mom.

I didn’t start out to make a dog toy.   Really.  I wanted to make a pair of lovebirds (you do have to sign in to see the pattern, but it’s free, and you can tell them not to send you stuff).  Max kept begging to play with it.

While I was making it.

After it had been sprayed with a bitter agent.

sigh.

Anyway, I noticed that the cup I had was about the same size as a mini tennis ball that Max doesn’t play with very often,  I popped the ball inside my crocheting, and it was a perfect fit.  I finished crocheting around the ball.

Max LOVES it.

really.

Those thumps at the beginning of the video is me bouncing the ball in front of the camera.

Octopile

My little pink octopus spetipus now has a friend.

First of all, after losing sleep that my first octopus was really a hexopus, the next morning I took off the legs and re-arranged them, so I could fit all eight on. Twice.   When I was happy with the results, I spotted the eighth leg that had fallen off the table, and was hidden from view.  Really, world?  Anyway, I suffered a nasty, painful scratch on the inside part of a finger while trying to turn the hexopus into an octopus, and I was done sewing on pink legs.  So, s/he/it is now officially the septipus.

I tried again, though, after my finger had healed to the point were I was no longer worried about infection, and it stopped being painful.

As I meant this octopus to go into E’s hands (and mouth), I didn’t want to do button eyes that could be chewed off and swallowed.  I know there’s such a thing as safety eyes out there, but I just wanted to use materials I had on hand.  So, I embroidered the face on.

I love the little crooked grin.

The official story behind the variegated yarn is that my favorite attribute of cephalopods is their ability to change color.  Really, the colors of yarn I have on hand are pink, white (I may not have kids, but I’m aware of how little boys treat their toys.  And I know that white would be a terrible color choice for a toy going to a house that contains G) and a couple of variegates.

While these guys are fun and quick to make, I have to admit, I’m octoed-out right now.  BUT, they’ve given me the confidence to seek out more amigurumi (Japanese-style crocheted dolls and toys) patterns.

I’m a long way from opening an Etsy shop, but I think that if I keep practicing, I’ll get there.

You know, if I don’t get sick of these guys/get interested in something else first.

Honestly, having something to do, even these silly little octopods has kept me sane the past couple of days.  I’ve been struggling lately, and, if what my friends and family are saying on Facebook, it’s going around. There is so much medical and emotional drama surrounding me now. (And for once, none of it involves my mother!  Crap, Mom, I hope I didn’t just jinx you with that last statement)  I know that I really am blessed, and can’t complain too loudly about my situation.

But still, what’s the point of having a situation if you can’t complain about it?

Gettin’ Crafty

Browsing the internet yesterday, I spotted a crocheted octopus.  I thought it was cute, then thought I could make one, a little more browsing, and I found the Kansas Hooker (greatest blog name ever, BTW)  It didn’t turn out like the pattern–I used what I had on hand, and don’t have the eyes, so I used buttons.  I also don’t like the curly-q legs, so I figured out my own legs. (a six-chain circle, then two sc in each chain, then I made a tube.  I don’t know how many rows, just until they were long enough.  I then made a tab at the end so I could sew them on to the body).  It kinda turned the octopus into a setopus–I only had room for six legs, but I’m still happy with my creation.

Like a shmuck, I tried to help my neighbor find her lost cat about six months back.  I found the cat, but she didn’t want to be found, and ended up biting me–and the scar took a long time to heal.  This is the first time I tried crocheting since the bite, and I figured out pretty quickly that I can no longer hold my hand the way I used to when crocheting.  Stupid cat.

Max was less than impressed when I decided that the top half of the body was the perfect size for a shih tzu  beret.   What a stick in the mud.

Or maybe it just wasn’t his color.

It’s always nice to make friends.