Lariath- Live a Little.: 2013

Sunday, 29 December 2013

DIY Minion Snowflake

I wanted to make a Minion Snowflake but I couldn't find a design on the internet. After doing a few Star Wars ones I decided to give my own design a go.

Here's what I used:

Pencil
Rubber
Paper
Scissors
Craft board
Craft knife (optional)
Compass (or anything circular to draw around)

The craft knife is optional for this design as it can be made just using scissors, this can be a bit tricky on the small cuts so a craft knife may be better. Saying that I managed with just scissors. The craft board is anything that's going to protect the surface you are working on from being damage by the craft knife. At the moment I'm just using a wooden chopping board.

So first I drew a circle on the paper and cut it out. The size of the circle doesn't matter but the smaller the circle the trickier it's going to be to cut out the design:

Then folded the paper in half:

Opened up the circle and folded the circle in half again to make quarters. There is now a center line on the semicircle:

I then folded the right side up in-front of the semicircle and made a fold about a third of the way to the center line:

Then folding the right side again but underneath the semicircle to the center line (like an accordion fold) all the fold should now be underneath the paper:

The same goes for the left side. I folded the left side up in-front of the circle and made a fold about a third of the way to the center line:

Then folding the left side again but underneath the paper to the center line (like an accordion fold) all the fold should now be underneath the paper:

I drew a star on the paper just to show where the design is to be drawn. I then folded the paper along the center line:

This is the design I used to make the Minion. The shaded areas are the areas that I cut out:

I cut out the shaded parts, the hair is tricky to cut:

Then I CAREFULLY unfolded the paper so as not to rip anything:

It's not perfect but for a first design it will do, I may amend it for Christmas 2014. It would be great to see other people having a go!

(Feel free to copy/amend the design but make sure you link back to this blog if you do use it.)

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Saturday, 28 December 2013

DIY Star Wars Snowflakes

I haven't done much paper craft before, Christmas was a good a time as any to start. I decided to start somewhere simple with snowflakes that I probably made when I was in primary school. I couldn't make any old snowflake it had to be geeky.

For the snowflakes I made all I needed was some plain paper, scissors a pencil (and rubber because I can't draw for toffee) and a craft knife. I didn't have a craft knife so I bought one especially, I'm sure I'll get more use out of it in the future. The sharper the craft knife the better.

The patterns I used are by Anthony Herrera they can be downloaded for free or for a donation. The downloads can be printed out but I drew mine it's more unique that way I think.

Not being used to using a craft knife I thought I'd struggle but they were easy enough. The craft knife didn't go through all the layers in one go so I did have to keep going over the same lines a few time but with a little bit of patience they turned out ok. These are the ones I made, there are diagrams for a lot more snowflakes on the website.

Tie Interceptor:

Yoda:

Emporer Palpatine:

C-3PO:

B-Wing:

The B-Wing I made first before my craft knife turned up as this didn't require a craft knife. However Rookie mistake; I drew the design on the wrong corner so when I cut the design out all the pieces fell apart... hence the single B-Wings in the picture. I can imagine this would be extremely frustrating if the design took a long time to cut out. Luckily I learnt my lesson with this one.

I hope you had a great Christmas!

Coming up in my next blog a Despicable Me Minion Snowfake that I designed myself.

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Sunday, 8 December 2013

Crochet Rose

My auntie loves roses and has taken an interest in my crocheting as she loves to knit. So I'm making her some roses. I searched for a good amount of time trying to find a really nice pattern for a rose which incorporated a stem.

These are the three I've made so far:

The pattern I based these on can be found here. Coincidentally this pattern was designed by PlanetJune who also designed the pattern I used when making my Mothers Day crochet daffodils. She sells many great patterns and has a few for free check her out!

The rose pattern is not to difficult to make and it's very well explained and really easy to follow. Each of the roses I made are different sizes. I used DK yarn and a size 3.5mm crochet hook for the first one, for this my stitches were quite tight as I'm so used to crocheting tightly. The second one I used the same DK yarn but with a 4.5mm crochet hook and looser stitches, so this rose was slightly bigger. Then for the larger rose I used two DK yarns together and a size 5.5mm crochet hook.

I've never used two yarns together in crochet before not sure what I was expecting but it's exactly like crocheting with one yarn just thicker. I had to make the calyx bigger for this rose as the one in the pattern would have been a bit to small (unless I doubled up on the green yarn of course, but I don't have two balls of the green). Another issue I had with the larger rose was that the pipe cleaner I used wasn't strong enough to hold up the flower. It looked a bit unwell... so I used extra reinforcement for the stem. All in all I think it went well.

This picture shows the size difference a bit clearer (small on the right, medium on the left, large in the middle):

I just need to decide how many I'm going to make and then find a vase to put them in.

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Saturday, 30 November 2013

Crochet Creeper

So the crochet cubes turned into.....

A Minecraft Creeper!

I finished it at last! Definitely a challenging make; the hardest Amigurumi I've made, but I like a challenge.... Although I may not be making another of these any time soon. I am quite happy at the result and my mate who loves Minecraft will hopefully appreciate the effort.

I based the pattern on the free pattern here. I made a few of my own changes whilst following the 'smaller body pattern'. Great explanations and easy to follow it's just the sewing that's the hard part. I also had an issue getting the face right, it dind't turn out perfect but it will do.

I spent ages trying to find a yarn which was a suitable Creeper colour and wasn't ridiculously expensive. In the end I used a yarn that was various colours of green and blue having to cut the blue out and joining the green part back on to carry on crocheting. This made making the Creeper a bit more difficult but determination is key! I used James C Brett Woodlander DK yarn and a 3.5mm crochet hook. I'm going to use the blue parts of this yarn to make crochet squares for Knit A Square Charity so nothing goes to waste.

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Saturday, 23 November 2013

Crochet Cubes

Who decided crocheting cubes was a good idea?!

The project I'm doing at the moment involves crocheting 1 cube and 5 cuboids. I've completed my first cube and it was a struggle. I'm not using anything to reinforce the sides because I want it to be soft not hard, it's trying so hard to become a circle!

Not only is this the first try I've had at making a crochet cube but I haven't actually crocheted in rows before, I've only used rounds for the Amigurumi I've made.

This took me a while to sew together... My thumb hurt after...sewing is definitely not my strong point.

The first cuboid was slightly easier. Maybe this was because I'd already made a cube so I knew what to expect or because it was slightly bigger than the cube.

So I'm thinking that it's getting easier as I'm getting more practice. This next cuboid I made wasn't that difficult even though it's the smallest one yet.

I need to repeat this small cuboid three more times and add detail to the cube them I'm done. Can you guess what it's going to be?

Find out in my next post.

Sunday, 17 November 2013

Daleks

I've had a proper geeky few weeks. Not only have I been crocheting another Dalek as requested but whilst doing this I've been watching original Dr Who (yes I prefer the original to the new Dr Who, I used to watch it as a kid). Additionally I went to see this Dalek made out of hey at Snugburys ice cream shop near Nantwich. The Dalek even moves and says exterminate. This was also a great excuse to get Snugburys awesome ice cream!

Please note this picture was taken weeks ago....the UK is now cloudy, dull and rainy...as per usual.

The second crochet Dalek took me a very long time to make not helped by going away to Germany with work and having no time to finish it. But at last it is finished! I don't think this Dalek is much different to the first Dalek I made but compare for yourselves and find a link to the free pattern Here. I wouldn't try this pattern if your new to crocheting it is quite tricky in parts.

Now that I've finally finished the Dalek I can get onto making Christmas gifts. Hurry hurry.

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Saturday, 19 October 2013

DIY Stitch Marker

Just a quick post.

If I can make something or make do instead of buying something I will... So for stitch markers I was using sandwich bag ties believe it or not ( the only thing I could find at the time) but these are pretty annoying to use as they catch on the yarn when your trying to put them through the stitch. So I had a think about what else I could use. Extra bits of yarn work but I crochet very tightly when making amigurumi figures so I had to find a needle, thread a needle, use the needle to get the thread in the stitch and then tie the yarn in place.....effort. Oh and then try to untie the yarn after it's managed to tighten itself up!

I decided to try and make one out of craft wire. Be aware it's only a rough version.

This is so simple to make and uses a tiny amount of wire. All I used was 20ga purple wire and a pair of pliers. I folded the very end of the wire over so that it wasn't sharp then wrap the wire around the pliers in a very rough spiral shape (it doesn't need to be perfect as long as it works and stays in place). I made sure to fold the very end of the wire over in towards the spiral so that it wasn't sharp. This also helps a smooth and easy placement into the stitch. Complete.

I'm using it to make my second Dalek I find it really easy to use, a lot better than sandwich bag ties and spare yarn... And it hasn't fallen out whilst I've been crocheting yet.

Monday, 14 October 2013

Turkey- Olu Deniz

Just been away for ten days in Turkey, great weather and plenty to do, it was amazing. I managed 10 days with no phone and no crafting!

This is Olu Deniz beach:

The weather was awesome even though it was October it was above 30 degrees during the day. the other half and me did a jeep safari which included seeing the ruins of Tlos, a mud bath and a fish farm. We went on two boat rides to visit different beaches and enjoyed a bonfire on the beach with traditional Turkish dancing. Went snorkelling nearly every day, there was plenty of life near the rocks on the beach and on the boat trips.

We are both qualified skuba divers so we went skuba diving. It was our first dive from a boat, in the sea and in a different country, three in one! The water was so clear! I've heard Turkey isn't that great for skuba diving so I didn't have my hopes up for much but I loved it sooo many fish and life that I've not seen in person before. We saw a turtle too in the 'Blue Lagoon' apparently there is only two turtles in there so lucky us :).

Food was great and not too expensive, Oh and don't forget the cocktails:

Back to crafting soon.

Friday, 20 September 2013

DIY Marvel Bracelet

I made this Marvel Bracelet a while ago for a friend but forgot to put it on my blog. This took me a while to make but nowhere near as long as the DIY Spiderman Bracelet took. This is due to the much simpler pattern and less colours. Also the Marvel Bracelet has less strings therefore less knots.

The pattern i found had to be adapted to make it small enough to be bracelet size. I have the adapted pattern for this somewhere.... I'll have to dig it out. 16 background strings were used (14 of which were white 2 of which were red) and a red skein for the main colour. The loop and tails of the buckle are made with macramé square knots as discussed in my Spiderman Bracelet Blog.

The pattern that I based the bracelet on can be found Here

The reason that this bracelet is not completely rectangle and is sort of wavy at the edges is because I accidentally used two different types of skein. If one string is slightly different in thickness to another then this is what happens. Rookie mistake!

Friday, 6 September 2013

Crochet Bear

I have an Uncle who for some reason still loves his bears... So what better than make him a unique homemade crochet bear?

This bear's limbs are attached with safety eyes which I think is a brilliant idea as it makes them easy to attach and when they are attached they move!

It took me 2 days to make all the different parts and attach the legs. However I needed to get smaller safety eyes as I bought 10mm instead of 7.5mm and couldn't fit the 10mm eyes into the arms...so it took me a bit longer to finish the bear off. The pattern is just increases and skip stitches to decrease with 8ply yarn. The smaller parts are a little fiddly definitely worth it though.

I'm not sure if I want to add any detail to the bear such as eyebrows, nose detail or a belly button, I'm not the best sewer so I may just ruin it.

Here's where I got the pattern for this great bear: Little Teddy

Saturday, 17 August 2013

Easy Adjustable Necklace

Still on the subject of making necklaces. This one took me about 15minutes max to make. I Just needed cord a few small beads and to learn how to make adjustable knots. I like my necklaces pretty small so adjustable ones are ideal. Here's what I made:

This is at a longer length so I can fit it over my head...

This is at a short length how I like it.

And this is how it looks on. Obviously doesn't need to be so tight; the magic of adjustable knots.

I used this YouTube Video to learn the knots. There are a variety of sliding knots out there but I think these ones look the best and they are quite easy to do.

The hardest part of making this for me wasn't the knots but getting the small beads onto the cord due to the ends fraying. Cutting a little off the cord does work but I hate wasting those bits of cord so I got a lighter and melted the ends... don't set it on fire though! Only use a lighter if you are an adult or an adult is present, you have been told!

DIY Wire Wrapped Pendant

My Grandma bought me a pendant a while back I thought I'd try adding more detail to it by putting a small pendant on the front but then I came across a website and decided to have a go. I already had some craft wire from making Ear Cuffs

Here's the finished pendant:

It's very simple to do and many different variants can be made. Definitely something a beginner could easily make. Here's the website: Pendant Tutorial

Saturday, 10 August 2013

Crochet slippers

I had some yarn to use up that I bought for my Amigurumi Snake however this yarn is a pretty unique colour and not really one I'd make anything with. So I spent ages wondering what to make with it that not many people would have to see. The answer: slippers!

This is the first piece of clothing I've ever tried to make so it took me a while to get the sizing right for my feet. I think I had to pull it back twice and start again to get the right size, the first time it was MASSIVE I only have size 3 feet.

Anyway here's the pattern that I loosely followed: Simple Crochet Slippers

The pattern suggests to use worsted weight yarn but I made my slippers with the DK yarn i wanted rid of so I had to do more rounds and work out how many stitches I needed to fit my feet. It still worked out fine though and they are sooooo comfy.

The pattern is easy to follow its just getting the size right to fit that's the difficult bit but when you've worked out the first one the second one is a breeze. The only thing I would say is to make sure the slipper is turned inside-out when the back seam is made otherwise the seam is on the outside of the slipper and doesn't look fantastic. Also the slipper may look a bit small when it's being made but remember it stretches.

Friday, 2 August 2013

Crochet Bag

All my socks seem to be taken by the underwear gnomes, so I put the odd socks in a bag until their partners turn up. However I was using an old Ann Summers bag which wasn't the best idea when guests were around... Questions questions questions. So got my crocheting head on.

I made a bag based on this pattern, I say 'based on' because silly my did it wrong.... American double crochet, NOT UK double crochet! This is an American pattern. http://theadventuresofcassie.blogspot.co.uk/2008/03/free-reusable-crocheted-grocery-bag.html

The bag is pretty easy and quite quick to make even if done wrong... I realised i was doing it wrong but wasn't going to pull it all back as it's only being used for socks. So you can see where I changed from the UK double crochet to the American double crochet.

I didn't really like being able to see the pointy corners so I'm using it inside-out for a more rounded bottom.

Here's a picture of it full.

As I started making the bag using UK double crochet and then switched to American double crochet the bag looks thin at the top and fat at the bottom. But as I said this one is only for socks so it will do. I also added a few extra rounds to what the pattern suggested.

Sunday, 21 July 2013

DIY Recycled Plant Pot

I've recently got into growing my own herbs. I bought loads of seeds and then didn't have enough pots to plant them in. Instead of buying more I set about making my own using things I already had in the house.

So I grabbed a plastic coleslaw pot before it disappeared off into the recycling bin. This pot had a lid which I could use as a 'dish' to place the pot on. Due to lots of plant preferring to be fed from the roots up I decided to put holes on the bottom of the pot. Holes also help drain excess water and prevent root rot. To add holes I used a screw as it was the first thing I found that was sharp; it was quite handy to get the holes to the size I wanted them. (Anything that's sharp enough to get through the plastic would work).

To make the pot look less like a coleslaw pot I grabbed some parcel string and glue. Any sort of string or yarn can be used for this, whatever looks good. I put glue on the pot then wrapped the string around the pot in a spiral every-so-often pushing all the string together to make sure plastic didn't show.