My crafting has slowed down since my Christmas break. Here are a few things I have made.
A friend of mine collects elephants. She asked if I could make one. This was my attempt. The nose is a bit wonky, but i think it turned out okay. I used
this pattern from Amy's Crochet Cave.
A co-worker asked it I could make a fox for her to give as a Valentine Gift. I showed her several different patterns. She chose
this one from Craft Passion.
The pattern called for a "Split Single Crochet Stitch" that mimics the look of a knit stitch. I tried the stitch and had a terrible time trying to use that stitch. So, I changed it to a single crochet stitch. I followed the pattern exactly, other than stitch type, and the head turned out way too tall. It looked ridiculous. A note on the pattern said not to try it with a different stitch because it would "not work well. You will find the size, shape, and colorwork, not in the right proportions ". Yep, that statement was true.
I started over and changed up the number of rows as I went along. I had to make changes in the head, muzzle, ears, body, legs, and arms. I think it turned out cute. The pattern maker said she bought doll glasses for her fox. I used some 18 gauge craft wire and made some glasses for my fox. I thing the glasses turned out really cute. Since this fox was a Valentine gift, I added a red scarf with hearts on end. The scarf also helped hide the little-bit-too-skinny neck.
I got a gift card for a craft store for a Christmas present. I used it to try a new craft... needle felting. Needle felting is where you take wool and poke at it with special barbed needles to make the wool fibers bind together. I saw some amazing animal creations and thought I would give it a try.
I wanted to make a little white Maltese dog. I tried, but it didn't go so well. The head was so lumpy.
I kept working on it and it started to look more like a dog, but not like a Maltese.
I posted this picture on a facebook felting page. I was informed that you are not supposed to use all of the needles in the wooden handle at one time. The needles are different sizes. Oops! I didn't realize you could open the wooden handle and pull the needles out.
This is how my little dog turned out. It took me about three hours to make.
The felted dog is soooo tiny. It is only about 2 inches tall. Here it is next to the Valentine fox.
I thought I would try my hand at 2D needle felting. It is also called painting with wool. I tried to think what I would make. I thought about a picture I took this past summer on a camping trip and knew I wanted to try and "wool paint" it. It is a very loose interpretation of it.
I made a flat pug for one of my friends. She liked it. I did not like it much. She has a pug that is a certified therapy dog who works with children.
She keeps it on her desk at work.
This was supposed to be a cat to go with this Cat A Pencil. It was kind of scary looking.
Every year that we went to Canada for Christmas, we went on a feed the birds hike.
The little chickadees are so cute. They will take seeds right out of your hand.
So, the next thing I wanted to needle felt was a chickadee. It is not quite right, but I think it is close. I still need to add legs to it and make the black at the bottom of the throat a bit smaller.
I pulled out my stamping supplies to make a few cards for co-workers.
Work and family has been keeping me very busy. I haven't had time to put any new projects on my crochet needles for several weeks.
