The First Project

I have a Stumble Upon toolbar on my browser. I LOVE it. I have spent many wasted hours stumbling around the Internet for random things. Or choosing a particular subject and stumbling on just those. I had put into my interests the subjects of knitting/crocheting as well as cats, weird pictures, humor, etc etc. And then one day I stumbled on a craft website where people will post the patterns they make for different things. And I was in love with a pattern I saw. It was for an octopus. And it was just too adorable. I found out that there was even a name for making crocheted/knitted animals: amigurumi. I spent quite some time looking different patterns up.

Eventually I printed out the octopus pattern and started to plan. I had to dig out my crochet hooks and the box of green and white yarn that was previously mentioned.

My first try for making the octopus did not turn out quite right. The body was HUGE. I am sure mostly because I was using very chunky yarn, and I think I was also using the hook that was suggested on the band of the yarn, the stitches are pretty loose. That was my lesson in gauge. So I adjusted things, since it was a simple pattern I just downsized it so it made the body about 6 inches tall (the original is probably closer to 10 inches!) I also probably did not stuff the original enough. It was very squishy. Too squishy.

Once I figured out what I was doing, and I was almost done I had to figure out what to do about the eyes. I couldn't find those cute eyes that all the websites and books showed in a local craft shop (Michael's or Hobby Lobby). So I ordered them online. In the meantime I got bored with waiting and just stitched them on. And I ended up with this picture. He looks a little devious, doesn't he? Oh well. I love him. I ended up giving him to a friend. After that I started working on a pattern I saw in a magazine for an orangutan. I went from something simple to a complicated pattern. I like to jump into the deep end of things some times.... while making the monkey I also made several other items. I will show you those next...