The Making of a Monster

On March 22, 2018March 22, 2018 By FogKnitsIn Toy, WIP6 Comments

The time has come. I’m no longer talking about knitting monsters. I’m actually knitting them! Yay! This is Kevin. He’s going to be a pocket monster. Eventually, there will be sweaters and blankets with pockets for Kevin to live in. He’s going to get a whole bunch of friends too. They’ll get pockets too! Pockets & Friends and Friends & Pockets! I love the whole thing.

I am a little stuck right now though. Monster faces are hard. I’ve eliminated buttons, safety eyes and other sewn on items (like felt or bobbles). This leaves me with embroidery options. And they have not gone well. The eyes are proving difficult.

I tried duplicate stitch. It was dreadful. I tried some plain X’s. That’s not the thing either. Kevin isn’t dead.

Satin Stitch is next on my list of things to try. I’m not optimistic. My embroidery skills are nil. At this point, everything goes in and out through Kevin’s crotch. It’s a real challenge to manipulate embroider in a tight space with barely any access. So I’m taking a little break before I attempt the eyes again.

I’m pleased with my crooked little mouth, though. I can do intentionally askew. That’s completely my speed! He’s gonna be so cute when (if?) I get the eyes right!

May The Fourth Be With You

On May 4, 2017 By FogKnitsIn Crochet, FO Friday, Toy3 Comments

Happy Star Wars Day! and May the Fourth be with you!

My intergalactic amigurumi crochet collection is growing! I gotta say, I’m happy to see this Stormtrooper killed. He’s kind of a reject anyway. If Yoda didn’t do it, Vader would have, soon enough.

While he does look more like a Stormtrooper than a Village Person, he’s a summary of everything I dislike about making stuffies. He’s just a bit off.

At least he’s less phallic than when he started. It makes me wish Rebecca Danger wrote a Star Wars book. I love her toy design. Her pieces aren’t sewn together but rather, picked up and worked more continuously.

That said, if you’re good at tiny finishing and you like fiddly bits, this is the book for you! Rumor has it, you can find it at Costco these days.

I’m not letting the dark side win, I’ll be back to crochet another day. For now though, I’m just going to enjoy a day filled with nerdy puns—and KNITTING!

May The Fourth Be With YOU!

Friday Photo Dump

On April 7, 2017April 7, 2017 By FogKnitsIn FO Friday, Misc, Scarf, Shawl, Toy, Yarn3 Comments

Hoooooray for Friday! I’m very excited to get some knitting done this weekend! In the meantime, here’s a random bunch of pictures I took but haven’t shared yet!

First, some yarn my Mom dyed for me recently! The olivey green is going to become a felted hat with a wide brim. The color has a lot of depth to it, lots of gold & mustardy tones to it. Hopefully that’s not lost when it’s felted.

The multi is a special handspun yarn I got in Iceland. Not sure what to do with it yet. Something for the torso I think. It’s the soft part of the Icelandic wool, next to skin softness for sure!

Next, my little Yoda, done he is!

His friends will be joining him soon.

My latest foray into beading. The beaded part was lots of fun! I didn’t even mind the pre-strung business. It’s tough on the yarn but it’s way less fiddly that stopping to pick up a crochet hook every time you place a bead. Now it’s just slogging through a regular old scarf. No bells or whistles to get excited about. Oh well, that is what I signed on for after all…

And last but not least, the sequence knitting shawl has been getting lots of outdoor love with spring springing so much in the recent weeks! I’m really looking forward to wearing this one. If all goes according to plan, I predict I’ll love it!

Hope you all have a beautiful weekend filled with lots of knitting! Only a couple hours to go, I’m confident I’ll make it…

Last Minute Halloween Costume

On October 29, 2016October 29, 2016 By FogKnitsIn Crochet, FO Friday, Hat, Toy4 Comments

Who doesn’t need a last minute Halloween costume?? If you’ve got a crochet hook and a bit of green yarn, I’ve got your solution!

It’s a Brain Slug! (which is pretty much what it sounds like.)

It’s a free crochet pattern. You can find it here!

I whipped this little fellow up in a couple hours. Using the safety eye was genius…It’s holding the white of the eye in place as well. No Sew Eye! And he’s sitting on a skinny little headband, just slipped the headband through his stitches and slid him into place! No sewing there either!

Honestly, I didn’t even sew the antenna, I just pulled their ends through and tied them. I even left the ends uncut on the inside…it’s just more stuffing!

I doesn’t get any easier! There’s still time…you could have a costume for that party tonight!

IF…you have the right stash.

(Really, this is a post about stash justification. It only works if you’ve got the right stash. How do you know if your stash is right? You don’t. You’ve gotta collect all the yarns. See?? Proof right here! It’s on the internet, it must be true!)

Happy Halloweekend!!

FO Friday -It’s a girl!

On August 5, 2016 By FogKnitsIn FO Friday, Hat, Toy11 Comments

With the excitement of a new baby close to home, I wasn’t knitting for a far away baby. It probably helped that far away baby was gender neutral until birth! Imagine that, some folks still like to be surprised at delivery?? I have horrible impulse control, no way I would have been able to wait that long.

The wait is over…It’s a girl! Trillium has arrived and she’s beautiful! I whipped up a quick hat, inspired by her name.

Although, perhaps, it may be a stretch to call a literal representation of something inspiration. In any case, I didn’t know Trillium was a flower. Imagine my delight at finding out it’s an easily knit flower! A Chrysanthemum hat would not have happened!

And then, I had to make something for Trillium’s new big sister! As a kid, I really loved getting presents on my sister’s birthday. Presents for everyone. Who can argue with that? Plus, new knitting is always more exciting than old knitting. So big sister got a monster!

Find the specific details on my Ravelry pages…

Trillium Hat –

The hat is a pattern I concocted myself starting with a picot cast on. The flower is a free pattern with some modifications.

Blue Monster –

This guy is a Rebecca Danger monster. He’s mostly Lydia or Lucas. Her designs are super fun to modify. The options for mixing and matching monster limbs and bodies are endless! This will not be my last monster. Stash busting and instant gratification! Yay!

And now, to prepare for the Ravellenic Games cast on! I still haven’t fully decided what I’m doing. Egads! Time to decide!

The Best of the Secrets

On July 21, 2016 By FogKnitsIn FO Friday, Toy11 Comments

I saved the best of the secret knitting, or at least the cutest, for last! In addition to the baby sweater, the gift I gave and the gift I received, there was a group project for our pregnant gal! We debated what to do for a long time. Squares for a blanket seemed easiest except when it came to assembly. No one wanted to volunteer for that! Seaming your own work is chore enough. Seaming someone else’s work takes a special kind of nutty.

We started to run out of time. We couldn’t decided on a type of project, let alone a pattern or yarn. And then a flash of brilliance struck! Someone suggested a mobile…perfect! Picking a theme was easy for our resident biologist/open water swimmer…Under the sea!

We all set out to pick our own patterns, use our own yarn, knit at our own gauge. Exactly the type of accommodations a group project of this nature needed! In the end, the ‘related separates’ idea brought a terrific dynamic to the finished mobile. Every critter has it’s own little personality. If one of us had made all the critters, I think it would have been a bit flat. They’d all be the same style, a bit homogenized. Instead, we’ve got a super little underwater party happening!

As the collection started to grow, we still needed someone to do assembly. Being unemployed, I had the time so I volunteered. I just kinda winged it all, and somehow it all worked out! I started by wrapping the inside hoops of a couple old embroidery in yarn, some random random Noro from the stash. Yay Stashbusting!

Then I hung the critters using an invisible nylon thread. Took a little trial and error to get the best method but in the end, everybody played nice together!

As it came together, it was hard to contain the excitement of how perfect it really was. In the end, everyone loved it and it fit the nursery perfect. It’s hard to think of adjectives other than ‘perfect’ and ‘adorable’. Once again, not having a plan, was a really good plan!

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Get a closer look and more details on some of the critters here:

And now, it’s time to get back to current knitting. I’m only halfway through my 576 stitch beaded picot bind off. Progress, thy is Thursday!

Stuff on my Cat

On May 9, 2016May 9, 2016 By FogKnitsIn FO Friday, Hat, Rocky, Toy7 Comments

Of all the ridiculous things I’ve done in my time (Hello knit portrait of Bill Murray!), I’ve never submitted a photo to Stuff on my Cat. I think I’ve found a new mission in life! I’m envisioning the scene from ET when he uses stuffed animal camouflage to hide.

Rocky isn’t convinced yet but I think I can win him over with the power of knitting and an assist from Rebecca Danger! Clearly, I’ve got my work cut out for me! Today, I’ve got twice as many critters as I did yesterday…so I’m making progress!

$stuff on my cat fractional fish rebecca danger knitting$

This little swimmer is the Fractional Fish from Rebecca Danger’s 50 Yards of Fun. Yay Stashbusting! And three cheers for instant gratification knitting!

Once the instant gratification bug hits, there’s not much to be done except ride it out. I think it’s going to be another hat binge. This blog has operated for 28 days without a finished hat!?! It’s time.

So I jumped in with both needles! It took about two inches for reality to set in. The yarn will absolutely win this round of yarn chicken so I quit while I was ahead. I ripped it off the needles but couldn’t bring myself to undo it. At least, not yet. I really like the way the variegation is pooling & spiraling, maybe I’ll find a way to salvage it! In the meantime, the needles are clicking away on this…

…definitely enough yarn this time! This is some of the yarn my Mom dyed for me. I think the ‘special occasion’ I’ve been saving it for is finally here! I’ve got an idea. It’s a good one. It involves surface crochet?!? I rely on duplicate stitch too much. It’s time for something new!

Fingers crossed that I’ll have something noteworthy to share for FO Friday! I’m excited about this one!