Summer Head Gear

Summer's officially here and the B gals were in need of something to keep their hair from whipping up into a frightful mess at the beach, so here's what I came up with:


A crochet lace head kerchief with a pretty floral appliqué. This is the first time I've ever crocheted any sort of lace, so I picked a rather simple lace pattern. I'm pleased with how it came out. It's lacy without being too fussy -- perfect for cool, breezy, summer days!

I made them in a bunch of different colors as you can see. They'll be listed in my shop shortly, if anyone is interested.

Do you remember these? I haven't made my Sundae Berets in quite awhile. I used to make them with nuts scattered all over the hot fudge sauce, but this time I decided to do them up with colored sprinkles. I saw something on Food Network about how sprinkles were one of the most popular toppings for ice cream, and I was instantly inspired.

Here's one of my B-gals wearing one. I'll be putting a bunch of these in my shop, too.

Well, that's all the crafting news for now. Sorry this post is so short, but I've been enjoying my long, holiday weekend! :)

Happy Independence Day!

Back in the Zone

Since the vog (a.k.a The Vile Cloud of Crafting Doom) lifted, I've finally got myself into a nice crafting schedule again. This week it's been nothing but Itty Bitty Amigurumis. Between the crocheting and the origami, I find it a nice all around soothing craft.

As you can see, I've added some bears to my Itty Bitty repertoire. I experimented a bit with the muzzle -- I did an embroidered nose much like my bigger bears, but then I also tried out a black bead nose. I'm not sure which one I like better. What do you all think? Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Here's a better look of them all decked out in their crochet dresses.

I've been on a desperate hunt to find more colors of this fingering weight mohair yarn. As you can see all I have at the moment are white and yellow. The manufacturer doesn't make any other suitable colors. The problem with Hawaii is that yarn shops are so scarce so I almost always have to mail order in. It's a bit of a guessing game since you can't see and feel the yarn for yourself. So far I've purchased some mohair yarn from Canada hoping that it would be a good weight/ gauge match with the yarn I'm presently using. No such luck. It was way too thin. I've just ordered some yarn from New York and I'm crossing my eyes and fingers that they're a good match.


I haven't done an "In Other Cuteness" feature in awhile, but I've discovered something so absolutely, irresistibly cute that I simply must share it --

Please meet Pecan! How adorable is he sitting on a stump with his little elephant push toy?

"Pecan is the oldest and wisest of the Pecanpals. He is a master storyteller, often spending entire afternoons sitting under a tall palm tree, reading. He insists that all the knowledge you ever need to know is found in stories. Pecan likes to be aware of things that are happening on the island, making sure to visit each and every person on his daily rounds." -- Noferin

The PecanPals are a group of whimsical characters created by the Australian artists of Noferin. They do paintings based on their characters and recently they branched out into making wooden figures of them. I just had to snatch one up right away! If you would like to purchase one, too, I wouldn't wait very long. These little guys have been going fast!

Before I leave I have to annouce the winner of June's Reader Appreciation Giveway! Thank you to Andrea Rooks of Rooks Paper Scissors for all your support! I will contact you soon!

Happy crafting everyone! :)

It's the Vog's Fault, and the Return of Owls and the Reader Appreciation Giveway!

Ugh.

I hate it when I don't keep up with my regular scheduled posts. I've had a case of the blahs lately, which I blame on the recent weather. I know most people think that Hawaii weather is a dream -- and for the most part it is -- but sometimes we have this atmospheric phenomenon called vog, and it kicks me in the butt every time. Vog (volcanic smog) occurs when gases emitted from the Kilauea volcano in the Big Island mix with air, sun, and moisture and creates a smog like haze that makes the air feel thick, heavy, and sticky hot. Normally, it doesn't affect us much in Oahu, but occasionally wind will blow it down our way. Well, we recently experienced vog a couple of days running and it really choked the life out of me. Physically and mentally. Not only is the heat and humidity so miserable, but it's also rather depressing to look out at your once beautiful, crystal clear view of Diamond Head and see an ugly, brown film.

Anyway, I blame my vog addled brain for my lazy, blah, non-blogging state. Yep, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. :)

When the air (and my head) finally cleared, I decided to make some owls. I hadn't whipped up any of those little critters in awhile. I decided to make a Thoughtful Little Owl and a pair of Scholarly Little Owls. It was fun taking a break from crocheting and getting reacquainted with my sewing machine again. I think I'm going to do even more sewing projects now.

So I'm painfully aware that I missed last month's Reader Appreciation Giveway . . . *sigh*. I feel horrible about it because I hate being willy-nilly about things, even though this blog is aptly named for such behavior. To make up for it I wanted to make June's Reader Appreciation Giveaway super special. So here it is:

My new favorite craft is origami. I find it so calming and fun, and I would love to pass on my joy of origami to someone else. For those of you unfamiliar with the art of Japanese paper folding or for those who could use some more origami supplies, I put together this mini origami crafting kit. In it there's an origami instruction book with 33 sheets of paper included, and I've tossed in two more packages of super sweet Japanese import origami paper. What fun! :) You all know the drill -- I'll be picking the winner at random from the comment pool of this post.

Thank you again for visiting my hopelessly willy-nilly, but obsessively crafty little corner of the universe! Aloha!

It's Loovee Crafting Time

As you well know, I've been all about amigurumi softies lately. Well, Loovee has been giving me that side eyed glance of discontent that tells me she has been quite neglected. Thus, I decided to devote some time to Loovee crafting. It wasn't hard to find some inspiration. With temperatures reaching upwards of 80° here in Hawaii, summer is definitely around the corner, and it put me in the mind of creating a pretty sundress for Loovee.

I wanted to create a dress that was sweet, simple and defintely summer-y. I decided that I would crochet it because nothing says warm summer days at the beach like a little crochet sundress.

Well, here is Loovee hitting the beach to test the final product. I think she's quite pleased with it. The design is simple and un-fussy. I added the curvy detail at the hem to convey surf and waves, and also to add some interest to such a basic design. I decided to variegate the waves in three different shades of pink, from darkest to lightest. I really like how it came out. It reminds me of a plumeria flower petal. Finally, I thought a beaded tie on the bodice would be a nice touch.

Loovee seems to enjoy sunning herself on the rocks.

Finally, a parting shot of Loovee as the sun sets.

I crocheted a couple more of these sundresses for the shop. I made a point to choose colors that were reminiscent of all things summer -- the beach, seashells, and tropical flowers . . . .

Please click on the pics to see the details better.

These three dresses have the variegated wavy hems.

These three have bold, solid waves.

If anyone is interested in any of these dresses, please check back at my shop. I'll start listing them tomorrow.

Thank you for visiting!

Big Things Come in Small Packages

These little gals look like my usual ami bunnies, don't they? But what you don't know is that they're packing a little surprise . . . and I do mean LITTLE. :)

I never imagined I would -- or even could -- make amigurumi this small, but after a yarn mail order mishap (the new yarn I purchased was soooooo thin), I decided to make do with what I had. When life gives you lemons, you know? :)

All in all it wasn't so bad working with lace weight mohair yarn. It involved a ton of squinting. And lots of creative thinking to try to scale things down, yet still maintain my meticulous, borderline obsessive attention to detail. Oh, and there was a bit of cursing, too. :)

Sewing their fabric ear insets were a bit of chore. And I decided to crochet their smocks because just thinking about sewing something so tiny would likely cause my head to explode. I did, however, crochet the tiniest heart applique and stitched that onto the smock. I'll admit I'm a bit of a masochist when it comes to my crafting.

Here's a shot of their backside. I had to nix the pom-pom tails since I could not make them that small. I crocheted them instead.

Finally, in my unending quest to use what I have, I grabbed some origami paper and made these little origami packages to tuck the bunnies in. I crocheted the handles with some cotton thread and I cut some tags from cardstock. They're now ready for gift giving!

I'll likely have these mini ami bunnies in my shop next weekend if anyone is interested.

Thank you again for visiting! Happy crafting!

A "Something Special" Ami Bear, some Mother's Day Goodies, and Happy Mail

Aloha friends! What have you all been up to? As for me, I've just been crafting my behind off as usual.

In my ever expanding series of "Something Special" ami softies, I've created this sweet, little bear. I've named her "Posy" for obvious reasons -- the garland of flowers she wears around her head and the freshly plucked blossom in her hand. I crocheted her out of a new brand of lavender mohair yarn, which is wonderfully soft and full. Her smock dress is cut from embroidered pink cotton gauze and trimmed with white lace.

Here is the entire "Posy" set complete with mini portrait and drawstring bag.


And here are the Mother's Day goodies I've been working on. I thought My Happy Swirly Cupcakes and Bashful Blooming Cacti would make lovely gifts for mom so I decided to put a few more in my shop.

Please visit my shop if you are interested in any of these. I will be listing one or two of them daily starting tomorrow.

Oh, I wanted to show you some happy mail that just came in. These are a set of Clover crochet hooks all tucked into its own velcro closure cozy. I've been thinking that serious crocheting requires some serious tools and I've heard that the thick handles on these Clover hooks are more ergonomic and give you better control. I can't wait to try my new fancy-pants crochet hooks. I feel like I'm graduating from a student violin to a Stradivarius! :)

Before I go I must thank you for all your kind birthday wishes! I appreciate it so much! I'm also happy to announce that the winner of April's Reader Appreciation Giveaway is Little Brown Rabbit! I will get in touch with you soon!

Well, that's it for now! Best wishes to all! :)

Hello Ami Bears, Goodbye Blythe Hoods, and an Extra Special Reader Appreciation Giveaway

So what happens when I run out of yarn to make a Sweet Apple Cheek Ami Bunny?

I make a Sweet Apple Cheek Ami Bear! These little girls began life as amigurumi bunnies until I realized that there wasn't enough yarn left in the skein for their big ears and pom-pom tails. I've never made an amigurumi bear before so this was a new adventure for me.

I did a lot of sketching in my trusty doodle notebook before I found a bear head that felt right to me. You'd be surprised by how dramatic a simple bear face can change just by altering the size of the nose or the placement of the ears.

Here is another shot of them wearing the other side of their reversible apron dresses.

These little gals will be in my shop soon if anyone is interested.


Speaking of the shop, the last of the Blythe Bouncy Bunny Ear Hoods will go in, too. It's not the last hoods forever, but certainly the last for awhile (unless somone makes a special request because I always oblige). It's just that I have so many exciting project ideas whirling around in my head that I need to get to before they dissipate.

I'm so thrilled because I'm having my birthday this month! It will be doubly exciting because my best pal P has his birthday just four days after mine so we plan on a ton of celebrating. I want to extend the celebration to you by making April's Reader Appreciation Giveaway something extra special. The person I choose at random from the comment pool will receive all the goodies below (a stationary set, a lead pencil, a refrigerator magnet, 3 rubber stamps, a mini sticker book, a stencil ruler) and then some -- I will throw in another surprise gift for some extra fun! :)

Finally, to anyone else that shares a birthday in April with me -- HAPPY BIRTH MONTH!!! :)