Misha's Making Stuff...

Make Every Day Earth Day

2009-04-18T10:55:00.000-07:00

For Earth Day I thought I would post some of my market/shopping/beach bags. They're 100% cotton and machine washable, and a great way to keep plastic out of the landfill. The first one is variegated brown, and the second is variegated brown with a white accent stripe.

Another in white with a hot pink accent stripe...

Next are some bracelets I've been crocheting with silver wire. The first one has fire polished Czech glass beads.

This one is made with gemstone chips.

The cotton heart pillow I made for after surgery. It was just the right size and shape to hold against my belly to assist with getting up and down after surgery. It was also great to use between my belly and the seatbelt when riding in the car.

Going Under the Knife

2009-03-13T08:19:00.000-07:00

I've been pretty busy with midterm stuff for school, but I have managed to complete a few smaller projects. Some crocheted wire and bead bracelets, and a small heart-shaped pillow. I haven't had time to take pictures yet, but will try to do that late next week. I also received the mannequin head I purchased off of Ebay, and can finally take some better pictures of things I've had sitting around waiting for good pics for my shop. I have to say, that having it sitting on the table in the living room has made things interesting. Nothing like walking out of the bedroom half awake to see a severed head sitting on the table.

My surgery is scheduled for Tuesday morning, and although I'm really excited about the prospect of my pain and other crap being reduced, or possibly eliminated, I'm extremely anxious as well. I don't do too well in situations involving doctors, needles, and being sliced open. I've just been trying to stay extra busy to keep my mind off of it. The fact that I have assignments due in my online classes the day after surgery has helped. I'm trying to get them all finished before tomorrow when we leave for our trip to Greensboro. I'm hoping a little R&R before heading to Chapel Hill for the surgery helps.

I've got lots of supplies and ideas ready to keep my busy during recovery. Actually, so much stuff planned that it will probably take me months to get through it all, so I definitely won't be bored. Plus, I have all this stuff I need to take pictures of, lol. Oh, and Chad knows how to make the smoothies now, so I'm all set. :)

Update

2009-03-01T15:21:00.000-08:00

I've been keeping busy around here, just not busy updating the blog. I've been working on a lot of different things, and been really busy with school as well. I don't have pics of the sculptures or ceramics I've been making, but I'll update with those as well when I do.

First I have the hemp necklaces made for an Etsy order. I did 10 of these, but forgot to get a pic of all of them together, so, here's 1 of them. They all looked like this anyway.

Next is the first pair of socks I've ever knit. First time working with dpns also. I think they turned out pretty well. I had some issues turning the heel on the first one, but found a tutorial online and it went smoothly from there on. I decided not to match up the stripes in the yarn, partly because I think they have a bit more character this way, and mostly because I was just feeling lazy when I started the second sock. They are amazingly warm and snuggly on my feet which are always cold. Around here they're referred to as "THE ICY TOES OF DOOOOM!!!" I'm planning to wear them to keep my feet warm during surgery later this month.

Next is the arm warmers I started to knit. Found the pattern here. Hopefully they turn out the way they're supposed to, but I've never made an applied I-cord before, so who knows. So far, so good.

The chocobo blanket is over halfway finished. Not a great pic, but you can see it's coming along nicely. I haven't had much time to work on this one lately because of how involved it is, and the fact that it isn't very portable. I did make quite a bit of progress over the weekend.

Lastly, Chad and I bought a dehydrator the other day, and he got it out and started using it today. Hopefully we'll have lots of yummy dried fruit to snack on starting tomorrow. I can't wait!

I actually finished something I was knitting!

2009-02-12T14:15:00.000-08:00

I've been making an effort lately to stick with trying to learn to knit, even though I'm really slow at it and have to really pay attention to what I'm doing. I'd much rather crochet since I've been doing it so long I don't even have to look down, and can do like 5 other things at the same time. Unfortunately, I've fallen in love with a few knit patterns recently, so I'm trying to hone my skills in an attempt to tackle 'em.

This project was born because I needed something to do while in the car when traveling to Chapel Hill for my pre-op appointment last Friday, and back home. The only project I had in the works was the chocobo blanket, and crocheting from 23 balls of yarn is not car-friendly. I chose this dishcloth because it was small, and I had some spare cotton yarn lying around. Big shock. If you ask my husband, he'd say I have an addiction. I can't seem to stop buying yarn.

Anyway, it looks a lot better than the horrible picture gives it credit for. I'm actually somewhat happy with it, considering that it's only the 2nd knit thing I've ever finished.

I'm probably getting in way over my head, but I'm tackling a pair of socks. I actually started them Saturday since the yarn had at my doorstep while in Chapel Hill. So far, they're turning out ok, First time ever using dpns, so I'm pretty proud of myself. Had a bit of an issue when it came time to turn the heel, as the pattern directions made no sense to me, but I found a great tutorial with awesome pics, and voila, heel turned. :) I really want to finish the first sock and make sure the size is right, but I'm working on an order for 10 necklaces that came in to my Etsy shop. I'm hoping to have them finished in the next few days, and get back to my socks. I'd really like to get them finished before I have surgery since they suggest wearing warm socks, and these seem like they'll be very warm and snuggly.

Another Fisherman Afghan

2009-02-05T10:38:00.000-08:00

OK, I know I've been slacking when it comes to posting things here. I've been extremely busy with school lately. Since the college is going through accreditation this year, we are having to make up our snow days which is a huge pain in the arse, especially since each class is doing it differently. Some meeting on extra days, other adding time to the beginning or end of class, or adding additional assignments. So, basically, on Mondays and Wednesdays I have no break from 9:30am until 4pm... I'm apparently supposed to eat lunch while working on ceramics which is a disgusting idea. Wet clay and food do not mix!

Anyways, I finally got around to posting a pic of the fisherman afghan that was a custom order on Etsy. It's the same pattern as the burgundy afghan I did with the cables, diamond, and popcorn stitches, but is larger. This one is 60"x80", and was made to cover a queen size bed. It was easy peasy after I figured out the number of stitches for the pattern repeats to make it longer. I also added in a few extra panels to make it wider.

Chocobo Blanket

2009-01-26T20:33:00.001-08:00

My newest WIP, the Chocobo Blanket. I'm just getting ready to start on this one and can't wait to see the end result. I think this is my favorite graph I've done so far, and it's going to be hard to part with this one. I'll probably end up making a second one for myself to keep. :)

Stained Glass Granny Square Bag

2009-01-10T12:22:00.000-08:00

After all the blankets I've been making lately, I decided that I'd take a break and make something smaller. I came across this pattern a while back, and have been wanting to make it. I actually made something for myself for once! Yay!

Unfortunately, this bag turned out to be a lot more work than I had anticipated due to the number of ends that needed to be worked in. Once again, why I prefer not to make granny squares, although I did work them in as I went along, so not as bad as it could have been.

I made a few changes to the pattern. Each square is only 4 rounds, 3 of the multicolor and 1 of black. I also changed the handles and ch 70 instead of 90, and only did 2 rows of sc. The bag was assembled with sc in black. It ended up being about 10"x10" (not including the handles.)

Originally, I was going to make the bag in the multicolor and the bright green that I had left over from the cactaur blanket, but it was just too bright. I switched the green for the black, and overall, I'm very happy with the way it turned out.

Scraptastic Wavy Shells Afghan

2009-01-08T15:47:00.001-08:00

I finished this one up yesterday. I'm still in the process of writing up the pattern. Overall, I think it turned out pretty well. I'm still amazed that I actually worked all the ends in as I went along. I didn't know what to do with myself when I got to then end and just had the one end to work in. :)

The Penguin Blanket of doom is finally finished! Hooray!

2009-01-02T18:41:00.001-08:00

This blanket has been my bane for over a year, and I'm sooo glad it's finally finished. It is made up of 266 individually crocheted granny squares, and then assembled and finished with a green 5 row single crochet border. It ended up being 36"x47".

I started crocheting the squares in the fall of 2007, doing a lot of it while on my lunch breaks at school. The squares were small and worked up rather quickly. The only problem was with making 266 squares, there were an insane amount of yarn ends to sew in, which I absolutely hate. So, my ginormous pile of tiny crocheted granny squares got tossed in a bag and set to the side.

Every once in a while, I would pull out a few at a time and work the ends in. Eventually, at some point in October 2008, I finally had all the ends sewn in and pinned the squares together to begin assembling the blanket. Because of the various colors of blocks, there ended up being a lot more ends to work in after crocheting the squares together. So, once again, I put it to the side, but not out of sight this time.

I got tired of the unfinished blanket taunting me, and finally decided to sew in ends a few at a time while watching TV and taking breaks from other projects. I figured that the semester break from school was a good time to finish off some of these WIPs I have lying around.

After staying up all night New Year's Eve, and trying to stay up the rest of the day and go to bed at a decent time for once (as in before 3 or 4 am) in hopes of getting my sleep schedule back on track before the semester starts, I picked up the blanket again, somewhere around 2:30 am while watching the Moral Orel marathon on Cartoon Network :) and finally finished it! And of course, it left me saying what I always do after dealing with something like this. I WILL NEVER WAIT UNTIL THE END OF MY PROJECT TO DEAL WITH THE YARN ENDS! NEXT TIME I'LL DO THEM AS I GO ALONG!

Burgundy Aran Fisherman Afghan

2009-01-02T18:34:00.000-08:00

This blanket was the last project that I completed in 2008. It is 48"x68". It was worked with 2 strands of yarn held together, and contains 5 pounds of yarn. Super warm and snuggly to cuddle up with on cold days. It is made up of cable, popcorn, and diamond panels. The color is actually darker than the picture shows, and is a deep burgundy. I decided not to add the fringe, but still may end up doing so, depending on my mood.

Scraptastic - WIP

2008-12-22T13:36:00.001-08:00

I recently discovered that once again, my yarn stash was getting out of control. I don't have a lot of room to store my yarn, so I decided that rather than go out and buy even more for a project I was designing, that I would come up with a large stashbuster instead to free up some space using some of the insane amount of acrylic yarn I possess. I came up with this shell stitch pattern and then decided to use white to tie things together. I started with a stripe of white, then 8 stripes of colors randomly selected from my stash, then white again, lather, rinse, repeat. This afghan is 52" wide, and is currently 24" long, so I've still got a lot of work left to do on it. I have to say that I'm extremely proud of myself for actually working the ends in as I go for once, which I never do, instead of leaving them all to do at the end.

Cotton Market Bag

2008-12-18T18:44:00.001-08:00

More market bags, this time in cotton. I used a cone of variegated brown cotton yarn with some hints of red for this project. I love the way it ended up with these wavy stripes. Funny thing is, I'm making a second bag from the same yarn, and the stripes are nowhere to be found. Funny how that works out sometimes.

Octavio Octopus

2008-12-15T15:30:00.001-08:00

Here it is, my latest amigurumi creation, Octavio Octopus. I decided to use some variegated blue, green, and yellow acrylic yarn I had lying around, and then also crocheted the eyes in black acrylic yarn. I'm really having fun with making the amigurumis, but have decided to finish up a few afghans that have been hanging around incomplete for quite some time. I hope to have finished pics of them to post soon.

Bleachout Shirts

2008-11-21T19:44:00.001-08:00

My husband and I have been making T-shirts using a bleaching process. Various techniques can be used for different designs and such. These pics are an example of a shirt made for personal use recently. The praying mantis was the hubby's idea, which I found funny since the female praying mantis decapitates and eats the male after mating. Anyway, I particularly like the drips on this one. More to come.

The Cactaur Blanket is finished!

2008-11-13T17:15:00.000-08:00

I finally finished the cactaur blanket about 2 weeks ago, and am finally getting around to posting the pic. Once again school is kicking my butt and sucking all the time away.

I'm really happy with how it turned out. I got really frustrated with it about half way through due to the amount of detail being a big pita, but I'm glad I put forth the effort and wouldn't change a thing.

It is crocheted in acrylic yarn, and is the same size as the moogle blankie I posted previously. It's approximately 49"x75" and would work for a twin, twin xl, or double bed. It is shown pictured on a queen size bed, so as you can see, it was quite labor intensive.

Next I plan to make a baby chocobo blanket, and already have the graph made for it.

The "Plarn" Experience

2008-11-13T14:02:00.000-08:00

After several hours of work, here it is: my "plarn" ball! For those of you that don't know what plarn is, it is yarn made of strips cut from plastic bags. The bottom seam and handles are removed from the bag, and the remaining plastic is cut into strips and looped together. If doing this, I highly recommend recycling the unused handles and seams of the bags if possible.

This ball of plarn contains plastic from somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 plastic shopping bags. It should be enough to make a bag. By making plarn and crocheting with it, the end result is a much more durable reusable bag than the the original flimsy plastic. I was originally planning to make a tote bag out of it, but now I'm leaning towards making a messenger bag instead. Either way, it's probably going to be a while until I have the time to tackle the project due to the insane number of papers and projects I've been having to do lately for school. At least there's only a few more weeks left in the semester. :)

Amigurumi Moogle and Earflap Hat

2008-10-26T08:02:00.000-07:00

These were made as a birthday gift for a super cute 1 year old. The hat was crocheted in wool yarn, and the moogle was done mostly in acrylic, with a bit of bamboo yarn.

Cactaur Blanket - WIP

2008-10-09T13:13:00.000-07:00

Ok, here it is, the Cactaur Blanket. At this point I have about 60 rows left to crochet, a border to add, and the ends to sew in. I must say, that although this may seem like a simple design with few colors, this project has been a royal pita due to the frequent color changes. Thankfully I'm past the worst part, when I was working with 25 balls of yarn, and it's smooth sailing from here. :) I'll hopefully have the finished product pics up sometime next week.

What I'm working on now...

2008-10-05T10:37:00.000-07:00

Haven't updated in a bit, so thought I'd fill some space with what I'm currently working on, and my plans for upcoming projects. It seems like there's never enough time in the day to work on everything I want to make. I recently made a scarf, and then decided to make a matching hat as well. Pictures will be posted soon.

Currently working on:
Cactaur blanket - on the same scale as the moogle, but this time a cactaur! It's a bit more time consuming than I first expected due to all the color changes. I'm working with around 17 balls of yarn on average for each row. I'll be posting pics soon showing this WIP.
Hemp jewelry with seashell beads and focal components

Planned projects:
Chocobo blanket - again on the scale of the moogle, but this time a baby chocobo! It's going to be absolutely adorable!
Beach themed Christmas ornaments using seashells
Painted Christmas ornaments
Seashell embellished items including mirrors and picture frames
My first ever quilt
Several different hats
Scarves
Amigurumi animals and such
More market bags, tote bags, and purses
... and of course, more baby blankets.

So, as you can see... I'm going to be a very busy girl :)

Market Tote

2008-09-18T09:39:00.000-07:00

This bag is meant to be an eco-friendly reusable shopping bag in an effort to be more environmentally conscious. I made a few adaptations to the pattern I used, and think next time I'll use cotton yarn instead of acrylic to make it even more environmentally friendly. The bag is approximately 17" wide and 15" tall when empty, and expands to carry a lot of stuff. It's also machine washable, so it could be used for groceries, or a trip to the beach and then just thrown in the wash.

Cotton Moogle Blankie

2008-09-12T11:19:00.000-07:00

The moogle blankie makes an appearance once again. This one was a custom request through Etsy for someone who wanted it in cotton yarn rather than acrylic due to allergies. The colors are slightly different, but I think it turned out rather nicely. It also reminded me how much I love cotton yarn. It's super soft and cuddly.

6 to 24 Point Star Afghan

2008-09-08T10:54:00.001-07:00

One of the things I've been up to lately is completing my collection of unfinished projects. I've had this one mostly finished for quite a while, but I tend to procrastinate when coming to the end of something because I hate to sew in all the ends of the yarn at the end. Each time I start something new, I convince myself that I'll do it as I go along instead of waiting until the end, but after the first few yarn ends, I always end up changing my mind, especially on a project like this with lots of color changes.

This is an older pattern from Annie's Attic. If you're interested in the pattern, email me - I'm willing to share or trade it. I took inspiration from my love of anything coffee and crocheted this in shades of cream and brown. I think it turned out absolutely gorgeous and almost don't want to part with it, but it's up in my Etsy shop as well.

Christmas Star Baby Blanket

2008-09-07T08:02:00.000-07:00

So, yes, I know I've been a slacker when it comes to posting here. I've been a bit busy with the new semester starting at school, but decided to take a break from work on a custom blanket to post a little of what I've been up to here.

I've seen several round ripple baby blankets recently, and decided to try my hand at one. I went to my handy yarn stash to see what I had on hand. With Christmas on the way, I thought, what better than to make one in Christmas colors, so I chose to use red, green, and white as the colors for the blanket. It measures 34" in diameter, so almost 3 ft. across. The colors are brighter than they show in the picture, not sure what happened there.

This blanket is also available in my Etsy shop.

The Moogle Blankie Is Finished!

2008-08-19T09:29:00.000-07:00

I finished the Moogle Blankie a few days ago, and am finally getting around to posting pics. It ended up being rather large: 49"x 75" which makes it large enough to cover a twin, twin x-long, or double bed. I've got this finished blanket listed for sale in my Etsy shop, and I am also accepting custom orders if you would like this done in different colors for the background, moogle, wings, etc.

Just to give an idea of the size, here it is pictured on a queen size bed:

Sweet dreams kupo!

Crochet + Video Games = Moogle Blankie

2008-07-25T08:45:00.000-07:00

I have been crocheting for about as long as I can remember. I've made countless blankets, afghans, bags, hats, scarves, etc. Most of my creations have been given as gifts, but others were sold through craft shows, flea markets, and Ebay. I've recently been toying with the idea of opening a shop on Etsy, but haven't gotten around to it yet. I'm also beginning to try to write my first original crochet patterns as well, in hopes of possibly getting some of them published. Also, thanks to my husband, I'm addicted to playing FFXI, the online Final Fantasy RPG. I decided to incorporate my love for this game into a crochet project. Thus, the Moogle Blankie was born.

Last fall I took an interest in crochet blankets I was seeing that had characters on them using tunisian crochet, or the afghan stitch. Over the years I had tried making these "image" blankets with single crochet color changes, and also with cross-stitch over single crochet, but was never very happy with the results. I had never used tunisian crochet before, but decided I was going to have to break down and give it a try. I got to work and created a graph for my Moogle Blankie.

I started this project on July 22, and I'm surprised by how quickly it's working up. It was a bit slow at first (mostly because I was being extremely cautious in my attempt not to screw it up) but once i got a few rows in, it seems to be flying by. I'm really wondering why I didn't try this earlier. Here is the blanket on July 23 after 23 rows were worked:

Here's another pic on 07/25/08 with 47 of the 165 rows completed. Looks like I'm going to have to take a little break at this point due to a very hectic schedule, but I hope to complete it soon.

Well I finally have an update. This picture was taken today, 08/05/08 with 75 of 165 rows of the blanket completed. The moogle now has arms and wings, and this has been by far the most difficult part of this project. At one point I was juggling 20+ balls of yarn and trying not to get trapped in my tangled mess. Looks like it's going to be easy going from this point on. :)

This next picture was taken on 08/08/08 with 105 rows completed. As you can see, the moogle now has facial features. He's very happy about this because he can now indulge in that yummy cupcake he's been hiding in the mog house. nom nom nom Moogles love frosting and sprinkles. :)

I've decided at this point not to update with pics until this blankie is completed (which should be in the next few days.) I've only got about 25 rows to go, and a border to add. I'm still debating what color to make the border... I'll probably just make it white like the background, but still not sure. I'm also in the process of getting my Etsy shop set up, and I'm busy taking pictures and such to get everything listed.