Saturday, April 30, 2011

Pattern Find : Angry Birds

Angry Birds. Probably the most popular of all games for the Ipod touch and Ipad. Everybody I know loves Angry Birds. On the internet you can find everything from Angry Bird pizzas to Angry Bird videos. But I've found the best of the best.  Oh yeah. Angry Bird patterns. Made by a talented designer named Karla Fitch.
The first pattern is the Classic Cardinal. It is the only pattern of the series that is free.

At 3.00USD each her other Angry Bird patterns include:




The white bird also comes with extra bonus of the egg.




And the Bomb Bird

These birds are totally awesome. These cute little things make great gifts for angry bird enthusiasts. Put a couple little weights in them and have instant, adorable, paper weights. Or simple put them around the house to make you smile. 

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Pattern: Batman, The Brave and Bold

Looking around on Ravelry I realized there are a lot of Batman related scarves and things but there's quite a lack of good Batman amigurumi. And, being a fan of Batman myself, I couldn't resist. So, this cute, caped crusader was born. The pattern is as follows:

Notions: G hook
              Black, silver, and cream Simply Soft yarn
              Black and white felt
              St marker
              Tapestry needle

Pattern: Starting in black, Ch 2
Sc 8 in 2nd ch from hook.
Rnd 2: (sc, inc) repeat around
Rnd 3: (sc 2, inc) repeat around
Rnds 4+5: sc around
Rnd 6: sc 10 in black, sc 5 in cream, dec in black (making nose), sc 5 in cream, sc 10 in black
Rnd 7+8: sc 10 in black, sc 10 in cream, sc 10 in black
Rnd 9: sc around in black
Rnds 10-14: sc around in silver
Rnd 15: sc around in black. Do NOT fasten off.
Legs:
Sc 1 into st exactly opposite your current st. (The one on the other side of the circle) Thus splitting the circle in two. Each side should have 15 sts.
Rnd 16: sc 6 in black, sc 3 in silver, sc 6 in black
Rnd 17: sc 4 in black, sc 7 in silver, sc 4 in black
Rnd 18: sc 2 in black, sc 11 in silver, sc 2 in black
Rnds 19+20 sc around in silver
Rnd 21: sc around in black
Rnd 22: (in back of sts) sc around in black.
Fasten off and sew the remaining hole closed.

Repeat on other leg.

Cape:
In Black
On rnd 9, sc across 13 sts by inserting your hook around the already existing st and crocheting like it's a normal rnd. There should be 3 black sts on either side of the cape before the face.
Row 2: Sc across
Row 3: Inc in 1st st, sc across, inc in last st
Rows 4+5: sc across
Row 6: inc, sc across, inc in last st
Row 7+8: sc across
Row 9: inc, sc across, inc
Row 10: sc across
Row 11: inc, sc across, inc
Fasten off, weave in ends.

Ears, Make 2
With black, ch 5, sc in 2nd ch from hook. Hdc in next st. Dc in last 2 sts. Fasten off and sew to head.

Finishing:


For the face, cut out two small triangles from the white felt for the eyes, and a small strip from the black for the mouth. There are several different ways you can arrange the eyes to make different expressions.

The " Will Commissioner Gorden never shut up" face
The "Catwoman just scratched my heart out" face
And the "Let's kick some bad guy butt" face
Personally I went with the "kick butt" face. Also cut a bat out of the black felt for the bat symbol on his chest. I find it easiest to just clue on the felt with a hot clue gun. But be careful, if you get the clue anywhere else besides where you want it won't came off. And even though it's clear, it's visible.


And there ya have it :) I literally wrote this pattern on the back of an envelope when I was writing it so please let me know if you catch any problems.


Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Spring is Surprising

I've noticed that even though it happens every year, as it has since the beginning of time, that spring always surprises us. We always feel immensely happy and even relieved that winter is at an end and summer is very near at hand. One morning, during my spring brake, I happened to walk outside and notice this beautiful yellow flower blooming among all the gross, degrading leaves of last fall. And I just felt so full of the hope of summer.

My crafty life was also very surprising during spring brake. I accomplished many things I would never have expected out of one weeks time. The first two are drawing that I did, that were completely beyond my skill level.        




I love to draw even more then I love fiber art and crochet. But I don't have the "eye" for it. Very often I have ideas that would look amazing on paper but some how they never get there. I can't ever seem to draw what's in my head. But I am good at copying things done be other people. Anyway I thought these were, for me, very good, even though they could be better. There are also other things that I finished over brake but they'll wait for another day.