Ages ago I asked on the ReveDreams Facebook page for items I could crochet out of embroidery floss, and my aunt suggested a tooth. There it is at long last. It has only two roots mostly because it’s a pain to work that small, with the reverse-engineered rationale that this way, it can sit on the edge of something.

Second, one that I completed but that really didn’t work out so well: a pair of slippers. If you have a Ravelry account you can see more of the saga on my project page for these, but long story short, after a good deal of effort to resize these, they are a bit loose and not at all the same size as each other. Crochet chain shoelaces mitigate the problem but don’t quite fix it.

One thing I would consider doing again, though, is adding loops of yarn to the perimeter of a felt sole for ease of sewing it to the bottom of crochet slippers. That way I could use a blunt needle, and should the sole wear out it will be easier to remove and replace than it would be if I’d used a sharp needle to sew it directly on. That’s 3D fabric paint on the bottom, my attempt to add traction. It works better than I expected but we’ll see how well it lasts (likewise the loops of yarn, some of which appear to be pulling out already).

Bis morgens!

The post Miscellaneous March 1 appeared first on ReveDreams.com.

Mud Monster Pattern

He’s a sloppy little guy, inspired by frogs and mudskippers — not to mention mud season. The pattern page has more about what’s required to make your own; here I just thought I’d show you an adventure we had. Just to warn you, there are a lot of photos past the cut in this post.

We got a good bit of rain this weekend, so it was perfectly wet. Down by the river, Muddy made a sand castle amid the pawprints and then posed with it.

Afterward, it was time for a little swim.

After a while Muddy was ready to come home. Nothing feels better after some damp, chilly weather than a bubble bath!

Of course mud monsters track all kinds of water everywhere. After all these adventures it was high time to just cuddle up in a towel on the couch.

Make your own!

The post Mud monster appeared first on ReveDreams.com.

I wasn’t able to start stitching until this past weekend, though the daily clues were posted from the 1st to the 16th. Here’s what we had.

Clues 1-3: two microphones.

Clues 4-6: two clubs.

Clues 7-10: a strawberry in a tutu.

Clues 11-13: A head!

Clues 14-16: Two deflated balloons.

If this sort of thing sounds like fun to you, follow the ReveDreams Facebook page. Any future mystery crochet-a-longs that cross my desk will be posted there.

The post Mystery crochet appeared first on ReveDreams.com.

They were stitched with six-stranded embroidery floss and a size 4 steel hook (2 mm). One skein of floss (8 m/8.7 yd) made one animal, with plenty left over. I used some small beads to weight their back ends, and a tiny bit of stuffing for the rest. Each one is about two inches long.

The hippo’s little ears don’t want to show up, so I think I would add a chain to each were I to make another. Otherwise I’m very pleased by the translation. Spider Plant likes them too.

The post Baby animals for spring appeared first on ReveDreams.com.

Big and Little Pi Pattern

You saw a Pi and pi I made for my sister back in late 2012, with the pattern for little Big Pi. That version of big little pi required sewing to shape the curved foot. (The little Big Pi shown also had one leg longer than the other, due to a counting error.)

This version is sewing-free! The pointed foot and “horn” of the top bar curve through a combination of increasing/decreasing and a method I developed to collapse pairs of rounds into single rounds on the inside of the curve. The stitching takes some paying attention, but it isn’t difficult and all stitches are common (very common, in fact: slip stitch and single crochet).

But enough about that. I was fortunate enough to capture some pictures of Pi and pi in their usual haunts…

They love the soothing motion.

I think they’re gambling?

Where they go to relax!

Their individual beauty shots are on the pattern page.

The post Pi for Pi Day appeared first on ReveDreams.com.

• Snouty Hippo!

Totals:

1. Mending: 2
2. Non-mend sewing: 3
3. Elimination: 9
4. Website updates: 4
5. Crochet: 1

The post FYDP Roundup 7 appeared first on ReveDreams.com.

Top to bottom, let me introduce the versions.

Draft 1 (red/orange/gray variegated): freehanded, intended to be a thumbnail hippo!

Draft 2 (purple variegated): snout adjusted, head shortened and body increases moved to chest instead of evenly spaced. Granted, this yarn’s a little thicker, but look how my stitching got larger over the months!

Draft 3 (orange): head shortened again, diameter of body decreased.

Draft 4 (red variegated): one more little head adjustment, time to make the body not a tin can, feet needed shrinking down.

Draft 5 (screaming yellow meemie): yet one more head adjustment, minor body adjustment, learning how to sew the legs on in appropriate locations. Very similar to the final version – I just made another edit to the body.

Here’s a better pair of photos to see the changing shapes.

Rumor has it there are amigurumi designers who sketch their creatures, stitch them up, make a second copy for in-progress photos, type the pattern and send it off for testing. I am not such a designer. Most of my patterns work like this one, with quite a bit of distance between the initial draft and the final version. Worth the effort? You tell me!

The post Evolution of a hippo appeared first on ReveDreams.com.

Snouty Hippo Pattern

I never thought that snouty hippos would be such nosy hippos! Look at this:

What are you eating? Can we have some?

Ooh ooh! We’re good at crosswords! Does that say “Hi-po”?

Who are you? [Dachshunds, nosy in a different way.]

Hey, is that us on the computer? Click there!

Can you reach? I’m trying, I’m trying!

Information about stitching and materials is in the shop.

[1] I learned long after planning this all out that this National Hippo Day originates with the game Second Life. National Hippo Appreciation Day, which has a Facebook page, is July 24. Perhaps we’ll speak about hippos again then.

The post Snouty Hippo appeared first on ReveDreams.com.

I have no intention of changing, though. I place them bump down for a reason: on the eye sizes I use, the washers are always far larger than the eyes. My amigurumi are small, and there’s generally a strong curve around the eye. Putting the washers on “correctly” can create ridges around the eye; putting them on bump down gives a bit of clearance above the washer.

I haven’t been able to find any information about the security of the washers in either orientation, and I’m not equipped to measure it myself, but they certainly don’t come off easily even when upside-down.

This is the sort of thing I research on a Sunday night.

The post Wrong way round? appeared first on ReveDreams.com.

After that, though, I got back to the embroidery floss amigurumi with the mighty & ferocious dragon. I really liked this project and the way the variegated floss looked with it.

This dragon was given to a friend of a friend to be a cross-country road trip mascot. I may have to make another one.

At this point we have essentially caught up with ourselves. I hope you’ve enjoyed this walk down Memory Lane as much as I have. When next we meet it will be 2014 – happy New Year!

The post The Vault: Part 7 appeared first on ReveDreams.com.