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A new bag of tricks

So the reason I haven’t posted in a while is because I’ve been hard at work focusing on my prototype for My Little Pony. In case you couldn’t figure out from the picture I posted a while back, I’m crocheting the main characters of My Little Pony for the Animazement art auction this year. Why? Because I want to make all the money. Seriously.

This prototype has been a really fun challenge. I’ve been attempting techniques I’ve never used before such as creating fabric eyes using this tutorial here. It worked really well except tracing was kind of a nightmare because I don’t have great light sources in my apartment. 

The first prototype is done but overall I think I need to make some major changes to the head. The eyes were too small and as I mentioned, tracing was a challenge. So now I’m trying something else entirely: iron-on transfers. The beauty of iron-on transfers is you can print the image directly onto the transfers from your printer. I haven’t attempted to glue the transfers on yet because I’m still stuck with another problem: the nose.

As you can see here, the nose for the characters is really not like the traditional nose for a horse. It’s more curved and pointy. My original design had the nose taking on a cylinder shape (like a traditional horse nose) but it just looked far too big and silly. I really wanted to avoid building the nose into the head just by creating an egg shape because I wanted my design to be more original.

However, I’ve realized that the nose will have to be built into the face after all. It’s just too dainty to be it’s own separate piece. I still want to avoid the egg shaped head though. Enter yet another new technique: creating curves. Creating a curve in crocheting can be rather tricky because it requires careful planning. I’ve found some great tutorials I’m going to try to use. 

When I have this second prototype done, I’ll post pictures of both the first and the second prototype so you all can see the comparison. My goal is to have them that second head done by the end of the week. Wish me luck!

Why SOPA/PIPA matters to crocheters/knitters/crafty folk

I’m positive you all have heard about SOPA and PIPA by now. Especially if you’re visiting tumblr today. Tumblr’s front page had a whole write-up about it with links encouraging people to contact their representatives, bless them. Needless to say, this is a major deal and this will affect everyone.

Yes, everyone. Not just pirates, not just internet geeks, but you and me as well. Crocheters and Knitters alike will suffer from this. How? Well let’s say you have a shop on Etsy where everything you create is completely original and free from copyright infringement. Your shop has been relatively successful and you have come to rely on it as a supplement to your income. 

Then one day, you go to sign on to Etsy and BAM! Your shop is gone. Not just your shop, everyone’s shop. In fact, Etsy is no more. There’s been no warning, absolutely no due process. Your shop is just gone. Why? Because someone posted one item on their store that is a copyright infringement and they were caught. Under SOPA/PIPA, a website can be indefinitely blocked without any notice or warning if it contains or links to copyrighted material. This means websites like Facebook, Reddit, and yes, Etsy can be held responsible since they are liable for what their users post. Unfair? You bet your sweet 5mm hook it is.

(“Y CANT I SEE MY CABLE KNIT SWEATERS???” - an Etsy Seller)

If you think I’m full of hyperbole, I assure you I’m not. Etsy is very likely to end up on a blacklist under SOPA/PIPA. All artists who rely on Etsy to sell their wares can be punished for this. 

(This came up when I googled “artist in jail”. I wish I was kidding. What is this I don’t even.)

Now for those of you like me who don’t have a store on Etsy, you might be thinking “Ok but that still doesn’t apply to me.” Wrong again! I often crochet popular characters from anime/video games/tv shows etc. as gifts. Since I’m proud of my work, I often post pictures of it on facebook, twitter, and here. But now, I can get in trouble for it.

That’s a picture of an ami I made of Nightcrawler in 2008 as a Christmas present for a dear friend. Under SOPA/PIPA, posting this picture could actually get me in trouble. Tumblr could get in trouble because of it. Tumblr could actually get shut down because I was proud of my work and I wanted to share it. Never mind the fact that I made it as a personal gift (for free) without any pattern. 

I don’t like pirates anymore than anyone else but this is ridiculous. Doctors don’t treat an open bloody wound by hacking the person’s arm off along with the arm of anyone else in the ER. It’s been proven by experts that these bills will not stop piracy. All these bills will do is create mindless censorship, stifle the development of internet start ups, and over all make the internet less fun for everybody.

(Look at how sad Benedict Cumberbatch is. Do we really want a world full of this sad face?)

We’re artists; we seek to bring beauty into the world with just some yarn, a hook, and an idea. But if these bills pass, we will lose a huge medium to share our work with others. And while we create to make ourselves happy, we also create to bring joy and happiness to others. Why else would we yarn bomb a bike rack if not to draw attention and make something a bit more beautiful/interesting to everyone? 

(I love the flowers! So cute!)

Therefore I encourage all of my fellow crocheters (hookers) as well as knitters and artists of every medium to stand up and oppose these bills so we can still have a place to connect with others for our work. If we want to stop our intellectual property from being pirated, let’s do it in a way that doesn’t take innocent causalities and harm our audience. To find out more about SOPA, click here and here and here. You can also take action here and here. Write, phone call, mail, yarn bomb, it doesn’t matter how but make your voices heard!

Here’s a hint on what I plan on making for the Art Auction at AZ. I’ve missed crocheting quite a bit, can’t wait to get back into the groove. :D 

Here’s a hint on what I plan on making for the Art Auction at AZ. I’ve missed crocheting quite a bit, can’t wait to get back into the groove. :D 

Now, here’s the story of my crocheted Burger with the Blue Ribbon. Competitions are not really my thing. Oh sure, I have a competitive streak in me but I’ve never really excelled in competitive situations. This is because most competitive situations in my life have revolved around athletics. When it comes to athletics, I’m completely useless. If I lived in the early days of humankind, I would have been eaten by a limping koala. So deciding to enter into the NC State Fair competitions for crocheting was kind of a big deal for me. While I was pursuing photos of the state fair, I saw a picture of the Krispy Kreme Burger and I knew I had to make it if only because it was too hilarious. I have to admit, I didn’t go into the competition with a lot of confidence for two reasons: 30 points of the judging went towards “Usefulness” and really this was not useful. It was a freakin’ crocheted krispy kreme burger, not a tea pot cozy. Also, when I dropped it off the weekend before the fair, at least two people running the hobbies and handicrafts building thought it was a burger on a bagel and didn’t get the joke. The days between October 8th and October 13th were some of the longest days of my life. I said I didn’t really care about winning and for the most part, I didn’t. I was proud enough for just entering. But deep down there was a small piece of me that said “But you know you want to win, you worked so hard on it. You’ve told so many people, it would be a shame for you not to win now.” I was worried the humor of the whole situation would fall flat, that the judges would also think it was a burger on a bagel. On October 13th, my friend Ben Moser was going to the opening night of the fair with his wife. I asked begged him to tell me how my burger did via twitter. Ben promised he would though it would probably be preceded with cruel and misleading information. If Ben is anything, he is a man of his word. He sent me a tweet which said: “Your Burger looks Dumb”. That was immediately followed up with “what kind of burger has a big blue cape? Dumb.” Isn’t Ben great? After that tweet, he sent me the picture above. When I got his tweets, I was out having dinner in a relatively nice restaurant. It was the kind of restaurant where you shouldn’t yell “HOLY SHIT” when you get good news. But I did just that. I was so incredibly thrilled to win. I had never won a competition before. I go home every day and look at that ribbon and smile. Eventually the excitement will wear off but for now, I’m going to enjoy it.  I never would have accomplished this without the support of all my friends and family. I wrote a note about this on facebook and for the sake of simplicity, I’m going to repost what I wrote there on here because it bears repeating: You have all been so kind and supportive that I’m really quite emotionally overwhelmed. For every “like” of a status or a picture, thank you. For every “Good Job!” or “Way to Go!”, thank you. For every hug or high five, thank you. Thank you so very very much. I want to hug every single one of you for being so fantastic but that’s a bit challenging so I’ve tried to tag each person who showed any sign of support. If I forgot you, let me know and I’ll tag you. You all are amazing and I’m incredibly grateful to know each and every one of you. There are several others I have to thank: The amazing people who run the NCStateFair twitter account, specifically Paul Jones, for being so supportive and helpful. You all are fantastic.  Ok, enough with the bragging, I need to get back to work. Next time, I’ll discuss what I’m up to now and how I’m an idiot for taking on two major projects for Christmas. (Spoilers: What I’m up to and my christmas projects are incredibly related.)

Now, here’s the story of my crocheted Burger with the Blue Ribbon.

Competitions are not really my thing. Oh sure, I have a competitive streak in me but I’ve never really excelled in competitive situations. This is because most competitive situations in my life have revolved around athletics. When it comes to athletics, I’m completely useless. If I lived in the early days of humankind, I would have been eaten by a limping koala.

So deciding to enter into the NC State Fair competitions for crocheting was kind of a big deal for me. While I was pursuing photos of the state fair, I saw a picture of the Krispy Kreme Burger and I knew I had to make it if only because it was too hilarious.

I have to admit, I didn’t go into the competition with a lot of confidence for two reasons: 30 points of the judging went towards “Usefulness” and really this was not useful. It was a freakin’ crocheted krispy kreme burger, not a tea pot cozy. Also, when I dropped it off the weekend before the fair, at least two people running the hobbies and handicrafts building thought it was a burger on a bagel and didn’t get the joke.

The days between October 8th and October 13th were some of the longest days of my life. I said I didn’t really care about winning and for the most part, I didn’t. I was proud enough for just entering. But deep down there was a small piece of me that said “But you know you want to win, you worked so hard on it. You’ve told so many people, it would be a shame for you not to win now.” I was worried the humor of the whole situation would fall flat, that the judges would also think it was a burger on a bagel.

On October 13th, my friend Ben Moser was going to the opening night of the fair with his wife. I asked begged him to tell me how my burger did via twitter. Ben promised he would though it would probably be preceded with cruel and misleading information. If Ben is anything, he is a man of his word. He sent me a tweet which said: “Your Burger looks Dumb”. That was immediately followed up with “what kind of burger has a big blue cape? Dumb.” Isn’t Ben great? After that tweet, he sent me the picture above.

When I got his tweets, I was out having dinner in a relatively nice restaurant. It was the kind of restaurant where you shouldn’t yell “HOLY SHIT” when you get good news. But I did just that. I was so incredibly thrilled to win. I had never won a competition before. I go home every day and look at that ribbon and smile. Eventually the excitement will wear off but for now, I’m going to enjoy it. 

I never would have accomplished this without the support of all my friends and family. I wrote a note about this on facebook and for the sake of simplicity, I’m going to repost what I wrote there on here because it bears repeating:

You have all been so kind and supportive that I’m really quite emotionally overwhelmed. For every “like” of a status or a picture, thank you. For every “Good Job!” or “Way to Go!”, thank you. For every hug or high five, thank you. Thank you so very very much. I want to hug every single one of you for being so fantastic but that’s a bit challenging so I’ve tried to tag each person who showed any sign of support. If I forgot you, let me know and I’ll tag you. You all are amazing and I’m incredibly grateful to know each and every one of you.

There are several others I have to thank: The amazing people who run the NCStateFair twitter account, specifically Paul Jones, for being so supportive and helpful. You all are fantastic. 

Ok, enough with the bragging, I need to get back to work. Next time, I’ll discuss what I’m up to now and how I’m an idiot for taking on two major projects for Christmas. (Spoilers: What I’m up to and my christmas projects are incredibly related.)

Girl meets crochet hook. Girl loses all her money to yarn.

Hi, my name is Kelly and I’m a crochet/amigurumi addict. I’ve been hooked on the hook for the past 4 years. Unlike many crocheters who learn from their mother or grandmother, I taught myself during the summer of 2007 with a copy of “Stitch n Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker” , a set of crochet hooks, and a lot of patience. I’ve always considered myself something of a crafty person but I was immediately attracted to the flexibility, adaptability, and simplicity of crochet. 

I have been talking about launching a blog specifically about my amigurumi, crochet projects, and general craftiness for a really long time. It was on my to-do list but it was always getting pushed back for other commitments. So why now? Last week, I won first place at the NC State Fair for my crocheting (more on that later) and somehow it just seemed like the right time to launch this blog. What can you expect? I plan on sharing my current crochet & amigurumi projects as well as other crafty initiatives. I’ll also post tutorials, patterns, yarn info, links to my upcoming etsy store, and other related topics.

Stay tuned!

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