Running, Pumpkins, & Witches...Oh, My!

Last week was a very busy week.  In addition to a busy work schedule, I also found time for a run, pumpkin carving, crafting, and t-shirt painting.


Pumpkin Carving
Husband and I are Adventure Time fans, so we decided to do a Finn pumpkin this year.  Cartoon Network has free pumpkin stencil pdf's of Finn, Jake, and LSP.  The stencil was fairly easy to use, and I think the pumpkin looks pretty good.  We taped the pattern to the pumpkin, punched holes into it, and then connected the dots.  The arms were difficult, but the other parts were easier to carve. 

Run and T-shirt Painting
My husband and I finally participated in a 5K.  I've been wanting to do one for years, but have just been too nervous to ever actually sign up.  We trained some for it, and we ready on race day.  Both of us ran the entire 5K, and we were pretty have with the results.  Our scores put us in about the top quarter, and I was very happy with how I placed in my division.  The proceeds for the run also mostly go to charity, so we were helping out the community while running.  :)

This run was a little different from most other runs in that it was at night by the beach.  Because it was at night, participants were encouraged to wear glow sticks and other glow materials.  We had a blast, and we're actually already planning our next run.

In preparation for the run, I bought a cheap workout shirt from Wal-Mart and some glow in the dark paint.  The paint I found was called Glow-Away, and it actually comes off with soap and water.  It glowed in our house with the lights off, but it didn't hold the glow very well.  By the time I got to the run, it was not glowing anymore.  Well...at least I got a new workout shirt out of the deal.  I think this paint would work a lot better on walls and other materials.

Witch Amigurumi

I finished this witch tonight.  The free pattern for this cute witch can be found on Ravelry, and it's by Renske de Busschere.  For a more in-depth look at the pattern, check out my Halloween Amigurumi Roundup from last week. 

Halloween Amigurumi Roundup and Pattern Testing

I recently went up to North Carolina and Virginia to visit friends and family.  As I was leaving to come back, it hit me that I wanted to try out some more Halloween amigurumi home decoration patterns.  So, I found many, but just tried out a few.  I haven't been able to finish all of them in time for this post, but I will share the ones I have already finished this week and the others next week.

I also decided to do a roundup this week to highlight some of the really awesome free patterns available online.  I already did a fall pumpkins amigurumi roundup, so this one will be more of the Halloween ghoul and witch variety.

15 Free Halloween Amigurumi Patterns

1. Baby Ghosts Ornament by Josephine Wu

(pic from her ravelry store)

I thought this picture was super cute; however, I had a little bit more trouble following this pattern, and my ghost isn't quite so perfect. But I think it still turned out well. Here's how mine turned out:

2. Halloween Candy Corn Creatures by Josephine Wu





Here are the results of my attempts at this pattern.  FYI, this one was very easy to follow and they are really cute.

3. Ronnie the Halloween Cat by Justyna Kacprzak



4. Jack Skellington by Assunta Cicalese



5. Lil' Halloween Witch Teddy by Rachel Hoe


6. Zero the Ghostly Dog by Meg-Ann Skilton


7. Boo Ghosts by Beverly Mewhorter

(pic from The Needlecraft Shop)

I am currently in the process of finishing this one.  I started out joining the rounds as directed by the pattern, but I found it to be too slow...and I don't think I was doing it quite right, so I changed to continuous rounds.  I just need to sew all the parts together, and then I will be able to share my attempt at this pattern.

8. Ghost Child Doll Inspired by Coraline by Sharon Ojala

9. Inma, La Brujita Azul by Hastaelmonyo Patrones en español


10. Amy the Little Witch by Renske de Busschere



This witch is super cute.  I'm almost done trying out this pattern.  I think I just have 1 arm and the monster left to complete it.  The pattern was easy to follow, but make sure that you notice where the 2nd purple line should be as it is not marked in the pattern. 

11. Free Little Witch Halloween crochet pattern by Sayjai Thawornsupacharoen
 

12. Graveyarn by Shove Mink


13. Distinctly Batty by Karissa Cole
 

 14. Halloween Pou by Teresa Alvarez


 15. Halloween Batt Tutorial by Miss Dolkapots



(I tried to link to all patterns.  If I failed to cite or messed up a link, then it was by accident and please let me know, so that I may correct the error.)


 If you like this roundup, then you should check out my Pumpkin Roundup post.

Amigurumi Jake

I finally finished this amigurumi Jake for my husband.   We are big fans of Adventure Time and Jake is his favorite character.  I was afraid it would not sew together as well as I would like, but I think he turned out great. 

I used this free pattern from a poster called Vash.  It was fairly easy to follow.  If I could go back and do it again, then I would do both loops, rather than back loops only.

The following pics are from the photo shoot with Jake and my husband:

Taffyghan Part 2

So...it finally happened.  I didn't do my weekly blog post.  It was difficult. I missed blogging and participating in the weekly linky parties, but I had nothing to share.  I got busy at work and I took on a loooong craft project.

I finally "finished" my first afghan.  I love how it turned out, but it was not a quick project.  By finish, I really mean that I reached a point where I could crochet no more and decided that the project was complete.

It's not so small as to be a baby afghan, but it's also not a large one.  I'd say it's more of the medium variety.  It should also be noted that "finished" does not include fully threading in the loose ends of yarn.  (I threaded in each strand a little bit as I did a color change to prevent the afghan from unraveling.)

I'm very excited to have completed by first afghan, and I looove how it turned out.  Here are some more views of it.  As you can see, I decided to continue with it as a square, rather than eventually changing to stripes in order to make a rectangle.

Taffyghan Part 1

I have seen a lot of pretty granny patterns and other afghan patterns on Ravelry, and I have been wanting to start trying them out.  I had never done any "granny" crocheting, but I decided to start with stitching that type of afghan.  Eventually, I would like to try some other afghan types like blocks, granny squares, ripples stitch, etc.  If I can get this granny square thing down, then I would really like to make a Mario themed granny square blanket like this one or this one.  For now, I will just start with a very simple expanding granny afghan in fun taffy-like colors.


In order to learn how to do the granny square stitch, I used this easy illustrated how to tutorial.  I used it as a basis for my afghan and have been expanding upon it to make a continuous granny, rather than squares to be stitched together.


I am still trying to decide whether I will make it into a rectangle and do rows on the ends or to make it a square. The plan is to have this afghan finished by the end of this next week.  So whatever I decide, I will share it next week in my Part 2 post.


I picked 4 bright taffy-like colors of yarn:
Red Heart Super Saver Light Raspberry
Red Heart Super Saver Lemon
I Love This Yarn! Super Soft Turquoise
I Love This Yarn! Super Soft Periwinkle

The I Love This Yarn! skeins are a little bit softer, but the Red Heart Super Saver isn't much different feeling.

For the first time through with each color, I went around 2X.  After that, I am doing 1X around with each color.  I am partially weaving in the ends, but waiting until the afghan is finished to complete that task.

Christmas Cross Stitch Ornaments

I'm behind on my crafting again because I have been super busy at work.  I recently had some court appearances that required additional preparation and I am preparing for another trial.  So, I am writing about a project I completed some time ago.

I found these cross stitch ornaments on Amazon.  They are Dimension's Christmas Pals, and they can be found here.  I thought they were super cute, so I had to make them.

The kits contained the pattern, cross stitch cloth, thread, and needle.  The pattern was easy to follow.  However, each of these ornaments had a lot of detail work, so they took quite some time to complete.

Instead of using the cardboard that came with the kit, I used a thicker adhesive board.  For the hangers, I used some leftover silver cording I had from another project. I glued them to the back of the adhesive board using my glue gun.

Christmas may still be a few months away, but Christmas crafts are fun any time of the year and some crafts need to be started early to be finished in time for Christmas.  Have fun crafting.  :) 

On a side note, our family recently grew by 2 guinea pigs.

Fall Great Pumpkin Amigurumi Roundup

It's fall now, and pumpkins can be out on display pretty much all season, so I decided to try my hand at some of the free crochet amigurumi pumpkin patterns.  I'm showing off my pumpkins this week and providing links to these patterns as well as many other free pumpkin patterns.

I tried out 3 free crochet pumpkin patterns:

1. Amy Lehman's Crochet Pumpkin available at her blog Crochet Jewel

This pattern was fairly easy to make, but it is more complicated than it appears.  It looks like 2 pieces, but it is actually 4 pieces--stem, top, bottom, and main body.  The main body is done in rows rather than rounds, and it is a mix of SC and  HDC.

It is a more lifelike pumpkin, rather than a being a cutesy pumpkin like the other 2 patterns that I tried out.  I like the ridges in this pumpkin, which are created using the mix of stitches and gathering.


2. Stacey Trock's Amigurumi Jack the Tiny Pumpkin available for download at Ravelry

This pattern was by far the easiest of the 3 patterns I tried out.  The pumpkin was composed of 3 total crochet pieces--2 eyes and a body.  The body and stem were continuous rounds. I think it turned out very cute.  It would also look good in a bigger size by doubling the yarn or doing more increase/decrease rounds.

3. Allison Hoffman's Squeeze N' Sniff Pumpkin Pie available at her blog Crafty Is Cool

This pumpkin pie pattern was just ridiculously cute, so I had to make it when I saw it.  I really like how my version turned out. The project was not the most difficult amigurumi piece, but it included more detail work and more complicated stitches than the other 2 patterns.

I decided not to do the sachet, but I did put the cardboard on the bottom of the pan to help it keep its shape. 



I found quite a few other cute and free pumpkin patterns, but I only have so much time and space to devote to amigurumi pumpkins.


The following is a list of some other free amigurumi crochet pumpkin patterns:

• Jennifer Clark's Little Fall Pumpkin available at her blog Crafty Jenn
• June Gillbank's Pumpkin available at her blog Planet June
• Eden Dintsikos Amigurumi Pumpkin available for free download at Ravelry
• Lion Brand's pumpkin pattern #80840AD available at Lion Brand's website
• Monica Cifuentes' Evil Pumpkin available at her blog Witchnofret Handcraft
• Halloween Pumpkin available at Little Things Blogged
• Sara McFall's Easy Crochet Pumkin available at her blog My Merry Messy Life
• Lion Brand's Halloween Jack-O-Lantern Ornament available at Lionbrand's website 

Update: