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it occurred to me that I haven't shared any of my creations on the board, so here's a thread for me to show off in.

First up, my first big project. A knit blanket for @Eriol. This took at least a year, and was an anniversary present.


It's about 5' 6" by 4'6". Ish.

Next up, my ongoing mini painting!

I haven't done much recently, but I want to get back into it this year. Especially since I have more than 12 colors now!

I've got more images, but my tablet is being picky.

The next big project was a knit blanket for me. Took closer to 6-8 months. Same size as the first blanket, same pattern.

I'm currently picking away at a modified version of this pattern in a dog-blanket scale.

My most recent completed project was a Christmas gift. A embroidery kit. Something I last did when I was under 10, and did poorly.

This 6" piece took about 8 hours, and used stitches i had never heard of. I'm super p,eased with how it turned out.

back in November I was gifted a crocheting kit, which terrifies me, because I've tried to pick that up twice, and can't seem to get it. But it's next.

Dirona said:

it occurred to me that I haven't shared any of my creations on the board, so here's a thread for me to show off in.

First up, my first big project. A knit blanket for @Eriol. This took at least a year, and was an anniversary present.
View attachment 36666

It's about 5' 6" by 4'6". Ish.

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So it's going to cover from his feet to his knees. Maybe.

Emrys said:

So it's going to cover from his feet to his knees. Maybe.

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Dammit. Did I mess up feet and inch markers again? Stupid US measurements.

So I read through the introduction to the crochet kit mentioned previously, and it's way more advanced than I am. So today I've been reading blogs and watching basics videos on YouTube.

I have a cruddy bookmark, 2 "flowers", and a surprisingly passable granny square.

So, yay progress?

There's still something wonky in my granny square creation, but round 2 this evening went fairly smooth. I only ripped out maybe three stitches, and did the whole thing from memory/without a guide or pattern.

I can see why folks would do a square a day long term. You get far more finished product per minute with crocheting than with knitting. And that's as a complete noob in crochet and nominally comfortable in knitting.

I am really impressed that you could do that by memory.

Squidleybits said:

I am really impressed that you could do that by memory.

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It's super repetitive, once you've got your starting circle, it's pretty much just groups of 3.

I made a ball! It was a tad wonky, but if I could have filled it, it would have been at least vaguely spherical.

I also did a small granny square from memory and deliberately messed with the edge, and it seems to have worked.

Progress!!

I have made... a mouse! Well, most of a mouse, I ran out of yarn maybe three rows from the tip of the nose.
Either way. I made a thing, it exists in 3d space, from a written pattern that I followed!

The written pattern thing is the biggest win here, because there is a crap load of shorthand even in the most basic of crocheting patterns, none of which overlap with knitting which I can read better-ish.

Dirona said:

The next big project was a knit blanket for me. Took closer to 6-8 months. Same size as the first blanket, same pattern.

I'm currently picking away at a modified version of this pattern in a dog-blanket scale.

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Doggo blanket complete! It's for a Chihuahua, so it's not very big. About the same size as a cat bed.

Dirona said:

Doggo blanket complete! It's for a Chihuahua, so it's not very big. About the same size as a cat bed.

View attachment 36758

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I like the color choices.

Celt Z said:

I like the color choices.

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Yes. They are the colors of Eeeeevil. Perfect for a chihuahua.

--Patrick

Oh God y'all. I cannot draw. Like at all. It's bad.

I received a figure drawing book and sketch book for Christmas, and I'm trying to learn how to draw faces... And, ya, it'll be a while before any of these sketches make it on to this thread. I'm trying, and they are recognizable as human. But that's about it.

On the plus side, my square-a-day crochet project continues apace.

But holy crap. I really suck at drawing.

Dirona said:

Oh God y'all. I cannot draw. Like at all. It's bad.

I received a figure drawing book and sketch book for Christmas, and I'm trying to learn how to draw faces... And, ya, it'll be a while before any of these sketches make it on to this thread. I'm trying, and they are recognizable as human. But that's about it.

On the plus side, my square-a-day crochet project continues apace.

But holy crap. I really suck at drawing.

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But with all the practice you had in Jackbox!

Yes, maybe you should start with drawing things you've already practiced?

--Patrick

Faces are evil!

When did you see a picture of me?!

I actually finished this a few weeks ago, but forgot to post it.

I wanted to try making a larger crochet project and use up some yarn, so I found a simple enough infinity scarf/cowl pattern... And I think it worked. The colour in the picture doesn't do it justice. The middle is more silvery and the outer is darker purple with silver.

I have been crafting since... Jesus... January of last year! I swear! I almost have the 'mood blanket' crochet project finished, it's on the last few polishing steps now.

However! I have just finished my first! ever! cross stitch project. I started it this afternoon and finished this evening.

I am very pleased with myself. Pattern here.




Even the back isn't a shit show. (I've also been working on a much much larger piece since late December, and the back of it is... not nice. This is nice).



Now I just need to figure out finishing/framing.

I also did some little crochet for Christmas. A selection of cat toys for my sister-in-laws cat. Her favorite colour is orange (the SiL, not the cat.)

The rainbow mice look a bit wonky in the picture, but we're quite cute in person.

Each toy is all one continuous thread, so nothing can fall off and hurt a kitty.

Last year's "mood blanket" only 6 months worth of squares, because, well, one square a day was a bit much. Especially with 6+ months of ridiculous acute illness.

Either way, it's done, and weird to look at as a whole. Like, I can see the depression, and the period of exhaustion due to anemia, and I can see the lead up to hypo-mania and the hypo-mania itself.

It needs a wash, but it was an interesting project.

Dirona said:

one square a day[...]I can see the depression, and the period of exhaustion due to anemia, and I can see the lead up to hypo-mania and the hypo-mania itself.

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The idea of making a "one square a day" quilt as a way to document how a year goes by is an intriguing one.

--Patrick

PatrThom said:

The idea of making a "one square a day" quilt as a way to document how a year goes by is an intriguing one.

--Patrick

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I've seen similar ideas with temperature blankets, choosing different color gradients for different temperature ranges. A lotta folks don't make a full square for every day, but usually do a row for every day. Some do a row of daily high, and a row of daily low. But even so, 365 rows makes for a long ass blanket.

I'm jealous of your granny squares @Dirona. Mine still don't look good enough to actually assemble into anything.

Tinwhistler said:

I've seen similar ideas with temperature blankets, choosing different color gradients for different temperature ranges. A lotta folks don't make a full square for every day, but usually do a row for every day. Some do a row of daily high, and a row of daily low. But even so, 365 rows makes for a long ass blanket.

I'm jealous of your granny squares @Dirona. Mine still don't look good enough to actually assemble into anything.

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After a hundred or so squares you either get good or stop caring about how they look!

The challenge came with the variable thickness of the yarn. I always bought the same weight, but some of the handed down leftovers were a bit chunkier than anticipated.

After 6 months or so of poking at this, it's done! Got it washed and ironed today, and I'll frame it tomorrow once it's fully dry.



There are a LOT of mistakes in it. Not to mention running out of one of the colors part way through. But it's my first larger piece, and I'm still going to gift it, because I think it looks good and the recipient will like it.

It looks lovely! And I honestly didn't see any mistakes.

Celt Z said:

It looks lovely! And I honestly didn't see any mistakes.

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I agree, and I didn't see any either. It's going to make an awesome gift.

Is that a little ferret face peeking out of the middle, or am I just being pareidolic?

—Patrick

Personally, I see a millenium falcon at the top.

No ferret face though, at least not intentional.

A few months ago, I also got around to finishing and framing the XMas presents for my main D&D group.

First, for our almost-forever-DM (and his black cat)


Next, a snarky favourite saying of one of the players.

And finally, for the person who is only every interested in combat.

And I did indeed get the piece I cleaned up yesterday framed this morning.

I recently finished 2 crochet projects (both cowls) with a lot of sentimental value.

The first was using up the last of the yarn stash I inherited from my grandmother. It's a discontinued colour of a discontinued sub-type. And it's fluffy, and purple and soft and I love it, and I made up the "pattern" as I went.


The second was the first time I used actual wool (alpaca and sheep), and followed a pattern, and used more than one colour. The brown wool is from Alberta from when @Eriol was there recently, and the blue is from here in NS. I'm super pleased with how it turned out. It's warm and fuzzy and I'm super happy with how it turned out.

(Cat tail for scale?)

I've been working on a crochet shawl off and on since mid-September when Eriol gifted me with a big ol' ball of soft purple yarn (equivalent to 4 standard skeins). I finished it this morning, and I'm very happy. Again, I followed a pattern, and counted, and everything! And there a so many errors that probably only I can see.

The whole thing



Left over yarn ball, detail, and cat for scale



Not sure if I'll gift this or keep it, but either way I am very pleased.

Dirona said:

I've been working on a crochet shawl off and on since mid-September when Eriol gifted me with a big ol' ball of soft purple yarn (equivalent to 4 standard skeins). I finished it this morning, and I'm very happy. Again, I followed a pattern, and counted, and everything! And there a so many errors that probably only I can see.

The whole thing
View attachment 43299


Left over yarn ball, detail, and cat for scale
View attachment 43300


Not sure if I'll gift this or keep it, but either way I am very pleased.

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Great job! I find shawl patterns generally difficult to follow for some reason, and yours looks great!

Looks great!

Finished the stitching and prepping for framing of the/a gift for my thesis advisor.

First time doing backstitching (the single tread vines and lettering), and even though it is a widely hated stitch on the reddits, I actually really enjoyed it.

I plan to get this one professionally framed, so it will be a bit before that's done. But for now:

I have finished the hat to go with the cowl I made with the fancy Alberta wool.

The band fit eriol, bit the stitch for the body of the hat is less stretchy.

But it fits me!


I ran out of well near the end, so had to substitute white cotton.

I really like how this crochet stitch looks. There's an actual pattern or design to it, it's not just lumps.

Dirona said:

Finished the stitching and prepping for framing of the/a gift for my thesis advisor.

First time doing backstitching (the single tread vines and lettering), and even though it is a widely hated stitch on the reddits, I actually really enjoyed it.

I plan to get this one professionally framed, so it will be a bit before that's done. But for now:
View attachment 43570

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Behold, a professionally framed piece! This is going to be a gift to my doctorate thesis advisor.

…and you did.
Possum, Faciam, Complevit.

—Patrick

I've been wanting to do more embroidery, so I got brave and bought some patterns off Etsy for snowflake ornaments.

I then went and bought fabric to embroider, ribbon to decorate and make hangers with, printed out the patterns, cut the fabric to the right-ish size, traced the patterns (poorly) onto the fabric with a heat sensitive pen designed for this, and have been stitching away this past week.
I've got 8 stitched, cleaned, and ironed; with another 3 yet to be cleaned, and another 6-7 to be stitched.
Today I did my test run of finishing the pieces in the 3" hoops that I bought for this purpose.

I did the two I like the least (and that I did first, so the embroidery quality itself is not great), and honestly, I actually really like how they turned out - I particularly like the blue one.





Win!

Inspiration?

evilmike said:

Inspiration?

View attachment 47777

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I actually have that pattern! It's even mostly kitted up (ie I have the supplies, I think). Still need to make it though!