Playing catch-up – the rest of 2018

Hey hey festive funsters. Like so many bloggers, I started the year with the best of intentions to document my every creative endeavour – partly to spur myself to create but also as a reminder of just how much I have done. As is so often the way, the gap between intention and reality is a verdant and wide valley. So in the post I’ll be picking out a few of the other creations I’ve made this year that haven’t been posted up yet.

 

In addition to all the crochet I’ve done in 2019, my sewing machine hasn’t been lying idle. In the summer I sewed up a second Kwik Sew shirt, which I’m super happy with. For this one I slimmed down the sleeves, so the fit is that bit closer to my ideal. I might have it sorted for shirt three.

I also did a spot of refashioning for Eurovision this year, hacking two Primark shirts into my Austrian flag shirt. It’s been so successful it’s become a staple of my party wardrobe. I also added Swedish flag stripes to a T-shirt, which has shown me that sewing with jersey is a skill I have yet to master.

 

I switched geekdoms in November to create this cute little Enterprise for my new boyfriend. I tried so hard to get the details as accurate as possible then gooped up the  registration. Doh! Rest assured, it’s been corrected now but not after the embarrassment of having my error pointed out to me.

 

I’ve been doing a good job of keeping up crocheting a shiny trophy for each Pokemon Go Community Day – I skipped Beldum though as I couldn’t find a decent pattern. This Eevee is possibly my favourite though. It’s such a good pattern and super cute.

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For the Chikorita Community Day, I couldn’t find the perfect yarn colours in the Scheepjes Twinkle yarn I generally turn to for my shiny makes. Instead, I found some sequin yarn instead that did the trick. Note to self though, pulling sequins through a magic ring is far from straightforward.

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I’ve had the kit for this Cookie the Cat pattern for a good few years, since it came with Crochet Made Simple magazine. I finally made it up as a present for a friend’s birthday. I’m not a big fan of toy eyes but they look cute here.

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My final dash of crafting before Christmas was helping a Ken doll achieve his festive transformation. This fantastic plastic chap has been living his best life on the top of a Christmas tree for many a year but with only a sequinned dress and a feather boa to bring the party. With a spot of needle felting and a liberal smothering of Pritt Stick, he now has a Patsy Stone wig, worthy of his fabulousness. Hey hey queen!

Gentlemen, start your engines…

Hey hey crochet lovers. There’s more to life than Pokemon and I’m keen this year to bring you a touch more variety.

I’ve got big plans for a whole new range of geek-themed Amigurumi – a range of dolls based on the queens of RuPaul’s Drag Race – and if this first one is anything to go by, they’re going to take a lot longer than most of the Pokemon I’ve crocheted so far.

I picked up the new Toft book, Edward’s Crochet Doll Emporium, for my birthday and its doll patterns are a great starting point for the drag queens I have in mind. The book has a mix-and-match range of dolls’ clothes and accessories to play with, so I’m looking forward to getting stuck in.

Bald queens are in this season

For this first doll, I used the standard doll pattern (with advanced arms) and coupled it up with the ball gown pattern. I added a little extra room to the bust of the dress, as it’s all about the silhouette, hunties. The doll was pretty easy to make but the dress was surprisingly fiddly, as most of it is worked with fiddly stitches. I don’t think it’s my neatest but of crocheting but the overall effect works.

Bam! A breast plate fit for a queen

There’s one extra element I needed that funnily enough, the Toft book didn’t cover – a little breast plate to give the doll a little more oomph up front.

Working it

Sadly, I haven’t been able to fully complete this doll yet, as I’m still waiting for some new needle-felting needles I ordered weeks ago. The task of emulating a queen’s makeup with needle-felting is a little daunting but I honestly can’t wait to get started. Wish me luck!