How Many Licks?

A 1, A 2, A 3 *CRUNCH*

This guy came out pretty adorable. More adorable then I had anticipated. I used this pattern for the basic body, and the rest I improvised. I'm so happy with this, and my friend seemed to enjoy it too.
Also I made this 4 months ago. Bit late, ain't I? But you know, camera phones are hard.

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Remember when I used to post stuff?

Yeah me neither, but look crochet stuff! So this will be a quick post. I made this little guy, using this pattern, for a friend's birthday about a month after her birthday. I didn't follow the directions for the eye and just sort of made it up as I went, but since the other instructions we're good, I'm sure the ones for the eye are as well. It's still sitting in my living room. I'll mail it. One day. Soon. Hopefully.
I also made a crochet hair band for another friend (which I didn't take a picture of. And I also have to mail. One day. Soon. Hopefully) based on this design but tweaked a tad to make it continuous. This lady (who is funny enough located where my friend is...) has some other beautiful designs (including these hand warmers which I made but didn't take picture of, to go with a teal version of this hat which I made but did not take a picture of, that was for the same person as this cuttlefish a teal version of which I made but didn't take a picture of, using a pattern I bought from Hansi Singh on Etsy, the same person who wrote Amigurumi Knits which has an octopus pattern in it which I DID take a picture of but never posted, and also has a pattern for a Loch Ness Monster I didn't take a picture of. You see a pattern no?)
That's all I got. Sorry. I'll work on getting some other stuff to write about. Now that Conan's gone I don't know what to do with myself. Maybe post more?

***EDIT***

I found the octopus picture:

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This Post is Bigger After the Jump

Sorry; that was too easy I suppose. So, for you Doctor Who fans, here's a TARDIS iPod sock I made for my roommate's birthday. (October is le month of birthdays here in Ziggy's Magical Starship.

It's a basic sock, with the windows and suck embroidered on it. The end. Keep reading...

Beware: Needles are Back

Good Golly! It's Time for some elderly crafts! Yea, I know. I've been pretty m.i.a lately. And I apologize. But good news is that I've been busy! OK, not really, but I finished a few projects and am ready to share.

Now if you'll recall I've mentioned the lack of knit projects for cute toys out there. I'm not a crocheter, at least not a good one, so I was desperate to find something. Sure i had my bird pattern, but that gets boring. Enter Amigurumi Knits.
My reaction when I came across this book at Borders? FINALLY! I mean really, crochet had the strong hold on the cute squishies for much to long. Future research lead me to Hansi Singh's Etsy page where she had more patterns for sale. But first the book.

Compared to the other book I've briefly mentioned, this book was wicked accessible and easy to follow. How do I know this? Because the octopus I made for my roommate's birthday looks like this:

Yeah. The fact that it even remotely resembles the one in the book is a fabulous sign. Many points won. But really, HE'S SO CUTE! And he really is mini. I could hold it in one hand. The entire book is filled with cute patterns, from garlic to a snail to a jackelope. I'm so pleased!

There are more for the future, including a pattern I bought on the Etsy page, and I'll keep the updates coming. Now if you'll excuse me, Rascal Flatts are on Conan and I need to plug my ears.

Lator.

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Oh, er, hey there.

So, I swear I haven't forgotten about you fantabulous Juicebox readers. (Really, there are two drafts from me on our list, I promise.) It's just been one hellz of a semester. But here's me getting you up to snuff on what elderly crafts I've been doing since the new year, unless this becomes another incomplete draft! Please excuse the horrendous blurry pictures; I haven't figured out the whole capturing completed projects thing yet.

JANUARY

A Sad-looking Bear, a birthday gift for The Cuteness. I just realized that I never took a picture of him with arms. Woopsies. This was actually my first completed crochet project. WOAH! I find crochet faster in the satisfaction department, but lacking in the neatness department. Maybe I just crochet to loosely, but knitting just looks better in my opinion. Here's the pattern.



Birds and Worms. Birthday gift for a friend for my roommate (the model in the next pics actually). The yarn is 100% Baby Alpaca so they're the softest birds in existence. The bird is my modified version of this pattern. I use my modified version more than the original now.

Sweater/shrug, chevron pattern. This was a birthday gift for my aunt. It's a little small. It's this pattern but I added a button (hence why it's too small...). I kind of want one for myself. However, this was the small size and it took forever, and goodness knows I'm not a small. I started this last summer and worked on it little by little and I still didn't have it done one time for her birthday. It's sad; I fear I won't have the patience to make sweater vests.

FEBRUARY

Uh, an unfinished glove. I am very very ashamed. I WILL finish these by next winter though. They're smoking gloves with a beer opening palm, so I might have to smoke a cig or two to legitimize my creation. Actually, they're a mix of Cigar from Knitty, and the beer gloves from Son of Stitch N' Bitch. I'm really excited to (eventually) finish them.

MARCH

Birds and Cocoa. Yet another birthday bird gift.
The Cocoa is this pattern, my second attempt at crochet. A bit tighter than the bear. Maybe I'm getting better at it? Probably not because mine came out a lot leaner than the one in the pattern. I can't count stitches in crochet. Sshh, don't tell!

And that leaves us to now. I'm in the middle of another crochet gift, so I'll post it when it's done (and not six months from now). But for now, I have a few papers to write and an apartment to find.

Lator.

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Some Knit Goodies (And Baddies)

So, I went on a whole birthday present knitfest. It was awesome. I went through a few different things. I found a cute cupcake pattern for crocheting, which I haven't quite mastered (or really learned at all). So obviously I tried to make my own pattern. It needs some work:

Pretty much looks like a poop penis with herpes and jizz all over it. (Quite appropriate considering the previous Penis Slide post.) I'll work on the pattern. Hopefully I'll get it right at some point because this will definitely be a cute last minute gift option.

The next is Godzilla from the Knitted Icons book. This is for my one year old nephew. He likes Elmo at the moment, so I need to make him a man! Which equals GIANT JAPANESE LIZARD!

Well, as much as I like the one I made, it doesn't quite look like the one in the book. It's the first time I've used the book's patterns, and I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. The assembly for the legs and arms seem to not have been included which made my life a little difficult. We'll see how the other patterns work out for me. And who knows, maybe there'll be a future book review. Hmm...

Lastly, I made this bird from a pattern from the Knitted Toy Box. It is the cutest thing of my life. This is what I ended up sending to my friends for their birthdays. Definitely my last minute gift option for a while now.

I made a brown one too, but I guess I forgot to take a picture. The brown one had a smaller and cuter beak than this one, so it would've been nice to have two to compare. The purple one here was about to get packaged and sent out. I liked the nest of candy.*

Anywho, that's it for now. I need to get a mustache chart done so I can post it. It's necessary I sure you.

Lator.

*Don't ever buy candy at Sugar Heaven. They rape you with the prices. Just buy a lot at CVS candy and eat the leftovers.

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Build Your Own Rabbit Army!

So here’s the pattern for the bunny hat. Yea! This is meant for an adult. One day I might make a smaller version for a child or something, but for now adults get to be adorable.

I used a Medium weight yarn (Bernat Berella “4.” You know, The Afghan Yarn) in two different colors, white (C2) and black (C1). Though brown and beige, or any other cute bunny colors, would work. I had a lot of yarn left over so you could probably also use just one ball of one color, if you’d prefer. According to the packaging, tension’s about 4.5 stitches per inch. It didn’t occur to me to measure to get it right, but I’m sure any medium weight should be fine.

You’ll also need:
16” Circulars, Size 8
DPNs, Size 8
Straight needles, Size 8 (Optional. I just use the DPNs)
A stitch marker
A piece of pink felt, about 8x10”
Needle and thread that nearly matches the pink felt
Small crochet hook

Also please excuse any mistakes in notation and such. I’ll try my best to keep it to the standard notations but if there’s any confusion let me know. Onward!

Main Hat:

CO 90 stitches in C1. Place marker and join the round.
Rows 1-5: *k5, p5.* Repeat from * to* until end of row.
Rows 6-10: *p5, k5.* Repeat from * to * until end of row.
Row 11: Switch to C2. K until end of row
Continue in stockinette stitch for 20 rows or until the C2 section is about 3.25 inches. Again, I forgot to keep track, but I’m pretty sure it was about 20.

Decreases (Switch to DPNs when needed. I had to at about row 27)

Row 21: *k11, k2tog.* Repeat from * to * until end of row.
Row 22: *k10, k2tog.* Repeat from * to * until end of row.
Row 23: *k9, k2tog.* Repeat from * to * until end of row.
Row 24: *k8, k2tog.* Repeat from * to * until end of row.
Row 25: *k7, k2tog.* Repeat from * to * until end of row.
Row 26: *k6, k2tog.* Repeat from * to * until end of row.
Row 27: *k5, k2tog.* Repeat from * to * until end of row.
Row 28: *k4, k2tog.* Repeat from * to * until end of row.
Row 29: *k3, k2tog.* Repeat from * to * until end of row.
Row 30: *k2, k2tog.* Repeat from * to * until end of row.
Row 31: *k1, k2tog.* Repeat from * to * until end of row.
Row 32: *k2tog.* Repeat from * to * until end of row.
At this point there should be about 8 stitches on your needle. If not, then I forgot a row, which means you should repeat Row 32.

Cut the yarn and pull through remaining stitches. Weave in the ends.

Ear Flaps:

On CO edge, find a square of stockinette stitch. CO 15 stitches using straight needles. You should have CO on along three squares in a knit, purl, knit pattern. (I hope this makes sense). When you start knitting, the wrong side of the hat should be facing you.

Rows 1,3,5,6,8,10,11,13,15: k5, p5, k5
Rows 2,4,7,9,12,14: p5, k5, p5
Row 16: k1, k2tog, k2, p5, k2, k2tog, k1
Row 17: p4, k5, p4
Row 18: k4, p5, k4
Row 19: p1, p2tog, p1, k5, p1, p2tog, p1
Row 20: k3, p5, k3
Row 21: k3, p2tog, p1, p2tog, k3
Row 22: p3, k3, p3
Row 23: k1, k2tog, p1, p2tog, k2tog, k1
Row 24: p2, k2, p2
Row 25: k2, p2tog, k2
Bind Off. Weave in ends.

Lay the hat flat so you can find the location of the other side’s earflap. CO 15 stitches as before. This time the center square should be a stockinette square.

Rows 1,3,5,6,8,10,11,13,15: p5, k5, p5
Rows 2,4,7,9,12,14: k5, p5, k5
Row 16: p1, p2tog, p2, k5, p2, p2tog, p1
Row 17: k4, p5, k4
Row 18: p4, k5, p4
Row 19: k1, k2tog, k1, p5, k1, k2tog, k1
Row 20: p3, k5, p3
Row 21: p3, k2tog, k1, k2tog, p3
Row 22: k3, p3, k3
Row 23: p1, p2tog, k1, k2tog, p2tog, p1
Row 24: k2, p2, k2
Row 25: p2, k2tog, p2
Bind Off. Weave in ends.
(As you may notice, the other earflaps are exactly the same, other than the knits and purls are switched.)

Ears:
Try on the hat and pinpoint where you want the ears to be.

CO 10 stitches.
*Row 1: k10
Row 2: k2, p6, k2*
Repeat from * to * 19 times.

Row 41: k2, k2tog, k2, k2tog, k2
Row 42: k2, p4, k2
Row 43: k2, k2tog, k2tog, k2
Row 44: k2, p2, k2
Row 45: k2tog until end of row
Row 46: k3
Bind off. Weave in ends. Repeat for other ear.

(At this point you need to choose which side of the ear you like better: the knit or purl side. The side you like will NOT be covered by the felt.)

Measure the ear, and cut out two pieces of felt smaller than the ear so it fits in the non-garter stitch edges. Sew the felt on using a light colored thread, making sure to only sew into the top layer of yarn and not go through to the other side.

Braids:

Cut five 14” pieces of C1 yarn. Cut four pieces of 14” C2 yarn. Cut two pieces of 5” C1 yarn.
Divide into three groups:
Groups 1 and 3: two C1 strands, one C2 strand
Group 2: one C1 strand, two C2 strands

In the center of the ear flap, pull through Group 2 with the crochet hook in standard fringe way. Pull through Groups 1 and 3 in the same way, one on either side of Group 2.

Braid the strands together, treating each group as an individual strand. Tie off the end with one of the 5” strands. Trim to make even.

Repeat on the other ear flap.

And you’re done! As I mentioned before, this is my first real pattern, so hopefully it makes sense and if not, feel free to ask for clarification. Hope you enjoy making and wearing it.

Oh, one last note, though it's mildly unnecessary as you know this and are a good person. Please only use the pattern for personal use, not for some monetary gains.

Okay, enough bureaucratic shit. Go make a cute hat!

Lator!
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(Enter Rabbit Noises Here)

So I have completed a knit project. Yea! If it weren't for school, I'd have more, but you know, education sometimes gets in the way.

Anywho, here's a snapshot:

This was for a friend's birthday. She's wanted a bunny hat for quite some time now, so I figured I'd surprise her with this little guy. I think it came out super cute, and she loves it, so all in all, awesome times.

The pink felt was last minute, but I think it definitely made a difference. The ears are extended in the picture, but they actually flop over which gives an extra cuteness to the whole thing. Kind of proud of this since it's my first completed hat pattern. Actually, that's a lie. I have another one that I made for another friend's birthday, I just keep forgetting to get pictures of that one.

I have the pattern for the bunny hat written somewhere, and once I type it up I'll post it. I just wanted to get the picture up to share. I also have charts/patterns for a pipe and mustache that I need to post as well.
Goodness, if only knitting were a major...

Lator.
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Which Would the Tin Man Prefer?

It's a good day for sure, because not only is the first list done (check it out for a barrel of laughs), but also after about a week or so I have finished my first embroidered project. It was a pretty ambitious first project I think. Thing is that it didn't include just embroidery but it was pretty big for a first try, and also included sewing linings and such things to make it pretty. Anyway, I'm quite happy, and here are pictures! It's like I'm a new mother, they're my babies, and you're the co worker who couldn't give a damn but are politely looking anyway. Rejoicing ensues.

So here's the overall view. Ignore the ugly linoleum please...To give you a sense of the bag size, it fits my laptop and then some. Yeah awesome school bag! The color choice for the bag isn't the best considering the amount of red embroidery, and the yellow is random, but when I bought the bag I was intending on screen printing, not embroidering lol

Here's a close up so you can see their adorable faces! Even the commentary is like the baby thing...
I'd originally used a very chain-like split stitch by hand to do the robots outlines, but it looked wonky so i did the third by machine. It looked great so I undid the other two and machine embroidered them as well. The faces and hearts were done by hand.

This is the lovely lining. I'm in love with this purple plaid.There was a lot left over so I hope to do more with it in the future. I'm thinking a vest, but my summer's over so it may take a while.

The straps were pretty fun. I wanted some of those awesome retro starbursts, but after some advice, it seemed that the robots took up a lot of space, but the straps were bare. The lining was a bitch to sew. I used our sewing machine, but i had to stop every couple inches because i had to watch out for the starbursts. It didn't help that the machine would stop randomly with no reason in sight.

Here's Sad Robot Number 1's zombie heart. I was quite proud of this one. It was my first of the three. Though I might not have done the satin stitch, looking back, because the stitches were quite long and the middle ones are running the risk of becoming loose. I particularly enjoy the bloody bits.

Speaking of bloody bits, here's Sad Robot Number 2's heart. I might be most proud of this one. It's as close to a human heart as I could draw on my own. I'll admit my mom drew on the other ones from a copy of the original design, but that's because she can draw while I can't. I just might trust my drawing now since this one came out pretty cool. It's hard to see the two different colors in person, but I'm glad the camera somehow got the color right.

And finally Happy Robot's metal heart. It didn't fill as well as the others, but the thread was thinner spool thread so it was mildly expected. I'll just say that it looks like the grain metal gets when you sand it ;)

Anywho, the rivets are made with french knots. I wasn't looking at the original drawing when i was adding them, so i forgot that not every edge of the sections had rivets, and now it looks crowded. However, unlike the original robot outlines, I wasn't about to cut out all the french knots and re-do it.

Anywho, I hope you enjoy the first elderly craft of the blog. Along with the new list on the side. I think Cuteness did a damn good job with that list. It entertains me. Alrighty, that is all for now...

Lies! I forgot to mention that I didn't win the Sugar Slam, though I got an honorable mention which is pretty cool.

Okay now I'm done.

Lator!

PS Sorry for the image heavy post, but I had too :D
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I'll Register Your Car at the DMV in Spanish If You Say "There Might Be Cake"

The title's a bit long, but it's one of my favorite Greg Behrendt jokes, and well this is about cake.

The story is that I wanted to make a good cake after my Nigella cupcakes disaster (pictures to come) but without butter cream icing, as my mother doesn't like it, and really, there's only a certain amount of butter cream I can take. (Does that make me a terrible baker?) Anywho, here's the recipe.

Cake:

12 Tbls soft butter
1 1/2 c sugar plus 2 tbls
1/4 tsp salt
2 c flour

2 1/4 tsp baking powder

4 eggs

3/4 c milk

2 tsp vanilla

3/4 c strawberries

Cooking Spray

Two 8-inch round cake pans (Well, preferably two, I couldn't find my pair so I had to use my one springform round.)

Frosting: (I got this from Alton Brown's Coconut 7 min frosting recipe, just without the coconut)

3 egg whites

1/3 c cold water

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

pinch of salt

1 tsp vanilla

Metal bowl

Hand mixer

For the cake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray pans with cooking spray.

---Beat the butter and 1 1/2 c of the sugar until light and fluffy.

---Combine the wet ingredients in another bowl, beat lightly. Combine the dry ingredients in another bowl.

---Alternate adding the dry and wet ingredients, starting and ending with the dry. Scrape bowl often.

---Pour half of the batter in each pan.

---Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until it passes the toothpick test.

---Once out of the oven, let them cool in the pan for about 10 minutes.

---Turn out and let cool completely before icing the cakes.

---As the cakes cool combine the strawberries and remaining 2 tbls of sugar.

Once the cakes are cool, begin the icing.

---Bring two inches of water in a saucepan to a simmer.

---Place all ingredients in the metal bowl.

---With the bowl over the simmering water, beat the ingredients at low speed for one minute.

---Raise the speed to high and beat for another five minutes.

---Remove the bowl from the heat and beat for another 3 minutes.

---Let sit for a few minutes before using

Okay so it's technically a 9-minute icing, but I wanted the icing a little stiffer than it was after 7 minutes. Actually if I could, I would've beat it a little longer to make the meringue icing stiffer than what I eventually settled for.

For the cake construction, prepare the serving plate with strips of parchment so as not to get icing on the plate.

---If any of the layers are severely rounded, level them slightly with a serrated knife.

---Place the first layer on the parchment lined serving plate. If one layer is thicker than the other, place the thicker layer on the bottom.

---Pour 1/4 c of the frosting onto the bottom layer and spread evenly up to 1/4 inch from the edge.

---Drain some of the juices that have secreted from the strawberries.

---Evenly place the strawberries onto the first layer. Save a few for decorating the top.

---Turn the second layer upside down and place on top of the strawberries.

---Pour most of the remaining frosting onto the top and spread over onto the sides to reach full coverage. Add frosting as needed.
---Place the strawberries you'd set aside onto the top.

It's okay if there is a gap that forms due to the slightly large layers. It'll look delicious anyway.

Go shove your face!

Lator.

P.S Hoorah for Shawn Johnson! She definitely deserves that Gold medal.

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Bret Hart Cookie - Part 2 of 2

I have completed the Bret Hart cookie. I did end up submitting it to the Sugar Slam over at Bake and Destroy. I figured it wouldn't hurt. Moving on...If you'd like to make some Bret Hart cookies, here's the recipe and what not. I hope to do some more wrestling baking before I go back to college, where there is no oven available, unfortunately. Need to get as much done as possible. I see some Shawn Michaels cookies to go along with the Hart cookies. Oooh, the scandal!

Oh yeah here's the Bret cookies:

For the Sugar Cookie Dough (A slightly revised version of Alton Brown's Sugar Cookie recipe)
3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon milk
2 1/2 teaspoons raspberry jam
Heart shaped cookie cutter (I used a knife but a cookie cutter will make this A LOT easier)

[This dough makes about 24 cookies. I only used half of the dough and reserved the other for some future baking venture. You could just cut the recipe in half, or make the entire2 dozen.]
For the royal icing:
3 ounces of egg whites
3 teaspoons of cream of tartar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
About 3 1/2 cups Powdered sugar, but have more just in case.
Pink food coloring.
Black food coloring.
Three ziplock bags.
Parchment paper
A printed copy of the Bret Hart logo, making sure the heart is about the size of your cookie cutter heart.
[This recipe makes enough icing for about 15 cookie decorations. Recipe can be doubled.]

---Sift together all the dry stuff.
---Beat the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until it's all nice and fluffy. Add the egg milk and jam and beat until combined.
---With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry stuff, scraping every once in a while, until combined.
---Divide the dough in two, wrap in the item of your choice (I used plastic wrap, Alton suggested wax paper) and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

---After two hours, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
---Roll out half of the dough, leaving the other half in the fridge so it stays cool. Use some powdered sugar so the dough doesn't stick too much.
---Using the cookie cutter, cut out your cookies and place them on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
---Bake for 9 minutes, or until brown at the edges, turning the sheet halfway through the cooking time.

---While the cookies cool, make the royal icing.
---Beat the egg whites, cream of tartar, and vanilla until frothy.
---Slowly add the powdered sugar.
---Add sugar until it's the consistency of condensed milk, or that Borax and water stuff you made in elementary school.
---Divide the icing in half. Dye one half pink. Cover this half and refrigerate.
---Pour 3/4 of the remaining white icing into one of the ziplock bags. Cover and refrigerate the 1/4 still in the bowl.
---Place the printed logo under a large sheet of parchment paper.
---Cut the corner of the ziplock bag to make a small opening.
---Pipe the icing on the parchment in the shape of the wings and skull. [The icing should be thick enough to keep its shape. If it's not, add some more powdered sugar.]
--- Move the printed logo to a clear area of the parchment and repeat. Make more skulls and wings than you think you'll need because a few are sure to break.
--- Leave the decorations to dry over night.

---Once the cookies are cool, pour the pink icing into another ziplock bag, cutting the corner as before. I recommend stirring the icing a bit before doing so.
---Outline the cookie's shape, then fill in the heart. Repeat for all the cookies you've made.
---Allow to dry over night.

---Once all the decorations are dry, you can attach them to the cookie.
---Carefully detach each wing and skull as you go along.
---Using the remaining icing as glue, place a skull in the middle and a wing on each side of the skull, using the printed logo as a reference.
[If the wings tend to fall backwards, roll up some aluminum foil and place under the wing in order to keep it up until the 'glue' is dry enough to hold it.]
---Repeat until all your cookies are done. Let dry for at least 4 hours.
---Dye any remaining white icing black, and using the same ziplock method, pipe on the skulls eyes/mouth. Once again, let it dry for at least a few hours.


The drying time and piping make it at least a two day project, but they're quite delicious. Enjoy!

Here are a few of the cookies that didn't quite make it:

Poor guys didn't know what was coming. I assure you these injured cookies were given the proper treatment. Keep reading...