Happy Birthday C! - Doll items and Ninja and Origami topper

Tomorrow is ds2's friend's birthday party.  Here is what I made for her:

I really wanted to make something for her Barbie dolls.  He mom said that she likes super heros.  Well I couldn't find any super hero doll patterns, but in my head Red Riding Hood is a butt kicking fairy tale hero.  So I used this pattern to crochet her cape and basket.  Then I made a simple sock dress for her.  I have been having a lot of fun making doll cakes, so I made her a rainbow doll cake.  I used foam and white puff paint to make it.  Then I made 2 origami boxes, one for the cake and one to hold all of these items.

While at the library with the birthday girl last week, both she and my son said that they really liked the ninja in the book that I was checking out.  It was "KnitWit: 20 fun projects for beginners and seasoned knitters" by Katie Boyette.  So I have been working hard to make her a ninja in time for her party.  I was able to finish it Friday night while watching a movie.  There was a lot of sewing involved.  I choice to only use black thread around all of the felt pieces instead of matching the thread to the felt.  I felt that it made it pop, like a cartoon character.  I also used tacky glue to get the felt to stick / stay in place while I did a blanket stitch around all of the pieces.

I topped her wrapped box with a calendar wreath made with black and white printed origami paper.  I put glue on the back of it to hold it together.  Once dry, I just taped it to the gift.  They were able to easily remove it so that they could use it for something else.  It would make a nice picture frame.

The birthday party was today, and the birthday girl liked all of her presents.

Platypus iPhone Cozy

March 2nd was Platypus Day, so in celebration I designed this platypus phone cozy.  His tail is earbud storage.  The hat can be added to make him a secret agent.  The side of his mouth is open for when he makes platypus sounds.  I really enjoyed making it, and have already received lots of compliments on it.

Platypus iPhone Cozy

by Kristy Medina

Size D hook and worsted weight yarn
This is the hook size that I used, but feel free to change it to meet the size that you need or feel comfortable with.  The body of the case can be adjusted as well by adding or decreasing the number of chain stitches.  

Body - green / teal (I used Vanna's Choice yarn)

• ch 16
• sc in 2nd chain from hook and to the end = 15 sts
• flip and crochet on the opposite side of the chain for 15 sts.
• join and continue to sc in every stitch (no sl sts) until you achieve the height needed
• end with a slip stitch and weave in the ends

Hat - brown and black (I used Vanna's Choice yarn)

• with brown ch 20
• sc in 2nd chain from hook and to the end = 19 sts
• flip and crochet on the opposite side of the chain for 19 sts.
• join and continue to sc in every stitch (no sl sts) for 6 rounds.
• switch to the black and continue for 2 or 3 more rounds.
• switch back to the brown and 2 sc in every st for 1 round
• sl st to finish and weave in the ends.

Tail / headphone storage - orange (I used Super Saver yarn)

• ch 9
• sc in 2nd chain from hook and to the end = 8 sts
• flip and crochet on the opposite side of the chain for 16 sts.
• join and continue to sc in every stitch (no sl sts) for 2 rounds
• (2 sc in next, sc in the next 7 sts) x 2 = 18 sts
• (2 sc in next, sc in the next 8 sts) x 2 = 20 sts
• sc in every st for 2 rounds
• (sc 2 sts together, sc in next 8 st) x2 = 18 sts
• sc in every st for 1 round
• (sc 2 sts together, sc in next 7 st) x2 = 16 sts
• sc in every st for 1 round
• (sc 2 sts together, sc in next 6 st) x2 = 14 sts
• sc in every st for 5 rounds
• sl st in next st
• cut yarn leaving a long tail for sewing
• sew the tail to the back of the body - only sew 5 to 7 stitches to the body. I only sewed through 5 stitches.
• Optional: tack the tail down towards the bottom of the body as well, only going through the back half of it. Also you can use puff paint or brown yarn to make diagonal lines on the tail.

Eyes - white - make 2 (I used Caron's Simple Soft yarn)

• ch 2
• sc in 2nd ch from the hook 6 times = 6 sts
• 2 sc in every stitch = 12 sts
• (2 sc in next st, and sc in next stitch) repeat around = 18 sts.
• sl st in next stitch and cut the yarn leaving a long tail for sewing.

Eyes - black - make 2 (I used Caron's Simple Soft yarn)

• ch 2
• sc in 2nd ch from the hook 6 times = 6 sts
• sl st in next stitch and cut the yarn leaving a long tail for sewing.

Sew the black eye on top of the white eye. Then sew the white and black combo to the body.

Bill - orange (I used Super Saver yarn)

• ch2
• sc in 2nd ch from the hook 6 times = 6 sts
• 2 sc in every stitch = 12 sts
• (2 sc in next st, and sc in next stitch) repeat around = 18 sts.
• (2 sc in next st, and sc in next 2 stitches) repeat around = 24 sts.
• sl st in next stitch and cut the yarn leaving a long tail for sewing.
• Fold circle so that the top bill is a little further out than the bottom. Sew the folded part (from the inside of the bill) to the body, then continue to sew the bottom bill to the top bill. Leave one side of the 2 parts of his bill separate / un-sewn (so that it looks like Perry when he makes the platypus noise).

Hat off = Perry
Hat on = Agent P

By Kristy Medina (c) All rights reserved. non-commercial use only. www.textiles4you.blogspot.com

This pattern and its photos are copyrighted by Kristy Medina (textiles4you.com) and may only be used for private individual or charity use. No commercial sales of this pattern or photos are permitted. ©2013

Origami Butterflies and Calendar Wreath

The other day I checked out "Trash Origami: 25 paper folding projects reusing everyday materials" by Michael G. Lafosse and Richard L. Alexander from the library.  There are a lot of great ideas in there.  

While flipping threw the pages, I was chewing some gum.  Then I saw some pretty origami butterflies, and they started with a rectangle.  It was the perfect project to try out with my gum wrappers.  I had trouble with the centers / body, but I still think that they turned out nicely.  

Then I saw a cool calendar wreath in the book.  I found a calendar that we had totally forgotten about last year, so I went to work making the wreath.  You need 12 squares to make, which is why it is perfect for recycling your old calendars.  I did tape the back, because it felt to loose to me.  Glue would have worked to.

I think that both of these would make nice gift toppers.  In face I am thinking about making another calendar wreath today but with smaller origami squares.  Then I'll use that as a present topper for a birthday party that we are going to tomorrow.

Feb. Newspaper Plarn

Here is the plarn that I made last week using the plastic newspaper bags that my local library saves for me.  I spun it to give it a nicer look.  There are 2 blues stripes and 2 yellow stripes with the lighter color in between each one.

Blue and white spun and plied plarn / yarn

I finally got around to cutting up my bag full of bags (plastic shopping bags), which was overflowing, and making plarn out of it.  It took me a few days just to make the plarn.  Then today I spun it and plied it with some variegated blue yarn.  Now I have 381 yards of white and blue yarn.  I want to make a tote bag with it.

Crocodile Stitch Purse

It took most of this month and 2 skeins of yarn, but I finally finished crocheting this purse last night.  I want to add a lining to it, but it is usable.  I modified the pattern slightly by adding more stitches to make it wider (multiples of 7), and using the black yarn in every other row (behind the gray scales or crocodile stitches).  Because of that, I only needed to use 1 skein of gray yarn instead of 2.  This is a yarn eater.  

I used Caron simply soft yarn: gray, black, and white.

Here is the free pattern for it.  Also it is very helpful to watch the 5 videos that Mikey from The Crochet Crowd made.  He not only shows how to make the crocodile stitch, but also how to make the handles (and everything else with the bag).

Tiny Treasures Swap - Finished

I mailed off the package to my tiny treasures swap partner today.  There are 2 black skirt and top Monster High outfits, a knitted Monster High dress and skirt, a Disney princess top, 4 mini amigurumi monsters, an amigurumi love mite/bug, a small snake, several magnets (rocket ship, 3 bunny peeps, a car, an octopus, a sun, a snowman, 5 small teddy bears, and a tiny turtle), a tiny teddy bear in an origami box, a rainbow doll cake, and 3 soda tab pins (2 flowers and a hear).  

Here is a better picture of the rainbow cake.  I followed this video to make it.