Here is a cute site.
http://farm.avocadolite.com/
Checkout Farm Hustle for an online game like Bejeweled, but with amigurami animals as the pieces. Pretty cute

http://www.rookiemoms.com/make-some-easy-kids-pants

These pants look really comfortable and easy.

OK, I had never even heard of this needle felting before happening upon this section of Craftster. Absolutely amazing. I am so intrigued, but also hesitant. Are there any San Diegans on this board that would be will to give me a tour of the process? I will even buy you coffee, or soda, or whatever drink you prefer. I am simply fascinated by this. I had only ever heard of felting knitted/crocheted items. The sculptures in the completed projects are wonderful. I have recently begun crocheting and after one sorry little bear from a pattern, immediately switched to a more free-form style and it has become a form of sculpture for me... I am a little nervous about the scary needles, but the finished products look too tempting! Please, anyone? I could even come up to Orange County to see you create.

Moderator, if this post is horribly inappropriate, I apologize and welcome you to obliterate it

I made this last night as a thank you gift for the nursing staff in my weight-loss program.



I did not use a pattern, I just started at the plunger end and faked it.


OK, without having the syringe here to look at I will give a very vague tutorial

I started at the plunger end with grey. It is about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. I just chained about 4 or so, closed the loop and went in the round increasing just enough to make it bowl shaped. Cut and weave in your end.

To make the stem of the plunger, crochet a cylinder either by hooking it directly into the "outside of the bowl, or crocheting it separately and stitching it on. This piece (also grey) is maybe 3/4 inch in diameter and 3/4" long. (maybe a liittle shorter, and maybe the thumb part is a little wider)

The part where you put your index and middle fingers is just a big flat circle. You again can keep it simple by creating this piece by itself and then continuing to stitch the pieces together. (remember, crafts are supposed to be fun, not stressful!) This piece is about 2 1/2 inches in diameter.

Color Change! In white, make a cylinder approx 2" in diameter and maybe 1 1/2 inches long. (depending how much blood you plan to put in there

Switch to red and continue your cylinder for about the same length.

Switch to grey and go just a couple of rounds, then increase for a couple of rounds to make that edge.

Again, personal preference whether you make the next (icky) section directly on the previous part, or if you make it separately and sew it onto the previous piece. I honestly cannot remember how I did it, but I think it started at the wide end and decreased willy-nilly until it was ridiculous to crochet anymore. That determined the length of the pokey part.

I embroidered the face and measurements in fuzzy black.

Oh, and I tend to crochet pretty tight and stuff the heck out of things LOL I can't help it... If I did it over I think I would try to make the body even firmer though so it could serve as something to grab in your fist while they search for prospects. 'Maybe even stuff it with a gauze roll.


My guess for a thermometer (I will have to make one of those and the blood pressure gadgets too.) you would make a nice long cylinder and then increase and decrease to make a nice bulb at one end. I embroidered the syringe features rather than changing colors while crocheting. I am only a beginner, so easy is the theme. It would be cool if you were experienced with color changes and carrying the second color along to do it white with a vertical stripe of red and then red in the bulb... or is it silver for mercury... I guess I need to look at a classic thermometer again.... or maybe I will make an ear thermometer LOL

Thank you everyone for your kind words of encouragement. I am enjoying learning to crochet and like making odd little things best.

If anyone who does not crochet is interested in some sort of personal swap, I would be up for that I am willing to take requests too... no object too strange

OK The photos are a bit hard to see, but I am happy with the bunny. He feels like a tiny bath mat. He is my third completed project in crochet. The yarn is Sensations Oceania variegated yarn with twisted accents (color Oceania primary Multi #7) and it is 100% nylon. Of course these photos do not portray the colors accurately, but it is close. He is purple, lavendar, navy, green, yellow and darkish pink. His face is pretty well lost in the fuzz but I am ok with that. I considered not embroidering a face at all. I could have gone either way really. I again did this without a pattern. I started with the head and decreased to a neck, then back out for the body. The ears started in the round but were flattened out by the second or third row from the base. The second ear turned into a leg LOL since I sort of lost control of the size. But at least time I did not end up with a little pile of mismatched limbs that have no home like with his brother the bear.


I took some pics without the flash since the flash was washing him out too much to see the shape. His limbs are not poseable, but his ear holds a bend nicely.

This yarn is so squishy and fun to hold. I may buy more and try something a little larger.

[had]

I made a little crocheted bear from a pattern in the book "Crochet for Today" published by Leisure Arts (ISBN 1-57486-022-4) and being my first completed project, it was tight, and a wee bit dorky-looking. I learned a ton from the pattern though and my next bear was created without a pattern. I loosened up and got brave enough to use fuzzy yarn (Red Heart TLC Amore - color 3104 Fawn, worsted medium) Somewhere in these forums I read an amazing bit of wisdom - put the hook where you think the stitch should be, since you can't really see your stitches in the fluffy yarn. That advice gave me the courage to just dive right in. I am sorry i cannot find that post again to thank the wise crafter who said it!

So I started just crocheting the fuzzy yarn and started seeing a little bear face and went with it. His little arms are poseable and his face is simply three black stitches, I increased and decreased as I felt it was needed and he will probably remain a one of a kind since there is no way to go bsck and figure out the pattern.

The shape is more apparent without the flash. See the belly button?

I had to add a tail to his cute little backside.

I love how this yarn melds together and just looks like furry fabric. Friends were surprised he was crocheted, not sewn.

OK, I am so impressed and amazed by all of the creative people in this site. I seem to be more of a collector of craft supplies than a crafter in so many cases, but I find such comfort and peace in so many different forms of crafting. I always steered clear of quilting though because with my track record of (not) finishing projects, quilting seemed like a bad idea.

However, I saw an article in a friend's craft magazine (sorry i cannot remember which magazine now) on making a quilt and I was intrigued. The process involved making a stack of squares of fabric, making a random diagonal slice through the pile, and moving the top piece of one of the two resulting piles to the bottom of the stack. Then I sewed the new pairs together. The process is repeated a few times, changing the direction of the diagonal cut each time.

Now, this will make many of you cringe. I did not use pins and the only times I measured were to cut the original squares and then to "square up" the resulting blocks. None of my points match (OK, I think I saw ONE matched corner somewhere in there) but I embroidered a tag and am going to give it to my 4 year old niece for her dolly, Charlotte. Hopefully neither of them will look with too critical of an eye 

I know this post is too long, but I just want to say, even though this quilt is not in league with the work I have seen on this forum, I am proud of myself for making this. I have confirmed for myself that quilters are a unique breed; patient, persistant, and detail-oriented. Maybe when I grow up I can be a real quilter.

 All I have left to do on it is tie it off and sew on the tag. Then it is off to England with it. Woohoo!