OKAY. This has been sitting atop stuff for a bit now, but my camera had no batteries *shame*.
I'm an avid WoW player (CATACLYSM WOO) and recently had some half-assorted Japanese Bunka embroidery kits given to me.
Bunka embroidery, in case you're wondering, is Japanese punchneedle, except it's more like painting with the floss than making little dots. The stuff you can do is insane with it, and it's been referred to as "oil painting with thread".
Anyway, these kits contained lots of the rayon floss, the tools, and the cloth, but no instructions (except for one). So what do I do? I want to practice and play with it.
But I don't pick something small, no. I pick my first raptor mount from WoW (omg that was years ago...).
For reference, though not exact, http://static.wowhead.com/uploads/screenshots/normal/70894.jpg
So I drew a light sketch on the fabric in an embroidery hoop and embroidered it with the closest matching colours I had in my new stash.
Not all the colours match, there's not much shading because there's not much variant, and the raptor's not perfect (I got carried away and put his horn too far down and altered his head) BUT I rather like it! My stitching's a bit off as well, but it's my first time and I kinda had to teach myself, so.
What do you guys think?

A closer pic of the stitching. There's gaps but I was aiming to get the length right. Stitches are supposed to be anywhere from a quarter inch to an inch, and it's essentially a "colour by spaces" thing.

It's 8.5 inches in diameter, so pretty big I guess. I really like it but I'm not sure what to do with it :/ I don't want to frame it, to me that's a waste of a hoop (for this at least) and I like the feel of the stitches. I'd rather have it be useful in some way. Any ideas?

I don't upload much here, I'm much more a stalker, but I thought this was kinda fun<3

Recently, right before the local anime and manga convention (aka, when I'm going psycho either trying to finish art or costumes), my friend and I were chatting about a bento lunch we were going to work on. I never ended up getting to make mine, but I figure this counts. I make onigiri (rice balls) often enough, but haven't ever crocheted one.
I told her, a fellow crocheter, she should make an onigiri bag. She refused!
So I picked up yarn and whipped this up for her instead XD

The strap turned out longer than I would've liked, but oh well. It's got a little metal ring (the keychain sort) on either side to separate the strap from the onigiri bag itself.
I don't use purses, I don't like them, but I thought this would be a very pursey thing to do, so there you have it XD
The bag was crocheted in one solid piece, with the nori (black seaweed) separate and sewn on, along with the umeboshi (red pickled plum). I personally love the umeboshi; it's cute AND functional, since it serves as a sort of nob for the loop to hold the bag closed. The purse is small already so it didn't seem like that big of a deal, but it helps. I made it have sort of a ledge thing but if I made it again, I would make it more defined to it retains the tension on the loop better. It slips off after much use but the bag still holds closed, so as long as you're not wildly flailing about, you're fine rofl.
The umeboshi is crocheted with DMC thread, by the way.

The inside, lined with fleece.

My dad, "modeling" it. It's not that big, but just right for small objects like your cell phone and wallet and keys etc.

Hope you like

(sorry for being so wordy. Most of this is taken from my craftblog, carouselcute.blogsp ot.com)

**Knot tutorial below the pattern.

Occasionally, I'll get distracted from something I'm working on while doing it. The last time this happened, I wondered "Hey, I save all my yarn scraps. But for what? ... I should make a cat."
So I did.
Three of them, actually. They're all made from random bits of yarn, each about five inches or more long, that I tied together to form one long strand, so there's endless possibilities! Each one I make turns out with a different personality and quirk. I love to make them wahaha.
When making them I actually decided to keep a bit of the messyness instead of trying to make them clean-cut as it were, since the whole point was to reuse scraps leftover. They're even stuffed with scraps!
My first was Pheobe

And after her came Groucho and his ridiculous eyebrows and facial expression. That's how he came out no matter how many times I did it.

I had a bunch of white scraps from various projects, and so decided to make myself a good luck Maneki ScrapCat too.

The Roman aluminum coin isn't a yen, obviously, but it gets the point across XD
He doesn't have a tail but the other two do, and a pipecleaner makes it all bendy and... stuff. Bwahaha.

I don't know how much people will like them, but they're fun and kinda funky to make, and a great way to recycle any leftover scraps or chunks of yarn you may have rather than tossing them, so I wrote up my first pattern! Thought that might be good practice for later patterns I want to write too

I'll post it here, but it's also on my blog at carouselcute.blogsp ot.com.
Since it's my first, if there's any problems just let me know!
Hope you like it!

Scrap Cat Pattern

A free pattern to make, with love!

This pattern is free for making, giving, sharing, selling the products of, etc. I only ask that you let me know when you sell things from it, and don't claim it as your own.

MATERIALS:

G hook (H can work, but G is better for tightness)
Worsted weight yarn scraps (A good three handfuls, each scrap 5 inches or more is allright. You can use non-scrap yarn, too.)
Polyfil*
Embroidery floss
Needle (and yarn needle, obviously)
Pipecleaner (optional)
2 buttons (for the eyes. Or use your respective eyes. I like buttons for them because it suits the scrappy feel.)

*If you REALLY want to be thrifty, just stuff it with more scraps!

TERMS
ch-chain
st-stitch
sc-single crochet
inc-increase (2 single crochet in one sitch)
dec-decrease (single crochet 2 stitches together) (invisible decrease is best, and easy to learn with tutorials online. Planet June and Gourmet Amigurumi have good ones.)

BEFORE YOU START.

There should be a good two to three handfuls of scraps. Anything longer than 5 inches is allright. Note that shorter scraps will only show a few stitches, and longer ones will show much more. To obtain the "scrap yarn", take two strands and place them end to end, and tie a 2-strand overhand knot as close as possible to the ends (leaving a little bit of tail). Pull tight to make sure it won't slip out. Repeat as you go so that your scraps form yarn just enough length to work with. Remember to leave a good amount for sewing the piece to the body! A longer piece there is best.
The knots won't show through your crochet. If, when you make a stitch, they're showing on that side, tighten it or pop it through to the other side. Undoing the stitch and making it again only tighter can solve the problem too.
I realize this might be kind of a weird way to work, so if there's any problems or you have any trouble, just email me and I'll be happy to help!

PATTERN
This is worked as Amigurumi. Do not join rounds, work in a spiral instead. You don't have to do it in this order, but I make notes along the way as to assembly, so it's probably a good idea. It's also easier to do some things before others.
Have fun!

HEAD

Make a magic ring with 6 stitches. (or CH2, and make 6sc in first ch if you don't know the magic ring technique)

r1: inc in each st (12)
r2: *1 sc in next st, inc in next st. repeat from * around (18)
r3: *1 sc in next 2 st, inc in next st. repeat from * around (24)
r4: sc in each st. (24)
r5-7: repeat r4. (24)
r8: *1 sc in next 2 st, 1 dec. repeat from * around (18)
r9: *1sc in next st, 1 dec. repeat from * around (12)

Fasten off and pull tail inside the head.
Stuff well.

FACE

Using embroidery floss, sew an upside down triangular nose and mouth onto the middle of the face. Sew the buttons on for the eyes along the same line as the nose.


EARS (make 2)

Magic ring with 6 st.

r1: 1 sc in each st. (6)
r2: *1 sc in next st, inc. repeat around. (9)
r3: 1 sc in each st. (9)
r4: *1 sc in next 2 st, inc. repeat from * around, (12)

Fasten off and leave long tails for sewing.

If you want, choose a solid colour for both ears (make sure you have enough!) and sew it onto one side of each ear, to make the inner ear colour.
Fold them flat and sew the ears onto the top of the head, bending the sides in slightly to create a concave effect.

BODY

Magic ring with 6 st.

r1: inc in each st (12)
r2: *1 sc in next st, inc in next st. repeat from * around (18)
r3: *1 sc in next 2 st, inc in next st. repeat from * around (24)
r4: sc in each st. (24)
r5: repeat r4.
r6: *1 sc in next 2 st, 1 dec. repeat from * around (18)
r7: sc in each st (18)
r8: repeat r7.
r9: *1sc in next st, 1 dec. repeat from * around (12)
r10: sc in each st (12)
r11: repeat r10.

Fasten off with long tail.

TAIL

Magic ring with 6 st.

r1: sc in each st (6)
r2-4: repeat r1.
r5: dec, sc in remaining 4 st (5)
r6: sc in each st (5)
r7-15: repeat r6.

Fasten off. Fold pipecleaner in half and push the folded end into the tail. There should be some still outside of the tail. Place the tail at the base of the body (where, when sitting, it will be sticking outward) and push the remaining end into the body and fold one end one way and the other end the opposite way, to anchor the pipecleaner in place.
Sew the tail onto the body.

Stuff the body completely, adding a penny or two to the bottom for weight, if desired (not necessary).
Now, sew the body to the head, making sure that you fasten it to where the tail is behind (and when looking down on it, between) the two ears.

ARMS (make 2)

Magic ring with 6 st.

r1: sc in each st. (6)
r2-9: repeat r1.
(this is when a stitch marker really comes in handy. You can use a paperclip or hook earring if you don't have one.)

Stuff.
Sew the opening closed by fastening off with a long tail, and threading the tail through the outer loop of each stitch and pulling closed.

LEGS (make 2)

Magic ring with 6 st.

r1: inc in each st (12)
r2: sc in each st (12)
r3-6: repeat r2

Fasten off and stuff.

Sew to the body, each leg at an angle towards the front (not directly below the ears, but angled inward). Make sure it's at the base, same as the tail, so your ScrapCat can sit without falling over.

Sew the arms onto the body just below the neck.
For a Maneki ScrapCat (the raise-paw good luck cat), Sew the left arm on upwards. You can sew the paw down in a beckoning motion, and tack on a bell or fake coin as well.

That's all! It's finished! I hope you enjoyed this pattern and had fun with it!

If you have any questions, comments, or want to share your ScrapCat, just let me know!

Here's the explanation for the overhand knot:

Heyloo! I've been around for a while, amazed at all the people here and all the awesome stuff you guys do<3
Finally decided to post something(s) of my own :3

Commencing first post!
(The links are just to pics off my Flickr. Please ignore the crappiness of pictures. I'm a crafter, unfortunately not a photographer XD)
This is something I made a LONG while ago, when I first got into Amigurumi. I'm a gamer and was heavily into WoW when I made this. Never getting to go to Blizzcon, I of course didn't get the Murky baby murloc pet :< So I made myself one! The multicolored yarn is due to the fact that I didn't have any else on hand haha.
(If you don't know what a murloc is, http://www.playthingofthegods.com/DianiusPetsGuide/PetMurlocMurky.jpg, it's from World of Warcraft)




OMG were the spikes hard. They were made with about four stitches to a round, swapping colours in them. Augh, I am definitely figuring out a different way to do that when I finally revise the pattern. I'm just glad I wrote it down though haha...
He's stuffed with scrap yarn (one of my favourite ways to use the loose ends and leftovers. I hate throwing things away, I'm such a packrat :/ )

Second thing!
My amigurumi horse, Ceres. Both of these were made up out of me own head, just having fun with it. Her, I made just about... ummm a month ago? I've improved a bit since Murky, but she has SUCH a long way to go. Mostly on the body, I'm pretty happy with her legs. I really wanted to make an Amigurumi horse that was proportionally "correct", just for the challenge of it.<3




She's stuffed with polyfil and, believe it or not, stands pretty well on her own. I bought some pipecleaners to help with it though when I do my revision. My problem is, as SOON as I'm done with any project, I usually lose interest right away and want to crochet something else! Ah, It's so bad.
She's a lot of fun though :3


I'm trying to keep up a craftblog too, where I post my projects and such, other things I'm working on. My goal is for it to help keep me focused, by writing it all down, you know? :/ It's been sort-of helpful, but I'm working on it! Constant vigilance I guess rofl
I didn't make a post about Murky, but I did about Ceres:
http://carouselcute.blogspot.com/2009/08/shouldve-posted-this-while-ago.html

Here's hoping to more posts there, here, and overall craftiness! <3 Hope you like 'em!