Crochet Chameleons

My latest crochet addiction has been crocheting chameleons.

I've made four in total. The green one was my first attempt, followed by the multi-coloured purple one, then finally the two smaller, mirror image chameleons (although not actually mirror image because I gave one of them the wrong coloured head spike, oops).

The pattern I used is by Ami Amour and is available on the Amigurumi Patterns.net website. I was admiring this pattern for a long time before I decided to buy it. The pattern is obviously super cute, but I was also intrigued by the construction of the pac-man like mouth. The pattern comes with easy to follow instructions, with plenty of photos to show you how to create the open mouth. It was a lot simpler than I was expecting, but it is difficult to create a ninety degree angle. The mouths of my lizards don't bend a great deal; it's the top lip that forms the angle instead.

While the pattern is easy enough to make, I did find it took a while to sew all the pieces together in a way that I was happy with. In particular the legs need to be sewn on strongly to give the chameleon enough support to stand. As you can probably tell from the pictures, this didn't always work out for me - these poor lizards are not very good at staying on their feet! 

I had a lot of fun making these and they make a nice addition to my amigurumi collection. The pink and mint green ones live on my computer screen now (although they are regularly being knocked off by my cat when she decides to stand in front of my screen - which is often at the moment. Grrr.)

For the first time in a long time I'm not sure what to crochet next... I need some crochet inspiration! Let me know if you've seen any cute patterns lately because I'd love to give something new a try :-)

Book Review: Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld

I'd like to try something different on my blog today; a book review!

This last year I’ve become completely addicted to Booktube. If you haven’t heard of Booktube, it’s a community of vloggers on Youtube that discuss all things about books. It’s a fantastic way to find book recommendations and you can often hear about upcoming books as many Booktubers get their hands on advanced reader copies (ARCs  - I learnt this term from Booktube!). I first heard about Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld from Kat from Katytastic. As soon as I heard that it was a novel about writing I knew I wanted to read it as soon as it came out. 

Afterworlds is about seventeen-year-old Darcy Patel who writes a novel in the thirty days of Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month - which is happening right now) and is lucky enough to get a publishing deal. This book is two stories in one. It follows Darcy as she prepares for publication, while in alternate chapters we get to read the paranormal romance that she has written. Darcy moves to New York and becomes involved in the Young Adult (or YA) book community. 

Darcy’s novel, which forms that other half of the Afterworlds, is about a young girl named Lizzie who discovers that she can crossover to the afterlife when she is caught in a terrorist attack. Lizzie meets a boy, an ancient reaper (called a psychopomp), they form a connection, and Lizzie begins learning about her new abilities and her relationship with the afterworld.

Of the two stories I definitely preferred Darcy’s. Lizzie’s story is engaging and intriguing, but there wasn’t enough of it for me to become fully invested in the world. The book's biggest strength is the connection between the two narratives. In the contemporary chapters of Afterworlds we watch Darcy struggle as she makes decisions about her story and her characters, then we get to read how she resolves them in the following chapters. There are also many instances where aspects from Darcy’s life, like her sister’s expressions or her editor’s recommendations, find their way into her story. The banter between Darcy and the other authors she meets are some of the most engaging parts of the book for me. Scott Westerfeld has said (in this podcast) that some of the characters are based on his real life author friends; one of them is strongly reminiscent of John Green, author of A Fault in Our Stars and well-known Youtuber. I found that the alternating points of view between the two different stories gave the book a great pace – I flew through it in a couple of days and it isn’t a short book. 

When I first heard about this book I was expecting to see Darcy’s story develop as a narrative over time, however the Afterworlds in the book is clearly the completed, published version of Darcy’s story. In reading it I had to remind myself a few times that Darcy's story is actually written by Scott Westerfeld, a successful and experienced YA author. Darcy’s experience isn't a typical publishing experience either; it’s unlikely that many people could write a first draft during Nanowrimo that would attract the attention of an agent and result in a $300,000, two book contract. If I sound a little jealous, it’s because I am :P That said, the book also explores the effort and time taken to rewrite a manuscript and get it ready for publication. Things aren't a walk in the park for Darcy by any means.

Afterworlds definitely has a few insights into the process of writing YA, but it is not a book about how to write. It is a book about writers and writing, coming of age and self-discovery. I enjoyed reading this immensely and would recommended it to anyone who is a fan of reading YA books. The story is gripping, well-paced and the characters were believable enough that I wanted to google them to see how their careers were doing. This book is highly, highly recommended.

One a sidenote, the book trailers for Afterworlds are worth watching (I didn’t know book trailers were a thing until this year!). The standard one gives a nice overall impression of what the book is like (although you might get the impression that there are zombies in this book from the trailer. There are no zombies). The other trailer shows various YA authors "attacking" the book for misrepresenting the YA community. It's hilarious and features loads of well-known authors, including John Green.  Definitely worth a look if you’re interested! 

Crochet Catch Up

Soooooo it's been a long time since I've written a blog post... an embarrassingly long time... 

While I haven't been blogging, I've definitely been crocheting. To get back into it I wanted to catch you up on all the crochet I've been doing over the past few months. 

And here they are!

The first amigurimi I made was the pink bear and white bunny. I had been admiring the Cutie Bears pattern by Ami Amore for a while and finally decided to buy it earlier this year. I really love the proportions of this bear with its oversized head! I will be making some more of these as they are very quick to make and provide instant cuteness. It's also a really easy pattern to modify. I made a bunny with the pattern by changing the ears. I made four identical bunnies for Easter this year (three to give away and one for meeee!).

The second of these projects I made were the kangaroos. I made these for my cousins' kids when I visited them during my holiday to England back in June. The pattern is Katy and Kelvin kangaroo which I bought here. The pattern includes a baby kangaroo that sits in the pouch but sadly I ran out of time to make them. I ended up making five of kangaroos, one of which I was rushing to finish in the airport before going home! 

The next project was the crochet burger or as my friend named him, Junkfood Tuesday. The cool thing about this ami is its seamlessness. No sewing required! I made this with a friend who was learning how to crochet. It was a tough project to start with but it was great for teaching the basics of making amigurimi as it included lots of different techniques. The pattern is available for free too :-)

Directly after making the burger I made the slightly creepy looking ghost creature. This ami is a Japanese tree spirit from the movie Princess Mononoke. This crochet version has more cute and less creepy than the ones in the movie though. I made this for a friend who came to my house and was so allergic to my cat that I felt I needed to make it up to her with crochet. He now lives underneath a mushroom shaped lamp at my friend's house where I'm sure he is very happy. The pattern is free from Amigurumei.

The next project I made was a cherry blossom garland for my friend's hens party. I made this in a day and was really happy with how it turned out. I used two different patterns to make the flowers. Sadly I didn't note them down, but they were both free patterns that I found online. One day I will make one of these garlands for myself; it just looked so pretty hanging on my calendar!

The last ami I made was the blue triceratops. I made this for my little brother's birthday. He's currently going through a Jurassic Park phase and I couldn't resist crocheting him a dinosaur. The triceratops was my favourite dinosaur as a kid so picking a dinosaur was an easy decision. (Does anyone else remember the Land Before Time movies with the baby triceratops? So cute!). The pattern is by Awkward Soul on Etsy.

And that's everything I have crocheted since my last post... almost! I do have another project to share once I have taken some nice pictures.

Hopefully this marks the end of my blogging drought. I'm planning to blog a lot more regularly with more crochet and also trying something different with a few book reviews. (I have recently become addicted to watching book reviews on YouTube and I'm inspired to give book reviewing a go!)

Fingers crossed that I will be back soon with another post!

Crochet Pony

Have you ever found a crochet pattern that you couldn't stop making? I have! Ever since a preview of this pattern was posted I knew that I was going to make a few of them. The pattern in question is the crochet pony from All About Ami. 

My first pony.

Stephanie from All About Ami designed the pattern to celebrate Chinese New Year as 2014 is year of the horse!

My second pony.

I've found two other free amigurumi patterns released for Chinese New Year if you're interested:

1. Horse Amigurumi by Little Things Blogged; and
2. Xiao MaEr Giddy by Ohana Craft.

I took these pictures close to Valentine's Day.

What makes Stephanie's pattern so unique is the crocheted mane. Most crochet or knitted horses have manes made from strands of yarn. I much prefer the solid, puffy manes in this pattern as the other kind can end up looking a little threadbare. 

Ponies four and five.

The design has so many cute details; the tiny curl of the mane, the pot belly, the curled eye lashes, the curved hooves and the adorable flame shaped tail. I'm sure you can see why I'm completely smitten with this pattern!

So far I have made five ponies. After making the first two ponies I learned a few things that make the design work a little better for me. 

Firstly I cut out round 4 when crocheting the head as I found it was making the piece too pointy. I like the look of the slightly rounder head better and found that I kept squishing the muzzles of my first pony in to achieve this shape. 

Pony number five, my smallest pony.

The second tip I've found is to use white yarn (or the same colour as the body) to sew the mane to the head. With my first pony I used the tail of the mane to attach it and the stitches ended up being visible. Using white yarn seems to help with this.

Pony family.

I'd also suggest using a thicker yarn or a bigger hook when crocheting the mane. The manes on a few of my ponies are a little small. The manes definitely look cuter when they are bigger and have a nice, pronounced curl at the front. 

I'm not ready to stop making this pattern yet. At least one more pony and then I'll stop... Maybe. There are just so many possible colour combinations!

The whole family!

Crocheted Crochet Hook Case

Last year I bought a set of Clover Amour crochet hooks as a Christmas present to myself. These hooks seem to be a favourite among crochet bloggers and I read some very positive reviews before I bought them. I'm really glad I decided to try them because they are AMAZING! Not only are they the most comfortable hooks I've ever used, they are just so cheerful! Looking at them in this picture is enough to make me happy!  

Even for someone who's lucky enough not to get bad cramping from crocheting, the ergonomic handles make such a difference.  I actually think they make me crochet faster! As I'm sure you can tell by now, I'm really happy with these hooks. The set that I bought didn't come with a case so one of the first things I crocheted after getting them was a suitably pretty hook case.

The pattern I used is from an Etsy seller named Living In Amethyst. 

The pattern from Living In Amethyst is the prettiest one I found. It features a lace cover in a contrasting colour to the body of the hook case which makes it both sturdy and pretty. There are some nice free patterns out there which are similar, like this one which uses similar construction and this one which also has contrasting colours.

The pattern isn't written for crochet hooks with ergonomic handles unfortunately and I had to make quite a few alterations to make the pattern work for what I wanted. It also didn't help that I wanted to use finer yarn that what the pattern called for. I made a ten hook case instead of the pattern's twelve or eighteen hook design. I also added an extra row to each of the hook pockets to make sure that the hooks fit inside. 

The hardest part of the pattern to adjust was the lace cover. It was probably me (definitely me), but I found that I couldn't make the lace cover work... I ended up taking the basic lace stitch and making up the rest. My case came out a little wonky as a result (although it was less wonky than my first attempt where I followed the pattern). I really like the idea of a lace overlay, although if I was to make this again I'd use a different lace pattern (or use the correct ply yarn!). This one is pretty, but my stitches were too tight and the result isn't lacy enough to show the contrasting colour underneath... 

My case definitely doesn't have the same polish and finish as the pattern I used. Looking back at the pictures on Etsy, mine really does look wonky haha.  Still it should keep my lovely new hooks nice and safe :-)

Crochet Doily and Mandala

Over the holidays I decided to crochet some doilies. There are lots of patterns for vintage, traditional looking doilies on the internet. While these are nice, the modern colourful doilies are a lot more fun! Here are my doilies:

The light blue one is a more traditional style doily crocheted in cotton thread. It was a lot easier to make than it looks! The pattern I used is available on YouTube and the video demonstrates how to crochet each row. I made another one of these in cream four ply yarn and gave it away as a Christmas present. 

Here is the second doily I made. This style is also called a mandala. It was so much fun to make! It took me just over an hour and I was excited every time I added another colour in. It probably helped that I was using lovely wool that I had just bought. It's called Naturally Loyal; here's a link to the site. (I bought a few skeins of this yarn in different colours and I highly recommend it so far!) The bright pink in this mandala is such a nice colour. It makes me happy every time a look at it :-)

This mandala design comes from the blog Made in K-town. It's another free pattern so you should definitely give this a try! It's a great way to use up leftover bits of yarn too.

The mandala now lives on my bedroom wall. I'd like to make a few more of these and hang them up together. I'd also like to try a different design, like these from the blog A Creative Being. She also has some free mandala patterns on her website :-)

Finished Object Friday: Amigurumi Giraffes

My first crochet project for the year!! Last week I decided to make a present for my friend's daughters. I'd actually started to make something last year only to realise that it wasn't a very baby safe pattern due to the safety eyes. Ooops! I will have to keep that project for myself! I spent some time browsing the internets for a baby friendly amigurumi pattern and settled on these amigurumi giraffes by Irene Strange. 

If you find yourself in the same position as me and want to know what options you have for baby friendly amigurumi, Stacey from Fresh Stitches has written a post about it here. Crocheted, embroidered, felt or french knot eyes are all good options. I liked this pattern as the embroidered eyes are a main feature of the design.

The pattern is are called Dreamy Giraffes and I found it on the amigurumipatterns.net website. They are so adorable! I hope you can see that their sleepy eyes in the pictures... the boyfriend thought that I had forgotten to put eyes on them! 

The pattern was easy to make and very quick. A lot of giraffe patterns require that you crochet circles to sew on - which would take forever! The spots on these giraffes are sewn on, which is not only faster, but allows you to make irregular shaped spots like a real giraffe... not that looking like real giraffes is particularly important to me as I made these in very unnatural colours! 

They turned out a lot smaller than I was expecting so I wouldn't give them to a very young child. They seem alright for a 2-3 year old though.  

It's a really sweet pattern. I'll have to make one for myself at some point! 

I'm linking up with Tami's Amis for Finished Object Friday. Have at look at her blog for more finished projects :-) 

Nerdy Adventures: Catch Up

It's time for a Nerdy Adventures catch up! It's almost been two months since I last blogged here (I've been a bit better at keeping my Tumblr blog up-to-date, but not a lot). Now that the new year is upon us, I plan to be a lot more dedicated to my blog. So here's what's been happening over the last two months:

Crochet

In November the awesome Amigurumipatterns.net hosted a design competition. This site has a great collection of patterns from loads of designers and I love their Zoomigurumi pattern books. The theme of the competition was "animals at work" and I couldn't resist entering because animals wearing clothes are the cutest. I decided to adapt my mini pug pattern into a bigger version which I could "dress up". I made my pug into a detective (I'm not really sure why...I originally wanted to make a roller-derby octopus or a bureaucrat bunny).

He's supposed to be a modern private investigator rather than a Sherlock Holmes type, hence the police tape which reads "crime scene - do not cross". I called him Dresden after Jim Butcher's Dresden Files. I'm so happy with him. I'm still amazed that I manged to get him finished in time for the competition deadline as I spent most of my free time in November on Nanowrimo. 

December was all about crocheting penguins. Sadly I didn't take enough photos of my penguins as all but one of them were gifts. I had lots of other Christmas projects planned but they were all taken over by penguins! This is the first one I made.

The pattern is available for free from Pierrott Yarns. I liked this guy so much I made a load more. As usual with crochet gifts, I finished them last minute and didn't have a chance to take pictures of them in the light box.

I also made a larger penguin for a Christmas present using this pattern, which I adapted to have the same face as the smaller penguins. This guy turned out really well - it's a shame I don't have proper photos of him. He has adorable webbed feet which can't be seen in the one photo. Maybe I'll try this pattern again sometime.  

Excuse the plastic bag is the background... 

Gaming
I have so many games to play. So many. It's actually kind of crazy. The boyfriend gave me a PS3 for Christmas and I bought loads of PS3 exclusive games to play through. I've also got a few games for 3DS and PC to play as well. This post would end up being way too long if I talked about everything I'm playing at the moment, so I'll just focus on the two games that I actually managed to finish in December.

The first was The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds on 3DS. The game received really great reviews which I think are justified. The game is set in the same world as the Super Nintendo Zelda A Link to the Past, which I didn't know until I was playing it and started to feel like "hey, I've been here before." The game feels like it's a return to the "old school" Zelda games that I used to play on Gameboy compared to the previous titles on DS. I was expecting just another Zelda handheld game with and was pleasantly surprised. Link's new ability to turn himself into a painting seemed really silly when I first read about it, but it's actually a clever mechanic and introduced some interesting puzzles. The best part about the game however is it's emphasis on freedom. It sounds like a simple thing, but this is the first Zelda game that lets you attempt dungeons (other than the first one) in any order, and it really improves the experience. Instead of finding equipment in each dungeon that allows you to open the next area to explore, you are able to rent all the items in the game practically from the start. Several of my friends were playing the game at the same time and we all did things in a different order. I hope future games will continue with this. I definitely recommend playing this is you haven't already!

The second game I finished was the indie game Gone Home which I got in the Steam Sale - yay! I've wanted to play this for a while but the price tag of $20 was way too high for a game that is about two hours long. This is one of those games that some people like to argue isn't a game because all you really do is wander around a house and examine objects and listen to diary entries. Even if this isn't a game it's a worth while experience if you can buy it on sale. I don't want to talk about the story too much because it is a narrative based game and a lot of the fun of playing comes from unraveling it's mystery. Basically you take the role of Katie who returns home from an overseas holiday on a dark and stormy night to find that no one is home. The house is filled with objects that can be picked up and examined including books, letters and tissue boxes. The writing feels genuine and the voice acting is well done. Although it wasn't exactly what I was expecting in terms of the story, I'm glad that I finally played it.

Reading
I didn't read a lot during November and December for two reasons; firstly I was using up all my normal reading time making sure that I wrote 1667 words a day for Nanowrimo in order to reach the 50,000 word count and secondly because the book I was reading at the time was really long! It's happened to me a few times now where I've bought a book on Kindle only to realise how long it is when I've been reading for an hour and haven't even advanced the book by 1% (it must be noted that I do read pretty slowly :P). The book was The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. The book is essentially the life story of a famous/infamous hero. It starts with a framing narrative which sets up the legend surrounding the main character Kvothe, who has changed his name and is working as an innkeeper in an obscure village, and then then allows him to tell his story in first person. The book was a little slow to begin with, but from the moment Kvothe begins telling his story I was hooked. It's long and detailed and the story doesn't have a great deal of focus in terms of plot, but it's also engrossing and I found myself really invested in the story because I spent so much time with the character. It also has great world building and lovely writing which is at times poetic and moving. I will definitely be reading the next book in the series as the story is far from over when the first book ends.

Now I am pretty much up-to-date! As a final note I have to post my Nanowrimo winners badge because - I finished my 50,000 words. Woooooooo!! Now I just have to start writing it again...