No time = lots of ideas

Lately I've been busy with study and I had very few time for my works. But, starting tomorrow, I intend to dedicate at least an hour a day to a series of important projects to complete before the end of March.
First of all, I had in mind to make this shawl and these gloves for Emilie Autumn's show. I should be able to go buy the necessary yarn for one of the two projects, I can't wait to begin.
This morning I started a simple earring holder made of granny squares (pattern found here), very quick, nice and easy. I hope to finish it soon, I really need it.
During Christmas holidays, which I spent at my parents' house, I made a pair of doilies but forgot to take some pictures. I'll get them as soon as possible. I finished the maneki neko doily, too, - it turned out much bigger then I expected - I just have to press it and then it's going to be ready for use. I used a very bright orange cotton branded Coats, I fell in love with it!
Inspiration could be a really cruel thing sometimes: I have a lot of ideas whenever there's no time to crochet! But I'm sure I'll slowly carry out all my projects.
Thanks for passing by!

Big news!

I got two tickets for Emilie Autumn's show at the end of march, one for me and one for my knight in shining armor (a.k.a. my boyfriend) who kindly accepted to go with me!

I want to get a "gothic" dress for the event! I'm not sure if it's the right name to define that fashion, I was thinking about something like this. I always loved that style, but my weight, shyness and very low self-esteem never allowed me to wear anything like that. Now I think it's the right time to change and make my wishes come true! I'm on a diet and with some sport and a little effort I think I'm going to make it.
I also thought I could make some crochet accessories to match my future outfit, like a pair of gauntlets or a shawl - the dress is going to be sleeveless and the weather in march isn't very warm, so that would be really useful.
I wanted to make a little handmade gift for Emilie Autumn too, but who knows if I'll get to give it to her...
Anyway, I have a lot of projects to finish before I find something to make for the show! I still need to find a way to hang the garland and there are some snowflakes and poinsettias waiting for me to complete them so they can become little presents for the people I love.
I'd like to make a doily with this lovely pattern, too.The owner allowed me to add the Japanese characters for "maneki neko", I gave it a try but I'm not sure it's going to turn out good. We'll see when it's done, I guess. The yarn is right here, ready to be turned into a new work, so maybe we're going to find out pretty soon (will I ever finish the snowflakes?!).
That's all for now, have a good day =)

Big fail...

Sadly, it looks like there's no way to hang my garland, the angles just keep on folding up no matter how many times I try to find a new method to hold it all flat. The only thing I can do is to block it again with pure vynil glue and hope it keeps stiff.
I'm so disappointed...

Christmas projects

It took a long time even though it was little work, but I almost did it!

This is my brand new Christmas garland, and it's going to stay on our door and welcome all the people that come to our house! I used two different patterns for it, one for the snowflakes and the other for those adorable poinsettias. I made some other snowflakes with leftover yarns just for fun and blocked them with a mixture of water and vynil glue. This is the first time I block a work all by myself without any help or advice from an expert and I haven't done it for a lot of years, so naturally there are a lot of mistakes. Anyway, I'm really happy about the result. It took some time to wash my hands from that stuff, but it was definitely worth it!
I think I'll make a few other snowflakes with poinsettias and give them as small Christmas presents to my family and friends.
Now I have to find a way to hang the garland properly, let's hope it's going to work!

P.S. Meet my two new kitties on the top left angle of the picture, Fosforo and Miss IceCream! Soon I'll post some better and more detailed pictures of them =)

Bento Sack + Deadpool Scarf

Finally I'm able to add some pictures of my new finished works =)

Here is the complete bento sack:

I showed it to my mother and she loved it, she liked how the colors match together and was very proud of my work. I feel satisfied as well, it was a very good idea after all.

And here is the scarf:

I'm sorry for the bad quality of these pictures, the colors are much more beautiful than how they look here.

Anyway, this scarf turned my room into a woolen hell, there were balls of thread pieces of yarn everywhere! But it was definitely worth it. As I said in the previous post, it's really too large, but I tried to wear it and it doesn't feel really uncomfortable.

Then last week I made the color chart for the next scarf, an Assassin's Creed one, and began to make it. This is what I got so far:

It looks "fat", but I like it anyway.

That's all for now, see you next time =)

A little update

Lessons have begun, so I couldn't post anything these past few weeks. Anyway, I haven't been lazy at all.

First of all, I finished my bento sack and I guess it turned out pretty good. I'm not able to take pictures right now, but I think I'm going to add one soon.

I had some leftover black pure wool yarn, but it was very little, so I tried to make a beret with it adding some white scraps. I don't really like how the hat looks because the yarn was a little damaged, but it was just a test, so I'm fine with it.
Last but not least, I made my first scarf! It's got a Deadpool logo on both ends. At first working on it with six different balls of thread (I didn't cut the yarn when I had to change color) was a real mess, but then I got the hang of it and it was so fun and satisfying! I added fringes, too. The only inconvenient is... it's too large! It's a present for my boyfriend, I hope he'll like it!

I'm planning to make another scarf for myself with the Assassin's Creed logo on it (I like those videogames so much!). It's going to be more difficult than the previous one, but I'll do the best I can.

That's all for now, I look forward to show some good pictures of my latest works!

Work in progress n.2: Bento sack

A new year of lessons is approaching and I know for sure that this time I won’t be able to go back home for lunch so often.  It happened last year, too, so I bought a bento (Japanese lunch box) at Romics 2010, an exhibition of comics in Rome. It isn’t very big but, since I don’t eat that much, it’s perfect when I have to dine out.

Since I don’t like plastic bags, I thought I could make something more comfortable and presentable for my bento with leftover yarns. I found this pattern on Ravelry and I thought I could use it as a base to make a sack.

I started it two days ago and this is what I got so far:

I’m using my favorite 1.05mm hook and two yarns of different labels. The pearl white one is of slightly better quality than the burgundy one, but it isn’t that good either. Anyway, this simple work has become a quite good exercise on how to change colors without knots (this tutorial has been very useful), although I didn’t do so in the first 5 rounds.

I really like how those two colors look together, even though they absolutely don’t match the bento. The only other yarns I have available at the moment are a black one, but its quality is really bad (it breaks every time I pull it just a little harder), and a pure white one, but it's too light. In the end, pearl and burgundy were the best I had.

The work has become really slow right now but, unlike the little Jigglypuffs, I have all I need to complete it as soon as possible. See you next week :)

P.S. Say hi to PiruPiru, my little assistant!!