CrochetKitten.com

Book Review: Crochet Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes

2012-01-25T08:54:00.002-05:00

Author: Daina Taimina

Price: $35.00 (buy here)

Skill Level: Beginner

Overview

Daina Taimina is the genius behind the famous Crochet Coral Reef that has traveled the world’s museums. Her book, Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes, isn’t so much a crochet pattern book as it is a lesson in geometry, but it provides the framework for the coral reef project. It begins with some background information on hyperbolic planes, which are surfaces with constant negative curvature (such as a coral reef), and then shows how crochet can be used to explain the concept. From there, Ms. Taimina also uses crochet to teach us about other geometric shapes, such as pseudospheres, catenoids, and helicoids.

Techniques

While the mathematical concepts within this book may seem daunting, we are classifying Ms. Taimina’s crochet techniques as “Beginner” because one must only have knowledge of two stitches: the chain stitch and single crochet. In fact, since Ms. Taimina techniques are based on formulas instead of patterns, the hyperbolic plane technique might be a fun experiment for those who are just learning to crochet.

Patterns

As mentioned above, Ms. Taimina does not actually provide any crochet patterns in her book. Rather she presents a crochet formula and shows how different the outcomes of that formula can look when changing the variable. She also explains how various other shapes can be made, but does so in a teaching fashion (she is a math professor, after all), rather than by writing it out in a pattern.

The Animator’s Wife says...

With all the information we’ve given you so far, it sounds like this book would be more interesting for mathematicians than crocheters, doesn’t it? But that’s not true! In the same way that a die-hard Lucille Ball fan might read her autobiography to learn more about the actress, a die-hard crocheter should consider checking out this book to see why certain shapes are formed when stitches are worked just so. Reading through this book is kind of like stumbling upon a documentary on TV. Maybe you never intended to learn the math and science behind your hobby, but I assure you, the information in this book will suck you in, fascinate you, and inspire you to create.

Vanna White's Crochet Contest

2012-01-18T14:15:00.000-05:00

The new year always brings some changes, and this year we are faced with the news that Grampo will be moving to Utah in February. Although he enjoyed his time with the Lovely, he was very lonely here. Utah holds the promise of childhood friends and companionship. I'm really going to miss him. I know a kitty can't take the place of a human social life, but he was always available to give me pettings in the middle of the night.

Unfortunately his obnoxious Lab pup, my Aunt Sera, will be staying here. You'd better believe I'm gonna get some manners impressed upon her now that Grampo's leaving.

So what are The Animator and His Wife to do without the financial help from Grampo? Well I'm told it won't be so bad. The Animator got a raise this week which will help, but it's still going to be tight for a bit longer. Funny how things like money don't seem to worry them when there's a Lovely around though. I guess she's all they need to be happy.

But wouldn't it be nice to have an extra $100,000? That's how much you can win in Vanna White's annual crochet contest! That would certainly buy a lot of catnip (or diapers). The Animator's Wife may be okay with their current financial situation, but she's not passing this opportunity up. Here's what she submitted:

You may recognize the 16-bit afghan she started two years ago. Here it is, finished! She completed it a bit before Christmas, and boy is it heavy! It's sure to keep The Animator warm on long nights in the office working on freelance.

If you'd like to enter your own crochet project in Vanna's contest, then step right over here. Entries must be received by February 1st. Good luck!

Crochet Resolutions for 2012

2012-01-04T13:08:00.001-05:00

I think the best thing about January every year is the quiet. No rushing to get gifts wrapped. No clamoring the kitchen to make holiday gifts wrapped. No relatives visiting with their yappy dogs. Nothing but the sound of quiet winter outside. Nothing to do but curl up with The Animator's Wife and the Lovely and crochet.

Of course The Animator's Wife has had to make some modifications to her crochet habits to accommodate the demands of the little one. We won't be able to publish as many patterns this year because of that. This will change as the Lovely gets older and is able to entertain herself, but for now The Animator's Wife is content to focus on what matters most to her, which is taking care of our family.

That's not to say she's not planning anything on the crochet front. I overheard her declaring her crochet resolutions to The Animator, and I thought I'd share them with you.

1. Finish the crochet wedding afghans. Two pairs of close friends of the family got married in 2011, and The Animator's Wife wanted to make a keepsake afghan for each of them. She would like to finish them before their first year anniversaries, which means she has until July to finish the Wedding Ring Quilt afghan and until October to finish a Battlestar Galactica afghan.

2. Upload some video tutorials. We've had some requests for video tutorials for our iPhone Cozy pattern and our Charmed Wrist Warmers pattern. These will come out sometime this year. At the urging of The Animator, we may also post some how-to-crochet video tutorials.

3. Learn the math behind hyperbolic crochet and crochet a coral reef. Higher math capabilities are not actually required to crochet a coral reef, but The Animator's wife is a bit of a math nerd and is interested hyperbolic theories. So much so, that this is what The Animator surprised her with for Christmas:

I was excited when I first saw it because I thought it meant we were getting some more rodents, but turns out the fish tank a crochet coral reef. He even got her Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes, a book that explains hyperbolic theories using crochet (book review to follow).

And me? My resolution is simple: get more cuddles from the Animator's Wife.

Book Review: Learn to Crochet With Glass

2011-12-07T14:57:00.001-05:00

Author: Georgia Wild

Price: $8.95 (buy here)

Skill Level: Intermediate

Overview

Just when you thought you tried everything you could possibly try with crochet, Georgia Wild makes it interesting again by introducing a unique material into her crochet projects: glass. Learn to Crochet With Glass explores how to incorporate glass tiles into accessories such as jewelry for a sophisticated and fancy look.

Techniques

The book begins by explaining how to encase the glass tiles within a crochet frame, so that they can be incorporated into your crochet project. The patterns otherwise use basic crochet stitches, so you needn’t be an expert crocheter to tackle the projects in this book.

Patterns

Georgia Wild appears to have put some thought into what kind of projects would best benefit from glass inserts. The necklaces, earrings, and headband are all good picks, but there is also a sun catcher that any crocheter should be proud to display in their home.

The Animator’s Wife says...

This book opens the door to a host of new possibilities with crochet. My personal favorites are the necklaces and scarf, but even without the included patterns, I feel the book is worth picking up just for the opportunity to learn this unique technique. Once you start crocheting with glass, you’ll think of a million other projects into which you can incorporate it.

Black Friday 2011

2011-11-23T10:26:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving is not my favorite time of year. It's a time for family get-togethers, which for me means there's going to be way too many bodies in the house. It's not that I don't love my family; I just prefer to admire them from a distance.

This year my cousins Coco la Boosh and Ra are visiting for the week. Actually they're not so bad. Coco stays stuck to The Animator's Wife's side because she's afraid of my big brother Osiris (she's a Shih Tzu, but still smaller than us kitties). And Ra, my kitty cousin, has decided his base of operations will be the second floor, which is fine with me because it means I still get the craft room all to myself. But tomorrow The Artist and Mr. Law School are coming to visit and bringing with them Froylan and Orange Julius. That makes a total of 5 kitties, 3 dogs, 5 humans, and a baby for Thanksgiving. It's gonna be a full house!

The Animator's Wife, on the other hand, is very excited about this holiday weekend. Every year for the last five or six years she and The Artist do the early morning shop-til-you-drop thing the day after Thanksgiving (see their Black Friday shopping strategy here). This year is no different, although The Animator's Wife has a nasty cold at the moment so she might get started a bit later this year.

Of course, we can't expect her to take advantage of the Black Friday sales without offering any of our own, can we? Here's what you can look forward to from Crochet Kitten this weekend:

Rambling Yarn Shop

Get 25% off all handmade crochet jewelry November 25th - November 28th! Now's your chance to give something unique and handmade this Christmas. Use coupon code BlackFri11 in our Etsy shop.

Crochet Patterns

All our crochet patterns are buy 1, get 1 free November 25th - November 28th, including eBooks! If you know a crocheter on Ravelry, you can even gift a crochet pattern or eBook directly to them. Use coupon code BlackFri11 in our Ravelry store (you don't need to be a member to purchase).

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Traveling Kitten Visits the Crochet Coral Reef

2011-11-16T15:31:00.001-05:00

My Dear Osiris and Selena,

Whilst out in my meanderings, I happened upon the most fantastical of creations I have ever seen. It was a coral reef, but it was completely crocheted by hand!

I thought The Animator's Wife would be particularly interested in this. If you've not heard of the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef, it's quite fascinating. It combines mathematical theories with marine biology and fibre art. I didn't quite understand the science behind it, but apparently by using certain algorithms found in nature, the crocheter is quite easily able to create these forms that are found under the sea, without the help of a crochet pattern.

The project is quite massive, with crocheters from around the world contributing to it. Why, I spent the whole day exploring it and I still do not believe I have seen the entirety of it. And the reef itself has been traveling the world so that all may marvel at its beauty.

I am enclosing the book Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes by Daina Taimina. Ms. Taimina is the mathematician who discovered the hyperbolic crochet technique and made the crochet coral reef possible. I thought The Animator's Wife might fancy it.

Best Regards,

Traveling Kitten

Aunt Sera

2011-11-09T11:34:00.000-05:00

Things were just beginning to settle down after The Terror went back to live with my aunt Brown Eyed Girl in Wisconsin. For the first time in 3 years, the doorbell was answered by silence. One could actually fall asleep at night without the sound of his wheezing. And all the choice snoozing spots were finally up for grabs again.

But alas, Grampo had grown rather attached to The Terror, and although Osiris and I find the quiet rather peaceful, Grampo was feeling lonely. And then last month he brought home Serendipity.

Serendipity is a 10-month-old Labrador puppy bursting with energy. My new Aunt Sera. One might say she is The Terror II. She's friendly enough, but I might argue a bit too friendly. She hasn't figured out yet that humans don't like bear hugs from big dogs, or that Little Lovely is not a licking toy, or that just because it's on the ground doesn't mean you have to eat it.

But she does have one advantage in that she keeps Grampo entertained and gives him some exercise, so I suppose I will put up with her. When she gets to be too excitable (which is often), I'll take refuge in the craft room, which The Animator's Wife has baby-gated off to be kitties only.

Handmade Crochet Jewelry

2011-10-31T14:34:00.000-04:00

Trick or treat? Treat! I'll take the salmon-flavored ones, please.

Unfortunately kitties don't get to go out trick-or-treating, which is fine with me because then The Animator's Wife would make me wear something ridiculous. And then there are the dangers of a kitty being out at night wear there are cars, and I heard somewhere that some people are particularly nasty to cats on All Hallow's Eve. So I'll leave the trick-or-treating to Little Lovely and The Dog. If you'd like to see what they're going as this year, see The Animator's Wife's post here.

But speaking of The Animator's Wife, I know what a crocheter like her would like to have in her treat bag. How's about a handmade stitch marker charm bracelet? You'll never be without a stitch marker again, and this bracelet is pretty enough to make a fashion statement.

This bracelet was handmade by The Animator's Wife, and it can be yours if you head on over to the Rambling Yarn Shop. While you're there, check out the other handmade jewelry we've added recently.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Three Hour Baby Sweater

2011-10-18T08:50:00.002-04:00

Every year in October, The Dog is made to dress in funny clothes and participate in the silly holiday traditions of people. This weekend he came home smelling of dirt and cold, and telling of a fantastic place where pumpkins grew as far as the eye could see. See more about their trip on The Animator's Wife's blog.

It must have been an exciting place because the night before, The Animator's Wife got herself worked up in a crochet frenzy and whipped up a sweater for Little Lovely in just three hours! We thought we'd share the pattern with you so you can make one for all your little lovelies.

Update: 1/4/2012: This pattern is now written for sizes 0-24 months!

Finished Size: 0-3 months (3-6 months, 6-12 months, 12-24 months)

Skill Level: Easy.

Materials:

144 yd 5/bulky-weight yarn

N-13 (9.0 mm) crochet hook

Yarn needle

Gauge:

16 sc and 10 rows = 4 inches.

Note:

Pattern is written for smallest size with changes for larger sizes in parentheses. To avoid confusion, it may be helpful to circle the numbers corresponding to your size before beginning this project. When only one number is given, it applies to all sizes.

BACK

Worked from side to side.

Ch 12 (13, 14, 16).

Row 1. Sc in second ch from hook and ea ch across. 11 (12, 13, 15) sc.

Row 2. Ch 1; turn. 2 sc in flo of first sc, sc in flo of ea rem sc across. 12 (13, 14, 16) sc.

Row 3. Ch 1; turn. Sc in flo of ea sc across.

Row 4. Rep row 2. 13 (14, 15, 17) sc.

Row 5. Ch 1; turn. Sc in flo of ea sc across.

Row 6. Ch 10 (11, 12, 14); turn. Sc in 2nd ch from hook and next 9 ch, sc in flo of ea sc across. 22 (24, 26, 30) sc.

Rows 7-18 (7-20, 7-22, 7-22), . Ch 1; turn. Sc in flo of ea sc across.

Row 19 (21, 23, 23). Ch 1; turn. Sc in flo of first 13 (14, 15, 17) sc; leave rem sc un-worked. 13 (14, 15, 17) sc.

Row 20 (22, 24, 24). Ch 1; turn. Sc in flo of ea sc across.

Row 21 (23, 25, 25). Ch 1; turn. Sc in flo of first 11 (12, 13, 15) sc, dec 1 sc in flo of last 2 sc. 12 (13, 14, 16) sc.

Row 22 (24, 26, 26). Ch 1; turn. Sc in flow of ea sc across.

Row 23 (25, 27, 27). Rep row 25. Finish off. 11 (12, 13, 15) sc.

FRONT - make 2.

Worked from side to side.

Ch 12 (13, 14, 16).

Rows 1-8 (1-9, 1-10, 1-10). Work as for Back.

Finish off.

SLEEVE - make 2.

Worked from side to side.

Ch 12 (13, 14, 16).

Row 1. Sc in second ch from hook and ea ch across. 11 (12, 13, 15) sc.

Row 2. Ch 1; turn. 2 sc in flo of first sc, sc in flo of ea rem sc across. 12 (13, 14, 16) sc.

Row 3. Ch 1; turn. Sc in flo of ea sc across to last sc, 2 sc in last sc. 13 (14, 15, 17) sc.

Rows 4-7. Rep rows 2 & 3. 17 (18, 19, 21) sc.

Row 8. Rep row 2. 18 (19, 20, 22) sc.

Row 9. Ch 1; turn. Sc in flo of ea sc across to last 2 sc, dec 1 sc in flo of last 2 sc. 17 (18, 19, 21) sc.

Row 10. Ch 1; turn. Dec 1 sc in flo of first 2 sc, sc in flo of ea rem sc across. 16 (17, 18, 20) sc.

Rows 11-16. Rep rows 9 & 10. 10 (11, 12, 14) sc.

Finish off.

ASSEMBLY

Sew Front panels to Back at shoulders. Pin Sleeves into the curve for the arm holes and sew into place. Sew Front panels to Back up sides and continue the seam down the Sleeve.

EDGING

Join yarn with sl st in any sc along edge. *Ch 3, 2 dc in same sc as sl st, skip 2 sc, sl st in next sc; rep from * around all edges of the sweater, count ea end of row as a sc. Join with sl st in first sl st. Finish off. Rep edging on the cuff of each sleeve. Weave in all ends.

Abbreviations

ch chain

dec decrease

ea each

flo front loops only

mm millimeter

rem remaining

rep repeat

sc single crochet

sl st slip stitch

yd yard

It-Girl Headband

2011-10-12T11:21:00.001-04:00

New house? Check. New baby? Check. Now that The Animator's Wife has those things out of the way, she has time to focus on more important things. Like me! Oh right, and crocheting.

Last night Little Lovely contented herself with sitting next to me on the couch and watching The Animator's Wife with wide-eyed wonder. She was working with ribbon, making a trendy 60s-inspired headband: the It-Girl Headband. (See The Animator's Wife's post about the It-Girl trend here.)

This project is perfect for when you're short on time and money but want something new. It uses scrap findings and only takes ab hour or two to make!

Finished Size: One size fits all.

Skill Level: Easy.

Materials:
Scrap 1/4-inch satin or grosgrain ribbon (use up to 6 different colors)
Scrap 1/8-inch ribbon in a color that matches your hair
Six 1-inch split rings (harvested from old keychains)
Size J-10 (6 mm) crochet hook

First Ring
Join 1/4-inch ribbon with sl st in split ring. Ch 1; 18 sc in ring if using grosgrain ribbon (24 sc in ring if using satin ribbon). Join with sl st in first sc in ring; finish off.

Second Ring
Work as for First Ring, except join with sl st to First Ring before finishing off.

Rings 3-6
Work as for First Ring, joining with sl st to the previous ring before finishing off, so that all six rings are joined in a straight line.

Ties
Join 1/8-inch ribbon with sl st in one of the end rings. Ch 48; finish off. Tie knot at end of ch to prevent unraveling. Repeat on the other end of the rings.

Weave in all ends.

Abbreviations
ch chain
mm millimeter
sc single crochet
sl st slip stitch

Book Review: Doilies In Color

2011-10-05T14:30:00.003-04:00

To be released November 1st, 2011!

Editor: Annie’s Attic
Retail Price: $8.95 (order here)
Skill Level: Easy to Experienced (primarily Intermediate)
Number of Patterns: 9

Overview
Crochet has been experiencing a renaissance of sorts in the second decade of the new millennium. The fashion world seems to have discovered it for the first time (having forgotten how popular it was in the 70s), and today’s crocheters are showing the world just how modern crochet can be. Doilies in Color is an example of this trend. It’s taken the old fashioned idea of doilies and made it modern by introducing splashes of color.

Techniques
Doilies in Color is for the threadie, although any of the patterns would make a lovely round table cover or chair throw if worked in cotton worsted. The patterns use the standard crochet stitches with some pineapples and Irish crochet motifs thrown in here and there. All of the patterns are worked in the round.

Patterns
Doilies in Color focuses on round, floral doilies. Each pattern is compared with a flower, with the exception of Pink Sunset, which is reminiscent on desert cactus blooms, and White Shamrocks, which makes the normally boring shamrock motif seem somehow dainty. While most of the doilies are worked in a single color, four of them highlight the individual flowers in the doilies by working them in a contrasting color.

The Animator’s Wife says...
While using color in crochet does modernize it somewhat, it’s not actually a new idea. Many vintage doily patterns encouraged using colors to highlight the flower motifs. However, Doilies in Color has the advantage of being written in modern terms, so the crocheter doesn’t have to sit and figure out what the pattern writer meant to say. And the beauty of the patterns in Doilies in Color cannot be denied. Irish Rose and Forget-Me-Not are particularly striking. My feeling is that this book would best be enjoyed by those who have been wanting to try doilies, as well as crocheters among whom doilies are a favorite. And at $1 per pattern, you can’t go wrong.

Enter for a chance to win a copy of this book! Use Twitter tag #CKdoilies and tell us what you do with the doilies you make. Tweets must be received by noon EST on October 31st, 2011 to be eligible for the drawing.

Changes at Crochet Kitten

2011-09-22T14:08:00.002-04:00

Those of you who follow us on Twitter or are fans of us on Facebook have probably already noticed some of these changes taking place, but we thought it was time to make a formal annuoncement.

In that sweet way that babies do, Little Lovely has brought a lot of changes to our lives. The Animator has been working hard to both provide for her and have time to spend with her. The Animator's Wife, like all new moms, devotes almost all of her time to caring for her. The Terror has gone back to live with his real mommy, my aunt, Brown Eyed Girl. The Dog has accepted that his new place is in his bed next to the Animator's Wife and not in her lap. Osiris regards Little Lovely as The Terror's less annoying replacement. And I have been spending more time with Grampo since everyone else is caught up with the baby. Life is crazy, but good.

Along with this crazy new life, we have decided to make some changes to our website that we hope will make it more valuable to both our family and yours.

Patterns
This was the most difficult decision we had to make. When we started CrochetKitten.com, The Animator's Wife was determined to offer all of her patterns for free. She had several reasons for wanting to do so, including the fact that she herself doesn't like to pay for patterns if she doesn't have to (she is incredibly frugal). However, along with publishing patterns comes a certain degree of tech support for anyone who may be having some trouble working the pattern. While we do not mind fielding questions and helping whenever we can, some questions can be quite time consuming. That's fine when you're a recent college graduate with nothing better to do, but now that Little Lovely is here, our "free" time has become that much more precious. Therefore, to offset the time it takes to write up these patterns and offer "tech support" for them, we are now charging a small fee for the majority of the patterns that were previously free. All the patterns that were published on the blog and that were designed for Heavenly Angels in Need will remain free, but the rest will be available for purchase through our shop on Ravelry.

*Please note, this does NOT mean we don't want you to bother us with your questions. We welcome all questions and comments and will always take the time to address them.

eBooks

To make our patterns both more affordable and more portable, we are assembling them into a series of eBooks that will be available for download in both Amazon's Kindle Store and our Ravelry shop. The eBooks will each include several patterns for a lower price than what you could buy them for individually, and the best part is they will be formatted for Kindle or iBooks. Zodiac Kittens already came out in 2009, and we just published Kitten Amigurumis this month. More to be published later this year.

Stores

Be sure to drop by our shop, Crochet Kitten Cafe to see the new crochet-themed merchandise we've added, including pajamas, messengenger bags, iPhone and iPad cases, and calendars. Our Etsy shop is closed for now, but eventually The Animator's Wife would like to start selling handmade crochet jewelry there. And you may have noticed a link at the top of our website for crochet supplies. This is where we will showcase The Animator's Wife's favorite crochet supplies, including those hard-to-find amigurumi cat eyes. This nifty little shop is powered by Amazon, so many of the items you find there qualify for free shipping.

Tutorials

The tutorials are back! They are available for free as they always were. By keeping them free, we hope to promote the art of crochet to those who may not be exposed to it by any other means.

As always, we thank you for all your support and encouragement throughout the years. We have truly enjoyed crocheting with you and hope to continue doing so for many years to come.

Little Lovely

2011-09-02T18:07:00.000-04:00

The Animator's Wife gave birth to her Little Lovely on Sunday, August 14th at 7:15pm. She weighed 7 pounds, 1 ounce and measured 19.75 inches long.

She went through the delivery exactly as she wanted--naturally and unmedicated. Using the Bradley techniques of letting the contractions take over and ignoring them made all the difference. In fact, she was making cupcakes up until just a few hours before she went to the hospital. By the time she got to the hospital, she was already 7 centimeters dilated and she had the baby 2 hours later. Here is testimony that the Bradley Method does work and women CAN go through childbirth without an epidural!

Little Lovely did have some complications. She was born with the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck and had to spend a few hours in the NICU for observation. But she was able to go home with her new mom 2 days later and seems to be a happy, healthy baby now.

We apologize for the delay in making the announcement. Newborns are very time consuming!

An Update on Things...

2011-07-08T17:05:00.000-04:00

I promised an update a couple of weeks back, so here's what's been going on in our neck of the woods:

New House
The Animator and His Wife have bought a new house with plenty of room for their growing family, plus a craft room for The Animator's Wife! Craft pron pics to follow once she gets it set up, but right now her main concern is decorating the baby's room. There's also a lovely, big backyard for The Dog and The Terror, and I'm told at some point we're going to get a cat fence so Osiris and I can go out and play. The move and home buying process are what's been taking up most of her time these last few months. Not much time for crocheting.

Grampo Moves In
In anticipation of the new baby, Grampo has moved in with us from Colorado to help play baby-sitter. He gets the whole basement to himself. My cousin Little Sunshine called him "the trollman." Unfortunately he had a minor stroke earlier this week, which caused a cardiac episode a few days later, and he ended up in the hospital for two days. The doctors say it was a severe reaction to a new medication he had been given. He's feeling much better now, thank goodness, but will probably still need a few days of rest before he's 100 percent again.

Dr. Crazy
The Animator's Wife came home in tears from her prenatal check-up yesterday. It was the first time it had occurred to her to ask her doctor how she felt about natural childbirth. Dr. Crazy is vehemently opposed to the idea. She pretty much told The Animator's Wife she was crazy for even considering it--that no woman could ever possibly do it without an epidural because it was simply too painful. There was no medical reason why she shouldn't try, just that it would be painful.

The Animator's Wife has spoken to many friends and family, including her own mother, who have given birth without pain medication, so it just doesn't make sense that Dr. Crazy would tell her it can't be done. In addition, The Animator and His Wife have been studying the Bradley Method so they could prepare for the inevitable pain of childbirth. They are determined to do this naturally if there is no medical reason not to; therefore, with less than 8 weeks to go in her pregnancy, The Animator's Wife is scrambling to find a new OB that is willing to let her try it her own way.

So please forgive us if we don't reply to your email the same day it is sent. And thank you for all your patience with the mess that is CrochetKitten.com. I know it may be hard for some of you to understand how we could go months without fixing anything, but there really are some more urgent things that need our attention right now. And at 7 months pregnant, The Animator's Wife tires out a lot more easily than she used to. We are all looking forward to September, when (hopefully) all the craziness ends and our new family begins.

Good News This Time

2011-02-22T14:59:00.000-05:00

Last August I posted some sad news regarding The Animator's Wife's health and whether or not she would be able to have children. Her attitude had gotten much better since then, but then suddenly a few months ago she started getting moody again. I felt bad for The Animator--he was getting in trouble for the most ridiculous things, be it dirty dishes in the sink or the fact that he ate the last of her favorite potato chips. I generally tried to keep my distance. It's not like she had been crocheting much at that time anyway, except for the 16-bit afghan. But all that seemed to dissipate last week when she and The Animator came home with this photo:

And that's when the moodiness all made sense. The Animator's Wife is 3 months pregnant, just into her second trimester. She says the doctors say everything looks good so far, and at this point her pituitary tumor shouldn't have much affect on the baby. She is due August 26th.

I guess this means I can look forward to a resurgence of crocheting over the next few months. I'll be expecting a baby blanket, at least.

Traveling Righley Goes on a Cruise

2011-01-14T12:37:00.004-05:00

It's been so long since I've heard from Traveling Kitten's traveling companion, Traveling Righley that I had nearly forgotten about him. But the holidays have always been a time for reaching out to long-lost family and friends, and what should we receive just after Christmas but a letter from Traveling Righley!

Evidently he has become quite the world traveler since we last heard from him, having gone from Wisconsin to Liverpool to a cruise in the Caribbean! Enclosed were pictures from the cruise. Looks like he had quite a good time.

Photos courtesy our friend Spike.

Fat Camp Begins!

2011-01-06T14:13:00.006-05:00

For the last two years, I have had the great misfortune of sharing my home with The Terror. Why is he a terror? He is absolutely the most stubborn dog in the universe. If he doesn't get his way, he doesn't bark--he screams about it. I've never seen a dog pout before I met him. He's like an elephant in a China shop--he cannot be ignored. He won't even let you try. He must always be the center of attention. He won't do anything The Animator's Wife wants him to if a treat isn't involved. And he is a walking stomach. Never mind if he just ate his dinner. He acts like he's starving to death all the time. He thinks the cat box is a buffet laid out especially for him. It's a good thing my food is served on my own private table, or he might eat all my food before I can get to it.

And this brings us to the core of his problem. The Terror is clinically obese. A pug should never weigh 26 pounds, which is why The Animator's Wife signed him up for the trial "fat camp" program at the hospital where she works, The Hope Center for Advanced Veterinary Medicine. Hee hee. Sleep well, little puppy. Your life is about to change.

The Terror is going to be one of their "test" cases to see how well the program works. He will be in the hands of the very knowledgeable Dr. Allen, a veterinary nutritionist, and Kasey, a veterinary physical therapist. He had his first meeting with them yesterday, and here are the stats:

Weight: 26 lb 6 oz
Waist: 21" (that's as big as some adult humans)
Thigh: 11"

Body Condition Score: On a scale of 1-9, where 5 is ideal and 9 is as fat as fat can be, The Terror scored an 8.

Goal Weight: 20.6 lbs

Plan:
Exercise - He was getting two to three 10-minute walks a day, two of which Kasey would like to increase to 20 minutes (which means The Animator's Wife gets more exercise, too!). Next week Kasey's going to test his exercise tolerance and start training him to use the treadmill. I can't wait to see video of that.

Diet - Dr. Allen is transitioning him to a low fat, high protein diet which should make him feel fuller longer, but might make him have to poop more. Just what we needed--more crap from this dog. Good thing he's gonna be going on those 20-minutes walks. As for treats, he is allowed 37 calories worth per day, which means he can only have the ultra-low calorie treats or he's gonna have to learn to like lettuce.

I'm going to enjoy watching this pup get whipped into shape, so I'll be posting updates here. But for the "official" photos and updates, please feel free to fan The Hope Center on Facebook.

Winter Lace Head Wrap

2010-12-22T10:33:00.003-05:00

Last year for winter, we got three blizzards. This year we're getting 20-degree weather. It's days like this I'm thankful for my cozy perch in my warm bed in the window. I prefer to watch other freezing their butts off in the cold than to be out in it myself.

However, The Animator's Wife has to go out in it. She's not much of a "hat" person either, so to combat the chill nipping at her ears, she created this piece of lovely.

Would you like one for yourself? Here's the pattern for ya. Merry Christmas!

Fits standard (22" circumference) head
J hook - WW yarn
45 inches of 1 1/4"-wide ribbon

Ch 52. Join with sl st in first ch, taking care not to twist the ch.

Row 1. Ch 1. Sc in ea ch around. Join with sl st in first sc. Do not turn. 52 sc.

Row 2. Ch 1. Sc in first sc and ea sc around. Join with sl st in first sc.

Row 3. Ch 7 (counts as 1 tr and 1 ch-3 sp). Skip first 4 sc, *tr in next sc, ch 3, skip next 3 sc; rep from * around. Join with sl st in 4th ch of beg ch. 13 tr and 13 ch-3 sp.

Row 4. Ch 1. Sc in same ch as joining, 3 sc in first ch-3 sp, *sc in next tr, 3 sc in next ch-3 sp; rep from * around. Join with sl st in first sc. 52 sc.

Row 5. Rep row 2.

Row 6.Ch 1, sc in first sc, ch 5, sl st in first ch; picot made. *Skip next sc, sc in next sc, ch 5, sl st in first ch; picot made. Rep from * across. Join with sl st in first sc. Finish off. 26 picot.

Finishing
Join yarn with sl st in unused loop of beg ch-52. Ch 1, sc in same unused loop as joining, ch 5, sl st in first ch; picot made. *Skip next unused loop, sc in next unused loop, ch 5, sl st in first ch; picot made. Rep from * across. Finish off. Weave in all ends. 26 picot.

Weave ribbon in and out of the ch-3 spaces in row 3. Tie in a bow.

Abbreviations
beg beginning
ch chain
ea each
rep repeat
sc single crochet
sl st slip stitch
sp space
tr treble crochet

The Dark Night

2010-11-05T10:22:00.003-04:00

Once again I have fallen off the blogger bandwagon. But did I ever mention how crazy The Animator and His Wife are about Halloween? They start planning a year in advance, and from September onward, there's no time for anything but getting ready for the big night. This year's theme: Batman.

This year was epic, because not only are The Animator and His Wife huge Halloweenies, they are also huge Batman fans. For those of you who don't know, my full name is Selena Kyle. Yes, I was named after Catwoman. Because of that, I was expecting to be dragged into all the Batman shenanigans, but when our friends and family found out we were doing Batman, suddenly everyone wanted to join in. Before we knew it, we had an entire cast of Batman villians and an Arkham Asylum to boot, leaving me off the hook for playing dress-up!

Starring Little Sunshine's Mom as Poison Ivy, The Animator as Two Face, The Animator's Wife as Catwoman, and Little Sunshine as Batman.

Also starring The Artist as Harley Quinn and Mr. Law School as The Joker.

With special appearances by The Dog as The Riddler...

...and The Terror as The Penguin.

So how did The Animator and His Wife put all this ridiculousness together? We had help from many, many people, to include our Craft Night buddies.

Catwoman

Catwoman was the most complicated of all the costumes. The Animator's Wife wanted to go for the classy and sophisticated Julie Newmar Catwoman, who wore a lurex bodysuit. That was the core of the problem, as The Animator's Wife could not find a single lurex bodysuit that wasn't see-through. Not to be discouraged, she decided to follow Tim Baverstock's excellent instructions on how to make your own bodysuit. And Ms. Caddy on Ebay was extremely helpful in suggesting an appropriate fabric for the project. The necklace was made by the talented Benae Quee--a fellow Batman fan.

Two Face

Two Face is all about the make-up, because anyone can cut two suits apart and sew them together. For a realistic burn effect, we decided to use the technique as illustrated by Indy Mogul. It was easy enough to do three nights in a row, and took about an hour each time.

Arkham Asylum

This is the part that turned our family from crazy-for-Halloween to just plain crazy. How appropriate, then, that we turned our house into a mental institution! In order to keep the crazies in, first we needed a fence. For that we turned to Brian Smith's detailed instructions on creating one out of PVC pipe and wooden 1x2s. The Animator then proceeded to carve the sign for Arkham out of foam house insulation. And of course, you can't have a Batman-themed Halloween without a Bat Signal. For detailed instructions on how The Animator created the foam sign and the Bat Signal, please see The Artist's post here.

Finally, as a finishing touch, The Animator's Wife painted silhouettes of Batman and The Joker to hang in the windows.

She got the idea from our favorite crafty lady, Martha Stewart, but instructions may also be found on The Artist's blog.

Phew! Now that all the hard work is done, let's have some fun!

BAM!

POW!

BANG!

KA-POW!

Happy (belated) Halloween, everyone!

Labor Day Visitors

2010-09-06T10:10:00.001-04:00

I don't know if I've ever mentioned that The Animator's Wife is a sucker. She's always taking in random homeless animals, despite the fact that we hardly have room for them, and trying to find them forever homes. This irritates The Animator a bit, I think--particularly when said animals take over his bathroom--but he tolerates it because he knows it makes The Animator's Wife happy.

Why do I bring this up? On Thursday after all the doctor visits, Uncle Baldy called to ask when he could come drop off my cousin Coco la Boosh for the weekend.

Neither The Animator nor The Animator's Wife had any recollection of agreeing to watch her, but they didn't have any holiday plans anyway so it wasn't a big deal. But then Uncle Baldy said that with being so busy with refinancing their home, he had completely forgotten that he needed to make pet-sitting arrangements for their new kitten, Ra. Could we possibly watch him, too?

Well lucky for Uncle Baldy he was asking The Animator's Wife and not The Animator, because she is not one to turn down kittens.

Immediately after that exchange, The Artist called The Animator's Wife. She's the one who adopted Froy. Well apparently The Artist and Mr. Law School were going to an out-of-town wedding this weekend and had completely forgotten they needed someone to look after Froy. Could he possibly come stay with us?

Again, if she had spoken with The Animator, we probably wouldn't have ended up saddled with four cats and three dogs this weekend.

I'm not done yet. Shortly after that The Animator's Wife got a text from Little Sunshine's Mom. The baby-sitter she had lined up for Friday and Saturday backed out. Could we possibly watch my six-year-old Human Cousin this weekend? Sigh. Why not? Maybe he and the kitten and Froy and Coco could all keep each other entertained.

All in all, the weekend wasn't nearly so crazy as I had feared. Froy and Ra became fast friends with each other, with Froy becoming teacher and mentor to Ra in all the ways of gerbil-hunting.

Coco decided she was The Animator's Wife's shadow, and was never more than a foot away from her at all times, meaning she didn't bother with harassing me. And the Human Cousin? Well he boldly announced that The Terror was his bestest friend, so he spent the weekend terrorizing him and not me. Hee hee.

So yes, for Osiris and me, it has been a quiet, relaxing weekend. I hope yours has been just as lovely. Happy Labor Day, everyone!

Doctor Visits for Everyone!

2010-09-04T13:55:00.003-04:00

Thursday was an exciting day for three of us in The Animator's household, and by "exciting" I mean not very fun at all. The Animator's Wife, The Dog, and I all got to go to the doctor.

The Animator's Wife's visit was a simple check-up. Everything looks good except that her hormones are out of whack again, which means more fiddling with medication dosages. A minor setback.

My visit was also a simple check-up, but I have a really, really have a hard time with car rides. I get horribly nauseous, and threw up both on the way there and on the way back. And since the doctor is at the same animal hospital where The Animator's Wife works, I was stuck at the hospital all day while she was working her shift. The check-up went really well though. I have a minor heart murmur that the cardiologist has been monitoring, and they said it hasn't gotten any worse. Best of all, I don't have to come back again for another 18 months. Yay!

The Dog had the worst of all the doctor visits. Last Saturday he broke one of his canine teeth (as in the long, pointy teeth in front--not "dog" teeth) while he was chewing on a rawhide. The dentist said it was a freak accident and that the rawhide probably didn't actually cause the fracture, but he also said he doesn't recommend rawhides for any dog. Either way, the sensitive pulp of the tooth was exposed, so the dentist had to go in and dig out the remaining root. As you can see, the root of the canine tooth is almost twice as long as the tooth itself, so it was quite an invasive procedure.

The Dog came home drooling on the side of his face where the tooth was pulled, with his face swollen, and looking pretty groggy. Actually, he looked like he was in terrible pain, despite being on powerful pain killers. He went right to his bed and curled up, and every time he lifted his head he'd let out a quiet moan. It was pitiful. He's much better today though. In fact, you'd never know he'd just had a tooth yanked except for the gap on that side of his mouth.

The 16-Bit Afghan

2010-08-29T12:43:00.002-04:00

As summer is drawing to a close, the heat has finally settled down enough to make these sunny days quite pleasant. It's not even humid today, which is saying a lot for our East Coast domicile, which is what led The Animator and His Wife to pursue their creative projects outside today. Osiris was annoyed that he wasn't invited, but he lost his privilege to lounge on the back patio when he jumped the fence earlier this month, proving that he couldn't be trusted.

I personally don't understand his fascination with being outdoors. Give me the temperate, safe confines of the indoors any day. I can get all the sunlight I need from my cozy perch in The Animator's office window.

Today The Animator's Wife was working on her birthday present for The Animator.

Granted his birthday was about 24 days ago, but the gift she has planned for him is going to be epic--a much bigger undertaking than she was originally planning. The Animator, you see, has a bit of an obsession with ancient video games from the early days of Nintendo and Sega. I don't know how she came up with it, but one day The Animator's Wife had the "brilliant" idea of creating a 16-bit granny square afghan, wherein each granny square was to represent one pixel in the image. The Animator loved this idea and immediately furnished her with a 16-bit image of Laura, a character from Dracula X: Rondo of Blood, which is one of his favorite game series from that era.

It was only after she opened her big mouth about it to The Animator that The Animator's Wife realized just how involved a project this was going to be. If you count the pixels in the picture, you'll see that she is going to need to make 638 granny squares to complete the project. Let's see, 638 3-inch squares times 7 yards per square equals way more toes than I have to count on! Suffice it to say that when it's done, it will measure about 5.5 by 7.25 feet, and that's not including the border.

Well she's got a good start on it--about 94 squares so far. At this rate she might be done by Christmas.

What's Wrong with The Animator's Wife?

2010-08-21T16:46:00.004-04:00

I've been pretty quiet on teh interwebs lately, I know. My last blog post was in April. Our last free crochet pattern was a little before that. And I haven't been on my Twitter page much either. Part of the reason is Froy, the foster kitten that came to live with us back when the blizzards hit us. He is quite a terror, and does not accept discipline as an appropriate form of interaction. I had taken to hiding in The Animator's office while he was here because he was such a spaz! But joy of joys, he has finally gone to his forever home! Thankfully it was with someone extremely tolerant of his less-than-perfect behavior (he has gone to live with The Artist, a friend of The Animator's Wife, so we haven't heard the last of him).

But what's really been keeping me away from the crochet world lately is The Animator's Wife. Not because she's keeping me away from her wonderful yarns, but because this has been a really difficult year for her. So difficult, in fact, that very few people, even in her innermost circle, even knew anything was wrong because she was so reluctant to talk about it. But she is more optimistic these days, and we both feel we owe it to our friends to explain a little of what's been going on.

In July 2009, The Animator's Wife was diagnosed with a small tumor on her pituitary gland, which is in the very center of the brain. The tumor itself is not a big deal, as the Good Doctor was able to shrink it with medications and no surgery was necessary. But one of the side effects of the tumor was an extreme hormonal imbalance that has left The Animator's Wife unable to have children. This news was devastating to her, as she and The Animator had planned to start a family soon. Those plans are now on hold indefinitely, as a little over a year later, the Good Doctor is still trying to figure out why her body has yet to return to normal...

But as I said before, she is more optimistic these days. She has made her peace with God, and she and The Animator have resolved to have as much fun as they can before (and if) the wee ones come.

So what else has been going on these last few months? Let's see, in February of this year, The Animator was hired by Tiggee, LLC to do a complete rebranding of their subsidiary, DNS Made Easy. If you don't know what DNS is, I'm sorry but I can't explain it to you because neither do I! But check out their website. Every single graphic and animation on there was created by The Animator (and some of them explain what DNS is).

Then in May, The Animator and His Wife went to Ireland to celebrate their 5th wedding anniversary.

Their actual anniversary isn't until September 18, but they thought a trip to Ireland might be nicer in the Spring than in the Fall. And The Animator's Wife scored some genuine Irish wool while they were there.

And one of the best things to happen this year is the creation of Craft Night. What started as a girl's night in with The Animator's Wife and The Artist has grown to include The Animator, The Artist's boyfriend Mr. Law School, The Animator's friend Neural Clone, and Neural Clone's girlfriend A Girl Called Bob. Granted, only the ladies do any crafting while the boys go off and do their own thing, but it's been very therapeutic for The Animator's Wife to have something to look forward to every week to take her mind off things.

*purr* It feels pretty good to be getting back in the crochet groove again. Thank you to all of our interweb friends that have remained supportive through these last few months. You'll be hearing from me again soon.

How to Become a Crochet Designer

2010-04-16T10:45:00.008-04:00

As promised, The Animator’s Wife met with crochet designer Stacey Trock last week to discuss her first book, Cuddly Crochet. Thank you so much to everyone who submitted questions. It was great to see how many aspiring crochet designers are out there--most of your questions seemed to be related to that subject! Let’s hope this interview inspires you to get creating.

I didn’t get to go because I get carsick, but The Animator’s Wife says Stacey is a very sweet lady that was fun to talk to. And of course, she crochets, so she sounds like my kind of lady!

(That’s Stacey on the left, with The Animator’s Wife on the right.)

Stacey was very gracious about answering all of your questions, and without further ado, here are her responses.

****************************************************************

@EmmytheCat: Who first taught you to crochet?

Stacey Trock: My mom taught me to crochet when I was about six years old, and she only makes ripple afghans, so she taught me how to increase and decrease, and that’s where it ended. But she got me started, and then I started picking up books from the library.

The Animator’s Wife: So have you surpassed her in skill now?

Stacey: Well I can make something that’s not a ripple afghan, so I think I surpassed her a while ago. I somehow taught myself how to read patterns, and I think that was the breakthrough, because then I could just do whatever the books told me I could do.

@RoadToGrinnell: When do you get most of your crocheting done, and how much do you crochet each day?

Stacey: Well I crochet and knit, so I go through phases because I do both knit design and crochet design. Usually about two weeks every two months I have my crochet “spurt,” where I’ll crochet about 10-12 hours a day. It’s any time I’m sitting down and not doing something like typing.

@RoadToGrinnell: How often do you come up with a new design?

Stacey: Right now I’ve already planned my designs for the next year. I go through bursts where I come up with tons of different designs I want to do, and then I have to actually “catch up” with doing them. So it’s sporadic.

@haleyshandmades: How do you come up with new designs?

Stacey: Good question. I’m actually not sure. It sounds cliché, but they actually just come to me. Sometimes I’ll see a cartoon or a sketch or a real-life animal and I think, oh my gosh! That’s just a head with a huge snout and some floppy little ears on it. And that’s how I come up with it, and then I’ll sketch it down.

DeAnna Dixon: Where do most of your inspirations or ideas come from?

Stacey: Well sometimes things randomly come to me, but let’s say I want to make a cheetah and I don’t know the best way to do it. I usually go and I Google image “cartoon cheetah” and I look at the Microsoft clipart for cheetahs, because cartoons are always animals broken down into the important parts. And then I’ll make a little photo gallery, and I can see most cartoon cheetahs have a white snout, and they have the spots. So whenever I get stuck, I get cartoons for basic parts and it helps me through.

Aunt Debbie: Do you actually see the finished design in your head, or do you start crocheting and see what develops?

Stacey: I do pretty much know what it’s going to look like. When I start crocheting, I have a picture of how I want it to look, and that’s what I start crocheting. And sometimes it doesn’t happen on the first time. There are a couple of times when I’ll crochet, say, a lobster tail, and I’ll think, that doesn’t look like a lobster tail at all. So I’ll rip it out until it does look sort of what I wanted it to look like.

BearyAnn Pawter: How on earth do you write your patterns—while you are making the pattern or afterward?

Stacey: I have my own notations, like crochet shorthand, and I jot down the crochet shorthand before I start. Then I crochet the animal, and if I made any changes (like the disastrous lobster tail not looking right), then I jot it down on the paper. And then I save the paper, even though it’s really messy, until it’s time to publish the pattern. So sometimes there can be a couple of months when my illegible shorthand is sitting around.

So it’s two phases. There’s the sketching/note-taking phase, and then I actually type them up when it’s about to be the month that I’m publishing the pattern.

The Animator’s Wife: So do you kind of have the pattern written out already before you even start it?

Stacey: Yeah, I have a pretty rough sketch of the pattern before I start. There could be one piece that I’m not really sure how it’s going to turn out. Like if something has some sort of funny nose, I might have to play around a little bit to see if it’s just the right amount of pointy, or round, or whatever, and I would make notes as I go instead of ripping it out and redoing it. But most of the animal I have written down before I start crocheting.

Alesha: When did you start writing your patterns? I love to try new things, but putting together an original pattern seems so foreign and scary to me.

Stacey: The way I started was I finished school and I realized I didn’t want to do it anymore. But I needed a job and I loved crocheting, and I just thought, if you want to do this as a job, you have to really do it seriously. So I just made myself do it. The first couple of animals I designed, I thought, okay, now I have to write down the pattern. If I want to make this a business at all, I’m gonna have to do it. It was scary.

The Animator’s Wife: So did you start by submitting patterns to magazines before you jumped into the book?

Stacey: No, I just started self-publishing. I submitted some designs to magazines and I haven’t been very successful, because a lot of times they’re looking for something specific. Sometimes maybe my animals are too big and that doesn’t fit in with what they’re doing, or they’re too complicated, or for some reason they’re just not what they’re looking for. I’ve had a lot more success just doing self-publishing. All of my designs are on my website, FreshStitches.com, but I also have an Etsy shop, and some of my patterns are also on other online retailers.

Teresa: On the average, how many hours do you spend perfecting your pattern to where you know longer feel you need to make a change here or there in it?

Stacey: I feel bad saying this, but I usually only make the animal once and I’m happy with it. Let’s say I’m making a leg. I don’t finish the whole leg and then decide that it looks a bit funny and start over again. I usually start going, decide it looks funny, and so I’ll never finish a weird-looking leg. Usually by the time I’ve finished an animal, it’s the way I want it to be and I just have to make sure I type up the pattern carefully. It’s probably a few hours of typing and proofreading.

Teresa: Do you ever run into not being completely happy with your end result after working on it so long?

Stacey: Sometimes. Sometimes I think, “That looked a little cuter in my head.” But the one thing I realized about designing patterns is that everyone has their own ideas of what they want. I don’t publish anything that I think looks terrible, but there are some things that aren’t the kind of cute that I was thinking of, but other people like them.

AuntyM: How do you test your pattern directions? Do you use test crocheters?

Stacey: No, I test crochet them all myself. Because I publish three patterns a month, I started not being in a timeframe where I would be able to have someone test crochet and get it back to me in enough time for me to keep publishing them. So I started out just doing it myself. A lot of them have the same arm, so that part doesn’t need to be test crocheted over and over again. Of course I wish that I had an infinite amount of money. I would love to pay five test crocheters to do every pattern for me, but it’s really just not plausible. It’s a tough situation because you can ask for volunteer test crocheters, but then you can’t be very demanding. Or you can pay someone, but then you’re going to have to charge more for your patterns because you’re paying a lot of money for each pattern to come out. I guess it’s just a decision I made early on that I would just try my hardest to be really careful.

AdrianandLisa Johnson: Where do you get most of your ideas from? For example, are animals based on your pets?

Stacey: I don’t have any pets. I kind of get ideas from a couple of different places. Sometimes I’ll go to the natural history museum and look for different animals, because I’ve made a lot of animals by now and I need something a bit different. I’ll go and I’ll look at an orangutan, or something that’s not what we usually think of as animals, and sometimes I’ll get inspiration from that, or from going to the zoo.

Jessica: How did you come up with the great idea of making a set of projects that each have a matching toy?

Stacey: Martingale’s a really great publishing company. It’s been so great working with them. It was actually their idea to do that. They really liked my animals, and they said we think it would be great if there were also some baby items to go with the animals. I had already been designing animal hats that were in the same vein as my animals, and they said we think your hats are cute. Would you mind pairing them up with the animals? And I thought it was a great idea, too.

The Animator’s Wife: I really like the kitty one. But then, I’m rather partial to kitties.

Stacey: Oh, thank you!

(Photo courtesy of Martingale Publications)

dragonlady: Congratulations on the book! Was the book idea something you quietly worked to, or was it a “wow” idea?

Stacey: I totally just did it on the spur of the moment. I mean, I put time into it, but I just decided one day that I really want to do a book, and this was the proposal they wanted me to fill out, and I just sat down and I worked on it for days until it was done. And so I really did it all in one fell swoop.

I sent my original proposal, and like I said, Martingale said, can you do these pairings? So I already had the animals in my head, but I had to come up with the matching items, and those didn’t come all at once. It was really important to me that all the accessories hit different skill levels and different kinds of assembly techniques, so it took me a little while to come up with exactly which designs would be the best.

Zoe: As an inspiration from your blog world tour have you thought of doing a range of country specific designs? I love the Koala and could see some great dot painting inspirations being designed, or NZ has some great unique inspirations too, like the kiwi, pukeko, silver fern, etc.

Stacey: I do think about what countries the animals come from. All the animals are named for a cricketer that’s from the continent that the animal is from. So the koala’s named Ricky the Koala because there’s a cricketer from Australia named Ricky, and the things from Europe are named after English cricketers, and all the American animals are West Indies cricketers, so they all are very connected to where they come from.

(Photo courtesy of Martingale Publications.)

I’ve been wanting for a long time to put on my website a map of the world and have you click where the animals are from, but it’s kind of messy organization-wise. So I definitely always think about where they are from and I try and make sure I have each month different animals from different places.

Laane: Sometimes the need for perfection and creativity clash. Are you one of those people who undo all they have, just cause there’s a simple mistake somewhere back at the beginning?

Stacey: I can think of two ways to answer that question. From a design perspective, it is really hard for me to accept that not everything will be perfect. Sometimes a typo happens, so from that point of view, it’s really hard for me to get over. But eventually you have to be like, okay, no one’s perfect. Just do it anyway. Do the best you can, that’s all you can do. You can only check it 10 times.

But when I’m personally knitting for myself, I totally don’t care if there’s a mistake. This is a sweater I’m wearing, and this was the first sweater I knitted, and the increases left little holes. I was forever along before I even noticed, and I just left it. It’s fine, and everyone always asks me when I wear this, is that a design element? And I’m like, not really, but we can pretend they are. People ask me, what should I do about this one stitch that looks terrible, and I’m just like, oh just keep going. But when it comes to my patterns, I am really picky about trying to make sure that they are as close to perfect as they can be before they go out.

Tasia Hooper: How do you stay motivated in the middle of a large project, such as an afghan?

Stacey: I’m one of those people that’s always really motivated by the finished project. I really do just want to see it finished, so that’s a little bit motivating. But also, usually when you’re doing something as big as an afghan, there’s something sort of easy about it. You learn what you’re doing and it’s a little repetitive, so you can watch TV and you’re not focused on it as much because you’ve been doing it for so long and you’re in a rhythm. Then it’s kind of easier for me to stay motivated because I can do it while I’m watching TV. There’s a bit of a trade off that happens because the bigger it gets, in a way the easier it gets because you don’t have to pay attention to as many of the details. And then sometimes I just move on to something different for a break.

Marjorie Dawson: I saw the astonishing crochet reef on Ted.com some time ago. Is there any limit to size of things you would personally enjoy crocheting? When would size stop being fun and start being more of a skills or design challenge?

Stacey: I love the coral reef. I think it’s really interesting, but it’s made by thousands of different people crocheting pieces that are assembled. I may be wrong, but I don’t think anyone got really bored making something huge. But I have seen people crochet 30-foot tall elephants, and I’m not sure what my limit is, but I think that’s definitely too much for me. Anything bigger than an afghan or a piece of clothing I think would be tedious and kind of out of my realm of comfort. And really, when it’s that big, I’m just using worsted weight yarn. I don’t want to make a whole dress out of fingering weight yarn.

Meghann LittleStudio: I wonder how serious crocheters like yourself avoid wrist and hand strain from hours of repetitive crocheting. Do you take rests? Do special exercises? Wear special supports?

Stacey: I wonder how I avoid it, too! I worry that I’m about to run into some very bad wrists soon. But I think switching between crocheting and knitting helps a little bit, because if I am crocheting only for 8 or 10 hours straight, then my wrists do start to feel a little cramped. But in my typically day, I crochet some, I knit some, I type because I’m answering emails or fixing my website, so I hope I do enough to avoid hurting my wrists. I’ve seen some people wear wrist guards, and I guess that helps, and there are ergonomic hooks. Are you a pencil or a knife holder?

The Animator’s Wife: Knife.

Stacey: Me too. I feel that the ergonomic hooks help pencil people better. When I hold the hook like this, there’s not much room for improvement.

@stitchtacsew: Do you have any suggestions for aspiring designers? How to get started on making your own patterns?

Stacey: I think you just have to start. That doesn’t sound like spectacularly good advice, but there’s so much fear involved. At least, I was scared starting. You really just have to try it and do it. Just put a free pattern on your blog and try it. You have to write a couple of patterns first before you get into the rhythm of writing it and before it gets easier for you.

P: Whose design? If you use a pattern as guide, but make it into something else entirely different, is it then your design? For example, using a ball pattern, but turn it into a snowman.

Stacey: Those questions are always so complicated because there’s a lot of copyright issue everywhere. Of course there are some basic techniques that everyone makes in amigurumi pieces. Everyone increases to make the same kind of circle, everyone single crochets in every stitch to make it not increase, we all decrease in pretty similar kinds of ways, and I think there’s laws about what percent has to be original. That’s actually one reason I try not to look at a lot of other amigurumi designers when I’m designing. Those issues are so touchy, I just don’t want to accidentally be doing what someone else does. You just have to do what you’re inspired by and come up with it yourself.

Karen Swiggum: Do you have any important lessons you’ve learned the hard way, somewhere along the line?

Stacey: I think one thing I’ve learned is to try to read a lot of patterns to see what the standards are. It’s fine to do things differently than other people of course, but if you increase differently than other people, or you decrease differently, or you call things different names, it’s really helpful for you to say that up front. I learned to crochet from my mom, so I learned to crochet through the back loop, and at first I thought that’s just what everyone does. But now I know that’s slightly strange, so at the beginning of all my patterns I say this is how I do it.

Karen Swiggum: Do you have any funny memories about things gone wrong?

Stacey: Is it bad if I don’t? I’ve done some things that just didn’t look right, and I can’t remember any specifics, but sometimes they’re just a little tragic, not really funny. Usually what happens is I make something and I set it on the table and my boyfriend comes home, and if he can’t tell what it is, then something’s gone a little awry. There have been a couple of times I’ve assembled something and taken its head back off, but nothing that really stands out.

Karen Swiggum: What are some of your favorites, i.e. supplies, techniques, shortcuts?

Stacy: I always start out with what I call a Sloppy Slip Knot. It does what the Magic Loop does, and I always do that to start working in the round because it eliminates the hole.

Susan Bates crochet hook is my favorite. It has just the perfect amount of gap in the hook for me, and it catches the yarn just right. And I like using 100% wool yarn for my animals. I don’t know why. I like the feel of an acrylic that’s really soft, but there’s something about the sturdiness and the naturalness of the wool that I really like. I guess those are my favorite things.

Karen Swiggum: Do you have any advice on what not to do?

Stacey: From a business perspective, I think it’s important to not be mean to people. Everyone’s so connected now. It’s really easy to go on Ravelry and be on the discussion board and yell at someone, and I think now that we’re all so connected you’re always representing your company, you’re always representing your business. So I think it’s important for us to not be mean to people, because that’s what people think about you.

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Well, Ms. Trock, rest assured that we don’t think you could possibly be mean to anyone! The Animator’s Wife really enjoyed chatting with you, and we’d like to thank you for taking the time to answer these questions for all the aspiring crochet designers out there.

And that brings us up to the moment we’ve all been waiting for! Who is the lucky crocheter who gets a free copy of Stacey Trock’s new book?

Drumroll please…

It’s Zoe! Congratulations! Please send your shipping info to selenak {at} crochetkitten {dot} com and we’ll get it out to you right away.

And for everyone else who is interested in the book, you can pick up your own copy on Amazon.

Cuddly Crochet

2010-02-27T10:35:00.005-05:00

Earlier this month The Animator's Wife was contacted Stacey Trock, the author of this book:
The book is scheduled to be released on March 15th, and as a promotion, Ms. Trock is going to be doing a blog tour. Guess which blog will be one of the stops on her tour? That's right--Ms. Trock will be making an appearance right here on Rambling Yarns!

Serendipitously, Ms. Trock happens to live only about an hour away from us, so The Animator's Wife has the exciting opportunity to speak with her in person about her book. And since the interview is going to be published on this blog, we'd like to ask, what would you ask if you had the opportunity to speak with a crochet designer? Post your questions in the comments and The Animator's Wife will pass them along when she speaks to Ms. Trock in April.

Then, when the interview is published on April 16th, you will have the chance to win a free copy of her book in our blog giveaway! Please help spread the word!

To Be Entered in the Blog Giveaway: Simply post your question on here, our Facebook fanpage, or on Twitter @CrochetKitten before April 8th! The winner will be announced April 16th. You can ask as many questions as you like, but you will only get one entry per person.