1.23.2012

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea...?

SpongeBob SquarePants!

I've never actually seen an episode of SpongeBob (I know, shocking since I have kids!). I don't have a vendetta against him or anything, it's just never happened. But I knew I'd be spending some time with everyone's favorite Porifera when a friend told me that her amazing daughter wants a SpongeBob birthday party. How could I refuse?

My friend gave me ideas of what she liked and what she wanted me to include. It was great that she knew what she wanted - made the design process a lot easier! She wanted some hint of his pants, but pink instead of brown! How cool & different, I love it! I did a little research, lots of thinking, and decided on a general idea of how I wanted the hat & face to look. Nothing left to do but get started!

I set out to make the hat first (duh, haha). I didn't use a pattern per se, but I've made enough hats in my day to work it up pretty quickly. When I got to his shirt (the white stripe) I used a super secret crochet trick of mine (wink, wink) to make the lines especially clean. That's a whole 'nother blog post, haha. Then on to the pink earflaps. Of course it wouldn't be complete without some super chunky braids!



Now, onto the face. If you're familiar with my usual work, you know that I'm not a big embroiderer nor seamstress. The less I have to do after I finish the body of a hat, the better! So I was a little nervous when it came to getting started. The individual pieces weren't difficult to crochet, but putting them together so that it actually looks like SpongeBob was a little tricky. I'm really happy with the eyes & nose, but I still don't love the little crook in his smile. Oh well! I'm my hardest critic, and it's pretty hard to get embroidery to look straight on crochet!

I can't wait to see my friend's daughter's reaction when she opens this on her birthday! I really hope she loves it!!

My daughter, Bryn, wanted to model, so of course my son, Declan, had to get in on the action!


(PS - No, I will never make another one, haha!)

PLAY HARD ~ PLAY HOOKY

1.18.2012

Release the Hounds (part 2)

WOW!! I can't believe the response I got from my recent release of my newest pattern, Reversible Houndstooth Beanie.

Let me back up a little... I'm getting together all my new designs to send to my photographer. The plan was to have a 2012 new Design Preview Sale to show you what I've been working on, before I get the final proofs back. I listed 15 copies of my Houndstooth Beanie on Monday, but before I could even finish posting about it on my Facebook page, ALL 15 copies had SOLD!! I had several posts about how upset some people were because they missed it that I decided to leave the pattern permanently. All in all, I sold WAY more than the 15 copies I thought I would sell. I was overwhelmed and excited by the response!! I literally couldn't believe it!

Even though I still don't have the professional photography finished, I will continue to have the pattern listed on Etsy, Ravelry, my website, and coming soon to my Craftsy page!




PLAY HARD ~ PLAY HOOKY