ooo de-la-li

Boy o boy have I been busy!

The last thing I posted was the barefoot sandals.  Those have kept me busy!  I've had orders for women and babies.  I did a white set of those below and I have an order for 6 more in Earth tones but those aren't due to go out for another year.  I did 3 sets of sandals for a newborn and two new hats, an owl and a fox.

Then the big one.  As you can see from my new banner, I also worked on a custom ordered Puu and Koenma from Yu Yu Hakusho.  These little cuties are at DragonCon in Atlanta this week!  They took a considerable amount of time.  Puu was easy peasie as I just redid the pattern for him but Koenma was a tough little cookie.  I chose to find a pattern for dolls similar.  Eventually I decided on Pocoyo Pattern by Upa! Mi Gurrumin, a paid pattern.  The final product measured about a foot tall!  The hat I made wider and though it appears shorter, it's not.  I folded it up and went that way with it to match Koenma.  Arms and legs were loosely tied on and through to the other side so they can be somewhat movable and sit on a shoulder.  I used black crochet thread for the lines, ears and red Caron Simply Soft for the sash.  Though I wish I had a little darker yarn for his flesh color, I think I really like the dark purple and lighter pink.  The hands and feet were adorable!

When everything was ready to be tied off I just fed the yarn down under the skirt and tied it off there to hide the seams!

The only things I would have done differently:

• It never said the face was done in the round and not ended, began again.  I do wish I'd have known that.
• I wish I'd had more time to do his eyes rather than just stitching simple lines.
• mayyyyybe I'd have made the hat bigger as well

All in all I was really proud of how it turned out.

Now I'm working on Shark Booties, also a paid pattern.  I'm not happy.  My hands are killing me from the tiny stitching.  The "mark" and "mark" there are confusing.  When you put it all together it doesn't connect exactly right and there are not enough images to show you how to do the heel.  The toe on mine doesn't go down and around like theirs does.  However, all that being said, it will still turn out to be a super cute set of booties.  If I don't get mad at them and throw them and their hook. :p  

My wonderful sister decided to send me vast amounts of Sashay yarn many moons ago so I'm trying to think up new ways to use them.  Perhaps in a bracelet?

Also I've updated My Shop to sell 2 more Dr Who Necklaces and one KeyRing.  Get them while they're hot. ;)

Flashback-5 Years

AtHomeNinja is FIVE YEARS OLD!

Original 2010 pic, Puu

Can you believe that?  I can't. :p  Five years ago we were living in Pennsylvania where I created my first Pokemon hat and then Puu.  Two of them actually but I'll get to that in a minute.  In 5 years we've had 5 addresses.  Now we have our Forever Home and I'm still so happy.

I love to crochet.  It's saved my nerves and gotten on them but I've created hundreds of things that bring enjoyment to people and though I've never made even a penny on this site, it's been worth the blogging. :)

Anyway, I received an email out of the blue the other day asking about my Yu Yu Hakusho inspired Puu!  He was my second article on this blog.  Wow, that was way back in the way back.  I wasn't even sure I still had the pattern.  I thought I'd seen it in my files but it's a text document and parts are missing because...well I was winging it.  Five years ago I wasn't exactly sure how to read patterns much less to write one.  I found the pattern and got to work.  There's still a bunch to do and I'm fixing him here and there where I was clearly a noob in the craft department.  The first one was a disaster.  He was too big.  The stitches were too large and holey and stuffing was awful.  I don't think I ever took a picture of him but the kids still pull it out from under a bed every so often ... to play with the dog.  No not really but I feel that way when I see it.  They still adore it though.

Being that this is my 5 year project,  when I have completed the pattern I am going to post it here for ... FREE.  Yep. Free.  I've never posted a free pattern.  I think it's wonderful for those that post all of their stuff for free.  For me it seems they must make good money at what they do or have a good stream of people clicking ads.  I do not and it's why I stuck with selling on Etsy.  I live in a small town where there are no yarn shops, no shops to sell my hats or projects in and no good way for me to start up a shop myself and have revenue.  Back in the day Etsy was a wonderful way for crafters to sell their hand worked items.  Now it's a flooded market.  Five years ago I had seen knitted Princess Leia hats but they didn't look the way I saw them in my mind so I created new ones in crochet.  I probably made $200 that Halloween.  Since then there are tons of them on Etsy and to be seen you have to refresh your items daily to catch even one person's eye.  Costing you and not always making a sale.  IF someone happens upon your shop they favorite your things and never return to purchase.  It's just the way it goes.  Ravelry is better for the hand worked craft community, crochet, knit, etc but they don't have the easy layout of Etsy or Craftsy.  Then there's Craftsy that tries to get you to purchase their tutorials all the time.  It's not easy making handmade crafts.

Anyway, here's a reminder pic of Puu the Spirit Beast from Yu Yu Hakusho. :)  He'll be out sometime this week so hang in there and enjoy some of my other posts while you're hanging about. :D