Tag Archives: crochet

It’s Dangerous To Go Alone!

Posted on by

0

Take This… throw.

The Legend of Zelda is by far and away my favorite video game series of all time. The fact that I can finally say “I have some Zelda in my shop”, makes me all sorts of squishy inside. I recently shared that I’ve been staring at a partially started Triforce throw since Autumn and how much I’d love to add Zelda to my shop. Thankfully someone asked for one, and I got to take a break from barrels and aliens for a couple of days to produce this new friend. I’m filled with exclamations points and Terrence is, of course, jealous he doesn’t get to keep it. We’ve only ever kept one of my replications in the house, Donkey Kong, and then he has his Space Invaders blanket that started it all. He’s just greedy.

This isn’t it for the Legend of Zelda, I still have many others planned… its simply a matter of finding the time or a nice customer to request a custom order. Maybe soon enough I’ll finish that Triforce or start an adorable Link and Zelda in love throw… I can’t wait. Welcome to the family Link, we’re happy to have you (well, pictures and the math to replicate you… which is enough for now).

Continue reading →

Thanks for asking.

Posted on by

4

In September when I released my last big shop update, I still had tons of things I planned to make. So far I’ve been staring at a partially started Triforce throw and a list of unfulfilled ideas. Thankfully this isn’t entirely disappointing, I’ve been busy earning a living. Which is much better than procrastinating or being plain lazy. So far the only way I’ve been able to expand my shop has been through special requests from buyers. Thank goodness for you guys, you keep me interested. That’s how this new Galaga blanket came about.

Making Galaga fills me with happy, I really love the rainbow of colors involved. I’ve recently gotten a couple of fun requests that I can’t wait to knock out. Some are going to be a major challenge, but that’s what makes it fun. One of my new projects isn’t even arcade themed, crazy… I know. Still nerdy though. Never forget your roots.

Read on to welcome Galaga to the family.

Continue reading →

And then…

Posted on by

0

…sometimes I upgrade my yarn and insides to produce something better.

I had so much fun making this pumpkin that I had to go out and buy some fiberfill and 100% wool yarn in orange so I could make it better. I’m super happy with the result. I’m going to make this guy in white and then move on to try to make more cool amigurumi creations. I promised Terrence’s sister I’d make her a hamburger, it’ll be an adventure. The pattern I have for that is a little confusing, but I’m going to give it a try.

If you’d like to join me in populating the world with tiny yarn pumpkins the pattern can be found here. Sure, I’ve seen better pumpkins out there but no patterns. Maybe next year.

Ingredients I used:
Patons Classic Wool in Pumpkin
Stitch Nation Alpaca Love in Espresso Bean
Poly-fil stuffing

Happy crafting!

Sometimes I learn.

Posted on by

4

I don’t know if you know this about me, but I can’t read crochet patterns. I’ve tried for over a decade and its always just been gibberish to me. I don’t make traditional patterns for the work I do either, its just a post-it note of nonsense that only I understand. Yes, my entire blanket designs fit on a single post-it.

Lately I’ve been working on blankets from the time I wake up until the wee hours of night, not giving myself much time to goof off. So tonight I challenged myself to finish a certain amount of work so I could play. I fell short… but I played anyway. It wasn’t that short, I promise.

When I try new things I usually watch youtube videos to figure them out. I wanted to make a pumpkin, but I couldn’t find a good video to teach me. Determined as I was, I read two different patterns and tried to make them work until I settled on one. I actually followed it! I had to scrap it several times and every now and then I needed to Google, but I did it. My stuffing is a bunch of cotton balls and its totally lopsided, but its ok. I just wanted to learn something new.

!!!

Here comes Galaga.

Posted on by

0

Does it make me sound cocky if I say how much I love my new throw? Whatever, I LOVE my new throw! I have a list of all the blankets and throws I want to eventually make. Since I already have Space Invaders, Galaga was low on my list of next projects. However, someone requested that I make it… which instantly makes it a priority on the list. Before I upset any gamers with my comparison of Space Invaders to Galaga let me just say, I only mean style wise, I already make something with rows of intergalactic enemies. Don’t yell at me, I’m sensitive.

Either way, I really like Galaga because of how colorful it is. It has a lot of pop. I’m also glad I decided to add the specks of stars. I’m super excited for when I have the time to make a full level blanket, as much as I love my little throws, I really love making full length level blankets. They make me nostalgic for hanging out at the arcade with my friends. I was a big Ms. Pac-Man junkie and I remember Galaga was right next to Ms. Pac-Man at our local arcade. My friend was a huge Galaga fan so even though we ran to separate machines we were at least close enough to hang out and be engrossed by our chosen arcade machine.

Now I’m making myself sad that that arcade went out of business in 2006. The above photo was taken the last weekend it was open. I went to the auction of all the games, we wanted to bid on skee-ball — that would have been awesome. Terrence won me the tiny color tv prize that I had always saved up my tickets to get. Tears. Guys if you still have one, support your local arcade.

R.I.P. Sand Lane Arcade <3

What was I talking about…? Oh yeah, I made a new throw! More pictures after the break…

Continue reading →

Shop Update: The Photo Finish.

Posted on by

5

Etsy Shop is now fully loaded!

Donkey Kong

The Barrels Level

I started my morning early, I set up my room to take photos and I planned on starting to write up my etsy listings. As I was writing horrible copy for my afghans I was being getting messages and comments from Etsy, twitter, Tumblr and Flickr. I wasn’t too confused at first and went along with my business… and then I noticed my gmail inbox was filling up quickly. I refreshed my dashboard for this site and saw the view counts in places that I’d never achieve in a million years on the merit of my rantings alone. And then the hunting began, the hunt for the source. I’m assuming we, more Terrence than I, unearthed the beginning of the crumb trail.

www.it8bit.com

At the time that I’m writing this there are over 800 notes on tumblr in regards to my work. A few weeks back Terrence’s bff couldn’t contain himself and excitedly posted my crappy mobile phone preview photo of the Donkey Kong blanket onto Reddit. It’s gotten over 6,000 views… which would sound exciting to me, but only a sliver of those people actually came to my website and no one contacted me. My point is that these 800 notes mean more to me than the 6,000 views. Big thanks to it8bit.com, more specifically Pacalin for thinking my work is neat.

I started this rant with another point in mind. Ah yes, with all of this attention I had to scramble to finish all of my listings and post them immediately. I initially planned on updating Tuesday, I’m a fan, Tuesday breeds excitement in my heart. Its because of all the eager bus and train rides to music stores early on new music Tuesdays, its a warm memory. Today has been a whirlwind of photo editing, crappy copy writing and shipping rate hunting. After the crazy was over I treated myself and my girlfriends to a night of delicious froyo at Red Mango and a moonlit walk under the Verrazano bridge.

And now for the rest of what you really came here for… shop updates…

Pac-Man + Ms. Pac-Man In Love Throw

***

Space Invaders Throw

***

Princess Peach Hearts Mario Throw

FYI, clicking on the images will link you to each individual item. Just in case. Oh, and tons more photos can be found on flickr, here and here.

And now that it is just about 2am, its time for a much needed sleep.

Coming Soon…

Posted on by

5

Here’s a sneak peak at my newest crochet project, I still haven’t decided if I plan to keep it in the family or set it free. If I do plan on selling it, I will be doing so sometime in Autumn when I restock my etsy shop. Keep an eye out… or just check back here. I’ll also be doing a full reveal in the coming weeks (with higher quality images not from my phone).

This afghan was by far the most challenging piece I’ve ever worked on, I enjoyed every moment I spent on it… even the not so great ones where I realized I made a mistake and had to demolish several lines at a time. I already have plans to duplicate this blanket, I just don’t know when, but I’m really eager to start.