Crochet Christmas wreath and clay jewelry

Crochet Christmas wreath

   I just realized that it's been a little while since I made a post. I've been working on a few projects lately. I've made a crochet Christmas wreath(Haven't made anything to hook it up yet), and I'm currently making a crochet fan ripple scarf(looks great so far, picture to come). But what's really been stealing my attention lately has been polymer clay jewelry, I've been making earrings and necklaces like crazy, I love it :). Two of the earring sets are made of perler beads(also very fun to make, I recommend it!)
   I really need to find a way to make lots and maybe finally make some real money with my crafts, I wish I could live on it, it's what I love. I'm happiest when I do any kind of art, working with my hands and creating something, there's nothing like it...

Polymer clay necklaces

clay(bead) necklaces-close up

Clay heart earrings

Lots of earrings and bracelet

Christmas ornaments and other things

Clay Jake(Adventure Time)





Crochet Christmas tree

  I've started making clay(I love working with polymer clay!) and crochet ornaments for Christmas. My goal is to fill my Christmas tree and home with hand made ornaments and decorations this Christmas(Made by myself and my son :) ). Not sure if that will happen with so many different projects to do, but I will try!
 
  Some of the pictures in this post are decorations/ornaments I've made so far.

Clay Magikarp

   The dogs are a character in the cartoon Adventure Time, one is actually a pendant for a necklace...the one with the Santa hat is an ornament. The Magikarp (Pokémon) is also a pendant for a necklace that I made for my little sister. The Christmas tree is made up of stacked crochet pincushions.
   Here is where I got the idea for the crochet Christmas tree, and here is where I found the pattern for crochet pincushions. Well that's it for now, I do have more ornaments that I made last year, but I haven't brought them up from the basement yet. I may do a mini picture tutorial on how to make crochet wreath ornaments, I made tons of the wreaths last year!

Clay mice and Jake



Crochet beanie with flower

Crochet beanie with flower

    Yesterday I finished the crochet baby beanie that goes with the crochet baby cardigan. I used the same yarn(Bernat softee baby in mint) and the same hook(4.25 mm). It's a simple shell stitch beanie, here is the pattern I followed.

   For the flower, I started with a magic ring(6 stitches). Single crochet in the first stitch, then chain 3. Single crochet in the next stitch, chain 3, do this until you have 6 little loops.

   In each loop crochet 1 single crochet, 1 half double crochet, 3 double crochet, 1 half double crochet, 1 single...after last single crochet, slip stitch into first single crochet of first peddle.

   There are 6 posts visible that branch into the peddles, single crochet from behind in the post directly under the slip stitch, chain 4, single crochet in the next post, do this until you're back to the first post then slip stitch into the first single crochet. in every loop crochet 1 single crochet, 1 half double crochet, 5 double crochet, 1 half double crochet and 1 single crochet. Slip stitch into the first single crochet, and you're done.

   You can leave the flower as is or add a button or anything in the center. I used one of the extra buttons I had made for the cardigan.



Crochet beanie and cardigan

Crochet baby cardigan

    For the last couple of days, during my short break from my fan ripple afghan project, I've been working on a short sleeve baby cardigan for my 1 year old niece(Christmas is just around the corner!). I thought it would be a difficult project but it turned out great and I really enjoyed working on it. I used a pattern from Lion Brand Yarn(see here) as a guide. It was very helpful with sizing and overall how to for crocheting a cardigan/sweater. Though I didn't actually crochet the item which the Lion Brand pattern is for, I had a different idea in mind for the cardigan, I doubt I would've been able to make the baby cardigan if not for it.



Crochet baby cardigan- without sleeves



     I looked for a while at the local arts and crafts store(Michael's) and ended up choosing Bernat Softee Baby yarn in mint for this project. I love the color and the yarn is very soft and easy to work with. I'm also crocheting a beanie in the same yarn to go with the cardigan, I haven't yet decided if I'll give it a brim or not.
 
  I'm waiting until tomorrow to decide because I've run out of yarn, this happens a lot... good thing I get paid tomorrow and can go get more then! Here's the pattern I'm using for the beanie.

    

    I decided to take a day off crocheting and have a polymer clay day, and I made buttons for the cardigan :). I also made a few Christmas decorations and some necklace charms, but unfortunately every picture I take of them comes out blurred so I'll try another time.



Crochet baby cardigan- with sleeves



Crochet baby cardigan- with buttons

Crochet bears!

Crochet Christmas bear

 A little over a year ago I created a pattern for little teddy bears. They're really easy to make and are adorable(at least I think so!). They're about 6 1/2 inches tall when sitting.

Crochet Halloween bear

Crochet puppy

The bears are made by crocheting in the round. I've even used the pattern to make other animals like a crochet puppy by simply adjusting the size of the snout and ears(See picture bellow on the left). I like adding details to them as well which makes them all special, like the pumpkin face on the Halloween bear and the four leaf clover on the St. Patty's day bear. I also like adding accessories, like hats and scarves :).

I haven't made one of these in a long time, the pattern needs to be updated a bit. At the time, I used to make the head and body separately and then join them(arms and legs are made separately as well). I know now however that it's much easier to just continue crocheting straight from the head to the body(easier and saves time!). I'll post my pattern once I've updated it. Thanks for reading!




Crochet St. Patrick's day bear

Crochet Valentine's day bear





Crochet characters!

  I love comic books and graphic novels. I have loved them since I was about 8 years old when I got my first comic book and have never stopped being a fan.

  I  Initially started crocheting because I saw pictures of amazingly made crochet Sackboys and that fueled my desire to make my own( Comic book style!). I watched countless you tube video's on crochet, and after a week or so of watching said video's I went to the local arts and crafts store(Michael's) and began crocheting. This was about 2 years ago now, and I have been crocheting ever since.

   Here are some pictures of the comic book characters that I have made. Some of them are crocheted with zippers which is very much like the Sackboys from the game Little Big Planet, however after a few of them I decided to crochet the characters without the zipper(Way easier! And they still look cute).

Crochet Hulk

Crochet Batman

Crochet Thor








Crochet Iron Man

Crochet Spiderman




Crochet Loki, helmet side view

Crochet Loki

Crochet Viking



Crochet Captain America

Crochet Deadpool

Crochet Green Goblin




Crochet Zombie

Crochet Kenpachi Zaraki and Rorschach



Crochet blue sackboy sans zipper




Crochet characters, from left to right: Deadpool, Green Goblin, Captain America, Thor, Wolverine, Hulk, Nightcrawler

I hope you liked the pictures, perhaps some day I'll have an understandable copy(that other people would understand that is...I'm not a pro at pattern writing)

 

                                                                  Sincerely,
                                                                                 Evelyn

Crochet cluster v stitch hat and crochet Iron Man!

   I ran out of the yarn or more specifically, the correct color of yarn I currently need to continue my fan ripple afghan. So I'm taking a short break from the afghan until I have the funds to get more yarn.


Cluster v stitch hat

    My friend and I were walking around our local mall and saw a cute crochet hat in one of the clothing stores and I told her that I'd make her one for Christmas(perhaps even a matching scarf). So I am currently working on some cute cluster v stitch hats. I am using a 5 mm hook, the black hat(see picture at left) is made of Patons Canadiana yarn the second hat(picture bellow) is made of Red Heart Soft yarn in Jeweltone.

Crown of hat

Yesterday, I made a little crochet Iron Man. I love making crochet comic book characters, they're so much fun to make and the look on my sons face when I'm done is priceless. I'll have to work on my pattern writing skills before posting my patterns...currently I am the only person who can read them :P



Crochet Iron Man



Viking hat with beard

   I've been seeing a lot of bearded hats on my many Google image searches lately(I love looking at other peoples projects and what they came up with, I always feel inspired). I especially like the Viking hats with the dwarf like beards.

   It's been on my to do list for a while now, but I've been avoiding it because I wasn't sure I could do the dwarf beard. But I finally decided just before Halloween that I'd attempt to make one, and I love the result.

Crochet Viking hat

 The Viking hat was fairly easy to make I just made a normal beanie and added some Viking hat like details. I tend to crochet by eye versus by pattern, so unfortunately I don't have a ready pattern.

  As for the beard, well it took longer to make than the hat, but it wasn't too difficult. I didn't want to make one that was too heavy(Although I do love the look of the heavy beards, check this one out!).

Here is a tutorial for a crochet beanie by bobwilson123(subscribe! She's great). It was very helpful when I first started crocheting. I used to hate making beanies and now I love it!

 



For help in making a yarn beard click here.  Thanks for reading!

                          
                                                                            Sincerely,
                                                                                           Evelyn

Thor 2: The Dark World



Crochet Thor

Ever since I got my first comic book when I was about 9 years old I've been a die hard comic book fan. I find the entire world of super heroes very enticing, whether it be the DC universe or Marvel universe. Every time I read a new story I'm captivated and that captivation continues with the film adaptations that have become so popular.
    This past weekend I went to see Thor 2: The Dark World at the local Cineplex, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. It has something for everyone. Great action scenes, a bit of romance, Chris Hemsworth shirtless...But my favorite parts in both Thor movies and The Avengers has to be the Loki scenes.
    Tom Hiddleston does Loki fans proud, the facial expressions, the attitude, all of it, magnificent! I must confess, I had never heard of Tom Hiddleston before the first Thor movie came out, but he has quickly become one of my favorite actors. If you also loved him as Loki but haven't seen him in anything else, here is a link to IMDb with a filmography list. I suggest Warhorse and Midnight in Paris to start with, both really great movies.
   Now back to Thor 2. The acting was wonderful, I especially loved Rene Russo as Frigga in this sequel. They finally showed how much she kicks ass! And I can never say anything bad in connection to Anthony Hopkins, his commanding presence as Odin is not to be trifled with!
   I don't want to write too much about the movie as I wouldn't want to spoil it for anyone, but I full heartedly recommend everyone to go see it in theatres because movies always seem more magical in theatres.
    If you have not yet seen the trailer for Thor 2, here it is. Have a great night all!

                                                                      Sincerely,
                                                                                       Evelyn

The vintage fan ripple afghan project.

    I'm currently working on a vintage fan ripple afghan, which I'm hoping to give away as a Christmas present. The pattern is quite easy and works up fairly quickly, especially so for myself as I'm using a 6 mm hook. I found the pattern on revelry, see here for the free download. The pattern is very easy to follow and I love how the afghan is turning out, I may even make a fan ripple scarf(using a smaller hook size)in the near future.

Vintage fan ripple afghan

   More often than not afghan's take a long time to make, especially the ones made of squares which you first have to make and then have to join together. Don't get me wrong I love all afghans and I even made a granny square afghan-throw about a year ago(See picture bellow). But I tend to get a bit bored when I have to crochet the same things over and over again(like the many squares of a granny square afghan) and I often take breaks to start and complete other projects.

 

  The afghan projects always seem to be put on the back burner in favor of faster work-ups. This is why I'm so happy with this current project, it should be done within the next week or so and I only started at the beginning of last week. I'm feeling very productive!

I tend to gravitate towards the same colors...but what can I say, I love the color combination
 

The inaugural post

   I was up late last night, unable to sleep. Something that's happening more and more often. While I stared at the ceiling I thought about my love of crochet and how fun it would be to have a crochet blog. But I love crafting all together and so a crafting blog seemed a better idea. But I also love movies and books. So I came to the conclusion that I would simply have to write about it all.

  

   The title "Eden is only a dream away" got stuck in my mind last night while I was contemplating the many posts I will eventually add to this blog. I tried thinking of other titles but kept going back to the original. Eden has always been an alias that I have used for as long as I've been using aliases, and it seemed to fit perfectly. Eden is the paradise within a dream, it's the happy end result of a long journey which I will hopefully reach someday.

   

    I only wish to put my ideas and thoughts out into the world and if someone sees them and enjoys them, that is enough for me.

 

 

                                                                     Sincerely,

                                                                                    Evelyn