The devil made me do it. again.

A simple request: I want to be the "soccer player from hell" for Halloween. I love a costume that comes ready made. Great. You can wear your soccer uniform, but how can we make it hellish. I've got it! A crocheted devil hat. What could be scarier?I had a surplus of red Red Heart yarn, so I was ready to go. I could make a highly washable hat out of an unnatural color of red.

I based my hat on the Viking Hat in my earlier post. The base of the hat is for the most part the Boy Beanie from the Stitch N' Bitch book. (Note: I just discovered that there is an extensive collection of errata for both Stitch N' Bitch books at Knit Happens.) I used the same concept that I used before for the horns, but improved on the idea. The horns for the Viking hat were a kind of cornucopia shape with an open end for stuffing. The stuffing kind of leaked out a bit while I was stitching up the hat so I thought I might make life a bit easier on myself by making a completely closed stuffed horn.

I started out by making a Magic Ring. This circular start can be completely cinched up so that you don't get the hole that you see in a crocheted flower or Granny Square. I cast on about 5 stitches in single crochet, slipped the first stitch and then increased in every stitch all the way around. The following row I crocheted in the front loop only, to make the piece go in a vertical direction. To make the horn shape, I decreased at the first and last stitches in the round every other row. You might have to adjust to make a longer or shorter horn. For example, you could crochet 2 rows between decreases. When the horn started getting really small, I put in the stuffing. In a couple more rounds I slipped the yarn through the remaining few stitches and fastened off. I attached the horns to the beanie and my hat from hell was complete!

The devil made me do it...

I did not set out to make a gonzo-like creature, but the inner muppet in me emerged when I tried to crochet the devil in the book Creepy Cute Crochet by Christina Haden. Her book is full of ninjas, office zombies, evil monkeys and even a Xena warrior princess look alike. They are all based on a two part head/body pattern, with myriad variations. I did achieve the basic body structure, but when it came down to embellishments, I had to go my own way. She uses a lot of felt cut outs for decorations and accessories. I'm more of a purist at the moment, wanting to fashion any facial characteristics or accoutrements with yarn. I tried not to stray from the path.....

Crocheting outside the box

Don't ask me why. I don't know why. I tend to get a bit obsessive about my crafting. I start seeing crochet possibilities everywhere. What kind of materials can I crochet with? Wire? Dental Floss? Rags? Plastic? And apparently, pasta. I also start brainstorming on my subject matter. I could create crocheted sushi, articles of everyday life like telephones, computers, teapots, people animals, tubes of toothpaste. I've been a knitter for many years, but I'm finding the flexibility of crochet design fascinating. I never thought of it as an art form before. Let's come up with a name for ourselves to honor the artistry of the craft: Crochettiste. Fiber Engineer. Yarn Wrangler. Yarn Sculptor. Mixed Media Twister. Let me know if you have any ideas of your own!

Amigurumi Super Cute

The other day I went to Twisted on Broadway to take a class in Amigurumi, the art of crocheting super cute characters. (Also the name of the book we used). The instructions in our book were in Japanese, but the patterns were so visually oriented that it was easy to figure out what to do. Great for those who absorb information in that way.

It's all done with single crochet, decreases and increases. Once you learn the basic design, it's easy to branch out and come up with your own ideas. There is no limit to the acute cuteness you can achieve!

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