Miss Merleymaid. Complete.

Readers I give you a totally pointless blog post about a doll.

Sorry. But this took me a while so I'm making a blog post about it. Cause it's my blog. Neener.

At long last here she is.

I finished her. I can't tell you the feeling of accomplishment that has washed over me. I'm on top o' the world.

Ok, not really. But wow, it feels good to have a completed project. Cause it seems these days, I'm lucky to get my hair brushed.

Here are some photos of Miss Merleymaid, Dreadlocked Queen of the Sea. I regret that I cannot give you the pattern because, alas, it is not mine to give. I wish it were mine. Here's a little secret you may or may not know about me, I'm a stickler for following patterns. This is unusual because I can think outside the box when it comes to lots of other things (in my professional life for example, also I had a baby in the kitchen so that's something) but when it comes to knit and crochet, I am absolutely pattern loyal. Also I like recipes. I like to follow them. I wish this were not the case but it is. So anyway.

Bygones.

The pattern is available here. I purchased this fine this pattern when she was having a 30% off birthday sale. That's totally insignificant but I just wanted to tell you. Go to her site. It's Super Cute.

Also just for general educational purposes this is what is known as amigurumi, a Japanese style of knit or crocheted small dolls or animals (or whatever). For more on amigurumi click here. When crocheted they are typically done in all single crochet in the round and thus are not difficult to make (except for the working with very small pieces which may give you an aneurysm. Or a seizure. Or at the very least arthritis.). If you don't know how to crochet go here. It's not for everyone but I like it. When knitting amigurumi they are made with stockinette stitch (Making one of those now. It's an owl. And it's for Anneliese. Don't tell her.).

Moving on.

The yarn:

Flesh toned cotton, rayon blend (TLC cotton plus)
Brown worsted weight (for hair cap, it's not in the picture) (Vanna's {cheap} choice)
Wool bulky weight (by Lion)
Aqua worsted weight (bamboo ewe by Stitch Nation)
Crochet hook size G (um. Metal.)


PS I am a yarn snob. Apologies. For this I did use mostly readily available yarns. Except the TLC, you gotta order that one.

PPS If you crochet or knit and you haven't used any of the Stitch Nation yarns. Do. Now.

Starting with the head. Half done with safety eyes. I challenge you to remove this. It's impossible without a pair of pliers. Or scissors. Or a welding torch.

Outside view. Half done.

Stuff it tight. Full. Packed. How I feel after eating at the Cheesecake Factory.

Add the arms (these are small and small things are hard to crochet. My fingers hurt for two days).

And body (crocheted as one piece). Headless. Arms attached. This is disturbing. I apologize.


Now for the hair. This is made by crocheting a small wig cap and tying the bulky yarn to it. The yarn is then pulled through to the opposite side and the cap is then sewn to the dolls head. This sounds like a lot of steps but it's not. I did it in one evening, with a baby on my lap. Here you see head, cap and Rastafarian hair yarn.

Oh and you see my couch cushion. Cause I was too lazy to get up.

And here is the edge of the hair.

Ella approves.
Yum. Yarn. Tastes... fuzzy.

The last bit it to make her shell boobies and starfish hair accessory. I used wool felt. It's so lovely. And wooly.

Accent embroidery to the outside, done before attaching (that's supposed to be a seashell. The Man said it looked a "little rough". It's a SEASHELL. That's my story and I'm stickin to it. Thank you.)


Also I haven't had a manicure in two light years. My apologies.

Viola.

May I present Miss Bobbie Merleyamaid. Your (sea)weed dealer of the sea. (That's a joke about pot. And a stereotype about people with dreadlocks. The Man made that up. I thought it was worth using. If you made it this far you deserve a chuckle. You're welcome.)

Thanks for sticking around y'all.

Happy crafting.

j-diddle

(nearly) wordless wednesday: will she ever finish it edition (my apologies if this image is disturbing)

It's a mermaid.


Or you know, it will be. Eventually.

I hope.

This just in.

Brace yourselves for a big announcement. Forthcoming.

It's coming.

Wait for it.

No, really.

I'm quitting my Job. The nursey one.

No, really. I am. I haven't yet, but I'm going to. I only haven't because I have to drive to Visalia to do it and I don't have the spare hour and a half today. Really.

So that's today's headline. Not big news for you but the biggest of news for us over here. I could write a nice long post about quitting my Job but I'm not ready for that yet. Maybe later. I'm still feeling a little bit fairytaleoverjoyeddazedandconfuzzled about this decision. Oh, don't get me wrong, there's not a single thing I'd rather do than stay at home and raise this Sweet Pea of a Baby. It's just that even though I've been At Home before, it's been a while. I'm a little nervous about it and all the things that go with not being an Out of Home worker. You know what I'm talking about. Maybe not. Anyway. Next item of business.

Because I am about to quit my Job (just the one where I'm a nurse, not the one where I'm nursing) I'm feeling very suddenly domestically motivated. There is a slight problem with this. Well a couple:

a. My sewing machine is broken. It's tragic. Truly.

b. Also despite the fact that we have a fair sized house, I have no place for "crafty" things. They are in a box in storage (mostly).

c. In light of all of this and in despite of it I am still plotting and planning several crafty ventures. Probably too many. It's a disease I have.

And they are:

1. I'm knitting a scarf for my sisters trip to Philly. My sister is Fan-tas-tic. Truly. She deserves a scarf of epic proportions. This may not be big news to everyone but it is to me because I am literally the worst. Knitter. Ever.

No, really. I'm bad.

This is a similar pattern. Only mine is two-color striped. My sister does not like pink. Or anything in the pink family. So I'm using blue and green. I like it. If it doesn't come out crooked maybe I'll whip up another one.

Here it is in progress:
See how I accidentally made one row that has 3 greens in it. I'm not afraid to admit my error. I lost count. I was nursing the baby. I told you. I'm that bad.

2. I'm crocheting snowflakes for our Christmas tree. Granny used to make these. I'm doing it. Like right now. They're fun, if you know how to crochet. If not, they're miserably difficult. Also, working on other handmade ornaments. Because, well frankly we have none.

In other news: I miss Granny. Like a ton.

3. I'm crocheting hats for the children. I prefer knitted hats (ala my mother in law who is a fantastic knitter) but alas, as previously mentioned, I am the worst. Knitter. Ever. Anyway, per their requests hats are underway. Maybe if the scarf isn't an abysmal failure I'll knit them. They should be done by 2012.

4. I'm cooking.

Cauliflower soup. Don't tell the Hubs. It's what's for dinner tonight. Surprise.

I just met the Pioneer Woman less than a month ago. She's my hero.

Also: Coffee Cake. I feel like I need to make that right. Now.

Did I mention she's my hero. I can't believe I never heard of her before like 3 weeks ago. Where was she all my life?

5. Attempting to make something of our front room.

This isn't really something I'm doing as much as something I need to do.

It's a little bit confused. It's not sure if it's a living room or a music room or a room where people drop their crap. There are drums in there. And guitars. And a huge bean bag. And crap.

That's all.

Here's the drums though. They're really lovely.


Hubs is a drummer. How lucky am I? Drummers are sexy. That is all. Thank you for listening.

(That photo was taken by Myron Yeung. Our wedding photographer. He's amazing.)

6. Working on my etsy store. It's not done yet. Who am I kidding. It's not even started. I'm totally doing it though. I'm not selling anything knitted though. Unless someone is looking for a crooked scarf.


Whilst my mind is preoccupied with the aforementioned items of interest I'm also entertaining the following hobbies:

~gazing at the miracle of Sweetness we've been given. (That's the Baby. In case you didn't know.)

This is her:
I know, right. She's ridiculous.

~ Running after the Big Kids. This takes significantly more time than one would think.

This is them:
I mean look at these kids. If babymaking was a business, I'd go into it. They're that awesome. (In all fairness, I can't take credit for the one holding the Baby. She's my sister. But I'm claiming her anyway. She looks enough like the rest. No one will know.)

~Cooking. Cleaning. Laundry. Shopping. Keeping house in general. Kind of.

~Doing my derndest to support the Hubs in his career and Other Financial Ventures. (This bascially means, trying to keep the kids from talking to him every 10 seconds when he's trying to write code, which is a whole other thing I don't understand.)

That's what I'm up to. Stayed tuned for more news as it develops.

Warmest Regards,

Me

SAHM turned RN turned SAHMRN. Recovering craft addict. Abysmal knitter. Lover of cake.