Starbeamer's Blog

Cactus Crochet Amigurumi – Hen and Chicks

Starbeamer — Thu, 12 May 2011 15:28:59 +0000

Looking for cactus patterns online proved to be more difficult than I first thought. All the good ones cost money and there aren’t very many of them, so I decided to just play around and see what I could make. First, I made the pot and then put a dome of dark brown dirt on top. I Ended up making different shaped leaves and then starting from the middle and worked my way around. I got better as I went, so the outside layers look a bit more like hen and chicks than the middle. To top it off, I put a smile on the middle of it.

The reason I was interested in it at all was that I have a friend who was feeling down about school and how much work was left after she recovered from being very sick. I gave her the cactus in hopes that she could look up and have something to smile at her and cheer her on.

White Ascot – Fisherman’s Knit

Starbeamer — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 20:58:29 +0000

I had to think of something to give to my grandma, and I didn’t have any buttons that would go with white wool and I thought that buttons may be hard for her to use, so I decided to take the stitch for the wool cowl I made and to create a hole in the middle so it could just pull through. Only after creating it did I actually learn what the word ‘ascot’ meant. Ironic, but true.

Dark Gray Cowl of Alpaca Wool (Brioche Knitting)

Starbeamer — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 18:20:18 +0000

Continuing on the lines of gifts created for Christmas, I have a friend who picked her own gift. It ended up being a dark gray cowl of alpaca wool made in a fisherman’s ribbing with green swirl buttons attaching it. It was fairly quick to put together and turned out nicely. The only addition I made is that I used smaller buttons (making the button holes smaller) and adding a button on the back to keep the bottom from coming up.

The wool is really light, but also very thick, warm and soft. If you haven’t knit anything in alpaca before, you are missing out. Word to the wise though, this cowl definitely sheds the white-ish gray hairs, so keep away from dark clothes.

To see the pattern I used go here.

Pink and White Double Knit Scarf – Thin and Long

Starbeamer — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 21:02:34 +0000

For Christmas I decided to go all out for my sister. Because her favorite color is light pink, I decided a pair of gloves and a scarf would be perfect. I started with the scarf and created my own pattern for double pointed knitting. I did the same pattern on the ends and then a checker pattern in the middle. Here is the result:

At the beginning, it was really fun and the pattern was not too hard to follow. Then I got into the checkering. My yarn twisted a lot and I got sick of it. If you decide to do checkering, make sure you have a way to make your pattern varied or you will go crazy. I had about 18 inches of checkering at least in this scarf. Throwing it across the room a few times was tempting, but I did it and it looks wonderful.

To see the gloves that go with this scarf, click here.

Pink and White Knit Convertible Gloves

Starbeamer — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 22:17:03 +0000

This year, I wanted to do something special for my sister. She didn’t make a wish list, so I had to be creative. Light pink is her favorite color, so I decided that I would make her a pair of convertible gloves and a double knit scarf. Never before had I done convertibles, so it was an interesting experiment.

Using Caron SimplySoft yarn, I started with adding fingers to the top as well, but I ended up making the fingers way too small, so I ended up changing out fingers for a 1×1 ribbing instead. The thumb was also going to be convertible, but I could not figure out how to make it stay down without putting an uncomfortable button there. Instead, I picked out the edge and completed the thumb. Not bad for my first set. I am going to post the double knit scarf that goes with this pair next month.

Red Leever (Zelda) – Crochet Plush

Starbeamer — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 14:52:40 +0000

The pols voice sitting on my shelf was begging me to create more Zelda plushes to keep him company. Another one of my favorite enemies from Zelda is the leever. I created the base and then went to the spikes. Several model spikes were created until I settled on a pattern. I lost the pattern I had chosen originally, but made a new version. The end result is this lovely leever:

Metroid – Jack o’ Lantern

Starbeamer — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 15:12:10 +0000

For Halloween, I couldn’t decide what I wanted to carve on my pumpkin. All my life, I have done basic faces or tried dragons or other things that you can buy patterns for. This year, I wanted to make it myself. My husband and I have been playing the game Metroid and I have fallen in love with the head-suckers. Because of this, I decided to do a metroid jack o’ lantern.

Metroid Jack o' Lantern

Viking Trophy Wife – Crochet Plush

Starbeamer — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 19:21:56 +0000

I have a friend who I have known since my freshman year of college. We always would joke about how I was her angel for changing her life and how she was a viking trophy wife. Unfortunately, now that we are finished with college, we are going our separate ways. Because of this, I made an angel doll for her for Christmas and for her birthday, I finished the set by making a viking trophy wife doll, complete with removable lace-up corset and shield. She absolutely loves the gifts.

The Magical Flying Blowfish – Crochet Fish

Starbeamer — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 18:12:37 +0000

My sister’s birthday was coming up and I didn’t have money so spend on a big gift. Instead I reached into my childhood memories and pulled out one of the Magical Flying Blowfish.

It all started when my sister and I were old enough to take baths without supervision, but young enough to take baths together. We had a small rectangular window high on the wall in the bath. One day, while pelting each other with bubble bath snow balls, she suddenly pointed to the window and shouted, “Look!” I zipped my head around and looked at the window. There was nothing there. I turned back to my sister and she shrugged, “You just missed it!” she said. “Just missed what?” I questioned. “The Magical Flying Blowfish!” she exclaimed.

For weeks she kept up the routine of me ‘just missing’ a sight of the blowfish outside of our bathroom window. My skeptical little brain began to lose its skepticism. Finally, I was hooked. One day, I asked her about the blowfish and she laughed and finally told me it was a joke. My childhood pride was a bit hurt, but we laugh about it to this day.

Because it was a hilarious joke, I decided that it would be the perfect gift for my sister. I have not sent it yet, but I am sure she will love it.

Angel – Crochet Plush

Starbeamer — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 19:27:33 +0000

When I was a freshman in college, I had a next door neighbor whom I got to know. Over the course of our friendship that year, I changed her life. Because of this, we are amazing friends and she calls me her angel. Soon, she is moving away to earn her masters degree. To give her something of me to keep, I decided to make her a set of matching dolls. One that represents me and one that represents her. For Christmas I finished the one that represented me and for her birthday, I completed the one that represented her.

Angel Front View

Angel Back View