warcraft queue causes spontaneous creativity

nerdy, geeky person enters, stage left: 

so there i sat.  i’d already run my daily warcraft instance and was all ~gung ho~ to run it with my moonkin, but alas, the queue was taking *forever*.  being the patient, calm, laid-back person that i am (hush!), i realized i had only 2 choices: run laps around dalaran (once did 57 before my queue popped - yes, i counted!) or dig out some crochet thread and *get busy*.  fearful of breaking my dalaran lap record, i decided to go with the latter.

there was still that one overlay crochet project three-quarters of the way finished and i decided i’d attack it and get it out of the way.  of course, i’m no one to follow a pattern without putting some type of twist of my own into it, so i decided to switch colours on the crocheted rope, but as happens all too often, no sooner had i started it than i realized… wow, that’s going to look terrible!  so back to the pattern i went, leaving this tiny bit of crocheted rope all forlorn and lost amid the heaps of yarnthreadskeinsneedleshooksandbeads on my desk. 

now, here, we’re going to completely skip over the ensuing mad rope-crochet-a-thon that saw me *forget to stop*, making a rope 1.5 feet longer than intended.  (don’t we all want our necklaces to hang to our crotch?  yeah, me neither.)  we’re jumping straight into ~voila~, said overlay crochet project is *done*.  and, unfortunately, i can’t post a photo of it, because it’s a christmas present.  sshhhh, they mustn’t find out :O

also?  just fyi, you can crochet about 6 to 8 inches of a crocheted rope before your warcraft queue will pop, if you’re dps.  the “wait!  i’ve to mark my crochet stitch” just before the tank pulls is always guaranteed to win you oodles of friends, too!  ...and by “oodles of friends”, i mean “blank stares”.

anyways, there i am, running the daily instance, killing giant spiders and smacking on demons, when suddenly a ZOMGEPIC ring drops just as i happen to glance up and see the little forlorn piece of crocheted rope i’d started and put down…. “heeyyyy”, i thought to myself, “that’s about the size of a ring!  i wonder what i could do with that?”

well, clearly, you can make your very own ZOMGEPIC ring AND a choker to go with it:

floral choker and ring

i’m now considering several variations on the idea and am contemplating offering them for sale.  the choker looks absolutely beautiful when worn and *everyone* has commented on my new ring. 

now, if you’ll excuse me, i have a warcraft instance to run for even more crochet ideas…. O.O

Crochet, Comments (0)
July 29, 2010 @ 02:30 pm

what do you do when you decide you dislike the yarn you loved before?

when i bought the yarn, i was all, “OMG, THIS IS THE BEST YARN EVER.” i’d no idea what i was going to make with it, but i had to have it.  but then months went by and, apparently, my fickle nature set in and, while digging through my yarn stash, i decided i was no longer infatuated with it. 

...just before i tossed it out, it dawned on me…

MAKE A FREAKIN’ RUG!  cuz, yeah, the ol’ pink-towel-turned-rag trick was looking pretty abominable at the back door. 

my beagle, helping to test out the rug that i was eyeballing for size

I used: 4 skeins of Lion Brand Homespun - Fiesta and a size H hook, with 2 strands held together… (Note: not the best yarn for a rug, but it’s MUCH better than the pink towel!)

The Pattern:  (also, available for download here.)

Rug is made using 2 strands of yarn together.

Rnd 1: Ch 12, dc in 4th chain from hook, dc in next 7 ch, 7dc in last chain. Working on opposite side: dc in next 7 sts, 6 dc in last ch.  (28 sts)

Rnd 2: Ch 3 (will always count as last stitch in round), *dc in next 7 sts, dc in next st, 2dc in next 2 sts, 3dc in next ch, 2dc in next 2 sts**, dc in next st > repeat from * to **, slip st in top of beg ch 3.  (40 sts)

Rnd 3: Ch 3, dc in next 7 sts, dc in next st, (2dc next st, dc in next st) 6 times, dc in next 7 st, dc in next st, (2dc next st, dc next st) 5 times, 2dc next st, join with sl st to beg ch 3.  (52 sts)

Rnd 4: Ch 3, dc in next 7 sts, (dc next 2 sts, 2dc next st) 3 times, dc next st, (2d next st, dc next 2 sts) 3 times, dc next 7 sts, (dc next 2 sts, 2dc next st) 3 times, dc next st, (2d next st, dc next 2 sts) 2 times, 2dc next st, dc next st, join with sl st to beg ch 3.  (64 sts)

Rnd 5: Ch 3, dc in next 7 sts, (dc next 3 sts, 2dc next st) 3 times, dc next st, (2d next st, dc next 3 sts) 3 times, dc next 7 sts, (dc next 3 sts, 2dc next st) 3 times, dc next st, (2d next st, dc next 3 sts) 2 times, 2dc next st, dc next 2 sts, join with sl st to beg ch 3.  (72 sts)

Rnd 6: Ch 3, dc in next 7 sts, (dc next 4 sts, 2dc next st) 3 times, dc next st, (2d next st, dc next 4 sts) 3 times, dc next 7 sts, (dc next 4 sts, 2dc next st) 3 times, dc next st, (2d next st, dc next 4 sts) 2 times, 2dc next st, dc next 3 sts, join with sl st to beg ch 3.  (84 sts)

Rnd 7: Ch 3, dc in next 7 sts, (dc next 5 sts, 2dc next st) 3 times, dc next st, (2d next st, dc next 5 sts) 3 times, dc next 7 sts, (dc next 5 sts, 2dc next st) 3 times, dc next st, (2d next st, dc next 5 sts) 2 times, 2dc next st, dc next 4 sts, join with sl st to beg ch 3.  (96 sts)

Rnd 8: Ch 3, dc in next 7 sts, (dc next 6 sts, 2dc next st) 3 times, dc next st, (2d next st, dc next 6 sts) 3 times, dc next 7 sts, (dc next 6 sts, 2dc next st) 3 times, dc next st, (2d next st, dc next 6 sts) 2 times, 2dc next st, dc next 5 sts, join with sl st to beg ch 3.  (108 sts)

Rnd 9: Ch 3, dc in next 7 sts, (dc next 7 sts, 2dc next st) 3 times, dc next st, (2d next st, dc next 7 sts) 3 times, dc next 7 sts, (dc next 7 sts, 2dc next st) 3 times, dc next st, (2d next st, dc next 7 sts) 2 times, 2dc next st, dc next 6 sts, join with sl st to beg ch 3.  (120 sts)

Rnd 10: Ch 3, dc in next 7 sts, (dc next 8 sts, 2dc next st) 3 times, dc next st, (2d next st, dc next 8 sts) 3 times, dc next 7 sts, (dc next 8 sts, 2dc next st) 3 times, dc next st, (2d next st, dc next 8 sts) 2 times, 2dc next st, dc next 7 sts, join with sl st to beg ch 3.  (136 sts)

Rnd 11: Ch 3, dc in next 7 sts, (dc next 9 sts, 2dc next st) 3 times, dc next st, (2d next st, dc next 9 sts) 3 times, dc next 7 sts, (dc next 9 sts, 2dc next st) 3 times, dc next st, (2d next st, dc next 9 sts) 2 times, 2dc next st, dc next 8 sts, join with sl st to beg ch 3.  (148 sts)

Rnd 12: Ch 3, dc in next 7 sts, (dc next 10 sts, 2dc next st) 3 times, dc next st, (2d next st, dc next 10 sts) 3 times, dc next 7 sts, (dc next 10 sts, 2dc next st) 3 times, dc next st, (2d next st, dc next 10 sts) 2 times, 2dc next st, dc next 9 sts, join with sl st to beg ch 3.  (160 sts)

**Continue increases to make rug to your size – 12 stitch increase per round (6 increases each end).

tada! we haz finished rug! much better than the old pink towel!

Free!, Patterns, Comments (0)
July 08, 2010 @ 10:55 am

overlay crochet beads, we haz progress!

the beads, they be working!

i’m adjusting the original pattern a bit, so that i can use a size 10 crochet cotton on some of them…

Crochet, Misc, Comments (0)
July 05, 2010 @ 07:01 pm