In Melbourne it's 9.30am and it's already 30 degrees :/ Ick!

Woke up really early because of the heat, but has been an exciting morning - two pattern sales and got featured in my first treasury - See my little Dugong in Disguise at the top left? yay! Many thanks to ArtNomadix!

I love the blue MilkwoodDesign resin ring also featured.

A friend and I have been experimenting with resin in the last few days. Apart from the initial problem of it melting through the plastic cup in which we mixed it, our experiments have been useful for working out what does and doesn't work. It's a very difficult (and somewhat smelly) medium, as there is really no undo option.



Above is a pic of my favourite attempt so far - copper wire, blue shiny dye and black backing paper - I just wish it hadn't turned out so thick - but the resin started drying before we had done the backing layer properly :( hoping for better results next time!

I was intrigued by the idea of trying some cable crochet over the holidays, these are what I have been working on:

Cable crochet fingerless gloves! I adapted the pattern from this starter scarf pattern which took me a little while to understand. I hope to write up the pattern for these cable gloves in the next few days.

Yesterday I also worked on this David Tennant plushie in a brown suit. He turned out quite nicely I think :)

And before Christmas this little guy arrived in the snow!

Thanks so much to loppypop for sending in the photo! He would have never found snow here in Australia :)

Now I've finally given my Christmas gifts, I can post them up here without fear of spoiling surprises :)

I knitted this pink and purple 'Dugong pretending to be a Shark' for my cousin. If you would like to make your own the pattern is available for purchase free from my patterns page or from Ravelry.

I made a circular scarf for my mum. Emily Kausalik’s pattern is a free download from Ravelry. An interesting fact about this project is that this yarn is partly made from milk!


I knitted this Rabbit Tracks scarf for my aunt. Pattern is available here (no login needed), and it looks quite different with thicker wool


These are the crochet fingerless gloves I made for my partner's mum :) I’ll be writing up the pattern soon

as well as these sets of crochet fingerless gloves for housemates. They gave me the wool for my birthday earlier in the year.



I'll also be making some more Doctor plushies in the next few days for orders. Please contact me if you'd like to request one.

Hope everyone has had a lovely Christmas!

Hi all, here's a super fast easy pattern for a TARDIS crochet ornament to hang on your xmas tree this year.
The finished TARDIS turns out to be about 8cm tall, is hollow but keeps its shape when hung from a tree.


DOWNLOAD PDF
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Materials:
Dark blue yarn
Scrap of white yarn
Scrap of light blue yarn
3mm or 4mm crochet hook

The Pattern
1) Magic circle 6
2) increase every st = 12
3) increase every 2nd st = 18
4) increase every 3rd st = 24
5) *sc5, (sc, dc, dc, sc) in next st* repeat = 36
6) sc just the inside of each st (to make a raised ridge)
7) *sc5, dec2* repeat = 28
8) sc
9) sc
10) sc
11) sc
12) sc
13) sc
14) sc
15) sc
16) sc

Using light blue yarn, create a loop (I plaited mine) from the top centre point of the TARDIS.

Using white yarn sew some windows and any other features you wish to include.

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This TARDIS is designed to fit my little Doctor plushies inside. Add a few more sc rows if you wish to make a TARDIS that fits a Doctor with a hat inside

See the Patterns Page for my other Doctor Who patterns including big and mini doctor plushies ^_^

Enjoy!

I'm completely delighted to announce the winner of my first giveaway!


** LOUISE **
is the lucky winner of a tiny David Tennant Doctor Who Plushie!


For those of you who didn't win, you can always crochet your own from the pattern.
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I want to say a big thank you to everyone who entered, I loved receiving your comments as they were much more creative than ordinary giveaway responses and I love hearing a bit about each of you and what you like.

For interest I thought I'd provide a little list of people's ideas of what they would most like to see crocheted:

8 votes) Dalek
7 votes) Donna, Ood
5 votes) Rose
4 votes) Jack, Face of Boe, Weeping Angel, Adipose
3 votes) Martha, Cyberman
2 votes) K9, Ianto
1 vote) River Song, Someone from girl in the fireplace, the Master, Reaper,
Cassandra, Krillitanes, Cybermat, Sontaran, Sarah Jane, Slitheen, a jelly baby

Hi everyone,
Surprised myself this morning by finishing off my 3rd Doctor pattern!



Had a bit of a party last night and went to bed very late, so didn't expect to get much done today. Anyway, the pattern is available for download from the patterns page. as part of the Mini Doctor Whos PDF. Let me know what you think of him!

I got very excited yesterday when I found a ravelry member has started work on a 5th Doctor :) looking forward to seeing photos of the finished product :)

Off to another lunch-time gathering now (sadly it's raining outside), but look forward to collating all the entries for the giveaway when I get home.

Only one week to go if you'd like want to enter my Giveaway for a David Tennant plushie :)

Since I can't show my newest project because it is a present, I thought I'd show two things that I can't do without :) And because I do all of my crafting while on trains, I guess this counts as my workspace too!



Firstly, my knitting bag. My Aunt and Cousin gave it to me, and I take it with me everywhere stuffed full of projects for my commute every day. I take it to morning tea and knit/craft while talking to my work friends :) It has an inside pocket where I keep my tiny scissors, and an outside pocket for things like phone and lipbalm. I love this bag :D

My current project is refusing to fit into the bag. His sneakers are poking out!



The second thing I take with me everywhere (usually keeping it in the red bag) is my notebook. I generally make up my own patterns, so as I go I write them down in my little book. I have been writing in it for a year now and it is almost full. I have bought a new one in purple ready for next year :)

Hi everyone,
My Tom Baker (4th Doctor) pattern is finally available (patterns page as part of the Mini Doctor Whos PDF). It took me a while to write the scarf and curly hair.
Any feedback muchly welcome!

Am sad that I haven't got to writing some more blog posts recently, particularly after all the thoughtful comments on the giveaway page. I am enjoying reading everyone's thoughts and look forward to finding a moment to take a look at people's twitter and blogs.

Today was a particularly bad day, I got myself stressed about next year and the fact that bits of my life might be upside-down in January and I would really like them to stay the right way up. But I hope that sleep will fix this bad mood.

I just watched Waters of Mars and am a little afraid to go to sleep... or shower...

And on that subject... a new project is underway... can you guess?


I hope to post Tom Baker's crochet pattern ready for download by tomorrow afternoon. Has anyone had a go at one of the patterns yet? would love to hear how they are working out!

Goodnight!

Cool change in Melbourne has finally come through! Having a nice relaxing afternoon after braving the heat at Queen Vic Market this morning.

Exciting discovery: email from Salad for Breakfast saying I had won these lovely plane wall decorations in their Verdigris Dye blog giveaway!

Looking forward to using these to make my room more exciting :D Lots of other great wall decorations at this shop too :D



Don't forget to enter my own giveaway!

(Giveaway closed - see announcement)

I have decided to release my Doctor Who crochet patterns as PDFs - and to celebrate - a giveaway! read on!

The Doctor Who community (and indeed the whole craft community) is such a sharing world to be involved in that I would like to see many of my Doctors be created through the work I have put into these patterns. My main hope in making these is that people will show me the Doctors they create from these patterns.

So to celebrate the completion of the David Tennant pattern this afternoon - I've decided to hold my first blog giveaway!

The winner of the giveaway will win their own little plushie. The Doctor is 7cm tall and made with crochet/amigurumi techniques.


~~~ How to Enter ~~~

***Giveaway Closed - Winner announced soon!***

1) Leave a comment on this blog post letting me know:

Which Doctor Who or Torchwood character / monster you would best like to see in crochet



Additional Entries

2) Follow my blog (let me know this in your comment = 1 entry)
3) Tell me which of my Doctor Whos you think is the most like the Doctor it was based on (see right of page = 1 entry)
4) Follow me on Twitter (leave your twitter name in your comment = 1 entry)
5-9) Buy something from my (understocked) Etsy shop (=5 entries)

Fine Print
- Giveaway closes on the 2nd of December 8am (AEST)
- Please leave me a way to contact you
- International entries welcome
- Entries can be listed in the same comment
- Winner will be contacted and will need to reply with postage info

Enjoy :)
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(see all posts about my Doctor Who crochet figures)
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I found another nice surprise on Ravelry this week. Gatchan from my logical song had made another TARDIS using my base pattern :)
(PDF freely downloadable HERE)

Again, the decoration is lovely! She has given me permission to feature these photos - aren't they awesome? :D

Well this week I completed my fair isle fingerless gloves with the tree of Gondor on the back of the hands.



They didn't turn out quite as nicely as I'd hoped, but they are still nice to wear. I've decided that even though working on 4 needles created a much nicer fit, it is much quicker and less stressful to just knit the gloves on 2 needles and put up with my slightly wonky seams, I'm sure I will get better as I go along.



Hope everyone had a fun Halloween :)
I'm off to work on some more patterns

Since the name of my blog/shop is pixelated mushroom, I thought it was about time I actually made a mushroom!



This is a crochet amigurumi mushroom - as you can see, there are some gaps between the stitches and the white thread shows through where it shouldn't.



My Doctor Whos have stalled a little, I'm so busy that i haven't had time to sort out what I need to take on the train to complete them. I have been working on patterns and there should be one finished this week however :)

Oh, and the favourite Doctor Who poll over on the right there ends in 2 days - it has been quite interesting. Christopher is lagging far behind (which surprises me) and Peter Davison and Tom Baker are catching up to David Tennant :)

I had a nice weekend away, although didn't get through most of the things I had hoped to find time to do. Daylesford was much as I remembered, although the second-hand book shop now has a coffee shop inside it (think Black Books :p) and there was a particularly tasty bakery in the main street.

The B&B (which was missing the second B) was ok. It was also a little odd in that the owners could rarely be found (when we arrived, and even when we were going to pay them for our stay)

On our trip I made a start on some new fingerless gloves, this time inventing a fair isle pattern of a tree to go on the back of the hand.



Recording the pattern on a chart is hurting my brain, and I just realised I have written some of it wrongly, but I hope to at least finish one glove this week.



Oh, and we also visited the Chocolate Mill near Daylesford where we got these cute chocolates - om nom nom!

I'm taking a little bit of time off work this friday and monday to get away for the weekend and have some rest. We're going to drive to Daylesford and wander around there a bit - I hope it won't rain!

I hope to get the world's most awesome slurpie/ice drink on the way there! (Granita from Coles Express :p - flavours include flavours Apple Blast, Citrus Twist, Tropical Splash, and Strawberry Bliss) I love slurpies!!

Oh, and I finally gave in and got this from DELiciousDesignz last night :) Del also has an Etsy Shop here with more lovely things.

This is what I am currently up to :)
Doesn't look very pretty yet but the squares are portable and I just don't have time to sort out different projects to pack in my bag each day.



Hoping that before I get bored I will make enough of them to sew together and make something pretty



This is my made-up square pattern in case anyone is interested.

Abreviations
ch = chain
sc = single crochet
hdc = half-double-crochet
sk = skip over one stitch in the base row before inserting hook

Pattern
1) Magic circle 12

2) Chain 1 to raise row height,
sc1, hdc-inc, x 4
slip1 to connect to row beginning = 16

3) Chain 2 to raise row height,
hdc2, ch3, x4
hdc1
slip1 to connect to row beginning = 28

4) Chain 2 to raise row height,
hdc4, ch3 returning to same st,
hdc8, ch3 returning to same st,
hdc8, ch3 returning to same st,
hdc8, ch3 returning to same st, hdc3
slip1 to connect to row beginning = 44

5) Chain 2 to raise row height,
hdc1, ch1, sk1 & hdc1, ch1, sk1 & hdc2, ch3 returning to same st,
hdc2, ch1, sk1 & hdc1, ch1, sk1 & hdc2, ch1, sk1 & hdc1, ch1, sk1 & hdc2, ch3 returning to same st,
hdc2, ch1, sk1 & hdc1, ch1, sk1 & hdc2, ch1, sk1 & hdc1, ch1, sk1 & hdc2, ch3 returning to same st,
hdc2, ch1, sk1 & hdc1, ch1, sk1 & hdc2, ch1, sk1 & hdc1, ch1, sk1 & hdc2, ch3 returning to same st, hdc to end of row,
slip1 to connect to row beginning = 60

6) Chain 2 to raise row height,
hdc9, (ch1, hdc1, ch1) into one st,
hdc16, (ch1, hdc1, ch1) into one st,
hdc16, (ch1, hdc1, ch1) into one st,
hdc16, (ch1, hdc1, ch1) into one st, hdc to the end of the row
slip1 to connect to row beginning

7) Chain 1 to raise the row height,
sc10, sc3 into one stitch,
sc18, sc3 into one stitch,
sc18, sc3 into one stitch,
sc18, sc3 into one stitch, sc to the end of the row
slip1 to connect to row beginning

I love knitting fingerless gloves :) These blue ones are the first thing I have knitted using 4 needles - they were quite difficult to get used to, but no sewing is required afterwards which is wonderful.







Definitely time for bed now, it's been a rather lame week :s

Download this pattern now from the pattern page
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Even though I made this little guy first I only just got around to finishing his pattern instructions the other night.

I have now added the pattern to my Ravelry designer page also.

I think I'll do the patterns for Tom or David next :) Sneak peak of Tom:

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See all posts about Doctor Who
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Just wanted to say how much I am enjoying Ravelry at the moment :)

It's a beautifully designed site/community that provides a place for knitters and crocheters to add their personal projects, patterns, and future (queued) plans - as well as join in with groups and a network of favourited projects.

I love the way everything is linked together on Ravelry (projects, blog posts, images (from flickr or other sources), patterns, groups etc.) And the layout really shows everyone's work as beautiful!

I have added my list of projects to my profile and I really love how colourful my page looks and how happy all my creations look together on display:
(click the image for a closeup)



And also added my patterns for sale through the Ravelry downloader which seems to be a great system so far. It allows you to upload the PDFs so that anyone buying will pay through paypal and then immediately be able to download the file :)



If you're on Ravelry too, add me as a friend, I'd love to see your projects page :)

Time for bed now - trivia tomorrow night then juggling the next night - lots of late nights zzzzz

Well I'm back from Juggling Camp and am completely exhausted - it was quite fun, I really enjoyed the first day and used my new cathedral wick fire poi for the first time :D and they turned out awesomely :D


They are much bigger than my last pair (which I lost on a train :( ), and I think they will make some nice photos. Didn't get any great photos this time around, but hopefully next time.


Found the last day of camp a bit too exhausting and walked into the bush to get some quiet time - sitting in the middle of the trees and doing some crochet for most of the morning - listening to lots of bird sounds :)

Have been writing up lots of procedures (which I love doing) at work for the new people who are starting this/next week, so not sure how much pattern instruction I'll feel like doing - but hopefully I can get another doctor done by the end of the week.

I'm going to see UP in 3d tonight :) looking forward to it

I came home to two lovely surprises tonight :D

Firstly the pendant that I won in the KanYoFuse giveaway on Life, Love, YARN arrived in the mail! Very exciting! And here it is!



An awesome thing about getting this one of the three (which is more orange than it looks in this photo ) is that I just coloured my hair red too so they go together :D


Then as I went outside to take a photo of the pendant - and I found this tiny flower in the garden bed - I hadn't even seen it start growing :D


Juggling Camp this weekend, hoping I can time find to pack!

A resin ring from one of my favourite shops, DELicious Designz, is part of a giveaway at Adelle's blog! Click here here to go to the giveaway page.