Crochet to Go

Isn't this amazing? It's a crocheted representation of a Japanese video game, in which you roll a big ball and try to pick up objects. Eventually you get big enough to pick up cars, buildings, even entire cities. You can buy this, if you're so inclined, here.

I'm having a lot of trouble focusing on crochet these days. Not so much getting around to doing it, but more deciding what I want to be making. Finishing the book took massive amounts of time and organization--I knew exactly what I had to do, and when I needed to do it, for nearly five months. Now, I can do whatever I want. It's almost too much pressure!

I spent my lunch hour at Stacey's today and picked out a few books for inspiration. I hate most of the crochet books that are getting published these days (so ugly) but I couldn't resist Candy Babies--the cover is adorable. The patterns inside look decent, too. I also picked up The Ultimate Sourcebook of Knitting and Crochet Stitches. Perhaps the most useful book I had while writing the Crochet to Go Deck was an out-of-print stitch guide; I'm hoping that with two I'll really get good at this whole thing.

So what am I working on? I'm about to start a striped hat for Adam, am half-way through a baby blanket, just finished a baby hat, and am working on a clutch that didn't make the book (I chose a simpler design instead). Really need to focus...

I made this sweater a few years back--it was absolutely adorable and way too small. If you follow the original pattern, you'll end up with a charming costume for a small doll. I'm hoping that the author won't mind that I made some revisions to get the size up to 3-6 months. Here's a link to the new pattern.

My finished elephant didn't turn out quite as fat as the one pictured in the article, but I still think this Lady's Home Journal pattern is quite cute.

Not one of my absolute favorites, but still a worthwhile vintage project. Here's the original pattern from 1943.