granny square #1 & new year mini-babble

Not the best it could be, but certainly not the worst! After two flub attempts, (and I'm still not entirely sure there's anything wrong with the second one), this is what I've ended up with. I think once I get my stitches more uniform and consistent that will make a lot of difference. All in all, I'm pretty happy.

New year? (okay, well a fortnight in, but whatever) New attempt at blogging. I'm going to try to stop myself, well... stopping myself. Without going into the numerous reasons I might do this either consciously or subconsciously, I will just announce here and now that I will make a genuine attempt not to... even if I seem to have nothing of substance to say or desire to babble on with streams of consciousness that may ensure anyone following will cease to do so.

Onwards and upwards.

Breaking news: First Amigurumi Head!

And if I do say so myself ... NOT TOO SHABBY! With some help from Alicia at Hook and Needles and Annie Obaachan's Super Cute I've managed to make a relatively solid and uniform head (also known as a ball) of some yet unidentifiable animal! It's a bit bigger than I expected, but that's something I can figure out with materials I hope. I've stuffed it with bona fide British wool. No polyester here! (Truth be told because I don't have any, and I have enough wool lying around to construct a full-sized sheep.) Weeee! 

It's a bird, a plane, a... head? | my hallway

1. Please share with us bit about who you are, where you are, and 
what you do...

I'm a 27 year old stay at home mom to a 2 year old! My hubby is a photographer and we live in Mesa, Arizona with 3 cats. I'm completely addicted to crochet and plush making!
 

2. What are your favourite materials and tools, and what could you not live without?
Yarn, yarn and more yarn! I don't think one could ever have too much yarn! You will always find a crochet hook behind my ear when I'm at home


3. When did you start crocheting and why?

I'm actually fairly new to crochet. I've only been doing it since last October and I'm 100% self taught. I've been knitting and spinning yarn for over 9 years, but once I picked up crochet I became obsessed! With crochet, I have a bit more control with creating plush. I can get idea's out of my sketchbook and turn them into plush much easier than I can with knitting.

4. How has your style changed over time?

Surprisingly, my style really hasn't changed too much. I didn't start out using sequins for eyes on my plush. I originally used plain buttons, then when I ran out of buttons I found some sequins. The sequined eyes kind of stuck with me, it brings a bit of surreal life to my plush.

5. Is there something or someone that continually inspires your 
designs and if so, how? 
A few artists that really inspire me are Jeff Soto, Takashi Murakami and Yoko D'Holbachie. Other than artists, my biggest inspiration comes from street graffiti!

6. What part does colour play in your work?Color plays a BIG part of my work. I like to blend unusual color combo's in my plush. I take a lot of my color work from street graffiti, the way the artwork piles on top of one another... it makes a color palette on it's own I think.

7. What part of creating a piece do you enjoy the most?

My favorite part of my plush process would be putting the face together and sewing the plush up. My least favorite is crocheting arms, it's a bit boring I think haha! 

  
8. Is there some craft that you really want to try, but haven't yet?

There are a few crafts I would like to try, I've done a LOT though. One that comes to mind would be bobbin lace or weaving. I have yet to try both of those. Just recently I gave a go at needle felting... that didn't go as well as I had thought, although I use needle felting to add teeth on my plush!

9. What advice would you give to someone who wants to start selling their crafts or artwork?

Do it! Do some research on what you want to sell and check out your competitors. The world is better if we all buy and sell handmade!

10. Where can we find you?

Website: http://www.milkyrobot.com
Blog: http://milkyrobot.blogspot.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Milky-Robot/179118578766944
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/themuddycat/
Twitter: milky_robot

My Acid Panda from Milky Robot | another satisfied customer :)

Like Riding a Bicycle

Not much time to spare this morning, but I just had to steal a moment to mention my reintroduction to crocheting!! Bought some wool yesterday, and a couple of hooks and put my fingers to work. Turns out THEY, (they being my fingers), remembered a LOT more than I would have guessed! So my first little effort turned out to look like a little hat, which I have to admit got me so excited I wasn't able to fall asleep for hours.

Where should little hats go? Well, on little heads of course! I always wondered if my sheep was French. She looks perfectly at home in a purple beret.

 

Hatted Ewe | temporarily removed from my windowsill for modeling purposes