Villigst Ghost on Tour

Hello Hello!

In May I made a amigurumi ghost as a prize in a raffle. The ghost was a huge hit and since then I have been asked to make many more! In return for a ghost I ask for a donation for the Ev. Studienwerk. You can read more about it in this blog post.

The ghost has its own hashtag: #geistreichmitvilligst and man, the little ghost has seen lots of the world already! To show you where the little one (in different crocheted bodies ;)) has traveled so far, I have collected the pictures and they will be shown below. Note: The pictures aren't mine - they were taken by the people who traveled with the ghost.

Villigster Geist on Tour - Stops

Stop 1: North Pole

 Picture by Martin H.

Stop 2: Norway

Picture by Martin H.

Stop 3: South Korea

Picture by Martin H.

Stop 4: Barcelona/Spain

Picture by Annika H.

Stop 5: Yale University/USA

Picture by Anca M.

Stop 6: Tummelhaus/Germany

Picture by Sofie M.

Catching Up on a Rainy Monday Afternoon

Hi everyone! 

It has been literally weeks (if not months) since I have blogged about something not CAL or Captain Poprocks related... everything jut got crazy busy all at once! 

I've started a new job at the Law Society, assisting with their Thought Leadership project. Plus, June to August is also the busiest time for youth exchange, as we are interviewing and finding overseas placements for our outbound students who will leave in January, as well as receiving and training the inbound students who arrive in July. 

Our Days for Girls project has also exploded (in a good way!) in the last few months - everyone wants to get involved! We have just sent 100 kits to Papua New Guinea with the Rotary Club of Umina, 100 kits will be going to East Timor in a few weeks time, and the next job is 200 kits for Cambodia in September (which is terrifyingly close...)

Our kits in PNG!

Our major fundraiser for Days for Girls is coming up on 24 September - we are putting on a High Tea, with delicious sandwiches, sumptuous hot morsels, and gloriously decadent sweet treats to enjoy, along with as many cups of tea and coffee as our guests can manage, AND an opera singer!! If you live somewhere around Sydney and would like to come along, here's the invitation! 

Just about everything is locked down now, so in the last week I've had a bit more time to do crochet... finally! (a bit like this post really) My crochet life is full of WIPs at the moment, and not nearly enough finished things.

I love this little cutie patootie - and just need to sew on her ears and weave the ends in on the blanket and she can go off to her new owner! The Heidi Bears animals are definitely among my favourite things to make. This pattern is Nellie the Elephant, and you can get it on Ravelry here.

I have an order for 5 (yes five!) mini kangaroos and joeys coming up! They are very cute, but a bit hard on the hands to make with 4 ply yarn and a 2.25mm hook. I've made all the parts for two more kangaroos and they just need stuffing and sewing. One set has been requested in "Tiffany Blue", so with any luck I'll be able to steal a bit of my mum's time in the next few weeks to do some yarn dyeing! 

While I finish off some other things, the joeys are having some well-supervised childcare at the Kangaroo Creche with my candy animals (and a rogue Yoshi). 

My Tie-Back Tunic is coming along! The back panel is done, the front is underway (although I am having a disagreement with the pattern) and one of the waist ties is complete. I absolutely adore the yarn - Cascade Heritage Solid in Wine, and Cascade Heritage Hand-Painted in Roses (75% Merino Wool, 25% Nylon). 

Plus the texture is just so nice (and the colour is more accurate in the photo below)...

Finally, because I don't have enough things to do already, I've started Polly Plum's Lotus Moon Tile CAL, using up my Stylecraft Special DK stash. The flowers are so beautiful, and the pattern so well written! 

And my trusty Zig Zag Project Tote has been called into service again! Lucky I didn't line it - the bag really needs to stretch a bit to squish all that yarn in it..

Phwoar, writing it all down makes me realise how much I'm doing. It's only 3 weeks until the Carousel CAL starts - do you think I'll get most of this done by then?? 

I better hop off the computer and get hooking!!! 

Ghost Times!

Hi!

How are you doing these days? Life is busy for me but I try to embrace this fact. Fortunately I can squeeze some crochet time in - not as much as I want but some! New to the usual life, a new rowing machine is "stealing" my crochet time. My husband and I are trying to get fitter and thus a water rower moved into our flat. The rowing is good fun and the swishing sound of the water is so soothing! 

I am crocheting for fundraising again. Some of our readers might remember the Villigst Blanket I made two years ago. This time I am making little ghost which people can "buy" for a donation to non-material support (= such as summer schools or study abroad). They can be "bought" for 25 € and 100% of this money will be donated - I am donating my crochet time and the craft materials. 

The current and former scholarship holders often talk about the "Villigster Geist" / "Villigster Ghost or Spirit" which connects them and thus I crocheted a ghost for a prize for a fundraiser at the annual Pentecost meeting. Some people asked if I could crochet a ghost for them as well and here I am making more amigurumi ghosts! The adventures of the ghosts can be followed under the hashtag #geistreichmitvilligst on Instagram. The hashtag plays with the German word for witty (geistreich). In a literal translation witty means "full of ghost/spirit". :D

The pattern is from Crafteando and easy to follow. :) I hate sewing on the arms and thus I am thinking about crocheting them on in future ghosts. I also changed the little bow and made it bigger. :) 

I love how each little ghost turns out a little different and thus special!! Fingers crossed many more of  these ghosts will be ordered!

What are you crafting these days?

Take care

Anne

My first Heart Teddy Bear

Hey there!

How are you today? My life is incredible busy at the moment and sometimes I have the feeling my life is a mile ahead of me and I am trying to catch up. Oh well. It shall get better I guess!

I finished my first Heart Teddy Bear yesterday. :) He turned out quite big: about 30 cm in height I would guess. Very huggable! It didn't take too long to complete the teddy. I started on the 12th of September and finished it last night. With lots of crochet breaks in-between that is - I would say in total the teddy took about 3-4 nights. I used this pattern by the way.

The sewing together was a bit of a pain in the butt. I am not very good with the fiddly thing but I think it turned out alright (I had to undo one of the legs though... sewed it on the wrong way. ooppss). Practice, practice... I love making amigurumi but the sewing... Eeek. I wish I was better at it!

The teddy went into a box with lots of sweets and shall be delivered tomorrow. It will go to an organization which will hand out the gifts to refugee children this weekend. It is the biggest family celebration of the Muslim calendar (Eid-ul-Adha) and traditionally children get gifts on this day. I hope it will lighten up a little one's day!!

The new refugee home near out house will open next month. I hope to finish more teddies by then. :) Fingers crossed everything goes as planned... This week they found some old world war II bombs in the ground next to the new home. They were deactivated by specialist. There are so many bombs in the ground here in Dortmund! They are left overs from World War II and as Dortmund was one of the major industrial towns a lot of bombs fell down here. 

What is on your hook at the moment?

Take care

Anne

Captain America - "Avengers, Assemble!"

Hello everyone!

We've had a pretty busy week here at Casa del Westlund. We have been back and forth to the lake to help out our neighbours, and it was monthly Committee Meeting week for Rotary Youth Exchange. Fortunately I can type fast enough to take the minutes during the meeting, and was able to send them out without much more effort. 

This week I managed to finished off one of my greatest crochet achievements so far - Patriotic Buddy (Captain America) Kid Hero by Made By Mary! Amigurumi is not my favourite style of crochet, as I find it very hard on my hands. Plus, all that counting...

I won't lie, this doll took me several weeks to complete. It was my first time working with worsted weight yarn. The pattern is so incredibly detailed, and there were so many pieces to be made separately and then stitched together! His mask/helmet and shield can be removed (and he has lovely blond hair underneath)...

...there is a tiny button for securing his mask/helmet...

...the shield helpfully has a strap for ease of positioning and removal...

...the belt pockets even have buttons, so secret things can be stored in them (!!)...

... and he has proper 5-fingered hands!

Captain America came out so very cute, and he is about 18" tall. He will be off to his forever-home next month sometime :) 

Thank you to Mary Smith for such an incredible pattern! I highly recommend Mary's patterns - you can find them all on Ravelry here. 

Do you love working amigurumi creatures? What are your favourite patterns? Link them in the comments!

PATTERN: Tension Finger Saver

I am usually a pretty loose crocheter. My sister and I can both make exactly the same pattern, and mine is usually much much bigger than hers! 

But, for some projects, I find that tight tension is essential for the correct look or size. Maintaining that sort of tight tension is difficult, especially when I start to get serious dents and burn marks across my middle finger where the yarn runs across! 

I came up with this little tension finger saver using hardy 4 ply cotton, and it has done wonders for my poor hands when crocheting with tight tension :) 

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PATTERN: TENSION FINGER SAVER
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This pattern uses all US terminology. It is worked in a spiral rather than joining each row and then moving up.

Materials
Small amount of 4 ply cotton
2.25mm/B hook 
Scissors
Yarn needle

Instructions

Row 1: Using foundation single crochet stitch (fsc), 15fsc (or however many you need to fit snugly around your problem finger). It needs to be quite a firm fit, so that it doesn't spin around your finger with the yarn, but not so firm that it cuts off the blood supply!

Row 2: Insert your hook back through the first fsc and do a normal sc. sc in each stitch around (15sc)

Rows 3-9: sc in each stitch around (15 sc) 

To finish: Slip stitch into the next stitch. Fasten off and cut yarn. With starting end, slip stitch into final fsc and fasten off. Weave in ends.

There you have it! I ended up making two - one for my middle finger and one for my little finger to save them from dents and burns making the cutest happypotami :) 

The Love Story of Mr Alienbunny and Ms Long-Ear

Today I bring to you the magical lovvvee story of Mr Alienbunny and Ms Long-Ear. Grab a cup and tea, some biscuits and enjoy!

The Love Story of Mr Alienbunny and Ms Long-Ear

Mr Alienbunny lived in a town named Koblenz, an old town built by the Romans. He had a very good life among the wine hills and enjoyed life a lot. However, he also felt... empty. He wasn't sure what he was missing at all, so he started his journey to fill the emptiness.

He tried to enjoy the smell of the first spring flowers but it didn't help. He still felt empty.

                          

He went out for drinks with his mate Mr Giraffe from Australia. They had a very good time but the next morning Mr Alienbunny still felt empty inside. Oh and he had a terrible hangover. Poor little one. 

One day, he heard of two wise owls, so he went to see him. They had a very long talk together and the two owls told him of their love for each other and suggested that Mr Alienbunny longed for love.

At home, Mr Alienbunny spent a long time thinking about love which he only knew from the movies. After some days, he decided he had to look for love! He said goodbye to his friends, packed his bags and started his journey in his Lego Mini Cooper.

It was a very long and hard journey. He met lots of nice people but no love.

That is, until he arrived in Dortmund, a town in the middle of Germany. There he saw HER! In the middle of a field of roses... She was soo beautiful! But would she like him?!

He waited until she left the field of roses and started to talk to her. Her name was Ms Long-Ear and she was very lovely indeed! Native to Dortmund, she told him all about the town.

They agreed to meet again the next day and Ms Long-Ear was delighted by the flower Mr Alienbunny got for her.

For hours they talked... and fell in love!

  

After some weeks together, they decided to pack their bags into Mr Alienbunny's car and travel the world. So far they are having a really good time! Should you meet them, have a glass of wine with them - I am sure they will love to talk to you and tell you their story in person!

The End!