I'm getting quite sick of this photography block... I keep trying things, though, so maybe one day soon I'll have that breakthrough.
Anyway. The other day I was feeling a little jaded about this whole crochet adventure. "What the point in making stuff if no one likes it?" I thought. To be fair, it's not exactly a fair thought because I don't even like crochet stuff most of the time. I know, I know - how is that possible!? It's possible because when I began crocheting, it was more to keep my hands busy than to produce an object. None of that is the point. I was grumpy about no one wanting my cute little cocoon, so I posted on facebook that I needed ideas. Someone, anyone, tell me what to make.
My friend TJ asked for a Dalek hat. If you watch Doctor Who, you'll know what that is. I don't know if she thought she was being obnoxious or if she was sincere, but I surely did. I went to a Yahoo image search, found a Dalek, and hooked it up. I won't lie. It was kind of a pain in the ass. Well, designing it was. In fact, what I made was nothing more than a promising prototype. She loved it, though. I love when people love things. I had to pull out whole sections at a time and redo them. I tried different and odd stitches. I had to figure out how to carry a color through two rows instead of swapping at each row.
My main problem was my own preferences. I don't like the whole 3-D look. I don't like extraneous bits protruding from one's head. So, my hat was more Dalek-inspired, I guess. Because of that, my hat didn't have the lights on either side of his "head." His eye stalk was flush with the hat as opposed to extended. The ridges were made with post stitches and use of back loop only a couple of times. Really, the only modifications I would change to the pattern I came up with would be to "basic beanie" a couple of more times before starting the vents and to work out to 66 or 72 stitches instead of the 60 I used. I was afraid the post stitching would make it too loose. It fit TJ but was a wee bit snug on me.
NOT THAT ANY OF THAT MATTERS BECAUSE I CAN'T SHOW YOU.
Just grrrrr.
Any I'm really not sure about The Rules on this kind of thing. I mean, clearly, I would offer you the pattern free. Is that okay since I'm not gaining from it? Then again, I can't stop you from selling what you would make. Personally, even if I did the craft fair thing, I would not sell this type of hat because I'm not BBC associated. I guess it doesn't matter since I'm not posting it anyway because what's the point if you can't see it?
Moving on. Since my Dalek got so much positive attention, I decided to try my hand (hehehe) at making a TARDIS hat. Now, there are several options already out there. They are lovely. I just don't like following patterns. Is that wrong? It's definitely weird. Plus, I was practicing the skill of working from an image and using it as inspiration. Again, I should've gone out to 66 or 72 stitches - or perhaps maybe used a different count altogether - but my friends were really positive about the one I managed to eke out.
It goes like this. The tip-top is supposed to stick straight up. I just couldn't do it, but I liked the idea of having something light-like on top, so I started with a generic Magic Circle, 12dc. Then I switched to white, used 2sc around, and switched back to blue. Using some post stitches, I worked over the white. That gave me a sort of peek-a-boo circle of "light" at the very top of the hat. Of course, looking AT the hat you wouldn't notice it, but someone seeing from above would get it. Then I used more back loop only to get the ridge or step-down look the TARDIS has. The top isn't level. It has grades. Again, I should've added some depth before beginning the pattern, but I didn't know that at the time.
*Deep breath*
I made a round of black and then post stitched every 15 stitches to create four sides. I planned to use posts to do the lights. I tried it. It never worked right. The photo(s) I had clearly showed significant swatches of BLUE around the windows. So, for the first time ever, I used stranding. Or perhaps carrying. In any event, I would stitch a few dc, running the unused color under the stitches. Then I'd switch off and run over the first color. Look, it sounds crazy, but it's not that complicated. In the end, I wound up with four "sides" and all the windows, plus the "Pull to Open" sign.
It's all rather abstract, of course. I didn't embroider the "Police Box" portion. I didn't fake-scribble the signage. My friends thought it was cool, so I was happy. Of course, I'll fiddle with it again, but for a first attempt, it's pretty nice.
Plus, I figure there have to be some people out there who are like me. People who like things that are inspired-by rather than explicit replications. I have to say, though, even if I do post this one, I'm not sure how popular it'd be. It has some weird stitches and techniques. It's not hard to accomplish, but it was crazy-weird to write it out and not sound like a gibberish spouting psychopath.
Because I can't leave well enough alone, I went back into it and decided to make a TARDIS plush. OH MY LORD! Have you ever tried to make a plush with corners? I'm serious. Have you ever tried to crochet anything, really, with true corners as opposed to rounded edges? The TARDIS is clearly a box. It needs edges. It needs to be square. If I'm going to stuff it, it needs to be secure. To start, I again looked up some patterns. Nope. Those were all clearly rounded. Nope. I didn't want to use special notions. Back to starting from scratch...
I first made a Magic Circle full of hdc. Then I had to figure out how to square a circle. Then I had to find a way to "bring it back in" so it didn't swell from the bottom and send it all wonky. Then I had to Find A Way to Square a Plush. You know my solution by now, right? Yeah. I used a post stitch. I post stitched every corner stitch, which squared things up quite nicely. I do have a set of windows that is a bit offset from the rest because it technically started on an earlier round, but it's not obvious. I played with stranding again. It was actually rather annoying because I would do as few as ONE stitch and then change the color back again. It was only for a few rows, so it was okay.
In the end, I have a pretty cute little TARDIS. And I made it all on my own, taught myself a few new things, and got some practice with working from an image to create something with yarn.
Now that all of that excitement is over, I have no idea what I'll do tonight. I actually have a couple of ideas - and they have nothing to do with time traveling aliens!
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