Patterns Discontinued?

For a variety of reasons, I won’t be renewing my business license at the end of the year. What does this mean? Well, it means that all of the patterns that are for sale will be discontinued. The free patterns on the blog will still definitely still be here. I’m not ruling out the possibility of starting up again in the future, but for now they will be discontinued.

Giveaway… Done!

I random.org’ed it, and the results:

That would be… Jenn T! I’ve emailed you!

Thank you to everyone who entered, and big thanks to everyone who follows The Craft Frog on Facebook!

Giveaway!

I have reached 1000 “likes” on Facebook, so it’s time for a giveaway! YAY!

The prize? Up to $15.00 of patterns from Ravelry. Why Ravelry? ‘Cause they’re slightly cheaper there. Yup.

To enter, simply leave a note on this post, and I will random.org it on Wednesday, April 22. Make sure that you’re leaving a comment with a real email address (it’ll prompt you for one) so that I can get in touch with you if you win!

I Made a Thing

I’ve been working on the same gloves forever. It has officially warmed up and I’ve kinda lost motivation.

So I made something else.

IT’S A HAT!!!
Pattern from Ravelry.
It worked up REALLY quickly. I ended up using a J hook and adding a couple of rows to the back, but it was, like… Normally I find doing row after row of sc is so tedious, but this shaped up really well that it wasn’t boring. I am a fan, I definitely recommend the pattern.

Dorothy, 18 Inch Doll Style

So… Dorothy. And Toto. And a basket, of course, because how else is Dorothy supposed to carry Toto?

Available on Ravelry
There she is! Of course, working on this made me get Africa by Toto stuck in my head again, for like… weeks.
(Doo doo doo doo doo doo!)
It was bad. But then Shakira’s hips defeated Toto, so that made it okay.

Part of the reason this took so long to come out was… Well, I made it to fit snugly. Like, super snugly. My daughter (age 6) can dress and undress the doll, but it’s a super close fit. So if you do make this and you can’t get your gauge to match up super exactly, err on the side of being a little bigger. For reals. Not huge, obviously, but bigger better than smaller.

In other news… Sigh. I’m staying with Etsy for now, and I can tell you exactly how happy I am about that. However, I can’t restrict who I sell to on Craftsy, so I took all of my paid patterns off of there. It stinks, because I super love Craftsy as a platform. Maybe, as the year goes on and everyone figures out a little better how this whole VAT thing will affect foreign small businesses, I’ll be able to get them back up, but we’ll see.

I’m not entirely sure what I’ll be making next. My mind is having trouble focusing on things, so I’m all, “MAKE ALL THE THINGS!”

Stanley

We did Secret Santa this year, with the idea that whatever we give should be handmade, if possible. I got my husband’s bestie, who just happened to have his gallbladder out a couple of weeks ago, and I was all, “THAT’S PERFECT! I’LL DO THAT.”

So I did that. This is Stanley the gallbladder!

“A gallbladder looks like a pear?”

Well, yes. Basically. I went a-googlin’ for images, and I got a ton of different shapes. It looked like a penis, it looked like an eggplant, but the most common shape was the pear-esque shape, so… Stanley.

PATTERN! Gauge- no. I used an E-hook with worsted weight yarn, but for reals, just as long as it’s tight enough to keep your stitches in.

Gallbladder – stuff as you go
1) ch 2, 6 sc in 2nd ch from hook, join with sl st (6)
2) ch 1, 2 sc in each sc around, join with sl st (12)
3) ch 1, *sc, 2 sc in next sc* around, join with sl st (18)
4) ch 1, *sc in next 2 sc, 2 sc in next sc* around, join with sl st (24)
5) ch 1, *sc in next 3 sc, 2 sc in next sc* around, join with sl st (30)
6) ch 1, *sc in next 4 sc, 2 sc in next sc* around, join with sl st (36)
7) ch 1, *sc in next 5 sc, 2 sc in next sc* around, join with sl st (42)
8-14) ch 1, sc in each sc around, join with sl st (42)
15) ch 1, *sc in next 5 sc, dec over 2 sc* around, join with sl st (36)
16) ch 1, *sc in next 4 sc, dec over 2 sc* around, join with sl st (30)
17) ch 1, sc in each sc around, join with sl st (30)
18) ch 1, *sc in next 8 sc, dec over 2 sc* around, join with sl st (27)
19) ch 1, sc in each sc around, join with sl st (27)
20) ch 1, *sc in next 7 sc, dec over 2 sc* around, join with sl st (24)
21) ch 1, sc in each sc around, join with sl st (24)
22) ch 1, *sc in next 6 sc, dec over 2 sc* around, join with sl st (21)
23) ch 1, sc in each sc around, join with sl st (21)
24) ch 1, *sc in next 5 sc, dec over 2 sc* around, join with sl st (18)
25-27) ch 1, sc in each sc around, join with sl st (18)
28) ch 1, *sc in next 4 sc, dec over 2 sc* around, join with sl st (15)
29) ch 1, sc in each sc around, join with sl st (15)
30) ch 1, *sc in next 3 sc, dec over 2 sc* around, join with sl st (12)
31) ch 1, dec over 2 sc around, join with sl st (6)
32-37) ch 1, sc in each sc around, join with sl st, finish off rnd 37, do not sew closed (6)

Common Bile Duct
1) ch 6, join with sl st to form a ring. ch 1, sc in each ch around, join with sl st (6)
2-9) ch 1, sc in each sc around, join with sl st, finish off rnd 9, do not sew closed (6)

Eyes – make 2
1) ch 2, 6 sc in 2nd ch from hook, join with sl st, finish off (6)

Assembly
Sew rnd 37 of gallbladder to middle of common bile duct as shown. Sew eyes to gallbladder, embroider mouth. Weave in all ends.

This Whole VAT Thing

The deal: Beginning today, the EU has decided that all digital sales (pattern PDFs, printables, whatever) are going to be subject to VAT, based on the consumer’s country. The VAT rates are insane, yo, the average tax is 21%.

As I actively avoid the garbage Etsy’s admins post, I found out in an email yesterday. (Ravelry likewise sent me an email.) There is this post in the Etsy forums, and once again it’s the comments that really have the most information. Etsy’s stance basically seems to be, “YOU’RE ON YOUR OWN, GO ASK YOUR ACCOUNTANT.” I don’t have an accountant. A lot of indie sellers probably ALSO don’t have accountants, because we are SMALL businesses. The comments, however, (and the helpful post from Ravelry- more on that in a bit) indicate that it is actually Etsy’s responsibility to deal with this. They’re dropping the ball, and promising “a tool” “soon.”

So. I am not worrying about it- on Etsy. They’re responsible, they’re shirking their responsibility, and they get to deal with the fallout, not me. Screw you, Etsy. What I will probably end up doing is letting all of my listings expire because I’ve already paid for them, and then bailing on Etsy. I can’t even with their crap anymore.

Ravelry, however, had this to say. Have I mentioned lately how much I love Ravelry? They already have a solution. I will be doing as they recommend and moving all of my listings to Love Knitting for EU sales, which will be free for the next 6 months. As it stands, chances are fairly good that I’ll be replacing Etsy with Love Knitting as my other venue.

Happy New Year, y’all!

No, Not That Kind

Okay. So I’ve been COMPLETELY sucked in by Dragon Age: Inquisition. Like, just absorbed. LOVE it. I was a little worried about it because of some of the early reviews, but it is not disappointing (unlike some other games by companies that rhyme with schmoo-schmay that I won’t mention).

Anyway, they have these little critters called Nugs. By the way, don’t google ‘nug’ without any other sort of reference. Just don’t. I was all, I MUST MAKE SOME WITH YARN. So I googled “dragon age nug” and found EXACTLY what I was looking for.

So I made one with yarn.

Described in-game by one of the characters as a “subterranean bunny-pig.” It’s sitting on my chair in that picture and not anywhere subterranean, but I think I got the bunny-pig part down.

Other than that, though, I’ve kinda been taking it easy with the furious crocheting thing. I will be starting my 18″ doll Dorothy costume probably tomorrow, the last few days have been lost to a whole lot of catching the kids up on sleep because they’ve been little monsters. And friend getting the gallbladder will be getting him either at New Year’s or the following weekend, so STANLEY IS COMING!

Hope everyone has a safe and happy New Year!!

Christmas Lights

So there was talk about Stanley the gallbladder, but he hasn’t made his way to his new home yet, so I don’t want to post pictures of him yet. Instead…

Every year I get all, “I WANT TO MAKE ALL OF THE THINGS!!!!” And then December sort of sneaks up in that way it does and I’m all, “… Well, that’s not going to work.” But I wanted to do something, and this seemed like the perfect last minute project…

It’s a garland of Christmas lights! They take no time to make, seriously. I made 20 lights, 10 red and 10 green, mostly done during loading screens while playing Dragon Age: Inquisition. 😉

There is no gauge for this. I used an E-hook and worsted weight yarn, but really the most important thing is that your stitches are tight enough to hold in stuffing.

So, the pattern:

Bulbs- Stuff as you go
1) with red ch 2, 6 sc in 2nd ch from hook, join with sl st (6)
2) ch 1, sc in each sc around, join with sl st (6)
3) ch 1, *sc, 2 sc in next sc* around, join with sl st (9)
4) ch 1, *sc in next 2 sc, 2 sc in next sc* around, join with sl st (12)
5-9) ch 1, sc in each sc around, join with sl st (12)
10) ch 1, dec over 2 sc around, join with sl st (6)
11) with emerald green ch 1, sc in each sc around, join with sl st, finish off (6)

Obviously red can be substituted with whatever color you want.

For the wire, with emerald green, ch for 4″. Pinch the top of the first bulb flat, sc through both layers of middle sc. ch for 6″, attach next bulb in the same way. Keep going until all of the bulbs are attached, ch for 4″, finish off. Sew the tops of the bulbs closed, weaving in and out of each stitch. Weave in all ends.

Done.

Pikachu and Kreacher

They’re besties, obviously.

The kids have been wanting them for a while, and I was all, “Hey, it’s that gifty time coming up soon!” So I made them. These patterns aren’t mine!

For my son:

We went back and forth a bit. Spider-Man Minion, Pikachu, Burpy, Pikachu… This is what we ended up with. Of course, the day I was assembling it, my son was all, “I just want a Spider-Man Minion.” Well, tough. You’re getting Pikachu.
Pattern found here. It’s a really good pattern, very straightforward and easy-to-follow, with clear pictures of how to put it all together.

For my daughter:

Kreacher! She loves Kreacher so much. I have Lego Harry Potter and she LOVES playing Kreacher. I don’t know why, but… Here he is!
Pattern found here. To sum up beforehand, I would recommend this pattern, but definitely not for someone new to amigurumi. At length: let me say first of all that I LOVE how he looks all put together. The shaping is excellent and the designer did a really good job designing him. Also, the first part of the pattern is very well-written. There are clear pictures on how to put everything together on the head, and the fingers are done interestingly, and again… Very clear. However. The last part of the pattern isn’t done as well. Stitch counts are missing, and there’s no clear pictures or instructions on how to assemble everything to the body. The angle for the head, especially, would have been good. What I did was I sewed the head on, sewed the shirt on, and then sewed the arms into the armholes so that I knew it would fit.

I also made a gallbladder. 😀 There will be pics of that soon and a free pattern up on here. Next will be… Probably the Dorothy outfit for my other 18″ doll so she can stop being naked, but I also want to crochet a strand of Christmas lights to hang up in here. So that’ll probably come first.