Rapunzel Cowl

Some of you may remember that last year for Christmas I recieved some gorgeous merino wool from my sweet and thoughtful in-laws.

After a couple trial runs with other wools on my drop spindle, I felt comfortable trying to turn it into yarn.

I came up with a 2-ply DK weight, and the colors in the yarn reminded me a lot of Rapunzel's dress in the movie Tangled.

After several more months of thinking about what the perfect crochet or knit project for this yarn might be, I finally settled on this modern re-telling of Rapunzel's outfit: a cowl in the shape of a thick braid like the one she sometimes wears in her hair!

I chose a button with a sun-like shape because the symbol of Rapunzel's kindom in the movie is the sun.

What do you think? Is is fit for a modern Princess?

-Assunta

PS- If you would like to knit a version of this cowl, the pattern is now available in my Etsy and Ravelry shops! 

Teaser

I've been adding a lot to my crafting tool box lately. This week I ordered a cool new thing to help me with my Etsy shop, and I can't wait to show you what it is!

Other than that, I don't have much news. I still have a few projects going, but I think I'm going to wait until next week to share my progress. Hopefully you'll see why!

Have a great week,

Assunta

Tour de Fleece Day 10 and a Cactus Pattern

Yesterday was Day 10 of Tour de Fleece and my yarn has come quite a long way since you saw it last week! In fact, I now have 126 yards of 2-ply purple goodness soaking and almost ready to knit!

This is after spinning all of the wool into a single strand of yarn.

And this is after plying it all.

Here it is stretched out on the niddy-noddy my friend Jill made for me out of PVC. That's right, I have a noddy-noddy now!

Now it's soaking to help set the color and the twist. I can't wait to see the finished product!

Also, for anyone interested in crocheting their own potted cactus, my pattern is now available on Etsy and Ravelry for $5.

Just keep spinning!

-Assunta

Cinderella Doll Pattern

Remember this little beauty?  I first showed her to you in this blog post back in September. She is now living happily every after at my parents' house. My mom even made her a beautiful box to sleep in, which you can see in her blog Laughing Cat Creative Enterprises!

You can now get the pattern for this doll on Etsy and Ravelry. Don't ask me how to make the box, though, you'll have to ask Momma Cat!

-Assunta

A Very Hawaiian Halloween

A while back my aunt in Hawaii asked me to make her a zombie hula girl and surfer boy. I had made some creepy-cute amigurumi already, so this was a perfect unique variation on that theme. These little guys are are very quick to make and almost too cute to be scary! The best part is, they like spam masubi even bettern than brains so they make better dinner guests than your average zombies.

The reason I am bringing up this project now (besides that October has me thinking more about zombies than usual) is that I just posted the pattern to my Ravelry and Etsy shops. They are so simple, there is definitely time to make a couple in time for Halloween!

Have a spooktacular week, and try not to get eaten.

-Assunta

Cinderella!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Labor Day weekend and didn't have to work on Monday. (I did last year, so it was really nice to have this Labor Day off!)

I have been coming up with more ideas for little posable dolls since the two I made for the art exhibit back in June. My latest one was inspired by Disney's Cinderella, though I intentionally made her a little unique. She is crocheted with Aunt Lydia's crochet cotton and stands 7 1/2'' tall, including her hair.

My version of Cinderella

I used a different technique to make her eyes, which are very anime-inspired. I drew them on paper with ink and colored pencil, and glued them onto her face along with false eyelashes from Ulta.

I carefully shaped her hair into an updo, which took a lot of stitching! 

Tiny, blue earrings from Claire's make great doll earrings.

She even has tiny shoes and a crinoline to keep her skirt extra poofy! She's ready to dance the night away!

I hope to have a few more dolls done in time for the holidays. In the meantime, look for Cinderella in my Etsy shop! 

Hopefully now that my Cinderella doll is done, that song the mice sing in the movie while they are making her dress will get out of my head, haha.

Wishing you lots of fairytale magic,

Assunta

My DREAMING GIRL DOLL PATTERN is finally ready!

The doll pattern I have been promising for weeks is finally done! It took longer than most because of the multiple video tutorials I decided to include with it, namely the wire armature and latchook menthod doll hair tutorials. The pattern is now available on Ravelry and Etsy! I also have a new doll in the works (adapted from this pattern) that will hopefully appear in a blog post in a couple of weeks. 

This sleeping doll is a beautiful dream all by herself! This pattern includes written and illlustrated instructions for this exquisitely detailed, fully posable doll. Worked in fine crochet thread she stands 6.5'' tall. Links to video tutorials are included for additional help. 

Sweet dreams and pretty dolls,

Assunta