The Fluffy Tribble!

I crocheted a tribble today. What did you do?

Yes, that's right. For reasons I can't even begin to explain, I decided to crochet a tribble. Finally a use for that eyelash yarn I bought in a fit of insanity last winter!

Anyway, if you want your own tribble, it's a very simple pattern. I'm only posting it because a friend wants it.


Supplies
Yarn Bee Wild Child, Port Wine (one half skein)
Yarn Bee Wild Child, Swiss Alm (one half skein)

K hook
Yarn needle

Three handfuls of polyester stuffing

Hold two strands together throughout. It can be the same yarn, or two different ones.

Top half
Round 1: Using the magic adjustable ring, ch 1, then sc 8. Join.

Round 2: Ch 1 for the turning ch, then sc 2 in ea sc. (16 st)

Round 3: Ch 1 for turning ch, *sc 2 in next sc, sc 1 in next sc* repeat 7 more times, then join. (24 st)

Round 4: Ch 1 for turning ch, *sc 1 in next 2 sc, sc 2 in next sc* repeat 7 more times, then join. (32 st)

Round 5: Ch 1 for turning ch, *sc 2 in first sc, sc 1 in next 7 sc* repeat 3 more times, then join. (36 st)

Round 6: Ch 1 for turning ch, sc 1 in ea sc, join. (36 st)

Round 7: repeat

Round 8: repeat

Round 9: repeat

Leave a very long tail on this, three to four times the circumference of the piece; you'll use it to sew the pieces together.


Bottom Half
Round 1: Using the magic adjustable ring, ch 1, then sc 8. Join.

Round 2: Ch 1 for the turning ch, then sc 2 in ea sc. (16 st)

Round 3: Ch 1 for turning ch, *sc 2 in next sc, sc 1 in next sc* repeat 7 more times, then join. (24 st)

Round 4: Ch 1 for turning ch, *sc 1 in 5 next sc, sc 2 in next sc* repeat 3 more times, then join. (28 st)

Round 5: Ch 1 for turning ch, *sc 2 in next sc, sc 1 in next 6 sc*, repeat 3 more times, then join. (32 st)

Round 6: Ch 1 for turning ch, *sc 1 in next 7 sc, sc 2 in next sc* repeat 3 more times, then join. (36 st)

Round 7: Ch 1 for turning ch, sc 1 in ea sc. (36 st)


Assembly
I won't even pretend this is the best way to sew together a tribble; but it worked.

First, look at your tribble pieces and decide which side you want to be on the outside. It's quite possible that the wrong side will be fluffier; it was on mine. If necessary, use a yarn needle to pull the tails from the adjustable ring to the inside.

Place the wrong sides together. Thread your yarn needle with the long tails from the top half. Line up the stitches, and whipstitch the two pieces together using one or two stitches per pair of single crochet stitches. (Your two halves will probably have slightly different diameters, but both have the exact same number of stitches. As long as you line up the stitches, it will all work out.) Leave enough of a gap to turn your tribble right side out.

Once you've turned the tribble, stuff it. You don't want it packed firm, but you will probably need more stuffing that you think. (Unless you've made lots of stuffed toys.) Once you like your results, stitch the opening shut.

Knot the ends, then thread the needle with only one strand of the yarn. Squeeze the tribble flat, then push the needle into the seam near the knot and pull it out through the top or bottom of the tribble. Still squeezing the tribble, trim the end close to the piece. Once you let it go, the end will disappear into the body. Repeat with the other strand of yarn.

The seam will probably be very visible, but you can fix that. The long fluffy pieces will be stuck in the seam. Use your needle or fingers to pull the fibers loose, and the stitching will disappear. Take care, though, that you don't snag the body of the yarn (the thick part you crocheted with.)


And that's it. This is my first time writing out a pattern, so I hope it makes sense.

Using what you knit...

You know, it feels really great to make a special project and finally get a chance to wear it!

For instance... A few weeks ago my beloved husband took me to the Atlanta Opera, at their new home, no less. We saw Turandot, which I definitely enjoyed. I wore a spaghetti strap black velvet dress, but it can get a bit cool in the evening (occasionally) in October. So I decided to wear my Gothy Scribbling Shawl from Mason-Dixon Knitting, for the very first time!

It felt so special! I felt really fancy, too. It was the perfect choice. :) And I felt even more special when the opera volunteers started handing out these really gorgeous Asian fans to all the ladies!

Wheel of Time Scarves

I love CraftBorg, which is a really fun, totally geeky podcast. The hosts, Rosemary and Julie, are big fans of both Harry Potter and Star Trek (yeah, no surprise there), as well as all sorts of other fangirl stuff. Sadly, they haven't updated in months, but there are seventeen episodes available.

Anyway, they both make Harry Potter socks. No, not socks with the Harry Potter characters on them, or house-striped socks, or socks from the movie. They make socks inspired by and named for Harry Potter characters. They choose colors, patterns, and yarns to reflect the character's personality, interests, and tastes. As soon as I heard that, I thought, "Oh! I love that!" Of course, I have no interest in making Harry Potter socks, but I love the concept: letting the characters from your favorite fiction shape your knitting!

Now think about the Wheel of Time...there are so many interesting characters! And Robert Jordan always puts such effort into each character, so there's plenty of material to work with. So, I've decided to make some Wheel of Time scarves... I love scarves, so it's going to be fun!

My first scarf is for Pevara Tazanovni, an Aes Sedai of the Red Ajah. As a novice, she was close friends with Seaine Herimon, but had to break off the friendship upon gaining the shawl. When Elaida charged Seaine with searching out the Black Ajah, the White recruited Pevara to help.

Pevara, a pretty woman with dark eyes and a cheerful nature, is not your typical Red: she actually likes men, and she's quite notorious for her belief that Reds would find Warders useful. She is open to Aes Sedai of other Ajahs, even though the Red Ajah strongly discourages friendships outside the Ajah.

I'm doing the Turkish Stitch version from A Trio of Scarves. I chose South West Trading Company Bamboo in Red Jester. The deep reds represent her ajah, of course, and the Turkish stitch is lacy buy restrained, which reflects the balancing act that has so shaped Pevara: the demands of her ajah versus the demands of her heart.

So far, I'm having a blast!

Warm Hands for Late-Night Gaming

I'm a total night owl, so most of my online gaming (Guild Wars or Diablo II) happens late at night. Cold hands are the bane of my existence in the late fall and winter, and we've already had a couple of cold-ish nights. So I decided to pull out my Andean Treasure 100% baby alpaca from Knit Picks and headed to Ravelry to comb through the handwarmer and fingerless glove patterns.

I decided to crochet a pair, since it's quicker. I'm making a modified version of the Wristables from Crochet Me. I'm pretty happy with the results so far: I've finished the first one, and I'm about halfway through the cuff of the second one. :)

Can't wait to finish! After that, I have to move on to my Christmas crafting...

100 Themes...Will I ever learn?

I have got to stop visiting Craftster! On a whim, I decided to visit the ATC section and just browse around. Big, big mistake! The artist trading card bug has bitten me again...but now I want to work on the "One Hundred Themes" project.

Yep, one hundred. I have to make one hundred artist trading cards. I was so inspired I made a little checklist, sized to fit in an ATC sleeve, of course! Download it and use it if you want. I figured I might as well convert it, since InDesign makes is so very easy!

I've done number twenty-three, Cat, number sixty-one, Fairy Tale, and number sixty-three, Do Not Disturb. The first one is very literal, but the other two aren't really.

Let's see, that's ninety-seven to go...