Octopus of Reality

I know I've given you crocheted cephalopods before - but this one is meant for a baby, not a kitty, and is totally cuter. Modest, aren't I? But the cuteness made me squirm even whilst making it! I mean, look at it!

"Oh, hi - just swimming along here in the ocean..."

My very pregnant friend has an undersea-themed nursery, and this is my contribution. Baby is coming any day now and I'm pleased to have this happy little invertebrate done in time for her arrival. This post's title, by the way, is an inside joke with my mom based on a Passat commercial a few years ago (anybody?).

If you want one too, here is the pattern, with two disclaimers:
1) It's been so long since I did crocheting, I may not have my terminology right, so please forgive me; and
2) Any similarities to your stuffed octopus pattern are unintentional. I looked at a few examples but didn't directly copy any of them, at least that I'm aware of.

Materials:
- 1 ball (the WHOLE ball) Rowan All-Seasons Cotton (60% cotton, 40% acrylic, 50g), #217 "Lime Leaf." It's soft, it works up nicely, it comes in adorable colors, and it's machine washable!
- A small amount of scrap worsted weight yarn in a contrasting color, machine washable please, for the face. In this case some Berroco Pure Merino Heather in color "Tyrolean Alps."
- US G crochet hook.
- Polyfill, or alternate stuffing of your choice. Also machine washable.


Pattern:

*** I worked mine in a spiral, but if you prefer your crocheting to be joined evenly at each row, feel free to adapt as necessary.

HEAD/BODY:
Chain 2.
1 - Work 4 single crochets in 2nd chain from hook.
2 - 2 single crochets in each stitch - 8 total.
3 - (1 half double crochet (hdc) in next stitch, 2 hdcs in next stitch) around - 12 total.
4 - Repeat row 3 - 18.
5 - (1 hdc each in next 2 stitches, 2 hdcs in next stitch) around - 24.
6 - Repeat row 5 - 32.
7 - (1 hdc each in next 3 stitches, 2 hdcs in next stitch) around - 40.
8 & 9 - Work even in single crochet.
10-13 - Work even in hdcs.
14 & 15 - Work even in single crochet.
16 - (1 hdc each in next 3 stitches, hdc next 2 stitches together) around - 32.
17 - Work even in single crochet and finish off, leaving a long tail for attaching tentacles.


TENTACLES (make 8):
Chain 2.
1 - Work 4 single crochets in 2nd chain from hook.
2 - 2 single crochets in each stitch - 8 total.
3 - (1 sincle crochet in next stitch, 2 single crochets in next stitch) around - 12 total.
4-11 - Work even in single crochet. Finish off.


BOTTOM:
Chain 2.
1 - Work 4 single crochets in 2nd chain from hook.
2 - 2 single crochets in each stitch - 8 total.
3 - (1 single crochet in next stitch, 2 single crochets in next stitch) around - 12 total.
4 - Repeat row 3 - 18.
5 - (1 single crochet each in next 2 stitches, 2 single crochets in next stitch) around - 24.
6 - Repeat row 5 - 32. Finish off.


FINISHING:
How you do the facial features are up to you. In fact, if you leave it without a face, it's still pretty darn cute.

"Here is my backside, or, the no-face version."

But, if you want a face like mine - the eyes are done just like the start of the tentacles or bottom piece:
Chain 2.
1 - Work 4 single crochets in 2nd chain from hook.
2 - 2 single crochets in each stitch - 8 total.
Then attach to head/body doing your best to get the edges of the eyes to lie flat. I think the sparkles, a simple X using the body color, add a nice touch. Then eyebrows and mouth are embroidered on, going over each line several times and attempting approximate symmetry.

Attaching everything together takes just a little bit of patience. I used single crochets to join 4 stitches of each tentacle to the bottom piece (32 stitches), and the next 2 stitches at each end of the tentacle to the next tentacle. At this point you'll get a flower shape and can start stuffing each tentacle. Then I used slip stitches to join the remaining 32 tentacle stitches to the head/body, pausing before working the last several stitches to finish up with stuffing. Finish off and hide all the ends inside.

"Flower Power!"

Home-Ownership

So, for those who don't already know, B and I have been in the process of moving to Monterey, CA. Actually we came out to California for house hunting in July, and put an offer down on our first house.

It took one day shy of 10 weeks to get our approval. That = today.

As for the house, it was a pre-foreclosure, and let's just say it has a ton of potential.


Now the fun begins...

Entertainment Value = High

This is a very entertaining knit-related blog I came across while perusing another very entertaining but non-knit-related blog called Cake Wrecks.

Why Would You Knit That?

I particularly like the "penguin," the power cords.. and the *ahem* tissue cover is pretty doggone disturbing.

"Nosy" Neighbors

Last summer, a family of four armadillos made several appearances around the yard. This year, three of them are back, and with a bold new outlook. See what I mean?

Aren't they cute?

It's The Thought That Counts

....Right?

This is a tale about how my plans for Mother's Day socks went awry, with a cautionary note about a yarn shop I won't be patronizing any more.

At the beginning of April I decided to do a little online yarn shopping. Socks are quickly becoming a regular gift from me, and Mother's Day was far enough away that it was absolutely doable. Earlier this year I had purchased some yarn from kpixie.com, and they give out a coupon code when you register a new account that you get to use on your second purchase, so, that's where I decided to shop. They have a pretty well-designed website, and what appears at first glance to be a great selection of less standard sock yarns. But appearances can be deceiving.

I picked out a great yarn. It was called Mama Llama, which I've never used or even seen in person before, but it was for my mama, she loves llamas, so.. yeah. Plus it was washable and came in a really neat colorway. So I added the Panama Purple to my shopping cart. Then, well, if I'm going to pay for shipping I might as well order yarn for a few projects, right? So I picked out some nice manly yarn - Madeline Tosh Somewhat Solid (which I have used before and LOVE) in Graphite - and some TOFUtsies for a friend. I also added to the cart some size 2 dpns, because I recently broke one of my bamboo ones, and kpixie had the Swallow casein ones and I think I'd be much less likely to break one of those. I entered my coupon code and placed my order. It was April 8th.

The next day I got an email saying that they did not have 2 skeins left of the Madeline Tosh Graphite, just one. One skein of this yarn is enough for a pair of socks, but I know more than one man and I had been intending to make two pairs of socks. But I could still get a whole project out of the one skein, so I said fine, refund me for the other and send the order.

Then I waited. And waited. And checked my order status on their webpage obsessively. On April 21 it still said "Processing," so I found the email I had gotten from the girl at kpixie, and sent a query to that address trying to figure out what was going on. Another week went by with no response, so I went to their homepage and filled out a "Contact Us" form. The tone was slightly more heated, I confess, than the email had been. May 1st I got a response. It said:

"We dropped the ball with your order."

They had not shipped it yet. AND, they did not have ANY of the Mama Llama in stock. (I feel that there was probably plenty on April 8th.) They said they would refund me for that yarn as well as my shipping charge and would send the rest of the order that day, and they gave me another coupon code for my next order.

So, no Mama Llama for Mother's Day. And sure, everybody makes mistakes, sometimes orders get overlooked, and I know yarn shops are often run by creatively disorganized people. But only one of the three yarns I ordered were they able to provide in the full quantity. Plus, I mentioned I had shopped with them earlier this year - well, half of that order wound up being backordered, and I only found that out after the money had come out of my account.

I wrote them an email expressing my dissatisfaction with their shop. I felt it was not an overreaction. I was not terribly heated in my verbiage, but did suggest that they make a stronger attempt to keep their stock updated on their website, etc. I also mentioned that my gift intentions had been spoiled by their mistake. The response I got back was a brief apology and:

"We ship almost all orders in less than 24 hours. It is very rare for us to have a customer who is not pleased."

WHO CARES? *I* was not pleased.

I'm not saying that no one should shop at this store. You may do as you like. But do so with this word of caution - try not to have deadlines dependent on their timeliness.

Oh, and my order came yesterday. At least, what was left of it. And casein needles smell funny.


As for Mother's Day, my mom is actually going to be in town this weekend. I'll figure something out.