More coral reefer madness

More coral reefer madness!  Using different texture yarns, and different increase algorithms for the hyperbolic corals is compelling, to see how the resulting coral will turn out.  Plus, a little free form crochet for coral reef denizens that aren't hyperbolic :-)

The little fish are from a free pattern (NOT one of mine) available here:

http://www.buddyrumi.com/blog/2012/7/14/little-fish-free-pattern.html

I modified the basic pattern, shown on the right, to make a little clownfish, shown on the left. 

The basic hyperbolic shapes for this reef are shown below, plus a couple of free form sponges.

I'm starting to run out of space!  It would be nice to turn this into a wallhanging. 

Crochet a Coral Reef

Pearl and Urchin need a place to live, and a beautiful coral reef is just the place.  This is something that you can make for your own resident mermaids, with stash yarn and simple stitches.  Along the way, you may discover how beautiful and fragile coral reef ecosystems are.

Here are some pattern guidelines for making your own coral reef:

Crochet Coral Reef

The idea for crocheting a coral reef has been around for several years; a driving force for this is the Institute For Figuring.  Their website has a wealth of information on coral reefs, the threats they face, and the project to create coral reefs from crochet.  Here are some additional websites with pictures, information, and patterns:

The Gainsville Florida reef information, links, and patterns
Crocheted corals on Pinterest pictures of crochet corals from many sources

This is the kind of project you can make as small or large as you like, or 'grow' it over time.  Mine is rather small and mounted on a wooden plaque, but I think that it will grow :-)

Welcome to our undersea home!

The Mermaids Tail

Urchin is a mermaid of the coral reef.  Here is a pattern to turn your Forget-Me-Knot into a siren of the seas :-)

Mermaids Tale

She needs a coral reef to live in, and so my next project will be to crochet her one.  If you've never heard of the idea of crocheting a coral reef, just do a Google search on 'crochet coral reef.'  You will be blown away by the color and forms and amazing realism of a crocheted coral reef :-)

Enjoy the day, and enjoy the crochet!

Mushroom Manor

Fern's wish has come true!  She and Merlin now have a cozy little Mushroom Manor to call home :-)  A little place to curl up in at night, and stay dry when the rains come.  I have a picture tutorial for making the Mushroom Manor on Flickr.  All you need is some worsted yarn from your stash, and some cardboard and oatmeal containers that would probably end up in the landfill.  Other embellishments to the scene are from this blog under 'Crochet an outdoor setting.'

Fern is also pleased to finally have some clothes!  I made her a dress from some pretty crochet lace, for which there is a tutorial to do this.

We've been happily crocheting these sweet summer days.  Hope you are making some joy in your life as well :-)

Merlin the Hedgehog

Fern found a friend, and named him Merlin :-)  He is a wee hedgehog, and here is the pattern:

Merlin the Hedgehog

Merlin is about 1 3/4 inches long, made from fingering weight and laceweight yarns.  The perfect size companion for the Forget-Me-Knots.  Larger versions can be made using sport or worsted weight yarns.

Enjoy the crochet!

Fern Forget-Me-Knot

Current work in progress is Fern Forget-Me-Knot.  She is a wee Elfin maid, making herself at home among the Hostas.

Her wig is full styling.  The wig cap was crocheted with laceweight kid mohair yarn and a size 2 steel hook.  I worked in the front loops for the entire cap, then hooked strands of yarn into the unworked loops all over the cap.  Yarn was hooked into each stitch on the last row, then in every other stitch all around the cap.  It took a little time, but it is easy to do and perfect if you're listening to good music or watching a movie. 

Fern tells me she would like to live in a mushroom...hmmm....gotta think about this one for a bit :-)

Forget-Me-Knot goodness

Art imitates art!  The Forget-Me-Knot kids are also great subject matter for some simple embroidery.  Here, Emma and Elizabeth (the latest Forget-Me-Knot) become the inspiration for a bit of needlework.  Stem Stitch, French knots, lazy daisyies, and a bit of colored pencil.

Elizabeth is wearing a very simple knit dress and undies, for which the pattern is here:

Simple Knit Sundress

She put on a sweater this morning to see how the Fairy garden was growing...

As you can see, it is growing very well indeed :-)

Unhappy with Flickr?

Those of you who are Flickr members are aware by now of the draconian changes made to this photo-sharing site.  This post isn't meant to be a rant against Flickr; there is plenty of that on Flickr's own site.  Suffice it to say that I find the new Flickr a visual disaster, and achingly, achingly slow to load.

But there are other choices in photo sharing sites, and the one I looked in to is called Ipernity.  They offer a free account or a paid account, similar to what Flickr members were used to.  I created a free account, customized a home page and loaded a few pictures, just to give it a test run.  To see what it looks like:

My Ipernity home page

I like it.  It is clean and simple with a user interface very similar to the old Flickr, and with a respect for our photos: treating them as worthy of individual attention, instead of cramming them en mass in our face.  From an aesthetic standpoint, I prefer to view against white instead of black...of course, this might also have something to do with failing eyesight :-)

Choice is good.  I think I am going to choose Ipernity over Flickr for future photo sharing.  I hope some of you will come and play in this new playground.

My girls will be looking forward to seeing you there!

UPDATE, June 1, 2013:  Have finished transferring over 3400 pictures from Flickr to Ipernity.  Over the next several weeks I will slowly delete the photos from Flickr (I hope!).  I will leave the tutorials with a single picture and a link to the new tutorial home on Ipernity.  

Beauty

...Beauty is its own excuse for being.  Ralph Waldo Emerson