I may make ugly pigs, but damn I make cute babies. This, of course, is Esther (and doesn't she look wonderfully alert & grown since her last appearance in this blog?) with Kalua (as in the barbequed pork, not the coffee liquer) in her lap.I was originally planning to sell the pig on my MWT store (link in the sidebar, since I just got a comment asking about it), but it just turned out too ugly. One of the legs is 14 sts around, and the other one is 15 sts around--still not sure how I added in that extra stitch. The arms are sewn on oddly, and the amigurumi-style eyes give the whole thing a distinctly evil cast. So I really don't think it would sell, but that's a-OK, because Esther adores it. And I learned a lot about how I'm going to be making amigurumi in the future. I stumbled across a miniature Cabbage Patch Kid that I adore the size and proportions of, so I matched the pig up to it, roughly. I'll be doing that in the future since it turned out so well in that regard. The heads are going to be bigger, though (I liked all that doll's proportions). Here's a close-up of Kalua's head:
The nostrils turned out kind of off-center. I'm still not certain how that happened.
OK, technical stuff: I made the pig from Caron Simply Soft using a 4mm hook. I made the head from the snout down, and used actual embroidery thread to embroider the features. For the ears, I crocheted in one loop only where I wanted them to go, so I'd have a loop free to come back to later. Then I attached the yarn and crocheted them in place. I finished off the head in what is now the back, then joined the yarn on the bottom and crocheted the neck & torso from there. To close up the torso, I did a row of sc through both the front & the back of the last round, then to make the first leg I merely crocheted in first the front loop only and then the back loop only of the single row, did 10 rows of sc in pink then two in black, reduced in black once, stuffed, & sewed the leg closed. The arms were crocheted seperately from the hoof up & sewn on.
***
I swear, I don't try to create drama. But it sure seems to be finding me lately. As I mentioned before, I asked for feedback for my crochet store. Part of that feedback included, unbeknownst to me, someone hotlinking to a photograph of a blanket and doll. (I don't think either was crocheted, but honestly I didn't look that closely, so the blanket might have been.) Understandably, a relative of the woman who owned the photo tracked the thread down and complained. The photo was taken down immediately--the poster didn't have a clue what she was doing was illegal, and the admin had thus far not known what was going on either.
Anyway, to shorten the story somewhat, admin decided to make a general announcement that we shouldn't hotlink images or infringe upon copyright. Stupid me decided to point out that you cannot copyright an idea. So now I've had some dolt accuse me of advertising my willingness to violate someone's copyright by copying their idea. Now, I don't do this to begin with. I have zero interest in packaging blankets and dolls together. I have little interest in making blankets, for that matter. I did volunteer to take custom orders, and said that as part of showing me what you wanted, you could use photos to point me in the right direction. Which, of course, was interpreted as "I'll make exactly the same thing." Well, it was interpreted that way by this one person, who is now waging her own little "Sabra is evil" campaign.
Let me be clear. I do not LIKE drama. I want no part in drama. I take incredible offense, however, at the accusation that I am infringing on anyone's copyright. I am not. This particular woman understands most aspects of copyright (though she is apparently clueless on how it applies to handicrafts), but is totally clueless about crochet. And this is the perfect example which occurred to me last night (because, like most people, the brilliant comebacks occur to me after the fact): right now I have in my possession at least three different patterns for "crocheted Mary Janes". And by that I mean just the baby bootie version. There's a version in the issue of Annie's Favorite Crochet Patterns on my bedtable, another in a bootie booklet, and one I'm positive of in my large collection of books. And I'm pretty darned sure there are more lurking in there somewhere. Of course, this doesn't speak of the many versions I know to exist online. They all look alike, and most of them use the exact same weight of yarn, and I'd be surprised if they didn't share a hook size or two. But none of them have infringed upon anyone else's copyright. No more than the shrug I can buy at Wal-Mart infringes upon the rights of whoever makes the shrugs Lane Bryant sells!
Anyway, to shorten the story somewhat, admin decided to make a general announcement that we shouldn't hotlink images or infringe upon copyright. Stupid me decided to point out that you cannot copyright an idea. So now I've had some dolt accuse me of advertising my willingness to violate someone's copyright by copying their idea. Now, I don't do this to begin with. I have zero interest in packaging blankets and dolls together. I have little interest in making blankets, for that matter. I did volunteer to take custom orders, and said that as part of showing me what you wanted, you could use photos to point me in the right direction. Which, of course, was interpreted as "I'll make exactly the same thing." Well, it was interpreted that way by this one person, who is now waging her own little "Sabra is evil" campaign.
Let me be clear. I do not LIKE drama. I want no part in drama. I take incredible offense, however, at the accusation that I am infringing on anyone's copyright. I am not. This particular woman understands most aspects of copyright (though she is apparently clueless on how it applies to handicrafts), but is totally clueless about crochet. And this is the perfect example which occurred to me last night (because, like most people, the brilliant comebacks occur to me after the fact): right now I have in my possession at least three different patterns for "crocheted Mary Janes". And by that I mean just the baby bootie version. There's a version in the issue of Annie's Favorite Crochet Patterns on my bedtable, another in a bootie booklet, and one I'm positive of in my large collection of books. And I'm pretty darned sure there are more lurking in there somewhere. Of course, this doesn't speak of the many versions I know to exist online. They all look alike, and most of them use the exact same weight of yarn, and I'd be surprised if they didn't share a hook size or two. But none of them have infringed upon anyone else's copyright. No more than the shrug I can buy at Wal-Mart infringes upon the rights of whoever makes the shrugs Lane Bryant sells!
Happier Things
I have one more project to share, another toddler halter top:
I used Caron Simply Soft Brites for this one, & a 4.5 mm hook. It's a variant on the pattern I made for the last halter top you saw in this space. The top is exactly the same except for being striped. The bottom is a variant on the ZigZag Lozenge stitch from the Harmony Guide's 300 Crochet Stitches, which, by the way is not a violation of copyright. There are several more photos of it in my MomsWhoThink store, where it's up for sale. Because, of course, it's winter and no one will buy a halter top. Nevermind that a halter top is all I've actually sold. (I appeared for a brief time to have a commission for a hat, but I haven't heard from the member in several days...)
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