The elephant in the room

I mentioned Craftster in my previous post, but I did not really get into how awesome this website is. Basically, it is an enormous forum for discussing, showing off, and looking at all things crafty and homemade. Craftster has a huge user base, and there is enough info and cool stuff to look at on there that you would likely never get through it all.

One of the neat things on Craftster is the organized swap. There are constantly swaps going on, and they all pretty much work the same way:

• Someone comes up with a theme for a swap and posts it
• People sign up
• Original poster divides participants into pairs
• Each participant makes something and sends it to their partner

There are specific guidelines laid out for each swap, but this is basically how it goes. I hadn't done a swap in a while, and decided I felt like doing one the other week. I love making little stuffed animals, so when I saw there was a stuffie swap going on, I thought it could be a lot of fun.

The girl I was paired up with is German, and right around my age. (I am not the only one in my mid-20s who appreciates a stuffie swap. Ha!) When you sign up, you have to fill out a questionnaire so as to give your partner an idea of what you'd like to receive. One of my swap partner's favorite animals is the elephant, so I decided that's what I'd make for her.

When I crochet an animal, I don't use a pattern. I crochet enough that I kind of just know how much to increase or decrease to get the shape I want (most seasoned crocheters would probably tell you the same thing). I work in spirals, creating hollow shapes that I stuff and assemble. Basically, I just make it up as I go along...

Here's a shot of the trunk/head when it still just looked like a cone:

And here are the pieces once I finished them, pre-assembly:

And post-assembly, sitting on my computer:

Now, I liked how the simple, cream-colored shape of the elephant was looking, but it still needed a little something else....

Ribbon?

A good start, but not quite enough. So I added fabric paint eyes and a felt heart, and it was finally finished.

She's on her way to Germany now, I hope she makes her new owner smile :)

Yes, sir, I am crazy.

So this past weekend was my best friend Kristin's bridal shower/bachelorette. It was a super time, and I couldn't be more excited for her :)
Anyway, I gave her a framed photo (that Doug took) of the place where she and her fiance met, but I also wanted to give her something else. I was planning to buy something and considering all the options, when I realized that it's just not my style. So a handmade gift it would be.

This is where the crazy comes in.

I decided on Sunday, the week before her shower, to crochet a blanket for her. For all you non-yarncrafters, this is an immense amount of work. Luckily, I am a pretty quick crocheter, so I dove in headfirst. I used a Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired pattern that can be found here. I omitted one row of squares, so as to change it from a rectangle shape to a square, as I imagine it being used as a sofa throw, and the size as dictated by the pattern is quite large for this purpose. I had actually seen this pattern a while ago, and thought it would be nice in shades of purple (her favorite color) as a gift for Kristin and her fiance, but forgot about it.

Long story short... despite working and going to class all week, I managed to finish (with the exception of the border) in time for the party on Sunday. Whew! My hands were a little crampy, I'll tell you that much.

I will post better pics once I get it back to do the simple border (a quick job, I just ran out of time), but for now here are two from the shower: