Mmm...Donut (shoud have been posted 9/12/10)

I think even Homer Simpson would be proud!

 

This project was actually one that I did specifically for my boyfriend. He LOVES donuts (and not surprisingly, the Simpson’s, too)! I don’t think it matters too much which kind it is, but his favorite is chocolate glazed. When I saw this pattern, I just KNEW I had to make one for him, and probably one for myself, as well, eventually. For some reason I ended up making him a burger first (I made us each one), and it took me quite a while to eventually come around to this project. I did the main body during the first half of a high school football game because it was BORING (I’m not into sports, just the marching band), and the rest I finished off at home fairly quickly (even though I did procrastinate about a week in the finishing).

One thing that I was really happy about was figuring out the icing drips! I started a banana split project a year or more ago that I abandoned for several reasons, one of which was because I couldn’t figure out the drips on the topping (another reason is because one of my cats stole the vanilla scoop, and I have NO idea where it could be!). The pattern I saw online was one that was for purchase only, and I wasn’t having ANY of that! Haha! I deviated from the donut pattern because I felt the drips didn’t quite look like I wanted them to as written. Granted, the perfect donut usually doesn’t have drips, but I like my projects to have character! This is also why I put some “sprinkles” on my boyfriend’s donut, even though he prefers his food without embellishments. When I made his hamburger, I left the “sesame seeds” off the bun for that reason, and since it turns out he really doesn’t mind seeds on his burger bun, there was no real reason for me to have left them off, and I just refused to fall for that again! :D Make it sparkle!

If you are interested, here is the link: http://www.crochetville.org/forum/showthread.php?t=32761.

So why crocheting?

I got involved in yarn crafting because I wanted very specific items that weren’t easily accessible at the time. Years ago, I taught myself how to knit because back then, I couldn’t find any Hogwart’s scarves online that I liked. I actually found a scarf on eBay that were squares of felt sewn together! Yipes! Can you just picture the horror?! Eventually the scarves became commonplace, and so I gave up and bought two in Slytherin colors because my knitting tended to curl under at the edges. Turns out that even though I rarely wear scarves (it IS Louisiana, and the winters usually aren’t too bad, but guess which one I DO wear), I ended up collecting a nice assortment of them, some I’ve made, others were given to me, and the rest were purchases. I did crochet one that was REALLY awesome(technically it is a shawl)! Eventually I will make my way to othe shawls and hip scarves (I eventually want to be a gypsy fortune teller for Halloween, and I just love belly dancing, anyway!).

My foray into crocheting occurred because I was being cheap, and because Renaissance Festivals can be very expensive! I wanted a snood (there are arguments on the internet that this isn’t the correct term for it; it is basically a hair net, like the one Drew Barrymore wore in Ever After), but wasn’t about to spend $15 on something that was basically just string (I have since found some online for a more reasonable price, but I’d still prefer to make my own). I couldn’t find a good pattern online (mostly just small ones for buns), and I had to learn how to crochet, anyway, so I started looking online and in books. That’s when I discovered AMIGURUMI! All the tiny animals and food was just TOO CUTE! I couldn’t resist, and I fell in love!

Crocheting turned out to be much easier for me to learn than knitting, but it could be that I already had yarn work experience. So I started making other things, and promptly forgot about the snood. When I finally did remember about it, I tried to make my own pattern (I am fairly good at doing this, now), but it turned out HUGE, so I unraveled it! I do still have issues judging how big a project will turn out. This week’s project is a perfect example. When I first started making the donut, I thought to myself that there is NO WAY something that started so mall could turn out “slightly larger than an actual donut” as the pattern indicated. Boy, was I wrong! For now, I don’t mind living by trial and error. Even if I have to unravel quite a large chunk of project, I’m quick enough now that it isn’t as big a loss as it would be with knitting.