Blog - Page 10 of 10 - GamerCrafting Yarns

Posted on February 10, 2016 by Angie

The kinetic energy in a ball of yarn

I’ve been thinking lately about the kinetic energy in a ball of yarn. Before it’s knitted or crocheted into something, a ball or skein of yarn has a beautiful kinetic energy – and I think that’s why we keep crafting.

(more after the jump!)

In physics, kinetic energy refers to the amount of energy something has as a result of its motion. I’m no rocket scientist, but I understand that the potential something has is like a universe in itself.

Before yarn reaches a hook or a pair of needles, it exists in stasis – at that moment, it could become almost anything. I think that’s why we all have huge yarn stashes; the amount of creativity just waiting to blossom is waiting just around the corner, inside the next yarn shop, and on the next new set of needles.

Above: a skein of yarn I hand-dyed, which I called “Cheshire Cat”

Maybe I’m crazy, but maybe I’m right! What do you think?

Posted on February 8, 2016 by Angie

Free friendship bracelet tutorial for Galentine's Day

I don’t know about y’all, but I love the show Parks and Recreation. Leslie Knope is a force to be reckoned with, and her idea of “Galentine’s Day” is one of the coolest concepts to ever grace primetime television. Galentine’s is celebrated the day before Valentine’s Day, and is dedicated to celebrating the awesome ladies in your life.

Click here to view my tutorial on LoveKnitting, and feel free to comment if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions.

Rock on, Galentines!

Posted on February 7, 2016 by Angie — 3 Comments

Don't Starve knitting pattern for Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day Don't Starve mitten pattern

Don’t Starve is a crafting and gathering survival game that first hit the scene a few years ago. In December 2015, the Shipwrecked DLC (downloadable content) launched, and I became addicted. Way back when Facebook games flooded your feed, I was a Farmville addict (I know, the SHAME). (More after the jump)

Don’t Starve is a great game for vegging out with a cup of coffee – and in fact, I wrote about the music of the game over on Classical Diary. (Click here to read more about that.)
In the game, your health is indicated by a heart symbol. A full heart for full health, obviously, and an empty, broken heart when you’re approaching death’s door.

So with my recent death by Pengull firmly in mind, I decided to design some super simple mitts to show my love of the game. These mitts are knit flat using the intarsia method of colorwork, and seamed up with the mattress stitch, leaving a hole for the thumb. They are a great pattern for knitting beginners!
The pattern includes row by row instructions, and three colorwork charts: left hand full heart, right hand broken heart, and also a bonus right hand full heart for those that want heart-themed mitts without the Don’t Starve reference.
Oh, did I mention that the pattern is only £1? That’s right, £1 – for a limited time.
Click here to buy it on LoveKnitting, and here if you’d rather purchase it on Ravelry.

You can whip up these mitts in an evening without a problem, whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned knitter. Make them for the Don’t Starve fan in your life, or make them for yourself – or use the bonus heart chart to make some Valentine’s Day themed mitts for someone who has never seen a PlayStation. It’s your call!
And if you want to check out Don’t Starve for yourself (and I highly recommend it), click here.

Posted on January 30, 2016 by Angie

Rainbow baby leg warmers knitting pattern – inspired by colors and Cappses

Follow my blog with Bloglovin! A super cool button is on it’s way, but if you follow me on there you’ll be able to follow loads of amazingly cool blogs and get a digest delivered to your inbox at whatever interval you want, so no spam involved.

There’s nothing I love more than a commission – and a commission for something brand new is like a dream come true. The Capps family (Hi Emma and Justin and kids!) are friends of mine, and a while back they welcomed a new addition to their family: baby Ezra, alias: Kraken.
The Capps family decided that baby Ezra needed some rainbow striped baby leg warmers. I set to work with some Katia Merino Baby yarn, a 4-ply/sport weight that’s super soft and perfect for baby skin. Plus it comes in a huge rainbow of colors!

These baby leg warmers are perfect for beginners: they are knitted flat from the top down and seamed up using the mattress stitch. All you have to know how to do is knit, purl, decrease, and change colors. I chose to knit these with opposite color gradients, but you’ll have plenty of yarn to knit both with the same stripe pattern if you wish – even then you’ll have loads of yarn left. (For more baby leg warmers or….another project?) These baby leg warmers fit babies who are currently wearing size 6 – 9 month clothing.
This is my first paid pattern (with oodles more to come, exciting), so it’s a step into a new direction for this Jack of all trades. You can click here to buy it on LoveKnitting, or if you’re more comfortable with Ravelry, it’s over there as well.
Look at cute baby Kraken. Aww.

As a side note: if you want the pattern for a different size, message me and I’ll get working on it! I have some cool designs on the back burner and I hope you all like them. Hit me up on Instagram @GamerCrafting!

Posted on January 23, 2016 by Angie — 1 Comment

New year, new you, new blog, new view

Some of you may already know me from my writings at LoveKnitting and LoveCrochet – if so, hello! If you only know me because we went to school together once or we’re sort-of-acquaintances through a friend of a friend (of a friend), then…hi to you too. I hope you like crafts and stuff, because that’s where this is headed.

Some of you may know that I’ve had a music blog that’s been running (running might be an over-estimation, it’s more of a “walking and stumbling” type blog) for a couple (few?) years now. I’ve always been a musician, from that time when I was 4 and snuck out of the house to try and sing with the birds at 5am and scared the living daylights out of my parents.

I digress.

Along with being a musician, I’m also an avid crafter, and I’m making a move into blogging about my efforts, seeing as I already spend most of my time blogging about knitting, crochet, and yarn over at LoveKnitting and LoveCrochet.
I decided to make more time for creative endeavors, and that means my crafty Instagram account has been getting more love lately. (I’m @Gamercrafting for crafts, and @TheMusicShark for personal and music stuff.)

It also means writing down my designs, and selling patterns, and giving some away so that you’ll all like me more. (Click here to see my patterns on LoveKnitting!) It’s a work in progress, but hopefully you’ll start to see more patterns appearing over the next few weeks as I start to try and get my act together. Be patient with me <3

Finally, it means opening an Etsy store to sell commissions, knitted and crocheted stuff, and again, patterns. In the next 6 months it will also mean selling hand-dyed yarns, because I discovered a few months ago that I have a knack for it, and people want to buy my skeins. Who knew?

The yarn stash revival continues…I #handdyed this #rainbow yarn in October! Hmm, what should I make? ✨

A photo posted by Gamer Craft (@gamercrafting) on Jan 17, 2016 at 3:48am PST

//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js
I’m excited and hopeful about 2016 – what will it bring? I have a renewed and reinvigorated commitment to being a Creative (with the capital C) in all aspects of my life, and approaching goals and ideas with enthusiasm and a positive ideology. We can all get bogged down in life and responsibilities and lose sight of what’s important – myself included.

Let’s all vow to take some time out of our busy schedules to be creative this year. Pause Netflix for 20 minutes and learn to crochet. Or keep watching Making a Murderer and party hardy with an adult coloring book (like this one by Millie Marotta, my lord and savior of gorgeous, inspiring coloring books.) My partner in crime highly recommends Prismacolor colored pencils, and I trust her advice seeing as she’s an artist extrordinaire. For the record, I can only color in the lines. I’m well and truly amazed by anyone who has enough skills to actually draw.

Anyway – who’s with me? Let’s make 2016 a year of creativity, innovation, and FUN.