In a previous post I super excitedly mentioned that I am swapping with Mereware. She's getting a monster face hat and I'm getting some of her robot pottery! I was so excited that I started knitting the hat as soon as she agreed to trade! These hats are not a quick knit. First I have to knit the hat to the brim, then I have to knit both earflaps separately, then attach the earflaps, then knit and attach the horns, then sew in the lining, teeth and sew on the buttons... in other words, time consuming work! 

So imagine how dumb I felt when I went to attach the earflaps and realized that I knit the wrong sized hat... I knit a kid's size rather than adult. Oops. So I started knitting again... and working to knit up a whole new hat.

The above picture is the smaller sized hat. It's a bit tight on my head but still looks cute... but I'm not about to give someone a hat that doesn't fit because that would just be stupid. Below is the second hat, the hat for Mereware!

The first hat I'll probably put up on etsy next week. I need to list those yetis too [four more yetis are about to be born!] I'll let you know as soon as that all happens. For now, if you'd like your own custom hat order one HERE!

I don't typically sew. In fact, the last time I used a sewing machine without breaking it was probably in middle school. Last week I decided to change that and I made this fuzzy pink unicorn costume out of an old bathrobe... I think it turned out  hilarious so I had to share with you all. In case you're wondering what it's for, I made it for a silly movie my friends are working on. Something goes wrong and one of the main characters is changed into a unicorn. Zero budget films: the best kind.

Giacomo is modeling the costume. Yes, this is the same kid on the Devil in Love CD cover I drew up. Fun times in Buffalo.

The first things I knit were not exceptionally pretty. In fact, I must have threw away the first thing I made because I didn't even remember it until I found a picture in an old photo album on facebook. If I remember correctly, it was supposed to be a case for my camera. If I also remember correctly, my camera didn't even fit in it well [which probably explains why I tossed it.] Here's the picture I found. It was taken in January 2006 which is when I decided to learn to knit.

I made this decision because I like winter hats and thought it'd be awesome if I could make one myself. I didn't know anyone who could teach me so I went to AC Moore, bought a how to knit book, some needles and some yarn and tried to figure it all out myself. I screwed up a whole bunch but eventually figured out that to make it look right you had to knit one side and purl the other. I made a really short, really hideous scarf using the same multicolored yarn as the "camera case." I made a case for my ipod too but it met the same fate as the camera case, only without a picture to document its existance. Since I was really interested in making hats, I went back in search of patterns. 

I bought this book, knit hats!  [I think it may be out of print] I like it because it clearly explains knitting techniques. Although I had no interest in most of the patterns, I REALLY wanted to knit the Bunnies and Carrots hat on page 48... which was a bit ambitious for a beginning knitter... knitting in the round, knitting on DPNs, and color work. This is what I came up with:

For some reason I can't throw this guy away. There are so many problems... it is way too tight because I didn't leave the strands loose when I switched colors... I'm not sure why I decided to purl the orange half of the checker border... the white stitching is coming undone... the carrot is falling off... but it was my first big knitting project and it is what it is. I'm not embarrassed that I made it [although I am a bit embarrassed that I wore it around campus!] 

I have made a lot of hats since then and, to be honest, all the techniques I learned from knitting hats I used when I started to design knit monsters! I had no idea. Tonight I found the etsy shop of woodsmokewoolworks, the woman who designed the Bunnies and Carrots hat. Her hats are great. woodsmokewoolworks.etsy.com. Check it out!

So, to all those knitters and makers of things... What's your story? How did you learn to do what you do? What was your first project? 

I just wanted to take a quick minute to introduce you to [and remind you of in the case of Merrypad] some fabulous ladies. Yesterday was pretty fun because erinmakesstuff had shout-outs from both Merrypad and Spookypie on their blogs... and I talked to Meredith of Mereware and we're organizing a bit of a trade. Yay!

Emily of Merrypad was fantastic and did a write up about erinmakesstuff's monsters on her site. You can read that HERE! Emily writes about her DIY home improvement projects and decorating she has done on her home. I've been to her house so I can attest to the fact she does good stuff. 
Thank you, Emily!
Check out her site at merrypad.com.

Spookypie Dolls all the way in the UK also wrote about erinmakesstuff yesterday! I participated in the plushie swap on facebook and was paired with Chloe! You can read her creative post all about receiving her monster HERE! 
Thank you, Chloe!
Check out her site at spookypie.blogspot.com or "like" her on facebook.

And in case you're wondering what I got in the plushie swap, I got a fuzzy green cuddlemonster in the trade. 

Finally, a shoutout to Mereware! I talked to Meredith the other day and she agreed to a trade! Yay! I am making her a really awesome hat in exchange for some of her robot pottery. One day I should post the random pottery collection I have... I have ceramic toilet paper, donuts, heads with rat tails... but sadly most of it is in boxes in the basement. I'm super excited to have my own robot to drink from!

Ok... well, time to get back to work... I have yetis to knit... hats to finish... a fuzzy pink unicorn costume to sew. Yeah, about that last thing. It's a post all it's own.

Hi! So I have some guys I'm really excited to show you... but instead of doing it the usual way, here's a story to introduce you to the newest monsters : THE YETI MONSTERS! Click PAUSE on top and use the arrows on the right to go through the story below. 

The moral? Uhhh... there really isn't one. But here are my two points: These yeti monsters are super cute and will be available to purchase soon! And my second point... why was it snowing so hard today!!! It's April 18th! Geesh. I'm going to go wrap myself in a blanket and dream of summer :)

You may not have noticed but the monsters evolved again. This happens from time to time. You think you know them and then *POOF* they surprise you with something just a bit different. Some of the latest creatures have something new: Claws!

I'm hoping to have these guys listed on etsy this weekend... so keep a lookout! And, as always, thanks for reading!

Hi everyone! I just wanted to update because I added a few little round monster friends on etsy! Please check them out... they're the most popular of all the erinmakesstuff monsters so I expect they'll get snatched up pretty fast :) This batch is extra cute too.

Here's some pictures from my monsterful table last weekend! 

Today I got a pretty awesome email. Remember when I posted a bunch of stuff that I knit out of Vanna's Choice yarn? [Well, if you don't, you can read about it here.] Well, I entered it all in Vanna's Choice Knitting and Crochet Contest and today I got an email saying that I was selected to move forward in the judging process! This monster is a finalist! I'm really super super super happy. :)

So let's all keep our fingers crossed that he makes it to the end! Prizes are gift cards to Michael's Craft Stores and grand prize is a trip to meet Vanna herself. Q:How fun would that be? A: Tons.

In other news, the facebook page reached 400 fans! Let's keep going! 500!? [Prizes will be mailed out shortly!]