Dominic the Dopey Dragon

It's been almost a year now since my mother-in-law taught me to crochet and set me off on this exciting journey. In those 10 months I have made quite a few different items (a blanket, some bags, a t-shirt, a shrug and a shawl, to name but a few) but until recently I wasn't tempted to try any amigurumi. That changed when I saw a picture of Sharon Ojala's dragons - I had to make one of them!



My dragon-loving son (for of course the finished product would be for him) chose the Sleepy Dragon. I found some red and white Bendigo Woollen Mills cotton 8 ply in my stash and set to work.



I had been working on the lacy shawl I showed in the previous posting and found it quite difficult to adjust to crocheting tightly as is necessary for amigurumi. I remade the body of the dragon with a smaller hook because it was so 'holey'. It still is, as you can see, but luckily my son doesn't mind at all, he loves Dominic!



And so do I - I'm very proud of my first ami! Maybe I should have picked an easier project - but I like a challenge and I really enjoyed making this dragon. The pattern is absolutely brilliant, very clear with lots of videos to help you along. And it's free!

I will be making more amis for sure - I've promised to make a whale for my youngest son, and I also want to make a dog (and try to make it look like Barney). To be continued...

Here be dragons

Yesterday I took a short break from crocheting to make this pencil case for my middle son Ernst. It was his 13th birthday on Tuesday and he got (as requested) a set of 24 coloured pencils (and some other things as well, obviously). He asked if I could make a case for them. Of course!



He loves dragons, so chose this fabric from my stash. I think I bought it in 2016 for his Big Dragon Cushion, but didn't use it in the end because it didn't go very well with the other fabrics.



Ernst loves the case. Here is the first drawing he made with his new pencils:




Speaking of dragons, today this crocheted dragon popped up on my Facebook feed. It's a pattern by Crafty Intentions, available on Ravelry. I showed it to Ernst who begged me to make one for him! So I've ordered the pattern although I'm not sure if my crochet skills are up to this level yet...



And speaking about making things for my sons - we've had a few moving companies come in this week to check out our stuff and give a quote for moving us from Sydney to the Gold Coast in January. A lady from one of those companies saw my sewing machine and the quilts hanging on the walls, and exclaimed that it was a shame I did not have any daughters to make things for...!

Dragon Paws and gymnastics

It's been more than three weeks since I last posted here - my new job has taken up a lot of my time and most of my energy! I haven't done any sewing or quilting during this time, but I have knitted something: these Dragon's Paws Gloves for my dragon-loving middle son (pattern by Holly Stone available on Ravelry). They're not very warm but should be sufficient for a Sydney winter.



Yesterday my eldest son competed in the New South Wales State Championships and, just like last year in Queensland, became the State Champion on pommel horse in his age level (8 Under 14)!



He also won silver on parallel bars, bronze on rings and vault, and came second overall. In May he will represent New South Wales at the National Championships - we're both looking forward to another trip to Melbourne, and to seeing our gymnastics friends from Queensland there again!

Big Dragon Cushion

When my middle son Ernst saw the big Doctor Who Cushion I made for his brother, he asked if I could make one for him as well - with dragon fabrics (he is a dragon lover - you may remember the dragon quilt I made that he designed). Of course I was happy to oblige. I bought some oriental-looking dragon fabrics at the Stitches and Craft Show last week and got to work.



As the dragons were all different sizes, I decided to cut them out and appliqué them to a quilted black background fabric:



As always, I used Aurifil threads for piecing and quilting.



For the back of the cushion cover I used our two favourite fabrics:



I finished the cushion last night and gave it to Ernst. He loved it and didn't let go of it for the rest of the evening! So nice when your work is appreciated :-).



Here's some of Ernst's work - at his art class the other day he had to draw hot air balloons. Of course he designed a dragon balloon!

Ernst Denied Computer Privileges

A few days ago my middle son Ernst received a parcel from New Zealand. In it was this gorgeous mini quilt, called Ernst Denied Computer Privileges! It was made by Mathea Daunheimer, an American textile artist living in New Zealand, who, like Ernst, loves dragons and is working on a series of small pieces featuring 'inner dragons'. The series was born when her son called the first dragon Mummy Without Coffee (read more about it here on her blog). Knowing that Ernst loves dragons, she asked what released his inner dragon - well, not getting to use the computer usually does that!



Here is a close up photo of the dragon. Mathea first 'draws' the dragon on the fabric using free-motion quilting and then colours it in using textile paints. On her Facebook page you can follow her dragon-making process.



Mathea and I met online in 2009 and we finally caught up IRL in April, when I was visiting my Dutch friend in New Zealand. Thanks again Mathea, for this wonderful gift!