Futurama and amigurumi go together like… like mac and cheese… like Sheldon and Leonard… like a rose tatt and advanced calculus, baby!

Just take a look at some of these (free) original crochet patterns by crafty Futurama fans, and see how long you can resist grabbing a hook and yarn to make your own!

Bender Bending Rodríguez – Amigurumi Bending Unit 22

Futurama’s cranky robot Bender is not an easy character to capture in crochet — appropriately enough — but this free Bender amigurumi pattern from Stitch is well worth the challenge.

It would be fun to use a metallic silver yarn for Bender, rather than just a light grey. Bender’s pattern calls for DK weight yarn, however, so you might have to look around a bit to find the metallic in that weight — depending on where you live. My local yarn stores tend to have the fancy-pants novelty yarns in a slightly heavier weight, more in the crafts yarn category. You may have better luck in The Big City, or online.

Are You More of a Nibbler?

Nibbler fans,
how about Alicia’s life-sized Nibbler? — he’s complete with cape, shoes, and diaper!

Or get a cute free crochet pattern for Futurama’s Nibbler, courtesy of the lovely and talented Amber of Cthulu Crochet.

Or try the version by Elizabeth Jarvis, whose skill with the hook is much to be envied: Nibbler, Guardian of the Bum Fodder, will cosy up to your spare toilet paper roll and keep it safe from… I dunno, whatever uses up all your t.p. when you’re not looking, leaving you pawing desperately at the empty cardboard roll with your knickers around your knees…

But I digress.

Paging Dr. Zoidberg!
Paging Dr. Zoidberg!

But if semi-inept lobster-inspired aliens such as, oh, say, Zoidberg, are more your speed — no problem. We can always count on one of the clever crocheters of Craftster to come through.

Tracy (who blogs at Mostly Nerdy Crochet) has your Zoidberg amigurumi pattern right here and also here, with more photos here to enjoy.

As far as I can see, Tracy’s is the only free Zoidberg crochet pattern out there at the moment — but again, if you’ve got one or have spotted one somewhere else, please let us all know in the comments. Meanwhile, I’ll keep an eye peeled — you never know what will turn up in the needlecraft forums.

And would you like a side of Brain Slugs with that?

Brain slugs are not only strangely appealing, but they’re an excellent choice of project for the crochet beginner — or for the experienced crochet artiste who just wants a little WIP to pull out to work on during those interminable family holiday gatherings, come to that.

Tracy has posted a free pattern for a “grapefruit-sized” Brain Slug, with a PDF you can grab to print out.

And over at Hook And Needles, Alicia came up with a pattern for large and small brain slugs a couple years ago when she needed a “subtle” Halloween costume for herself and her dog Raffi — love love love that idea!

Could you size up your Brain Slug to make a baby hat?
A conversation-starting tea cosy?
A golf club cover, or several?

Dare you to wear a Brain Slug to work! :)

Turanga Leela…???

Still looking.
Drop a comment if you’ve got a Turanga Leela pattern to share, eh?

p.s.
New to the mysteries of crochet?

Among the many goodies over at HookAndNeedles.com (really, if you’re at all craft-inclined, you need to go spend some time there!), Alicia offers some of the better video tutorials I’ve seen on learning how to to crochet. Check out her Amigurumi Tutorials here. You’ll want to be sure you’ve got a good grip on making a magic ring (a.k.a. “magic circle” or magic loop as some call it) — the starting point of most of these projects). Alicia’s tutorials are nice high-quality videos, shot close-up and clear and well-lighted, so even if you’ve never picked up a crochet hook before, you can follow along and be making your own Futurama amigurumi in no time!

Want to keep the summer memories alive, but your fav souvenir T-shirt is past its “best before” date? With just a few basic sewing or crochet skills, you can “upcycle” that tee into a cool new purse or handbag, grocery bag, big soft tote… the possibilities are endless…

Repurposed T-Shirt Market Bags

Great for beginners, Deborah Schlegel’s market tote (shown above) is an eco-friendly alternative to nasty plastic grocery bags. The tote has a boxy bottom and sturdy straps long enough to go over your shoulder for easily carrying.

Deborah uses selected cool tees from the Goodwill store to sew her market totes. Adult size makes a big roomy tote, but you can just as easily downsize the bag by using a child’s size shirt to make your own. [tutorial]

T-Shirt Hobo Tote Bag

Inspired by YakPak, this is a nice curvy tote bag with a softly gathered bottom and a neat edging at the top that curves to become the purse straps.

Sew a small pocket inside for important incidentals (you could make the interior pocket the right size to fit your phone, for example, so no need to go fishing around in the bottom of the bag when you get an unexpected text!). Smart sewing tip: use the hem of the T-shirt for the straps for the bag! [tutorial]

Upcycled T-Shirt Bag with Braided Handles

Who would have thought a recycled T-shirt handbag could be so elegant?

This simple rectangular bag from Leanne Garrity on the Chichidee label is distinguished by smart t-shirt/fabric choice that gives an art-piece look, and by its braided handles, also made of t-shirt fabric. [tutorial]

p.s. If you want one of these bags quite desperately but aren’t in the mood to sew your own, you can pick up a Chichidee tee bag for £22.00 at Folksy.

T-Shirt Sling Bag

You know how much gear kids always need to take along on an adventure? Here’s the solution! This sturdy little drawstring bag by Brassy Apple is made from double layers of a repurposed t-shirt (child size), with a diagonal strap to sling it over the shoulder for hands-free carrying – think “soft backpack” here! [tutorial]

Crochet a Recycled Tee-Shirt Bag

Cut your old shirt in a continuous strip to make soft “yarn” for this clever crochet project. Cindy used two tees to make this sample, with extra for contrasting stripes and a decorative flower. Crocheting with t-shirt material makes the bag soft and durable – and it’s easy to clean. Just toss it into the washing machine! [pattern]

Trashion T-shirt Hobo Bag

OutsaPop’s choice of a pirate-themed black t-shirt makes this bag a sure-fire hit with the teens we know. I like the sophisticated touch of the fabric-wrapped handles. This particular bag design makes great use of the full t-shirt, too – almost nothing leftover to go to waste. Big and slouchy, just like a tee (bag) is meant to be! [tutorial]

Your turn!

Hey, if you decide to go for any of these great upcycling projects, please leave a comment below to inspire us all with your crafty goodness! Or maybe you’ve got a T-shirt bag design of your own to share? I’d love to see your ideas!

You think you’ve seen some truly disturbing crochet work over the years? If you haven’t checked out Patricia Waller’s works in crochet and other media, you ain’t seen what yarn + imagination is capable of.

In this video walk-through of an art exhibit (armchair travel, anyone?), Bugs Bunny and friends become an “artistic metaphor for malice, violence, and the inevitability of disasters”… and you can make of that what you will…

How’s about that for Yarn Art?!

Personally, I find the piece of Miss Piggy in the old-fashioned meat grinder a bit too strong (luv luv luv Miss Piggy), but the floor arrangement of sharks breaking through around a flailing hand, the iconic “Who Killed Bambi?” and the beautiful big Bugs with giant fork in him? Clever, clever, clever. Okay, also a tad creepy… but very clever.

Chilean-born Patricia Waller now lives and works in Berlin. Her most recent solo exhibition, called Follow the thread, is open now at the Museum junge Kunst in Frankfurt Oder, Germany.

Akua Lezli Hope’s dainty crocheted birds — peace doves — were inspired by the TikkunTree project, “a community knittivist art project” to create a giant peace tree, to spread public awareness about the continued hostilities in the mid-east, and to support the livelihood of West Bank shepherds by encouraging the use of Peace Fleece yarns in the cooperative craft project.

Akua’s a remarkable young woman in many ways, in fact. You can read more about her creative spirit at Zen Crochet, and download her free crochet birds pattern at Lulu.com.

By the way, she’s giving away this original crochet pattern without charge because she wants to encourage its use in peace projects of any kind. Please respect her intentions, and don’t resell her pattern or the doves you make from it? Karma, baby… and the peace doves will love you for doing the right thing.

Arts and Crafts

This was a spur-of-the-moment craft project, instigated by my young friend Kelly (who was spending March break with her grandmother, our next-door neighbour) and carried out on a stormy evening when our other entertainment options were limited.

Remember the Bendy Holdy Wondervase? If you’ve got a pair of them, you’ve got great fun! Kelly had had her heart set on playing with those flexible vases from the moment she laid eyes on them, so of course that was the very first project we had to do!

And what’s a vase without some flowers?

They’re a bit of a tough job, these flowers, since we didn’t have much in the way of materials — Kelly glued together popsicle sticks and painted them green to make the stems, for instance — but hey, we had fun doing it!

One of the tissue-paper flowers — the white one printed with tiny red hearts — went home with Kelly as a gift for her Grammie, because grandmother’s have a deep appreciation for such things.

Granny Squares

What can I say? For the better part of a year, I’ve been griping about the sad state of the throw pillows on the couch.

Scraps of yarn, a couple of crochet hooks, and an eager young helper with a week’s break from school… and now I’ve got plenty of “granny squares” to fashion into cushion covers!

Healthy Exercise with Dogs

The long-faced greyhound — who can’t get out to his running yard, with all that snow, enjoyed a Novice class in Rally Obedience. (That’s a dog sport that involves high-speed obedience moves around a timed course: great fun! You can learn more about it at RallyObedience.com.)

And when the weather wasn’t too bad outside, we had some doggie visitors… and some lovely brisk walks on snowy trails, coming back home to cinnamon buns and hot chocolate.

…and Nature Appreciation

Because winter in Atlantic Canada may last just a teensy bit longer than we’d really prefer… but, still, it does have its moments!

We’ve all seen the beer ads on TV…

Before the days of refrigerators and insulated coolers, the hardy pioneers chilled their brew by submerging the bottles in a wild and ice-cold mountain stream, right?

But did you know there was another way to cool a bottle without electricity?

If you ever get caught in the rain, or go outside with your hair wet on a breezy day, the answer is clear — evaporation!

I bring this up because the Lion Brand Yarn people just issued a free pattern to knit or crochet a bottle cooler that works in just that way:

Evaporation!

These bottle coolers take advantage of this natural property. Simply place the bottle inside, dip in water and hang or place the cooler in the shade where there is a breeze. Dampen again as needed.

Even on hot days, you’ll find your soda stays pleasantly cool without the use of any energy except the natural breeze!

True, there are still warm days to come on the other side of the Labour Day weekend… but it would have been nice to know about these bottle cooler thingies at the beginning of the summer! Ah well, make a note…

No melting glaciers required.
The wet T-shirts are, of course, optional.

Technorati Tags: free, patterns, knit, crochet

Let’s blame a childhood of reading those Curious George books — who can resist a fresh clutch of giggly monkeys?

Clockwise from upper left:

• The Chimp is an archival quality print by Shannon Brady at BlueFlip Art (h/t emma).
• S-shaped monkey hooks, set of 3 in brushed stainless steel, are by Bodie and Fou, found in their kitchen section.
• Multi-imprinting, iron-on Monkey Love embroidery pattern, an 8½ x 11″ sheet with full instructions for getting started in embroidery, by Sublime Stitching.
• Crochet monkey toys, designed by ohsewpretty, appeared last fall in Crochet Today magazine.
• “Stackable, desktop, magnetically appendaged Bender Monkeys ” twist and bend to amuse any cubicle dweller. (They come in a set of four bright primary colours, packaged in a metallic embossed banana-shaped tin, with their own storybooks full of “illustrative poses” — where else, but at Think Geek?)
• Kay Bojesen’s teak monkey is a well-known wildlife mascot in Denmark — this one is found at Fitzsu.

I’d forgotten all about this until just now, but I had a very similar wooden monkey as a teenager. I remember how comforting and smooth it felt in my hands, and how it seemed to take on different facial expressions from sympathetic to cheeky to downright evil… Somewhere along the line, in one household move or another, my wooden monkey went missing… but maybe that explains this secret affinity for monkeys!

Celebrate spring with a bird motif!

Here’s a little round-up of free patterns for crocheted birds, in a range of styles to suit any taste in decor:

1. 
   The three-dimensional Peace Dove [updated link], to crochet and stuff in two sizes, makes a unique accent for your table centerpiece.
2. Country style calls for a cute Welcome Chicken sign with a heart motif, a cheerful way to greet your guests.
3. The 1920s Filet Crochet Bird looks like a Swallow, although I’d prefer to think it’s a Bluebird! Very elegant, in any case.Remember, too, that a filet chart can be used for cross-stitch or petit-point, too, if that’s your preference in needlework crafts.
4. Chubby little soft sculpture birds are quick to crochet with scraps of leftover yarn.
5. Another nice bit of retro filet crochet is a Standing Crane, or is it a heron? or possibly a flamingo?
   No matter… it’s lovely.

Enjoy!