Vent: I thought this was suppose to be fun!

[Glitch]

Hi all. I am sorry for what is about to ensue, but I just feel like sobbing. I have been crocheting for about 1 year and I have not even scratched the surface between stitches and techniques and everything else. I have made exactly 2 scarves; 5 flower dishclothes; 9 circle dishclothes; 3 DBLE thick potholders; an easter hat( that mind you, didnt' even fit my daughter!); 3 kokeshi dolls; 2 amigurumi puppies; a fuzzy amigurumi wolf; numberous flower attempts and so on. The problem I am having, is I have this OUTSTANDING idea but I can not figure out how to do it!!! (ok I am trusting you all with this! If I see this on Etsy or anywhere else I will know someone from here took it!! K? K!)

 

I want to take the idea for the Boo Boo Buddy Ice Packs for kids and turn it into a crocheted ice pack pouch. This way you will always have an ice pack cozy and never have to use another hand towel to wrap up an ice pack or even a heat pack again! PROBLEM!! I want the design to be flat but with little animals and designs on them like puppies and kitties and fishies and so on. Ya know, stuff kids dig. So, I have tried my hand at tunisian crochet...ummm...I have frogged 2 peices now and those darn lock in stitches have me all backwards and muddled! Not mention the 100s of tails to weave in. I wanted this to be a very simple and quick project. I have also tried tapestry crochet. By carrying my yarn all thru my work. Yea! I could see my yarn thru my work! Plus, more tails. I have been wracking my brain for 3 days now and searching the internet over and over for simplistic charts for my simplistic mind. I have found VERY few! I tried plotting my own from some plastic canvas and cross stitch books I have, but the finished graph turns out HUGE!! I don't have that much time! I have tried the one graphing source that you all generously shared but I can not make heads or tails of the grey areas. I tried plotting my own on my graphics program, but what do I do with those rounded areas! Everything is square!! I sooo want to cry!! I can't believe I had this idea and I can not get it out of my head!! It is driving me to obsession!

 

Thank you all for letting me vent. :hugany advice or even criticism would be more than welcome. I have been holding this in for about a week and I can't stand it any longer!! I still love to crochet, but I think the more technical stuff is just getting me frustrated.

[TheKnottyMale]

Why not give Tapesty Crochet a try. It's very similar similar to regular crochet, except that one or more yarns are carried while another is crocheted. The finished pieces usually look woven instead of crocheted. The carried yarn is not visible from the back of the stitches when it is laid on top of the previous row and covered by the stitches being worked. The carried yarn is slightly visible with loose stitches, but hidden with tight stitches. The new color is switched when there are still 2 loops on the hook - then the old color is carried (angled to the front and held in place with the thumb) while working the new color.

 

There is also a Yahoo Tapestry Crochet group and there is another one hosted by Ravelry. Love your idea! Good luck with it

[bgs]

Maybe you could adapt some of the afghan squares from CPC or use one of the appliques.

 

http://www.crochetpatterncentral.com/directory.php

[magiccrochetfan]

what about doing Tunisian and embroidering the designs on? you can get a lot of detail, as you can see in a couple of these Lion brand patterns http://cache.lionbrand.com/cgi-bin/patternFinder.fcgi?language=&store=%2Fstores%2Flionbrand&search=1&searchText=tunisian&submit.x=0&submit.y=0&submit=search

[TheKnottyMale]

Forgot to give you a link for some free tapestry crocheted patterns.

 

www.tapestrycrochet.com

 

I especially like the Kitty Bag.

[fran]

Have you considered making the little animals separately and using them as appliques? Whip stitch them on the cozy after it's finished or at a convenient time while you're working on it.

[crabby rat]

First of all, GREAT IDEA!!

 

All my ideas have been suggested already - but I still wanted to give you a ^5 for the idea!! Good luck, and I can't wait to see what you come up with!

[Glitch]

Thank you all for your encouraging words and help. I think I am going to try the applique idea and maybe rowcount? Not sure. Still fiddling around but I will post some pics when I get something done...lol! Thank again!

[Becky Morgan]

If you decide which is your right side to begin with, you don't have to carry the yarn in the stitches when you do tapestry--just float it across the back, exactly like Fair Isle knitting. You're making pouches, so nobody's going to mind the loops inside even if they do happen to see them.

Applique or embroidery will give you more precise control over the colors and exact shape--you can also work in a design, then embroider the outline.

[RoseRed]

The problem I am having, is I have this OUTSTANDING idea but I can not figure out how to do it!!! (ok I am trusting you all with this! If I see this on Etsy or anywhere else I will know someone from here took it!! K? K!)

 

So, you're taking the design concept from BooBoo Buddies but don't want anyone else to take the idea of crocheting one because you had it first?

 

Someone 'stealing' an idea is legally allowed. Morally and ethically are a complete discussion unto themselves which have been discussed here ad nauseum.

 

Ideas are not subject to copyright so anyone that does 'steal' your idea is still well within the bounds of legality. This is why designers keep their ideas to themselves.

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If you're having a hard time making the fabric with the picture in it (be it graph or tapestry) you could always make appliques and sew them on or velcro them on. This way you could have one cover with multiple cute things on it.

[eurolyons]

My thought as I was reading the original post was to just make a draw string bag (or start with making a narrow rectangle and then work in the round until the bag (or pouch) is the size you want it...and I would make appliques and stitch those on the bag. Those wouldn't take up all that much time. The basic bag or pouch would take only so long and I'd limit the appliques to maybe 3 but no more than 5. A kitty face, a puppy face, maybe a flower or butterfly, or if for a boy, baseball, football, car...or stars too...the possibilities are endless...

[Amy]

I have been wracking my brain for 3 days now and searching the internet over and over for simplistic charts for my simplistic mind. I have found VERY few!

 

If you want to use pictorial charts created by others in crocheted items you wish to sell, be sure to check the copyright terms of the company providing the charts. Some may give permission for their artwork to be used by others to make items for sale; others may not give such permission.

 

When creating items for sale, due to copyright issues, you also can't take pictures you find (on the internet, scanned from books, magazines, wherever) and convert them into charts to be used in your products.

 

Your best bet would be to come up with your own pictorial graphs from scratch, since you want them for a commercial purpose.

[Glitch]

Yea this is what I am doing today. I am requesting permissions and researching Copyright. I have my I's dotted and t's crossed :o) thanks all!

[hhensler]

Hmmm...so many possibilities! I am eager to see what you come up with...

[Granny Square]

If you want to create your own graphs that are the right size, figure out your stich gauge for the front of the bag. Let's say it's 20 stitches wide by 30 tall (making up numbers). Take your graph paper and make a square outlining your total area of 20 x 30 squares, and graph your critter within that outline. You will find that's not too many pixels, you won't get much detail but you'll know what you're ending up with.