Mini-Finn



Here comes the last Mini-Me I have made for my colleagues. This is Mini-Finn. The only one left now is I. Maybe I will make a copy of myself as well. A real Mini-Me........

 

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Finn loves quizzes. He is a living encyclopaedia, and remembers a impressive amount of trivia. He is also exceptionally good at calculus in the head. Every day in the lunch room, when we sit and discuss various topics over lunch and need some facts, we only have to ask Finn. What he does not know the answer to, he will find out on his i-phone. In the purple sofa (in the lunch room) with his i-phone, he is Encyclopaedia Aune (Aune is his last name)


Mini-Finn sits in his purple sofa with an i-phone in his hand. Mini-Finn is like the other Mini-Me dolls a modification of Beth Webber's doll "Mini Free Spirit". You can find patterns to this doll (and much more) on her blog "By hock by hand". The hair is made out of two types of flossy yarn, one brown and one grey. The eyes are from Sunchatcher Eyes, and the doll is crocheted in an acrylic yarn I found on Craft designs 4 you, called Red Heart Super Saver.

The sofa is made from cardboard, which is folded and covered with purple crocheted "fabric". The plates on the side of the sofa are stitched on afterwards, to make the sofa more stable. The floor is crocheted in a yarn called Østlandsgarn. The sofa is stitched on to the floor, and I have treaded on a metal flower stick in the back of the sofa (which is threaded onto the dolls sweather), so that Mini-Finn may sit safely on the sofa without the fear of falling off.  The i-phone is made of a pie of a black coaster.

Mini-Finn was given to his new master before Christmas, and was received well. Now, he is situated in the office of his namesake, in his own purple sofa, playing with his i-phone.



Mini-Per-Arild

The second Mini-Me I made of one of my male colleagues for Christmas was Mini-Per-Arild. Per-Arild is the oldest of my colleagues. He is very generous, and shares all his knowledge, contacts and ideas gladly. He bakes cakes for his father in law, and brings cake leftovers to work. He is also very good at getting founding for all his projects, and those of my colleagues who work with him seldom lack financing.

Due to Per-Arild’s good qualities, I wanted to picture him as "the seventh father in the house". This is a character from one of Norway’s favourite fairytales, about a vagabond who seeks food and shelter for the night. He comes to a house, and asks the first male he sees. He is refused with the explanation that it is not his decision, because he is not the father in the house. The vagabond is asked to ask his father. And for each father he is asking (who gets older and older, and smaller and smaller), he gets the same answer: "It is not my decision. Ask my father." Finally, he finds the seventh father in the house, who is this ancient tiny death old man in a cow's horn up on the wall. He almost gives up, but still asks him. When he finally gets him to understand (by using mime), suddenly every thing works out, and he gets as much food as he could ask for and a nice bed to sleep in.

Mini-Per-Arild is, as the other Mini-Me's, a modification of Beth Webber's doll "Mini Free Spirit". You can find the pattern for this doll at her blog "By hock by hand". The hair is made by using two different flossy yarns: one brown and one grey. The eyes are from Sunchatcher Eyes, and the doll is crochet in an acrylic yarn called Red Heart Super Save that I bought at Craft designs 4 you.

The horn is crochet using a thick wool yarn called Rosendahl. To give it its shape, I made a mould and crochet the horn around it. Then I smeared the horn in hard fabric glue, and blocked it out with the mould. Finally, I crocheted the band and attached it to the horn, so that I could hang it on the wall.

I could not help myself: I just had to add a couple of distinctive features about Per-Aril, such as his little bald spot. He also has this bright pink sweeter. He is one of the few men approaching 70 that I know of (in Norway) that dares to wear pink, and I think it is fantastic

Unfortunately, I did not have a picture of Per-Arild for comparison.... Sorry.

A forest model

One of my main projects this year has been to make a mini version of all my female colleagues for their birthday (see the Mini Me series). For Christmas, I made a Mini-Me version of all my male colleagues as well. Here is the first: Mini Bjart. Or rather Mikro Bjart.

Bjart is very brave when it comes to public discussions. He braves the storm where all his other colleagues would not dare to go out of their office. His largest dispute until now was probably the question of whether increased use of solid bio fuels for residential heating is good for the environment or not. He was verbally abused by both cabinet ministers and other researchers, but in the end, he proved them all wrong.

Thus, I found it appropriate that Mikro-Bjart went for a stroll in his forest, just as the real Bjart loves to go hiking. This is his world, where he belongs.

Mini-Taran

This is Mini-Taran. She is not like the other Mini-Me-s. She has shoes, or rather silver boots, and she has bendable joints. She is to be given to my boss, and I thought that boots would suit the boss' doll. Also, I have to admit that my boss' silver boots fascinated me, and I couldn't help my self. The reason she has bendable joints, is that she loves yoga. The posture on the picture above is called "the tree", and is an exercise for the balance .

Below, Mini-Taran is pictured in different postures: (directly translated) "broad warrior", "royal dancer", "the dove", "the camel" and in a lotus posture. She can pretty much manage most yoga postures with the help of something to lean against and some pins.

Mini-Taran, is like the other Mini-Me-s a modification of Beth Webber's doll "Mini Free Spirit". The idée to how to make the joints bendable, I found from another of Beth's dolls, called "Pocket Free Spirit". You can find the pattern for these and many other beautiful dolls, with accessories and clothing, on her blog "By hock by hand".





Mini-Taran's hair is made of a yarn called Tynn Alpakka from Du store alpakka. Her eyes is from Sunchatcher Eyes, and the doll itself is crocheted in an acryllic yarn I found on Craft designs 4 you named Red Heart Super Saver. Her skirt is croched out of quilting thread, and her top is made out of a thin crochet yarn DMC. Her jacket is made of a woll embroidery yarn from Appelton, and the silver boots are crocheted in Metallic Fine fra Ancor.

The hard wood floor in crochet in a local yarn called Rosendahl, whereas the yoga mat is crocheted out of various leftovers. She also has a doll stand, to enable her to stand firmly while doing her yoga exercise.
 

She is to be given to my bossTaran when she has her 50th birthday now in August.

Mini-Hanne-Marit

Hanne-Marit is a child of nature. She loves to go for long hikes in the mountain and in the forest. She is also one of the few females I know who likes to go hunting. The theme for her Mini-Me thus had to be "A rest while waiting for the moose".

When Hanne-Marit is hiking in the mountains, she wears a white and red flannel shirt which, according to herself, smell of bonfire. I haven't seen (or smelled) this shirt, but I tried to crochet it anyway. It didn't really look like a flannel shirt, but I thought it mad a nice jacket. I also gave her some grene hunting trousers as well.

Mini-Hanne-Marit is like the other Mini-Mes a modification of Beth Webber's doll "Mini Free Spirit". You can find patterns for this and many other beautiful dolls, with clothing and more, on her blog "By hock by hand". The hair is made by Tyn alpakka from Du store alpakka and Plumet from Sesia. Her eyes are from Sunchatcher Eyes, and the doll herself is crocheted in an acrylic yarn I found on Craft designs 4 you called Red Heart Super Saver. Her clothing is crocheted from leftovers.

The tree stump and the grounds are crocheted by a yarn Rosendahl. You can find the pattern for the stump and mushrooms on Beth Webber's blog "By hock by hand". The moss on the ground is crocheted using a stitch  called "the ripple stitch". See this you-tube clip to see how it is done. The mountain cranberries are done by making small French knots in the moss. You can find instructions on this blog.

I gave Hanne-Marit this doll for her 30th birthday, which she had in the end of May.





Mini-Bodil

Bodil is the closest of my colleagues, and we have worked closely together for almost 15 years. She is very active, and cycles every day to work, both winter and summer, through snow and rain. She also works out a lot, but she hates to walk the stairs and go for long walks. The only thing she hates more is to take the tram to work. So when she fractured her thumb in the ski slopes this Christmas, she walked for two hours to get to and from work.

Bodil was lost when she could no longer cycle to work. So I thought the theme for her doll should be "A lost cycle season", featuring Mini-Bodil lying face down in the snow. However, Bodil worked out a lot, and by the beginning of May, she was on her bike again. Considering the severity of her injury, this was so impressing that the title for her Mini-Me had to be "A recovered bicycle season".

The problem with this theme was that I had to crochet a bicycle, which I had no idea how to do. I searched high and low for materials to make it with, and found some aluminum rods I could use. With some help from my husband concerning how a bicycle is constructed, it was far easier than I expected, even if I sewed the gear on the wrong side of the bike. If you want to read more about how I crocheted the bike, see this blog.

Mini-Bodil is like the other Mini-Mes a modification of Beth Webber's doll "Mini Free Spirit". You can find patterns for this and many other beautiful dolls, with clothing and more, on her blog "By hock by hand". The hair is made of a mixture of Faerytale from Du store alpakka and Plumet from Sesia. Her eyes are from Sunchatcher Eyes, and the doll herself is crocheted in an acrylic yarn I found on Craft designs 4 you called Red Heart Super Saver. Her clothing is crocheted from leftovers.

Bodil's birthday was on the 6th June, and I hope she will enjoy her Mini-Me.

The art of crocheting a bike

One of my projects this year has been to crochet a mini version of my nearest colleagues for their birthday. I have dreaded to make Bodil for a long time, because I needed to crochet a bicycle for her, and I had no idèe how to do it. I searched everywhere for a model bike or a toy bike in the right size, but found nothing. As Bodil's birthday approaches, I realized that I needed to crochet the bike myself.

I started by looking in crafts shops for something to build my bicycle with. I found some flexible aluminium rods, winded up in a spiral, I could use. The spiral was a perfect size for the wheels on the bike.

I winded a thin metal tread around the spiral, and made spokes using metal flower sticks. To make the tires, I crochet a circle, added some stitches, and then decreased them back again. This made a perfect tire. I padded the tires and sew them on the metal wheels. Then I embroidered a zigzag stitch, which I learned while making my bunad, to give the impression of tread pattern.

When the wheels were finished, I started to believe that I could make this, and I started to form the bicycle frame. I needed a construction drawing of a bike, and went to my husband for some help, as I am terrible at drawing bicycles.



 
The frame is made up of two triangles, held together with metal thread. I then made the fork and handlebars, and attached them to the frame as well. Finally, I made the seat, the baggage rack and pedestal, and attached them to the frame.

When the frame was finished, I was tired (the clock was 23.30) but happy. But then I realized that I did not know what my colleague's bike looked like. So I concocted a stupid story that I was planning to buy a new bike, but had a history of choosing by color and not quality..., "and what color is your bike by the way?" "Golden orange", was the answer. I did not know what kind of colour that was, but started to look for suitable yarn to cover the frame.

The closest I came to golden orange was a thick yellow orange acrylic yarn. It was too heavy, but the assortment of orange yarn was limited, so it had to do. I found a silver yarn called Metallic Fine from Anchor, to crochet the details in chrome. Then I started to crochet strips which I sew on to the frame. I also attached three gears to the bike.



Some details in black for the handles, pedals and the seat, and the bike was finished. When I showed the bike to my husband, he started to laugh. I had sewn the gear on the wrong side of the bike. I didn't bother to correct it, as this would involve doing the pedals all over again. It would have to do. I thought my bike looks nice, and hope that others do not see the error as fast as my husband did.

Mini-Iulie

This is Mini-Iulie. She loves the nature, and likes to go on long trips cross country skiing or hiking in the mountains. She is very concerned with issues of bio-diversity, and tries to make people be precautionary with gene modified produce. Here, she is evaluating bio-diversity in a gene modified corn field. She likes to dress in colourful cloths, and her favourite colour is sea green.

Mini-Iulie is a modification of Beth Webber’s doll "Mini Free Spirit", which you can find the pattern for on her blog "By hook by hand". The hair is made by crocheting some big curles in Faerytail from Du store alpakka, covered by some angle hair I found in my local crafts store.

Her shawl is made by a thin quilting thread in Egyptian cotton, called King Tut. Her cloths are crochet in a no. 10 crochet yarn called Sissy 10.

You can find the pattern for the butterflies in the book "100 Flowers to Knit and Crochet". Her eyes is bought in the net shop Suncatcher eyes.

 

This doll is to be given to a colleague of mine called Iulie, on her 55 birthday (see the picture on the left). I hope they will enjoy each others company.

Mini-Cathrine

This is Mini-Cathrine. She is an active person. Her favourite hobby is to kite, both on snow and on water. Today, she is kiting on water. Even though she is no longer a youth, she still chooses to spend most of her spare time kiting with (mainly) young fit men in their early twenties, much to the other Mini-Me’s astonishment.

The water is made by the Catharine wheel stitch (see here for an instructional video of how to crochet this stitch ). This stitch makes an uneven surface which reminds me of small waves. Her hair is made by a flossy yarn, in the same fashion as Mini-Annegrete. Her eyes is bought in a net shop called Suncatcher eyes.

Her kite is crochet in two layers, with padding in between and pipecleaners along the edges. This makes it possible to form the kite in an arc, which gives the illusion that it is filled with air and blowing in the wind. The kite board is padded with quilting padding, and sewn onto the water with a doll stand inside.

Mini-Cathrine is, as my other Mini-Me dolls, a modified version of Beth Webber’s doll "Mini Free Spirit". You can find this, and many other beautiful doll patterns, on her blog "By hook by hand". Mini-Cathrine is to be given to a colleague of mine (see picture on the right) on her 48^th birthday right before easter.

Irish Crochet

One time I was browsing my favorite blogs, I saw a link to some Irish crochet works. They were so beautiful, I just had to try. I started roaming the net for patterns and yarn. It was actually quit difficult. I found some patterns, but they were all named Irish crochet. So when they arrived, I ended up buying two of the pattern in three different formats. One electronically (see here for a link), one as separate booklets (I do not remember where I found them), and one book including both booklets (see here for a link).

These two booklets were, however, absolutely beautiful, and the patterns was in a league of their own compared to the other patterns I bought (all pictures are based on patterns in the first booklet). This is a good book both for beginners and more advanced crocheters. The instructions are relatively easy to follow and the pictures are informative and beautiful. However, be aware that the notation is somewhat unusual. For instance, in the patterns a single crochet is called a double crochet, and a double crochet is called a treble crochet, and so on. Thus, it is good advice to read the pages describing the stitches before beginning, even for more advanced crocheters.

I also had difficulties finding fine enough yarn. The pattern called for yarn size 100 (which is as thin as sewing tread), but the finest yarn I could find in my local shop was a size 10. I tried to find fine enough yarn on the internet, but yarn size 40 and onwards had to be ordered specially. They only had size 30 and thicker in stock, and size 30 came only in white. The thinnest yarn available in colors was size 20. (A good net shop for purchasing fine crochet yarns is Royal Yarns.)

Since I had trouble finding such thin yarn in colors, I decided to practice using yarn size 10, and then try to crochet using my cotton quilting thread. The white flowers are crocheted using yarn size 10, and the colored flowers are crochet using quilting thread and a 0.6 mm needle. The difference in size between using yarn size 10 and quilting tread can be seen from the picture to the right, where the orange flower is crocheted using Yli Yli quilting tread.

I will use the motifs crocheted using quilting tread to decorate a folder to store my crochet needles in. The white motifs will be used to decorate a bag for my ongoing crochet projects. They are not finished yet. To make a complete Irish crochet, the motifs need to be joined together with a mesh of loops, into the desired shape. For illustrations of this joining of motifs, see here and here. If this is a success, I will make a Irish crochet dress for my daughter.