Hey Knot By Gran’ma, why is there suddenly an eBay logo under SHOP KNOT BY GRAN’MA (look to your left)?

I’ve opened up a shop on eBay.  I didn’t want to, because it is more expensive than Etsy, and for a plethora of other reasons, but I had to.  Holiday shopping is coming up.  Etsy will not create a category for Art Dolls (and Miniatures too) and apparently the search function (and other parts of the site) isn’t working properly either.  So they have given me no choice other than to make it so my pieces are seen by (hopefully) the buying public. eBay has a category for me.  I’m slowly moving most of my art dolls and art doll monsters over to eBay.

Here’s my new logo for my new eBay shop.  Hopefully Etsy will freaking get its act together and this will be a temporary thing.

We’re trying to get a “Dolls and Miniatures” category up on Etsy.

We could use your support! Please sign our petition!

Click Here To Sign!

Froggy Monster

Originally uploaded by Knot By Gran’ma

Here’s a little addition to the Knot By Gran’ma monster family. He’s a bit froggy in his appearance and has only one sharp tooth to watch out for.

I crocheted him out of acrylic yarns, stuffed him with Polyfill, and sewed on the cotton eyeballs and tooth later. He’s about 4 inches tall and 3 1/2 inches wide.

I’d like to make more of these little guys in different colors. This little guy will be accompanying me to my show on Sunday. Hopefully he’ll make a new friend there.

EDIT: Froggy Monster is for sale here.

Just an update on my Rasta Lady… she now dons a fantastic wrap skirt and is just waiting patiently for me to give her some eyes, lips, and dreads. I have no pictures of her right now, but I hope to finish her today sometime. Lighting depending I’ll have a picture or two by Monday… (Tomorrow I may go buy materials for that darn lightbox I didn’t want to make.)  I lied.  Here’s a picture.  I’m playing around again with my backgrounds apparently.

Since she came together quickly, I’m writing down my list of things to make:

1. Make more monster guys like Tortula Teeth. They’re just so darn cute… Maybe I’ll make 3 or 4 even (yes I’ve been watching Snagglepuss cartoons).

2. Finish the hat modeled after the monster guys. It came out pretty nice so far… it’s hard to tell because the eyes are not on and I need to see it on a head. Should be okay though…

3. Cowboy and cowgirl dolls. I don’t know why… they just need to be done.

If I can finish all of this in a week, I will be happy. We’ll see how I go on my procrastinating ways. I’m probably going snowboarding on Thursday for the first time, so I will not crochet anything that day apparently. Maybe I’ll become inspired to make a snowboarding lady once that adventure is over… or a lady with a broken leg. Ha!

It’s a good list though. I also have curtains to finish in my room and Little Man’s shark curtains to start. Procrastinating on those also.

I made these guys up the other day and was trying to be inspired by Morty. These 2 are what I came up with. They’re fantastically fun. The orange guy is Tony Teeth and the white smiley gal is Sasha. Sadly, they’ll be leaving my home in the next hour to find a new one at Cranky Yellow. I’ll be sure to make some more once I get another bit of free time.

Well, maybe not tons… but a lot. I’m painstakingly adding all of my inventory that I made up for my show to my Etsy Shop. There are about 6-9 new things going up a day, so I thought it might be a good idea to talk about that here. Click on the pictures to get to them.

On a side note, I thought I’d add a little rant about the baggers at the grocery store. I have recently decided (about 6 months now) that I do not need 100 million plastic bags in our house. I have no diapered children (hopefully soon though) and let’s face it… I’m not one to empty the little trash cans around the house that often. Upon having this epiphany, I bought some shopping bags that I could just bring with me whenever I go shopping. It’s pretty obvious that I have them, because I usually sling them to the bagging area as I’m unpacking my groceries. The bagger people usually just ignore them and start loading up the plastic bags!!! I literally have to say, “Please don’t use the plastic bags. I brought my own.” Sometimes I have to say this more than once and other times I have to take my items out of the plastic as they ignore me and continue to bag, just to put them into the bags I brought for my groceries. Sigh… I feel a little better. Maybe the folks around here will clue in soon enough.

Today’s a good day for this doll to get some hair. It really seems to have boosted her confidence. Everything was sewn on prior to the hair attachments. She’s a blond with random highlights. I gave her bangs too. I can’t wear bangs, so I thought she should. All of her strands were sewn on separately but just at the top. I wanted her hair to have a little movement to it.

I think her dress will be the next thing that I tackle… oh and the panties too.

These can double as wine bottle stuff!  They can protect your wine bottles from killer dust bunnies, AND they can make your wine bottle look nice when you give it as a gift.

I wonder why I hadn’t thought of that before… maybe because I wasn’t looking at these Hyperbolics all of the time wondering “what else can I do with these?”

Yeah… now I’ll have that song in my head all day too.

I’m not sure if Hyperbolic Lola was subconsciously inspired by The Kinks or not, but she did turn out pretty cool. I love her eyeballs (which I completed at 6am this morning, because apparently I can’t sleep sometimes).  She is a wonderfully soft toy or sculpture or wall art or whatever you would like her to be. She is not stuffed, but her head is pretty rigid because of the twisting that occurred as I was crocheting her together.  I crocheted her yesterday out at my in-law’s pool.

Little man was feeling like he wanted to swim, so we took the ride down… we do this once or twice a week, depending on the weather.  He swam around in his little swimmies and I sat on the edge of the pool, feet in water, and crocheted.  It was very relaxing… even more relaxing because of the mindless technique hyperbolically based crochet is to me… and now I’m officially out of that pink variegated skein that I’ve been trying to finish for what seems like forever.So Hyperbolic Lola lives here. 

I’ve had this guy in my head for a little while. I wasn’t sure how I’d manage to make him or how he’s come out. Next time, I’ll use a different type of yarn on both the body and wings… well maybe just the wings. They’re very floppy. He is a cutie though…

Hyperbolic Butterfly is a little backward in his coloring. Instead of a dark body and colorful wings, he’s switched it around. He’s still very handsome as a butterfly though. Hyperbolic Butterfly is very happy being your pal, or sitting around watching you work or even hanging from the wall. He also makes a great gift if you need to bring a little sunshine into someone’s day.

Hyperbolic Butterfly is crocheted out of rainbow acrylic yarn and cotton thread and yarn. His eyeballs are crocheted out of cotton and then sewn on after the crochet part was finished. He’s about 6 inches (15.2 cm) wide and roughly 5 inches (12.7 cm) tall.

The wing or math portion of Hyperbolic Butterfly is done with the idea of a hyperbolic plane. N=2 in his case, which means roughly that I increased piece every 2 stitches for the effect.

He’s living HERE and HERE.

In an attempt to design some new pincushions, I came up with Marco. He didn’t work as a pincushion though, so he’s a little Hyperbolic. He’s named for this guy I used to hang out in college with, who was always puttin‘ the moves on me. I always felt like he was watching me… thus the naming of Hyperbolic Marco.

Hyperbolic Marco is one of those Hyperbolics that always seems to be looking at you… it can be kind of creepy. He’s harmless though, partially due to the fact that he’s a piece of crochet work and cannot move. He’s a little smaller than his other Hyperbolic “cousins”… except for Al. He adds a little personality to wherever you place him. He’s safe for little kids, as there’s nothing for them to choke on and great for the adults who are kids at heart.

Hyperbolic Marco is crocheted out of red and blue acrylic yarn and rainbow crochet cotton. His eyeball is crocheted out of cotton and then sewn on after the crochet part was finished. He’s about 5 inches (12.7 cm) wide and roughly 3 inches (7.6 cm) tall. He lives HERE and/or HERE

I also finished some new pincushions. There’s the fire pincushion (orange and gray yarn), which lives HERE… and then this great pincushion (teal and purple with camouflage yarn), which is going to be a gift for a friend. I haven’t seen her in probably a year and she’s all about sewing and fashion… and makes awesome quilts, come to think of it. Either way, these are them…

So Hyperbolic Grumpy Guts is the little guy you’d like to have around when you have a tummy ache or other gutly issues… that way you can squish him and at least feel a little better. He’s also great for the potty humor crowd. Who doesn’t like a little bit of guts hanging around? He’s a little grumpy, but won’t bother you like your real guts will. He mainly sits around and glares at things. You can also hang him up if you need a little grumpy guts on the wall. Being an abstract creation, there’s really no right or wrong way to enjoy our pal Hyperbolic Grumpy Guts.

Hyperbolic Grumpy Guts is crochet out of acrylic yarn, and cotton thread. His eyeball and eyebrow were sewn on after he was completed. He is not stuffed. Hyperbolic Grumpy Guts measures 13 inches (33 cm) long and is 5 inches (12.7 cm) wide and the red section. His body is roughly 2.5 inches (6.4 cm) wide.

The red and pink (or math) area of Hyperbolic Grumpy Guts is done with the idea of a hyperbolic plane. N=2 in his case, which means roughly that I increased this piece every 2 stitches for the hyperbolic plane effect.

He lives over in Etsy Land… HERE

Hyperbolic Drunkard is really not good for anything other than hanging out, getting drunk, and sleeping. Don’t expect him to keep you company by doing anything other than staring at you. He’s a drunkard and he doesn’t do much. He can barely keep his head up and his eyes hurt because they are so bloodshot.

Hyperbolic Drunkard is crocheted out of navy and red acrylic yarn and cream cotton crochet thread. The remains of his hair are cotton also, and have been slipped through the stitches and knotted. He’s 5.5 inches (14 cm) wide at the base and about 7 inches (17.8 cm) long when laying down.The bottom or math portion of Hyperbolic Drunkard is done with the idea of a hyperbolic plane. N=2 in his case, which means roughly that I increased piece every 2 stitches for the effect.

I posted yesterday that I was going to name him Hyperbolic Jerky Drunk Octopus, but once I was finished, that name didn’t seem to fit. Thus the name Hyperbolic Drunkard… short and sweet.

He’s living over at my Etsy Shop HERE

Cecil Turtle is a little bit of an experimental piece. I wanted to try my hand using freeform crochet techniques, while still playing around with the hyperbolic math equations that I have been enjoying. You can really do anything with Cecil. She works well just sitting around, covering something perhaps, or upside down as a little bowl, or folded up as your best friend. She just wants a nice home and is so abstract, that she doesn’t mind what you do with her.

Cecil’s shell is completely freeform crochet. I managed to get a HIGH 5 shape in there somehow for dramatic impact. It is made out of cotton embroidery floss in a plethora of fun colors. The shell measures 5 inches (12.7 cm) in diameter and 2 inches (5.1 cm) tall.

Cecil’s head and limbs are hyperbolically crochet out of cotton floss, as are her eyeballs. The hyperbolic-ness of Cecil is N=2. She doesn’t have a tail because I can’t divide with simple math… let’s pretend it’s hidden under her shell. Cecil entirely measures 8 inches (20.3 cm) long and 8 inches (20.3 cm) wide. Her lips contain a thin band of polyester shiny thread and her eyeballs were sewn on after the crocheting part was completed. Cecil is completely one of a kind.

For now Cecil Turtle lives HERE. I’m very happy with how she came out. That first picture was taken before I finished her eyeballs by the way.

This pretty girl just needs your help and love… thus the damsel in distress title.  She is crochet from acrylic yarn and cotton crochet thread. She’s in a lovely spring outfit, as the days are getting longer. She just wants to gaze at you with her pretty green eye.She works well as an art sculpture, or as a nice art doll. She’s extremely soft, and enjoys long strolls in the park while being hugged. Damsel In Distress is a one of a kind piece. Please take her home today.Her pig-tails resemble the hyperbolic planes that I have been crocheting lately. They increase every two stitches. The skirt is just that… a skirt. I used a nice scalloped stitch on the body of it.

Damsel In Distress is approximately 17 inches (43.2 cm) long when stretched out. Her skirt is roughly 7 inches (17.8 cm) in diameter when laid out flat. Her hyperbolic pig-tails are about 8 inches (20.3 cm) long from one end to the other. This can all change as you pose her in whatever way makes you happy. She is truly an abstract piece of art.

She is currently for sale HERE.

Coral Eel is about as abstract as you can get… well for today at least. She comes in 2 pieces. Her eel side is crochet thread and 100% cotton. Coral Eel’s eel part is actually a crochet tube. She has purple eyes, a pink lip area, and some great texture. The coral side of her is crochet out of acrylic yarn in grey, camophlage, green, and lilac and green cotton. This side of her is hyperbolic, with an increase every 2 stitches, and freeform crochet merged together.There’s really no right or wrong way to love Coral Eel. She can act as a non-stuffed toy or even as a really cool sculpture… whatever floats your boat. She just would like a cool place to live.

The white cotton section of Coral Eel is approximately 18 inches (45.7 cm) long. Her hyperbolic counter-section is roughly 9 inches (22.9 cm) long, 7 inches (17.8 cm) wide, and 4 1/2 inches (11.4 cm) tall.

She took quite a while to make, but I’m very proud of how she came out. I’m off to start some more creatures.

She’s available over at the Etsy Shop… visit her there!