Fan Art 2: Queen's Thief - Sea of Olives

Sea of Olives

Based off of The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

Medium: Watercolor

Time: A week

Size: 11x15 in.

Date: January 2017

Other Fan Art for the same series: Costis & Aris

So this is my landscape fan art for the Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner! I was super excited to do this because I have had a couple scenes that I've been wanting to paint for a long time but alas life so I could never find the time. Then Mrs. Turner announced an ARC contest for her new book so I decided I was just going to go for it!!! This is my first watercolor painting in over 4 years, and there are definitely a lot of things I would have done differently (SUGAR D: ) [which if you'd like to hear more about you can see in the progress section below ;) ] but overall it was really fun and I am relatively happy with it! (Especially since I didn't really have a reference for most of it and mostly just made things up as I went - this was especially fun with the horses cause I never knew which color I'd make them until it happened.)

Summary:

This is a scene from The Thief. This is one of... three (I think) scenes that I've always wanted to paint from the Queen's Thief series. Basically I pictured the Magus, Pol, Sophos, Ambiades, and of course Gen on horseback looking out over the Sea of Olives which is a huge expanse of olive trees planted ages ago for the gods. I ended up doing this painting in a rush, plus I'm super out of practice with watercolors (my first love <3 ), so as I result there is a lot I would have done differently or planned out better but overall I'm super happy that I finished it and that it looks approximately and especially that my horses are up to my roommates standard which is a huge accomplishment since she's the horse master. Anyways I can't describe how much I love this book series and how happy they make me so I was glad I finally got this out there :D

Note: Like I mentioned I did this in a bit of a rush which was both good and bad. The good was that it was a bunch of fun and I got to do things more spontaneously; the bad was that I didn't get a chance to plan things out super well or to make things super accurate to the series. But overall it was a bunch of fun, I regained some (a very very very small amount) of skills with my beloved watercolors, and this was probably the most original [ironic since it's a fan art ;) ], picture I've ever made (since most of my other paintings were from basically a single photo reference and this one was almost purely made up with various references, none of which were represented in entirety or anything close to it).

Work in progress:

These were some of my sketches for the layout of the picture. I wanted them all to be on horses going through the Sea of Olives, but I also wanted to have the effect of the rows upon rows of olive trees rolling over hills and fading off into the distance. I couldn't figure out a good way to have them both among the olive trees and also able to see far into the distance, so eventually I decided to put them up on a bit of a cliff or rocky area with one olive tree in the foreground and giving them the vantage point of seeing all of the trees in the distance.

Here's the original lightly sponged background rows of olive trees. Of course I couldn't keep it simple and probably redid them and roughed them up at least eight times. I also have a nice wash for the sky (which also ended up getting redone by accident). I believe I was using an indigo for the sky and some sort of Frankenstein green color that was in my palette that I think once contained Viridian Hue. Note I also put liquid frisket in approximate locations for the Magus, Ambiades, and Sophos (though I really should have taken the time to draw them out better because this messed me up a lot later on).

Here I added in the second level of olive trees. I also drew in Gen's horse and an approximation of Gen leaning over half terrified, half too tired/sore/weary to care ;) . [Which my roommate pointed out was much too far back on the horse so I had to shift time around a bit later - oh plus the horse vertical front foot was a bit to far forward so I had to shift that back about a millimeter as well ;) ]

I added some more detailing in the background and had the interesting idea of adding a bunch of cool indigo shadows in for the grove [spontaneously deciding the sun was somewhere over on the left ;) ]

SUGAR - this was horrible. I couldn't decide what I wanted to do for the path that they were on and decided that I was going to put a bunch of different flecks of colors on a mostly brown to dark indigo path. Then I thought putting a salt texture might be cool since it's a watercolor technique I never really used to use at all (simply because it makes a mess plus it makes you wait a long time). Unfortunately for some reason I do not have salt in my dorm room, but I do have sugar... so I thought why not? what's the worst it can do? It was horrible - worse than I ever could have imagined. The sugar dissolved in with the paint and dried in a hard sticky mess - I about thought I had ruined my picture but thankfully I was able to sponge and scrub most of it away though of course it had the effect of practically destroying all of that paper - thank goodness it was just were the ground was though so it was just going to be sorts of brownish and non-distinct anyways. [Also note that in addition to sugar I also picked some salt off of some peanut butter pretzels and add them to the monstrosity ;) ]

Here is my fixed path which I gave a dried sponge texture. I also tried to make the foreground olive bearable and failed.

I made the foreground olive slightly more bearable. I was absolutely in love with the trunk though! Yes! I painted Magus, Ambiades, and Sophos (and theirs horses minus the tails). I really wanted Sophos shirt to be bright and rich (since Ambiades should look dull in comparison) but it bothers me a bit... Also note that I had a lot of fun making up horse colors. The furthest eventually became something of a bay. I really wanted the second horse to have lavender highlights in the sun so it became a brownish color. And I wanted to use my yellow ochre on Sophos' horse - so that's how it became a light chestnut-ish.

I started on Pol's horse. Oh! and I also did the rocks! I was really happy with the couple of rocks on the bottom but I was making up the ones on the right as I went so they ended up a bit blurry. I was going to go back in and mess with them a bit but didn't have time.

Pol's horse was totally looking orange and purple for a bit but I ended up pulling it off! And for the last horse I decided to do a nice pure burnt sienna!

I added some more details on the horse, adding muscle tone, etc. And......

Voilà! [Though hopefully I can get a better picture in the daylight] - I was rather proud of Gen's braid and I thought the color on his horse came out great!

Aftermath:

We have a limited supply of paper towels in my dorm room so my arm naturally became my blotting paper... Good thing this wasn't acrylic ;)

My palette! It is wonderfully speckly and artsy! I need to get a better palette but this one actually worked out pretty well~

Well that's all!!! I had a bunch of fun with this and it was nice to paint again!

Have a good day and be blessed in your endeavors!!! ;)

Fan Art 1: Queen's Thief - Costis & Aris

Costis & Aris

Fan Art for the Hamiathes' Gift Exchange 2016

Based off of characters from The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner

Medium: Digital

Time: A couple days

Date: June 2016

Other Fan Art for the same series: Sea of Olives

This was a fan art I did a couple of months ago for the Hamiathes' Gift Exchange on the lovely Sounis fan site. I was super excited for the exchange, and I had a bunch of ideas that I wanted to draw, but alas I was finishing my hectic last couple of weeks studying abroad in Italy and thus I did not complete the more ambitious of my planned fan art (which I have since been finishing up and will be posting shortly!). I did however complete this lovely little drawing of Costis and Aris who are predominately from The King of Attolia (Book 3) in Megan Whalen Turner's Queen's Thief series.

[Quick Note: The Queen's Thief series (the actual official series title now { ;) } is absolutely my favorite book series of all time, and Megan Whalen Turner is a wizard of an author. I can no longer remember my life pre-Queen's-Thief series. They are the most amazing work of literary art I have ever come across, and as an author I can only aspire to be half as amazing as Megan Whalen Turner. This is the sort of books series where every single word has a meaning and a purpose revealing more with each reread (yes, even many many rereads later), but they can also be enjoyable on a surface level without delving into the hidden treasures of extra meaning and foreshadowing. The characters are wonderful and a joy to read. The books are a perfect balance of everything a book needs but done in such a masterful way that I consider them more a work of art than a mere book series (mind you these are children's/young adult fiction and written in a modern style {as opposed to the more antiquated style of most of the greats of children's/teen literature} so that really is saying something). I could literally write a whole series raving about how amazing each book is, so I had better get on to my fan art~~~]

Prompt: The prompt I worked off of was from a lovely fellow fan who adored Costis and Aris and their friendship [or a little bit more ;) ]. Throughout The King of Attolia, which is narrated from Costis's point of view, there are several scenes with long time friends Costis and Aris. There is everything from them doing their normal daily duties as guards, hanging out in their free time, worrying about each other (such as when Costis desperately has to plead the King for a way to save Aris), etc. Costis is very just, upstanding, and passionate. He comes from a landed family which is huge as far as status goes in Attolia. Aris does not come from a landed family and cannot afford to be as upright as Costis sometimes. They stay friends through thick and thin despite their difference in status or the trouble they find themselves in throughout the plot of the book.

This is my initial sketch. I wanted Costis (on the left) to be standing openly and reaching up around Aris's neck without care for how awkward the reach or how cumbersome the armor he was wearing. I wanted to witness them spontaneously having fun: Costis, a more genuine and open fun with his best friend; Aris, a more precious fun grateful for the friendship he's found in Costis. I was also working on the design of the armor which needed to both feel like Greek/Roman-ish armor, but also be plenty decorative since as Queen's Guard they were expected to look both impressive and perhaps just a bit ornamental. The symbol on the chest plate was meant to be the lily of Attolia which is mentioned to be on Attolian currency.

This is my completed sketch (in pencil). Costis is smiling unreservedly. There's a bit of funkiness going on in some of the hands and elbows, but the armor looks nice. I also added a second lily on the hip plate.

I decided that I was going to turn this into a digital drawing to keep it cleaner, and besides I think I only had 12 colored pencils with me in Italy and no other art supplies. This is the black and white digital version of the drawing. I decided that I was going to keep it 'sketch-y' and stay simple on the coloring, with more muted, everyday-happy sorts of colors. I wanted a simple clean fill in that maintained the feelings of my sketch.

I wanted both of their hair to be dark brown, but I didn't want them to be the same color. I wanted to give Costis a slight red tinge to his hair (since for some reason I related reddish hair with warmer, more open personalities - not that Costis is that 'warm' per se, but he is very genuine to his feelings and beliefs as opposed to Aris being slightly more reserved and constrained.). I do wish I would have made Costis's hair curlier, but curly hair is hard. 

This is the final drawing with highlights and shadows added. I also darkened Aris's hair a bit, and cleaned up some of the dark sketch-y areas a little. I made the horrible elbow a bit less horrible. There is definitely a lot more I would have done, especially now that I know a bit more about making digital art, but overall I am happy with it and it makes me smile every time I see it :) .

One other note about this pic, where I wanted Costis to have spontaneously slung his arm around Aris, Aris in turn is gripping Costis's shoulder. Though he can't afford to be as impulsive in his actions as Costis, they have an equal, comfortable friendship, that is important to both of them.

I know this is a cheesy over-analysis of one little sketch-y picture, but it goes to show how much I love this series and it's characters, and how even when I'm only making a tiny little sketch-y picture there is so much that I am thinking about and that I want to include to do justice to my some of my favorite characters~~~

Other Ideas:

Below is one of my other ideas for a drawing of Costis and Aris. This one was supposed to be them hanging out in Costis's room when off duty. I really liked the idea, but I had a lot of dimensional issues, so if I do end up completing this some day I will likely just have to start over.

One other idea I had was more of a comic of them eating in the mess hall - starting with when they were younger and became friends (when Costis didn't care about being friends with someone of lower status) and later throughout the plot of the book (for example there was a scene when Costis was ostracized and Aris decided to throw his lot in with him and sit with him anyways). I might still do this eventually~~~

Darn, I should've known that I couldn't keep a fan art post for the Queen's Thief series short and sweet and to the point.

Crochet Pattern 2: Mini Kuriboh Amigurumi

Mini Kuriboh Amigurumi Pattern

Size: 9ish inches high

Time: A bit (most of the time is in the fur)

Basic Sphere Pattern: Crochet Spheres (Note: following pattern is based off of 26 Row Sphere but can be adjusted for different sizes)

Materials:

3 colors of 4 ply acrylic yarn (Pictured Brown, Green, and Light Yellow) 

Crochet hook

Yarn needle

Stuffing (acrylic or other)

Crafting felt and Super glue (for eyes) [or alternately can use clay, plastic, embroidered or needle felted eyes]

Abbreviations: 

ch - chain

sc - single crochet

inc - increase

sc2tog - single crochet two together (decrease)

sc3tog - single crochet three together (extra decrease)

st - stitch

(#) - signifies total number of stitches facing up around the loop by the end of the row

Body: Using Brown (begin stuffing as you start decreasing)

1- ch 2. 6 sc in second ch from hook. (6)

2- inc in each stitch around. (12)

3- (1 sc, inc) repeat 6 times (18)

4- 1 sc, inc, 2 sc, inc, 3 sc, inc, 2 sc, inc, 3 sc, inc, 2 sc (23)

5- 2 sc, inc, 3 sc, inc, 4 sc, inc, 3 sc, inc, 4 sc, inc, 2 sc (28)

6- 1 sc, inc, 4 sc, inc, 5 sc, inc, 4 sc, inc, 5 sc, inc, 4 sc (33)

7- 3 sc, inc, 5 sc, inc, 6 sc, inc, 5 sc, inc, 6 sc, inc, 3 sc (38)

8- 8 sc, inc, 9 sc, inc, 8 sc, inc, 9 sc, inc (42)

9- 6 sc, inc, 13 sc, inc, 13 sc, inc, 7 sc (45)

10- 9 sc, inc, 14 sc, inc, 14 sc, inc, 5 sc (48)

11- 15 sc, inc, 23 sc, inc, 8 sc (50)

12- 24 sc, inc, 25 sc (51)

13- inc, 50 sc (52)

14- sc in each st around (52)

15- 50 sc, sc2tog (51)

16- 25 sc, sc2tog, 24 sc (50)

17- 8 sc, sc2tog, 23 sc, sc2tog, 15 sc (48)

18- 5 sc, sc2tog, 14 sc, sc2tog, 14 sc, sc2tog, 9 sc (45)

19- 7 sc, sc2tog, 13 sc, sc2tog, 13 sc, sc2tog, 6 sc (42)

20- sc2tog, 9 sc, sc2tog, 8 sc, sc2tog, 9 sc, sc2tog, 8 sc (38)

21- 3 sc, sc2tog, 6 sc, sc2tog, 5 sc, sc2tog, 6 sc, sc2tog, 5 sc, sc2tog, 3 sc (33)

22- 4 sc, sc2tog, 5 sc, sc2tog, 4 sc, sc2tog, 5 sc, sc2tog, 4 sc, sc2tog, 1 sc (28)

23- 2 sc, sc2tog, 4 sc, sc2tog, 3 sc, sc2tog, 4 sc, sc2tog, 3 sc, sc2tog, 2 sc (23)

24- 2 sc, sc2tog, 3 sc, sc2tog, 2 sc, sc2tog, 3 sc, sc2tog, 2 sc, sc2tog, 1 sc (18)

25- (sc2tog, 1 sc) repeat 6 times (12)

26- 4 sc3tog. Fasten off. Weave loose end through each stitch in the opening and pull tightly to close.

(What the body should look like minus the couple of hairs at the top)

Limbs (x4): Using Green

1- Ch 6, sl first chain (6)
2- Sc around (6)
3- Again (6)
4- Sc, inc, 2sc inc sc (8)
5 - Sc inc inc 2sc inc inc sc (12)
6 - 2sc inc inc 4sc inc inc 2sc (16)
7 - Sc around (16)
8 - Again (16)
9 - Again (16)
10 - Slip 3, cast off

(What one limb looks like)

Making claws: Using Yellow Yarn

Mentally separate top of foot into three sections of 5-6-5 stitches

Start at left section, then do middle, then right

Left and right sections:

1- Sc in each st around (5)

2- sc2tog, sc2tog, sc (3)

3- sc2tog, sc (2)

4- sc2tog (1)

5- ch, cast off

Middle section:

1- Sc in each st around (6)

2- sc2tog, sc2tog, sc2tog (3)

3- sc2tog, sc (2)

4- sc2tog (1)

5- ch, cast off

Attaching limbs, eyes: (Ignore the hair that was already started in these pictures - fur will be explained more below)

I cut my eyes out of felt and both super-glued and sewed them on (with regular needle and thread).

Using yarn needle attach limbs, two on sides slightly to the front and two on bottom with the toes sticking out. Remember the fur will cover a lot of the limbs depending on how long you make it so make sure the toes are sticking out far enough.

Making him Fluffy:

 Start latch hooking yarn (using either latch hook or crochet hook and fingers) from the top. When cutting all of your yarn up make sure you cut it all approximately the same length. I wrapped it around my same (I think three?) fingers a bunch of times and cut large bunches of yarn at once. It's okay to have some longer and shorter strands since they will all be separated or brushed out later and they can also be trimmed.

 Note: I latch-hooked pieces of yarn to every stitch but you can just as well do every other if you want less fur.

 Continue latch hooking around his eyes and limbs. Note, after you are finished, you probably want to trim the hairs around his eyes to be a little shorter so that his eyes don't get too covered up. Start separating the strands of yarn. I separated a lot of the strands by hand so that he didn't get too frizzy (although he would also look good frizzy if you used a wire brush), and later on I used my hair brush a bit to make him a little fluffier.

He's finished!!! :D

Crochet 5: Mini Kuriboh

Mini Kuriboh Amigurumi

Size: 9ish inches high

Materials: Brown, Green, Light Yellow 4 ply acrylic yarn, crochet hook, yarn needle, crafting felt,    

        super glue (for eyes)

Time: A while (working just a little bit at a time)

Pattern: here!

About the Project: This was another Super belated birthday present for a friend of mine. I really wanted to crochet a Kuriboh since he was such a simple concept: just a ball body and 4 limbs. Plus I was really excited to crochet something quick and easy while also using (mostly) my own pattern (more details about pattern to be posted soon).

First thing first: I never want to latch hook/crochet fuzzy yarn on a project ever again. I know I said as much after doing the Haku dragon, but I could not resist trying it again since Kuriboh is just so darn fuzzy (Although if I ever crochet Flareon [Pokemon] or Ikkakumon [Digimon] then yes, bring on the fuzz! ). I think the effect is far superior to just using fuzzy yarn (mainly just because it's a fuller type of fuzzy plus you can control the amount of fuzz you want, but I'm sure there are probably some awesome fuzzy yarns that can achieve a similar effect). Plus it can look super professional if you brush it out a bunch with a wire brush, or you can brush it out less (which I do since I mostly use my hair brush or my fingers) which gives it more of a homemade feel (which I thought would look especially good for Kuriboh since he has crazy animation hair). However, the process of actually putting all of the yarn on takes FOREVER, and it is not nearly as kindly on the hands as simply knitting or crocheting is, especially it you are trying to do it as fast as humanly possible to get it over with. This is the reason I made a "mini" Kuriboh rather than a decent sized one. Actually crocheting Kuriboh probably took a couple hours at most. Adding all of the fuzz took days and weeks and days upon weeks and weeks upon days [plus being a college student, so really it probably did not take as long as I think it did].

My other main problem with Kuriboh was his eyes. I wanted him to have those big ol' anime eyes, but I knew if I tried to replicate that with yarn then it would probably end up looking too messy. Ideally I would have found a way to embroider eyes for him on one of those fancy sewing machines like one of my grandmas has. I also looked into painting eyes for him, but I had no idea where to find pieces of wood, plastic, or flat buttons that would be the exact right size to paint on. I have recently seen a lot of people use needle felting in their projects and I have concluded that this is definitely something I need to learn how to do, but for now I opted to just use cheap craft felt. Since this was such a simple project and I was kind of going for the 'homemade' look more than the 'professional' look anyways I think the craft felt eyes worked out 'well enough.' They are a little lopsided, a little mis-sized, a little bit of everything slightly goofy, but it just gives Kuriboh some character :) . 

Overall, this project was super fun to do because it is simple, easy. and (besides for the fuzz) quick. I was able to see the project progress very quickly even when I was not doing a lot of work on it (which was nice for a change - small amigurumi projects are so nice :D - I have sooo many ideas for Christmas :D :D :D). I will soon be posting the pattern for this project (which basically just consists of his limbs and a basic ball design).

Side note: Kuriboh is happily chilling out the rest of his life with his pal, a winged Kuriboh plush.

Side side note: HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!

[I'm a crocheter for Halloween this year... Just kidding, I'm a Trekkie... or at least a Trekkie crocheter]

And now a thousand and ten pictures of a ball growing fuzz:

Work in Progress:

The first strands of fuzz growth have begun. 

At this point Kuriboh very much represents the plant seen behind him [not intentional I swear]. He also looks a bit like a pineapple (not really) or an Oddish (also not really). 

Laying out the goofy cheap felt eyes. I ended up cutting out holes for the top shapes into the bottom shapes so that the entire eye was on level. Then I (somehow, kind of, magically) super-glued the felt together to create one solid (kind of) felt eye (well actually 2 felt eyes...).

Kuriboh now has a mullet. At this point he looked scarily like a goofy cartoon human head or something. You can tell by the squiggliness of the white part of his eyes that I sewed them on (very carefully and rather poorly since the super glue was not holding the eyes together very well. I super-glued each eye together, but I sewed the eyes to the body (for some reason it seems "sacri-crochet-gious" to use super glue at all so I try to minimize my use). 

 It's a limb! By my very own design! It's all of an inch and a half big! Took me fifteen hours (minutes) of painstakingly cautious (messy and impulsive) crocheting to develop this super complicated (...no) pattern. [but it will take me that long to finally post said pattern :P ]

 Kuriboh has Arms and Legs!!!!!!!! Or maybe just hand and feet... If he didn't already, this is when he starts to look super cute. :D

 Action pose to show off those giant claws!!!

 Kuriboh has a widow's peak! And a Frankenstein ('s monster) like hairstyle.

The fuzz growth has increased rapidly!!! Now he resembles a Seedot (Pokemon). Notice the fuzz on the top is already brushed out and wavy, and the fuzz around his eyes and nose is still in 'yarn form.' I debated possibly leaving his hair in total yarn form to mimic the anime style of Kuriboh's hair, but ultimately I decided I just wanted him to be fuzzy!

Yay!!! All of the fuzz has finally come in! Now he just needs a thorough brushing and Kuriboh will have the foofy flowing locks we love him for! [as seen below ;) ]

Crochet Pattern 1: Mini Pokeball / Pokeball Shift Knob Cover

About this Pattern: Pokeball Shift Knob Cover
Size: ~2 in. in diameter

Materials: Red, Black, and White 4 ply acrylic yarn; crochet hook and yarn needle

Time: ~1 hr.

Car pictured: 2012 Honda Civic Si

Basic Sphere Pattern: Crochet Spheres (Note: following pattern is based off of 12 Row Sphere but can be adjusted for larger sizes)

This pattern is crocheted in the round. Also I prefer the "wrong-side-out" look for the pokeball, but the pattern can be adjusted for "right-side-out" by changing front loop crochet stitches to back post stitches.

For a mini pokeball, stuff ball as you crochet. Shift Knob Cover requires no stuffing.

Abbreviations:

ch - chain

FL - front loop

inc - 2 single crochet into next stitch

sc - single crochet

sc2tog - single crochet 2 stitches together

sc3tog - single crochet 3 stitches together

st - stitch

Mini Pokeball

Start with Red yarn:

Row 1: Ch 2; 6 sc in second ch from hook. (6)

Row 2: 2 sc in each st around. (12)

Row 3: [1 sc, inc, 2 sc, inc] Repeat. 1 sc, inc. (17)

Row 4: 2 sc, inc, 3 sc, inc, 3 sc, inc, 3 sc, inc, 2 sc. (21)

Row 5: 3 sc, inc, 6 sc, inc, 6 sc, inc, 3 sc. (24)

Row 6: 10 sc, inc, 10 sc. Change to White sc. 1 sc. Change to Black sc. (25)

Row 7: 22 sc into FL of st, Change to White sc into FL of st, 2 sc. (25)

Row 8: 13 sc into FL of st, sc2tog into FL of st, 8 sc into FL of st, 2 sc. (24)

Row 9: 3 sc, sc2tog, 6 sc, sc2tog, 6 sc, sc2tog, 3 sc. (21)

Row 10: 2 sc, sc2tog, [3 sc, sc2tog]x3, 2 sc. (17)

Row 11: [sc2tog, 1 sc, sc2tog, 2 sc] Repeat. sc2tog, 1 sc. (12)

Row 12: [sc3tog]x4. Fasten off. Weave end through each stitch and pull tightly to close.

Using Yarn Needle and black yarn stitch black circle for pokeball opening button.

Shift Knob Cover Variation

Row 1-10 as is.

Row 11: sc in each st around (17)

Fasten off. Weave in loose ends.

Using Yarn Needle and black yarn stitch black circle for pokeball opening button.

Complete pokeball before yarn needle stitching.

Complete pokeball after yarn needle stitching. [but before ends tucked in...]

Crochet 4: Pokeball Shift Knob Cover

Pokeball Shift Knob Cover

Size: ~2 in. in diameter

Materials: Red, Black, and White 4 ply acrylic yarn; crochet hook and yarn needle

Time: ~1 hr.

Car: 2012 Honda Civic Si

Pattern: Mini Pokeball Pattern

Pattern influences: Ideal Crochet Sphere Patterns (by Ms Premise-Conclusion)

                            Ms Premise-Conclusion's info on spheres

About the Project: My brother has recently been making a lot of small improvements to his car, and he came to me with a great idea of a pokeball cover for his shift knob. At work, his car would sit in the sun all day, and thus the knob would burn his hand when he drove home. He saw some ideas of knitted and crocheted knob covers online and instantly took it a notch further and came up with the pokeball knob cover idea.

I was super excited about this project because I love pokemon, and I also love short, quick projects that are useful and make people happy. I modified a basic sphere pattern (see pattern influences) mainly just by leaving the bottom open (so that it fits over a shift knob) and incorporating back loop single crochet stitching to achieve a nice, straight looking black line on the pokeball.

This project was super quick and easy (I made 2 in one 2 hr. car ride), and it has spawned a whole slew of pokemon related ideas that I am dieing to try (one being a pokemon themed Christmas tree with amigurumi pokemon and pokeballs decorating it).

Note: I have a habit of crocheting 3D projects wrong-side out but for this project I did it on purpose so that the black line (where the ball would open) has a better (straighter) effect from stitching into the back half of the stitch. Otherwise I would have had to stitch into the back of the stitch and I did not like that effect as much. Plus I kind of like the wrong side of crochet better than the right side...

Work in Progress:

Finished crochet ball before the black stitching was added. I put a golf ball inside the pokeball to better see the shape and also to test for size for the shift knob in my brother's car.

Finished pokeball with stitching. I just needed to finish off the stitching, tuck all the yarn ends in, and put it on the shift knob in my brother's car. 

Previous pokeball prototype with final. First prototype was slightly bigger than final. Also I tried using crochet slip-stitching for the pokeball button instead of just sew-stitching (running stitch-like) with a yarn needle. For a bigger pokeball I think the slip-stitch method could be really effective and look super cool, but on this small of a pokeball just using a yarn needle looks much better.