Lee Mac. Crochet artist. Crochet portraits = Obsession. I am surgically attached to my Ipod and crochet hook. Bookworm. Pop culture addict. M&ms are as important as oxygen. Einstein hit the nail on the head with "Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere."
ATTN. Fellow Potter Hookers!! the free Pattern for May is up and it is....
Drumroll please.... .........
Yup! Tis the sexy potions master himself Much love goes out to CHOPERENA for putting Snape's name forward as the next free pattern! Cheers hun!!
As always, if anyone out there gives it a go, please be sure to send me piccies!! In Hogwarts Bunch news, I have 2 characters left to border then it's time to get the final positioning right, then onto stitching the buggers all together!! Good times good times!
Speaking of Potter, i've also had a few ideas buzzing around the old brain of late! Got some awesome ideas in mind, so watch this space Speaking of ideas!! I had a brainwave in the shower this morning (the most typical place to get the best ideas....a hem...) and it's in regards to a new Totallee Podcast! I'll say no more, except "WATCH THIS SPACE!!"!! Lee xox
27th April, 2010
Save Ferris!
Was in the mood for a little Ferris this morning and now i'm going to be spouting lines like "He's gonna be a fry cook on Venus!" and "You killed the car" at people whilst humming The Dream Academy's "The Edge Of Forever" all day....
Seriously though, i'm gonna have to have a John Hughes movie marathon soon...
I swear in every film of his i've seen I get angry (at least once), I cry (at least once), I laugh myself to the point of toilet intervention (at least twice) and I always come away from them feeling inspired
Call it 80s cheeseiness, but frig it's awesome to lose yourself in for a few hours And i'm sorry, but is there a person on the planet who has not dreamed of being Ferris on that float?!? No no there isn't! I may, personally, dream about it every time I hear "Twist & Shout" come on, but that's just me...but seriously!! I'ts an AWESOME film!!!
In between Matthew Broderick's monologues, I managaed to get a few more rows in!
Really, my moodboard should be reflecting 'Save Ferris' right now, but I watched 'Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid' last night, so the legend that is Paul Newman (and his incredible lady Joanne Woodward becuase she's just wonderful ) take precednce! Lee xox
25th April, 2010
No Slowing Down
So clearly I have a deathwish for my fingers and wrists as i've decided to dive right in on my next MASSIVE piece! Will I ever learn?!?!
The answer is "no"
Anywayz! This piece is for my Dad's birthday next month! Thankfully for me, his special day isn't until the 31st, so I have the whole month to HOPEFULLY get it donskies!
Granted, it doesn't look like a whole lot at the minute and actually it probably won't mean a whole lot to many once it is finished, but it should be quite special to my Radio-OBSESSED Dad I'm also inthe midst of bordering more Potter Panels - Hagrid and Draco are done and i'm about to frame Miss Granger! Shouldn't take too long! Plus keep your eyes peeled, as the next free Potter Pattern will be up over the coming days! Lee xox
23rd April, 2010
Mathematics
+
=
ATTN> POTTER FANS!! The bordering has begun Lee xox
22nd April, 2010
Finnito`
IT'S FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Stayed up till 1:30AM in a slightly erratic yet determined state to finish!! I absolutely ADORE this piece!
I haven't measured it yet, but I think it's on par with my Bon Scott & Angus young piece, therefore making it one/if not the biggest piece i've done to date
All up it took 51 days to complete....by god it sounds longer in days than weeks
I am now going to celebrate by going our for lunch and spending ridiculous amounts of dosh on shoes!!
What a smashing day this is turning out to be! Ha ha! Lee xox
19th April, 2010
Pupmail!
Gotta love it when a forwarded e-mail totally makes your day Exhibit A
Exhibit B
Just brilliant.
Right. Like Gabriella Cilmi, i'm a woman on a mission tonight! Cuppa, Charlie (new name for crochet hook)(fan?!), GWTW at 85%, Gok's Fashion Fix season 1, and positive and determined attitude to finish the piece tonight! Lee xox
17th April, 2010
Definitely
SO EXCITED!!!
Who said working on a Saturday was dull!!! Before I get to the EXCITING bit, lemme fill you in a little bit !
For those not in the know, I work as a part-time check-out chickie at my local supermarket and for the past 7 years (my god it's been 7 years.... time makes one feel so old sometimes...) I have been serving this wonderful lady.
Recently I discovered that she's actually a world famous artist, and has pieces of her work exhibited all around the world, including a piece hanging in our very own National Gallery! To cut a looooong story even shorter, a couple of weeks ago I got talking to her about my crochet and she said to bring in a couple of pieces to show her. So for the past week and a half, every shift i've been rocking up to work with an embarressingly large beach bag full of my pieces. For the past week and a half she didn't turn up! To say I was getting slightly upset, would be...well it'd be spot on actually. However she came in today!!! The one day I didn't bring any pieces in....wouldn't you know it!
However I did have my snappy snappy with me, so I scrolled through some shots on my camera and she said that she would 'DEFINITELY' be getting in touch with a friend of her's about.....
....you ready for this?!?.....
EXHIBITING MY WORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
She took my e-mail address and said to stay tuned!!!! My god i've had a smile plastered across my face the size of from here to Mars all arvo!!!!!! AGGHH!!!!
So to say that i'll be refreshing my e-mail 50 billion times a day over the next week would be an understatement, but AGH! I NEVER ever thought i'd get the chance to exhibit!!!! Moral of this story - you NEVER know who your customer's are!! SO BE NICE SHOP ASSISTANTS!!!
Speaking of my efforts with the hook, i'm about 20 rows from completion!!!
gonnna be loads of happy dancing once i've tied the last tie-off on this baby! Lee xox
11th April, 2010
Brrrrrrr
The weather has gone completely nuts! So bloody windy out there!! Things are bashing and crashing and I swear i've lost one if not two pillow cases off the line. Thankfully I have a penchant for pillow cases, so have at least 25 in reserve in the linen cupboard but still!! Crazy windy out there!
Poor Dee hasn't been out for a pee for the last 2 hours, due to fear of her being blown over the fence into nextdoor's vegie patch
Thankfully she's found something to keep her occupied.... Beyond adorable.
In GWTW news - am now almost at 65% The shading on Rhett's face is a lil darker than I would of liked, however the background is only going to get lighter, so hopefully that'll balance things out a bit Also i'm in the middle of making Vlog number 3, which will be featured on the right later this week - however when I slotted it in there last night, it totally threw my page out of whack! However when I viewed the site on my folks computer, it looked perfectly fine! So if anyone is noticing any difficulties or overlapping of the page, could you let me know?!? Cheers angels
Hope you're all having a smashing wkend and not being blow into your neighbours veggie patches Lee xox
7th April, 2010
Knobhead!
Okay so it turns out i'm the BIGGEST KNOBHEAD in the history of KNOBHEADS!!!!!!!!
Me =
As i've been crocheting along, i've been following my printed out pattern pages, merrily thinking that I was nearing the end....
Last night I noted that I only had about 25 rows left. "Score" I thought. Then paused, thinking "How in god's name is Rhett's head going to squish into 25 rows?!?"
Then it hit me .... I had only printed out PART of the pattern!!! I've still got another freaking 60-70 rows on top of what I thought I had left to go!!!!
Which means my percentage of completion has dropped back down to 50% ..and here was me getting all freaking excited that I was nearly finished mutter-mutter-mutter- GRRR!!!
So still QUITE a way to go on this one!
Suffice it to say, I have now printed off the ENTIRE pattern Lee xox
4th April, 2010
Too.Much.Chocolate!
H A P P Y E A S T E R ! ! !
I may have eaten a truckload more chocolate than usual this easter, thanks to the fact that I was stuck at bloody work for 4 hours of the day, but I HAD to try and stay awake somehow- and unfortunately for the size of my arse, my weapon of choice.....was chocolate eggs
But apart from feeling slight shady this evening, i'm having quite a good easter Had all hands on deck yesterday, cleaning my house from top to bottom. Little tip - don't wait 5 years to move your bed, in order to vacuum around the headboard. Sneeze central.
The place looks spiffing though! So i'm now all inspired to take everything off the walls and pop up some different bits and pieces to stare at. Release my inner decorator! Which could prove to be a total disaster...
Anywho! Lookie lookie!! 67-ish% now!
Set to be totally stunning when it's finished
I might make it the focal point of my loungeroom and build everything aroud it! Whatcha think?!? Okay, no more procrastinating. Time to catch up on some reading for Uni....Ugh. Lee xox
G'Day and welcome to my lil gallery
Feel free to browse away to your eyes content, leave me a comment on the tag-board or just soak up some crocheted portraiture! I also really need to take 2 seconds here to extend the biggest of "THANK YOU!!!"'s to Lokesh Dhakar whose 'Lightbox2' script is the sickest thing since sliced bread I would seriously be stuffed without the aid of this coding brilliance, so MASSIVE KUDOS to you Mr. Dhakar You're a star man!! Lee xox
This lil' animation is topsy-turvy! The little dude should be chasing the BOOK, because that is what I plan to be doing more of in 2015 !
I was on the lookout for a reading challenge for 2015 that would: a) have a goal of reading 52 books b) pose a list of books that would challenge me to read more diversely (I usually drift towards biographies and classics), and c) have a cool title. Yup. I really am that shallow. !
So whilst drooling and scrolling through my latest batch of pins on Pinterest, I was pretty darn elated to happen upon the POPSUGAR READING CHALLENGE!!
(Totallee cool name right ?!) I am already stoked to announce that I am totallee off and runningREADING and have already nailed my first challenge #WINNER!
Wow. Suffering a severe case of shiny face right there 'James Dean' by George Perry! So much for 'reading more diversely' eh?! Technically, this is a biography, but biographies are based on true 'stories' yeah?!? *sigh* I'm hopeless.
Alright i'm totallee cheating with this one, but I have been on such a Jimmy D kick lately that I had to read this!
As a result, I am now slightly obsessed
My goodness he was an amazing person! He faced such tragedy in his early life AND of course in his sudden death, but my word did he squeeze a lot of life out of his 24 years.
Twenty-four years... man it still makes my stomach drop to the floor...
The book provides a great insight into the light and dark shades of Jimmy's character and highlighted aspects of his life and his nature that really brought home what a complex and yet utterly relatable guy he was. Despite his tendency to be quite an introverted, surly and by some accounts outright rude kinda dude, there are stories of truly heart-warming gestures and a vulnerability about him that those close to him said shone through in his onscreen performances For a teeny bit more Jimmy gushing, check out my first Popsugar-related Youtube vid!
Yup! I have almost finished 'To Kill a Mockingbird' by Harper Lee and I have thoroughly enjoyed it I shall save my thoughts till I have finished, but can we all just take a moment to appreciate just how insanely AWESOME SCOUT IS!!! WHAT A LIL FIRECRACKER! LOVE HER ! If you are participating in the Popsugar reading challenge or any reading challenge this year, I would love to hear of your progress and what kind of books you are reading ! Be sure to leave me a tag or leave a link to your youtube book reviews! Now back to knocking over challenge number 2!!
Archived Vlogs!!!
Tutorials, ramblings and randomness...
G'Day G'Day!
This is the place to watch old vlogs!
Proceed with caution - as they're bloody awful!
Vlog #20 [1st May, 2012]
Vlog #19 [12th Mar, 2012]
Vlog #18 [2nd Jan, 2012]
Vlog #17 [28th Oct, 2011]
Vlog #16 [22nd Aug, 2011]
Vlog #15 [17th Aug, 2011]
Vlog #14 [30th July, 2011]
Vlog #13 [18th June, 2011]
Vlog #12 [30th Mar, 2011]
Vlog #11 [29th Mar, 2011]
Vlog #10 [20th Feb, 2011]
Vlog #9 [25th Jan, 2011]
Vlog #8 [15th Dec, 2010]
Vlog #7 [10th Nov, 2010]
Vlog #6 [17th July, 2010]
Vlog #5 [9th July, 2010]
Vlog #4 [8th June, 2010]
Vlog #3 [8th May, 2010]
Vlog #2 [9th Feb, 2010]
Vlog #1 [2nd Feb, 2010]
Pattern Archive!!!
Hooks @ the ready!!!
Welcome one and all to my pattern archive!
Here you will find the patterns I have popped up for you to get your hooks into !
Create your own crocheted portrait of the littlest Monkee! Please send pics of your finished pieces to be featured on Totallee.net!
I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE to see em! Mail to poprocker85 [@] totallee [.] net
♥ Peter Tork [The Monkees]
Create your own crocheted portrait of Peter "The most lovable, gorgeous, hunk o' spunk" Tork! Please send pics of your finished pieces to be featured on Totallee.net! I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE to see em! Mail to poprocker85 [@] totallee [.] net
♥ Micky Dolenz [The Monkees]
Create your own crocheted portrait of the zany, gorgeous, incomparable Micky <3!! Please send pics of your finished pieces to be featured on Totallee.net!
I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE to see em! Mail to poprocker85 [@] totallee [.] net
♥ Michael Nesmith [The Monkees]
Create your own crocheted portrait of Mr. Wool Hat himself! Please send pics of your finished pieces to be featured on Totallee.net!
I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE to see em! Mail to poprocker85 [@] totallee [.] net
♥ Jacob Black [Twilight]
Create your own crocheted portrait of this hunky werewolf to adorn your walls,
pillows, hell anywhere you wanna shove him! Please send pics of your finished pieces to be featured on Totallee.net!
I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE to see em! Mail to poprocker85 [@] totallee [.] net
♥ Bella & Edward [Twilight]
Create your own crocheted portrait of the sparkly Edward and his awkward Bella! Please send pics of your finished pieces to be featured on Totallee.net!
I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE to see em! Mail to poprocker85 [@] totallee [.] net
♥ Edward Cullen [Twilight]
Create your own crocheted portrait of Mr. Moody Bloodsucker Edward Cullen Please send pics of your finished pieces to be featured on Totallee.net!
I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE to see em! Mail to poprocker85 [@] totallee [.] net
♥ Captain. Jack Sparrow
Create your own crocheted portrait of the sexy swashbuckler! Savvy?! Please send pics of your finished pieces to be featured on Totallee.net!
I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE to see em! Mail to poprocker85 [@] totallee [.] net
♥ Sir. Paul McCartney
Create your own crocheted portrait of Sir. Paul McCartney! 'We're not worthy, we're not worthy!' Please send pics of your finished pieces to be featured on Totallee.net!
I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE to see em! Mail to poprocker85 [@] totallee [.] net
♥ Marilyn Monroe
Create your own crocheted portrait of the eternal beauty, Marilyn Monroe!!
Word of warning! This piece is a big'n!! 175 rows!! So if you are new to this form of crochet, I strongly suggest you have a go at the union jack swatch above, to get your fingers a workin'! Please send pics of your finished pieces to be featured on Totallee.net!
I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE to see em! Mail to poprocker85 [@] totallee [.] net
Question mark central!!
Frequently Asked Questions!
This is the place to come to ask your burning questions !!
I get asked a LOT of questions about my work and whilst most can be answered with one sentence, I really would like to help people out as much as I can !
Before submitting a question please be sure to have a quick scroll down to see if it has been answered.
If you have a question relating to the kind of crochet I do (because quite frankly I SUCK at any other kind !), please feel free to send your questions to
poprocker85[@]totallee[.]net
How can I make my own patterns?
This is DEFINITELY the number one question I receive on a daily basis !
Due to my reasons listed in the question below, I will not go into step-by-step details of how I create my patterns however due to mounting pressure I have put together a little list of some links to some freeware found around the web that many folks have found useful in converting their pictures into patterns! WARNING Please note - I have not utilised all of these programs. Therefore I can not validate the safety in downloading or using all of these programs. This is a list I have compiled based on recommendations that others have made to me. Therefore, use AT YOUR OWN RISK!! KPG Sourceforge (the pattern generator I use ) PictureCraftwork KnitPRO Free Pattern Wizard Pic2Pat Stoik Stitch Creator PM Stitch Creator 2.0 Please note - this is a short list! There are many graphing/cross-stitch/knitting generators out in the world wide web! However after trying a few on for size, you should be able to find a program that suits you down to the ground! It really is a matter of trying them out and playng around with them until you produce something you are happy with
How do you make your patterns?
I first began crocheting portraits when I discovered Todd Paschall and his incredible CBN technique in late 2008. I was gobsmacked (and continue to be) by his outstanding work and did not hesitate in paying for his services in creating patterns for a few special pictures I had until I figured out a way to generate my own patterns.
The last thing I would want to do is take business away from Todd's website CROCHET BY NUMBERS, where he has worked so hard to get CBN off the ground. Which is why I won't go into step-by-step instructions about how I convert my pictures. I figure that if folks are that desperate to figure it out, they can do it on their own like I did, then I won't feel like i'm intruding on Todd's hard work. Todd has been nothing but kind and supportive of my work, so I think it is the least I can do to support him.
Do you back your pieces?
I have made a lot of attempts at backing my pieces. I say attempts, because i'm still yet to find the perfect way, however I think it comes down to what the piece will be used for as far as choosing the right method goes.
In backing the Hogwarts Bunch Blanket, I hand-sewed black jersey (or stretchy t-shirt material) onto the back of each panel. It was tricky to keep the fabric flat, however I didn't want to add fleece or another bulky material to the back as I wanted to avoid adding weight to the final blanket. Thing thing already weighs 6000 tons
In the case of the pieces that were featured in my first public exhibition, I needed to back them onto solid boards in order to suit the needs of the hanging system in place at the cafe.
Here's cold-ridden me with a naughty labrador to try and explain how I went about it
I recently made my first commissioned pillow, which was backed differently again!
For this piece, I made the front panel, aka. the pretty 'Erika' panel, then crocheted a backing piece for it, using the same number of stitches and rows. I then hand stitched this onto the back of the pretty panel. The effect it had on the front was FANTASTIC!!!
It smoothed and stretched it out perfectly!
In the past, including the pieces featured in the exhibition, I had attatched the jersey material to the backs of the pieces before wrapping and stappling them to the mdf boards. Crocheting a back produces MUCH better results!
After attatching the crocheted back to the front, I then crocheted a third piece to be the BACK of the pillow. Attatching it on three sides, before filling with polyfill, before stitching up the final side!
I think THIS will be the way I back my pieces in the future! Whether they are intended to be hung on the wall, used as cushions, blankets, etc. if they have a crocheted back attatched to them first, you will get a flat, flawless frontage!
Naturally I would have preffered to have professionally framed most of my pieces, but having already shelled out to frame my Freddie Mercury piece ($500 Smackers!!), short of winning the lotto or putting everything I own up for sale on Ebay, including the house and possibly a kidney, I wouldn't be able to afford it! Therefore, D-I-Y Lee to the rescue!!
Can I have a copy of your patterns?
As you've proabably noticed, most of my pieces center around Musicians/Actors/Actresses/Film and Television. I am a pop culture Freak. I do not sell any patterns or pieces I have made that fit into these genre's as in most cases I do not know if the image I have used is under copywright. Any pieces I have made, I have NOT profitted from. Any patterns I have made I have NOT profitted from. Therefore any patterns I generate will not be made available to buy. However, if you take a stroll over to the Pattern Archive located on the navigation menu at the top of this page, you will find a selection of my patterns that I have popped up for free!
How many colours do you use in your pieces?
I have used as little as 4 and as many as 38 The more colours you use the more definition and detail the piece has. However it is a good idea to have a good look about at the colour range available to you in your local area before falling in love with the idea of doing a piece all in greens, only to find that there are only really 3 shades that go well together! (I have learnt this lesson the hard way people!! lol).
What yarn do you use in your pieces?!
The wonderful Kate has put forward a question I get asked quite a lot! Cheers Kate !!
QUESTION: "What brand/type of yarn do you use??"
The MOST IMPORTANT aspect of yarn choice when it comes to colourwork is the colour !
The CBN technique relies on you choosing progressive shades in the colour palette of your choice, be it greys, blues, pinks, etc... Typically a pattern will instruct which brand of yarn to use, and for those folks who find it frustrating or get a little overwhelmed when it comes to choosing colours, Todd has A LIST of blue and brown shades that work in the Red Heart range which may make life easier for you ! As for my yarn choices - they do tend to change with every piece!
After much browsing I have found a palette of greys that I am very happy with, however it does vary depending on whether i'd like the piece to have a black & white feel or a slight blue tinge running through it. It really does come down to trial and error for me!
I have never made a piece using the same brand of yarn for all colours. I always use many different kinds!
I get yarn from craft supply stores, discount stores, Kmart, Woolworths, my Mum's accumulated stash over the past 30 years, freebies from friends old stashes, etc...
Then it really is a case of mixing and matching to get the right degree of shading
The size of the ply I use also varies! For instance, in my GWTW piece, one of the lighter blues I really really wanted to use only came in 5 ply, much thinner than all the other colours that were 8 ply. So I bought 2 balls and worked two strands of the colour every time I used it, in order to balance the thickness. The important thing was that it was the RIGHT COLOUR for the job
Hence the reason as to why I cannot give brand names of the yarn I use in each pattern as it really is an eclectic ever-changing mix!
I guess the biggest barrier a lot of people have in giving work like this a go is the risky business of choosing colours and being afraid that they won't work as well as they want them too. Trust me, i've had my fair share of disasters! Exhibit A
I thought I was on a winner with my choices for a piece featuring Danny Jones from McFly I attempted a while ago...
So far so good...decided to keep going...
Yup! Loving that shine on the retro microphone! Kept going...
WAY TOO DARK!!! BIGGEST BUMMER!!! So the best advice I can give is to take your time in comparing and contrasting your shades! Sometimes projects will fail, sometimes you may have to put a project on hold until the right shade turns up in stock, sometimes you may have to change your entire palette depending on the colours you have available to you. Ply size you can work around, brands you can mix and match, but it's the colour choices that will be the difference between a good piece and one that POPS!
Aching Hands and Wrists?!?!?
The lovely Donna sent in a question!
QUESTION: " You work on so many different projects and seem to get them
out uber quick, do your hands hurt? The muscle around my thumb hurts
and I'm actually noticing rub marks from my hook on my fingers. What do you do for your
busy hands?"
Ah yes! The dreaded hand cramps ! When I first started crocheting properly at the end of 2008, I noticed that my hands started to cramp up quite quickly! I searched every forum you can imagine to get some tips on how to prevent my fingers seizing up after only half an hour of crocheting, so quickly tried them out. Some worked for me, some didn't. Some made perfect sense, others were perfectly ridiculous ! Here are some tips that help me BUCKETLOADS when it comes to hand cramps!
Take a break! Over time I have learnt to rest my fingers before going overboard. I start to get tingly sensations in my fingers and my wrists start to click, which is my flashing warning sign to give it a rest The worst thing you could do is try to push through the pain, even if you only have one row left! I was so eager to finish my AC/DC piece, I remember pushing through the clicks and cracks to knock off the last 12 rows and by god, I could hardly bend my fingers without searing pain for the next week, rendering me useless!! Pretzel-finger syndrome!!!
I now crochet in 15 minute blocks. After 15 mins, I stop, stand up, and do some basic hand exercises
Hand Exercises - after a quick search for "finger stretches, hand stretches, etc," I compiled a series of finger, hand and wrist stretches that I do in between 15 minute blocks of crocheting. First I tend to splay my fingers out, stretching them as far as they can go, before then curling them up to form a fist (repeat x 10), I then gently massage the palms of my hands, working from the middle of the palm out to the end of each finger. That usually takes about 5 mins for both hands. I then bend my wrists backwards and then forwards using my other hand like this...
Funnily enough, I don't tend to get too much pain in my crocheting hand. I actually get the most pain in the index finger of my left hand ! I tend to stick out my index finger as I hold my working yarn, which leaves it a bit stiff and sore! Which leads me to think that maybe trying a different grip on your hook may alleviate any pain your experienceing in your crocheting hand.
I've also noticed that MY NECK gets extremely stiff!! After I complete a row i'm finding that I have to do a few simple neck exercises (which make me look like a pidgeon...so attractive...)
I must get into the crocheting zone and look like a bloody statue sitting there cause my neck is completely set in stone sometimes! Very strange! So as long as you don't push yourself too hard and you take lots of little breaks, hopefully some simple exercises should help ease the pain and it'll be smooth sailing from here on in !
Press!
Making a splash!!!
The 26th day of July 2011, saw the launch of my very first exhibition! To say that I was BEYOND STOKED would be a tad of an understatement.
After months of planning, backing, staple-gunning, up's + down's, high's + low's, trialing and erroring, the 26th rocked around pretty quickly and my god WHAT A NIGHT!!!
I was lucky enough to have an opening night with close family and friends in attendance. So special and actually a bit overwhelmning to see the hours, days and months worth of your own work, created by your own hands, on display for everyone to see.
The exhibition was titled 'Off The Hook' and featured pieces such as 'Gone With the Wind', 'John Lennon', 'Elvis & Ann Margret' and 'The 2 Radcliffes'. It was warmly received and generated a lot of positive feedback which is obviously more than I could of hoped for!
Details of the exhibition were published in the 'Arts Section' of the city's newspaper and has generated a new awareness of crochet in the community and it's far-reaching possibilities!
Print!!!
Early in 2011 I awoke to a little opportunity sitting patiently in my inbox. Adrienne the deputy editor of Let's Knit UK magazine had asked if they could feature the Hogwarts Bunch Blanket in an upcoming issue!!
I preceeded to freak-the-shiz out and accepted immediately!!!
Published in a magazine!!!!! From the other side of the freaking planet!!!!! AGGHHHH!!!
As you can see I handled the whole propsal extremely professionally....
Adrienne sent along some questions and I sent her some pictures and you can imagine my surprise when I first laid eyes on issue #44.....
I scored an ENTIRE PAGE!!!
I'd like to extend another massive thank you to Adrienne and her team for this opportunity! TOO TOO AWESOME!!
World Wide Web!!!
The 22nd of August of 2011 saw the publication of my first guest blog!! Kathreen of Whip-up.net graciously asked if I would write a guest post for her site and I was stoked!
It went a little like this...
Hello Whipup.net'ers! Kathreen has graciously invited me to be a guest blogger on her fabulous site and I'm very thankful for the opportunity! Thank you Kathreen! xox
The Girl
My name is Lee and I'm a twenty-six year old textile/fibre/crochet artist born, bred and based in Canberra, Australia {find out more about me and my work on my blog}. I was about seven or eight years old when I first asked my Mum to show me how to 'do that thing with the hook'. The fascination lasted about two weeks and produced a basic knee rug that was comprised of more holes than actual crochet. The world of crochet was quickly forgotten as I moved on to tennis lessons instead. Which, come to think of it, also lasted about two weeks...
In late 2008 I remember stumbling upon the world of amigurumi (small crocheted animals/toys). I made a few little pieces before yet again my severe lack of an attention span kicked in and I found myself on the search for something new and exciting to try.
The Technique
My search came to an abrupt halt in 2008 when my jaw hit the floor and my eyes were glued to the incredible crochet portraits by Todd Paschall of Crochet by numbers. I remember the first time I clapped eyes on his smiling portrait of President Barack Obama and I was in awe.
A squillion questions sprang to mind, the biggest one being, How in the world do you DO that?! When I discovered that Todd was sharing his technique and also offered to convert any picture into an easy to follow pattern, I knew I had to give it a try.
I began by getting the basic stitches down pat. The crochet-by-numbers technique only requires you to know how to 'chain' and 'single crochet', so I began by practicing with little square swatches. Within a matter of days I was ready to have a go at the training patterns featured on Todd's site. At first these were the 'scary ones' I was a little anxious about trying as they involved the dreaded practice of colour changing! I soon discovered that it was nothing to fear and was actually quite fun!
Todd's technique does not require you to 'carry yarn' or weave in any loose ends, instead every colour change is accompanied by a cut and tie-off. Although many folks have shivered at the prospect of cutting and tying-off at every single colour change, I've found it can actually be quite relaxing! Although I do often warn those who are thinking of giving it a go, to be prepared to be patient, have a fully stocked chocolate stash beside them and one hell of a comfy chair!
As my confidence grew and I knew I was hooked (sorry, pun was begging to be used), I moved on to much larger pieces, with much more detail (aka. more colours and more colour changes!). Pretty quickly I discovered that crocheting portraits had become incredibly fun, exciting and important to me. Ideas about future pieces, possible colour palettes and the never ending string of possibilities had actually started to keep me awake at night. Visits to local yarn stores quickly became a compulsory stopping point every time I left the house. It soon became glaringly obvious that a hook and a ball of yarn offered so much more than a way to while away spare hours.
The Result
As my work will illustrate, I'm a bit of a pop culture fanatic. I have a wide interest in film, music and literature as well as the era's that go along with them. Musically speaking I am drawn to the 1950s and 60s in particular. The Monkees, The Beatles and The King to name a few!
I also have a love for the glory days of Hollywood and the actors that created true magic with their presence on the silver screen.
It is also a poorly kept secret that I am a bit of a Harry Potter fanatic. I use the term 'fanatic' there, when really the word 'MASSIVE' should go in front of it. I don't know what it is about the books and movies that continues to take hold of my hook, but I keep being drawn back to the wonderful characters and world of Hogwarts, time and time again.
This piece featuring Daniel Radcliffe as a young Harry Potter and as the young man he has become has certainly earned a spot in my top three favourite pieces to date. Not only does it have the most clarity of any piece I have done, it is the first time I was aiming for the 'sepia effect' and it was the first time I nailed it! It is also the largest piece I have tackled to date at a staggering 32,000 stitches.
I also get immense joy out of creating pieces that conjure up personal memories for loved ones. In particular, is a piece I put together for my Dad's 50th birthday. It features a picture of him as a finger-snapping two year old boy in the backyard of his childhood home in Sydney. As a life-long radio fanatic, I decided to surround him with radio paraphernalia, including a retro-styled radio, microphone and the logo of his favourite radio station throughout his adolescent years.
It remains my favourite piece to date. Not only because it's so monumentally personal, but because of the reaction it received from my Dad upon seeing it for the first time. I stood in the living room and holding it up and outstretched before calling him into the room. He stopped dead in his tracks, gasped, muttered a few choice expletives against the palm of his hand that had shot up to hide his open mouth and smiled. We then both proceeded to get a little misty eyed (balled our eyes out actually!). His reaction meant that the sixty plus hours spent on it was forgotten instantly and I knew then that I had found a truly remarkable way to express love and pay tribute to the many people, musicians, actors, films and loved ones that I have and continue to admire.
Recently the world of crochet portraiture has begun to open some really exciting doors for me too! Earlier this year, my Hogwarts Bunch Blanket was featured in 'Let's Knit UK' magazine and for the past three weeks, ten of my pieces have been adorning the walls of a local cafe/bar in my first ever exhibition!
If you have ever wanted to give crochet a go, by all means pick up a hook and get cracking! You never know where it might take you!!
(It is well worth clicking the picture at the top of this post to take you to the published blog on whip-up.net to get the flow of it all with the pictures included -_^!)
Hogwarts Bunch Blanket!
Here's the story, of a boy named Harry...!!!
It's only now as I come to write this that I realise the first time I picked up a copy of 'The Philosopher's Stone' was in 1999. It's only now that I realise that that was 13 YEARS AGO. By God. I could really use that time-turning hourglass of Hermione's right now....
Anywayz! Mid way through 2009, I decided to have a crack at making my own crochet patterns and guess who I decided to do first?!? Young Mister. Potter As far as first impressions go I was pretty chuffed! At least it looked like him and of course the bigger plus - it only used 4 colours (which therefore made it cheap as chips to make!)
At first I thought it would make a cute cushion for the lounge but then inspiration reared it's beautiful head! Why not make lonely Harry a couple of friends to accompany him on said couch?!? It wasn't until I had them all lined up on the floor that I thought 'this screams Brady Bunch...'
So taking inspiration from the opening and closing credit's of "Here's the story, of a lovely lady..", I went about choosing 9 characters for a Hogwarts Bunch Blanket! NOT AN EASY TASK!!!!!
SOO many too choose from! So many faves! But as of December 2010, I managed to whittle the selection down to 9 and complete them!
The next step was to border and back them all individually before the daunting task of Hand Sewing (blurgh. )
I bordered each one with about 4 rows of black before sewing some cheap black jersey material to the backs. I then joined the panels together with black yarn by going in and out of the holes conveniently made by the single crochet stitches. This produced a lovely flat join that can hardly be seen ! (on the right side up of course -_^!)
The blanket has received an enormous amount of love so i'd just like to send vitual hugs , kisses and high fives to EVERYONE who has followed and supported me though the making of this project via the many places i've posted my progress! Major kudos to you guys
Our New Celebrity
Earlier this year I awoke to a little opportunity sitting patiently in my inbox. Adrienne the deputy editor of Let's Knit UK magazine had asked if they could feature the Hogwarts Bunch Blanket in an upcoming issue!!
I preceeded to freak-the-shiz out and accepted immediately!!!
Published in a magazine!!!!! From the other side of the freaking planet!!!!! AGGHHHH!!!
As you can see I handled the whole propsal extremely professionally....
Adrienne sent along some questions and I sent her some pictures and you can imagine my surprise when I first laid eyes on issue #44.....
I scored an ENTIRE PAGE!!!
I'd like to extend another massive thank you to Adrienne and her team for this opportunity! TOO TOO AWESOME!!
♥ Potter Patterns!
Due to overwhelming demand, I decided to pop up my HP panel patterns for free ! If you're a beginner or are new to the CBN technique, it might be worth having a go at the Union Jack CAL found under the 'Get Hooked' tab at the top of the page first. It has a step by step vlog to help you learn the basics, which will get you all ready to rock n roll with the Hogwarts Bunch !
For those ready to dive right in, pick your Potter pal and get hooking ! Harry Potter Ronald Weasley Hermione Granger Ginny Weasley Draco Malfoy Severus Snape Albus Dumbledore Rubeus Hagrid Tom Riddle
For those wanting different characters, if you're a member of Ravelry, have a search for a raveller named 'Candice' She has a BUNCH of character graphs for free in her patterns section Please note- I do not produce patterns on request. For reasons why, please see the Frequently Asked Questions Section
If you do have a crack at a character, please feel free to send me pictures to be featured here on Totallee.net! Like the beautiful angels below!!!
poprocker [@] totallee [.] net !
Your Potter Panels!
Get ready to get your applause on whilst browsing this section!!
This section is to show off the incredible crocheting magic of those who have had a crack at the Potter Panels and have beyond succeeded !!
If you have sent me a picture of your potter panel and don't see it featured, first, please forgive me and secondly, please resend it! I'm a fully qualified scatterbrain and have clearly misplaced it! Again if you would like to have your finished piece featured, please pop a couple of images into an e-mail and send it to poprocker [@] totallee [.] net!
Lee Mac. Crochet artist. 
Crochet portraits = Obsession. I am surgically attached to my Ipod and crochet hook.
Bookworm. Pop culture addict. M&ms are as important as oxygen. Einstein hit the nail on the head with "Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere." 
29th April, 2010
ATTN. Fellow Potter Hookers!! the free Pattern for May is up and it is....
.........
Yup! Tis the sexy potions master himself 
Much love goes out to CHOPERENA for putting Snape's name forward as the next free pattern! Cheers hun!!
piccies!!
In Hogwarts Bunch news, I have 2 characters left to border then it's time to get the final positioning right, then onto stitching the buggers all together!! 
Good times good times!
Got some awesome ideas in mind, so watch this space 
Speaking of ideas!! I had a 
brainwave in the shower this morning (the most typical place to get the best ideas....a hem...) and it's in regards to a new 
Totallee Podcast! I'll say no more, except "WATCH THIS SPACE!!"!!
Lee xox
Was in the mood for a little 
Ferris this morning and now i'm going to be spouting lines like 
"He's gonna be a fry cook on Venus!" and 
"You killed the car" at people whilst humming The Dream Academy's "The Edge Of Forever" all day....
John Hughes movie marathon 
angry (at least once), I 
cry (at least once), I 
laugh myself to the point of toilet intervention (at least twice) and I always come away from them feeling inspired 
"Twist & Shout" come on, but that's just me...but seriously!! 
I'ts an AWESOME film!!!
Paul Newman (and his incredible lady Joanne Woodward becuase she's just wonderful 
) take precednce!
So clearly I have a deathwish for my fingers and wrists as i've decided to dive right in on my next MASSIVE piece! Will I ever learn?!?!
birthday next month! Thankfully for me, his special day isn't until the 31st, so I have the whole month to 
HOPEFULLY get it donskies!
Radio-OBSESSED Dad 
IT'S FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Stayed up till 1:30AM in a slightly erratic yet determined state to finish!! I absolutely 
ADORE this piece!
Just brilliant.
Cuppa, Charlie (new name for crochet hook)(fan?!), GWTW at 85%, 
Gok's Fashion Fix season 1, and positive and determined attitude to finish the piece tonight! 
SO EXCITED!!!
!
check-out chickie at my local supermarket and for the past 7 years (my god it's been 7 years.... 
time makes one feel so old sometimes...) I have been serving this wonderful lady.
artist, and has pieces of her work exhibited all around the world, including a piece hanging in our very own 
National Gallery!
To cut a looooong story even shorter, a couple of weeks ago I got talking to her about my 
e-mail address and said to stay tuned!!!!
My god i've had a smile plastered across my face the size of from here to Mars all arvo!!!!!!
refreshing my e-mail 50 billion times a day over the next week would be an understatement, but AGH! I NEVER ever thought i'd get the chance to exhibit!!!!
gonnna be loads of happy dancing once i've tied the last tie-off on this baby!
The weather has gone completely nuts!
So bloody windy out there!! Things are bashing and crashing and I swear i've lost one if not two pillow cases off the line. Thankfully I have a penchant for pillow cases, so have at least 25 in reserve in the linen cupboard but still!! 
Crazy windy out there!
Also i'm in the middle of making Vlog number 3, which will be featured on the right later this week - however when I slotted it in there last night, it totally threw my page out of whack! However when I viewed the site on my folks computer, it looked perfectly fine! So if anyone is noticing any difficulties or overlapping of the page, could you let me know?!? Cheers angels 
BIGGEST KNOBHEAD in the history of KNOBHEADS!!!!!!!!
....
I had only printed out PART of the pattern!!! I've still got another freaking 60-70 rows on top of what I thought I had left to go!!!!
..and here was me getting all freaking excited that I was nearly finished mutter-mutter-mutter- GRRR!!!
stay awake somehow- and unfortunately for the size of my arse, my weapon of choice.....was chocolate eggs 
Had all hands on deck yesterday, cleaning my house from top to bottom. Little tip - don't wait 5 years to move your bed, in order to vacuum around the headboard. 
Sneeze central.
Release my inner decorator! Which could prove to be a total disaster... 
Okay, no more procrastinating. Time to catch up on some reading for Uni....Ugh.
July
G'Day and welcome to my lil gallery 
I also really need to take 2 seconds here to extend the biggest of "THANK YOU!!!"'s to 
You're a star man!!
This lil' animation is topsy-turvy! The little dude should be chasing the BOOK, because that is what I plan to be doing more of in 2015 
!
a) have a goal of reading 52 books
b) pose a list of books that would challenge me to read more diversely (I usually 
drift towards biographies and classics), and
c) have a cool title. Yup. I really am that shallow. 
!
drooling and scrolling through my latest batch of pins on Pinterest, I was pretty darn elated to happen upon the 
!!
?!)
I am already stoked to announce that I am totallee off and 
#WINNER!
Wow. Suffering a severe case of shiny face right there 
'James Dean' by George Perry! So much for 'reading more diversely' eh?! Technically, this is a biography, but biographies are based on true 'stories' yeah?!? 
tragedy in his early life AND of course in his sudden death, but my word did he squeeze a lot of life out of his 24 years.
man it still makes my stomach drop to the floor...
Despite his tendency to be quite an introverted, surly and by some accounts outright rude kinda dude, there are stories of truly heart-warming gestures and a vulnerability about him that those close to him said shone through in his onscreen performances 
For a teeny bit more Jimmy gushing, check out my first 
Popsugar-related Youtube vid!
Yup! I have almost finished 
I shall save my thoughts till I have finished, but can we all just 
take a moment to appreciate just how insanely AWESOME SCOUT IS!!! WHAT A LIL FIRECRACKER! LOVE HER 
!
If you are participating in the Popsugar reading challenge or any reading challenge this year, I would love to hear of your progress and what kind of books you are reading 
! Be sure to leave me a tag or leave a link to your youtube book reviews!
Now back to knocking over challenge number 2!! 
G'Day G'Day!
Vlog #20 [1st May, 2012]
Welcome one and all to my pattern archive!
This is the place to come to ask your 
burning questions 
!!
!
!), please feel free to send your questions to
This is DEFINITELY the number one question I receive on a daily basis 
!
)
Please note - this is a short list! There are many graphing/cross-stitch/knitting generators out in the 
world wide web! However after trying a few on for size, you should be able to find a program that suits you down to the ground! It really is a matter of trying them out and playng around with them until you produce something you are happy with 
naughty labrador to try and explain how I went about it
For this piece, I made the front panel, aka. the pretty 'Erika' panel, then crocheted a backing piece for it, using the same number of stitches and rows. I then hand stitched this onto the back of the pretty panel. The effect it had on the front was FANTASTIC!!!
winning the lotto or putting everything I own up for 
sale on Ebay, including the house and possibly a kidney, I wouldn't be able to afford it! Therefore, 
D-I-Y Lee to the rescue!!
. I do not sell any patterns or pieces I have made that fit into these genre's as in most cases I do not know if the image I have used is under copywright. Any pieces I have made, I have NOT profitted from. Any patterns I have made I have NOT profitted from. Therefore any patterns I generate will not be made available to buy.
The wonderful Kate has put forward a question I get asked quite a lot! Cheers Kate 
The MOST IMPORTANT aspect of yarn choice when it comes to colourwork is the colour 
Typically a pattern will instruct which brand of yarn to use, and for those folks who find it frustrating or get a little overwhelmed when it comes to choosing colours, Todd has 
very happy with, however it does vary depending on whether i'd like the piece to have a black & white feel or a slight blue tinge running through it. It really does come down to trial and error for me!
mixing and matching to get the right degree of shading 
eclectic ever-changing mix!
WAY TOO DARK!!! BIGGEST BUMMER!!!
Donna sent in a question!
!
!
BUCKETLOADS when it comes to hand cramps!
The worst thing you could do is try to push through the pain, even if you only have one row left! I was so eager to finish my 
AC/DC piece, I remember pushing through the clicks and cracks to knock off the last 12 rows and by god, I could hardly bend my fingers without searing pain for the next week, rendering me useless!! 
quick search for "finger stretches, hand stretches, etc," I compiled a series of finger, hand and wrist stretches that I do in between 15 minute blocks of crocheting. First I tend to splay my fingers out, stretching them as far as they can go, before then curling them up to form a fist (repeat x 10), I then gently massage the palms of my hands, working from the middle of the palm out to the end of each finger. That usually takes about 5 mins for both hands. I then bend my wrists backwards and then forwards using my other hand like this...
Funnily enough, I don't tend to get too much pain in my crocheting hand. I actually get the most pain in the index finger of my left hand 
!
The 26th day of July 2011, saw the launch of my very first exhibition! To say that I was BEYOND STOKED would be a tad of an understatement.
Early in 2011 I awoke to a little opportunity sitting patiently in my inbox. Adrienne the deputy editor of 
I scored an ENTIRE PAGE!!!
It's only now as I come to write this that I realise the first time I picked up a copy of 'The Philosopher's Stone' was in 1999. It's only now that I realise that that was 13 YEARS AGO. By God. I could really use that time-turning hourglass of Hermione's right now....
It wasn't until I had them all lined up on the floor that I thought 'this screams Brady Bunch...' 
)
! (on the right side up of course -_^!)
, kisses 
and high fives 
to EVERYONE who has followed and supported me though the making of this project via the many places i've posted my progress! Major kudos to you guys 
!
send me pictures to be featured here on Totallee.net! Like the beautiful angels below!!!
If you have sent me a picture of your potter panel and don't see it featured, first, please forgive me and secondly, please resend it! I'm a fully qualified scatterbrain and have clearly misplaced it!
Again if you would like to have your finished piece featured, please pop a couple of images into an e-mail and send it to