Little bird – attempt number two!

Hi guys! It’s been such a long time since I last posted – two months! Unfortunately real-life things (i.e. work, zzzzzz) took over a bit and I haven’t been doing as much crocheting. I also got a bit stuck on a dragon amigurumi, which I still haven’t finished, that put me off . However I’m back and have a new little guy to show you!

If you’ve been following me for a while, you might remember that one of the first things I made was a little bird. Whilst I love him lots, he is a bit on the holey side! So now I’ve learnt a little bit more, I thought it would be a good time to try again. Here is original little birdy with his new, even littler, birdy brother:

He is quite sweet! And, as you can see, a lot less holey. When I made the original, I didn’t know about different gauge yarn and hook sizes, so the hook I used was 2mm (!!) too big. This time I used a 4mm hook and the result was much better. Here are some more pictures of him:

I love the colour of the yarn, it’s very Spring-like :o) I’m pleased with how he turned out and it’s nice to see that I am improving at crochet. He was also really quick to make – about a week of crocheting on an evening. For anyone who didn’t see the original post, this pattern is part of the Amigurumi: Woodland Animals course through Craftsy.

What I learnt

• I am getting better!

Yarn used

• Hayfield Bonus DK (shade 0956) – body
• Patons Fairytale (shade 04960) – beak

Big-Footed Bun – an amigurumi bunny rabbit!

With Easter fast-approaching, it seemed a good idea to make a little bunny as a present for my mum. I took the opportunity to use a pattern by someone different so I bought the ‘little grey bunny’ pattern from Bvoe’s shop on Etsy. It cost £3.40 ($5) and Barbara emailed the pattern over very quickly!

Now, you must not laugh at my bunny! Here he is:

Don’t laugh at his big feet!! The yarn I used for his feet was slightly thicker than what I used for the rest of him, but I didn’t think he’d look silly. After I put him together though, his feet look abnormally big! Annoyingly, after I’d finished him I found a ball of white yarn of the right thickness, boo!

Other than his feet turning out a bit big, I think he looks okay. It’s the first time I’ve sewn on facial details before so it’s not perfect but it was fun to do. Also, I used thread to sew on the insides of the ears for the first time (as opposed to using yarn) and found it to look a lot neater.

The pattern gave me the chance to make my very first pom pom! I was surprised at how easy it was to make, so I will now be making thousands and having a Pom Pom Room.

The pattern itself was relatively easy to follow, it was just the putting-together I had problems with as it was just a matter of following the photos provided. It’s probably not suitable for an absolute beginner but it’s definitely good for a novice wanting a bit of a challenge.

What I learnt

• How to sew facial features on
• All yarn should really by the same gauge!
• How to make a pom pom!
• Sewing bits on with thread is sometimes better than using yarn

Yarn used

• Patons Fab DK (shade 02308) – body
• Sirdar Supersoft (shade 0830) – feet
• Hayfield Bonus DK (shade 0958) – inside ears

So I bought myself a Brother…

I’d been debating whether to get a sewing machine for a month or so, but after getting a bit of spending money for my birthday last month I finally decided to treat myself to one!

As I know nothing about sewing machines and have never used one, I didn’t really know what I was looking for. After a bit of research I found one that received good reviews and wasn’t too expensive (£112 including a voucher). Say hello to my new little Brother!

He’s a Brother XL-2610 and has 25 built-in stitches! And a pedal! And some bits that you can turn! I really have no idea what any of these bits are, so there’s going to be a lot of tutorial-watching going on whilst I figure out how to switch it on. Thankfully it includes what seems to be quite an in-depth manual and a DVD, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to figure out. Maybe.

I also bought The Sewing Book by Alison Smith so I have a reference book to get me started:

It’s a huge hardback book full of hundreds of pictures and on a quick glance through, looks like it will be useful. It covers everything from tools and different types of fabric, to techniques and a few projects. Saying that, it certainly doesn’t cover any of the basics of how to sew, it really is just a reference book.

It’s exciting having a new thing to learn along with my crochet, so I’ll be posting my progress with this too.

If you have any tips for a complete sewing machine beginner, or links that you think might be helpful, please do comment and let me know! Anything to stop me stitching my fingers together!

No horsing around here – a super cute amigurumi unicorn!

As soon as I saw the preview pictures of Stacey Trock’s unicorn pattern, I knew I had to have it as soon as possible. I love unicorns, and the pattern looked adorable. Luckily it was my birthday shortly after it was released, so after a bit of hinting my boyfriend bought me it! Yay!

The pattern was relatively easy (just single crochet) but very time-consuming, mainly because of the mane. It’s been my longest project so far at around two weeks altogether. This is my completed unicorn, I think you’ll see what I mean about the mane:

Isn’t he cute! He was quite easy to make – I just had a few problems (as always) with sewing things on straight but it’s not too obvious. And look at that fluffy, full-bodied mane! Each strand of yarn was threaded on individually, and there’s at least 250 strands altogether.

This is a great pattern because if you remove the horn, you’ve got yourself a horse!

 
What I learnt

• How to make a voluptuous mane!
• How to make legs for a stand-up animal
• I still need to learn how to sew the head on straight!

Yarn used

• Hayfield Bonus DK (shade 0959) – unicorn
• Hayfield Bonus DK (shade 0958) – mane, hooves, snout
• Patons Fairytale (shade 04960) – horn
• Sirdar Supersoft (shade 0830) – nostrils

A tiny project – crocheted heart

For Valentine’s Day, I decided to crochet my boyfriend a little heart!

After much googling around, I decided to try following this video on YouTube. I watched it through once and thought it was too complicated, but had a go anyway. This is how the heart turned out:

It’s so little and cute! It was really fun to make – combining slip stitches, single, double and treble crochet. It was magic how the shape suddenly took it’s form, I’m still amazed at how combining stitches makes such cool shapes!

What I learnt

• How to combine different stitches to make a funky shape!

Yarn used

• Hayfield Bonus Chunky (shade 0977)

A Trumpety-Trumping Amigurumi Elephant

Q: How many elephants will fit into a Mini?
A: Four: Two in the front, two in the back.

Q: How many giraffes will fit into a Mini?
A: None. It’s full of elephants.

Elephant jokes are the best :D

I was really excited to be asked to make another animal for someone, my uncle asked me to make an elephant for his sister!

After a search through a few websites and my books, I plumped on a modified version of the elephant in Stacey Trock’s Crocheted Softies. In the book the trunk was pointing up (which looked a bit strange) and it had a mouth (which I didn’t like). Here’s what my version of the little guy turned out like:

How mean is Mister Mouse?! What a bully.

I was really worried about how he’d look when assembled, but I think he looks pretty cool! I spent a huge amount of time making sure he was all lined up; on the first attempt his trunk was basically where his right-hand tusk is now! He looked very silly.

The trunk was super-interesting to make. It included both slip stitches and single crochet so the end turns to one side slightly and the trunk points down. I didn’t really understand how it worked whilst crocheting, but afterwards you can see that as the slip stitches are smaller, it causes a sort of gathered effect.

Along with sewing his trunk on pointing down instead of up, I decided to make all his legs the same size instead of two small arms and two legs as the pattern suggested. That’s what real elephants are like after all.

Jasper was also a great help whilst I was making the elephant, and I found a use for him! It turns out Jasper is great at balancing stitch markers on his head:

Which means when I take one out to move it, I won’t lose it down the side of the sofa anymore!

 

What I learnt

• Slip stitches + single crochet = gathered-up magic!
• Jasper makes an excellent stitch marker holder.

Yarn used

• Sirdar Supersoft Aran (shade 0909) – elephant
• Sirdar Supersoft (shade 0830) – tusks

It’s the final Woodland Animal – a rockin’ Raccoon!

The raccoon is the final animal in my Craftsy Woodland Animals course, bringing together everything I’ve learnt so far and adding a few new things.

Along with the usual single crochet, the raccoon also included slip stitches and double crochet, which I’ve done before but not on this course. These stitches resulted in the oval shapes for the eye circles – it was magic how they suddenly turned into ovals!

Stacey also showed how to change colour without having to cut the yarn for every single colour-change (i.e. just carrying the colour along the back) which was really useful.

Anyway, here is my finished raccoon:

This time, I was so busy concentrating on making sure the parts were lined up, I sewed his ears on a bit too far back! The eye circles were so difficult to get straight…I tried my best to line them up but they’re not equal. Also, after over-stuffing my owl, I slightly understuffed him so he’s not quite as squidgy as my other animals.

Other than that I think he turned out okay! I’ve started holding my yarn slightly differently (thanks to my Simply Crochet magazine!) so am now able to keep a consistent tension. His tail was probably the most fun to make and is so cute!

I do have a tiny complaint about the course with this one. Throughout, Stacey explained everything great. However for the ears there was a complicated bit to do with double crochet, counting and the beginning chain. Stacey skimmed over the explanation saying if you didn’t understand, it didn’t matter, but I wish she had spent a few minutes explaining it. I like to understand what I’m doing and why, so that was a bit annoying.

So I’m now finished with my Woodland Animals course! I’ve really enjoyed this course, I’ve learnt a huge amount and improved a lot. I’d definitely recommend the course to those new to crochet/amigurumi (hint: if you do want to sign up, wait till a holiday sale when it comes down in price!).

 
What I learnt

• Slip stitch + double crochet makes some interesting shapes
• It’s important to focus on not only sewing things on straight, but making sure they’re positioned nicely!
• How to change colour by passing the yarn around the back

Yarn used

• Sirdar Supersoft Aran (shade 0909) – main raccoon
• Sirdar Supersoft (shade 0830) – tummy/snout
• Hayfield Bonus Chunky (shade 0965) – tail stripes/eye circles/nose

Not much of a hoot? Little amigurumi Owl

Another request I received over Christmas was for an owl. This was for my boyfriend’s mum. I’ve browsed all over for a good owl pattern, but for some reason I just didn’t get a good feeling from any of them! I think it’s the crocheted circle eyes that I have a subconscious dislike for. They always look a bit strange to me.

I decided to use a pattern from a book I got for Christmas, ‘More Cute Little Animals to Crochet‘ by Amy Gaines. Being the first pattern I’ve tried by Amy, it took a little bit of getting used to the wording of the pattern. Here is my finished owl:

Don’t you think that there’s something not quite right about him? Is it because he’s not chubby like the others? Hmm. You can’t tell his height from the photos, he stands about 12cm (4.7 inches) tall. I tried to make him chubby, but stuffed him so full that his stitches have nearly burst! He’s not very squidgy now.

Something I’ve got away with is that a may *possibly* have used different yarn for the body and wings! If you look closely (especially at the side view), it is a bit obvious. This was completely by mistake. Once I finished him I looked and thought…they’re slightly different shades. When I looked further, I accidentally bought a different brand of yarn to do his wings! Arrgh! I do try to keep track of my yarn (I have a Woolventry :oD) but I had a lapse.

Other than not being too happy with him, he’s turned out as he should. I did, however, find the pattern difficult to follow at times. For example when sewing on the ears, it just said to ‘refer to the photo’. As none of the photos showed the ears clearly, I didn’t know where to place them. That might just be me relying on the pattern too much though. It did teach me how to make new shapes, for example it was magic how the triangle came to be!

What I learnt

• I should check I have enough yarn and if not, make sure I have the same brand to finish the pattern!
• How to make triangles and little tiny feet
• Lots of stuffing DOES NOT = chubby amigurumi

Yarn used

• Hayfield Bonus DK (shade 0947) – body
• Patons Fab DK (shade 02357) – wings (oops!)
• Sirdar Supersoft (shade 0830) – eyes
• Patons Fab DK (shade 02331) – beak/feet

And this little piggy is complete! An amigurumi pig

I mentioned in a previous posts that after my mum received her reindeer, she asked me to make a piggy for her pig-obsessed friend. It was really nice to be asked to make a gift for someone, so I wanted to make sure this little guy was a cute as possible.

After a nosy through my crochet books, I realised I didn’t have a pig pattern. So it was time to improvise! I used what I had learnt so far from my Craftsy courses to make the body, arms and legs, a modified version of Stacey Trock’s giraffe ears, Googled to find a twirly tail (which I again altered slightly) and made up the snout from scratch. And here he is:

Now, when I first finished him I wasn’t happy with him. His ears seem a bit too small and, more annoyingly, I reaffirmed my title of Queen of Wonky and somehow managed to sew on pretty much every bit askew! One ear is higher than the other, his head is a slightly turned, his nostrils are a bit off and his legs aren’t lined up. Sigh!

Saying all that, looking back at the pictures…I want him back. I feel bad for saying he looks silly and wonky, I’m just giving him a personality! I miss him and will probably make another for myself at some point.

My mum was thrilled with him, as was her friend who has joined the line of people not believing I made it!

Another thing I enjoyed about this project was how long it took. As it was still the Christmas holidays when I made him, I wasn’t at work. So he took just less than three days to make, which was pretty good going! I was sewing him together at 11pm one night, which may have contributed towards the dodgy sewing!

What do you think of him? Have I got away with the wonky bits?

What I learnt

• I can adapt patterns to make something other than what the pattern is for
• Bows make animals look even cuter
• I reeeeeally need to learn how to sew things on straight!

Yarn used

• Hayfield Bonus DK (shade 0958) – pig
• Hayfield Bonus DK (shade 0965) – hooves

Simply Crochet – new magazine review!

For Christmas, my boyfriend bought me a 3-month subscription to try out a new crochet magazine – Simply Crochet. Yesterday, the first issue arrived! I was really excited about receiving it as I hadn’t heard about it previously and it looked quite modern (flicking through other crochet mags, a lot seemed somewhat old fashioned). I think it’s only available in the UK, all the patterns are in UK terms but there is a conversion chart.

So here’s the front cover of the first issue, plus the free gifts:

The gifts were two plastic crochet hooks, a 4mm and a 6mm. I probably won’t use these as they feel a bit cheap and I prefer aluminium ones anyway, but they’d probably be handy for someone new to crochet.

As for the content, there is a really good mix. There’s plenty of patterns including funky pillows, blankets, a really groovy lampshade made of granny squares (which I’m tempted to make if I get over my fear of granny squares (they look complicated!)), scarves, hats and more. I counted a total of 30 patterns.

In terms of amigurumi (what I’m most interested in!), there’s an introduction about what it is along with an interview with Stephanie Lau of All About Ami. There’s also the pattern for Stephanie’s super-cute dragon, which is available through her site for free here. It’s been on my to-make list for a while now so it’ll be nice to have a paper copy of the pattern!

There’s instructions for a number of different stitches too, some yarn reviews and lots of ideas. There is probably something for people at all levels, so it’s good for everyone. The only thing I feel is missing is an indication of the difficulty of the patterns. Whilst I’d be willing to try making anything that catches my eye, it’d be helpful to have a quick reference about who it’s suitable for.

The photography makes the whole magazine that little bit more lovely. It really is gorgeous. I’ve already decided I’ll be continuing with the subscription – it costs £12.49 for three months. It’s a tiny bit expensive (then again I haven’t bought a magazine in ages so don’t know how much they cost!), but it’ll be nice to look forward to a magazine coming through the post every month!

If you’d like more information about the contents before deciding to buy, just let me know :o)