Crochet
Plush toy galore
I’ve been hoarding books and toy patterns for years now, and although I find them so cute and cuddly and had all the intentions in the world to make cute adorable plushies for the little ones around me, I have to admit that I only ever knitted a toy once, roughly 5 years ago. So last month, I decided to change that.
I dusted my toy making books, dug through the yarn leftovers and odd skeins I couldn’t find a use for and started making. And low and behold, I ended up making many more than I thought I was going to. Without further ado, let me now present you my humble little plush toy collection.
Those squishy fluffy faces come from a few different sources, so please let me walk you through.
The two siblings were made using Susan Claudino’s Voodoo you love me? , a sweet and simple pattern I’ve really enjoyed making. The instructions are super clear, step-by-step and easy to understand. The big brother was made using an unknown, unmarked yarn ball from my craft room closet. It is most likely an acrylic yarn of some kind in a bulky or super bulky weight. The little brother was made using some Berroco Corsica cotton/cashmere yarn I had leftover from a little baby onesie I made a few weeks ago (more on that in another blog post!).
The bright pink and white bunny is actually a crochet project, which I actually rarely do, so it was a nice change of pace. The pattern is called Framboise, and it comes from a book called Tendre Crochet from Sandrine Deveze. Now I wish I could link you the Ravelry page but it seems that book has not been catalogued right in Ravelry, and some of the patterns contained in the book (like this one, which also happens to be on the front cover) is not listed. But a quick search on Amazon or your preferred book store and I’m sure you’ll be able to find a version of it, it has been translated and distributed in many languages/countries I believe. I made this project using again a couple unmarked, unknown skeins of yarn that look like they’d be a cotton blend in a worsted weight. Now although the patterns provided in the book are all just adorable, I have to admit I wasn’t a huge fan of the construction of this one, as it makes us crochet the body and the head separately and then sew them together. Next time I make this, I’ll start with the legs and body, then switch yarn colour and work the head seamlessly, adding the filling as I go.
The big guy is Hugo, the couch potato monster. It comes from Rebecca Danger’s Big Book of Knitted Monsters. This is a favourite of mine, I’ve cherished this book dearly for years, even though I’ve only ever knitted one before. I made this new one in wonderfully soft Noro Shinryoku. Hugo is a super easy pattern and the final toy is just *SO* squishy!!
The last one I made is the star shaped little guy with a blue hat. This pattern is called Knubbelchen and is a free Ravelry download. I made this one out of leftover Universal Yarn Bamboo Pop and it is just so soft and squishy! The one thing I’m a little sad about is that I didn’t look at the finished measurements of the doll first, had I known how small it was going to be I would’ve kept knitting! But anyways I’ll keep that in mind for next time.
For obvious safety reasons I’ve used safety eyes for all the dolls. yardage info is available for the yarns I could track (i.e. not the unknown/unmarked ones) ok my Ravelry project pages here, here, here and here.
Hope you guys are all fully enjoying the last bits of spring, and I’ll talk to you again real soon. Cheers 🙂
Yes I’m alive (and well!)
I know… I looked at the date. It’s been 10 months since I last posted on here. Why hello there, if you are still following, it’s been a hot minute. I’ve been spending the last 7 months trying to adjust to my new life as a mother, and it has not been easy, so I’ve been focusing on that and crafting has unsurprisingly been moved to the back burner for a while. But good news is, I’m slowly adjusting. And I’ve tried to pick back up some of my hobbies during my little bits of free time.
I cannot promise I’ll post often (or that I’ll post at all, for what matters) but hey, I’m here now and I can show you one or two goodies right?
So the FO wanted to show you today is the first project I finished since the birth of my Little Lady. It is a this Tunisian crochet chevron blanket, made in worsted weight Bernat’s Handicrafter cotton yarn, one in white and the other in a blue ombré. Now I tested something because I was lazy and wanted to reduce the (already insane) amount of ends I would have to weave in, so instead of working one row of squares, cut the yarn and start again, I tried to turn the work and crochet the other row of the same colour from the back instead. Not sure if that makes any sense to you? Anyways I wasn’t sure how it would turn out, but I’m actually quite fond of the texture it creates, by having some squares right side facing and some squares wrong side facing. I might actually do this again! The blanket is pretty much lap size, and would be perfect for walks in the stroller, once weather permits. I used all but 10-15 grams of both skeins, and as usual you may find a couple more details on my Ravelry project page.
I’ve also completed a second raindrops sweater, a tincanknits pattern. The yarn I’ve used is a beautiful lush green Fino yarn from Manos Del Uruguay. Now I gotta say there’s more than a couple mistakes in this sweater, as I was having trouble keeping my mommy brain focussed enough to complete this knit. Fortunately for me, the pattern is extremely forgiving, and my many slip ups don’t really show too much. I’ve made a couple mods, including adding sone waist shaping, but other than that it’s very “by the book” – you can find all the details including yardage on my project page. I’m quite happy with the result, and will surely get a lot of wear out of it in the next few months as we transition to slightly warmer weather.
That’s all I had to share for now guys, not sure when I’ll be able to pop back again but I surely will one day (just don’t hold your breath).
Cheers!
New venture (blog!)
Yes! I started a new blog, yay!!!!! I decided to combine my love of fiber things with my passion for travel and started a new blog called A Knitter Around The World. On this blog, I will share my insight on travelling as a crafter, help you find yarn or fabric stores at your destination, offer a review of the places I went to and share useful tips and tricks for the crafty traveler. There’s not much content so far, but I hope you’ll check it out and be as excited to see the content grow as I am to built it. Thank you all for your continued support, and I hope to see you soon at aknitteraroundtheworld.com.
Cheers!
Entrelac, anyone?
I’ve had a lot of fun this summer/fall working on my first ever entrelac project, it’s a Tunisian Crochet blanket made with (too many yards!) of Bernat Maker Home Dec & Fashion in 3 different colors, and I simply LOVE (!) the result.
The pattern I used is Bernat’s Tunisian Entrelac Baby Blanket and I think it’s a great pattern for both, first time Tunisian crocheters and first time entrelac knitters, and there’s also a tutorial available to help you visualize what you gotta do, too. I made a slightly larger version of the blanket, reaching about 45″X50″ with 16 pattern repeats instead of 11, but otherwise followed the pattern pretty closely. Although I’m familiar with Tunisian crochet this was the first time I’ve ever done entrelac, and I’m quite glad I chose this pattern because it was a simple, easy and very fun to make.
This blanket is just so cute it’s to die for, and with the yarn I used the blanket is amazingly soft and squishy I could literally snuggle to it all day long. Plus, both cats approve because (as shown in the pictures) it was their favorite blanket before it was even finished.
Well that’s all for now folks, cheers 🙂
Tunisian Crochet Bliss
Hey-ho Crafters!
A few months ago, I decided to add a new craft to my arsenal, it’s a craft I’ve been wanting to learn for a long time and today, I really want to take a few minutes to share with all of you the love I have for Tunisian Crochet. For those who know what it is, you already know how awesome it is, and for those who have no idea what I’m talking about, let me let you in on a little secret : Tunisian Crochet combines the smoothness of knitted stitches and the quickness of crochet all into one beautiful needle craft.
To put it simply, Tunisian Crochet is a needle craft based on pairs of rows worked back and forth on the same side of project (i.e. you never have to turn you project – unless required for a specific pattern); it creates a beautiful, dense but supple fabric that is perfect for warm shawls, garments, blankets or anything else that strikes your fancy. There’s also a certain number of really nice lace patterns out there that can be used for lighter garments and more delicate projects, but I haven’t tried a lot of them yet (I’m still learning after all!). As I’m still relatively new to it, I learned mostly basic stitches, and I learned most of them watching videos on YouTube. There really is a ton of them out there so you should look it up when you get a chance. To give you an idea of what it looks like, here’s a shot of a Tunisian Crochet triangular shawl I made a few months ago with a few balls of Rowan kid classic yarn. It was my first Tunisian Crochet project, and it took only 3 days to make it. Isn’t it amazing how fast it goes?
Since then, I’ve tried countless different stitch patterns, watched an unbelievable amount of videos and even attended a workshop, and I feel like I’m finally starting to get the hang of it. It really is a beautiful craft, full of possibilities, and it works so fast it will simply blow your mind. What is also really interesting about Tunisian Crochet is that it makes it easy to mix yarns and colors as well as different types of patterns like lace, ribs or eyelets. There’s a scarf I work on here and there on my lunch breaks that’s worked on a rib pattern, I call it the bubble gum scarf. The yarn I’m using is FibraNatura Sea Song cotton yarn, it’s a really fun and easy project that can be worked in those little stolen moments when you’re in the bus, in line at the bank or waiting at a doctor appointment.
As you can probably tell, I’m really excited about my new adventures in Tunisian Crochet, and I really enjoy doing it as much as I though I would, and probably even more. All in all, I’m must say I’m really happy to have discovered a craft I will be in love with for many years to come, and I’m really glad I pushed myself through the slow process of learning something new, because I think it was all worth it in the end. Maybe next time I’ll try spinning? Who knows 😉
What about you?
What’s the last thing you invested time to learn?
Crafty Effie 