Crochet Max from the Wild Things

 Who doesn't love Max!!

I'm really happy with this cute little guy

Pattern by
Carla Mitrani 

You can find her on Ravelry 

Max Pattern on Ravelry

A doll called Sophie

A doll named Sophie

 I loved making this doll!

I made it for Ava when she was 1 1/2 years old.

She took one look at her, took off her headband

then tossed her aside. Lol!

A couple of months later she spotted her again

and held on to her as if she was 

her best friend.

 

The designer is the talented  nina.hookscreations.

You can find her pattern on Ravelry

 

Shika the mythical deer bird crochet

This is definitely my favourite project so far!

I call her Shika which means gentle deer.

I made her from a wonderful book called

Unicorns, Dragons and more Fantasy Amigurumi

by Ilaria Caliri

a little crochet manatee for a little girl

This tiny manatee measures 4 inches long.
I wanted it to be little since it is for
a wee little girl whose daddy loves manatees.
I made this from a great free pattern
here on Ravelry 

A sweet crochet Puffin

A Newfoundland Puffin 

 I made my little guy from a wonderful Puffin pattern
from the beautiful book
Animal Friends of PicaPau 
by the very talented author
Yan Schenkel
 
Here in Canada we are lucky to have a large colony
of Atlantic Puffins along the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Unfortuately, like a lot of other animals,
 Puffins are having a hard time
dealing with the warming of the earth.
Fish that they normally would eat have
been moving out of the warmer waters.

But they are tough little birds
so hopefully these beautiful animals can adapt.

A Little Panda called Lola

I am so happy with this little bear!

I made her from this wonderful book

by Yan Schenkel

She is only 6 inches tall.
The pattern calls for worsted weight yarn
which would have made her 9 1/2 inches
but I really wanted a smaller panda
so I used a sport weight.

She looked a little strange when
she was only partially made.

But she was transformed when I added her
eyes, ears and arms.
And since she was born in the winter
I decided to make her a cosy scarf.
Come summer I might have to
make her this cute little skirt.

Little crochet pup wip

Waiting

Organizing my life...a simple crochet pouch

I started 2017 off with a large basket

to help me organize my yarn.

Next I wanted a pouch to keep my 

hooks, scissors, stitch markers, etc in

so that when I'm working on a project 

I have them all together.

I've given general instructions below,
it's not complicated just a rectangle that you fold,
 and then sew up the sides..
You could make it even simpler by making it in the round.
That way.... no seams

  I decided to add a zipper and line it 
but even without these it's a lovely little pouch.
Leave it plain as I have or embellish it with whatever makes you smile.

My rectangle ended up being 9 by 5 1/2 ( inches)or 23 by 14 (centimetres)
I used aran weight yarn and each row consists of 33 Hdc.



There is a total of 35 Hdc rows as follows
I made 2 rows of brown,
3 rows of red,
12 rows of white,
1 row of white worked in backloops only just for this row,
12 rows of white,
3 rows of red,
and 2 rows of brown.

The beauty of it is you can adjust it to make it any size.

Here is a shot of the lining.

A new year...a new stitch

Diamond crochet basket

While wandering through a thrift store a while back

I came across a giant ball of grey yarn for $4.

Way too hard to resist even though I 

was already in danger of being buried under my stash yarn.

But I had the perfect pattern in mind since

it not only eats yarn but also it uses a stitch which

I've never tried before.

And as a bonus it also stores some of my yarn stash.

It's from a free pattern by Esther Chandler on Ravelry 

Diamond Trellis Basket 

 

It did take me awhile to get the hang of the new (to me) stitch.

As you can see my lines on the basket aren't perfect

 but I'm still happy with it.

This video by moogly was really helpful to me.

It explains the  

front post triple crochet 2 together stitch.

 fptrc2tog

 My cat Mew on the other hand wasn't particularly helpful

although she was nice company.

Happy 2016!

Mr. Postmouse's Round

I bought 2 of these books for my nieces. 

Mr. Postmouse's Rounds by Marianne Dubuc

It is about a Postmouse who delivers packages

to different animals.

The houses that each animal lives in are adorable.

And if you look closely at each page then

you can spot hidden references to fairy tales.

I chose this book, not only because was interesting,

but also because it gave me an excuse to make

the main character.

An Austin bunny

This little bunny will soon be flying
to her new home in Austin, Texas.
I'm not sure how she'll like the blazing hot summers
that they get there.
After all she was born here in Ontario where
our summers are nowhere as hot.
And she did enjoy hanging out and smelling the flowers.

But I'm pretty sure she has dual citizenship and
her new owner will help her explore her wonderful new home.

a little bunny for a little girl

I've been wanting to make this little bunny

for such a long time.

I found the free pattern from 

my favourite yarn site..Ravelry.

 free bunny pattern 

Over 600 people have already

made this adorable creature

so, as usual, I'm late to the party.

Here she is waiting to get her act together.

I think I might have to make another one.

Mollie flowers dancing in a hoop

I have a 5 year old niece who lives in Texas which

is over 2000 km away from me.

So you can probably guess that I don't see her very often.

But the last time I did I discovered that she loves

making things so I promised that I'd crochet her something.

So I decided to combine a 6 inch embroidery hoop

with crocheted flowers.

I thought that this would look nice

hanging on her wall.

The flowers themselves are from a wonderful

free pattern made by Brigitte Read

mollie flowers

The embroidery stitches in the centre
are simple french knots...
not difficult even for a beginner.

The only problem I had was how to make

the back look presentable.

I tried pleating it with the idea of

sewing them in place but

the centre part looked frayed and messy.

So I searched Pinterest to see how others 

have finished their hoops
and ended up using this one.

hoop tutorial

 I would suggest that you look over
her tutorial first to see what steps are involved.
She explains them in detail.

For my backing I picked a purple floral fabric.
I wanted to stick with a flower theme.

First I put my embroidery piece
and my piece of fabric wrong sides together.
I inserted them into the embroidery hoop
making sure everything
 was nice and tight.
As you can see in this pic of the back
I also trimmed the fabric material to about
3 inches just to make the next step easier.



 Next I folded the fabric layer
over the hoop and using a pen I marked
 where the fabric hit the base of the hoop.
Do this all the way around the hoop.
Then cut along this line.

 

Next put glue (I used Aleene's fast grab tacky glue)
 on the edges and inside wall of the hoop,
then carefully pressed the fabric onto the hoop.
I let it dry well for a couple of hours
before starting on the embroidery layer.



I repeated the same steps for the embroidery layer
Here is a pic of it ready to be cut.



And here is a pic of it cut and glued.
 I did end up putting on a little extra glue
for this final layer.



Not exactly perfect but good enough
for a first time and for something that
will be against the wall.
Any thoughts?

Foxy crochet slippers

It's officially fall here in Canada.

The leaves are starting to turn colours and it's time to pull out

the thick comforters and to snuggle in front of the fireplace.

It's also time to pull out my yarn and make myself some slippers.




Fox Slippers!

I haven't worn them in front of my family yet but I know the reaction I'll get.
Rolled eyes....shaking of their heads, etc.
But I ignore them...life has too many stupid rules.
And, to me, almost nothing is cuter than fox slippers.

If you want to know where to buy the pattern
(by Tara Murray)
and what yarn I used check out my Ravelry link below
Ravelry link to fox slippers

Here is a pic of the foxes in progress:

Amineko..a little kitty for a little girl

This little, sleepy kitty was made for my 6 week old niece Anna.

I made him from
this free Japanese pattern

 I decided to make a little storybook with lots of pictures
that Anna could enjoy as she got older.
His first day was filled with adventures
including rolling in a tube


and ended with a nap beside my own little cat Mew.



I hope Anna has lots of adventures of her own
with her new little kitty.

Granny is keeping warm

 For Christmas  I wanted to make
a hot water bottle cosy for my daughter-in-law.
I bought
 a pattern by Millionbells on Ravelry
 because of the way the grannies
were laid out on the diagonal.
But as I worked on the pattern I soon discovered that there was
no opening to remove the bottle.
 Having a cosy that was removable was important
to me because I didn't want to end up
with a wet cosy every time I filled it.

Unfortunately adding an opening to the pattern
 would be difficult because of the layout

of the grannies.
Believe me I tried.
 So I decided to make up my own pattern

using the same squares that I had already made from pattern.

 

For the opening I went with a long zipper
 that wrapped around three sides.

This made it easy to insert or
remove the bottle without stretching
the cosy out of shape.

Here's another free Hobbes crochet pattern

A few weeks back I was lucky enough to meet a fellow

Ravelry member who goes by the username

Miahandcrafter.

The more we spoke the more I realized

how kind and talented she is.

Out of this meeting came a variation of my Hobbes pattern
which was co-created by myself and Mia
which we'd like to share with you.

So you now you have 2 patterns to choose from.
Our new version posted below
and my Original Hobbes pattern here



 But before we get to our pattern

here is a bit about Mia:

When did you first start crocheting? 

''I think I started crocheting in January of 2010.

I went to my grandma’s house to have some crochet lessons with her.

So, she helped me out with my first project, 

which was an awesome Kero pattern

created by Ournew from Craftster.''

Why did you choose to make amigurumi?

''Well, I’ve always been a lover of plushes.

Being more realistic, I’m an addicted to plushies, lol.

My room is full of them in any size you can imagine.

So, when I discovered that I could do my own plushies with crochet, I went crazy! 

That’s when I decided to learn crochet and make every plush I desire.''

Who inspired and supported you?

''The person who inspired me to crochet is my Grandma,

because she does lovely works, which I’ve always been a fan.

It was also her, my boyfriend and my parents

who gave me support to start learning crochet."

Why did you decide to start your blog?

  ''I decided to create a blog in order to share my amigurumi patterns 

and help other crocheters with some tutorials. 

The urge to create my blog came from my admiration 

of all crocheters who share their patterns for free, 

especially WolfDreamer. 

I think there’s nothing better than 

to find the desired pattern for free!''

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Check out Mia's wonderful site called
 Mia's Atelier
It's full of great free designs like

Gengar, R2D2, Charizard, Majin Buu, Princess Lumpy Space 

and my personal favourite Jake the Dog!!!!

You can also find her

here on Ravelry

So without further delay here is our pattern.

 Hobbes Crochet Pattern 
by sukigirl and miahandcrafter




Materials:
- Black, Orange, Red and White yarn;
- Black Felt;
- Fiberfill;

- G (4mm) Crochet Hook;
- Tapestry Needle;
- Contact Glue or Fabric Glue.

Notes:
1. This pattern uses 100% acrylic yarn. Thickness is 3/6 Nm (Don’t know “Nm”? Click here).
(Yarn used was Le Mont by Circulo.....you can substitute a DK weight)
2. Hobbes measures 21 inches (53cm) from ears to feet.
3. In this pattern it is necessary to join the rounds, because of Haroldo’s stripes (black tiger stripes)! If you don’t do that, the stripes will be irregular and won’t look good, so, I recommend you to join the rounds! (If you don’t know how to join rounds, watch this video)
4. For sewing the pieces together you will use the tapestry needle.
5. His eyes, nose, mouth and head stripes will be made of felt.
Any doubts feel free to leave a comment on our blogs. You may also e-mail us.

Pattern:
- Body
Start using the orange yarn.
Round 1: 6 Sc in MR. (6)
Round 2: 2 Sc in each Sc (12)
Round 3: sc, 2 Sc in next Sc (18)
Now, before starting the round 4, change to the black yarn.
Round 4: sc 2, 2 sc in next sc (24)
Round 5: sc 3, 2 sc in next sc (30)
Round 6: sc 4, 2 sc in next sc (36)
Now, before starting the round 7, change to the orange yarn.
Round 7: sc 5, 2 sc in next sc (42)
Round 8: sc 6, 2 sc in next sc (48)
Round 9: sc 7, 2 sc in next sc (54)
Now, before starting the round 10, change to the black yarn.
Round 10: sc 8, 2 sc in next sc (60)
Round 11-12: sc in each sc (60)
Now, before starting the round 13, change to the orange yarn.
Round 13-15: Sc in each Sc (60)
Now, before starting the round 16, change to the black yarn.
Round 16-18: Sc in each Sc (60)
Now, before starting the round 19, change to the orange yarn.
Round 19-21: Sc in each Sc (60)
Now, before starting the round 22, change to the black yarn.
Round 22-24: Sc in each Sc (60)
Now, before starting the round 25, change to the orange yarn.
Round 25-27: Sc in each Sc (60)
Now, before starting the round 28, change to the black yarn.
Round 28-30: Sc in each Sc (60)
Now, before starting the round 31, change to the orange yarn.
Round 31-33: Sc in each Sc (60)
Now, before starting the round 34, change to the black yarn.
Round 34-36: Sc in each Sc (60)
Now, before starting the round 37, change to the orange yarn.
Round 37-39: Sc in each Sc (60)
Now, before starting the round 40, change to the black yarn.
Round 40-42: Sc in each Sc (60)
Now, before starting the round 43, change to the orange yarn.
Round 43: Sc 8, dec (54)
Round 44-45: sc in each sc (54)
Now, before starting the round 46, change to the black yarn.
Round 46: Sc 7, dec (48)
Round 47-48: sc in each sc (48)
Now, before starting the round 49, change to the orange yarn.
Round 49: Sc 6, dec (42)
Round 50: sc in each sc (42)
Round 51: sc 5, dec (36)
Now, before starting the round 52, change to the black yarn.
Round 52: sc in each sc (36)
Round 53: sc 4, dec (30)
Finish off.

- Head
Make it using just the orange yarn. (Then, we will do the head stripes with black felt)
Round 1: 6 Sc in MR. (6)
Round 2: 2 Sc in each Sc (12)
Round 3: sc, 2 Sc in next Sc (18)
Round 4: sc 2, 2 sc in next sc (24)
Round 5: sc 3, 2 sc in next sc (30)
Round 6: sc 4, 2 sc in next sc (36)
Round 7: sc 5, 2 sc in next sc (42)
Round 8: sc 6, 2 sc in next sc (48)
Round 9: sc 7, 2 sc in next sc (54)
Round 10-12: sc in each sc (54)
Round 13: sc 8, 2 sc in next sc (60)
Round 14-31: sc on each sc (60)
Round 32: sc 8, dec (54)
Round 33: sc 7, dec (48)
Round 34: sc 6, dec (42)
Round 35: sc 5, dec (36)
Round 36: sc 4, dec (30)
Finish off and leave a long tail to sew the head to the body.

- Muzzle
Make it using white yarn.
Row 1: ch 17, then sc 16 from the second ch from hook (16)
Row 2: inc, sc 14, inc (18)
Row 3:inc, sc 16, inc (20)
Row 4: inc, sc 18, inc (22)
Row 5: inc, sc 20, inc (24)
Row 6: sc in each sc (24)
Row 7: sc in each sc (24)
Row 8: sc in each sc (24)
Row 9: dec, sc 20, dec (22)
Row 10: dec, sc 18, dec (20)
Row 11: dec, sc 16, dec (18)
Row 12: dec, sc 14, dec (16)
Now, crochet sc’s around the muzzle to give it an edge and then finish off, leaving a long tail to sew it to the head.

- Ears
Make it using black yarn.
Round 1: 6 sc into MR (6 sts)
Round 2: 2 sc in each sc (12)
Round 3: Sc in each Sc (12)
Round 4: sc, 2 sc in next sc (18)
Round 5: sc in each sc (18)
Round 6: sc 2, 2 sc in next sc (24)
Round 7-9: sc in each sc (24)
Finish off and leave a long tail to sew it to the head.

- Legs
Start using the White yarn.
Round 1: 6 Sc in MR (6)
Round 2: 2 Sc in each Sc (12)
Round 3: Sc, 2 Sc in next (18)
Round 4: Sc 2, 2 Sc in next (24)
Round 5: Sc 3, 2 Sc in next (30)
Round 6-9: Sc in each Sc (30)
Now, before starting the round 10, change to the black yarn.
Round 10-12: Sc in each Sc (30)
Now, before starting the round 13, change to the orange yarn.
Round 13-15: Sc in each Sc (30)
Now, before starting the round 16, change to the black yarn.
Round 16-18: Sc in each Sc (30)
Now, before starting the round 19, change to the orange yarn.
Round 19-21: Sc in each Sc (30)
Now, before starting the round 22, change to the black yarn.
Round 22-24: Sc in each Sc (30)
Now, before starting the round 25, change to the orange yarn.
Round 25-27: Sc in each Sc (30)

- Arms
Start using White yarn.
Round 1: 6 Sc in MR (6)
Round 2: 2 Sc in each Sc (12)
Round 3: Sc, 2 Sc in next (18)
Round 4: Sc 2, 2 Sc in next (24)
Round 5: Sc 11, inc (26)
Round 6-9: sc in each sc (26)
Now, before starting the round 10, change to the black yarn.
Round 10-12: sc in each sc (26)
Now, before starting the round 13, change to the orange yarn.
Round 13-15: sc in each sc (26)
Now, before starting the round 16, change to the black yarn.
Round 16-18: sc in each sc (26)
Now, before starting start the round 19, change to the orange yarn.
Round 19-21: sc in each sc (26)
Now, before starting the round 22, change to the black yarn.
Round 22-24: sc in each sc (26)
Now, before starting the round 25, change to the orange yarn.
Round 25-27: sc in each sc (26)
Now, we will work in rows, before we start we should change our yarn to the black one.
Row 28: 13 sc (13)
Row 29: 11 sc (11)
Row 30: 9 sc (9)
Finish off and leave a long tail to sew the arm to the body.

- Underbelly
Make it using white yarn.
Chain 9
Row 1: sc 8 (8)
Row 2: inc , sc 6, inc (10)
Row 3: inc, sc 8, inc (12)
Row 4: inc, sc 10, inc (14)
Row 5: inc, sc 12, inc (16)
Row 6: inc, sc 14, inc (18)
Row 7-35: sc in each sc (18)
Row 36: dec, sc 14, dec (16)
Row 37-47: sc in each sc (16)
Now, crochet sc’s around the underbelly to give it an edge and then finish off, leaving a long tail to sew it to the body.

- Tail
Start the tail using black yarn.
Round 1: 6 Sc in MR (6)
Round 2: 2 Sc in each Sc (12)
Round 3-7: sc in each sc (12)
Now, before starting the round 8, change to the orange yarn.
Round 8-10: sc in each sc (12)
Now, before starting the round 11, change to the black yarn.
Round 11-13: sc in each sc (12)
Now, before starting the round 14, change to the orange yarn.
Round 14-16: sc in each sc (12)
Now, before starting the round 17, change to the black yarn.
Round 17-19: sc in each sc (12)
Now, before starting the round 20, change to the orange yarn.
Round 20-22: sc in each sc (12)
Now, before starting the round 23, change to the black yarn.
Round 23-25: sc in each sc (12)
Now, before starting the round 26, change to the orange yarn.
Round 26-28: sc in each sc (12)
Now, before starting the round 29, change to the black yarn.
Round 29-31: sc in each sc (12)
Now, before starting the round 31, change to the orange yarn.
Round 31-33: sc in each sc (12)
Now, before starting the round 34, change to the black yarn.
Round 34-36: sc in each sc (12)
Now, before starting the round 37, change to the orange yarn.
Round 37-39: sc in each sc (12)
Now, before starting the round 40, change to the black yarn.
Round 40-42: sc in each sc (12)

- Scarf
Make it using red yarn.
Row 1: ch 9, then sc 8 from the second ch from hook (8)
Row 2-125: sc in each sc (8)
Finish off. At the end my scarf was measuring about 69cm.
Now, let’s do the scarf details. It is simple, you just have to cut some pieces of yarn and then tie these pieces on the two tips of the scarf.

Assembly:
First, stuff the head, body, arms, legs and tail. Then you should sew the muzzle and ears to the head (if you want, you can put some fiber between the muzzle and the head). Then, you should sew the underbelly to the body. After this, sew the head, legs and tail to the body.
Finally, sew his arms to his body. To do this,  you will place his arms with the Rows up. They should be placed up in order to make his arms be closest to his body. If you do not do that, the arms will make 90 degrees with the body. Take a look in the photo bellow:

The black rows are placed up.

The black rows are placed up.

As you can see, in the bottom are placed the last Rounds.

Now, we need to do the back head stripes. For this, cut 4 pieces of black felt and glue this four pieces in the back. Then, cut two more pieces and glue them between the ears. (Use the pictures as reference)
Finally, make the eyes, nose and mouth froom black felt. Cut the pieces and glue them to the face. (Use the pictures as reference)
That’s it! Now you may hug your Hobbes plush a lot!!


We did not create this character, Hobbes is copyright of Bill Watterson!!
This Pattern was created by Ann Stiver-Balla and Ana Amélia Mendes Galvão. Please do not claim our pattern as yours; If you use this pattern, give us the credits; If you wish to share this pattern, you may create a link to our blogs, but please do not post it on your site; You may not sell this pattern; As well, respect Bill Watterson copyright and do not sell any items made from this pattern.

Crochet Union Jack pillow wip

I'm trying to get myself back into crochet

by posting my wips.

I'm calling this my Union Jack pillow.

I bought the pattern here

I really like this basket that I found at the thrift store.

It holds up to 6 different balls of yarn.

For this project there is just 3 colours so

I can tuck my hook, the instructions and

my project into the remaining spot.

I love that everything I need for

a project is kept nicely together.

I'm curious what other people use to hold their work.

Almost finished my chanson en crochet

This lovely shawl is called Chanson en crochet.
The free pattern info and errata can be found
here.
 I decided to block it before finishing it

so that I could gauge if it needed to be lengthened.

This yarn (Patons SWS in Natural Berry) is beautiful

 but it is a nightmare to rip out.

The colour is off in the photo...it is, in person
a lovely deep ruby red.