Craft: Crochet Ice Cream Cones

I haven't had a lot of time for crafts and blogging lately as uni has been taking up some of my time in the evenings. My shawl (that I wrote about last week) hasn't grown very much and I needed a small crochet project to get me motivated to keep working on it. That's how these crochet ice creams came to be!  

Craft: Crochet Bunny and Invisible Decreases

I've been crocheting amigurumi for several years now and it's taken me this long to learn that there is such a thing as an invisible single crochet decrease! 

Made with invisible decreases!

Craft: Fresh Stitches Scrap Along

Do you have lots of balls of yarn that are too small to make anything with, but are too large to justify throwing away? If you do, the FreshStitches website has the answer! 

This month FreshStitches is hosting a scrap-along; a crochet-along using all your leftover bits of yarn. The idea is to create a "magic ball" using yarn scraps to create a colourful skein. FreshStitches has a post explaining how to join the different scraps together to create the magic ball. Here's the one I made. 

(The paper clip is my stitch marker!) 

It was fun crocheting with the "magic ball" and seeing all the different yarns come together in the finished piece. It was also nice crocheting with different types of yarn again. Lately I've been buying fairly cheap wool for making amigurumi, but some of my scrap yarn was from my days of knitting clothes for myself using fancy wool/cotton blends. 

I chose to make this cute monster for my scrap-along project. The pattern is called Lark. It's a FreshStitches pattern that is published on the KnittingFever website (this might disqualify it from the FreshStitches competition...oops!).  It was really fast to crochet and the pattern was nice and easy to follow. I like the funny oversized eyes! 

If you're not familiar with FreshStitches patterns you'll notice the texture of her patterns are different to most amigurumi. This really confused me the first time I saw it - I actually wondered if I had been crocheting wrong all this time! Now that I've made one of FreshStitches patterns I realise it's because the whole piece has been crocheted in the back loops. It does give a nice texture.

Here are some more pics of my scrappy monster.

Craft: Crochet Cats

In my post last week I mentioned that I wanted to make my Mum a crocheted cat for her birthday. I only started it a week beforehand, but I'm happy to say that I finished it in time! It wasn't easy however. Last week was a busy one for me as I've been preparing for a housemate to move in. This didn't leave a lot of time for crocheting cats! In addition to that I decided that the first pattern I made wasn't really right for Mum....

I made the Amineko cat pattern first. There's nothing wrong with the pattern. In fact it's a great pattern - I smile every time I see the kitty snoozing amongst the pillows on my sofa.

Or on top of the sofa.

Or on the bookshelf.

Even up a tree!

I thought he might be a bit too cartoonish for Mum. He's more cheeky than cute. Perhaps I just didn't want to let him go :-P

I decided to quickly crochet an alternative cat for Mum. I made this kitty.

The pattern is my own modification of the Spring Bunnies pattern from All About Ami. I'll post the modifications to the pattern soon. I'm glad I decided to make the second crochet kitty for Mum because not only do I get to keep the Amineko kitty for myself, the white kitty looks likes like my Mum's ragdoll William who has recently been shaved for the summer!

Craft: Ami Ami Dogs

Have you heard of Ami Ami Dogs? It's some of the cutest crochet I've ever seen! I have both of Mitsuki Hoshi's Ami Ami Dogs books and it makes me happy every time I flip through the pages and admire her adorable creations.

Unfortunately Ami Ami Dogs are not so easy to replicate. The first obstacle is the way the patterns are written; in charts. If like me you've never tried crocheting from a chart it might take some getting used to. I find it easy to miss an increase on decrease in the charts and would much prefer a written pattern. I will endure the charts for the cute Ami Ami dogs however.

The second obstacle is in the making up. It's easy enough to make the component pieces of an Ami Ami dog - it's very basic crochet. Putting the pieces together is another story however... I wanted to make the Shih Tzu pattern from Ami Ami Dogs 2 for a friend. Here's how it looks in the book:

See, completely adorable!

And here's my attempt....

A lot less adorable :-P He's still cute, but there's something not quite right about the way he's put together. I think Mitsuki Hoshi must put a lot of care and attention into putting her puppies together. I have made mine in a much larger size than what's recommended in the book and maybe that has something to do with it.

He does have a certain charm! And he was well liked by his new owner. 

The yellow dog is my first attempt at an Ami Ami Dog. I will be trying at least one more pattern from the book (the jack russell next time). It's worth having a look at the Ami Ami Dogs books - even if you don't crochet! - they are so full of cuteness and charm it's almost ridiculous!

Craft: Crochet Bunny

Sometimes I find it hard to give away the toys I've made. One of the most difficult toys to give away was this bunny from All About Ami. I made him for no-one in particular and then decided to give him away for a secret santa present last year. There has been a bunny shaped hole in my life ever since! Happily it has now been filled (almost...) by bunny number two.

I highly recommend the pattern; it's quick, easy, and the finished bunny has so much personality.

This guy is a lot happier looking than his brother before him. It's very easy to make the bunny look depressed by placing his eyes too low on his head, which I did the first time. When I asked my boyfriend (who was also fond of bunny number one) if he liked bunny number two, he said "this one's cuter, but I liked the other one better". The sad bunny look can be endearing!

Here's bunny with his friend Snuggles the Penguin that I posted about last year.

Snuggles is happy that he has a friend to share his bookshelf with.

Craft: Knitted Pig a.k.a the "Pig-Mouse"

Pig-mice are small, mouse sized pigs who make their homes in bookshelves. I spotted this one between the knitting and cooking section.

 And again by the science fiction.

The pattern is from Spud and Chloe. It's actually an extremely cute flying pig. I've made the pattern three times and my attempts always come out slightly mousey - not that that's a bad thing exactly. Even when knitted in a more pig like colour, the effect is the same. I think it's the placement of the legs that make my pigs have pointy noises and therefore mouseyness! Regardless of whether it's a pig, a mouse or something in between, the results are still cute and it's a very easy pattern that can be made in a day if you're dedicated. Pig-mice make good last minute presents too.

Who wouldn't want to spy one of these little guys on their bookshelf??

Craft: Knitted Turtle

This is my newest friend, Sheldon the turtle. Poor Sheldon is a little bewildered by the outside world.

There are tasty things to eat out there...

... but things can go horribly wrong!

It's much better to stay safe inside with his friends.

The pattern comes from Ruth Homrighaus and is available for free on Knitty. This is one of the more challenging toy patterns I've made. Sheldon and his shell are two separate pieces. The shell can theoretically be taken off and washed separately, but I'm not confident that this will work for my Sheldon and he'll be happier if I don't try!

The pattern is fairly simple to follow until it comes to joining the parts of the shell together. If you're like me and tend to rush into a pattern without reading to the end first, you might find yourself having trouble with this step too. It took me several reads to realise that when crocheting around the shell attachment panel, the aim is to create four opening for the legs to poke through. You don't need to create an opening for the neck like I originally thought. This is done when you join the panel to the shell itself. And don't be tempted to skip the I-cord because this really brings Sheldon together and stops the shell from having slightly pointy corners.

I'd recommend this pattern to anyone who's mastered the basics of knitted toy construction. There are several techniques (I-cord and crochet) that would possibly make Sheldon a challenge for a beginner.