Pig recap / WIP update

I had a little staycation and it was really productive. I managed to finish all the pigs, the large ones named after my favourite characters, Scout, Jem, Boo and Dill.

Scout is on the way to his new home in Minnesota. The rest of the gang are waiting for their new owners.

The accessorized piglets were finally finished, as well. The funny thing is, the garments match exactly their owner. I tried to change their hats and scarves, even coats, and they didn't look well on other pigs. Here are Josh, George and Fred and my little Lappi boy, Jukka.

 

 

I also made a Stripey. That's my first ever designed toy and the design is turning 10 next summer (the pattern is much younger, though). This one is pretty scrappy, but I really like it. And there's a bunny in the backpack!

I love autumn, but this year I've been enjoying every single bit of it, including drizzle, frost, dull skies. Probably, it's just the result of my emotional change and acceptance.

This year I'm participating in the design contest. I've been avoiding all sorts of challenges since my Circus design failure (remember Ivan?), but this time I'm ready. It's not about winning or getting publicity, it's about dinosaurs and my love for them. Those contests somehow match my crojo, drive and ideas but I usually end up frustrated and anxious without anything completed at all. However, I made up my mind to make a small collection of unusual and/or under-represented crocheted dinos.  The first one - going to the contest - is Stygimoloch spinifer!

I managed to balance it on 3 points (if you want to keep it seated on a bed, shelf, desk or in the armchair) by adding a chenille wire into the tail. The rest of the body is not wired since I wanted to make it playable for most ages.

I will eventually write the pattern, but this time I set no deadlines and prioritize the destash and finishing of the WIPs, so, no actual date of the release is known.

Speaking of the WIPs, my Sunshine Blanket is nearing its end. It's been my opus magnum, my Dark Tower, Lord of the Rings and War and Peace. It began in 2016 with the Dandelion mandala and border, Quatrefoil pillow, continued with a bit of Sophie's Universe and River, and it's rounding up with Havana.

It's enormous!

16 rounds are left plus the assembly and some border, but I hope to finish it before Christmas.

What's on your hooks these days?

Tampere and amigurumis

I've become a rare guest here. For a number of reasons. The main one, I haven't designed anything new so far and has been destashing with someone else's patterns. However, I have plans for upgrading some of my old patterns with new pictures or just pictures (yep, Boho Fingerless Gloves are the first on the list) and, probably, editting.

Meanwhile, I went on vacation guess where. Finland!!! Yes, again. Yes, I love it. The destination was Tampere this time.

 

Those views are hard to compare to anything. Lakes and forests are what always pleases my heart and eyes. And Piggy enjoyed them, too.

Just look at those little wild strawberries we found in the middle of the city. He enjoyed meeting Moomin, his family and friends as well. 

Unfortunately (or fortunately), I didn't take many photos, but there are plenty of videos over on my IG.

I really loved some obscene contemporary porcelain statues which I can't help sharing.

And eventually there was a day in Helsinki with street food at Kauppatori and tram rides, and blackbirds at night, and late night crochet.

During my trip I finished a cowl, started another and partly made 13 piglets. There has been a little pig detox going, thus, I'll show the finished amis in a week or so along with the finished detox object.

Right before the trip I managed to finish 7 amigurumis in about a month (which is a lot for me). I've been really inspired for a while and it was pretty mild/cold for the summer to crochet. So, here they are:

 

I can now officially state that I'm not a mere pattern hoarder and that I actually used at least a third of the patterns I bought/downloaded.

In case you want to make similar amis for yourself, here are the links to the patterns (all of them can be bought from Ravelry, Batman and Pocket Earl Dog are free):

1. Pocket Earl Dog by MoRAmadePattern

2. Earl Dog by MoRAmadePattern

3. Zombie Boy by Mila Kralina

4. Batman by Serah Basnet

Speaking of crochet I could really touch upon my overall well-being. After finishing the said amis and packing the yarn for the trip, I realised that my left arm would hardly move. All of my joints were sore. I would pick up the pan lid and drop it because my fingers would be unable to hold it. 

The solution came unexpectedly (like, literally, all best things in my life): I subscribed to the Mobility Flow week by Dr. Jen Esquer. And it worked miracles. Bye-bye, carpal tunnel syndrome, hope we'll never meet. Since then it has become part of my daily, and especially, crocheting routine. To help my joint and nerve pain (not crochet related), I decided to add a low-carb diet to the stretching, aiming at 20 to 30 g of carbs a day. 3 weeks into it I can say that it's been one of my best decisions so far. A sugarholic has stayed away from sugar for 3 weeks and going strong. I won't demonize sweets, as I will return them to my diet again at some point, but the unhealthy addiction is gone. I walk past the ice-cream and don't buy any, no chocolate, no cookies, almost no fruit. And no feeling of deprivation. To crown it all, as I go down or up the stairs, my knees still click but don't hurt, yay!

I'll keep you posted!

St. Valentine's 2017

Mr F asked me to send him a few examples of my work, so, I decided to make a few quickies: Piglet, Bunny McCarrots (no Christmas sweaters this time, just a carrot) and a couple of animated cacti.

Yesterday was Piglet's turn. A funny fact: that's one of my least crocheted projects except for a few woodland friends, but they'd already got a well-tested shape by that time. I usually make 3 prototypes, but this little pig turned out perfect right after the first one. I love his shy smile and kind eyes and I think there should be more enamoured piglets in this world, and I might perhaps stock him on Etsy as a ready-made amigurumi. And it's his 2nd anniversary this week.
 

 

The pattern is available everywhere:

Etsy
Ravelry
LoveCrochet
Craftsy
Amigurumipatterns.net

December Recap

I haven't been very active here recently. Somehow, Instagram caught me into its net. But, actually, there's hardly anything crochet-related that I can share. I haven't written any patterns because the last 2 months were filled with the exhibition preparation, crafting for the fair and random amigurumi presents. The exhibition package got lost somewhere along the way and the toys never made it in time for the opening. I requested the search, but with no results yet.

Meanwhile, I made a huge batch of pinecones for the New Year fair (the pattern by June Gilbank can be found here).

 

Plus, there was a Fluffy Unicorn by LittleYarnFriends for my colleague's niece (get the free pattern here).

.

 

And Mo for IG's #getyouryarnwishesgranted. Somehow, the bigger The Woodland Friends get, the cuter they look (crochet hook 3.5 mm, double strand of DK). I'm deeply satisfied with how universal the patterns turned out. Mo got an infinity scarf instead of his usual bow-tie (ch.-100, 5 rounds of camel stitch, crochet hook 3.5 mm, DK) and a couple of simple baubles to decorate his antlers. Maybe, there will be a whole Christmas bunch next year (for now, the free pattern is here, the inexpensive ad-free pattern bundle is here. Don't forget about the Advent discounts).

 

Plus, Mr F's Persian Tiles is nearing its half and I really want to finish it this week. Next week at the latest.

I've been thinking a lot about what I want to do next year, where I want to move with crochet. I'm planning on a pattern subscription, but it won't be a quick thing to do and I might disappear for longer. But, at the same time, I want to make physical objects from other people's patterns (and, maybe, from my own, too), because there exists so much nice stuff out there already. To me, it feels amazing when people make something from my patterns, as it means that my work wasn't in vain, that it has made some child (or an adult) happy and warm. Perhaps, other designers feel the same. Plus, I've got pregnant relatives who will desperately need baby afghans for the spring/summer/autumn (underline the best variant). And booties. And caps. And I've got a pattern for an awesome doggie onesie/coat. Beware, in short :)

And a random question: Does anybody know any nice yarn store in Helsinki or Espoo that will be open around New Year?

Advent Discounts!

Use coupon code: CHRISTMAS2016 and get a 10% discount on everything in my Etsy shop. The code is valid through December 25, 2016.

Boho Fingerless Gloves

The pattern for Boho Fingerless Gloves is now available for the individual download on:
Etsy
LoveCrochet
Craftsy

Amigurumi Kit: Bunny McCarrots and the Ugly Christmas Sweater

I have finally finished winding the cakes for the kits and crocheting cacti. So, here are the first, better to say, test, kits.

Each kit includes all the materials you need to make 2 Bunnies:

- printed pattern + PDF file,
- 2.5 mm crochet hook,
- 2 cakes of grey yarn in 2 shades,
- 1 cake of white yarn for the tails,
- 2 cakes of yarn for the sweaters,
- 2 pairs of 10.5 mm safety eyes,
- 2 8 mm oval noses,
- 2 reindeer appliques,
- beige and black yarn for embroidery,
- gauge meter,
- 2 metallic tapestry needles,
- 3 stitch markers,
- 2 blank tags,
- 2 "handmade" trinkets,
- 60 g of polyesther fiberfill (not shown in the photo),
- handmade cactus pincushion,
- 1 "Soak" travel pack to give them a nice bath.

Here you can see the currently available colour options (except for the cacti that have already been carefully packed). Everything will be sent randomly because every Bunny should be OOAK.

The kits are available on Etsy.

Bunny McCarrots and the Ugly Christmas Sweater

Guys, the pattern is live! At last! You'll have plenty of time to make one for your kiddos (or yourself, let's be honest) before Christmas or New Year. It can be a really cool stocking filler. The first kits will be ready this weekend.

So, the pattern includes Bunny himself, two patterns for the sweater and a pattern for Rudolf. I may come up with some additional appliques later, but much more later.

Sorry for being silent here, too many projects on hand, as usual. But! I promise to be back with a tiny free pattern next week. Stay tuned and don't forget to apply for this year's World Amigurumi Exhibition at resobox.com

Oh, almost forgot. The pattern can be bought here:
Ravelry
Etsy
Craftsy
LoveCrochet

Stripey: Mesh market tote + Strawberry

I was planning to draft patterns for a couple of other accessories for Stripey for quite a long time. So, I managed to sneak several hours at the beginning of May to design and take pictures. But, writing out the patterns themselves takes much more time than making. Then there was my short adventure in Belgrade, and it's finally time to share the first bundle.

The patterns are written in the US crochet terms. The abbreviations used are as follows:

• ch. - chain,
• sl.st. - slip stitch,
• sc - single crochet,
• sp(s) - space(s),
• hdc - half-double crochet,
• dc - double crochet,
• BLO - back loop only,
• FLO - front loop only,
• decr - decrease (2 sc crocheted together),
• incr - increase (2 sc worked in one stitch),
• Rnd - Round.

You will need:

• 2,5 mm crochet hook (US size C/2),
• DK yarn leftovers. I used:

1. Pink for the tote - 15 g,
2. Cherry red for the strawberry - 5 g,
3. Grass green for the leaf - 5 g,
4. Yellow for embroidery - 50 cm (about 2 feet).

• polyester fiberfill,
• tapestry needle,
• stitch markers,
• a pair of scissors,
• good mood,
• a cup of hot beverage (thank you, Dr Cooper).

Mesh Market Tote:

1 Rnd: ch. 4, work 12 dc into the 4th ch. from the hook, sl. st. into the 1st dc = 12 dc, ch. 1,

2 Rnd: incr around = 24 sc, sl. st. into the 1st st, ch. 1,

 

3 Rnd: sc into the 1st stitch; *ch. 3, skip the next st, sc*; repeat from * to * 10 times more; ch. 1, skip the next st, hdc into the 1st sc = 12 sc, 12 ch.-3 sps, ch. 1,

 
 

4 Rnd: sc into the same ch.-3 space; *ch. 5, sc into the next ch.-3 space*; repeat from * to * 10 times more; ch. 2, dc into the 1st sc = 12 sc, 12 ch.-5 sps, ch. 1,

 

5 Rnd: sc into the same ch.-5 space; *ch. 5, sc into the next ch.-5 space*; repeat from * to * 10 times more; ch. 2, dc into the 1st sc = 12 sc, 12 ch.-5 sps, ch. 1,

6 - 9 Rnds: repeat 5 Rnd,

10 Rnd: sc into the same ch.-5 space, *ch. 3, sc into the next ch.-5 space*; repeat from * to * 10 times more; ch. 1, hdc into the 1st sc = 12 sc, 12 ch.-3 sps, ch. 1,

11 Rnd: sc into the same ch.-3 space, *ch. 2, sc into the next ch.-3 space*, repeat from * to * 10 times more; ch. 2, sl. st. into the 1st sc = 12 sc, 12 ch.-2 sps, ch. 1,

12 Rnd: sc into the 1st st, *2 sc into the next ch.-2 space, sc*; repeat from * to * 10 times more; 2 sc into the last ch.-2 sp, sl. st into the 1st sc = 36 sc,

13 Rnd: sc around = 36 sc, sl. st. into the first sc, ch. 1,

14 Rnd: repeat Rnd 13.

 

15 Rnd: 4 sc, ch. 40, skip 10 sc; 8 sc, ch. 40, skip 10 sc; 4 sc = 16 sc, 2 ch.-40 sps, sl. st. into the first sc, ch. 1,

16 Rnd: 4 sc, sc into every BLO of every ch. of ch.-40, 8 sc, sc into every BLO of every ch. of ch.-40, 4 sc = 96 sc, sl. st. into the first sc,

 

17 Rnd: sl.st around, fasten off, wave in the ends.

Strawberry:

Starting with green:

1 Rnd: ch. 2, 5 sc into the 2nd ch. from the hook = 5 sc, sl. st. into the first sc, ch. 1,

2 Rnd: incr around = 10 sc, sl. st. into the FLO of the 1st st, ch. 1,

3 Rnd: *ch. 6, sl.st. into the 2nd ch. from the hook, sc, 2 hdc, sc, sl. st. into the FLO of the next 2 sc of 2 Rnd*, repeat from * to * 4 times more, fasten off, weave in the end.

 

 

     

The berry is worked in spiral rounds without joining. Turn the leaves upside down, join red to the back loops;

  

1 Rnd: incr around = 20 sc,

2 Rnd: (1 sc, 1 incr) - repeat 5 times = 30 sc,

3 - 5 Rnd: sc around = 30 sc,

6 Rnd: (1 decr, 4 sc) - repeat 5 times = 25 sc,

7 Rnd: 2 sc, (1 decr, 3 sc) - repeat 4 times; 1 decr, 1 sc = 20 sc,

8 Rnd: (1 decr, 2 sc) - repeat 5 times = 15 sc,

9 Rnd: sc around = 15 sc, stuff the berry,

10 Rnd: (1 sc, 1 decr) - repeat 5 times = 10 sc,

11 - 12 Rnd: sc around = 10 sc,

13 Rnd: decr around = 5 sc, fasten off, weave in the ends.

With yellow, embroider the berry. You can use simple vertical stitches, like I did, or French knots.

The basic Stripey pattern is available here:

Etsy

Ravelry

Craftsy

Amigurumipatterns

The full-size pictures are available here