Unicorn Amigurumi: It's just Despicable.

I created this pattern a few months ago.  Fair warning tho, this is my very first pattern, and I've only made one unicorn.  But, I think it turned out pretty well... so I'm sharing it. (I'm quite proud of it!!!! )

Let me know if there are any mistakes and I can correct them.

A few quick notes:

* #sc + inc means sc in the next # sc’s, then 2 sc in the next sc * repeat all the way around.
* #sc + dec means sc in the next # sc’s, then skip one sc, and sc in the next sc * repeat all the way around.

Body

use white yarn. Periodically stuff with polyfill.
1.  5 sc in a magic ring
2.  2 sc per stitch
3.  1 sc + inc
4.  2 sc + inc
5.  3 sc + inc
6.  4 sc + inc
7.  5 sc + inc
8.  6 sc + inc
9.  7 sc + inc
10.  8 sc + inc
11-30.  1 sc per stitch
31.  8 sc + dec
32.  7 sc + dec
33.  6 sc + dec
34.  5 sc + dec
35.  4 sc + dec
36.  3 sc + dec
37.  2 sc + dec
38.  1 sc + dec
39 … decs until the hole is closed.

Leg (make 4)

in pink yarn:
1. 5 sc in magic ring
2. 2 sc per stitch
3. 1 sc + inc
4-7.  1 per stitch (on 4th row, backloops only)
switch to white yarn:
8-12. 1 per stitch
13. 6 dc, 1 sc, 1ss , finish off.
Stuff with polyfill before attaching

Head

use white yarn. Periodically stuff with polyfill.
1. 5 sc in magic ring
2. 2 sc per stitch
3. 1 sc + inc
4. 2 sc + inc
5. 1 sc per stitch
6. 3 sc + inc
7. 1 sc per stitch
8. 4 sc + inc
9-11. 1 sc per stitch
12. 5 sc + inc
13-15. 1 sc per stitch
switch to grey yarn.
16. 5 sc + dec
17. 4 sc + dec
18. 3 sc + dec
19. 2 sc + dec
20. 1 sc + dec
21... dec until the hole is closed

Ears (make 2)

use white yarn.
1. 4 sc in magic loop
2. 1 sc + inc
3-6. 1 per stitch
finish off leaving tail for sewing.

Neck

use white yarn.
1. Chain 15, join into a ring with ss.
2. 4 sc + inc
3. 10 dc, 10 sc, finish off with ss.
stuff with a bit of polyfill between attaching the head and the body.

Horn

use yellow yarn.
1. ch 2, 4sc into 1st ch, link back to 1st sc with ss.
2. 1 sc + inc
3. 2 sc + inc
4-8. 1 sc per stitch
finish off.
stuff with polyfill before attaching.

Eyeball (make 2)

use white yarn. Stuff with polyfill before closing.
1. 3 sc in magic ring
2. 2 sc in each
3. 1 sc in each
4... dec until the hole is closed
use black yarn.
make a french knot for the pupil.

Assembly:

Sew legs to the body, the dc’s of the leg is the outside side of the leg.
Sew the neck to the body.  The dc’s of the neck will attach to the top of the body.
Begin attaching small side of head to the body.  Half way through, stuff the neck with polyfill.
Sew bottom together when attaching ears to head
Sew to attach horn to head.
Sew to attach eyes to head.
Embroider a line between the white and grey yarn of the head using the pink yarn.
Attach pink yarn for the tail and for the mane of the unicorn.
Use pink felt for inside of ears and for tongue. For the tongue, I cut out a pill shape (like the tongue shape folded over), sewed it in on the fold line, add some glue and fold.

More pictures:

Enjoy ! :)  I'd love to see the creations if you guys follow this pattern. Feel free to post it on the flickr site.

Please do not reprint this pattern on your site or any other page.  Feel free to link to this page. :)

Zoo Amigurumi Book Giveaway

Woohoo, I just got this giveaway book in the mail today.

The second giveaway of July is this Zoo Amigurmi Book called, "A Zoo For You: 11 Animals to Crochet" by Cindy Harris.  This fits quite nicely to what has captured my interest this year.  I've really gotten into making amigurumis recently, and want to share that interest with you by setting up this giveaway.

This book has 11 animals of easy difficulty.  It doesn't really have many pages and images of instructions, but what it has is pretty concise.  To be truthful, I haven't yet tried making one of these animals.  Maybe I'll make it a crochet-a-long one of these days.  From what I've seen tho, the instructions are easy to read and follow.  So far my favorites and the ones that I will probably try first are the giraffe, lion, and elephant followed by the tiger and hippo ( okay, I know I just named off about half the animals in the book... but, they're so cute).  Don't forget that these would make great Christmas presents... and it's about time to start thinking about that sorta stuff.

Okay, so same rules apply as before.

To enter, make a comment on this page.
The contest will run from now til August 15th 11:59pm.  
Also, if you've entered in the last giveaway (tea bag wallet + giftcard giveaway) as well as this giveaway, that gives you one chance to win the tea bag wallet + giftcard and two chances to win this book.

Okay, so good luck.  I hope to include the unicorn amigurumi soon.

:)

Plarn Tote - Repurposing your plastic bags into a bag

In celebration of Earth Day, I thought I'd do some kind of upcycle craft using the hundreds of plastic bags I have around the house, and since I've lately been in a crocheting kinda mood, we have a plarn tote.  Mostly, when I mention plarn to people, they say "What?" It's basically yarn made out of plastic bags.  So Plarn = Plastic + yarn.

To make plarn, all you do is fold the plastic bag so the fold follows the vertical line, and cut to make loop like strips of plastic (about an inch wide).  Then you join those strips by using what I think is called a reef knot.  Here's a youtube video of the process:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdTm2V4ssvY



And some pictures of making plarn.  I started out with using scissors, but found soon after that using a rotary cutter makes things go just a tad faster.  Also, don't pull so fast or tight, because the plarn will break.  when this happens, I either just discard that loop or I tie it back together (IMO, tying it back together makes the crochet project look less clean).

You run thru a lot of bags, so it's your choice whether you want to make all the plarn at once, or make them a few bags at a time.  I opt for a few bags at a time, to rest my hand from crocheting so much in one sitting.

 In this tote project I ended up using 39 bags. I kept track of the bags by keeping the bottom strips of the bags and tying every 10 together.

When you have the plarn, you can begin using it like any other yarn.  I felt I needed to use a larger crochet hook, so I used one that's size 11.5, I've seen others use a smaller hook with equal success.

Here's the general pattern, all done with single crochets.

1.  chain the length of the bottom of the bag.
2.  turn and sc on the rest of the row's chains
3.  continue turning and single crochet til you've reached the desired bag bottom.
4.  When the desired rectangle has been met, crochet around the rectangle by doing sc around, and 2 sc for each corner.
5.  Continue to sc around and around the rectangle til you reach the 4 rows less than the desired bag depth.
6.  On the next row, you'll want to create spaces for the handles.  First mark the areas where you want the handles by putting yarn, or a stitch marker in place. *Sc til the marker is met.  From the marker, chain the amount of stitches on the previous row + 5 and sc to join on the next stitch marker.* Repeat til the row is complete.
7.  On the next (last) 3 rows, sc all the way around.  Finish Off.

HAPPY EARTH DAY!!!

Amigurumi Totoro

Not only is this month National Craft Month, it is also National Crochet Month.  Yay to crafty crochets!

For my third amigurumi project, I wanted to make a Totoro.  Totoro is a character in an anime film called My Neighbor Totoro.  He's a magical spirit keeper of the forest. :)  And he's cute!

I found the pattern for this amigurumi here by Heaven's Hellcat.  The pattern was well done and easy to follow.  Thanks Heaven's Hellcat!

Here's my finished Totoro.

If you want to check out the movie, here's a link to it in amazon.

Minion Amigurumi

One of my new favorite movies is Despicable Me.  If you haven't seen it yet, totally check it out.  It's hilarious.  It's an animated film of an evil villian's (Gru - who isn't so evil afterall) plot to steal the moon.  Gru has a bunch of minions that help him out, and they're just so cute and funny.  Anyway, one of my goals this year was to try to make an amigurumi.  The task was a bit daunting to me because of all the stitches, but I found this awesome pattern for a Despicable Me minion and absolutely had to try it.

I didn't take many pictures on the process of making this so all you get is the finished product, but here are my minions.

Mark

Phil

And the two of them together.

Again, the pattern for the minion is here: http://wolfdreamer-oth.blogspot.com/2010/07/despicable-minion.html .  The pattern is a good starting point for making various minions for your very own army. Enjoy!

Crocheted Potholder

A friend of mine showed me her potholders like this, a few years ago.  I've been intent on trying to make them ever since.  I finally found out how to make them with enough searching. Bev, over at Bev's Country Cottage shows how to make these simple yet effective potholders.  

It's actually quite simple to make as it only requires single crochet throughout the project.  The type of yarn to use is debatable.  Some say that wool or cotton is the only way to go, while others say that acrylic is perfectly fine.  From the online debates I'm hearing, I'm going to make the conclusion that wool or cotton is the safest bet, especially if you're going to give these as gifts.  However, acrylic will work perfectly fine if you intend to use for temperatures that aren't too high (less than 400 deg, for instance).  Anything higher than that, will melt the acrylic and potentially cause burns.  To be on the safe side, use cotton or wool.  By the way, this is a perfect way to use up remnants of cotton yarn. 

Okay, so here's how I did it.

ch 35

Start next row by single crochets on the bottom side of the ch  by turning the piece clockwise and continuing to sc til the first ch.

Turn the piece clockwise again and crochet another row of single crochets onto the other side of the first row.  

Continue to do single crochets around and around (do not increase stitches). 

As your potholder grows, you'll notice that the first row of 35 chains is actually a diagonal of the backside of the potholder.  The potholder will grow and basically turn onto itself until the two sides of the potholder will meet together to form the front side diagonal of the potholder, and can be crocheted closed together with another row of single crochets.  I just hold the two edges together and and single crochet thru both edges (together) to close and finish the potholder.

These thick potholders work great, are quite convenient, and can be thrown in the wash when it gets too icky. :) Plus their quick and easy to crochet.  Once you're done, you can hide any excess string inside the potholder.  

 

Elmer's Crocheted Wrap

I was trying out a new crochet stitch last week that looks like raised rows. I finished a rectangle of 15" x 5" then joined it together to form this wrap that now fits my garden gnome, Elmer.   Doesn't he look warm? :)  This wrap can be easily adjusted to fit other dolls, or even for an adult person.

Okay, so here's what I did.

Ch 48 (or whatever size you want to make)

Turn  and hdc to the back loop only in 2nd ch from hook to the end of row.

Ch 2 and hdc to the back loop only til end of row.  Repeat til rectangle reaches 5" (or however size you want).

Lastly, join the short edge of one side to the end of the long edge of the other side using a sc.  See the diagram below.  The red lines are edges I mention.  

So that's it. This wrap is easily adjustable.  I'm thinking of making one for me for camping because it looks so warm on Elmer.  To catch Elmer's adventures, visit http://gnomematter.wordpress.com.

Crocheted: Happy Baby Blanket

So, I like to collect those little project pages that stores like Joann's and Michael's usually have near the yarn aisles.  Most times you can find them and more online by just visiting the project sites for the stores.  Anyway, this is one I picked up a while ago.  Finally had the opportunity to try it out when I found out my friend was preggers.  Anyway, I went to work on it, and with much frustration (all due to me), I managed to finish it.  

The blanket itself, is very easy to crochet, mainly using double crochets throughout the project.  The frustration in my part was due to the fact that the yarn I had wasn't enough to make it to the end -- and I couldn't find the yarn at the store anymore. Grrr...   I also made the mistake of using both ends of the yarn skein to work with a two yarns for the blanket -- this is actually what made me run out of yarn.  To resolve this, I ended up unraveling the entire blanket (or at least half of it which was where I realized I was going to run out) and start over and mix the colored yarn with white.

The outcome turned out to be better than I expected.  The white gave the color just a lighter hue, perfect for a new baby girl to enjoy.  Here's the pattern for it. Yup, I found the project sheet online. 

So... lessons learned.

1.  Buy the amount of yarn that you're going to need all at the same time.

2.  Don't use a skein from both ends unless your project is surely gonna fit the skein.

By the way, if you're new to crocheting or wanna give it a try check out this book.  It's how I learned. :)

Happy Crocheting!

Crochet Edged Fleece Blanket

This is a simple way to add a personal touch to a fleece blanket.  I found this video that does a really good job of explaining how to make the foundation trim around the fleece blanket. 





Here's what I did...

Materials:

Fleece - I cut the fleece into a square of 30 x 36
Yarn of a corresponding color

How to:

1. First you need to measure and cut the holes into the fleece, for the crochet hook. I used a small pair of scissors and just made a small snip.  3/8" apart about 1/2" in from the edge.  If you want to do these little cuts easier, Project Linus sells a rotary blade that does the trick.  I just recently bought one for future blankets.:)

As a note, Project Linus is a charity that gives handmade blankets to children that are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need. They are accepting new handmade blankets to give away.  A blanket like this would be a wonderful donation for such a needy cause.  In fact, the video above, was from Project Linus.

2.  Next, I crocheted in the foundation row, exactly as they showed in the video. (Except for the corner, I sc, ch and sc on the same hole the previous sc used).

3.  So, for the next two rows, crochet ch3, and slip stitch on 3rd from first ch or last slip stitch.  I used this pattern all the way around the blanket for two rows on the second row, I did the slip stitch in the ch 3 space.

4.  Last row, I made a fan design by doing 4 dc in the previous row's ch 3 space, then a slip stitch on the previous row's slip stitch.

That's it.  A simple border to make a fleece blanket a little more personal.  Don't forget to check out Project Linus.

Crocheted Tulle Dish Scrubbers

These dish scrubbers are quick and easy to make and are effective as a scrubber, and holds a lot of suddy soap. :-)

So, here's what you need:


- A roll of 6 inch tulle
- Crochet hook (I think I used an M size hook)
- Piece of string

And here's the pattern.

Ch 4 and join with a sl st.
ch 2, then 11 dc in circle.
join to ch 2 with sl st.
ch 2 then 1 dc for each dc in the inner circle.
join to ch 2 with sl st.
Finish off.

For the last step, take your piece of string (I put a small piece of tape on one end), and thread the string in and out of the outside set of dc's.
Cinch the string til the top (outside set of dc's) are gathered together.  Then tie the string together using a double knot (or maybe a triple).  Make sure it's tied securely.

That's it.  It's ready for dish washing.

I think this pattern can be changed as a body scrubber too, tho I haven't actually tried it.  All you need to do is use an elastic string to cinch the top.  Then you should be able to fit a bar of soap right inside.  :-) 

Charity Baby Blanket - Granny Hexagon

Here is the second charity baby blanket I made for Project Night Night.  I call it a Granny Hexagon for the basic reason that I use a regular Granny Square pattern, but added a couple of side to make it a hexagon.

Here's the crochet pattern.

Ch 4. Join with slip st to form a ring.
Rnd 1: Ch. 3 (acts as first dc), 2 dc in ring, ch 2 (3 dc in ring, ch2) 5 times; join with slip st to first dc.
Rnd 2 and so on: Slip st in next 2 dc and in next ch-2 sp.  Ch 3 (2 dc, ch2, 3 dc) in same sp. (Ch 1, 3 dc) as many times as needed til you reach the next corner (on the round 2, this will only be 1 time). For all corners (except the starting corner), do (3 dc, 2 ch, 3dc ) in the same sp.  Continue round after round til you achieve the size of blanket you want.

That's it.  I hope this is right, as it is the first time I wrote down a pattern. Most of it was rewritten from a granny square pattern that I had.

I plan on sending these out in a the near future with the other blanket that I crocheted.
This bubble blanket also would have worked well for this charity.

Easy Crocheted Charity Blanket

Late last year, I heard of a charity, called Project Night Night, thru a twitter post from a fellow crafter.  This charity put together totes of security blankets, books, and stuffed animals to be given to kids that had the misfortune of living in shelters or orphanages.  I loved the idea of giving kids a little something to hang on to.  So, I decided to make a blanket to donate it to such a worthy cause.  This blanket is a very simple design of double crochets. 10 rows of dc for each colored section.  I think it could have used another colored section, but I ran out of yarn. :(  I finished it up with a simgle crochet all the way around. I didn't get to make a tutorial on this, but I thought I'd share the blanket anyway as well as spread the word about the charity. 

If you want to help out, but do not crochet, you can sponsor a package, or even donate giftcards that have only a few bucks left. 

Crocheted Bubble Baby Blanket

Last weekend was my cousin's baby shower. She's due in Feb and will be having a boy. As a baby shower gift, I decided to surprise her with a hand crocheted baby blanket for the newcomer. I found this pattern from a slew of patterns on a website aptly named crochet patterns central. Tons and tons of crochet patterns there. You should definitely check it out if you like to crochet. Due to a copyright issue, I can't republish the pattern here so you'll just have to click on the link to get to it (don't worry, it's free).

What I like about this pattern is the simplicity, the quickness, and the beautiful design at the end of it all. Below's a picture of the one I crocheted for my cousin. It didn't take me 3 hours like the pattern said... probably double that time, but I'm a slow crocheter. In the one for my cousin, I followed the pattern almost to the tee, with the same type of yarn, the same size hook, and holding two yarns at the same time. It did save me a lot of time doing it this way because each row was almost an inch in height, it seemed. I have also done a few others in the past holding only one yarn and using thinner baby yarn. The outcome came out nice in both ways, but the single thinner yarn took much much longer to make (one of these are pictured on the very top of this post).



The overall size for this one was about 27" by 30". :-) The proud parents-to-be seem to like it. If you have the time to do it, I think it's a really nice gift to give for a baby shower.

Update: 1/21/09 - My cousin had her baby last night. She and the baby is doing great. :-)