Knitted Owl

I made this owl for my older son, who graduates from elementary school next year (class of '07). The pattern is from a Jean Greenhowe booklet called Knitted Animals.




P.S. The college strike is over.

Small Neko (crocheted cat)

Once you know how to make a sphere, you can design your own amigurumi (Japanese-style crocheted animals). Here is my design, a small neko, or cat.

Please excuse the club foot - I was experimenting. A picture with the fixed leg can be found here (scroll down).

Materials
worsted weight yarn in MC and CC1, plus tiny bit in CC2 for embroidery
3.75 mm crochet hook
tapestry needle
stuffing

Head & Body
Rnd 1: With MC, ch 4 and sl st to join
Rnd 2: 6 sc in centre of ring (6 sts)
Rnd 3: sc twice in each st (12 sts)
Rnd 3: * sc twice in next st, sc next st, rep from * (18 sts)
Rnd 4: * sc twice in next st, sc next 2 sts, rep from * (24 sts)
Rnd 5: * sc twice in next st, sc next 3 sts, rep from * (30 sts)
Rnds 6-10: work even (30 sts)
Rnd 7: * dec in next st, sc next 3 sts, rep from * (24 sts)
Rnd 8: * dec in next st, sc next 2 sts, rep from * (18 sts)
Rnds 9-10: work even (18 sts)
Stuff head.
Rnd 11: * sc twice in next st, sc next 2 sts, rep from * (24 sts)
Rnd 12-20: work even (24 sts)
Rnd 21: * dec in next st, sc next 2 sts, rep from * (18 sts)
Stuff body. Optional: you may run a piece of yarn through the neckline to tighten the neck.
Rnd 22: * dec in next st, sc next st, rep from * (12 sts)
Rnd 23: * dec in next st, rep from * (6 sts)
Fasten off. Hide the ends inside the body.

Ears
Choose three rows on the side or top of the head which should span one ear.
With MC, pass the hook under the first row, and make a sl st. Sc 1.
Pass the hook under the second row, and (sc, hdc, 3 dc, hdc, sc) in the same "stitch".
Pass the hook under the third row, and make a sl st. Fasten off. Hide the ends inside the head.
Repeat on the other side of the head for the second ear.

Muzzle
Rnd 1: With CC1, ch 4 and sl st to join
Rnd 2: 6 sc in centre of ring (6 sts)
Rnd 3: sc twice in each st (12 sts)
Fasten off.
Sew the muzzle to the head. With CC2, embroider the nose and eyes. Hide all ends inside the head.

Tail
With MC, ch 16 sts. Turn and sc to end. Fasten off and sew tail to the body. Hide all ends inside the body.

Arms & Legs
With MC, ch 4 and sl st to join.
Work even until limb is desired length. Fasten off and sew to the body, hiding all ends inside the body.
Repeat for other limbs.

Amigurumi Cat

We interrupt this hiatus for a quick post...

I'll eventually return to knitting, but I'm currently obsessed with crochet. It's super fast and easy, especially for making toys.


I found this big cat pattern on the Crafting Japanese web site (scroll down to "ISBN4391130122"). The original Japanese pattern is here.

It looked naked, so I knitted a kimono.



You can see how big it really is, sitting on the shelf.


I also made this big flower brooch with the leftover yarn.


A while ago, you may recall that I wanted to knit a kokeshi. I haven't tried it yet, but it sure was easy to do in crochet.

It's standing on its own. There's a small, plastic pill-bottle cap in the bottom, to give it stability.


I crocheted 2 pairs of these high-top slippers for my boys. The pattern is from a Red Heart yarn booklet, which is widely available at Zellers, Walmart, and other places where they sell cheap Red Heart acrylic. Funny - when I was only a knitter, I used to wonder who would buy all that synthetic yarn, and now I know. One consumes so much yarn crocheting, and at an alarming rate too.

Just look at those happy feet! It's hard to tell, but the pair on the left is forest green, and the pair on the right is navy blue.


Hmmm. No wonder my kids love these so much. They are fun to wear.

I used real laces for mine because too lazy to crochet them. They were free from a library trade show - a promotional item for Louis Sachar's book, Small Steps.

I love the soles best - such clever shaping in the pattern!


Here is a small cat of my own design, sitting on the big cat's lap. I'll post the pattern in a separate entry, and then it's hiatus-time again.

Hiatus

I'm taking a hiatus from blogging during the college strike. I need the time to picket, and to contribute to the newsletter of the union local (formerly Unfettered, now Unemployed). New posts to resume when the labour dispute is settled.

Tea Time with Kittens

I made some tea time treats to go along with the three kittens I knitted for my nephew and niece (pattern here). The pattern for the Bakewell tart is my own, below.

My Own Pattern V: Bakewell Tart (crochet)

I taught myself single crochet in the round from various web sites, and made up this pattern. Unfortunately, I've never used a crochet pattern before, so I don't know the proper notation. As a result, these instructions are a bit wordy, but they should be easy to follow.

Materials
3.75mm crochet hook
worsted weight yarn in a crust colour, and an icing colour
cherry-coloured button and matching yarn for sewing the button
split stitch-marker
stuffing
plastic lid or cut-off bottom of a plastic water bottle

Tart Crust
With crust colour, make a chain of 4 sts. Join by passing the hook through the first stitch, and making a slip stitch.
Pass the hook through the centre of the ring, and make a single crochet stitch. Make 5 more sts this way. Place a split stitch-marker on the last st to mark the end of the round.
Rnd 1: Increase all sts by making 2 single crochets in each stitch.
Rnd 2: * Increase 1 st, single crochet the next. Rep from * all the way around.
Rnd 3: * Increase 1 st, single crochet the next 2 sts. Rep from * all the way around.
Rnd 4: * Increase 1 st, single crochet the next 3 sts. Rep from * all the way around.
Rnd 5: * Increase 1 st, single crochet the next 4 sts. Rep from * all the way around.
Rnd 6-9: Single crochet all sts.
Rnd 10: * Make 4 single crochets in 1 st. Skip the next st, and make a slip st in the next stitch. Rep from * all the way around. When you get back to first st of the rnd, make a slip stitch, cut the yarn and pull it through.

Icing
With icing colour, follow instructions for tart crust up to rnd 6. When you get back to first st of the rnd, make a slip stitch, cut the yarn leaving a long tail, and pull the yarn through.

Finishing
With the matching-coloured yarn, sew the button to the centre of the icing. Place the plastic lid, or cut-off bottom of a plastic water bottle, inside the crust. Sew the icing to the crust using the long tail of yarn from the icing piece. Stuff the tart as you sew. Knot the yarn, and hide the knot and the tail inside the tart.

Crochet!

College faculty, counsellors, and librarians may go on strike next week, which means picketing in brutally cold weather. I took stock of the knitted things I've made that I actually wear, and although there is enough of it to keep me warm, it isn't a pretty picture.

The woollens are lying atop my old but favourite coat, a Lands' End "squall parka", which I bought when I was at Johns Hopkins. It says something that my fondest memory of grad school there is that I could buy American goods without paying duty, but I digress. At the top, from left to right: my mismatched, first-attempt-at-fair-isle mittens, and candy-striped hat. At the bottom, left to right: simple ribbed armwarmers, Flower Basket Shawl, and an orangey orange cashmere neck tube. Note how the colours clash. Nothing matches. I'm thinking maybe I can knit a matching set when I'm on the picket line - I mean, I might as well make the best of a bad situation, and I made the fingerless arm warmers so that I could knit in the cold.

Canadian craft retailer Lewiscraft seems to be going under. All their stores are selling everything including the fixtures. By now, most of the good wool yarn is gone, but I got some nice cottons and fake mohair, plus some notions (crochet needle and split stitch markers - explained below). I don't stash yarn, and I have no idea what I'll make with this stuff, but the prices were too good to pass up.


Plus, I may needs lots and lots of yarn soon, as I've taught myself to crochet from instructions on various web sites.

I hope one day to be able to crochet stuff like the cute scarves by crafter Twinkie Chan, whom I read about in Giant Robot magazine.

I can see why my mom crochets so much. It's super easy to learn, much less complex than knitting I think (or it could just be that I learned knitting first). It's really, really fast, much faster than knitting. No wonder people who can knit and crochet prefer to do afghans in crochet. However, it uses up an astounding amount of yarn - 3 times more than knitting to cover the same area, I've heard - but still I was surprised at how fast the yarn disappeared. The fabric seems stiffer and heavier, but mind you, this is only single crochet. Now I know why garments tend to be knitted, and items that are desirable in sturdier fabric (e.g. household goods like wash cloths, pot holders, etc.) tend to be crocheted.

Anyway, I wanted to learn some basic crocheting to make toys. It's much easier to make things in the round that decrease quickly (i.e. spheres) in crochet, because you don't have to struggle with tight fabric squishing your needles together as in knitting. I made this cupcake in half the time it would've taken me to knit one, and I'm still a slow beginner!

However, for the same amount of yarn or more, the cupcake is much smaller than its knitted counterpart, and heavier too.

Having Fun with Your Toy Sister

Remember the felt cake and tea set I made for my niece?





Sigh.