Thursday, 10 August 2017

Blake the Orangutan from Edward's Menagerie


Having seen mentions of the book Edward's Menagerie by Kerry Lord (Toft Alpaca) in quite a few places I was lucky enough to find a copy in my local library.

The library is a great place to find craft books and it gives you the opportunity to try before you buy.

When I had first finished him I didn't add any features but later thought he looked a little sad, as you can see adding just nostrils and mouth made a real difference.



If you don't want to borrow it you can buy it online at Amazon in both Kindle and paperback format: http://amzn.to/2vmMU6N

There are over 40 animals to make and I chose to have a go at Blake the Orangutan

The patterns all use a basic body and leg design with extra rows added or taken away depending on which animal you choose to do. I did find this a bit of a chore having to keep turning from one page, with the basic body parts on, then back to the pattern page for the specific instructions for the animal. I can see why they have done it that way though as it saves printing costs of having to write out each animal individually.

The pattern for Blake was easy to follow, what they call the 'fur' stitch I call the loop stitch - we all have different names for our stitches! If you would like to learn how to do the stitch I have a tutorial here, it is really easy once you know how: https://youtu.be/L-8g1HRjt1s
  
It was tricky remembering all the different parts to each round so I found it easier to write them down and tick them off as I went along. For instance you have to work a loop on every third or fourth stitch but at the same time increase or decrease in the round every few stitches so it is easy to forget where you are if you get distracted and miscount. 

Here is an example of my row count - we all have different ways of working and this works for me, you might find it useful:

In the top example V = increase in that stitch
0 = make a loop stitch - you therefore sometimes work a loop stitch on the second of the increased stitches.

In the bottom example:

The rectangle around two stitches [] = work those two together.
0 = make a loop stitch - you therefore sometimes work a loop stitch at the same time as working two stitches together.



I used Boyes double knit, it is a good quality yet cheap yarn. I used less than 100g for the main body and just oddments for the rest.

Here is my version of Blake - I've called him Pongo because that is the Latin name for Orangutan! :) Again these are before and after features were added, I'm sure you will agree he looks a lot nicer with a smile :)



Would I make it again? - Yes probably but I might add more loops, it seems a bit sparse, especially on the legs/arms. Plus I think I would make the arms and legs longer.



Happy crocheting!



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