Yarn the Sheep free pattern from Yarnspirations. Pattern review

Pookie_Doodle


The pattern is free which is brilliant. It makes a lovely cuddly baby cocoon which fastens up the front and has a textured stitch which looks like the wool of a sheep.

Two ears on the hood and a pair of feet finish off the lovely little Lamb baby nest.

I did have a few problems with the pattern. I'm sure I have read it correctly but it just would not come right.

First there was a mistake for the buttonhole edging on the front it says to use MC (main colour, which is white) but it should be the grey contrast (A) 

Then when making up the pattern says "sew buttons to back and raglan button edgings" but there are no instructions to add a button edging to the back, the only instructions are for the 30 stitches down the front raglan on the sleeve and the button hole bands on the front.

This is how it looked once complete, nowhere to sew the buttons except on the actual back piece:

So I added my own button band to the back in grey by crocheting the 30 stitches down the front raglan as per the pattern but I didn't turn,  I continued down the back edge (around 35 stitches) then turned and worked the 5 rows.

This was a bit of a nightmare because I had already sewn it all together so had to undo the sleeves and in doing so accidentally cut one of the stitches so had to make the whole sleeve again:(

Never mind, it all came good in the end and I am really pleased with it. This is the back band looked, much nicer to sew the buttons on there:

Perfect gift for any new baby and a fun item too, baby is bound to turn a few heads. 

The bobbly fleece looks is super:

The pattern can be found free on Ravelry: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/yawn-the-sheep

Happy crocheting!

Find me on:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/PookieDoodleCrafts
Twitter: www.twitter.com/Pookie_Doodle
Ravelry: www.ravelry.com/people/pookiedoodle

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Winter Bunny Amigurumi with Carrot Sledge

When I first saw this pattern I fell in love with it, how cute is this little bunny pulling his/her little carrot sledge. 

The pattern is free (link below) from Amigurumitogo. Sharon creates beautiful amigurumi and her patterns are always free, no matter how complicated. How kind is that?

I did make a few slight changes to the pattern:

1: I didn't have enough yarn to make two sides to the sledge and sandwich plastic between to strengthen it.

So instead I used some fine wire and crocheted it to the edge to attach it to the carrot shaped piece, you can just see the wire on the wrong side, between the stitches. I was then able to pull and shape it to get the carrot look just right.

2. In the pattern Sharon says that the bunny will not stand up alone, she used pins to make it stand up for photos. I wanted to be able to make it stand as a Christmas decoration without pins as young grandchildren would probably be picking it up, so after a bit of pondering I decided to make the tail quite large and position it so that it acted like a third leg and supported the back, allowing it to stand.

I made it in two evenings, the pattern is very easy to follow with lots of photo help and instructions.

I used Drops Safran 100% cotton yarn and a 3.00 mm crochet hook. The finished size is approx. 6" long on the sledge (including the curve) and the bunny is 6" tall from foot to tip of ear.

Find the pattern here: https://www.amigurumitogo.com/2015/12/winter-bunny-free-amigurumi-pattern.html or on Ravelry: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/winter-bunny

There is also a separate pattern for the hat and scarf which is linked from the bunny pattern.


Happy crocheting!

Find me on:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/PookieDoodleCrafts
Twitter: www.twitter.com/Pookie_Doodle
Ravelry: www.ravelry.com/people/pookiedoodle

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Summer Sun Hat in tape yarn

This was a new experience for me - using tape yarn.
I used Stylecraft Mystique Quick and Light in colour "Azul" (2565). It took exactly 2 x 50g balls to make the sun hat.

I used a 4mm crochet hook.


Yarn is currently available on eBay: http://bit.ly/2GVXvIw

Designed by Ashleigh Kiser the pattern is free if you use Ashleigh's blog post or you can buy a paid for pdf pattern, links available on Ravelry: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/june-sun-hat

It was really easy and I made it in a few hours. The tape yarn is good to work with although I would advise against pulling to too tightly - like at the start when tightening the magic ring - it does snap more easily that some yarns.

I loved the idea of strengthening the brim with slip stitches! It really worked. I've made hats before but they always flop down in my eyes, this is flexible enough to fold into your bag but firm enough to have a good stand out brim. I added a little slip stitched contrast in white around the crown.

Big thank you to Ashleigh for sharing her pattern for free and for creating such a lovely sun hat that really works!

Happy crocheting!

Find me on:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/PookieDoodleCrafts
Twitter: www.twitter.com/Pookie_Doodle
Ravelry: www.ravelry.com/people/pookiedoodle

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Crochet Star Wars Ewok

My youngest two grandchildren just love Star Wars and recently they were showing me a book about the films. I commented "oh that looks like a little teddy bear" to which they delighted in telling me they were Ewoks.

They looked so cute that I knew there would be a pattern out there somewhere so off I went to my favourite place, Ravelry and of course I found one! It is by Lucy Collin http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/wicket-the-ewok

The pattern is very easy to follow although somehow I did manage to end up with 4 toes on the first one, but never mind, it will help the boys know who's is who's!

The hood did not come down as far as I wanted, it ended just at the bottom of the head,  so I just added more rows to make it longer:

 I used some King Cole Luxe Fur yarn that I had left over from something else, this was used for the face and ears however it is a nightmare to crochet with, you just can't see the stitches. I persevered on the faces but for the ears I made them in plain brown and then sewed the fur yarn over the front, it worked fine.

I used safety eyes and embroidered on the nose and mouth. 

This is the four toed one! 

I just know that my grandchildren are going to love these and can't wait to hand them over.

Really big thank you to Lucy for making this pattern and sharing it for FREE!

Happy crocheting!

Find me on:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/PookieDoodleCrafts
Twitter: www.twitter.com/Pookie_Doodle
Ravelry: www.ravelry.com/people/pookiedoodle

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Using Ravelry

I love Ravelry! - www.ravelry.com

Do you use it too?

There is so much available on this website that it is all too numerous to mention, so I will just give you my top five favourites and urge you to go and have a look around yourself.

1. Pattern search

You can search for patterns with lots of filters:
by just a simple one word search e.g. "cat" "amigurumi" "sweater" "coaster"
type of pattern - such as clothing or toys
by name of pattern
designer name
type of craft
yarn weight
hook or needle size
it's rating by others who have made it
search for free patterns only or paid ones too
search by yardage for pattern, if you know the yardage of your stash this helps you use it up.

There are many more options than those above, you are bound to find something to suit what you are looking for. You can also save your favourite search terms.

2. Favourite pattern

When you find a pattern you like you can add it to your favourites to find later.

3. Projects

Here you can save the projects you are currently working on, those you have finished or those you have given up on.
You can save details about it, add photos and notes, what yarn you used, what needle size, where you bought the yarn, link to pattern etc.
You can rate your experiences of the pattern and yarn too.

You can make your projects available to the public or just Ravelry members.

If you blog about your projects you can easilyadd a link to your blog post.

4. Contributions 

Here you can add your own patterns to share with others.

5. Library

Here you can save patterns that you have bought or downloaded for free so you can find them in the future. You can arrange them how you like - I like the 'bookshelf' option, it is easy to navigate and see what you have.

There is also an attached forum where you can discuss patterns and other topics. I haven't used this for chat myself but I did use it when having a problem with a pattern. A search bought up a discussion on the very problem I was having and I was able to get on with the pattern using the tips discussed.

There are tips, help, designers, links to events, messaging service to ask questions of those sharing their patterns. Yarns, books, hooks and other things to buy.

As you can see I love Ravelry and it is my first port of call if I want a pattern.

Here's a good example - last week my grandsons were talking about Star Wars and Ewoks. I said they looked like little teddy bears! I immediately thought "I bet someone has a pattern somewhere to make one" and lo and behold I found one almost straight away! I am currently making one each for my youngest two Star War fans. :)

Another feature I just remembered which I love, is the bookmarklet. Add a Ravelry bookmark to your browser and if you see a pattern on the internet that you like, simply click on it and if the pattern is in the Ravelry database you will be taken straight to it so you can add it to your projects or favourites. Details of how to add a bookmarklet are here: http://www.ravelry.com/blog/110

I hope you go and have a look and find it as amazing as I do.

Happy crafting!

Find me on:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/PookieDoodleCrafts
Twitter: www.twitter.com/Pookie_Doodle
Ravelry: www.ravelry.com/people/pookiedoodle

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