crochet

Owl Door Stop – Riverhouse Hookers 5 Week Crochet Project for Second Term 2014

May 13, 2014 // by mezza// 4 Comments

We are now into the 3rd week of our latest project – the Amigurumi Owl Door Stop.
This is a project I have specially designed for my students to build on the skills they acquired in their first 10 week course. From being complete beginners they are now able to tackle a relatively complex project such as this! I am really proud of them!

Do you have basic crochet skills? Would you like to join the Riverhouse Hookers and take part in guided courses and projects such as this? Get in touch! mezza_may@yahoo.co.uk
Alternatively, for complete beginners we’re hoping to run a second crochet class on a weekday evening at the Riverhouse Barn Arts Centre in Walton, Surrey, United Kingdom starting in September. Please contact me as above.

Don’t live nearby and would like to make this owl? This pattern is now available for purchase, in both British & US crochet terminology. I will be donating a portion of the sales to the Riverhouse Barn Arts Centre.

British & American Crochet Terms

May 13, 2014 // by mezza// Leave a Comment

The majority of patterns you will find in books, on-line and even some British magazines use US or International crochet terminology. It’s for this reason that despite being a British crochet teacher, I teach my classes using American crochet terms.
Here is a handy chart showing the different terminology used for British and American crochet stitches, as well as the symbols.

Little Donkey – Crocheted Toy

February 27, 2014 // by mezza// Leave a Comment

Pattern Details
Horse and Unicorn Crochet Pattern
“The finished horse or unicorn has legs that can move so that it can sit or stand. It is about 10″ tall (depending on how thick your yarn is).”
Designed by Melissa Bastow
Available from her Etsy store, missybdesigns.

Materials Used
I used Vanna’s Choice worsted weight yarn (white, bluebell, sapphire) and my favourtie 4.5mm Clover Amour hook (a smaller hook than the specified size to obtain a tighter gauge). This resulted in a slightly smaller toy (8.5″), so he became a donkey rather than a horse 🙂
For the stuffing, I used organic kapok.
The eyes and leg joints are spare buttons from my button box.

Pattern Review
Although the pattern is not difficult, it is not written in the format I am used to for amigurumi – the pattern is not written round by round, stating the stitch count you should have at the end of each round but rather in sections which means it can be easy to lose where you are if you are not experienced and/or if you are not concentrating. For many sections of the pattern there is no stitch count given at all so you can’t check easily for mistakes.
Other than that, it is a good pattern, with lots of images, presented in a clear format.

Difficulty
As mentioned above, it is not a difficult pattern, however, you do need to concentrate as the pattern in not worked per row/round which means that unless you place a stitch marker after section, it can be quite easy to lose track of where you are.
The parts I found trickiest were the sewing of the head onto the body and attaching the legs. The legs are particularly fiddly as you are instructed to sew on the left and right legs, along with the corresponding buttons, simultaneously.The buttons I had available had holes that were too small for my darning/wool needle so I used a normal, sharp sewing needle and white Gütermann cotton thread.
It’s also quite tricky to bunch and tie the threads for the mane and tale tightly enough so that they don’t pull through easily.

Result
Overall, I am really pleased with the finished toy – he’s a cute little chap that can stand or sit and definately seems to have a personality. I am a little bit concerned as to how robust the mane and tail are – there is a potential for them to be pulled out so I would probably not allow a baby or young toddler to play with this unsupervised.

Future Modifications
If I were to make this again I think I would make the body slightly bigger and try to find an easier way to attach the legs – perhaps I’d tack the buttons into place on the legs first so that the whole process is less fiddly.