Sonja

An obvious choice

June 20, 2016 Sonja

The animal I am making next is quite an obvious choice I think, if you remember my house mouse invasion. Yes, they are still around. They now have to share the food in my tiny city garden with a grown group of sparrows, some starlings, blackbirds and a hedgehog. Although, I do think the hedgehog is feasting on the snails feasting on the bird food.

So what is coming up next? Yes, a house mouse! Maybe the choice is not that obvious to some of you, as I already made a mouse once. That was Trin, a forest adventurer mouse. This house mouse will be a classic Popke, one without clothing and accessories.

I really indulged myself making the mouse sketches, could not stop with one but made many. At the moment I am working on the body, the head is almost finished. I never expected a mouse head to be very complicated to design but that was a wrong assumption! Getting those curious and daring features of my mice was not easy. Maybe that is because I got to know them so well.

The following weeks I will work on this pattern and hope to release it soon. I’m also working on updating all my patterns to a new and better standard. The improved patterns have a different font, the difficult colour changes are written colour coded now and I have improved the text. Some of you will receive a lot of emails from Craftsy about the updated patterns, sorry about that.

Have a lovely start of summer!

Patterns

Droebel, crochet dog pattern

May 26, 2016February 24, 2020 Sonja

And now I proudly present to you, Droebel the crochet dog, woof!

When I designed this crochet pattern, creating a dog looking doll was my idea. A funny looking amigurumi character that could be enjoyed by every one who loves dogs and animals. I think I succeeded and am ever so excited, isn’t he cute!

It was when Droebel was finished that I noticed he reminds me a little bit of Gromit, that clever and pleasant companion of Wallace. You know, from those amazing clay animations created by Aardman. I can easily imagine Droebel having all sorts of thrilling adventures. Yes, he is an adventure dog. Just look at him!

Generally, I find the sketch and the doll of a similar cuteness. The dolls never are exactly as the sketches, but they come close. This time however, I find the doll much cuter and better looking than the sketch I made. Droebel looks like the younger version of himself in the sketch. I’m very happy I managed to get that puppy look. Maybe it is because of my new shaping technique for which I used a rather simple and clever trick.

For this crochet dog pattern I have chosen to use soft colours. It makes him look very rustic and even a bit retro, which I like. Droebel is sitting 4.9 inch/ 12.5 cm when made with a worsted weight yarn. I thought of giving him a coloured collar or handkerchief scarf, but decided not to and leave him plain and simple. It is up to you crafters to give him accessories and I’m sure some of you will not hesitate to do so!

Now where can you find this pattern

The crochet pattern for Droebel the dog you can find in my shop at Ravelry, Etsy or order it here. As always, it contains a clear description of how to crochet and assemble the wee dog with example pictures at the bottom to help you get everything right. In the pattern you can also find what materials you need, the yarn colour numbers, in short, everything you need to know to make your own barking friend.

And heads up, the pattern has a one dollar release discount till the end of May.

Chit and Chat

Can you blame me?

May 17, 2016May 17, 2016 Sonja

Can you blame me for getting distracted with this view? It is so utterly delightful watching tiny mice stuffing themselves with bird food. At first, I only noticed them on the ground, very fast and agile, moving trough garden plants and rocks cashing bits of bird food picky sparrows throw away. But recently they discovered the (additives & salt free) bird peanut butter and they love it.

They climb up through the ivy and if you sit outside and look long enough, you see several mice hanging out there waiting to feed from the peanut butter. At first, I only saw ‘large’ adult mice but last week suddenly there were these tiny newcomers, baby mice. I have babies I thought! Some people I tell about my mice say, ‘oh, be careful, they quickly become a plaque’. But I’m not at all worried about that with all the cats around here. I’m very proud the mice actually survived them and were able to successfully have young. I do try keeping the cats out of my garden, we have a happy indoor cat ourselves, but I know they do visit occasionally. I hope the mice have enough places to hide in.

I made a gallery to show a bit of mouse action. I probably won’t win a wildlife photography award with these, but I do consider myself lucky getting even these pics. They are very shy. Sometimes there are three mice in the pot sitting on top of each other, but as soon as they hear a squeak, they flee away. In the pictures you see three adult mice and in the second row the youngsters. If you look closely you can see several mice in some of the pictures.

Despite my tiny friends joyful visits, I did manage to make a sweet dog head. I’m very pleased with it. He looks much better than the drawing, more a puppy version of it and I can’t wait to finish him. Here he is in my ‘cat proof box for unfinished Popke heads’.

Art

And the sketch

April 21, 2016 Sonja

This is close to how I see my doggy. Rustic looking and playfull. My boyfriend said he looked a little like a stray dog. Does he? He might, I know, I like non-purebred mongrel looking dogs. They often just look a little bit more natural and silly than their pure-bred cousins, with a few exceptions of course. But all the same, like Gabriele, I fur sure love dogs with a more natural, wolf-ish look. And oh yes, my sketched dog looks exactly like a wolf now does he?!

I might have a problem though, knowing my first dog pattern was not at all a succes. Rhonda told me in a comment and I quote her ‘according to Lin Wellford, who has written books about painting animals on rocks, people who love cats are happy with any sort of artwork depicting a cat, but dog-lovers usually only want their specific breed.’ So therefor, I probably won’t satisfy the hearts of dog lovers with this dog either. I especially prefer a dog doll which doesn’t look a certain breed, exactly because I thought that would please everyone who love dogs and not just a few who like that breed. More being a cat person, I pretty much like any sort of artwork depicting animals and it never really occurred to me dog lovers could be more specific. But they probably are.

Let’s just hope for the best. Kids will like him for sure. Maybe their parents will be a bit more particular, but who knows, maybe this dog will steal any dog lovers heart, he is a dog after all.

Now let’s make him first….

Art

Spring Popkes

April 14, 2016 Sonja

This week I finally got the change to take a ‘Spring Popkes’ picture. Now I have a picture for every season. It was not an intended thing really, but once I had a summer and autumn picture and started to use them as my Twitter header, soon a winter one was made too. And as I was still using that one, it really seemed appropriate to update that one as soon as possible, as the snowy feel was long gone. But it rained, and was a bit cold still, so there were not so many (suitable low) flowers around yet. And popkes do not like laying outside in the rain or on a wet surface, so I had to wait.

But warmer days did arrive and I looked around for suitable flowers. Very close to where I live, I discovered daisies had made their first appearance in a grassy field and I love daisies! They are such delicate little flowers and perfectly small for Popkes to lay between. In all its silliness, this was the hardest season to capture.

Many of you also must be wondering what animal I am making next. It will be another pet animal, I am going for a dog!

Uncategorized

Bamse, crochet hamster pattern

March 25, 2016February 25, 2020 Sonja

A new Popke has come to life. With pleasure and proud, I present Bamse the crochet hamster pattern.

This whimsical little fellow has become my personal favourite. Maybe it is because I made him in memory of the funny little hamster I once had. Bamse has turned out to be such a characteristic looking doll, he could easily be the main character of a cartoon or children’s book. I often imagine him with a little Sherlock hat or a stick or other accessories. This crochet animal I find the perfect blend between realistic and made-up.

When designing Bamse, I had to make quite a few heads to get that cheeky hamster look. And even after I decided I had the right look, I realised the back of the head still needed to be smaller. I love the shape of the body. Bamse his body looks like a bag of potatoes, just like I wanted it too. You know, chubby little hamsters are not known for their slender build.

The legs I designed a little different than usual, as I wanted this crochet hamster to have little hips. And, the tail is not visible in the pictures, but it is there, a little pink tail.

About the pink, I used a different yarn than Lopi for the hands, feet, tail and nose. Lopi does not have a suitable light pink so I choose a different DK weight yarn. Bamse is about 5 inch / 13 cm tall, just a little bit bigger than a real hamster.

Continue reading below the picture to find out how you can get this hamster amigurumi pattern.

Info about the crochet pattern

The pattern for Bamse the hamster you can find in my shop at Ravelry, Etsy or order it here. It contains a clear description of how to crochet and assemble the little hamster with example pictures at the bottom to help you get everything right. In the pattern you can also find what materials you need, the yarn colour numbers, in short, everything you need to know to make your own squeaky little friend.

And heads up, the pattern has a one dollar release discount till the end of March.

Uncategorized

Knitting and all

March 16, 2016 Sonja

You all might be wondering what is taking the hamster so long. Erm, well, it was knitting. Last week I had almost finished my first ever knitted cardigan. I was so curious how it would look (on me) that it became high priority to finish it as fast as possible. Only the button bands and collar had to be knit and without them the cardigan looked a bit small and unfinished.

The hamster Bamse, what a surprise I am calling him Bamse, which suits him much better because Bamse means little bear in Swedish, had to wait. Right now he is standing opposite me, missing one leg and having all his parts still pinned into his body instead of sewed. He is not a happy hamster yet.

But the cardigan is finished now and I am so proud and delighted with it. It turned out fabulous! Look, I am wearing it, looking very serieus as I’m not good in smiling to myself when making a selfie.

I already bought yarn for a new cardigan, but I promise I won’t let it get in the way of my Popke design activities.

Next week Bamse should be finished. He is a rather cheeky little fellow.

Stories

The tiniest bears…

February 18, 2016 Sonja

Are called hamsters, at least, that is what I think. When I was at the art academie, I had this Syrian hamster who looked like a tiny little bear. Even my mum, who is not so much an animal friend as I am, thought he was the cutest little thing. It was a murky brown hamster with a beige little snout.

He wasn’t very friendly though and started screaming whenever I picked him up. One time he bit my boyfriend in his finger, right before a gig he had with the band he was in and that bite caused him trouble playing his bass guitar. I found it kind of funny.

I just treated my hamster with care and gave him a fantastic big cage with different floors and lots of little pipes he called walk trough and a little thatched cottage. And, not to forget a hamster wheel for exercise. He was a happy hamster.

Now after making an elephant, I thought lets make something completely different. I kind of postponed making a hamster, because Lopi does not have a suitable pink for hamster hands and feet, so I decided to just add another kind of yarn and go for the crochet hamster pattern.

Uncategorized

Ollie, crochet Elephant pattern

February 11, 2016February 25, 2020 Sonja

And yes, his name was announced as Bamse, but I called him Ollie in my head, so Ollie is his name! Here he is, my crochet elephant pattern.

I am so delighted with Ollie his looks. Every time I design an animal, I am a bit insecure if I will manage to get it right. Usually, when the head is finished, I feel more secure because the face already is so dear to me. And Ollie his face was, but because I designed the head a bit tilted, I had no idea how it would look attached to a body. Would this face work? It might have been more easy if I had made the trunk and head separately, but I really wanted it to be one piece. When a prototype body was finished and the head was pinned to it, I could breath easily again. It looked splendid, the head worked!

The arms and legs really had to have four toes I decided. But when I had them finished, they just looked huge. So, I made new ones, three toed this time, but as round as possible.

Now Ollie was almost finished and needed to be sewed together. Yet a smaller body was made and everything was attached. Strangely now, I found the feet a wee bit small comparing to the rest of the elephant. But that was not such a bad thing really, now I could make the feet four toed. It is a strange thing how parts of a doll can look so much different pinned on, than sewed on.

I think Ollie has turned out to be a very sweet looking elephant. When I took his pictures, I was slightly disappointed with the result. He just did not look like himself but a more serious version. By change, I played a bit with his trunk and suddenly noticed that in the pictures where it was bended more upwards, Ollie did look how I wanted him too. It was just the position of the trunk that made him look older and wiser, and I wanted him to look young and curious. Voila, problem solved!

Here are some more pictures of Ollie and below them you can find info about the crochet pattern.

About the pattern

Ollie the crochet elephant is sitting almost 5 inch /13 cm tall. He is made with my favourite Lett Lopi yarn, which makes him look very cute and cuddly. You can find the pattern to make him in my shop at Ravelry, Etsy or order it here. It contains a clear description of how to crochet and assemble the elephant with example pictures at the bottom to help you get everything right. In the pattern you can also find what materials you need, the Lopi colour numbers, in short, everything you need to know to make your own magnificent little elephant.

And heads up, the pattern has a one dollar release discount till the 18th of februari.

Art

What’s coming up next?

February 1, 2016 Sonja

He is! I am designing an elephant youngster in crochet. When I started Son’s Popkes, I made all my favourite animals first. I worried a bit about what would happen when I ran out of them. But the worries were completely unnecessarily.

Even though the animals I am currently designing are not my personal favourites (I do love animals in particular and they can’t all be best-loved), I still ever so enjoy designing them in crochet. With every animal I make, I totally get sucked into the proces. How should I do this, what is the best shape for that. It always is an exciting thing to do and I enjoyed making every animal I’ve made so far.

This little elephant is already beginning to take shape. I am quite pleased with the head and ears I made and have a good picture in my mind of how to make the arms and legs. A crochet elephant is on its way!