Author: Sonja

Chit and Chat

This is ultimate!

Sonja

Yarn Yoshi

In the new Yoshi game for the Wii U, called Yarn Yoshi, Yoshi is an actual crochet doll. That’s so utterly cool! Look at it, everything is made of yarn, fabric and sewed felt patches. I love it, it looks so artistic and makes you feel all fuzzy. I wasn’t going to buy a Wii U, but this might change my mind about that.

I very much like the fact the designers of this game, combined modern technology with traditional craft. And it’s good news for crochet character designers too, because this game can make amigurumi and crochet dolls even more popular and give it a bigger audience. Way to go Nintendo!

 

Chit and Chat, Stories

Next popke

Sonja

I’ve already started working on my next project. Another bunny/hazy. My former bunny pattern is a serious rabbit, quite realistic. That is because I made him in memory of a sweet pet bunny we once had and I wanted to offer bunny lovers a realistic rabbit pattern. But crocheting realistic animals is not my style. I like to make them much more cartoon’esk. This bunny idea I’ve had for a while now, and now he begins to take shape. I want him to be a bit crazy, wild looking.

This is the first sketch that probably will give a slightly different result, because I’m not sure I can get the head shape like the sketch, in crochet.

Konijn

The bunnies in ‘Wallace and Gromit: the curse of the were-rabbit’ have been a bit of an inspiration for my rabbit. I like their crazy attitude.

 

patroon gehaakte hond
Patterns

Sjuffel, crochet dog pattern

Sonja

This has become the favourite crochet animal I’ve made so far. It’s always a challenge to bring the sketch to life and this time I like the finished dog better than the sketch. He’s just such a sturdy looking dog when standing up, and laying flat he’s a sweet stuffed little doggy friend. I’ve made a beagle haven’t I?

This crochet pattern is very versatile and still easy to crochet. The dog can both stand up and lay down, which makes him very lively. I also added examples of different colour options, so everyone can make the kind of dog he likes, using my examples or creating their own colour scheme.

patroon gehaakte hond, crochet dog pattern

You can find the pattern for this crochet dog in my shop and in my Ravelry shop. You can also order it directly from me here. The dog is 7,9 inch / 20 cm long. He’s made with my favorite Icelandic fuzzy yarn. When using pipe cleaners you will be sure the dog will be steady when standing up and perfectly flat when laying down. Without the use of cleaners he’ll need a bit more help to stand good and lay nice, but he still can do it. The crochet dog pattern is written in standard American crochet terms. It contains clear instructions and many example pictures.

patroon gehaakte hond, crochet dog pattern

This crochet dog looks very different standing than flat. The flat one makes a good baby toy, the standing dog is more grown up.

Flatdog, amigurumi dog

Backview

I hope everyone who was looking forward to this patterns likes what he sees!

My dog amigurumi is called Sjuffel after the basset hound puppy we had shortly when I was a kid. My father and I really, really loved dogs but my mum was a bit scared of them, but a basset hound she found the least scary. They made an arrangement with a kennel so we could have a dog puppy for ‘trial’ and if she still would be too uncomfy, we could bring him back. A silly thing to do in some way, because I immediately got attached to Sjuffel and loved him and was sad when he was gone. But I am glad we did have him! Even though it was short, it was fun. Now I have this crochet Sjuffel.

WOOF

Chit and Chat

Attaching…

Sonja

…I find one of the more challenging bits of creating a new crochet doll. When I design a ‘popke’, the last stadium is pinning everything on to see if all the proportions are definite. And when I decide they are, it means that how it looks that moment, is quite perfect to me. But because all the parts are not completely finished, they might need to be adjusted , they aren’t ready to be sewed on and I have to take them off again to finish them with slip stitches etc.

And this is the stadium I’m in with the dog at this very moment. It’s a bit scary now to take the body parts off, because I’m afraid I can’t get them at those perfect spots the time I re-pin them for sewing….Well, I’ve market the spots as good as possible so let’s get it done!

Tomorrow I’ll write down the pattern and take some good pictures, so he will be here shortly after that.

 

Stories

Doggy sketch

Sonja

I’m celebrating the Christmas holiday and we’re supposed to go hiking in this free period, but the weather isn’t the kind you can enjoy… rain and slippery roads that look like muddy streams, which makes you all blubbery when you walk on them for just two seconds.

Anyway, crocheting gives me much joy too, so I started working on my new pattern, the doggy or ‘hondje’ in Dutch.

He’s not really a specific breed of dog. He looks most like a basset hound or beagle in my colouring, but it isn’t important, he’s just ‘dog’. He’s the kind of stuffed toy you can give to a toddler and he’ll name it doggy, because that’s what he is. Simple and sweet, well, I hope he will be.

Here’s the sketch. Hondje should be able to stand on four paws and can also lay flat on his tummy.

Hondje-w

Chit and Chat

A winter update

Sonja

It’s almost Christmas and I like it. So do the Popkes as you can see. I was going to make a free Christmas pattern, but unfortunately I don’t have time for it….

Since November I’m working on a big assignment, I’m making illustrations for a children’s book. It’s absolutely a great and I love the story of the book and the drawings I can make for it, it suits me perfect and I’m still very glad the writer found my work! But because of that I just don’t have enough time for a Christmas pattern.

More patterns will come though, even when I have to draw a lot, I will make time for new crochet animals. In the upcoming Christmas holiday I’m going to make a crochet dog. I’m more a cat person than a dog person, but I’ve got this great idea for a doggy, inspired by my boyfriends first pluche doll ever. I’m looking forward to make him.

When the book is finished I will post some illustrations at my website and the sketch of the doggy will be here soon!

Have a nice week, Sonja.

 

Patterns

Dandylion, crochet cat pattern

Sonja

Dandylion is finished and he looks even more enthusiastic than I hoped for. As soon as I had him finished, I felt like making more. An orange striped version or a black one, maybe a wild cat. I love how he’s able to be positioned in different ways and he can surely observe you with his big eyes like real cats do.

amigurumi cat, crochet cat

Meet Dandylion, my crochet kitty cat pattern. This is such a fun and playful cat amigurumi. He’s made with basic shapes and doesn’t look very realistic, but because of his authentic cat expression, he looks exactly like real a real cat, probably the only animal who lies like this, watching you and being up to no good.

Here are some more pictures of this mischief and scroll down for info about & links to buy the pattern.

Info about the crochet cat pattern

With this easy pattern you can make a lovely striped amigurumi cat or a cartoon version of your own cat. Just divide his colours in simple shapes and crochet ahead, it’s fun! The cat is lying 9.1 inch / 23 cm long, when made with worsted weight yarn. The crochet kitty cat pattern is for sale in my Ravelry shop, Etsy shop and you can also order it directly from me here. The pattern is written in standard American crochet terms and contains a clear and colour coded description of how to crochet and assemble the animal with example pictures next to the instructions and at the bottom. In the pattern you can also find what materials you need, the Lopi colour numbers, in short, everything you need to know to make this unique crochet animal. All the additional information you need to know about this pattern you can find in the shop listings.