Category: Patterns

Patterns

A super fun collaboration

Sonja

They are available now, the first ever original Son’s Popkes crochet mini kits, composed by Lucy McKelvey from Lucylocketland. Lucy and I are having a super fun collaboration. She has a wonderful craft shop in Sunderland in the United Kingdom with an online shop and she has composed five fabulous Son’s Popkes kits already and there are four more to come. (The text continues below the images.)

lucylocketland

The animals you can make with the kits will look a bit smaller and less fuzzy than my original animals, because Lucy has picked different yarns for them, but they look very cute nonetheless. There are currently only 2 kits available per animal in either Scheepjes Catona or Adriafil Regina 100% Merino but more will follow. The kits contain everything you need; yarn, pure wool stuffing, animal safety eyes and even the right size crochet hook. And how can I forget, a printed copy of the pattern!

‘So far you can choose between Jonesy the flying ace duckling, Moser the mining mole, Flam the stylish fox, Odi the adorable owl, Plubby the perfect puffin or Balloo the cute little lamb’, I’m quoting Lucy here. Kits for Finse the crazy rabbit, Floro the red squirrel, Gus the sweet piglet and Friebel the sneaky house mouse will follow.

I’m ever so proud and excited, what a lovely little kits they are. Go and check them out!

Patterns

Matisse, crochet giraffe pattern

Sonja

Very proud and happy I present to you my jolly new pattern, Matisse the giraffe.

giraffe amigurumi pattern

When I started designing this crochet giraffe amigurumi I loved the challenge and was excited by the idea of creating a realistic and cute giraffe doll. And I have to admit, I even surprised myself with the result. I think my giraffe looks absolutely fabulous! When the head was pinned to the first prototype body, I was stunned with how it looked, somehow I managed to get the spots in excactly the right place to get a perfect giraffe skin, it was amazing. A a few little adjustments would make everthing look ‘spot on’, but the main shape was just right.

As for all my crochet animal patterns, my giraffe had to have a realistic appearance. The spots are very important to achieve that. Real giraffes have many spots, the further down their body the bigger and there is some sort of pattern in them, like water puddles on the beach when it is low tide. I knew that with my limited number of spots, most important was to resemble that look.

Another special thing about this giraffe are his long ‘arms’. Giraffes are special looking creatures with their long necks and diagonal backs and because I wanted to make a doll shaped giraffe, it is a bit hard to reproduce that look. I think the longer arms do suggest that shape and also make this doll able to sit in different positions. I just love it when Matisse sits forward with his front paws between his legs and like that he even gets that unique giraffe shape. I hope you crafters are just as surprised and happy with this doll as I am!

Info about & links to buy the pattern

Matisse is made with Istex Lett Lopi, a 100% wool with a lot of fuzziness. He is 6.5 inch/ 16,5 cm when sitting. The pattern is written in standard American crochet terms and contains a clear and colour coded description of how to crochet and assemble this animal, with extra illustrations and 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 realistic and playful crochet giraffe amigurumi. All the additional information you need to know about this pattern you can find in the shop listings, like the yarn you need etc. You can buy this pattern in my shop at Ravelry, Etsy or order it here.

This pattern has a one dollar release discount till Tuesday the 3rd of July!

Art, Patterns

Bubbly, crochet otter pattern

Sonja

And here he is, my whimsical looking crochet otter amigurumi called Bubbly.

realistic crochet otter pattern

It felt like I have been working on this pattern for ages. That’s probably because of all the free days we are having this time of year. But that doesn’t spoil the fun of publishing something new, on the contrary, I was looking so much forward to writing this post.

What do you think? Did I manage to capture the thing that make otters the popular and much loved animals as they are? I think I did, I’m so happy with this otter. Bubbly looks like an enthusiastic, funny young otter, who’s up to many tricks. Designing crochet animals and creating a doll that resembles the real animal in a basic way is a challenging thing, and for some animals it is harder than for others.

Otters are the kind of animal that need a bit of extra attention to give the doll the spirit real otters have. For example, my previous otter pattern looked like an otter, there’s no question about that and it is a lovely looking doll, but it missed that extra bit of character. This otter contains the sense of humor I like to add to my designs, his quizzical expression is priceless! I love Bubbly and hope you will love this otter amigurumi too.

Here are some more pictures of this funny looking crochet otter and below them you can find info about and links to buy the pattern.

Info about & links to buy the pattern

Bubbly is made with Istex Lett Lopi, a 100% wool with a lot of fuzziness. He is 6.2 inch/ 15,5 cm tall when made with this yarn. The pattern is written in standard American crochet terms and contains a clear and colour coded description of how to crochet and assemble this animal, with extra illustrations and 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 funny looking crochet otter amigurumi. All the additional information you need to know about this pattern you can find in the shop listings, like the yarn you need etc. You can buy this pattern in my shop at Ravelry, Etsy or order it here.

This pattern has a one dollar release discount till Tuesday the 29th of May!

Patterns

New updates

Sonja

Hi there, here’s an update on the progress of the updates. I am using the word ‘update’ so often these days I’m even dreaming it, lol. But I don’t mind doing it. The lovely thing about updating older patterns is, and I mean the big updates with new pictures and all, is that it reminds me of how beautiful some of the older animals are. Because their pictures looked less impressive and new crochet animals shift my attention, I seemed to have forgotten about them. But look at this!

When I added this picture to Dandylion’s pattern I thought ‘wow’! Despite his basic shape, Dandylion is the funniest and most mischievous looking crochet cat you can find. I really enjoyed updating his pattern.

I also updated Teddy’s and Balloo’s pattern. With the new pictures, they too look like I designed them recently and I love how they look now.

In short, these are the new updates:

Together with my editor, I’ve re-written the instructions for Dandylion’s head, which you don’t crochet in a spiral. With these new instructions you get an almost invisible colour change. It’s brilliant! And the pictures are new, but that’s obvious.

 

When I took new pictures of Balloo, I realised he looked much more like a lamb than a sheep! The pattern has new and improved pictures.

 

 

Teddy is the first original Son’s Popkes pattern. Now he finally shines bright in his new pictures. The former pictures had some pillows as background and a messy piece of fabric. Not very professional, but despite that people loved him.

 

 

Next week I’m doing an update on Chief and Rupert. Their bellies need to be replaced by the fancy neater bellies I design nowadays and they can use better pictures too.

Happy Easter dear crafters, I really need a little break.

Patterns

Jonesy has become an aviator!

Sonja

Many of you have seen and made the little aviator helmet I designed for Jonesy, my crochet duckling amigurumi. Because I am in update mode, I decided to permanently add the aviator helmet to the duckling pattern. I also did a new photoshoot and I’m so jolly happy with the new pictures. Look at him! Doesn’t he look fabulous with his sturdy helmet? I’d never taken proper pictures of Jonesy with this helmet.

The updated duckling pattern contains many new pictures, including new and clean images next to the text. I especially like the little pictures of the helmet and goggles, they just look so cute.

Another pattern has been updated, the one for Trin the mouse. In my previous post I wrote there wasn’t much wrong with the older patterns. When I was working on Trin’s pattern, I was a little bit surprised people actually managed to make mouses with it. I’ve seen the results and those mice looked perfect but dear, you could clearly see it was one of my first patterns. But it is perfect now and also contains extra and cute pictures of the accessories. Trin looks reborn in his new pictures! A fresh and sturdy little adventurer.

See you later!

Patterns

Finse, crochet rabbit pattern

Sonja

My crochet rabbit amigurumi is the second pattern I have given a make over.

rabbit amigurumi crochet

Here he is, my little star. Now probably, many of you looking at this picture are thinking ‘but he looks the same’ and you are right, he does look the same. How could I change my utterly whimsical looking crochet rabbit. I thought about changing the eye patches like I did for Floro and tried a few things, but Finse lost his character with those new looks. His funny expression has become so recognisable that I just couldn’t change the eyes. The eye patches create that look and work perfectly for this rabbit amigurumi.

But something has changed. Good old Finse has a new body. My skills for creating light coloured bellies have improved a lot since I started designing these crochet animals. Nowadays, I use a little trick to make them look much rounder than before. Not only did I change the light belly, I also improved the shape of the body. I found his body too much pear-shaped, so I slimmed it down a little bit at the bottom. Finse still is chubby enough but the proportions are better now. The funny thing is, ‘common’ people won’t even see the changes I made, it is all in the details. But for me those details are very important and make my first animals look as good as the ones I design now.

Here are a few more pictures of Finse and below them you can find info about and links to buy the pattern.

 

Info about & links to buy the pattern

This crochet rabbit amigurumi is made with Istex Lett Lopi, a 100% wool. Finse is sitting 6.7 inch / 17 cm, when made with worsted weight yarn.

The pattern contains a clear and colour coded description of how to crochet and assemble this animal, with extra illustrations and 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 whimsical rabbit amigurumi. All the additional information you need to know about this pattern you can find in the shop listings. You can buy this pattern in my shop at Ravelry, Etsy or order it here.

Despite this being an update, the new pattern has a one dollar release discount till Wednesday the 14th of March.

If you purchased the previous version of this pattern, you will receive a message with a download link to get the new version for free.

Temporary note: I am going to update a few more older patterns and will give you a heads up about it, but won’t always write new posts. For most of them, I will replace the images and update the new pattern to my shops.

Why am I updating these patterns? Well, not because they are not good enough as they are. It is mainly because of the pictures. The backgrounds in the older pictures are messy and I want the same clean look for all my patterns.

Patterns

Floro, crochet red squirrel pattern

Sonja

This one looks familiar! Meet Floro 2, the new version of my crochet squirrel amigurumi.

amigurumi squirrel animal

Floro the crochet squirrel has always been one my personal best-liked patterns. Together with badgers, red squirrels are my favourite animals. I’ve had the jolly pleasure to seeing them very often and they are such graceful little characters. I love how they wave their tail when seeing other squirrels and their sneaky attitude when it comes to hiding food. They are ever so entertaining to watch.

Because Floro was one of the first animal patterns I designed, he did not meet up to my recents standards. When I looked at him lately, I only saw what could look better. I decided he needed a makeover.

What has changed with Floro?

First of all, I wanted his head to be easier to make. There is nothing wrong with sewn on muzzles, but with heads shaped like Floro’s there is no need to anymore now I have improved my skills for that. I am able to crochet the muzzle and head in one piece and still have a muzzle shaped little snout. Also, the big eye patches did not seem to work for everyone. I had made Floro’s as small as possible, but it still looked a bit as if he was staring in utter surprise. The eye patches have been replaced by much more subtle lines around the eyes you can easily embroider in four stitches. I also replaced the ears for flat folded ears.

The body has also changed. It has an improved shape and a rounder white belly. The last thing I changed is the tail. I wanted it to look curved by itself, without the need of inserting pipe cleaners to bend it. It now consists of two pieces that make a lovely curved tail.

I am so happy with the result. Floro still is the same, but looks much better! And the good thing is, anyone who has bought the previous pattern, will receive a message about this update with a download link to download the new version for free.

Here are some more pictures of my lovely crochet squirrel and below them you can find info about and links to buy the pattern if you do not have it yet.

Info about & links to buy the pattern

This crochet red squirrel is made with Istex Lett Lopi, a 100% wool with a lot of fuzziness that works very well with brushing. Floro is sitting 6 inch / 15 cm, when made with worsted weight yarn.

The pattern contains a clear and colour coded description of how to crochet and assemble this animal, with extra illustrations and 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 graceful squirrel amigurumi. All the additional information you need to know about this pattern you can find in the shop listings. You can buy this pattern in my shop at Ravelry, Etsy or order it here.

Despite this being an update, the new pattern has a one dollar release discount till Monday the 26th of February.

Note: Floro’s original post will stay on my blog until google has indexed this one.

Art, Patterns

Crochet clownfish pattern

Sonja

This truly is quite a spontaneous pattern. I fell in love with the beauty of the saddleback clownfish (yellowfin anemone fish) and I had to make a crochet pattern for it right away. Meet my first fish amigurumi, clownfish!

clownfish crochet pattern

During the holidays, we watched BBC’s Blue Planet II, which is such an amazing series about our oceans and the depth of them, literally and figuratively. There are so many amazing and intelligent creatures living in our seas and I believe series like Blue Planet are crucial to make people aware of how important nature is and that we should protect it and value the animals that live there.

saddleback blue planetThe whole series is fabulous but I particularly enjoyed a piece about the saddleback clownfish. I was struck by the sheer beauty and intelligence of this little anemone fish and wanted to ‘have’ one right away. Not a real one of course, but a crochet version. I am so grateful of being able to create realistic looking animals in crochet, because that makes it possible to hold a cuddly fish a week later.

Clownfish are gorgeous fish with their special colours and unusual fins. I’ve always loved the orange version but this saddleback stole my heart. Of course I was going to make a saddleback, but it would be a pity to stop there, so I made a normal clownfish amigurumi pattern too. From a fast perspective, the clownfish and saddleback seem only to differ by their colours. But when you take a closer look, it is not just the colours that are different, but also the shape of the coloured lines. I had to make two different patterns altogether. What make these amigurumi fish extra special, they can stand by themselves. Clownfish have very striking ventral fins, that function perfectly as little arms to balance the crochet clownfish. Look at how they stand all proud in the first picture.

With this crochet clownfish pattern, you can make two about life-size fish, a normal clownfish and a saddleback. They are 4,3 inch /11 cm long, when made with worsted weight yarn and hook E / 3.5. The patterns are written colour coded to make changing colour as easy as possible and contain a clear description of how to assemble the fish, with extra illustrations and example pictures at the bottom. 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 clownfish amigurumis.

All the additional information you need to know about this pattern you can find in the shop listings. You can buy this pattern in my shop at Ravelry, Etsy or order it here. This pattern costs $ 4.99 and has a one dollar release discount till Monday the 21st of Januari, so get your copy for $ 3.99 before it is too late!

Patterns

Realistic crochet badger pattern

Sonja

realistic amigurumi crochet badger

This is the first animal I have made in a realistic position, well actually the second. Last year I made a guinea pig on all fours but lets be honest, guinea pigs are little potatoes and therefor not the hardest animals to make. This one was much more complicated. In the series of realistic animals I started with a badger because it is my favourite animal, but also because I thought the shape of a badger is easier to design than that of a fox or squirrel for example.

Despite thinking that, I had a hard time designing the body. When I had finished my first prototype, it looked like a potato with a badger head. How on earth would I get a proper badger shape? I got completely stuck there and had to stop and think about how I was going to design the body. After some thinking I had a few ideas and set behind my desk again. The first idea did not work, made the badger look like an armadillo. However, the second solution I had in mind did work. The thing was, I needed to get a shape where the paws seemed to come out of the fur instead of looking attached to it. The simple solution of shoulder and hip pathes did the trick. Even without the fur brushed, the badger looked like a sturdy burrower.

If you would ask me what I like most about this badger, it is the face. I am so happy with it. On my desk I have this framed postcard with a portrait of a realistic badger wearing a jumper. That serious badger is looking at me all the time and I used that face as my example. And the result is so similar I even surprised myself!

The good thing about this pattern is, I did all the hard work. All you crocheters need to do is follow the instructions, easy peasy. This is not a very complicated pattern to make.

In this image you can see how the badger looks before brushing, to get a better idea of the basics before you buy the pattern. My editor complimented me on how extensively I have written the assembling instructions.

I did that to be sure everyone gets all the pieces in the right place, with the correct distances between them etcetera.

Here are some more pictures of the finished badger amigurumi to get you all enthusiastic and below them you can find more info about & and links to buy the pattern.

Info about & links to buy the pattern

This crochet badger is made with Istex Lett Lopi, a 100% wool with a lot of fuzziness that works very well with brushing. He is 7.8 inch/ 20 long from tail to nose when made with this yarn.

The pattern contains a clear and colour coded description of how to crochet and assemble this animal, with extra illustrations and 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 realistic badger amigurumi. All the additional information you need to know about this pattern you can find in the shop listings. You can buy this pattern in my shop at Ravelry, Etsy or order it here.

This pattern has a one dollar release discount till Friday the 1st of December!

Patterns

Misu, crochet sloth pattern

Sonja

He is here! This is Misu, my crochet sloth amigurumi.

realistic amigurumi sloth

Isn’t he a doll!? Designing this pattern was such a joy. For starters, I haven’t always been a sloth lover as I mentioned earlier but researching this animal made me love it so much. What a very special creature indeed. Now I totally understand why so many people love this animal to bits. Sloths have the most cheerful and loving faces and an always smiling mouth.

That mouth and how it in fact shapes the face, has been the base of my design. The most important thing was to create a face around that smiling mouth. For this reason I decided to tilt the head and make what is normally the top of the head, the front of it. This results in a different layout of the face. When you normally see the lines of the rounds go vertical, now you see the circles. I used the shape of a crocheted ball in my advantage to create a smiley face and to get very smooth colour changes. Sloths have a light round patch in the middle of their head that forms their face. I could have used a big sewn-on patch to create that look, but I knew I could get the same result and even better, with the tilted head and by using the shape of the rounds to create a perfect coloured circle. Even the dark eye patches sloths have, look very neat with this technique. And the best thing is, there’s practically no sewing to do. You only need to sew on a nose and mouth, but that’s it!

Another special thing about sloths is their huge claws. The claws is something I missed when I looked at other crochet sloths online and I understand why they aren’t there. Big claws do not look very cute on a plushy. Being a bit of a perfectionist, I strongly felt my crochet sloth did need to have claws, but they had to be cute claws. So, I made a bunch of claws, some big, some even bigger and darker and finally managed to get a very visible claw that looked very cuddly because it almost automatically folds around the edge of the paw. What about that! Just what I was looking for.

I think Misu is beyond doubt the cutest crochet animal I have ever made. It must be that smile. My sloth amigurumi is not a perfectly realistic shaped animal but doll shaped, for the sloth there doesn’t seem to be much difference. Especially when you look at the profile picture of Misu below, even in doll shape he looks so sloth-like. It is unmistakable, really cool if I might say. I chose to not brush the surface of this crochet sloth, but I think that will look awesome as well, makes him even look more fuzzy, like a real sloth.

Here are some more pictures of my mischievous looking crochet sloth and below them you can find all the info you need and links to buy the pattern.

Info about & links to buy the pattern

Misu is made with Istex Lett Lopi, a 100% wool with a lot of fuzziness, which suits the sloth fur very well. He is sitting 5.2  inch/ 13 cm tall.

The crochet sloth pattern contains a clear and colour coded description of how to crochet and assemble it, with extra illustrations and 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 relaxed friend. All the additional information you need to know about this pattern you can find in the shop listings. You can buy this pattern in my shop at Ravelry, Etsy or order it here.

This pattern has a one dollar release discount till Halloween Tuesday!