Just Rupert.
Category: Stories
The long longed project
This animal is one of the first I wanted to make when I started designing crochet animal patterns. Somehow it got postponed again and again, for animals I thought should have priority.
But now I’m finally going to make him, one of our cutest looking, but not always loved animals, the beautiful raccoon. I do love raccoons and cannot blame them for their bad image. We took away their natural habitat and they had to cope with that.
Every time I’m starting a new project I’m worried I won’t succeed in getting the result I desire. I really hope I’ll get the raccoon’s head right….that is the hardest part. I have three beautiful warm colours of Lopi yarn lie ready, so I’m not worried about that. Let’s start and see.
There will be a new pattern here soon!
Popkes by you, Happy New Year!
The new year has begun and I want to start it here at Son’s Popkes with a fun and inspiring post, dedicated to all of you who enjoyed and made my patterns. I proudly present a gallery full of pictures of the beautiful animals you all made. This post was a lot of fun to make and I did feel proud myself when I looked at all these lovely dolls. Cheers to your work!
When you click on the picture you can see who made the doll and find their site or blog if they have one. These dolls are made with my patterns, but each and every one of them has its own character. They all have a uniqueness to them, added by the person who made the doll. Something extra and personal which I really love seeing.
I also would like to give a bit of extra attention to Joanne from the United Kingdom, who bought all my patterns and made these lovely versions of them. Look at this, what an awesome bunch!
With this post I want to thank you for your support! There will be lots of new patterns this upcoming year and I hope you’ll enjoy them as much as you’ve enjoyed these patterns. I wish you a fabulous and crafty 2014!
New logo, improved patterns
This week I’ve been busy improving and refreshing all my patterns. When I started writing these patterns I didn’t have a good logo yet and did not use the sketches as more than just the sketch. Later I decided to make the sketches in colour and to add them to the patterns.
Also, the more animals I designed, the more complete the patterns became. Because I think good quality patterns are very important, the old versions were good, but the new ones just better(looking), I decided to give all my patterns the same layout. I also changed my Son’s Popkes name logo a bit, because I noticed some people couldn’t read it. And that is very important!
I’m glad I’m finished now with refreshing the patterns, it was a lot of work and not much fun to do. Everyone who’ve bought a pattern, will get an email from either Craftsy or Ravelry with a new and free download link for the improved version. It really looks better and I’m very happy with the result.
Here’s another image to show all the sketches that are now appearing in the patterns.
Haha, Son’s Popkes! Thanks for all your support and I hope you like the improved patterns. If you’ve bought a pattern directly from me and want a new version, please let me know!
For winter
Another season based pattern is on it’s way. This time winter is the theme, obviously. I won’t stop enjoying autumn but I have to think ahead for my patterns. Here’s the sketch, just a basic one this time. I think it’s clear which animal this is.
A while back I bought lot’s of natural colours of my beloved Lopi yarn, so I would have suitable colours for many animals. All kinds of browns, grays, blacks and light colours. For this reindeer I am going to use a gray-ish beige, murky brown and chocolate brown. Only looking at those colours makes me longing for the end result. I love my Lopi.
I have to figure out if my reindeer will have a dark muzzle or a light one, and if the ears must have dark tips, but I see what happens. For the sketch I’ve chosen a light muzzle, gray body and dark paws. A little green red striped scarf might look very good on this doll, a little touch of Christmas….
For all of you who like to read, last friday my work was featured at the blog Illuminate crochet. It’s a little interview with me, about my favourite materials, stuff like that. I thought it was kind of cool she asked me.
Leaves and hedgehogs
Hedgehogs are fond of leaves. They love to rustle through them, to find food and when winter is arriving they nestle themselves in a nice pile of leaves and other bedding materials to keep them warm and cosy.
I couldn’t think of a better season to design a crochet hedgehog pattern. Here’s a first glimpse of Flims in a beautiful coloured autumn scenery.
I’m not finished yet with the pattern but it will be available next week.
Now I’m back to enjoying my favorite season, like hedgehogs rustling through the leaves, sniffing in all the lovely smells and watching the beautiful colours of autumn. I wish it could last forever….
A new project
This time I’m going to make a hedgehog. I’ve thought much about how to give him a prickly appearance and still I’m not sure what I’m going to do.
There are two options I consider. The first is simple, brushing. If I’ll get the features right and you see clearly it’s a hedgehog, brushing is a good option and easy to do for everyone who’s going to make him. My second option is using a loop stitch and a mixed colour yarn for the spikes. I’ve never done a loop stitch and I have no idea what it will look like. Also, it’s a small risk to use this for a pattern, because it can hold people back from trying to make the hedgehog, because he might look too difficult. I absolutely think the end result is most important, but I have to keep in mind I design my animals so other people can make them too.
Well, I’ll try out both things, and first I must find a suitable mixed yarn. If that’s too hard to find, option two is ‘out’ already.
Enough text! Here’s the sketch. I just made one and loved him right away.
Sometimes I make ten sketches for a doll and still I’m not satisfied, this one was enough, how that works, I honestly don’t know.
A forest
For wildlife lovers….
I’ve just discovered a very useful source of great inspiration for badger crochet: Simon King’s badger fox feeder cam. It’s absolutely amazing, you can see badgers, sometimes eight at a time, eating and playing live! It’s almost like your there. Foxes visit too. Look at this!
I already got a lot of good info about badger features because of this cam. I never realized a badgers head is dark at the bottom. A bit silly because it’s quite logical, but you just don’t see it in most badger pics and I was too focused on the dark stripes of the face. This unfortunately did meant I had to make another head. It’s finished now though.
Enjoy the cams! I’ve spotted the badgers from around 9.30 PM till late in the night, European time.
Heads, heads, heads….
Almost there….
I did crochet the head in two colours! The funny thing is, that wasn’t even the hardest part, getting that actual badger shaped head was much more a challenge. I hope the version I’m going to make now, will be the final one. Or else I’ll get a headache.
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