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Bamse, crochet hamster pattern

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

hamster amigurumi crochet 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.

amigurumiWhen 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.

realistic crochet hamster, haakpatroon hamster

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.

Art

Winter Popkes

crochet animal patterns

Last night, I realised I probably had missed my change to make a winter Popkes picture. But this morning, when I looked out of the window, I was relieved to see there was still a bit of winter left, despite the rain of the night and it being a few degrees above zero.

This time I did not hesitate and took some of my crochet animals with me on a trip to the forest. Luckily for me, it was very snowy still and the light was just dazzling in the low winter sun. The winter Popkes picture was made.

Enjoy the rest of winter. I hope you crafters in the east of the US will not have it too rough. Be safe!

Stories

Autumn Popkes

amigurumi crochet patterns

Most of you probably know by now Autumn is my most favourite season by far. I enjoy strolling through the forest beneath those magnificent threatening skies, while listening to the rustling of the beautiful coloured leaves that soon will fall and breathing in the scent of moist and mushrooms. It is the season I engage in with every sense of my body.

Last year, to celebrate, I made a Son’s Popkes artwork set in Autumn and this year I fantasized about a special picture like the one I made for Summer.

Yesterday I finally had the change to go to a park nearby and collect leaves in all my favourite colours. While gathering some chestnuts, I felt if someone was watching me, but I didn’t see anybody. But later, when I looked up into the trees to see if there were fresh chestnuts still there, I saw this gorgeous big crow sitting right above me on a branch, curiously looking at me. ‘Ah’, I said to him, ‘I thought I felt somebody watching me, it was you!’

Back home I arranged the leaves I collected and took the picture. Enjoy Autumn everybody, it is over before you know it.

The pattern I am currently working on is of an owl. It took me a while to create a sweet looking face (the first heads I came up with looked rather unpleasant and mean) and that is why I wasn’t able to post a sketch already. To be continued….

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This week . . . .

Plubby-Wild

This week I can finally release a long expected pattern and what a bliss it is. I finished my wooly puffin bird last week and celebrated it with this outdoor picture. What a happy puffin!

Thank you everybody, for all your enthusiastic and encouraging messages. I have never gotten so many request for a pattern before it was released. Just a few more days and you can all start making your own puffin!

Chit and Chat

Summer Popkes

amigurumi crochet patterns

The Popkes and I risked a heath stroke this afternoon, doing a photoshoot outside whilst it was 35 degrees celsius! Admitting, it was probably just me getting a bit over heated, they seemed to rather enjoy themselves really.

What a thrill, my summer holiday has almost started! Just relaxing, watching wildlife and doing long forest strolls are the things I am looking forward to so much.

I had to postpone the puffin pattern a bit, but not to worry. I think during all the relaxing and wildlife watching, I probably cannot stop myself from working on it every now and then. The puffin pattern will be the first pattern to be released.

I hope everybody is enjoying themselves as much as my crochet animals in the picture above. I wish all of you a lovely summer, cheers and see you soon!

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As seen on BBC Springwatch

Puffin_medium2

For the last three weeks, I have been watching one of my most favourite tv shows, BBC Springwatch. It is a fabulous series about wildlife’s life in spring (or autumn and winter) in the UK. It is a tv show that is such a delight to watch and I always learn so much from it. The show is divided in two parts, you first see a one hour episode on tv, and after that there is a half hour extra called Springwatch Unsprung you can watch online or on a certain red button if you live in the UK. Unsprung is a rather interactive bit, that evolves partly around the viewer.

For me, Springwatch is such an inspiring show and every year I try to crochet an animal that suits the Springwatch series. This time it was a Puffin, as I had seen one during my holiday to the UK and knew it would be featured in this years Springwatch series.

Just for the fun of it, I replied to a tweet to Springwatch, from a crafter who had knitted an adorable Springwatch inspired fish, by showing her the Puffin head I had just finished.

What happened next was amazing. I was watching Springwatch Unsprung when I saw to my utter surprise, the puffin head on my tv screen! I was totally flabbergasted. Wow, they actually picked out my puffin head to show in a bit about Springwatch inspired art made by the viewers. What a jolly surprise it was. I was feeling a bit euphoric after that as you can imagine.

It also made me rather enthusiastic to finish the puffin as soon as possible. I am working on the body and wings now and hope to have the puffin pattern finished within a few weeks!

Art, Stories

Koji says hello!

Koji-sketch-webNormally, I make the sketch of a doll before I start crochet designing it. The sketch functions as a reference of sizes and shapes and basically is my guide. This time however, I only made the sketch just now, after I already finished the actual crochet animal. Now why is that?

Before I started working on this tiger, I was not sure about how I was going to make him. I had many options of how to design him. I could go for horizontal stripes or realistic ones. And should I tilt the head so the stripes would follow the lines of the crochet rounds better? There were so many options, I had to try it all. Then of course at some point, I found the right style for the tiger and went along making him.

Stopping then just to make a sketch was not going to happen. As soon as there is a sweet little face looking at me, I can not wait any longer to finish the animal.

Everyone here reading my blog has to be a little patience still. The pattern is not finished yet and pictures have to be taken too. In the meantime, enjoy the sketch of Koji, my glorious tiger. The pattern will be released somewhere next week.

Patterns, Stories

It is spring!

And I am celebrating it with two special spring & Easter offers. Aren’t they the cutest crochet animal couples!

easter spring crochet animals

amigurumis

These pictures I specially made for my spring and Easter offers. Both packs contain the patterns for the two animals in the picture and the pattern for the Easter eggs and basket is included in the rabbit pattern. You can find the packs in my shop. Unfortunately I couldn’t offer them in my Ravelry shop, as they rejected the listings. You can of course order them directly from me also. Let me know which pack you would like to purchase and I’ll send you a Paypal request. The packs cost $9,98 and they are available till good Friday.

It always is a delight to photograph my crochet animals. I prefer to use daylight and I do, but it can be a bit dark in my home studio. I do my very best to capture both the light and the animals at their best. I love dramatic shadows, but for these photographs there has to be a good balance.

*pattern update* My tiger pattern is coming along very well and I’m looking forward to share some first glimpses of the head.

Enjoy spring!

Patterns

Son’s Popkes pattern pack

The Son’s Popkes pattern pack is a permanent offer that allows you to buy any three patterns and get a fourth pattern for free.

It works like this: buy three patterns at once in my shop at Ravelry or LoveCrochet and send me a message to let me know which pattern you would like to have as the fourth. I’ll always email you the fourth free pattern within 12 hours.

In my Etsy shop you can simply purchase the pattern pack listing and let me know there which four patterns you want. You can also purchase the pattern pack by ordering the patterns directly from me here.

Happy crocheting! Feel free to leave a comment here to let others know how your order went.