crafts – Page 2

With a lot of excitement and some pride, I present to you Pudding and Cake, my crochet guinea pig patterns. Meet the furry little boys!

Not one crochet guinea pig pattern but two? Well yes! I started by making a sketch as I always do and somehow got to a final one showing two cuddly guinea pigs. At first that was just the lovely sketch but the further I got with making Pudding, I felt like actually making that second piggy on all fours too. My basic idea was to make a standing guinea pig, a whimsical character like most of my crochet animals are. I think because guinea pigs have a special place in my heart (I have had them when I was little and for the last 10 years too), it felt so natural to make Pudding a friend.

My crochet animals usually are a blend between a realistic looking animal and a playful doll shaped character. For the second piggy I decided to go for a more classical shape, standing on all fours. As that isn’t really my thing, it felt a bit odd designing an animal like that so I tried best to capture the playfulness my patterns normally have. And I had to, making Cake a perfect match to Pudding. Don’t they make the cutest pair? I’m a bit stunned myself, they look so adorable and funny together with their wild looks.

When I started designing Pudding, I really wanted to give my crochet guinea pig the appearance of the abbesinian guinea pig, my favourite type. But adding yarn like lion’s manes felt a bit too much, so I decided to go for brushing. Brushing the crochet surface gives an animal such a wonderful look and is so easy to do too. All you need is a hard brush and some courage.

Now about the patterns. Both piggies are about 5,5 inch/ 14 cm tall and made with Isex Lett Lopi wool. There are three versions you can buy.

A discounted duo pattern with both Pudding and Cake’s pattern to make the pair. You can buy this pattern in my shop at Ravelry and Etsy.
The pattern for Pudding. You can buy this pattern in my shop at Ravelry and Etsy.
The pattern for Cake. You can buy this pattern in my shop at Ravelry and Etsy.

You can order them directly from me here too.

All three versions contain a clear and colour coded description of how to crochet and assemble the piggies with example pictures at the bottom to help you get everything right. In the patterns you can also find what materials you need, the yarn colour numbers, in short, everything you need to know to make them. All the additional information you need to know about the patterns you can find in the shop listings.

Here are some extra pictures of the separate crochet guinea pigs.

Designing two crochet guinea pig patterns was such a delight. As always, the patterns have a one dollar release discount till Tuesday the 22nd!

Art

And the winner is…

September 10, 2016 Sonja

It was so hard to choose! I never realised that when I started this little contest. I though, ‘hey that will be fun’, till I saw all the funny and creative pictures. Some of you created these lovely settings, Popkes giving each other a haircut or stealing cookies out of a jar together. Also there were adventures Popkes who went rock climbing or visited Hogwarts (those were the extremely lucky ones!)

But a winner had to be chosen. For that I didn’t only look at the setting or idea, but also at the composition of the picture, the light, in basic the quality of the picture. With all that in mind, I came up with a shared first place but before I reveal the winners, I want to share a selection of the pictures.

And now the winners

Rock climbing mouse by Helen and the Popkes who are up to no good by Chris. Helen posted her picture on Instagram and Chris in my group at Ravelry. Her picture isn’t square, you can see it in its full glory here.

Helen and Chris, you are the winners. Please let me know the pattern you would like to have and I will email it to you!

Stories

Happy rainy holidays

July 14, 2016 Sonja

This is what mice do best, hanging around in my little garden. And look at the picture, it was even sunny! I was looking forward to making another summer Popkes picture, with new dolls and a lovely setting, but because of this years summer weather, my only choice would have been a picture of Popkes with umbrellas or in rain suits and that is not very appealing.

Actually, I don’t really mind this cool summer weather with a downpour every day. I am not in my element when it is too warm because I love doing active things and when it gets hot, I become slow and tired too soon and it spoils all the fun.

Our summer holiday has just started and I am looking forward to doing all sorts of things. I will probably work less, but I can’t stop completely. I just ordered a gorgeous shade of green (light highland green) to design a crochet crocodile. I felt like something completely different and a crocodile and armadillo pattern seemed just perfect. I have no idea how that will go, so I can’t make any promises there will be patterns soon. Let’s just see how it all works out.

In the mean time, do enjoy summer dear crafters! Even on those rainy or way too hot days, there are plenty of fun things to do, or crochet ;).

Patterns

Friebel, crochet mouse pattern

July 7, 2016February 24, 2020 Sonja

After many modifications to my original idea, Friebel the crochet mouse is finished!

This pattern is the perfect celebration of all the little mice that came and visited my garden the past few months. It may be, that because of all those lively creatures, I became very critical about how my crochet mouse should look. When I started this pattern, I had a standing crochet mouse in mind. But when all the parts were finished and I had made a first prototype, the mouse looked like Bamse on a diet. Oh dear, that wasn’t at all good.

So, I frogged everything except for the rather sweet head and started all over. While working on a more classic doll shaped body, I realised it suited a crochet mouse much better as mice are such adaptable and playful animals. For the standing version I had made little pink hands and feet and when I gave the mouse doll such hands and feet, that didn’t work out either. Yet another modification had to be made. Even the tail became different that I had anticipated.

Of course there were moments during this process that I got annoyed I had to start over again, but that is a part of the designing process. Every crochet animal doll needs to have the proportions matching that specific animal and I cannot be satisfied until I adore what I see. There has to be a certain perfection in the cuteness. And in the end it is so rewarding to cherish the new creation.

Info about & links to buy the pattern

This cute mouse is made with Istex Lett Lopi, a worsted weight wool. He is 13 cm / 5.1 inch when sitting. 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. It contains a clear and colour coded description of how to crochet and assemble the mouse 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 little friend.

And heads up, the pattern has a one dollar release discount till Friday the 15th.

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.

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!

Patterns

Lopi, crochet lion pattern

January 4, 2016February 25, 2020 Sonja

Look! Now we all can become lion tamers, the pattern is finished. You have already seen the teaser picture of Lopi the crochet lion, but here he is in full glory.

This was a lovely crochet animal to design. The most intensive part of making this crochet lion was inserting all the manes. Before I started I had thought of different ways to make the manes. I could use a mane cap, or just sew in the manes. I decided to go for manes crocheted right into the stitches. It’s not very difficult to do and gives the perfect result. (You just fold a piece of thread in half and pull it through the top part of a stitch with your hook and then fold the tails of the thread through the loop.) When I had all the manes inserted, the lion looked rather silly with his reggae hair. But after brushing and cutting, and some more brushing and cutting, he looked absolutely marvelous. Even my first attempt had such a beautiful lion look. I decided to change the mane colour for the final version but definitely would use this technique. The rest of the lion was fun to make, especially the haired tail, which also looked splendid after the hairs were inserted.

This crochet lion is not very difficult to make. The crocheting bit is very easy but giving the lion the final haircut does require your own skills. I can’t exactly instruct how long each hair has to be. I explained it as good as possible and with help from the pictures I (always) add to the pattern, I think everyone will be able to give his or her lion a nice lion mane cut.

Now, where can I get this pattern?

The pattern for this glorious and cuddly crochet lion, you can find in my shop at Ravelry, Etsy or order it here. Lopi is 6 inch / 15 cm tall when sitting. He is made with Istex lett lopi, 100% wool. The pattern contains a clear description of how to crochet and assemble the lion 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 this king of the savanna.

And heads up, the pattern has a one dollar release discount only the first week.

Patterns

Odi, little owl crochet pattern

November 9, 2015February 25, 2020 Sonja

And here he is. Meet Odi, a crochet little owl.

Never have I been so insecure during the process of designing a crochet pattern. Thankfully, now I am very happy with my little Odi. Why was this so difficult?

Well, I wanted to create a crochet owl that resembled a real owl species. There are loads of crochet owl patterns to find online, and you can see they are owls, but they don’t look like real owls, you probably know what I mean. And I wanted to make a little owl.

Giving it a sweet face, was the first obstacle I stumbled upon. I made several heads and they all looked quite unpleasant. When I finally had succeeded in making a sweet little face, I had trouble getting the size of the body right. At some point after taking things apart who knows how many times, I just continued working because of the amount of time I’d already spend on this project. And then there came a turning point. I had this lovely idea for the legs and feet and it did look so adorable, that the love for my crochet owl came back. I finished the feet and attached them to prototype Odi. It looked marvelous. Now I only had to make some wings and the little owl was finished.

But then, when I looked at the promotional and pattern pictures I had taken, I realized there still was something wrong with this doll. He did not look owly enough. His beak was much too big. After all this work I could not just let that be. So, I made a new tiny beak and took new photos. Now I can finally show you the result. I know Odi is not completely realistic looking. I did exaggerate the colours of the beak and feet to make him a more fun and expressive crochet owl. Just look at him!

How to get this whimsical crochet owl pattern?

The pattern for this adorable and rather realistic looking owl, you can find in my shop at Ravelry, Etsy or order it here. Odi is 14,7 inch / 12 cm tall when sitting. He is made with Istex lett lopi, 100% wool. The pattern contains a clear description of how to crochet and attach the bird 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 this lovely creature.

And heads up, the pattern has a one dollar release discount for the first week.

Ok, this one is just for fun.

Chit and Chat

Summer Popkes

July 2, 2015 Sonja

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!

Art, Chit and Chat

Kiekeboe

March 16, 2015March 17, 2015 Sonja

Back, when I was in the holiday cottage, I tried to take some interesting pictures of Bunsie. I thought the result was not very exciting, but when looking through the pictures yesterday, this one caught my eye. Recurring visitors might recognize this bush as the bush in the drawing of the actual event. This is the bush the polecat ran past and I felt like sharing it.

Also, I wanted to give you a heads up about my upcoming pattern. A crochet tiger pattern. Some of you might think, ‘but that one wasn’t on your list’ and you are right dear reader. A while ago I joked to myself that if a certain person would see a tiger on his trip to India, I would make a crochet version. Later on I found it a rather silly idea, as tigers are more than just complicated to make in crochet. But the longer I thought about it and looked at pictures of this gorgeous animal, I decided it was not such a bad idea at all, and he did see a tiger. I definitely wanted to make a tiger, and a very good one! Now let’s hope I can succeed…