Tag: photography

Patterns

Droebel, crochet dog pattern

Sonja

And now I proudly present to you, Droebel the crochet dog, woof!

amigurumi dog crochet pattern

When I designed this crochet pattern, creating a dog looking doll was my idea. A funny looking amigurumi character that could be enjoyed by every one who loves dogs and animals. I think I succeeded and am ever so excited, isn’t he cute!

It was when Droebel was finished that I noticed he reminds me a little bit of Gromit, that clever and pleasant companion of Wallace. You know, from those amazing clay animations created by Aardman. I can easily imagine Droebel having all sorts of thrilling adventures. Yes, he is an adventure dog. Just look at him!

dog amigurumi pattern

ami dog

Generally, I find the sketch and the doll of a similar cuteness. The dolls never are exactly as the sketches, but they come close. This time however, I find the doll much cuter and better looking than the sketch I made. Droebel looks like the younger version of himself in the sketch. I’m very happy I managed to get that puppy look. Maybe it is because of my new shaping technique for which I used a rather simple and clever trick.

For this crochet dog pattern I have chosen to use soft colours. It makes him look very rustic and even a bit retro, which I like. Droebel is sitting 4.9 inch/ 12.5 cm when made with a worsted weight yarn. I thought of giving him a coloured collar or handkerchief scarf, but decided not to and leave him plain and simple. It is up to you crafters to give him accessories and I’m sure some of you will not hesitate to do so!

Now where can you find this pattern

The crochet pattern for Droebel the dog you can find in my shop at Ravelry, Etsy or order it here. As always, it contains a clear description of how to crochet and assemble the wee dog 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 barking friend.

And heads up, the pattern has a one dollar release discount till the end of May.

Chit and Chat

Can you blame me?

Sonja

la

Can you blame me for getting distracted with this view? It is so utterly delightful watching tiny mice stuffing themselves with bird food. At first, I only noticed them on the ground, very fast and agile, moving trough garden plants and rocks cashing bits of bird food picky sparrows throw away. But recently they discovered the (additives & salt free) bird peanut butter and they love it.

They climb up through the ivy and if you sit outside and look long enough, you see several mice hanging out there waiting to feed from the peanut butter. At first, I only saw ‘large’ adult mice but last week suddenly there were these tiny newcomers, baby mice. I have babies I thought! Some people I tell about my mice say, ‘oh, be careful, they quickly become a plaque’. But I’m not at all worried about that with all the cats around here. I’m very proud the mice actually survived them and were able to successfully have young. I do try keeping the cats out of my garden, we have a happy indoor cat ourselves, but I know they do visit occasionally. I hope the mice have enough places to hide in.

I made a gallery to show a bit of mouse action. I probably won’t win a wildlife photography award with these, but I do consider myself lucky getting even these pics. They are very shy. Sometimes there are three mice in the pot sitting on top of each other, but as soon as they hear a squeak, they flee away. In the pictures you see three adult mice and in the second row the youngsters. If you look closely you can see several mice in some of the pictures.

Despite my tiny friends joyful visits, I did manage to make a sweet dog head. I’m very pleased with it. He looks much better than the drawing, more a puppy version of it and I can’t wait to finish him. Here he is in my ‘cat proof box for unfinished Popke heads’.

FullSizeRender

Art

Spring Popkes

Sonja

crochet animal patterns

This week I finally got the change to take a ‘Spring Popkes’ picture. Now I have a picture for every season. It was not an intended thing really, but once I had a summer and autumn picture and started to use them as my Twitter header, soon a winter one was made too. And as I was still using that one, it really seemed appropriate to update that one as soon as possible, as the snowy feel was long gone. But it rained, and was a bit cold still, so there were not so many (suitable low) flowers around yet. And popkes do not like laying outside in the rain or on a wet surface, so I had to wait.

But warmer days did arrive and I looked around for suitable flowers. Very close to where I live, I discovered daisies had made their first appearance in a grassy field and I love daisies! They are such delicate little flowers and perfectly small for Popkes to lay between. In all its silliness, this was the hardest season to capture.

Many of you also must be wondering what animal I am making next. It will be another pet animal, I am going for a dog!

Uncategorized

Bamse, crochet hamster pattern

Sonja

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.

Uncategorized

Ollie, crochet Elephant pattern

Sonja

And yes, his name was announced as Bamse, but I called him Ollie in my head, so Ollie is his name! Here he is, my crochet elephant pattern.

Elephant amigurumi pattern

I am so delighted with Ollie his looks. Every time I design an animal, I am a bit insecure if I will manage to get it right. Usually, when the head is finished, I feel more secure because the face already is so dear to me. And Ollie his face was, but because I designed the head a bit tilted, I had no idea how it would look attached to a body. Would this face work? It might have been more easy if I had made the trunk and head separately, but I really wanted it to be one piece. When a prototype body was finished and the head was pinned to it, I could breath easily again. It looked splendid, the head worked!

The arms and legs really had to have four toes I decided. But when I had them finished, they just looked huge. So, I made new ones, three toed this time, but as round as possible.

Now Ollie was almost finished and needed to be sewed together. Yet a smaller body was made and everything was attached. Strangely now, I found the feet a wee bit small comparing to the rest of the elephant. But that was not such a bad thing really, now I could make the feet four toed. It is a strange thing how parts of a doll can look so much different pinned on, than sewed on.

I think Ollie has turned out to be a very sweet looking elephant. When I took his pictures, I was slightly disappointed with the result. He just did not look like himself but a more serious version.  By change, I played a bit with his trunk and suddenly noticed that in the pictures where it was bended more upwards, Ollie did look how I wanted him too. It was just the position of the trunk that made him look older and wiser, and I wanted him to look young and curious. Voila, problem solved!

Here are some more pictures of Ollie and below them you can find info about the crochet pattern.

crochet animals son's popkes

Elephant amigurumi

About the pattern

Ollie the crochet elephant is sitting almost 5 inch /13 cm tall. He is made with my favourite Lett Lopi yarn, which makes him look very cute and cuddly. You can find the pattern to make him in my shop at Ravelry, Etsy or order it here. It contains a clear description of how to crochet and assemble the elephant 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 your own magnificent little elephant.

And heads up, the pattern has a one dollar release discount till the 18th of februari.

Art

Winter Popkes

Sonja

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!

Patterns

Odi, little owl crochet pattern

Sonja

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

crochet owl pattern amigurumi

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!

realistic crochet owl pattern

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.

Odi-fun

Stories

Autumn Popkes

Sonja

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….

Uncategorized

Boason, crochet rhino pattern

Sonja

Proud and happy, I present my new pattern, Boason the crochet rhinoceros.

crochet rhino pattern

A long time ago, when I was still an art student, I bought this utterly cute WWF rhino plush in a local shop. It was not the usual plush toy you expect for a rhino, but a slender, sturdy version of a rhino youngster. It had this look I loved at first sight.

Now you all understand, that my main goal for this crochet rhino pattern, was to create that same look. Of course I was not going to make a crochet copy of that particular plush, but it had to give me that same feeling. And now, when Boason is finished, I can proudly say I did achieve that goal. Boason isn’t at all the same as the plush toy, but he has that unique slender but robust, sturdy look. He’s not very rotund, like a common rhino amigurumi, but has a more muscular appearance.

Boason is sitting almost 5 inch /13 cm tall. He is made with my favourite Lett Lopi yarn, which gives him his rustic appeal. Here are some more pictures of Boason and below it you can find more info about this crochet rhino pattern.

rhino crochet pattern

neushoorn haakpatroon, amigurumi rhino pattern

How to get this pattern?

The pattern for this sturdy crochet rhino, you can find in my shop at Ravelry, Etsy or order it here. It contains a clear description of how to crochet and attach the beast 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 your own crochet rhino friend.

And heads up, the pattern has a one dollar release discount till the 30th of september.