Embroidered eyes – character in a few stitches.

While embroidery is my real love I have found myself side tracked or rather “hooked” on crocheting Amigurumi creatures lately.

My first attempt at a crocheted creature was the little sheep I posted previously, and they were a great way to get into the swing of the continuous spiral method of working that is central to Amigurumi.

I really fell for the TOFT Bunny design though it took me a little while to get into the swing of this ‘Emma’ pattern, and I think a good part of the problem was that I was not 100% happy with the feel of the yarn as it moved through my hands. Changing to a yarn with a better hand / feel meant that the ‘Bridget’ Elephant just jumped of the crochet hook. Amazing how touch is such an important part of our enjoyment of a craft.

The only embroidery on these little creatures is the eyes and maybe a nose – I am not a fan of plastic eyes –  but those few little stitches can make such a difference and really establishes the character. On my first attempt my Bunny had a terrific squint. I think that they both have their correct faces on now.

Emma Bunny has now gone off to her new home. Bridget Elephant is sitting on the dining table while I decide if she needs little tusks embroidered on.

Patterns for both can can be found in the Edwards Menagerie book by Kerry Lord.

Small Sheep – trying out Amigurumi

For no particular reason I wanted to try my hand at Amigurumi crochet while I have been having a few days off work.

I have only a little experience with crochet, and I had become fascinated by the possibilities of the Eds Animals patterns from TOFT (https://www.thetoftalpacashop.co.uk) but wanted to start with something small. After watching lots of YouTube videos and looking at various websites I decided to start with Sheep!

These little guys are about 8 to 9cm from head to tail, so they didn’t take long to work up. While I have no real idea what I will do with these cute little fellows – could be handy for that next unexpected baby gift – they have been great fun to play with and a good way to start to learn the techniques of Amigurumi.

Maybe a little Rabbit next?

 

 

Passing on the love of Embroidery

My 6 year old Grandson is visiting this week. As he was sitting beside me reading his Harry Potter book and watching me stitch he said “I want to learn to embroider like you Grandma”.

I didn’t want to let this unexpected opportunity pass so I quickly found a piece of felt, a sharpie, some cotton thread and a good sized needle. Seeing his book lying on the sofa was the inspiration for a bookmark, and using his own name gave him shapes, lines and a pattern he was familiar with following. Stitching this piece kept him quietly occupied for about half an hour, with only a little help on starting each letter.

On completion of this his next request was to stitch a light sabre! Not sure I can draw that but I think he has caught the embroidery ‘bug’.

Bookmark – felt and cotton.