Well hello my lovely ones. How are we all? Hope you have all had good Easters and bank holidays! What weather we have had!! Just incredible!! We managed a few trips to the beach together and my Seaside Shawl has had its first outing of the year!!
It’s still a way off being finished, but it’s getting there. The rule with this shawl, is that I can only crochet it when I’m by the sea!!
So as you can imagine, it’s taking me a while!!
So yesterday, I was one happy little crocheter, as I had a lovely little trip to the wonderful Wool on the Exe Shop which is located on Oxehampton Street in Exeter!!! And oh my was it worth the journey!!
It’s located at the top of the street, near a roundabout, but there are lots of car parking spaces outside to be found. Once you are inside, there is an overwhelming sense of yarny calmness and colour. Your eyes are drawn all over the place, with splashes of colour and yarny magicalness. It’s a yarn lovers dream. And then, you are greeted by one of the bubbliest, kindest yarny shop people I have ever met. Yesterday, my daughter and I met Debbie. She was sooooo nice and so happy to help to us. That’s one thing that has always astonished me in the yarny world – how lovely and welcoming people are. They make you feel at home instantly and part of a happy, creative group. There’s definitely a sense of belonging. And this belonging was definitely found in Wool on the Exe yesterday!!!
We only went in for a sneaky peak as it was my birthday and came out with a bulging bag of yummy yarn.
They have all sorts of yarny magicalness in there!!! And I am happy to report, there were some incredible yarns from companies that I had never heard of!! Small little business, making a living from their livestock or their ability to hand dye. Just the best!!
They also had some of the big boys like West Yorkshire Spinners. Now they must be proud of the range that they stock in this shop too, as there was all sorts of colourful treats to be had! I was so nearly tempted by the new 4 ply sock yarn that they have just launched, but my arm got twisted by a certain bouncing little girl who found this ball of fluff.
It was tucked away under the window display, but were hawked eyes by my girl and brought to my attention!!! Now I have heard of this kind of yarn from a friend at home, but I have never come across it before and have always been intrigued! It works up with normal crocheting or knitting, but looks and feels like a real teddy bear! And oh my it is sooooooo soft!! I can’t really describe how soft it is!! My daughter was literally doing somersaults she was that excited about it!!! Well, it’s another little pile of yarn to add to the project list!!! My daughter would like a teddy bear, so thought it would be a nice challenge to design one. It says it needs a 10mm hook, but thinking I would reduce that to a 9mm maybe, seen as it’s an Amigurumi project. Definitely don’t want any stuffing popping out!!! Oooo, my designing hat seems to be on and in go go mode!! Hmm, I had better get my other projects finished first!!
So some of you may have seen that my daughter has started Finger Knitting. Well, I think some kind of addiction has kicked in, as she is loving it!!! This is the girl that has tried with bits of crocheting, but has been shown how to Finger Knit once and is a complete natural. I mean she literally walked around a supermarket yesterday, finger knitting!!! So I promised her some yarn from the fabulous Wool on the Exe shop. Once she’d whizzed around the shop, her little eyes landed on some lovely soft West Yorkshire Spinner yarn from their Bo Peep range.
This is great for all sorts of projects. So I wonder what she will make with this!! Finger knitting is all about little strands, so it’s how you assemble them together, which gives you the end product. I reckon some little teddy blankets first and see how she goes.
She also picked up the Baby Zpagetti Print Cotton yarn. Debbie had said this was great for finger knitting, so off those two went, making a necklace, giving me a chance to squeal at the delights in the shop. Bless Debbie, she was so nice with her and even showed her how the cotton was worked up and made her this beautiful necklace!! So sweet of her!! Sure my daughter will cherish it forever!!
But for my own little birthday treat, I just couldn’t resist this skein of wonder! It’s a mix of Superwash merino wool and silk and was hand dyed by the one and only Debbie!! So it was obviously meant to be!! It’s sporting some incredible colours, so will have to have a think as to what project will do it justice!! Love that it’s called Easter Eggs! Maybe it can be my Easter Sunday scarf!!
Here’s a link to their wonderful website. You will find all their workshops and events on there! Hmm, I wonder if I could arrange a holiday down here, around one of their workshops! Now there’s a thought!!
So if you are ever in the vicinity and are able to take a magical step into this little gem, then please do!! It is well worth it and you will come out feeling very happy!!! Can’t wait for our next trip, hoping to meet Ella, Debbie and the whole team next time.
Wool on the Exe. Adventures in Yarn – think that says it all…
Hello my lovely ones. How are we all? Are we all getting ready for Easter? Not long now. It definitely feels like it’s come around quickly this year. We’re all looking forward to having a break and a bit of a slower pace in our house, from the usual school run craziness!! I think I will get my daughter to make a mindmap of all the things she wants to do in the holidays again. It worked really well at half term. We had great fun, ticking them all off.
Hoping to start her off with some Grannie Squares this holiday too. Think the blanket might have to be put on hold for a bit. Bless her. Might have been a bit too ambitious with that one!! Whoops!!
So I reckon it’s time to introduce you guys to Mr & Mrs Eggy.
They seem to be sheltering under their umbrella from all this wind and rain at the moment. I don’t blame them. These two have been hiding in the playroom for the last month or so. They seem to spend most of their time snuggled up together. Bless. Everything I make at the minute seems to be in twos!! I don’t know why! I never seem to set out to make two, it just seems to happen!!! Funny!!
Right, so this is where my Using Up Year and Easter have joined forces to create these two lovely Eggs! They are the healthy alternative to any yummy chocolatey heavenly Easter Egg that you might be thinking about buying for your loved ones!! Haha! Only joking. These little guys would be a great accompaniment to any chocolatey egg and will be there to snuggle your little bods, when the sad day arrives when all the chocolate has been eaten. A sad day indeed…
Really hope you enjoy this pattern. It’s ever so simple and quick to whip up. They are created by using the ever so simple Treble Crochet stitch, so it gives a nice alternative to the normal double crochet Amigurumi patterns and also works up a lot quicker.
Ok so off we go…
Level – Easy
Supplies –
So for Mr & Mrs Eggy I have used soft double knit wool, but you can choose whatever yarn you would like. Now you are going to need a 3mm crochet hook. (The reason we use a smaller hook size to the yarn, is so that the weave is smaller, thus making sure no toy stuffing comes out.) So for the double knit yarn – you will need about 140g, but I used all my bits up, so up to you what you can find in your stash!!
Don’t forget you also need a bit of white and black yarn for the eyes and face. And also your scissors, toy stuffing and blunt ended tapestry needle. Oh and a pom pom! The best bit!!
Stitches –
Magic Ring – Fold over the yarn to make the loop. Insert your hook through the loop and grab the working yarn (long piece) and pull through the loop. Hold the tail and the working yarn and pull so that the knot tightens, but you still have a loop. This has created a magic ring.
Slip stitch (ss) – This is where there is no height to the stitch. It’s usually used to join rounds. So insert the hook into the front of the stitch you are joining to. This is usually the first stitch you made in that round/row. So yarn over hook and pull through that first stitch then also through the loop on your hook.
Chain (ch) – To make a chain, place the yarn over the hook then pull it through the loop on your hook.
Treble (tr) – To make a treble crochet, firstly yarn over your hook, insert through space/stitch, yarn over your hook, pull back through space/stitch. There should now be 3 loops on your hook. Then yarn over hook and pull through the first two loops, yarn over hook and pull through the last two loops.
Double Crochet (dc) – Insert the hook through the stitch, front to back, then yarn over hook and pull back through stitch. You will have two loops on your hook. Then yarn over your hook and pull through both loops.
Decrease with treble (tr2tog) – ok so basically you need to crochet 2 stitches together, but still keep the height of a tr. So yarn over your hook and insert into stitch. Then yarn over hook and pull back through. This leaves you with 3 loops on your hook. Now yarn over your hook and pull through first 2 loops. This will leave you with 2 loops on your hook. Now yarn over hook and insert into the next stitch. Then yarn over your hook again and pull yarn back through. This leaves you with 4 loops on your hook. So yarn over your hook and pull through the first 2 loops. Then to finish, yarn over your hook and pull through the last 3 loops.
Double Treble Stitch (dtr) – A double treble is quite a tall stitch. So yarn over hook twice, insert hook through the stitch/space and then yarn over hook again. Now pull the yarn through the stitch. There will now be 4 loops on the hook. Now place the yarn over the hook and pull through the first 2 loops. Then yarn over the hook again and pull through the next two loops. Haha, now place the yarn over the hook again and pull through the last 2 loops. Phew! It’s a bit of a long process, but a lovely stitch with the height that it gives.
Body –
Now as this is a great Using Up Project, you can either use lots of little bits of yarn for the body like Mrs Eggy or one ball of yarn like Mr Eggy. Depends what look you are going for or how much yarn you have of each colour. For Mr Eggy I used about half a ball of a colour changing yarn. He seemed to work up quite nicely in that.
1 – Right then, so first things first, make your magic ring and chain 3. (Remember if you’re unsure of how to do this, see the tutorial section. Just remember you are working a Treble Crochet Stitch into the magic ring.)
Now work 12tr stitches into the ring itself.
To make a Treble Crochet Stitch – firstly yarn over your hook, insert through space/stitch, yarn over your hook, pull back through space/stitch. There should now be 3 loops on your hook. Then yarn over hook and pull through the first two loops, yarn over hook and pull through the last two loops.
Here’s your 12 treble Crochet stitches.
You can now pull the little tail to close the ring. (12)
2 – Work 2tr into each stitch. (24)
3 – Work 2tr into each stitch. (48)
4 – Work 1tr in each stitch. (48)
5 – Now work *7tr, then 2tr into each stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (54)
6 – 7 (2 rounds) Work 1tr into each stitch. (54)
8 – *8tr, then 2tr into each stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (60)
9 – *9tr, then 2tr into each stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (66)
10 – *10tr, then 2tr into each stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (72)
11 – 13 (3 rounds) Work 1tr into each stitch. (72)
14 – *11tr, then 2tr into each stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (78)
15 – Work 1tr into each stitch. (78)
16 – Now work *11tr stitches, then tr2tog* repeat ** 6 times. (72)
Right then, so to work a tr2tog Stitch – Yarn over your hook and insert into stitch. Then yarn over hook and pull back through. This leaves you with 3 loops on your hook. Now yarn over your hook and pull through first 2 loops. This will leave you with 2 loops on your hook. Now yarn over hook and insert into the next stitch. Then yarn over your hook again and pull yarn back through. This leaves you with 4 loops on your hook. So yarn over your hook and pull through the first 2 loops. Then to finish, yarn over your hook and pull through the last 3 loops. And there you have your tr2tog.
17 – Work 1tr into each stitch. (72)
18 – Now work *10tr stitches, then tr2tog* repeat ** 6 times. (66)
19 – Work 1tr into each stitch. (66)
20 – Now work *9tr stitches, then tr2tog* repeat ** 6 times. (60)
21 – Work 1tr into each stitch. (60)
22 – Now work *8tr stitches, then tr2tog* repeat ** 6 times. (54)
23 – Work 1tr into each stitch. (54)
24 – Now work *7tr stitches, then tr2tog* repeat ** 6 times. (48)
25 – Work 1tr into each stitch. (48)
26 – Now work *6tr stitches, then tr2tog* repeat ** 6 times. (42)
27 – Now work *5tr stitches, then tr2tog* repeat ** 6 times. (36)
28 – Now work *4tr stitches, then tr2tog* repeat ** 6 times. (30)
29 – Now work *3tr stitches, then tr2tog* repeat ** 6 times. (24)
This would be a good time to stuff your body with stuffing.
30 – Now work *2tr stitches, then tr2tog* repeat ** 6 times. (18)
31 – Now work *tr2tog* repeat ** 6 times. (9)
Now slip stitch into the first stitch, sew up the hole and fasten off leaving a tail to sew the pom pom onto the top of the body later on.
Eyes – Make 2 using your white yarn.
Right so for the eyes you can either make two of the same or two different shaped ones. So I have included a round pattern and an oval pattern. So it’s totally up to you.
Eye 1 (The round one)
1 – Right then, so make your magic ring and chain 1. Now work 6dc stitches into the chain itself. You can now pull the little tail to close the ring. (6)
2 – *Now work 2dc into each stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (12)
3 – *Now work 1dc, then 2dc in the next stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (18)
4 – *Now work 2dc, then 2dc in the next stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (24)
Now slip stitch into the first stitch and fasten off leaving a tail to sew the eye onto the body.
Eye 2 (The Oval one)
1 – Right then, so make your magic ring and chain 1. Now work 6dc stitches into the chain itself. You can now pull the little tail to close the ring. (6)
2 – *Now work 2dc into each stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (12)
3 – Then work 2dc in the 3 next stitches, then 3dc stitches, followed by 2dc in the next 3 stitches. Then finish with 3dc stitches. (18)
4 – Ok so for the last round, it’s a bit of a concoction of stitches. So start by 1htr, then 1tr and 1dtr in the next stitch. Then 1dtr and 1tr in the next stitch. Follow this with 1htr in the next stitch and then 5dc stitches. Now work 1htr stitch and then 1tr and 1dtr in the next stitch. Then 1dtr and 1tr in the next stitch. Follow this with 1htr in the next stitch and finish with 5dc stitches. (Hope that all makes sense!!) (22)
(Remember if you are unsure of any stitches, just look above at the stitch section.)
Now slip stitch into the first stitch and fasten off leaving a tail to sew the eye onto the body.
Arms and Legs – Make 2 of each
Now you can use whatever combo of colours you fancy with these. I have paired up the arms and the legs, but it’s totally up to you what you do. They start off the same and then just change on the length. Just make sure you read the pattern careful, as in some parts you are going to switching between double and treble crochet stitches.
1 – Make a magic ring, chain 1, then work 6dc into the ring. (6)
2 – Now work 2dc into each stitch in the round. (12)
3 – *1dc, then 2dc in each stitch* Work ** 6 times. (18)
4 – *2dc, then 2dc in each stitch* Work ** 6 times. (24)
5 – 6 (2rounds) Now work 1tr in each stitch. (24)
7 – Work *2dc, 2dctog.* Work ** 6 times. (18)
8 – Work *1dc, 2dctog.* Work ** 6 times. (12)
Forthelegs(Make2) –
9 – 27 (18 rows) Work 1dc for in each stitch in the round. (12)
For the arms (Make 2) –
9 – 28 (19 rows) Work 1dc in each stitch in the round. (12)
29 – *1dc, 2dctog* Work ** 4 times. (8)
Now make a slip stitch and fasten off. Now it’s time to stuff the legs and the arms if you want to. Now you can either leave the arms/legs empty or give them a little stuffing, but not too much. You don’t want them to stick out too much and not have any movement! For this pattern I like to keep the arms and hands completely free of stuffing, but stuff my feet and a little of the legs, but it really doesn’t matter either way.
Now you have 2 arms and 2 legs done. You’ll be able to tell the difference easily between the two, as the arms are a little longer and taper in at the top.
And there we have it. All body parts made…
Sewing Up –
Right then, so all we need to do now is sew it altogether and add the face and most importantly, the pom pom!!
So you are going to need your scissors and blunt ended needle to sew up your body parts and some black yarn for the face.
First things first, use the tail from the top of the arms to sew each arm on to the top of the body.
When you’re sewing on the arms and legs, make sure you sew the top of the arm/leg and the under side of it too.
Right now for those legs. You need to decide how you want them to lie, but this is the angle I tend to use.
Sew your legs on with the same kind of technique as the arms. You just need to make sure you keep checking the angle they are sitting at to each other.
Ok so now for the eyes. So to sew them on, grab the middle little tail and using your needle, just loosely sew the tail through to the other side and cut off the visible end. This will gently anchor the eye in place, which will make it easier for you to sew around the edges.
So the best way to sew them on is to work your way up and down in and out of each stitch. You can see in the picture below how I am coming back up through the next stitch. This will ensure the sewing on thread is hidden and will give a much neater finish to your project.
Once you have finished your first eye, I insert the needle through to the back of the body, where I make a simple knot and insert that back through to the side of the body. This will ensure that the eye is anchored properly. Now onto the second eye and sew on as before. Make sure that you keep checking the eyes are level and placed where you want them to be. Don’t be afraid to undo and start again, if it goes a little wonky!!
Ok, so now it’s time to finish the eyes and create the eyebrows. For the eye, start by threading your needle with black yarn and then knotting the end. Then thread it through from the back of the body, through the middle of the white part of the eye. The knot at the back should be small enough to fit through the middle of a stitch so that it is hidden, but be able to nestle in the stuffing to anchor the eye in place. Now finish your eyes by working little pupils on each eye, by sewing up and over a stitch. You can make these pupils as small or as big as you like. I seem to usually go over 2 stitches and usually sew it over about 4 times.
To work the eyebrows, you can carry on using the black yarn from the eyes. So come up where you want the eyebrow to start and then literally insert it back into the stitch where you want the eye brow to end. It’s pretty simple, but very effective. Don’t make it too big, as they can get caught and snag later on! Obviously you can make any expression you would like to, just by changing the angle of the eyebrows!
To make the smile, literally come up about two rounds under the first eye. Then over to the second eye in the same place. Now here’s the tricky part, find the middle of the smile and make a little stitch a few rounds underneath, but make sure your stitch goes over the smile.
This is to ensure the mouth is anchored down. Once again as before thread your black yarn to the back of the body, make a simple knot and then sew back through the body and cut off the end.
Right then, now it’s pom pom time!! Most pom poms have little loops. So use the thread from the top of the body, to sew on your pom pom!!
Well, I hope you have enjoyed this pattern. I know they went down well in our household.
Please let me know if you get stuck, I will endeavour to help in anyway I can.
Thanks ever so much for following me.
Happy hooking!
🌈Xx
(Free pattern designed and brought to you by PipsRainbow. Thank you for not copying or recreating it. ☺️Xx)
