Easter Patterns, Patterns

A little Eggy Love.

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Well hello from my little Mr & Mrs Eggy. How are you all? I hope you are coping with it all and keeping safe. Our house seems to be a bit of a whirlwind at the moment, with lots of activities and mad moments, but I think each day we are learning new ways of coping and better ways to do things. It’s amazing how many times I find myself thinking outside of the box. My daughter played Club Penguin (Which is like Top Trump with a difference) with my Sister on WhatsApp Video today! It was great! They both had a ball. So think how video calls can be used in a different way.

Has anyone popped any teddy bears in their windows for the We’re Going On A Bear Hunt? We have definitely filled as many windows as we can with teddy bears. We even have the full Toy Story Team in one of the windows. Mr & Mrs Eggy have been sitting in our bedroom window, in the hope that a little person walking past will spot them and wave. Couldn’t resist sharing the pattern with you again. Maybe more little rainbowy Eggymen will be made and popped in windows to be found by little ones. I am also working on a mini little egg, which would be great for any beginners among you or for a quick easter project. So watch out for that.

Right, so this is where my Using Up Year No2 and Easter have joined forces to create these two lovely Eggs! They are perfect as an Easter pressie for someone and can definitely be left on a little person’s doorstep to be found for Easter. 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)

For the legs (Make 2) –

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.

Stay Safe Everyone!!!

Happy hooking!

🌈Xx

(Free pattern designed and brought to you by PipsRainbow. Thank you for not copying or recreating it. ☺️Xx)


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One week down… I wonder how many to go?

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The birds are still flying in the sky. Trees are blowing in the wind. The sun is out. Lambs are being born in the fields. And there’s sunny little yellow daffodils beaming at the world around them. And yet there is a distinct lack of people out and about. And the noise of our surroundings, is a little bit odd and some what eerie!! The roads are quiet, no kids are in the park and there’s a very strange queue outside most supermarkets! Scary and sad times.

Oh my, what a difference a month can make or even a week for that matter. This time last month, we had just come back from an amazing ski holiday. We had a few days back at school and I think if I can remember correctly, I was struggling to get all the housework done. Wow! Definitely not worrying about the housework now. Can’t quite believe how quick our lives have changed! How my head is filled with so many different thoughts now!

How are you all coping? I just wanted to check in with you and see how you are doing. I’m sorry I haven’t been on here or even social media much lately. This last week or so has been such an emotional time for everyone. Feeling decidedly overwhelmed by it all. My children have now been at home with me for a week now. Which in one sense I love, but on the other, I fear for their social interaction with their peers & emotional needs. The end of school/nursery seemed to happen so quickly for us. One minute they were going in and the next we were being sent home with PE bags and a lot of books to read. The kids didn’t seem to get what was going on at all. It was so sad. My eldest seems a lot calmer now that we have been at home for a few days. I think the fear of it all and being at school was getting a bit much. Children are so adaptable aren’t they. Much better than us. Our life changes & we all go to pot, where as the kids just seem to accept it and off they go. Bless them.

Today was the end of our first full week as our little unit. We managed the Joe Wicks PE routine every day. Which was rather hilarious!

I’m pleased no-one was watching. My daughter was doing rather well, but my son on the other hand is a little too young & keeps trying to tackle us & give us big hugs! Always slightly scary when you are attempting some manoeuvres that your body isn’t usually used to, in your living room, in your slippers with 2 children laughing at you and then one suddenly running at you for a hug. So yeah… It’s been fun! Lots of cuppas needed at times like this me thinks.

We’ve started getting lots of jobs done in the house. Amazing when your whole world seems to be existing in 4 walls, you have a sense of sort city!! I seem to be zooming through the house like some kind of steam train. It was my daughter’s room yesterday and the playroom today! I’m amazed how it all gets into such a muddle so quickly!! I’ve challenged my daughter to sort all of the playmobil toys back into their own little groups! Could take a while. (Good job I kept all the instructions!)

I think with us all being in the house so much, it’s even more important than ever that we keep it a bit more ship shape. (Easier said that done.) I think it’s a sense of not being able to work with the kids and set up activities when it’s a mess. Well that’s the plan anyway. It seems to be brushing off on my husband too. Last seen 8pm on Thursday night, painting skirting boards in the hall! Love him!!

I do worry about our little minds after all this time in isolation! I reckon I am definitely showing signs of hobbitness!! It’s worrying! Now for those of you who know me, I always joke about how I am becoming a hobbit, because we live in The Shire and literally only seem to leave once in a blue moon. On a usual (not lockdown) day to day basis, in the week I only tend to leave my home town for one thing. And that’s only 10 minutes away in the car. Everything else, bar swimming & the gym, is pretty much in walking distance! I spend most of my time on foot and will always bump into someone that I know! So now that we are all in lockdown, the likelihood of hobbitness has increased by 10 fold!! Haha. Oh and it’s gonna get a whole lot worse isn’t it.

Now, in my little Hobbit world, I would always visit Bore Street Bakery, twice a week for our weekly bread.

Now due to Coronavirus and the government rulings, they have made the sad decision to shut their doors until the foreseeable future. Properly gutted for them, but I know when they reopen, we will be there with bells on!!

But as a result of this, I find myself in situation where I need to make our own bread. Now this isn’t a problem, as I have made sourdough before. My mother-in-law very kindly made me and a few other family members a starter for our sourdough. Attempt one was made on Friday, but I think my poor little starter hadn’t worked properly and it needed some TLC. Since then, I seem to have been trying to nurse it back to life and have been seen carrying it around the house, trying to find the perfect spot for it to sit and get better.

I keep researching how to help it & trying new ways! Honestly, you would think it’s a little baby, the way I have been nursing it back to health. Oh dear! Maybe the hobbitness has kicked in already!! Fingers crossed the next loaf will be more of a success than this one!!!

And we are definitely missing our yummy coffees from the wonderful Debs at Melbourne Cafe. I think there are quite a few dogs missing their regular trips to her coffee shop. I follow her on instagram and the amount of little dogs that are sitting on Melbourne’s door step waiting to go in. So sad that they are shut too. Missing all our usual places to go. My purple flask hasn’t been used for ages!!

My daughter is definitely coping better now, than last week. She seems to be bimbling around the house quite happy. I found her the other day writing in her diary about the lock down. We had asked her to write a little a day, but knew it might be a big ask. But she has been siting every morning and filling it in. Definitely think it will help her with all the emotions she is feeling. Must be so scary for her.

On Thursday evening, the whole of Britain came out of their doors, windows & balconies to clap and show appreciation for the NHS. It’s was so emotional. I got my daughter out of bed. She was really taken with it. I think someone was even hitting a saucepan with a wooden spoon near us and there was some definite fireworks being let off. To all who work in the NHS, for your role, however big or small, we salute you! From the bottom of our hearts!

As it is early days, we haven’t quite got a routine on the go as to what we will do. I know some of my friends have devised timetables and home schooling routines, but for me it is a time for readjustment at first. A time to get used to being in the house so much for a start. As my loved ones all know, my dear husband has always got itchy feet, so we would always be out that door on Saturday morning, off on a bike ride or adventure somewhere. So to be told to stay in the house & not go & explore, has been a bit of a game changer.

So I’ve devised this system for our activities. All you need are 2 jars, some coloured paper, a pen and some scissors.

And all I did was cut up strips of coloured paper and popped a challenge or an activity on each. So we have a challenge jar and a fun activity jar. So the challenge one, is basically all the work that her school has set for her broken down individually & a few more from me & her tutor. I thought it was the best way to do it, rather than me just telling her what to do & when.

She was sooooo excited when I gave her the jars. It definitely had the desired effect! Yey!! Much better than nagging. So each challenge achieved, she gets a gold star on a chart. It’s definitely growing, so we’re winning on the school work front. And the best part is, she doesn’t really realise she’s doing it! The other jar has lots of fun activities that they both can do. I tried to think of all the activities that we can do in the house like craft activities, or things in the garden. There’s even Lego challenges in there. Can’t beat a spot of legoing! Think for us the old school way of teaching through learning and activities is best for us. Can’t beat a spot of maths, whilst making a cake!!

And a little bit of quilt making AKA Design Technology Lesson!

Heyho. It’s all go isn’t it. I can safely say that crocheting and knitting is so important right now. I think one of the main benefits to crocheting is the ability to loose ones self in it & be distracted by it. With everything that is going on & the worry that people are having to endure, it’s good to have a distraction plan in place. And especially one that you can enjoy the snuggly yarny products after too!!

Well, I‘m hoping to be on here as much as I can. I know my little ones are going to take up quite a lot of my time, but hoping to find little moments for my crocheting. I have plans for more video tutorials & simple patterns for you to follow. So watch this space. It’s so important to have a little escapism with all this fear and worry in the world and crocheting (and a spot of running.) is definitely mine.

Stay Home. Stay Safe!!

Happy hooking my lovely ones.
🌈Xx

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