Rowan yarn – PipsRainbow

Alan the Rhino – Birthday Pattern

October 5, 2019 No Comments

Well hello my lovely ones, how are we all? Hope you are all having a lovely day so far. We’ve been to Calke Abbey National Trust today. Such a lovely place to visit if you are ever in the area. Love our little family trips out together. I think weekends can get so wrapped up with seeing people and parties and things. Which is lovely, but I do think it is really important to have quality time as a family and revel in each other’s company. And National Trusts are perfect for that!! We love exploring new places, but definitely have some local favourites too and Calke Abbey is one of them!! Such a beautiful place!!

Today we had a great time there, running through all the trees and the gardens filled with blooming flowers and autumnal vegetables. Not to mention some seriously huge pumpkins!!

But the icing on the cake today was all the hidden tunnels in the grounds and meeting a particularly lovely volunteer called Alan who showed us down a new tunnel that they had discovered! It was under the hot houses where they grew all the exotic fruit in the gardens. One of them even had a fire underneath the floor so that they could grow pineapples!! Imagine that!! They didn’t even eat them, they grew them as a sign of wealth!! Bonkers!! But the best bit was finding these little creatures in one of the tunnels!!

They are hibernating moths apparently, all attached to a cobweb!! Amazing! There was no other sign of life down there, other than these little guys!! Think Alan our tour guide was quite impressed that we found them! He was such a nice guy and a volunteer too!! So in honour of our lovely tunnel tour guide, my pattern today has been named after him! Alan the Rhino! Not sure you’d ever have seen a Rhino at Calke Abbey, but still! It had to be done!!

So today is a little bit of a special day for me, as it’s PipsRainbow’s 2 Year Birthday!!! Can’t quite believe it really!! 2 Years!! How crazy is that!! Rather chuffed with how far PipsRainbow has come. Love that my patterns are now being shared and enjoyed by so many of you. Makes me so so happy.

I started PipsRainbow 2 years ago with the intention of sharing some serious crochet yarny love with you all. I wanted to share this magical creative activity that had given me so much pleasure over the years. I realised that many of the crochet patterns out there, could be a little confusing for any beginner and especially for someone like me who is decidedly dyslexic!!! So the mission was to share photo tutorial patterns, that were easy to follow and create. It is something I feel very passionate about and hope that you all enjoy my patterns and that they are quite easy to follow.

This year has all been about using up all my odds and ends. I have a funny feeling I might be making next year a Using Up Year as well. Seem to still have lots of yarn to use up!! Whoops!! There are so many other patterns I’d like to share with you and there’s definitely going to be a CAL next year too, which I am rather excited about!! I think that that is one of the best things about crocheting, is the ability to be able to design and create beautiful things with just little bits of yarn.

Here’s a few of my little creations from Year 2 of PipsRainbow. All of their free patterns can be found on my blog, just look in the pattern list.

So to celebrate my 2 year birthday, I thought I would share this little pattern of mine with you. I made it for my dear son. It is the first thing my little man has ever asked me to make, so it’s a pattern that is rather close to my heart.

We went to West Midlands Safari Park again a few weeks ago and my little son was so excited to see the Rhinos again!! He was so taken with them! It was quite funny, considering that my husband wouldn’t get to near to them! Think it was their rather large horn that was decidedly close to his car that was making him edgy!!! (Please we weren’t in my car!!)

So when my son asked if I would make him a woolly rhino, I just couldn’t resist. I really hope you like this pattern. It has a different body to the other patterns I have on the blog so I hope you like it. Hoping to share a mouse and an elephant in the same kind of pattern in the next few months too.

So here it is. Hope you enjoy it.

Level – Easy

Supplies –

So for this pattern your will need 1 ball of dark grey 50g double knit yarn, just a small bit of light grey yarn for the horns and black yarn for the eyes and eyebrows. You will also need some scissors, toy stuffing, blunt ended tapestry needle and a 3mm crochet hook.

For my dark drey yarn i used this fab Rowan Alpaca Soft Yarn from my local yarn shop the Knitting Corner. It was lovely to work and will definitely be using it again!!

Stitches –

Magic Ring (mr) – For a magic ring, make a loop with the yarn, leaving a tail. (Make sure the tail is under the working yarn.) Now insert your hook into the loop, from the front to the back. Wrap the working yarn around your hook and pull the yarn through and pull tight to create a 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.

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.

Double Crochet Decrease (2dctog) – This is where you crochet two stitches together to decrease the amount of stitches in the round. So insert the hook through the front of the first stitch only (the front V) and then insert again through the front of the second stitch (the front V). Now yarn over your hook and pull it back through both stitches, so you will then have 2 loops on your hook. Yarn over your hook again and pull through both loops. And there is your 2dctog. (Basically 2 double crochet stitches crocheted together.)

Ok so here we go…

Body –

1 – Using your 3mm hook, make a magic ring, chain 1 and then work 6dc stitches into the ring. (If you’re unsure of how to work a magic ring, here’s a link to a video tutorial.)

2 – *2dc into each stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (12)

3 – *1dc, then 2dc into each stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (18)

4 – *2dc, then 2dc into each stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (24)

5 – *3dc, then 2dc into each stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (30)

6 – *4dc, then 2dc into each stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (36)

7 – 24 (18 rounds) Work 1dc in each stitch. (36)

25 – *5dc, then 2dc into each stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (42)

26 – *6dc, then 2dc into each stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (48)

27 – 28 (2 rounds) Work 1dc in each stitch. (48)

29 – *6dc, then 2dctog.* Work ** 6 times. (42)

(If you’re unsure of how to work a 2dctog, here’s a video tutorial.)

30 – *5dc, then 2dctog.* Work ** 6 times. (36)

31 – *4dc, then 2dctog.* Work ** 6 times. (30)

32 – *Work 2dctog followed by 13dc.* Work ** 2 times. (28)

Now it’s time to spilt the main body ring and work 2 separates ones to make the 2 legs.

Leg 1 –

1 – Work 7dc stitches.

Then split the round. Do you basically work on the other side of your round. I tend to count back from the stitch marker the amount of stitches I would need. So for this pattern it’s 7 stitches. Then insert your hook there as you can see in the photo below.

Then work 7dc in these last 7 stitches. (14)

2 – 1dc in each stitch to complete your second round. (14)

3 – 17 (15 rounds) 1dc in each stitch. (14)

18 – *2dctog, then 5dc.* Work ** 2 times. (12)

19- *1dc, then 2dctog.* Work **4 times. (8)

20 – *2dctog.* Work ** 4 times. (4)

Now fasten off and sew up the end of the leg with your needle. This would be a good time to stuff the body and the leg you have just made, with your toy stuffing.

Leg 2 –

Now we are going to work the rest of the 14 stitches from the original round.

1 – So insert your hook into the first dc stitch.

Now chain 1 and work the first 1dc stitch. Then work 13 more dc stitches, to complete the first round in leg 2.

2 – Work 1dc in each stitch. You can see in the photo below where the first dc stitch in the round is. (14)

3 – 17 (15 rounds) 1dc in each stitch. (14)

18 – *2dctog, then 5dc.* Work ** 2 times. (12)

19- *1dc, then 2dctog.* Work **4 times. (8)

Don’t forget to stuff your leg with toy stuffing here.

20 – *2dctog.* Work ** 4 times then ss into the next stitch and fasten off leaving a tail to sew up your leg. (4)

Now it’s time to sew up the leg with the tail of yarn and fasten off

Arms – make 2

1 – Start by making a magic ring and chain 1. Now work 6dc into the ring. (6)

2 – Now work 2dc into each stitch. (12)

3 – *1dc, then 2dc into each stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (18)

4 – 5 (2 rounds) Work 1dc into each stitch. (18)

6 – Ok so now work *1dc, then 2dctog.* Repeat ** 6 times. (12)

7 – 25 (19 rounds) Work 1dc into each stitch. (12)

26 – Ok so now work *1dc, then 2dctog.* Repeat ** 4 times. Then ss into the next stitch and fasten off leaving a tail so that you can sew your arm onto the body. (8)

Now it’s time to stuff your hand and a little of the arm with toy stuffing. You can use the end of your crochet hook to push the stuffing in.

Head –

1 – Now make a magic ring, chain 1 and then work 6dc stitches into the ring. (6)

2 – *2dc into each stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (12)

3 – *1dc, then 2dc into each stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (18)

4 – *2dc, then 2dc into each stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (24)

5 – *3dc, then 2dc into each stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (30)

6 – 7 (2 rounds) 1dc in each stitch. (30)

8 – *4dc, then 2dc into each stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (36)

9 – 10 (2 rounds) 1dc in each stitch. (36)

11 – *5dc, then 2dc into each stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (42)

12 – 1dc in each stitch. (42)

13 – *5dc, then 2dctog.* Work ** 6 times. (36)

14 – Work *2dctog.* Repeat this ** 6 times. Then work 24dc stitches. (30)

15 – Work *2dctog.* Repeat this ** 6 times. Then work 18dc stitches. (24)

16 – 17 (2 rounds) 1dc in each stitch. (24)

18 – Work *2dctog.* Repeat this ** 6 times. Then work 12dc stitches. (18)

19 – 21 (3 rounds) 1dc in each stitch. (18)

22 – Work *2dctog.* Repeat this ** 6 times. Then work 6dc stitches. (12)

23 – Work 1dc in each stitch. (12)

Now it’s time to stuff your head.

24 – Work *2dctog.* Repeat ** 6 times. (6)

Now ss into the next stitch, fasten off and sew up the head.

Large horn –

1 – Chain 12 and slip stitch to make a ring.

2 – Now work 1dc in each chain. (12)

3 – Work 1dc in each stitch. (12)

4 – Work *2dctog.* Work ** 2 times. Now work 8dc. (10)

5 – Work *2dctog.* Work ** 2 times. Now work 6dc. (8)

6 – Work -*2dctog.* Work ** 2 times. Now work 4dc. (6)

7 – Work *2dctog.* Work ** 3 times. (3)

Now it’s time to fasten off, stuff your horn and sew up the top of your horn and then weave the yarn back to the bottom of the horn ready to be sewn onto the head of the rhino.

Small horn –

1 – Chain 6 and slip stitch to make a ring. (6)

2 – Work 1dc in each chain. (6)

3 – Work 1dc in each stitch. (6)

4 – Work *2dctog.* Work ** 3 times. (3)

Now it’s time to fasten off, stuff your horn and sew up the top of your horn and then weave the yarn back to the bottom of the horn ready to be sewn onto the head of the rhino.

Ears – Make 2

1 – Make a magic ring, ch1, then 6dc into the ring. Then pull the tail tight to create the magic ring. (6)

2 – *2dc into each stitch.* Work ** 6 times. (12)

3 – Work 1dc in each stitch. (12)

4 – *2dc, then 2dctog.* Work ** 3 times. (9)

5 – 6 (2 rounds) 1dc in each. (9)

7 – *2dc, then 2dctog.* Work ** 2 times. (6)

Now ss into the next stitch and fasten off, leaving a tail so that you can sew it onto the head.

Sewing Up –

So now that you have all your body parts, it’s time to sew all your bits together. Best to start with the arms. As you are sewing them on, just keep checking your alignment.

Then sew on the head, followed by the ears. Then finally finish with the horns.

So for the tail, use your dark grey yarn. Attach your yarn by inserting your hook and pulling it through.

Now chain 10.

Now work 1dc in each of the chain stitches and fasten off and sew in your ends to the body. Now use your light grey yarn, attach to the end of your tail, by inserting into the last stitch and *chain 4, then attaching it back into the same dc stitch*. Repeat this ** 2 times. This will make 3 little loops. Then fasten off and sew in your end into the tail.

Finally sew on your little eyes and eyebrows with your bit of black yarn.

And there we have it. Your little Rhino. I hope you have enjoyed this birthday pattern. Any questions or queries please feel free to give us a shout!

Don’t forget to share your creations – can’t wait to see your little rhinos!

Can I just take this opportunity to say a huge thank you for following me! I hope you are enjoying my rainbow ride of yarny loveliness! It means so much that you are with me and I hope to bring you lots of crocheting wonderful fun in the years to come.

Thanks guys!!

Happy Hooking!!

🌈Xx

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

2018 CAL - Year of the Stitches Blanket

Year of the Stitches Week 30 – Ridged String Network

July 29, 2018 No Comments

Ridged String Network

Holibobs!!! Well what a week. We have been on what I can probably call – our yearly trip to Cornwall. And oh have we had fun. It’s been such a fun, family filled holiday. It’s one of those, when the main aim of the holiday is to chill, yet you cram in as much adventure as possible. We did chill, but only as much as you can with two little bods in tow!

We spent the week in Talland Bay, which is terribly picturesque! It has a little beach, with a wonderful Beach Cafe and lots of little coves and rock pools that need exploring.

One of the days, we headed out on the coastal path to Polperro, which is a quaint little coastal town. We first came across it in February last year, when we stayed in the area. It has a lovely little cafe at the top of the harbour. Couldn’t resist a croissant/cappuccino stop here, after a rather long walk.

It’s definitely worth a visit, if you are in the area.

Have you ever been crabbing? My daughter was so excited when we went. She managed to catch a whopping 13 crabs, but apparently my sister has caught 24!! So we have some catching up to do!

So this week, I have been concentrating on my 4ply sock pattern. Think it’s coming along. The first sock, wasn’t so good. It seemed rather long and the heel was a little weird, but this second one seems better. So hope I can get it published for you guys as soon as possible. I am really hoping to make them for birthday pressies and Christmas pressies. But we shall see. (Note the very sandy crocheting picture below – goodness sand gets everywhere, doesn’t it!)

Think I need to get an order in with HeyJayYarn, so I can make some more super soft sock yarn.

A certain little Uni Unicorn had her first adventure this week. She definitely had quite a few trips to the beach. Makes me so happy when a little PipsRainbow creation is loved and cherished so much. Apparently, another little Uni Unicorn went on their holibobs the other day too. Love how they are finding their way in the world.

Now, just look at that window. This was in our local Beach Cafe in Talland Bay. It definitely stopped me for six!!

I mean, what a view. I walked in and there it was!!! A place to sit, drink tea, eat a few cream teas and above all, crochet!!! I mean, there was even a vase of crocheted flowers in the corner – what could be more perfect!

It just screamed sit down and crochet!

As a family of four, we sat down and shared a bowl of ice cream. My daughter was in her element, slurping and licking yummy ice cream and my son, well, he knows what ice cream is now and was trying every which way to try and sample this creamy delight. Oh and did I mention that he was trying to escape out the window at the same time as well. Haha! What is he like – my little explorer. It was at this moment, when another family of four walked past. Two boys, a dad and his wife. The two kids were screaming for ice cream, the dad was laden down with all sorts of beach fanalia and all the mum wanted was a family photo!! Haha – the dad looked across into the window and caught my eye – within a split second, he had made a facial expression to me of what can only be described as – ‘REALLY – she wants to capture this moment!!!’ Haha, bless him. He was not impressed and seemed to realise that I knew how he felt!! Funny. Amazing how a simple look can communicate something to a complete stranger. I looked back and gave him that knowing smile!!! She took her photo, with all 3 of them being grumpy and off they went!! She was happy, at least.

Well in that moment, I looked at my happy little family, sharing their ice cream and giggling. I looked out of the window at the view and I was so utterly utterly thank you of them and my family holiday. There was definitely no grumpiness here. It was in this moment – I vowed to myself, I would come back and sit in this window one day with my latest project and crochet hook. Whether it be on a family holiday, with the kids in the water, splashing away happily or one of them is sitting beside me or even just with my most dearest, most wonderfullest husband in the world, sitting beside me. I will come back here to crocheted. Promise made – July 2018.

Another little place we visited was a little harbour called Mevagissey. It was a quaint little place.

Loving the little boats and all the different colours and boat names. Some people have some funny ideas about boat names. One was called Girl Rachel. I mean, surely everyone knows that Rachel is a girls name!!! Funny!!! I reckon PipsRainbow would be a good name for a boat, wouldn’t it!!!

Does anyone else have a project that just keeps on going? I can’t seem to finish this one. It’s my Seaside Shawl. I’ve realised that I only seem to work on it, when I’m near the sea. I reckon I should keep it that way. It will truly be my Seaside Shawl then. This week, it found its way out on to Harlyn Bay. Now, I say it made its way out – it was literally minutes!!! It was pouring down and the wind was about 25mph! Luckily on shore! When I took this picture the ball of wool kept falling over, it was that windy!!! But yeah I managed a couple of stitches, whilst a little lady and her daddy were catching waves and my little man was having fun pretending to drive his Daddy’s car!! Maybe, the next beach this little Seaside Shawl sees, I might have chance to crochet a few rows instead of stitches!!

So, think we had better get onto the blanket.

Supplies –

So once again I have used wool from the lovely Rowan range. It’s a stunning deep red colour. I was hoping it would represent my feelings and love and luckiness that we have had a super family holiday together. It’s so very precious isn’t it. I think so many people I know seem to take family holidays for granted or think it’s their right to go on holiday!! Well I for one, feel extremely lucky to have had this week, with just us 4. We have chilled, enjoyed each other’s company and had some super adventures!!! Just what a summer holiday should be about!! Happy days.

So once again you will need about 30-40g of double knit yarn and not forgetting your 4mm crochet hook, scissors and blunt ended tapestry needle to sew in the ends.

Stitches –

Chain (ch) – To make a chain, place the yarn over the hook then pull it through the loop on your hook.

Back Loop Double Crochet – So basically to work a back loop double crochet, you need to insert your hook into the back loop only of the next stitch, then yarn over, as usual, pull through and the yarn over and pull the 2 loops. (So basically it’s a double crochet stitch, but workin th first part of the stitch in th from part only.)

Ridged String Network – This stitch is a very simple stitch. So basically you chain 3, miss 3 stitches and then work 1dc in the back loop of the next stitch. It’s as simple as that.

Ok so here we go …

1 – Attach your yarn and chain 1 onto the right side of your blanket. Work 1dc in the same stitch. *Now chain 3, miss 3 stitches and work 1dc in the 1tr stitch in the row below.*

Repeat ** across the row.

Work 1dc in the last tr stitch in the row. (200)

2 – Turn your work and chain 1. Then work 1dc in the back loop of the same stitch.

*Now chain 3, miss 3 stitches and work 1dc in the back loop of the dc stitch from the row below.* Repeat this **across the whole row.

Finishing by working 1dc in the back loop of the last dc stitch in the row below. (200)

3 – Repeat row 2. So turn your work and chain 1. Then work 1dc in the back loop of the same stitch. *Now chain 3, miss 3 stitches and work 1dc in the back loop of the dc stitch from the row below.* Repeat this ** across the whole row. Finish by working 1dc in the back loop of the last dc stitch in the row below. (200)

4 – Repeat row 2. So turn your work and chain 1. Then work 1dc in the back loop of the same stitch. *Now chain 3, miss 3 stitches and work 1dc in the back loop of the dc stitch from the row below.* Repeat this ** across the whole row. Finish by working 1dc in the back loop of the last dc stitch in the row below. (200)

5 – Repeat row 2. So turn your work and chain 1. Then work 1dc in the back loop of the same stitch. *Now chain 3, miss 3 stitches and work 1dc in the back loop of the dc stitch from the row below.* Repeat this ** across the whole row. Finish by working 1dc in the back loop of the last dc stitch in the row below. (200)

6 – Repeat row 2. So turn your work and chain 1. Then work 1dc in the back loop of the same stitch. *Now chain 3, miss 3 stitches and work 1dc in the back loop of the dc stitch from the row below.* Repeat this ** across the whole row. Finish by working 1dc in the back loop of the last dc stitch in the row below. (200)

7 – Repeat row 2. So turn your work and chain 1. Then work 1dc in the back loop of the same stitch. *Now chain 3, miss 3 stitches and work 1dc in the back loop of the dc stitch from the row below.* Repeat this ** across the whole row. Finish by working 1dc in the back loop of the last dc stitch in the row below. (200)

And there you have the lovely Ridged String Network stitch. Hope you have enjoyed this one. I reckon it would bea great stitch fro a shopping bag of some description – hmmm, now that needs thinking about …

Happy hooping everyone.

🌈Xx