Everything I completed in July 2023 plus a sneak peek at my WIPs going into August. Story, patterns and crocheting recommendations for beginners!
Starting all over…Project 1
I taught myself to crochet in 2018 by watching YouTube tutorials until I figured it out. I learned the basic stitches and made some hats and blankets for Christmas and baby showers gifts that year. Then, I put it down…not to be touched again for almost 5 years.
So, for my birthday in late June, I ordered myself a Woobles amigurumi kit! Specifically, Felix the Fox! I was nervous and kept telling myself I was going to fail and that amigurumi is hard and this is a dumb way to get back into crocheting. But, I WAS SO WRONG. I completed it in a few hours, over two days and he was almost perfect. I learned how to read patterns with their videos and instructions, and I am sure I could have learned to single crochet with this kit alone. I liked the ergonomic hook it came with and a new (to me) kind of stitch marker that was a total game changer…so I ordered more!
Beginner’s Note: I would recommend the Chick or Bunny for complete beginners. The Woobles videos provided are excellent and easy to follow. I re-watched many while learning to sew pieces onto amigurumi.
Super Saver to the rescue! Project #2
I am feeling confident and dig in my closet to find a lone, bright green, Super Saver yarn, almost untouched. What can I make with this bright green?? I immediately begin searching for dinosaur and cactus patterns. I eventually go with a dinosaur to avoid buying more yarn/colors to complete the project…I didn’t know how committed I was yet to getting back into crocheting.
I found this easy level and adorable Dino pattern! I kept trusting the process and reviewing the pictures provided with the pattern and he really came together well! I decided to do the eyes as suggested with yarn rather than safety eyes because it helped shaped his head and I didn’t have any safety eyes yet! I had to go buy a bag of stuffing to complete this project. I had a lot of fun crocheting this pattern and it is simple to follow! It took me a few hours to complete over about 3 days. I gifted this Dino to my nephew and his name is Danny.
I am buying stuff. I am invested. – Project #3 and #4
After completing Danny the Dino, I felt hooked, pun intended. I wanted to make a Pikachu but there were a lot of difficult and/or sloppy-looking patterns out there. My husband found this Detective Pikachu pattern and I was scared. I didn’t know if I could do it. I found this adorable hippo that seemed simple enough.
With a long weekend taking care of grandma coming up, I decided to go to Hobby Lobby and buy the yarn needed to complete both projects. It was really hard to find the right color yellow for Pikachu and ended up using 3 mini skeins of yarn to complete. I decided I wanted a specific kind of safety eyes for Pikachu and ended up ordering this multipack of eyes and noses from Amazon. While waiting on the eyes to arrive, I started both projects at the same time and worked them until it was time to stuff and really needed the safety eyes to continue.
After the eyes arrived, I decided to finish the hippo first. I think I did something wrong with the teeth and I messed up with sewing on the legs and they are a little off, but overall, I was happy with the hippo. It does not have a name.
Then, it was time to complete Pikachu. I inserted the eyes, stuffed his head and finished the body pretty quickly. I decided to create all the parts that needed to be attached and sew everything on at once. The hat and tail were the hardest part of the pattern, for me, and I still feel like I knocked it out of the park!
I am committed. Let’s make something sellable. Project #5
I wanted another try at the hippo. Cartoon hippos are very cute. I also wanted to make a small blanket because I have only made amigurumi this month. I decided on a safety blanket, the merging of the two desired projects I wanted to create. I found this 8-pointed blanket with hippo head and arms and fell in love! I bought two charcoal gray skeins of yarn and used the mint green from the first hippo for the accent color and had just enough to complete the project.
The hardest part of this project was securely connecting the hippo head and arms to the blanket. I also opted to do the embroidered closed eyes and eyelashes for product safety reasons (I don’t use safety eyes in anything intended for children 3 or under). I did both eyes two or more times, but finally, I got them to look closed and adorable, not scary and lopsided.
Pattern for Hippo Safety Blanket HERE
WIPs (Works In Progress) – Sneak Peek
These are 3 projects that are in progress and will be on next month’s post. I am hoping to complete more projects than last month, but I really got myself into something with one of these projects!