Le Dunno monstre est mort, vive le Dunno monstre!

I wouldn't say I've killed the Dunno monster, but when my husband asked me if I was making an ashtray, I got second thoughts. He got far to big, and I didn't get any feelings for the creation I was making. No, he won't become a monster, right now he's more like a little basket or maybe a boat that my fuzzy koala is sitting in. Problably I'll just throw it away.

But today I've started with a new Dunno monster prototype. And to my sons delight he is yellow! :) I've completed the head, the muzzle and the upper lip, and though I'm not sure about the construction of the upper lip, at least it looks like something between a dragon and a monster. He'll get a lot of jags and teeth and claws, and --- yes --- I'm taking notes :)

As soon as he looks a bit more finished, I will take some photos. But right now it's time to make some supper so we won't starve to death ;)

Dunno monster project

Oh well, this is as far as I have come with my monster project. It was supposed to be a yellow monster, but I found a three colored yarn that would be great for a monster. But since I havn't done any sketches, I just call it my Dunno monster. The future will tell what he will look like :) I guess he will be rather big/fat, cause the bottom is quite large, but I havn't decided how tall I'll make him. My son wanted it to look really scary, so I hope he won't be disappointed when it's finished. I mean, I don't know how to make a crochet animal look scary? But if I give the monster a few fangs and jags perhaps he'll be happy?

I'm home from work this weekend, feeling a bit sorry for myself. I really hate to be sick and snotty.

Fuzzy koala?

I've been trying to brush my koala for the fuzzy look I'm after, but I dunno. He's actually still rather nun-fuzzy. The work continues.

Tiny little Koala bear

As a substitute project for the concequences of my lost crochet hook, I've made a tiny little koala bear. My son instantly wanted to snuggle with "the new Totoro" (since my Totoro project, he calls every crochet creature for "Totoro") :) It's crocheted in wool with cotton/acrylic details, with a 3½ mm crochet hook, and I think I will brush him for a fuzzier look :)

And by the way, of course I had to slightly alter the pattern, 'cause I couldn't get the nose to look like the reference by following the instructions. Don't ask me how I altered it, I used double yarn and croched a bit like I thought would work. And it did! :)

The pattern can be found here.

Desorganized?

I actually managed to lose my 3 mm crochet hook! Please, don't ask me how I managed to mislay it! I mean, I live in a three room apartment and it isn't that messy! One could probably suspect that my 3½ years old son has something to do with the disappearing, but actually I believe he is innocent. When he finds my art and craft stuff, he usually brings it to me and shows me what he has found.

However this makes it impossible for me to finish my pachirisu. When I get a chance, I will of course buy a new one, but the house finances isn't at it's best right now. (Is it ever??). I'm dreaming of an ergonomic crochet hook since my finger joints tend to occationaly hurt quite a bit... but I know I've has to relay on second hand shopping right now. My grandma had severe reumatoid arteritis, especially in her finger joints, and I wouldn't be surprised if my ache would get chronical in twenty years or so, even though the testes I've taken showed exactly nothing. The ache comes and goes, and right now I can keep my hands in pretty good shape as long as I take brakes and do my streches :)

So instead of pokemon characters, I've crocheted a little koala bear :) I don't really know what I'm going to do with all my amigurumi. I consider almost every project right now as a learning experience, and I feel that my ability improves. But I'm longing for making stuff that I actually want to do, in a design I actually intend! But since I still can't do it, I'm going to make a yellow kawaii monster for my son. I'll just have to come up with a design first ;)

Brain Slug

My turquoise brain slug turned out rather small and a bit fluffy, because of the leftover yarn I used. A couple of weeks ago, I got a whole bag of different wool yarns from a colleague, who had got it from her late mother in law. And because she herself is totally uninterested in craftmanship, she gave it to me. The material isn't my favorite, I'm more of a soft acrylic/cotton-mix person, but I'm trying to use yarn from the gift I got, 'cause I like the re-use thought and the love that lies inherented in the balls.

Since I don't got any felt at home, I had to embroider the eye. I'm not very good at it, so I wouldn't give this creature to a small child if I didn't want it to be absolutely slaughtered. But it can sit on a little shelf and just be adorable, that's alright with me :)

You can too make yourself a brain slug! The pattern can be found here!

Modified Totoro

Original pattern is made by Angry Angel. You can find the original pattern here! And please, check her Flickr! She is totally amazing! :)

This was my first modified pattern, and I'm quite happy with the changes I managed to make. I crocheted the body, arms, tail and tummy as the original pattern, but I chose to crochet the eyes instead of using safety eyes, simply because I don't own any safety eyes and I didn't think buttons would be appropriate for this guy. But - haha - as you can see, Totoro got two different shapes of his pupils, which give him a totally crazy look. Totoro on LSD, or something! Hahaha. That HAS to be changed, but I didn't have a great deal of luck with the embroidery tries I did on him this afternoon, so I'll try again another day - I'll keep you posted on the progress.

• I remade the ears less pointy than the original pattern to match the reference picture better. I wonder if Angry Angels' pattern is written correctly, or if it was just bad luck that they got so pointy when I made them the first time? However, the new ears fitted perfectly! :)
  
• Though I followed the pattern, my Totoro turned out a bit taller and slimmer than the original. Maybe I didn't stuff the body heavily enough? Maybe it was the yarn? Or maybe it was just me ;)
• I usually crochet in back loop only, 'cause I like the texture it brings to the creatures. In this case I believe it was a mistake, since I discovered that one row at the bottom of the body should be crocheted with back loop stiches. Now I didn't, 'cause I already had crocheted the whole piece with back loop stiches... ;) But I guess it would have made Totoro a bite more stable if I had followed the pattern.
• I also believe that it would have been a good idea to stuff Totoro's bottom with something heavier, like pellets, since he dosn't have feet or legs to balance him. Luckily, the tail and his reached-out arms gives him some balance.

I made the following changes in Angry Angels otherwise lovely pattern:

Abbreviations:
ch: Chain stich
sc: Single crochet (US), double crochet (UK)
ss: Slip stich
hdc: Half double crochet (US), half treble (UK)
inc2: Increase by working 2 sc into 1 st
dec2: Decrease 2 st down to 1 stich
FO: Finish off

Evenly spread the increases to avoid a hexagon shape. In the pattern I've just written the number of increases in each series.

Ears (make 2):
1: Ch 2, 4 sc into 1st ch, link to 1st sc with ss. (=4 st)
2: (1 sc, inc2) x2 (=6 st)
3: (2 sc, inc2) x2 (=8 st)
4: (2 sc, inc2, inc2) x2 (=12 st)
5: (5 sc, inc2, inc2) x2 (=16 st)
6: (7 sc, inc2) x2 (=18 st)
7: (8 sc, inc2) x2 (=20 st)
8: (9 sc, inc2) x2 (=22 st)
9: (10 sc, inc2) x2 (=24 st)
10-14: Work 24 sc for 5 rounds
15: (4 sc, dec2) x4 (=20 st)
16: (3 sc, dec2) x4 (=16 st)
17: 8 sc, 8 hdc (=16 st)
18: 1 sc, 1 ss, FO.

Eyes (make 2):
1: With black yarn: 4 sc into magic ring (=4 st)
2: With white yarn: 2 sc into each st (=8 st)
3: (1 sc, inc2) x4 (=12 st)
4: Join with first st with ss. FO.


This pattern is linkware. Of course, you are free to use my alternations if you find it suitful for your Totoro, but if you'll post it online or someplace else, please do not reprint my pattern - instead, link me from your blog and feel free to notice me that you've done so by email or otherwise :)

Fierce but friendly dragon

My next project was a fierce but friendly dragon, as it was called by its' pattern designer, Angry Angel (or heavens_hellcat as she calls herself at Livejournal). I'm dreaming of making the perfect dragon pattern myself, but since I have no clue how to do it, I try to find decent dragon patterns to build up an inner picture of what my dream pattern could look like. This was a first try on a dragon, and I made it a bit of my own by using different colors than the creator did. I know, I'm such a dare devil!! ;) But I think the orange spikes on the back make a nice contrast.

It looks a bit like he's going to fly away. Or maybe he'll just fall ;)

Baby Snow Bunny

This wonderful little baby snow bunny was my first amigurumi. I found the pattern over at Darncat Crochet, and it inspired me to actually stop dreaming of crocheting and actually learn how to do it. I was a true beginner when I started crocheting this little cutie (had just crocheted granny's before), but with a little help from different sites on the web, I found the pattern really easy to understand. And after just two or three days, I had myself a little bunny in the couch. She doesn't have a name yet, somehow it feels a bit strange to name other peoples' pieces...

It took me a couple of weeks before I dared to embroider her eyes. But look at the difference! That thing people say about that the amigurumi's soul is in their eyes really is true. Now when I've seen her true self with embroidered eyes and a lovely little nose, I think she looks so naked on the before pictures ;)