Friday 30 October 2020

Super Quick Snake - Free Crochet Pattern

 



These little snakes are quick and easy to crochet, they don't need stuffing and there's hardly any sewing to finish them off. They naturally curl around your fingers and are great for anyone who loves snakes. They would also make cool and creepy decorations for Halloween.




You will need:

Small amounts of 2 different colours of DK weight yarn to work together - green and black, or green and yellow make nice snake colours mixed together (thinner or thicker yarn is fine, just use a thinner or thicker hook).

Small amount of red yarn for the mouth and eyes.

Tapestry needle.

4.5mm crochet hook.

Finished size: approximately 18 cm/7” long.


Abbreviations:

ch = chain

st = stitch or stitches

ss = slipstitch

dc = double crochet (US), treble crochet (UK)

hdc = half double crochet (US), half treble crochet (UK)

tog = together

dc2tog = decrease by working two dc together (see special stitch instructions)

FO = fasten off


General instructions:

This pattern is written using US crochet terms. For the UK equivalents, see abbreviations list.

The head is worked in rounds and is not joined. To start a round, you can use the magic ring method, but I prefer to work into the  1st chain stitch, working over the tail of yarn and using that to pull the hole tight.

Special stitch instructions:

Dc2tog: YOH (yarn over hook), insert hook into next stitch, YOH and pull through loop, YOH, pull through 2 loops, YOH, insert hook into next stitch, YOH and pull through loop, YOH, pull through 2 loops, YOH, pull through all 3 loops on hook.


Starting at the head, holding both strands of yarn together:

Round 1: ch 3, work 8 dc into 1st ch - 8 st.

Round 2: dc2tog 4 times - 4 st.

Ch 21, sc into 2nd ch from hook, sc into next ch, 2 hdc into next 18 ch.

Ss into next st on head, FO leaving some yarn.

Using the red yarn sew one eye with three short lines. Take the yarn out of the small hole where you started the head and make a tiny stitch to secure it. Make a loop for the tongue and secure it with another tiny stitch, then sew the other eye and secure the end of the yarn. Cut the loop of yarn to look like a forked tongue (if it frays put a tiny bit of glue on the strands). Use the ends of yarn from the snake’s body to sew up the back of its head and weave in any ends.



Friday 2 October 2020

Tree Folk and Fungus Folk Amigurumi Pattern

I love my walk every day through local fields and woods, getting to see beautiful trees and spot toadstools popping up through the earth at this time of year. These two patterns celebrate, in cute amigurumi form, my fondness for these elements of nature. 



These two types of creature are not in scale with each other - true Tree Folk are much more mighty than these little fellows, whereas Fungus Folk are small and unexpected, brightening the woods with their colourful caps.

If you need a little friendly Tree Folk or Fungus Folk in your life, this pattern has all the details you need to make them, with lots of photos to illustrate the more complicated elements. Depending on the yarn you use (I used DK weight, but slightly thinner or thicker yarn will work just fine) the Tree Folk will end up about 12cm/5" tall, and the Fungus Folk will be 10cm/4" tall.

For the Tree Folk you can use a range of yarn colours: different greens for the crown (variegated colours look good) or russet if you want an autumnal tree, and various browns and grey for the trunk. For the Fungu Folk the instantly recognisable red with white spots of the Amanita muscaria or fly agaric is a great choice, but you can make it in any colour, or to look like any mushroom you like.

Find the pattern in my Etsy shop, or on Ravelry.