Star Wars Crochet Kit

 

Well, my Star Wars Crochet kit is finally out, at least in the US.

The kit contains a book with the patterns for 12 Star Wars characters - Boba Fett, C-3PO, Chewbacca, Darth Vader, Wicket the Ewok, Han Solo, Jabba the Hutt, Luke Skywalker (Jedi), Princess Leia, R2-D2, Stormtrooper and Yoda - as well as the yarn, hook and eyes to make Yoda and the Stormtrooper.

 

The kit is published by Thunder Bay in the US, you can find it listed on Amazon, although it will be available in other stores. It's also due to be published shortly in Australia/New Zealand by Hardie Grant under their Chirpy Bird imprint. Hopefully it will be released in other countries too, but there's no information about that at the moment. It is listed on Amazon UK though, due out in May.

 

It's really exciting to see my patterns made into a book like this. I love the photographs of the characters, mixed with stills from the films in the book, and it was wonderful to be told that Lucasfilm were thrilled with the way the book came out!



Happy Star Wars Day!

I hope all you Star Wars fans out there are enjoying Star Wars Day - if you don't know it's called that because of the terrible pun: May the 4th be with you (May the Force be with you). Anyway, my amigurumis are enjoying themselves (maybe I need to crochet a Cantina for them to party in!)

You may spot a new amigurumi, a Jawa. I've been working on the pattern for him, and it'll be in my Etsy shop very soon. Just keep checking here to see when it's ready.

Have fun!

Boba Fett - Mini Amigurumi

I was delayed a bit by Christmas, but I've finally finished my pattern for a miniature Boba Fett. This bounty hunter with the fearsome reputation is only 3.5" tall, and the pattern to make him is available in my Etsy shop.

It was difficult to get his helmet right, but in the end I was very happy with it. It was also hard to find the right colour for his armour - every photo I looked at for reference looked slightly different, and for my first prototype I used an olive green. Then I found this colour, I would describe it as a sage green, which I think works well. I decided against making his rocket backpack, because I felt it would overwhelm him, given his size, but he had to have his little ragged cloak.

I'm hoping to come up with a few more Star Wars characters - I'm working on Obi Wan Kenobi at the moment, then I think I'll have a go at Admiral Ackbar and a Jawa.

***Latest news July 2014***

This pattern is no longer available for sale, as it is going to be included in a new Star Wars crochet book, due to be published Spring 2015.

Star Wars Mini Amigurumi

Well, I've finally done it! I've designed all my Star Wars amigurumi to my satisfaction, written up the patterns, photographed them, put the patterns together and put them all on Etsy!

I've been working on these little Star Wars guys on and off for a couple of years. Partly inspired by my and my children's love of Star Wars, and the way Star Wars Lego looks so cute, I realised that I wanted to crochet mini versions of all my favourite characters. It's taken so long because of wanting to keep them stylistically similar even though the characters are very varied. I also wanted them to be different sizes, so that Leia is taller than R2-D2, and Vader is taller than Han, for example, but not perfectly proportionally, or Chewie ends up being too tall. As it is, Yoda is 2.5" tall and Chewbacca is 4.5" tall, with the rest fitting in between them.

I made Yoda first, he's pretty simple and easily identifiable, then Leia (my favourite character, the one I identify with) whose iconic hairstyle is perfectly suited to be reproduced in crochet. Neither of these two had legs, Yoda with his robe and Leia her dress, so when it came to most of the other characters I wasn't sure how to make them. I knew I wanted them to have big feet, and to stand up easily, and so I made them without separate legs, but simply defined them with yarn afterwards, a solution which I'm really happy with.

Some of them took longer than others to perfect. I wasn't sure if C-3PO would work, but I was happy with him straight away. Vader, on the other hand, I just couldn't get right. His head, his face mask, how much detail to give him. Since his costume is almost entirely black it's very hard to define any details. I made him several times with a flat triangular mask and it wasn't until I made it more three-dimensional that I was satisfied.

The Ewok was tough, too. I made him in a completely different way with his hood as part of his head, which I thought I liked, but when I came to write the pattern up it just seemed too unnecessarily complicated. since I'd just been making my crocheted cork knights I realised I could use a similar technique to make a simple separate hood, which I much preferred.

Apart from fine-tuning his height, I liked my Chewbacca, which I made with an alpaca mix yarn then brushed, but I realised that finding that particular type of yarn might be difficult. So I also made him using a normal smooth acrylic yarn that had various different browns in it and which brushed up just as nicely with a wire pet brush.

Anyway, I'm very happy with the finished patterns. If they prove to be popular I'll have to work on some more characters - I think I'll do Boba Fett and Obi Wan next. If you want to see more photos, check out my Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/96575205@N00/), and if you'd like to buy any of the patterns just go to my Etsy shop (http://www.lucyravenscar.etsy.com/).

***Latest news July 2014***

 

Not all these patterns are available for sale now, as they are going to be included in a new Star Wars crochet book, due to be published Spring 2015.