Dobby the House Elf

When we rewatched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1 recently, my 9 year-old son got very sad at the part when Dobby dies. He would not be comforted, and kept insisting that he hated JK Rowling for killing off his favourite house elf. In the end, I had to promise to crochet him his own little Dobby.

I used a pattern that I had worked out when I made this Grey Hobgoblin, I just didn't give him the furry hair or a tail.

I had wanted to dress Dobby as he's described in the books after he becomes a free elf, with shorts, a tie, mis-matched socks and a tea cosy for a hat. However, my son (who hasn't read the books) wanted him to look the way he does in the films, so I crocheted a smock-like garment that's supposed to look like his pillowcase. I might have looked better made of fabric, but I always find it easier to make things out of yarn. Anyway, my son loved him, so that's all that counts!

Flappy the Owl in Inside Crochet!

I'm very excited! My pattern for Flappy the Owl has won a competition to be featured in a UK crochet magazine, Inside Crochet, issue 20. You can see him on their  Facebook page or at Yudu, where you can see the front cover and the first couple of pages. I love the photo of Flappy with a little suitcase.

Here are some of my photos that I took before I sent him off. He's about a cute little owl wearing a stripy sweater and is 6.5" tall. I had fun coming up with various techniques to make the ribbed parts of the sweater, and his claws and beak. I made a prototype which my son claimed - I knew the design was good when I saw how much he like Flappy (he named him too!).

If you're not aware of Inside Crochet, it's a great magazine. In the UK I go into the newsagents and see five or six knitting magazines, but only one crochet magazine. It's only been going for 20 issues, but I hope that it's going to help popularise crochet in the UK - maybe people will eventually stop asking what I'm knitting! It's well put together, modern and up-to-date, and always has a really good selection of patterns - clothing, accessories, jewelry, toys and things for the home. This is not me advertising for them, by the way, it's just my observation. It's not just my opinion either, check out this blogpost from another admirer.

Fierce Little Dragon

One of the first crochet patterns I wrote was for a dragon - my 'fierce but friendly really dragon'. I love dragons, and it's hard to find nice toys of them, so that was a real incentive to make one myself. Lots of people liked it and asked for the pattern, so eventually I wrote up my notes and put them on Craftster and Livejournal. The notes were quite rough, and though many people had no problem following them, some asked if I could write the pattern up properly. And, finally, I got round to it!

I had to make a dragon to check the pattern, and while I was doing that I tweaked a few bits - I used to crochet a lot more loosely, and I found some parts came up too small - and I used different stitches on the wings to make them much stiffer.

I won't post the pattern here as it's seven pages long, but it is available as a free download from Ravelry: Fierce Little Dragon free pattern

Edited to add: this pattern has now been translated into Spanish by Ana, over at her blog.

Edited to add 2: this pattern has now kindly been translated into French by FilACroche on Ravelry. You can download it here

Little Eggie Amigurumi Pattern

Perfect for Easter - make a cute little Eggie friend. He's about the same size as a hen's egg - use light brown or white yarn if you want him to look like one, or bright yarn if you want him to look like a decorated Easter egg.

Materials:
Small amount of yarn, any colour you like. Thickness is not too important - I used double knitting (dk) but a bit thicker would be fine too.
Black yarn to embroider the mouth.
One pair 6mm safety eyes.
3.5mm hook (US E hook).
Stuffing.
Tapestry needle.

Abbreviations:
ch = chain
st = stitch or stitches
sc = single crochet (US), double crochet (UK)
dc = double crochet (US), treble crochet (UK)
ss = slip stitch
tog = together
sc2tog = decrease by working two sc together
FO = fasten off

Special stitch instructions:
3 dc bob: bobble stitch for hands and feet. YOH (yarn over hook), insert hook into second ch from hook, YOH and pull through loop, YOH, pull through 2 loops, *YOH, insert hook into same stitch, YOH and pull through loop, YOH, pull through 2 loops, repeat once from*, YOH, pull through all 4 loops on hook.

Little Eggie is made in rounds. Do not join rounds, use a stitch marker to mark the start of a round - a small piece of different coloured yarn placed under the stitch at the start of the round will do.

Round 1: Ch 2, work 6 sc into 1st ch - 6 st.
Round 2: 2 sc in each st around - 12 st.
Round 3: [2sc in next st, sc in next 3 st] 3 times – 15 st.
Round 4: [2sc in next st, sc in next 2 st] 5 times – 20 st.
Round 5 – 6: (2 rounds) Sc in each st around – 20 st.
Round 7: [2sc in next st, sc in next 3 st] 5 times – 25 st.
Round 8 – 10: (3 rounds) Sc in each st around – 25 st.
Round 11: Sc in next 6 st, [make arm: ss into next st, ch 7, 3 dc bob into 2nd ch from hook, ss into next 5 ch, ss back into original st], sc in next 11 st, [make arm as before], sc in next 6 st - 25 st.
Round 12: Sc in each st around – 25 st (you sc into the first ss used to make each arm).

Fit eyes between rounds 9 and 10.

Round 13 – 15: (3 rounds) Sc in each st around – 25 st.
Round 16: [Sc2tog, sc in next 3 st] 5 times – 20 st.
Round 17: Sc2tog, sc in next 2 st, sc2tog, [make leg using the same method as the arm], sc in next st, sc2tog, sc in next 2 st, sc2tog, [make leg], sc in next st, sc2tog, sc in next 2 st – 15 st.

Stuff Eggie and embroider mouth.

Round 18: [Sc2tog, sc in next st] 5 times – 10 st.
Round 19: [Sc2tog] 5 times – 5 sc. FO.

Complete stuffing and sew up hole neatly.

Tiny Chick - Free Amigurumi Pattern

This miniature chick is only 1.5" tall, so he'd make a cute little extra for Easter.


Materials:
Small amount of pale yellow yarn, double knitting (dk) weight.
Black yarn to embroider the eyes.
Dark yellow or orange yarn to embroider the beak.
3.5mm hook (US E hook).
Stuffing.
Tapestry needle.


Abbreviations:
ch = chain
st = stitch or stitches
sc = single crochet (US), double crochet (UK)
hdc = half double crochet (US), half treble crochet (UK)
ss = slip stitch
tog = together
sc2tog = decrease by working two sc together
FO = fasten off


This chick is made in rounds. Do not join rounds, use a stitch marker to mark the start of a round - a small piece of different coloured yarn placed under the stitch at the start of the round will do.


Round 1: Ch 2, work 6 sc into 1st ch - 6 st.
Round 2: 2 sc in each st around - 12 st.
Round 3: [2 sc in next st, sc in next st] 6 times – 18 st.
Round 4 – 7: (4 rounds) Sc in each st around – 18 st.
Round 8: Sc in next 4 st, [make wing: ss into next st, ch 4, hdc into 2nd ch from hook, hdc in next 2 ch, ss back into original st], sc in next 8 st, [make wing as before], sc in next 4 st - 18 st.
Round 9: Sc in each st around – 18 st (you sc into the first ss used to make each wing).
Round 10: [2 sc in next st, sc in next 5 st] 3 times – 21 st.
Round 11: [2 sc in next st, sc in next 6 st] 3 times – 24 st.
Round 12 – 13: (2 rounds) Sc in each st around – 24 st.


Start to stuff. Embroider eyes and beak with French knots - wind the yarn round the needle twice for the eyes, and four or five times for the beak.


Round 14: [Sc2tog] 6 times – 12 st.
Round 15: [Sc2tog] 6 times – 6 sc. FO.
Complete stuffing and sew up hole neatly.

Chubby Gnomes

I was thinking of something to make for Easter that was egg-shaped, when I realised that Gnomes, with their pointy hats, were perfect. I wanted them to be chubby and simple, so I started with one with a classic red hat and a little beard.

I was really happy with the way he turned out, and I decided that he needed a little girl friend. I couldn't give her a beard (she's not a dwarf!) so she's got cute little pigtails.

I made another to check the pattern and changed the colours for a bit of variety.

I think Gnomes like gardens so they seem appropriate for spring when everything starts growing so madly. These little Gnomes are only 3.5" tall and fit nicely in your hand.

They'd look cute on a windowsill next to some plants, or maybe they'd like to go travelling? And they have another, more modern, talent. My 10 year-old son discovered that they're the perfect shape for break-dancing!

The pattern is now available in my Etsy shop.

Woolly Jumpers! Rabbit and Lamb amigurumis

I was asked to make some toys for our school's Easter raffle and so I picked two of the animals I most associate with spring - rabbits and lambs. I've been wanting to come up with a pattern for animal toys wearing clothes, so this was a good opportunity to give it a try. I started with a boy rabbit wearing a jumper (or sweater), then made the boy lamb with a really stripy jumper (I love stripes!).

Since I have boys I don't usually make girly toys, but I thought I'd give it a go this time and made a girl rabbit and lamb wearing little dresses, which made a nice change for me.

When I started making them the weather was still quite wintery, but but by the time I got round to photographing them it was getting much more spring-like, and I was pleased to be able to use some daffodils and primula as a backdrop.

The pattern, which gives instructions on how to make all the variations, is available in my Etsy shop.