FREE PATTERN: Reindeer

I’m pleased to finally present to you my reindeer pattern! He was inspired by Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. 🙂

I first started working on this pattern almost 2 years ago when I first started crocheting amigurumi. I sketched up his design on the back of a receipt and scribbled the pattern messily on the back of scrap paper as I fumbled through the stitches to make up a prototype. Whilst I finished my prototype, it never saw this blog as I soon realised I had crocheted him inside out (this was before I knew about the “right” and “wrong” side of crochet). Time passed and I questioned if I had even written out the pattern correctly. But fast forward to a few weeks ago when I finally sat down recently with my scraps of paper and tested the pattern – and here we have my reindeer!

I hope you like him!

 

MATERIALS:

– 3.75mm Hook

– 15mm Safety Eyes

– Dark Brown Yarn (Antlers and Hoofs)

– Chestnut Brown Yarn (Main Body)

– Tan Yarn (Muzzle)

– Red Yarn (Nose)

– Black Thread (Mouth)

– Fiber Fill

– Darning Needle

 

NOSE (With Red Yarn):

Chain 8 (Foundation Chain)

R1: Starting with the second chain from the hook, Sc 7 into the back loops. Turn and Sc7 into front loops. (14sts)

R2: 2sc in sc, sc5, 2sc in sc, 2sc in sc, sc5, 2sc in sc (18sts)

Cast off

 

MUZZLE (With Tan Yarn):

R1: Sc 6 into Magic Ring

R2: Sc 2 into each sc (12sts)

R3: *Sc 1, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 6 times (18sts)

R4: *Sc 2, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 6 times (24sts)

R5: *Sc 3, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 6 times (30sts)

R6: *Sc 4, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 6 times (36sts)

R7-8: Sc 36

Cast Off

Sew mouth detail onto Muzzle. Sew Nose onto Muzzle. My reindeer’s mouth ended up a little lopsided – but I’m just going to say it gives him more character! 😉

 

 

HEAD (With Chestnut Brown Yarn):

R1: sc6 into Magic Ring

R2: Sc 2 into each sc (12sts)

R3: *Sc 1, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 6 times (18sts)

R4: *Sc 2, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 6 times (24sts)

R5: *Sc 3, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 6 times (30sts)

R6: *Sc 4, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 6 times (36sts)

R7:  *Sc 5, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 6 times (42sts)

R8:  *Sc 6, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 6 times (48sts)

R9:  *Sc 7, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 6 times (54sts)

R10-21: Sc54

R22: *Sc 7, dec 1 sc*, rep 6 times (48sts)

R23: *Sc 6, dec 1 sc*, rep 6 times (42sts)

R24: *Sc 5, dec 1 sc*, rep 6 times (36sts)

Place Eyes. I placed my reindeer’s eyes between the 17th and 18th rows, approximately 16sts apart.

I recommend using the muzzle piece to work out which spacing work best for your reindeer.

R25: *Sc 4, dec 1 sc*, rep 6 times (30sts)

R26: *Sc 3, dec 1 sc*, rep 6 times (24sts)

R27: *Sc 2, dec 1 sc*, rep 6 times (18sts)

Stuff Head firmly.

R28: *Sc 1, dec 1 sc*, rep 6 times (12sts)

R29: Dec 6 times

Cast Off

Attach Muzzle onto the Head. I didn’t stuff the muzzle, but if you would like it to stick out more you can.

 

 

BODY (Chestnut Brown Yarn):

R1: sc6 into Magic Ring

R2: Sc 2 into each sc (12sts)

R3: *Sc 1, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 6 times (18sts)

R4: *Sc 2, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 6 times (24sts)

R5: *Sc 3, 2 sc in next sc*, rep 6 times (30sts)

R6-12: Sc 30

R13:  *Sc 3, dec 1 sc*, rep 6 times (24sts)

R14: Sc 24

Cast off

Attach Body to the Head.

 

LEGS (Dark Brown and Chestnut Brown Yarn) Make 4:

Starting with Dark Brown Yarn

R1: sc6 into Magic Ring

R2: Sc 2 into each sc (12sts)

R3: BLO Sc 12

R4: Sc 12

Switch to Chestnut Brown Yarn

R5-7: Sc 12

Stuff Leg

R8: Dec 6 times (6sts)

R9: Sc 6

Cast Off

Attach 2 Legs to the front of the reindeer and the remaining legs on either side. Your reindeer should be able to sit by itself.

 

TAIL (Chestnut Brown Yarn):

R1: sc6 into Magic Ring

R2: Sc 6

R3: *sc 2, 2sc in next sc*, rep 2 times (8sts)

R4: *sc2, dec 1*, rep 2 times (6sts)

Cast Off

Attach the tail to the back of the body.

EARS (Chestnut Brown Yarn) Make 2:

R1: 5 into Magic Ring

R2: sc 5

R3: *sc1, 2sc in next sc*, rep 2 times.  Sc1 (7sts)

R4: *sc1, 2sc in next sc*, rep 3 times. Sc1 (10sts)

R5-7: Sc 10

R8: *sc1, dec 1*, rep 3 times. Sc1 (7sts)

R9: Sc 7

Cast Off

 

ANTLERS (Dark Brown Yarn) Make 2 of each size:

Each Antler is made up of 3 parts, which I have labelled A, B and C for clarity.

PART A:

R1: Sc5 into Magic Ring

R2-14: Sc5

Cast Off

 

PART B:

R1: Sc5 into Magic Ring

R2-7: Sc5

Cast Off

 

PART C:

R1: Sc5 into Magic Ring

R2-4: Sc5

Cast Off

Assemble the Antler parts as shown in the photograph below. I found that they are stiff enough as they are to stand up on their own. I attached Part B and C to Part A at slight angles.

Attach Ears and Antlers to the Head.

Aaaaaaand there you have it! Your very own Reindeer! Will you be making a reindeer this Christmas? I would LOVE to photos of your reindeer if you do! Please email them to drawnandhooked@gmail.com

This pattern is an original pattern by Rachel of Drawn and Hooked (November 2014). Please do not claim this pattern as your own. You may link to this pattern but please do not reprint it on your site, sell or distribute it, or sell items made from this pattern. Thank you! 🙂

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Coming Soon: FREE Reindeer Pattern

Hi again! Here’s a sneak peak of a pattern of a reindeer I wrote quite a while ago but only got around to testing and photographing recently. As you can see, he’s modeled on the beloved Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and he likes hanging out at the beach (as there is no snow in this part of the world!).

I’ll be releasing his pattern (along with pictures of how to assemble him) later this week so that, if you’d like to add a little reindeer to your Christmas decorations this year you can!

If you would like to get your materials together in the meantime, I used the following items for this project:

– 3.75mm Hook

– 15mm Safety Eyes

– Dark Brown Yarn (Antlers and Hoofs)

– Chestnut Brown Yarn (Main Body)

– Tan Yarn (Muzzle)

– Red Yarn (Nose)

– Black Thread (Mouth)

– Fiber Fill

– Darning Needle

I’m looking forward to sharing this pattern with you all! – Rachel

Step-By-Step Tutorial: Toothless from How To Train Your Dragon

As promised in my last blog post, here’s a visual step-by-step tutorial of how to crochet and assemble an Amigurumi Toothless.

You will find the pattern HERE on Sarselgurumi’s blog. This post is intended to compliment Sarselgurumi’s pattern with visuals. I hope you find it useful!

I used dark navy DK yarn and a 2.75mm hook.

TOOTHLESS’ PARTS

BODY

The body is started at the base and worked up to the neck. The decreases shape it into a “sitting” posed body.

 

HEAD

The pattern calls for Toothless’ head to be “shaped” during the stuffing process. However, I found that the increased were sufficient in giving him a pointed snout. I think working with a smaller hook (a 2.75mm – which created tighter stitches) helped in giving Toothless’ head shape.

CROCHETING TOOTHLESS’ TOES

1) As instructed, crochet the base of the foot. With the sole facing down, your foot base should look like this.

2) I put a stitch marker at the beginning of the round. As per pattern, crochet in the first few front loops.

3) Half double crochet into one stitch as instructed (I’ve traced the HDC stitches in red) and loosen the last loop as shown in the image below. Remove crochet hook.

 

4) Insert hook into the first HDC and pick up the loosened loop. Then, as indicated by the red arrow, tighten the loose loop and pull through the first HDC.

 

5) Then you will have your toe!

 

6) Continue following the pattern. When you have finished the round, your “foot” should look like this.

 

7) When you  sc the next round though, be careful to note that some of the stitches (especially around the toes) you crochet into will not be as obvious.

FRONT LEGS

BACK LEGS

EARS

MINI HORNS

 

TAIL

 

WINGS

 

TAIL FINS (Part A and Part B)

At the end of Row 3 on Part B of the wings the pattern says to slip stitch through the ends of the previous rows to create a curve. I understood this to mean slip stitching into the stitches marked in red.

 

The end result creates a curve around the edge of the piece.

 

 

Once you have completed all the parts of Toothless you should have something like this…!

 

Which leads to…

ASSEMBLING TOOTHLESS

HEAD TO BODY

First of all, Toothless head is to be connected to his body. The pattern suggests skewering both parts onto a knitting needle – and this was a great way to keep both parts inline whilst sewing them together.

LEGS TO BODY

I attached Toothless’ back legs to his rear at a 90 degree angle – sticking out to his left and right.

I attached his front legs pressed against the front of his body.

 

EARS, MINI HORNS and EARS to HEAD

Toothless’ Mini Horns and Ears frame his face in the same way a mane frames a lion’s face. I attached the two mini horns on Toothless’ head first and then worked down his face. I positioned the first two horns a few rows behind the centre of his head as seen in the picture below.

As I attached the ears and other mini horns, I positioned them a little closer to the front of his face. From the side you can see how the mini horns and ears tilt at an angle around Toothless’ face.

 

 

TAIL AND WINGS TO BODY

 

TAIL FINS AND TAIL

I struggled a little to understand how Toothless’ tail fins should attach to his tail. I looked at pictures of the animated Toothless for ideas and in the end settled for this arrangement.

 

After all this you should finally have your very own Toothless!

I hope this post has been of use to those of you who are making a Toothless on your own! It’s an amigurumi pattern more challenging than most, but very rewarding to complete!

 

Hooked: Toothless from How To Train Your Dragon

Meet my latest amigurumi – Toothless the (Night Fury) Dragon from “How to Train Your Dragon”!

The pattern is from Sarselgurumi which you can find HERE. I first came across this pattern when I started crocheting, but didn’t attempt it as it seemed too complicated for my skill set at the time. However, attempting it again more recently, I was impressed to find it was a really well designed pattern and am really pleased with the results!

I crocheted Toothless with a dark navy DK yarn and my favourite 2.75mm hook.

I was especially impressed with learning a technique to form Toothless toes. His feet were worked as single pieces – toes included! It would have been so tedious to sew on individual toes!

As I made Toothless, I was careful to document all the different parts and techniques with my camera. I’m excited to say that in my next post I will be putting together a visual step-by-step tutorial for Sarselgurumi’s excellent pattern. So if you’re keen to make a Toothless too (especially with How to Train Your Dragon 2 being released in a few months time!) but need some images to help – stick around! 🙂

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!

Its been a while since I crocheted amigurumi,  so I was more than happy to get back to it when I found this cute Ichigo-Chan Easter Bunny Pattern by Mei of AmiguruMEI.

This well written pattern was quick and easy to follow and in little time I had my very own bunny ready for Easter.

The details of the bunny – its bow and popping cheeks as well as embroidered eyes were a different but delightful way to how I usually decorate my amigurumi.

The only things I changed in this pattern were (apart from the colours and positioning of the arms) were crocheting a tail instead of using a pom pom. You can kind of see it in this picture – I forgot to get a proper shot!

I hope you all enjoy your Easter weekend. I will be spending mine with this little rabbit, much chocolate (much of which I’ve already eaten!) but more importantly remembering how Jesus so generously, willingly and lovingly died for my (and your) sins so I/we will never have to.

Happy Easter!

FREE PATTERN: Kangaroo

Last year I created an amigurumi Kangaroo to take with me while I traveled. I received a lovely email shortly after if I’d ever release the pattern for it. I promised I would, and finally (thanks for your patience Susana!) I’ve put together the pattern (after testing it by making another kangaroo!) and some instructions which I hope you’ll find useful.

Please let me know if you do end up making your own Kangaroo – I’d love to see it!

Materials:

–          Tan Yarn (for body)

–          Purple Yarn (for shirt)

–          9mm Safety Eyes

–          Fiber Fill

–          Darning Needle

–          Black Felt (for nose)

–          Black Thread (for mouth)

–          Scissors

–          3.75mm hook

 

MUZZLE

With tan yarn

R1: 6sc in Magic Ring (6sts)

R2: 2sc in each sc around (12sts)

R3: *Sc 1, 2sc in next sc*, rep 6 times (18sts)

R4: 18sc

 

Fasten off leaving long tail for sewing

Sew mouth features onto muzzle and glue/sew on nose

 

HEAD

With tan yarn

R1: 6sc in Magic Ring (6sts)

R2: 2sc in each sc around (12sts)

R3: *Sc 1, 2sc in next sc*, rep 6 times (18sts)

R4: *Sc 2, 2sc in next sc*, rep 6 times (24sts)

R5: *Sc 3, 2sc in next sc*, rep 6 times (30sts)

R6-13: 30sc

R14: *Sc 3, dec 1*, rep 6 times (24sts)

R15: *Sc 2, dec 1*, rep 6 times (18sts)

 

Insert 9mm safety eyes about half way of the kangaroo’s face. Keep in mind you need to leave space in between his eyes for his muzzle too.) Stuff head firmly.

 

R16: *Sc 1, dec 1*, rep 6 times (12sts)

R17: *Dec 1*, rep 6 times (6sts)

 

Fasten off and weave in end.

 

EARS (Make 2)

With tan yarn

R1: 5sc in Magic Ring (5sts)

R2: 5sc

R3: *Sc 1, 2sc in next sc*, rep 2 times. 1sc (7sts)

R4: *Sc 1, 2sc in next sc*, rep 3 times. 1sc (10sts)

R5-7: 10sc

R8: *Sc 1, dec 2*, rep 3 times. 1sc (7sts)

R9: 7sts

 

Fasten off and leave tail for sewing

 

BODY

With tan yarn

R1: 6sc in Magic Ring (6sts)

R2: 2sc in each sc around (12sts)

R3: *Sc 1, 2sc in next sc*, rep 6 times (18sts)

R4: *Sc 2, 2sc in next sc*, rep 6 times (24sts)

R5: 24sc

R6: *Sc 2, dec 1*, rep 6 times (18sts)

 

Switch to purple yarn

 

R7-9: 18sc

 

Fasten off and leave long tail for sewing

 

TAIL

With tan yarn

R1: 6sc in Magic Ring (6sts)

R2-4: 6sc

R5: *Sc1, 2sc in next sc*, rep 3 times (9sts)

R6: *Sc 2, 2sc in next sc*, rep 3 times (12sts)

 

Fasten off and leave long tail for sewing

 

LEGS (Make 2 of each part)

With tan yarn

 

PART A

R1: 6sc in Magic Ring (6sts)

R2: 2sc in each sc around (12sts)

R3: 12sc

 

Fasten off and leave tail for sewing

 

PART B

R1: 6sc in Magic Ring (6sts)

R2-5: 6sc

 

Fasten off and leave tail for sewing

 

ARMS (Make 2)

With tan yarn

 

R1: 5sc in Magic Ring (5sts)

R2-4: 5sc

 

Fasten off and leave tail for sewing

 

ASSEMBLY

 

1)      Sew the body onto the head – this makes it easier to place remaing features.

2)      Sew onto the head the muzzle and ears.

3)      Sew the tail onto the back of the body

4)      Sew PART A of the leg to the body first. This makes placing PART B easier.

5)      Sew arms onto the front of the body, just beneath the join of the head.

6)      Done! You now have yourself a little kangaroo to take along with you for adventures! 🙂

 

This pattern is an original pattern by Rachel of Drawn and Hooked (March 2014). Please do not claim this pattern as your own. You may link to this pattern but please do not reprint it on your site, sell or distribute it, or sell items made from this pattern. Thank you! 

Happy Chinese New Year!

 

 

Happy (Almost Belated) Chinese New Year! I think I can *just* get away with saying that seeing Chinese New Year celebrations last 15 days after the first day of the new Lunar month.. 

Apologies for not blogging much in the last month or so. I was busily preparing for my community college class (which sadly ended up getting cancelled) and finishing off my assignments for a class I’ve been taking online (more on that another time). 

When all the busyness started winding down, I managed to fit in this project – All About Ami’s annual Chinese New Year amigurumi. Stephanie has written a pattern for Chinese New Year for the last 4 years. This year, as it is the Chinese Year of the Horse.. the pattern was for a horse – which you can find HERE. 

Last year was the first I tried making one Steph’s CNY patterns. I made last year’s amigurumi snake using the traditional festive Chinese colours of red and gold (which I substituted with yellow.. because it’s pretty hard to find gold yarn!). When it came to making this year’s horse, I decided to stick with the same colour scheme.

 

I’ve always been a big fan of Steph’s work (as anyone reading this blog can see… haha) but was even more so impressed with this horse pattern as it involved slightly more complex shaping methods. It was a welcome departure from the regular ball and sausage shapes of many amigurumi patterns and created a little horse that was delightfully original. 

 

Given how well this horse pattern turned out I’m keen to try and apply My Little Pony colours to it sometime. I have friends who are big fans of Rainbow Dash (but how to make that rainbow mane and tail?!), Rarity and Princess Celestia (though she is an alicorn… and a rainbow maned/tailed one at that too!) so it may well be worth a shot. 

Did you make a little horse/pony for Chinese New Year too? Do you think you’d apply My Little Pony Colours to this pattern? 

Happy 2014!

 

Happy 2014 Everyone! I hope you all had a refreshing and enjoyable Christmas and New Years!

Have you made any new year’s resolutions? One of mine is to read more. I used to read continuously as a child – but as I’ve grown older and accumulated more digital devices (which are sometimes black holes of distraction/procrastination) I can barely remember the last book I’ve read. And I miss reading, as I remember how much sharper my brain felt when I was in the midst of a book. So to hopefully kick start my reading habit, I’ve set myself the task of reading at least 12 books this year. Hopefully I’ll read a lot more, but it’s a start. 🙂

Speaking of resolutions, if you are interested in learning to crochet amigurumi (for those of you in this lovely city of Sydney, Australia) next month I’ll be teaching a beginner’s class at  Sydney Community College. You can find out more about it HERE.

It will run for 5 weeks, on Saturdays from 10am-12:30pm starting the 1st of February, 2014 to the 1st of March, 2014.

 

 

Designed for absolute beginners, the course will cover basic crochet stitches and amigurumi techniques. I’ve designed the patterns of the cat, rabbit and bear above especially for this course. My hope for this class is that by the end of the course all students will have the skill set to have created not only the amigurumi designed for class – but any amigurumi pattern they set their eyes on! Crocheting amigurumi is a fun, relaxing hobby, and one I hope to share!

So if you’re in Sydney and keen of learning how to crochet amigurumi with a hands on tutor and other like minded beginners, I hope you’ll consider joining Amigurumi for Beginners!

– Rach

Koala Christmas Ornament

 

Christmas is almost here again! But unlike the Northern Hemisphere where places are being blanketed in snow, here in the Southern we’re in the midst of summer. It hasn’t been an especially hot summer yet, but this week we’ve had highs of 34C. The funny thing with Christmas in the Southern Hemisphere though is that a lot of our decorations are inspired and influenced by the Northern Hemisphere. “White Christmas” plays as often as any other Christmas carol in the shops, Santa still wears his full wintry suit, we still decorate our trees and windows with snowflake cut outs all the while sweltering in the heat! It’s a strange tradition – but delightful in its own way.

To bring a handmade touch to my Christmas tree this year I decided to crochet one of Stephanie’s (from All About Ami) Teddy Ornaments! Stephanie wrote the pattern so that it could be made into a bear, panda and/or koala. Being an Australian, I felt it was only right I make the Koala Ornament! 😉

Though a scarf is somewhat out of place with the current weather, it only looked right that the Koala wear one, so a red and white scarf he got!

 

I took the photos of my Koala on a gum tree (I hooked the ribbon onto a piece of protruding bark) and think he looks pretty at home there!

I definitely recommend this pattern to anyone looking for a last minute Christmas crochet project as it is easy to follow and comes together quickly with great results. A bonus for Australian crocheters is that the pattern uses a yarn that is the equivalent of our 8ply standard! So with the correct tension, your ornament will turn out the correct size!

Have you been working on any Christmas crochet projects? What would you recommend as a last minute project?

Please Vote: Mario the Italian Chef Cat

 

Meet Mario the Italian Chef Cat – my entry in the Amigurumi Patterns’ Design Contest! I’m sorry that lately my posts have been competition related – I promise that it will be the last for some time. However, if you would be so kind as to spare a moment or so by clicking HERE, and voting for Mario I would be ever so grateful! Thank you in advance.

I thought in this post I’d also share a bit of my process in putting together Mario. When I watch animations, I’m always interested in the nerdy commentaries about the production… so I hope you find this brief “behind the scenes” of my pattern making somewhat interesting!

When I first heard about the Amigurumi Patterns’ Design Contest I was still in a holiday withdrawal kind of phase. So when I discovered the theme for the contest was “Animals at Work” my inspiration, naturally, was drawn from my travels. In Italy, Greece and Turkey I had encountered a LOT of stray cats. (The picture below is a cat eating a cupcake in Ephesus.) Therefore I decided I would create an amigurumi cat.

 

As for my cat’s occupation – because I had loved so much of the food I had eaten, I decided that my cat would be a chef (so I would have an excuse to crochet little foods too… haha). Mario’s name came from this bit of graffiti I found carved into a train in Rome.

 

As Italy has a lot of iconic meals, I decided that my little chef Cat would be an exclusively Italian Chef. That set, I went about sketching Mario’s “look”. (Yay! Finally! Some illustration in my posts!)

 

As you can see, my sketch of Mario, compared to his finish self only changed a little. I omitted Mario’s moustache as I felt it was a bit distracting to his face. I also omitted his apron as I ran out of time. Despite this, I was still happy with how Mario turned out.

To give Mario a bit more character I alternated between a dark brown yarn and the multi coloured yarn to give him distinct markings – such as a patch around his eye and an odd coloured ear. I also applied this technique to his tail.

 

I had a lot of fun too crocheting Mario’s little foods – a pot of pasta, a pizza and a tomato. I also (crazily) built Mario’s little table out of balsa wood which I then painted (yes, I was the crazy one painting a miniature table at 10pm even though I had to wake up at 5:30am the next morning…). The backgrounds were some pictures I printed then arranged to create a small makeshift ‘scene’ for Mario to be photographed in… quite a bit of effort… but I felt that having put effort into every other part of the project it only made sense to finish it with equal dedication!

Even if Mario doesn’t win any prizes, I enjoyed the experience of designing and creating him. Using techniques like joining his legs and body as one piece and interchanging yarns to create an eye patch challenged my crocheting skills. It was also pretty cool to translate a idea and sketch into something tangible! I hope to do more of this in the future.

When/If you create your own amigurumi patterns, how do you go about your design/creating process? Do you start with a sketch or do you crochet and see what happens?

I hope you enjoyed this little insight into how Mario the Italian Chef Cat came together. Please do vote for him if you haven’t already via the link at the beginning of this post. Many thanks! 🙂