Hook O'Fire

I was in the mood to binge some anime and make some stuff. This started off with a little squid (pattern here) that I crocheted out of Bernat's Crushed Velvet in the bright blues using a 4mm hook, and then my mum asked if I could make some vaguely jungle themed toys for her friend's new baby.

I found some patterns on Etsy (this, this and this), found the colours I was missing in some soft yarns that would suit well enough (all from here) and sent mum a total cost for patterns and materials. Once she'd sent me the money to cover all the up front costs, I bought the patterns, ordered the yarn and sat tight waiting for delivery of lovely new yarn and the oncoming double-bank-holiday week - courtesy of a coronation ceremony I did not watch.

I tell you what though, that extra bank holiday made for some great crochet time!

My squid that I made first as a treat for myself and to test out the Crushed Velvet for amigurumi purposes, was promptly named Stephanopoulos, and now lives on top of the hard drive hub on my desk.

Here he is, very squiggly and soft.

(At the mere sight of him, my mum decided that the same yarn would do nicely for the elephant rather than my grey-blue Bernat Velvet yarn.)

The next one I made was the snake, in the colouration of a harmless king snake (not to be confused with the deadly coral snake! Such a common problem here in the UK.) They're about 1m long, which it turns out is long enough to wrap around bar on the recipient's stroller and cause endless joy while said baby is out and about.

Then came a little elephant. In hindsight I'd make the trunk a little longer still but it's a cute elephant, small enough for tiny hands but not dangerously small either.

Then came a sparkly mint-green frog with super dangly legs. The pattern recommends a grumpy look but I went with a smile because it's for a baby so smiles all around.

Then, because I still had a season left to watch on Netflix of some random historical bodyswap anime (it's actually rather funny), I used up some leftover yarn from Cthulu to make another squid. 

All of these were done in a five-day week, tops. No-sew patterns for everything except the squid to minimise how much time was spent sewing ends in with the fuzzy yarns - they don't sew in well so best to limit that - and all of them on a 4mm Prym's Ergonomic Hook (except for the squid which used both the 4mm and 6mm hooks).

My next finished project will probably be a little piece that my brother has made enquiries about commissioning off me. That might even involve me making the pattern up too, so that really will be a cradle-to-grave project, I could easily end up doing everything from pattern creation all the way through to framing.

I don't mind though, it'll be a fun little project and he has a very craftsy wife and so totally appreciates how much effort these types of thing involve.

In the meantime, I have some finishing touches to put on my current half-done Jumpstart Cube for MtG, and have a new game to play! (Someone please save me, it's devouring my life 😅)