Three Billy Goats Gruff Small and Finished

I mailed the July birthday package a week late because I had one more project and then more. As a result I was so focused on crocheting I wrote nothing. I do like to keep records of what I made, who it went to and any important details for future efforts. Recently I've found myself going back to older projects that I made years ago now that I again have younger relatives that might enjoy such items and knowing what I did can help.

This was the last item I needed to complete The Three Billy Goats Gruff project. I was glad I left the smallest goat to the end. I worked on him while I began the next project and it kept me from not wanting to repeat the same project multiple times.

As I mentioned in my other posts about this project I chose to stick with worsted weight yarn I had on hand and returned to an f hook after going down to an e hook with the middle goat do to the yarn I was using.

The pattern for this set comes from Once Upon a Time... in Crochet: 30 amigurumi characters from your favorite fairytales although I used a free pattern for the troll. You can read about that in the troll post here.

The companion book to the one above I included with this set was Listen, My Bridge Is SO Cool!: The Story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff as Told by the Troll a note to myself.

Three Billy Goats Gruff Medium Goat

I'm continuing to work on my ami's to go with my The Three Billy Goats Gruff present. I only need to make the small goat after this and this gift will be finished.

Having made the first goat from Once Upon a Time... in Crochet already, I found the second went a bit faster. The yarn for this project and the troll was another of my targeted attempt to finish off stash yarn. This was gifted to me by a friend when his sister passed away and I've been dilegently working on using it up but it is all one color and there was quite a bit of it. It worked well for this project.

I went from an f to an e hook as the yarn is slightly lighter than the worsted I used for the "large" goat, so it made the second goat slightly smaller than the first goat without having to go to a really small hook. I'm thinking about trying the last goat in sport yarn so I don't have to go to a real tiny hook. I'll have to experiment to see what works best.

This is the project so far. I'm pleased with it and I think it will make a fun way to retell the story and I suspect the goats will end up on the play farm at some point and the troll could even become a farmer.

The Three Billy Goats Gruff Large Goat

I've long been a fan of giving gifts of books combined with themed toys that help kids act out the book as it is being read and retell the story long after they've heard it. My next project is to go with a gift of The Three Billy Goats Gruff (Paul Galdone Classics) for a summer birthday gift.

The pattern for the goats comes from Once Upon a Time... in Crochet: 30 amigurumi characters from your favorite fairytales a book I picked up with a couple of fairy tale crochet books that I'm finally putting to use. I found a free pattern online for a troll that has some unique techniques I wanted to try out so, I'm experimenting with that pattern first as I liked the troll better and I wanted to see if I could manage the challenges of the other pattern. If it doesn't work out I'll be back working the troll from this book. I'm sure I'll be documenting my journey at some point.

I haven't been working much from books lately and one of the challenges is keeping your page. One of the things I appreciated about this book was the end pages that bend in to create page holders.

The pattern calls for fingering weight yarn and C or D hooks for the goats making them around 4-4 1/2" for those of you interested in the pattern as written. I had no interest in making them that small and I also wasn't crazy about working in the round in such a tight area. There was also my quest to use as much yarn on hand as I can. Using worsted weight yarn to make the goats means not ordering more yarn and that is important to my goals of trying to use up yarn on hand.

I often read reviews where people say they don't like X pattern because they prefer X yarn. The reality with amis is that most can be adjusted to different yarns but it will effect size and in some cases textures and patterns created if there are yarn/hook changes, etc. In the case of the goats making them larger was not a huge issue. These will actually be about the size of the farm animals I made previously and something tells me they may end up on the farm play sets along with their journey through the Three Billy Goats Gruff so making them a compatible size was not the worse choice I could make.

Farm Cilo Bag

I made a farm bag for a summer birthday present and decided to add the cilo for Christmas along with some additional farm animals for Christmas this year. You can find the free bag pattern along with the farmer and the included animals here.

I sewed snaps on to the cover of the cilo to make it easier to store the toys. The directions don't indicate that the cover should be attached. In the past I've sewn half the cover on so it wouldn't get lost. I decided to experiment with the snaps and I liked the way it worked.

The farmer is included with the free pattern but I found the wife pattern in a pattern called Wash Days in Annie's Crochet Newsletter July-August 1992. The cilo pattern includes a pattern for an additional cow and pig. Since my time was limited and I'd made a cow for the original farm bag I chose not to make another cow. When I wanted to add a few animals I turned to planet June for her pig and her collie to act as farm dog.. You can purchase the pig pattern here. The collie dog is available here.

I try to include books with toys to encourage kids to read.

My time was limited on this project, but I hope to add more farm animals.

Barnyard Amigurmi from Crochet Today

I have an old out of print Annie's Attic pattern for a barn bag with ami farm animals that I've been making for several years. The picture is posted above. When I post it or I show it to people I get lots of questions about where they can find it. It is hard to find. So I am pleased to say I found a new version, slightly larger in the February/March 2014 edition of Crochet Today. I don't have rights to publish the picture of the project, but you can see the picture here.

This pattern includes a pattern for a barn bag along with patterns for an ami cow, sheep, pig, and chicken. With a larger bag, these animals are a bit larger than the ones I normally make. With the bag, you can choose to make these animals or choose your own from a wide variety of patterns available.

If you want a free farm cilo pattern to go with that bag pattern to make a fun gift set check out Bizzy Crochet's Barnyard Gang. I've made this pattern a few times and it is always a hit.

If you arrived here looking for free patterns you may be interested in the following blog pages:

Dinosaurs and Dragons

Knit and Crochet Food Patterns Great for Play Food

Hello Kitty

Crochet and Knit Puppets

Crochet Amigurumi Animals and Stuffed Animal Free Patterns

Knit Amigurumi and Stuffed Toys

Crochet and Knit Amigurumi and Other Dolls

Knit and Crochet Toys

Teddy Bear Patterns and Clothes

Halloween Page

Thanksgiving

Christmas

Valentines

Easter

Graduation

Patriotic

Pictures may not be used without permission.

Free Farm Pattern

I have been posting blogs for several months about my farm project based on an out of print Annie's Attic pattern. The picture above is of the Annie's Attic one since I cannot borrow the designer's photographs of her new design. However, I hate not having pictures.

I have been following Bizzy Crochet's blog about her farm project, but was waiting for the pattern to be posted before mentioning it to others who have been asking me where to find their own Fisher Price like farm. Well I must say this is BETTER than the Annie's Attic version. The pieces are stored in a farmhouse shaped like the silo many of us remember from the original Fisher Price Barn. I plan to have this downloaded by the time this is posted to avoid the rush.

The pattern includes some animals I have and some I do not. I finally have a male farmer to go with my farmer girl. I am also thrilled to take on the challenge of a barn. With all the additional animals, I keep adding the farm bag is not going to be nearly big enough to hold all the animals and it will be fun to have a crochet area for the kids to play with the farm animals. I am thrilled to have this pattern to try.

I will add this link to the toy section, but for those who arrived here you can find the pattern at Bizzy Crochet.

If you arrived here looking for free toy patterns please see the following pages:

Crochet and Knit Puppets

Crochet Amigurumi Animals and Stuffed Animal Free Patterns

Knit Amigurumi and Stuffed Toys

Crochet and Knit Amigurumi and Other Dolls

Knit and Crochet Toys

Dinosaurs and Dragons

Hello Kitty

Teddy Bear Patterns and Clothes

Knit and Crochet Food Patterns Great for Play Food


Pictures may not be used without permission.

Crochet Donkey

The farm continues to grow. As I mentioned in a previous post I purchased more books from Gourmet Crochet. The donkey comes from Gourmet Crochet's Amigurumi Nativity. With all the projects I have promised for Christmas, I know I do not have time to commit to the Nativity this year. I figured I would practice on the two animals and include them in the farms I am sending out for Christmas this year. That way when I am ready to approach the Nativity, hopefully next year, I will already be comfortable with two of the patterns. I hope to have the first sheep finished in the near future. Then I will still need duplicates to finish the second farm.




The donkey has already been a huge hit. There is something about his face I am told that draws attention. I will say I am tempted to substitute his body for a rocking horse ornament pattern that is not cooperating now. I think he would make an adorable rocking horse. We shall see if the other one finally is tamed.

If you arrived here looking for free toy patterns please see the following pages:

Crochet Amigurumi Animals and Stuffed Animal Free Patterns

Knit Amigurumi and Stuffed Toys

Crochet and Knit Amigurumi and Other Dolls

Knit and Crochet Toys

Dinosaurs and Dragons

Hello Kitty

Crochet and Knit Puppets

Teddy Bear Patterns and Clothes

Knit and Crochet Food Patterns Great for Play Food



Pictures may not be used without permission.

Amigurumi Farm

This farm project was a fun, creative learning experience. I was excited about the way each project developed and thrilled by the reaction the projects received. The highest compliment I received was a comparison to Fisher Price, which is what I was aiming for when I first saw this pattern online and purchased it. I thought it would be great to recreate the Fisher Price Farm in crochet. While it lacks a real barn, I think these animals would fit in any barn play structure a child might have to play with and these animals would be a great addition to any play set.
Like the dinosaurs, I already have another set scheduled to make for Christmas. The small yarn requirements and the fact I already have purchased the pattern, make it a great economical choice to add to my Christmas present stash. I have learned a few new tricks since this project began that should make the next set even better than the first.

If you want to see the individual blog entries and additional pictures for this project see the links below.

Amigurumi Pig

Amigurumi Chicken or Rooster

Amigurumi Goose

Amigurumi Cow

Amigurumi Horse

Down on the Farm

This is an out of print pattern. For those who are looking it is Annie's Pattern Club Pattern, 87B54 Down on the Farm.

Pictures may not be used without written permission.

Amigurumi Cow

When I finished the cow, I started to feel a sense of accomplishment and wanted to find a Fisher Price Barn to take pictures with for the blog. Obviously, that did not happen. Seeing the animals displayed on our piano continue to grow, I was starting to see the look I wanted it to for this present, though.

I was glad to return to working with slightly larger pieces. It allowed me to use the plastic safety eyes and avoid embroidering eyes again. There was an issue of legs, however. This was the first animal I made that had small skinny legs that would be the main support system for the animal. Working on getting the legs pinned to provide appropriate balance was a great learning experience.




As I read other blogs and yahoo postings, I am finding new techniques and tricks to improve my own projects. The cow benefited from learning a better method of decreasing. I can see where this will prove useful on the next goose.

This is an out of print pattern. For those who are looking it is Annie's Pattern Club Pattern, 87B54 Down on the Farm.

Pictures may not be used without written permission.