Summer Birthday Presents

I try to make lists and I do take pictures but I'm finding these posts to be helpful in keeping track of what I made and when. So I decided a birthday post would be worth while. I"m posting it at the end of July because the box will be long gone and I'll have had to start work on the crazy fall schedule of a fall birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and then Christmas. It all creeps up so fast.

Octopus

The Octopus is one of the sea creatures included in the Ocean Tower pattern I wrote about previously. You can purchase the pattern here.

I've been trying to keep the animals small so while I did use worsted weight yarn but I went down to a D hook. I also used saftey eyes rather than the eye pattern suggested. I experimented with the eyes, but I couldn't get them to look like the pattern so I moved on to safety eyes.

This is a really quick ami to make and he's a great additoin to any sea/ocean set. I was looking at the one from Bathtime Buddies but after thinking about it I decided he's a bit intimidating for the age group I am making the set for and opted for the friendlier octopus from this set. Nothing says the more detailed, realistic one can't be added at a later date.

Diver

This was actually the pattern that made me want to buy Bathtime Buddies when it first came out. This guy just stood out and made me laugh. I knew some day I was going to have to make him. When I thought about putting together this ocean set I realized he was going to have to be a part of it and thus the hunt began for the book I had lost.

The diver is made with Schachenmayr Catania sport cotton yarn and a D hook.

I added the eyes to the face plate before joining to the head as I wanted to use saftey eyes. This was something I learned after making the first head, which required me to make a second one. I make note of it should I decide to return to this project again. The hands are flat I made mine round.

Shrimp

I'm continuing my quest for ocean/sea creatures to add to my summer birthday project. I found the shrimp pattern in 75 Seashells, Fish, Coral and Colorful Marine Life to Knit and Crochet and it worked up quickly.

I found the picture funny as it almost looks like he's holding up an arm yelling "No pictures, no pictures!!"

I found a used copy of this book but I'm holding on to my library edition until it arrives. Thankfully, it isn't a high volume requested item so I shouldn't have trouble renewing until my copy arrives.

Island Play Set

I've been writing about this project for a while now. I started it at the beginning of my ocean/sea birthday project. It has been finished but for the paracord for some time. I even had the paracord threaded through but was contimplating the best way to use the paracord locks. I finally decided it was time to push through and finish this project so I could focus on finishing the Ocean Tower that I hope will accompany the play set.

The Island Play Set is a free pattern and you can find it here.

I found paracord at Hobby Lobby. I looked around at different types of cord locks and decided on an oval cord lock that I found at Paracord Planet. I ordered a few as I can't imagine this will be the last set I make.

This play set is a double thick mat. This means does allow it to lay down flat, it holds up the island, and you get to hide all the ends from changing colors and sewing on the island. The downside to this additional bulk is it is harder to close. However, while not being the ultimate bag it still provides storage for the ocean/sea creatures.

The original pattern does come with a selection of creatures for the play set. As I've written about I've been using this as an opportunity to explore a range of books and patterns to create my own selection of amis for the project. As I was putting the creatures back after their photo shoot I noticed the dolphin had avoided the picture taking but he will be headed off with the birthday box. He's already back in the bag.

Mermaid in a Shell Playset

This is another Laura Sutcliffe playset. You can purchase the pattern here.

This pattern is designed so you can make your mermaid as a doll dressing up as a mermaid or as a mermaid. I opted for the mermaid as there are fewer pieces to lose later. I have been making more of my ami sets with sport cotton but my hands needed a break so I wanted with worsted weight and a g hook. The designer suggests DK weight but I didn't have any suitable colors in my stash so I went with worsted 4. If I make this again I would think about the sport cotton and a smaller hook size. I like the finished set but I think it would be cuter if smaller and the shell would be sturdier in cotton.

One of the reasons I don't make many "dolls" is I really don't enjoy making hair. This was a fun wig that is sewn on and it is a great altenative to trying to "root" hair.

If you choose to go with the doll that dresses up as a mermaid there is an additional dress pattern for the doll to wear.

This set works up quickly and was a nice additional playset to add to my ocean theme birthday box.

Sperm Whale

You might have been expecting another bee post and I am almost done with the last bee item but the legs are small and tight to make so I'm splitting making them between other projects with larger hooks and yarn.

I also borrowed 75 Seashells, Fish, Coral and Colorful Marine Life to Knit and Crochet and wanted to try out the patterns before seeing if I could find a second hand copy of this out of print book. I'm always doubtful about buying combined knit/crochet books. I am not a knitter and when I find these books I always seem to want the knitted projects and am not really engaged by the crocheted projects. In this case there were actually crochet patterns that weren't in my other ocean/sea themed books that made hunting down this book in the second hand market worth my time.

For those of you looking for ocean/sea themed patterns I can only speak to the crochet directions. There are no hook or yarn size suggestions given. The challenge this presents is knowing how big/small the item will be as the picture for the sperm whale was misleading. I had thought the whale would be larger based on the picture and went with a smaller hook size. It became apparant as I started on the head that even with the standard hook size for this yarn that this would be a smaller ami. I quickly switched to a g hook and this was the final result.

While the directions didn't suggest doing so I was able to crochet and create the flipper and tails directly on to the ami as I went only sewing the ends in as I finished them. Since I don't love sewing the pieces together this was a plus for me.

I've been pleased with the range of characters I've been able to create so far and I do have more patterns to work from so I think this could be a fun and yes even educational set for this summer birthday box.

Clown Fish

From the fall to Christmas last year several retailers were offering BOGO type deals on books that often included crochet books. I was able to pick up many titles on my wish list including several Kerry Lord titles. The Clown Fish comes from her How to Crochet Animals: Ocean book.

This pattern worked up quite quickly. I used Hobby Lobby Sport weight yarn and a D hook. Even with the change in size the fish is still one of the larger items in the set I'm making. If I did this set again I'd go with the cotton sport weight I've been using with the hot pads and likely have a better sized fish. However, I'm happy with this little guy for this project.

One thing to note and I've read it as a critism of the book is the other doesn't specifiy hook size for the project. She suggests you use a hook appropriate to the yarn you choose. The yarn she discusses is a UK yarn and thus you are going to be choosing your own yarn for this project anyways. If you have experience with amis you have a general idea what size hook you want to get the size ami you want with the pattern you are using. I did misjudge the picture and thought the fish would be smaller and hoped by using a lighter yarn and a smaller hook mine would be even smaller. Thus my suggestion for smaller yarn the next time out.

All the pieces have arrived to finish off the island play set so I'm hoping to have that completed this weekend. I have the inner and outer layers of the ocean play tower complete so I can start making the many decorative elements that have to be added to the outer towere before they can be put together. I feel like this project is coming along.

Manatee

When I was thinking about creating an ocean play set I never thought I'd find a manatee or a stingray pattern to include in the set. I was quite pleased to see the range of sea creatures I've been able to find crochet patterns for as I've proceeded with this project.

This is another pattern from Bathtime Buddies that I still have on loan from the library. I do have the PDF to work from once the library book goes back, but for the moment it is easier working from the book.

The manatee works up quickly. As I mentioned before I'm trying to keep my animals small for the play set. If I had to do this again I'd have used sport yarn, but grey is in short supply in my yarn sport section so I used a D hook with worsted weight 4 yarn.

Dolphin

I'm continuing to trade off working on my summer birthday projects and my doll donation items. I've got two playset items that are larger I'm working on and then the creatures and other items to use with the playsets to make for the birthday box. I'm working on a variety of different sized doll clothes for the Christmas donation.

The Little Chubby Dolphin pattern is a free pattern you can find here. I've been mixing and matching patterns from different books and pattern sites as I go. I finally got around to purchasing Bathtime Buddies as a Ravelry PDF download even though my library loan has not expired. There are cloth patterns for the tummies of some of the animals to add and instead of photocopying them to use to cut out the pieces (which I'd have had to do even if I'd owned the print book) I can print the patterns as I need them, cut and reprint again if I remake the animals and lose the precut patterns.

I did make some changes to the dolphin. As I've mentioned in previous posts I'm trying to keep the animals small so they will store well and fit the playsets. With that in mind I went from the suggested f hook to a D hook. I did make a white stomach rather than the multi-color tummy for the dolphin, but I wasn't thrilled with the look so I left it off. If I made another one I might try using a lighter weight yarn for the stomach as it just seems too bulky with 2 layers of worsted weight yarn.

I have 75 Seashells, Fish, Coral and Colorful Marine Life to Knit and Crochet on reserve at the library to pick up this weekend to see if there are any additional ideas to add to my ocean playset. I've not looked at this book before but I'm not a huge fan of the combined knit and crochet books as I don't knit. It always seems like the projects I most want to do are the knit ones. I've tried knitting and the best I can do are dishcloths. Crocheting is my fiber talent. That being said it is free to preview from the library so it is worth seeing if there are any fun things to add to the mix.

I found dishcloth material this weekend to use with the patterns in Bathtime buddies so I'm looking forward to experimenting with using cloth and yarn together. I've used felt as an add on but never to cover a hole in a crocheted piece before. It will be an interesting project. If it doesn't work I will have to crochet the holes closed or patch with a crochet patch.

Stingray

The Stingray was the first creature I made from Bathtime Buddies and I'm already trying to decide which ocean creature I'll be attacking next. I'm hoping to get the most out of my library loan before I need to get a PDF copy of the book from Ravelry here.

I used worsted weight acrylic yarn and a D hook to complete the Stingray.

I finished another portion of the island ocean bag and ordered some paracord to try to close the bag. I've never used paracord as a bag closure so we will see how it all works out.