Busy Baby Box Farm Activity Cube Side 2

For some foolish reason when I looked at the pictures I thought this side of the farm Busy Baby Boxeswas going to be easy. Foolish me. Honestly the tree was pretty straight forward. The windows not so bad, although a little challenging to sew on with the plastic canvas behind the barn for some reason. What my brain would not wrap its head around was the joining the fence posts. I could have just sewed them together but being in a stubborn mood I was determined to follow the directions and figure out how to crochet them together. Well they are together. If I do this again, I'd likely just sew them. It would have been easier in the long run.

Another change I'd make is I would sew down the middle of the posts when attaching them as to leave more room for the puppets to fit in the fence openings. I have this need to make sure things don't fall off so I tend to try to attach things tightly but in this case I think it is over tight and would do better looser.

Crochet Safety Cone and Barrel Ami's

We survived Irene with some basement flooding do to power loss. We have family in the area still waiting for the power to return. We are keeping our fellow bloggers and readers in our thoughts as the clean up and restoration continues.

I downloaded this free pattern ages ago with the intention of making them for Christmas. While working on my swap I figured they would be a cute gift for my swap partner's son and a good chance to practice. I now have requests from several family members for Christmas presents. They work up quickly so I will have several made for Christmas requests.

I would love to get some photographs with these guys and some Matchbox cars together.

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

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Crochet Plates

After making all the breakfast food, the kids need plates to put the food on in their play kitchen. I found many tea party plates, but I could not find a pattern for dinner sized plates. After searching through many resources, I decided to adapt the cookie plate from Amigurumi Two!: Crocheted Toys for Me and You and Baby Too. I made the plates larger and chose a solid color for my set instead of mixing colors.



I decided on a set of four. This would allow the kids to play together, have friends visit, or invite stuffed animals or dolls to the table to share a pretend meal. This was Bernat yarn left over from a previous project and is heavier than the normal Red Heart yarn I generally use for my toy projects. It has a soft texture and an interesting color blend.



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


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Crochet Coal Car Train

When I saw June 2010 Crochet World this was the train car I most wanted to make. I loved the way they created the coal on the top of the train car and was excited to try the pattern. I substituted stuffing for the foam blocks the pattern wanted cut. I would not want to imagine the joys involved with cutting foam to fit the coal pattern. While the crochet does create a pattern for the coal "bump," stuffing is critical to getting a coal pile on top of the coal car. The foam might have been an advantage if one had the patience to cut it correctly to fit the form.

The color on this car is fairly close to the pattern. I used Red Heart and other scrap yarn for making the train cars. It was all yarn I had on hand. I believe the pattern calls for Vanna's yarn. I did not notice a significant difference in changing yarn varieties. I suspect the Vanna's yarn would be softer, however, because I was not using foam, that could actually have made the situation worse, not better.

If you arrived here seeking free train patterns check out the Free Toy Patterns

See the Other Train Pictures:

Engine

Box Car

Caboose

Crochet Train Set

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Crochet Box Car Train

The June 2010 Crochet World gave me the chance to create a baby safe train set. I made the engine first. Once that was completed, it gave me the confidence to move on to the other train pieces.

The Box Car was the easiest of the train cars to make. The pattern required creating a rectangle box and adding wheels and the end pieces to complete it. As I mentioned in the previous post about the engine I had to alter the directions to use stuffing instead of foam to fill out the train. The main color is close to the suggested color in the pattern. The secondary color was changed from brown to black.

If you arrived here seeking free train patterns check out the Free Toy Patterns

Based on a suggestion from my husband, when I make this pattern again, I would likely make two wheels and crochet or sew them together to give the wheels more stability. Either the single wheel needs to be sewn directly to the train to keep it from bending or it needs more support. I am not that the foam would make a difference in my choice.

See the Other Train Pictures:

Engine

Coal Car

Caboose

Crochet Train Set

Pictures may not be used without written permission.

Crochet Train Engine

As I mentioned a previous blog post, I opened the June 2010 Crochet World when it arrived and was so excited to see patterns for toy trains for babies. After reading the patterns, I put the magazine away with the idea that the patterns were adorable, but not something I was going to put on my list of projects. The patterns required precision cutting of foam. The foam was required not just for the main body of the train, but all the little features as well. I realized I would never have the patience to work through such a project in addition to all the work required to crochet and assemble the trains.

As I worked on more toy projects, I realized a compromise could be made. The trains would not be as form fitting as the trains in the magazine, but they would still be fun first train toys for a young relative I had first thought of when I saw the magazine. The toys could be crocheted, sewn together, and stuffed with traditional stuffing. It required a few minor adjustments, but it was worth it to be able to make the trains.



I started with the engine because I realized that if my plan did not work for the engine, than making the other cars was pointless. I used colors I had and I changed the brown to black intentionally. I did not like the way the brown I had looked with the colors I selected. I also changed the windows on the engine to a brighter color. I wanted something cheerful for a baby toy. As I post the pictures of the other trains, you will be able to see I reverted to black windows when the color combinations looked good. I also reduced the number of windows when it became too crowded.

See the Other Train Pictures:

Box Car

Coal Car

Caboose

Crochet Train Set

If you arrived here seeking free train patterns check out the Free Toy Patterns

Pictures may not be used without written permission.

Wolf Amigurumi

After choosing her graduation project, I decided to ask my niece what she wanted me to crochet for her birthday. The date was close to her graduation party so it seemed like a good time to deliver the birthday gift. I was figuring she would choose one of the scary creatures she had been looking at during a recent visit. Instead, out of the blue she asks me for a wolf. I knew I had not seen one in my books. I head to the toy page, pretty sure I have never seen a wolf there either and sure enough, no wolf. I finally located one and there are now two on the toy page for those who are looking for free patterns. The one featured here is the Lion Brand pattern.

The Toy Blog Page has many free pattern links for anyone looking for new patterns to try.

Wolf was a hit although his still lacks a name. He was known as "Pocket Wolf" during the graduation party as he hung out in her pocket for the duration of the party. I suspect he will soon become a car wolf.

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Crochet Train in Crochet World

I am always looking for new patterns to create for birthdays and Christmas. This year I am in need of baby toys as it is the first year I will be crocheting for a little one. Trains have always been a popular item in our family and I like the idea of big crocheted trains designed for baby.

These are not Amigurumi trains. They require creating separate pieces and sewing them together. The foam blocks are a bit intimidating at my current project level. I am considering trying the first set and just stuffing them and seeing how they come out. I understand that the foam will make them a better toy, I am just not sure that I am ready for that level of project, yet.

The pattern is in the June 2010 edition of Crochet World. If you do not subscribe or do not wish to purchase, check out your local library. Many libraries have interlibrary loan even for magazines if your library does not purchase Crochet World.

Another item I explored after reading the magazine this month was the web bonuses patterns that are available each month to subscribers. You need to go to Crochet-World and sign up by giving them your subscriber information. There is a note, this month people who purchase the magazine can use a code from the magazine to register. The patterns go back to 2008. I sent several to my email to download later. A castle with finger puppets is most definitely on my project list. The dragon puppet is actually different the one I currently have published on my blog. It will be fun to provide the recipients with multiple beasts.

I promise to post pictures of the actual train when I get to it.










Picture Credit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pietromotta/ / CC BY-ND 2.0