Plesiosaur

It's hard to believe I'm still posting about Christmas presents but I think I'm pretty close to the end of 2019 Christmas gifts. This is what happens when you are finishing Christmas presents in the middle of December to get them mailed and you want to post them so you'll have some record of what you've made for future reference.

This was the last dino I was able to finish for the dinosaur package. I had hoped to add a mammal to the package with a Wooly Mammoth but I ran right up to my deadline finishing the flippers on this one. Perhaps the mammoth will make it into a birthday package.

This pattern was part of a pattern set gifted to me from my husband many years ago but you can still purchase it. It has moved from Etsy to Ravelry. I don't believe she offers the patterns as single patterns. You can find it here.

This was another experiment with sports yarn. I had bought a bunch of AC Moore's Nicole brand yarn to experiment with smaller dolls for either gifts or donations for next year. I've not decided which direction I'm going with the smaller dolls. However, with AC Moore closing I figured I can't rely on it as a source for these yarns so I don't want to get dependent on them as a reliable source of yarn that will fit these dolls so using the yarn for another project didn't seem like a bad choice.

Little Red Riding Bear

I fell in love with this bear pattern years ago and received it as a gift, but never had the chance to make it. While it is I promise the last Red Riding hood project I'll post for a while it wasn't the last I finished. I just chose to write about it last because it was one of those projects I had wanted to make so long it was almost a promise to myself.

For those of you interested you can purchase the patterns for Red and her Grandma here.

Teddy bears have always been a favorite of mine and themed bears even more so. Sharing that love is an even greater pleasure.

I like it when the designer talks about options. In this case one option was to give Red a white dress rather than red to contrast with her hood. This made sense as the Red dress and hood were a bit too much together. The white dress actually helped the hood stand out. This actually helped my thinking when making the Baby Doll Red Riding Hood outfit. As I mentioned in a previous blog I was working on multiple projects at once prior to shipping everything before Christmas so one project sometimes helped me rethink another.

Bert the Triceratops

While I speak mostly about the little girls I make presents for a couple of years ago a family member had a little boy who had a dinosaur baby theme. I made a blanket and some dinos. I always had the intention of getting back to making more dinos but life has a way of mocking you. So this Christmas after finishing off the girls stuff I got to working on the dinosaurs.

If you are ever stuck and need a quick dino crochet pattern Bizzy Crochet's Bert pattern is for you. You can find the free pattern here.

Bert was another great stash busting project. This was a lighter yarn I'd bought for a teddy bear project a while back and hadn't had a use for it since. Bert was a quick day project and using the lighter yarn and f hook he was a nice small size compared to many of the dino pattern that are huge and can make storage of the animals more challenging. This is also more in line with play size which is also a plus.

After finishing this around December 10th I immediately began work on a reindeer ornament and a T-Rex. The T-Rex is larger but using lighter yarn smaller than the pattern suggested. The reindeer is using the same yarn as Bert. I'm hoping to finish off that skein and see it gone with this project.

Red Riding Hood Set

This was actually the last set I made but I do have one more to write about that I'll mention next week. I almost didn't make this set. I had another set I'd had my eye on since I landed on the idea of doing the Red Riding Hood theme. However, time was starting to be an issue.

To complete the other set Red Riding Hood had rather long legs with red and white striped stocking which meant lots of color changes and weaving in ends just for her legs. While the effect was cool the time was an issue. It also lacked a Grandma.

As I was flipping through my pattern books I stumbled across a free Red Riding Hood pattern I'd printed ages ago from Red Heart that was a complete set that had Grandma, the wolf and Red herself. While adding a character the time needed for each was significantly less. Problem solved this was my pattern for the final Red Riding Hood project.

This is a Michelle Wilcox pattern and you can find the free pattern here.

For those of you used to round ami construction starting at the top of the head and working down these are a little different. These work from the front of the face to the back. The legs are formed as one piece and divided through sewing yarn to make an indentation. I liked the change, especially the way it allowed for Red's hair. It made adding eyes easier as well. If you don't like the leg formation it would be easy enough to adapt to a more traditional ami style. I rather liked it.

Little Red Riding Hood Baby Doll

I've always been a fan of combining play with children's books. This year's theme for the older child I was making gifts ford was Little Red Riding Hood. I found different versions of the story and worked on ways to bring the story to life. One was to give her baby doll a Little Red outfit of its own.

If you ever explore the world of baby doll crochet patterns you will discover you can't always find exactly what you want for patterns. You often have to do quite a bit of adaptation. Even if you find the right theme it may not be the right size. 18 inch dolls have had a broader appeal for designers and you often see more themed patterns for outfits. I've used some of these from time to time to help me reconstruct items for the baby dolls, too.

This outfit was made from a combination of patterns. I chose an 18 inch doll pattern that can be purchased here for the cape. This is an easy cape pattern to work up and when I purchased it I had the Red Riding Hood theme in mind. I needed a dress for Baby Hood to wear. I had recently come across a free pattern I hadn't tried out yet that was done in turquoise with white trim. I decided to make white my primary color and pick up the red from the cape. You can find that free pattern here. Lastly while Baby Hood may not be walking she wasn't going off into the woods without shoes. This was accomplished with another free pattern, one of the few that fit her feet, found here.

Just a note on the dress the free pattern is written in UK terms. I ended up crossing out the UK terms and writing in the US terms as I've learned from pervious experiences while I tell myself I'll remember to translate my brain doesn't. As it was I had to pull out the contrasting color as I'd made it in dc instead of sc as I noticed I didn't cross out all the UK references as I thought. This is just a note to myself in case I reprint the pattern at some point. As much as I think I can mentally translate and remember, I tend to forget.

Santa Hot Mat

I love holiday dishcloths and hot pads so when I saw this on e-pattern central I knew I was going to buy it and try to make it at some point. You can purchase the pattern here.

Just a few notes for myself. I need to try this with a much smaller hook size. Next time I'm going to make the back square first as this will make it easier to judge just how big a square will be made without having to deal with color changes. We learn from experience but the I hook was much too large for this project for me. Secondly, I couldn't find a pale pink color in Lily. I went to Knit Picks to get their Dishie yarn so I don't make myself crazy trying to remember what color of Lily's Sugar 'n Cream I found I didn't. Lastly I had to go down significantly in hook size to make the facial features work. I also sewed them on prior to making the back and joining so my sewing didn't show. Others may feel differently, but I prefer to hide my sewing when ever possible. The pattern suggests sewing the details on after joining. I didn't do this for the original and I wouldn't do it again in the future.

I really like the look of the hot pad, I just need him to be smaller in my next attempt.

Reindeer Christmas Ornament

I had a second Christmas package to send out and it too needed a Christmas ornament. Do to the time crunch I was looking for something that would work up quickly.

I'm a bit of a pattern collector and this was one of those patterns Michaels used to have hanging up in the yarn aisles. It is dated in 2012. I looked on their website but these patterns don't seem to be available online any longer. It was a Loops & Threads pattern if that helps you find it.

This was another great stash busting project. This is all left over yarn from previous projects.

Humpty Dumpty

Twas the weekend before Thanksgiving and all through the house the hooks were a flying the Shelties were grabbing at stuffing pusing it into their mouths.

Humpty was finished the Sunday before Thanksgiving.

I love making gifts for kids that tie to children's books. Mother Goose was a favorite of mine as a child. We knew so many of the poems. Humpty continues to be a favorite of mine and I've loved the new kids stories with Humpty as a detective. I think adding toys is a great way for kids to make a connection between favorite books and fun.

Years ago for another family member I made another Humpty found here. I do think he was cute and probably one of the best faces I've ever done. My issue is that he wasn't a traditional amigurumi he was a flat more pillow like structure. You made both sides as a panel and sewed them together. It was also quite a bit larger than most of the toys I make.

I went looking through my patterns for something different for this project and I found it in an old Annie's Crochet Newsletter July-August 1992. You can purchase the pattern at e-pattern central here. If it isn't on sale when you go there and you have time to wait I suggest doing so as they periodically have amazing sales.