Purple Dress Monkey Finger Puppet

I started finger puppets to be given as a gift with Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed back in July.

After finishing the first 4 I paused after making the head when the family moved as I was preparing the October birthday and Halloween boxes.

I postponed the Halloween box a year but decided I'd still deliver the birthday gifts late. As the dates got moved off for delivering the gifts I put the last monkey aside to finish up the doll donations.

Around Thanksgiving I realized I'd forgotten the monkey and started working on pieces of the monkey between doll donation projects. When finished I took pictures but never posted the project. Since this blog has been a great way to keep a record of my projects I decided it was time to get a record up about finishing the project.

I'm very glad I finished the puppets as they were a HUGE hit. You never know what will be "the" item but the monkeys were a good choice. The puppet pattern is available for purchase here.

Samuel Whiskers

I'm continuing my Beatrix Potter birthday crochet project with The Tale of Samuel Whiskers using the pattern found in the Simply Crochet supplement from issue 110. You can purchase a digital copy here.

I made this project using Omega Sinfonia cotton and a B hook. If I make him again I'd think about using acrylic for the coat as it was stiffer than I liked.

I'm still contemplating the patterns for The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck and The Tale of Benjamin Bunny to include either as part of the birthday box or as a Christmas gift. I made a bunch of ducks for Make Way for Ducklings but this one is dressed which makes it unique. Both would also be fun additions for an Easter box. That would also give me more space to work on other projects.

Monkey Finger Puppet Pink Dress

I am so pleased to say I can see the end of the Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed project in sight.

These are not difficult puppets, just time consuming as they are made in thread and thus take me longer to make than the ones I've made with sport cotton or acrylic yarn. I think there is also the repetitive nature of making the same puppet 5 times. There was something nice about getting to make the dress this time instead of the overalls. The dress pattern is a little more fun to make and it also works up more quickly.

For those of you interested you can purchase the pattern here. I used Aunt Lydia Size 10 Cotton, Natural, Fudge Brown, and French Rose for this puppet.

Jeremy Fisher

I'm continuing to add more Beatrix Potter characters and books to the October birthday pile. Up next we have The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher.

This pattern is part of the supplement from Simply Crochet issue 110. You can purchase this edition of the digital magazine here.

I've gotten used to looking for yarn substitutes first because I've been trying to keep my amis smaller than many of the suggested sizes and secondly in this case the UK yarns aren't always readily available here in the US.

It is also a great chance for me to work through my stash rather than buying more yarn. For this project I used a combination of Hobby Lobby's acrylic sport yarn and A.C. Moore's now discontinued house sport brand to get the colors I needed for the project. I used a D hook for all items except the coat. I started with the D but found the coat was too small. The coat had a much better fit when made with the sport yarn and an F hook.

Monkey Finger Puppet Blue Overalls

I finished the second finger puppet to go with the Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed book that will be going out with the October birthday box. You can purchase the pattern here.

I used Aunt Lydia Size 10, Natural, Peackock, and Fudge. Peackock was not a pattern choice but as I mentioned in the previous post I decided I'd use colors on hand for the puppet's clothing.

I had an issue with the straps last time so I made them shorter and I crossed them in the back. This seemed to make it easier to join them.

Lowly Worm

I've long been a Richard Scarry fan I've added three of my favorites to the Christmas box this year GREAT BIG SCHOOLHOUSE, Richard Scarry's Best Mother Goose Ever, and Richard Scarry's Best Nursery Tales Ever.I also added two of his Christmas classics Richard Scarry's The Animals' Merry Christmas and Richard Scarry's Christmas Mice.

While there are many reaccuring characters cats, bears and other creatures, my favorite was always Lowly Worm. When I was thinking about a character to include with this package of books, Lowly was the first one that came to mind. This however wasn't the first pattern that came to mind. I'll be writing about that project later. I soon realized as I worked on that project it wasn't going to be practical with Lowly's hat and shoe.

Fortunatley for those of you who want to crochet your own Lowly this pattern is a free pattern available here.

This was a great project to use up some knit picks sport cotton. I was a little nervous about the blue because it was the only blue I had close to the right color and a small left over ball I was hoping would hold out to finish the project. I had just one long strand left when Lowly was done. Always a good feeling to have a little left in case you have an issue. Since I wanted a slightly smaller Lowly I went with a D hook and it worked out well with this yarn.

Fox Hand Puppet

I mentioned when I made the Gingerbread Babypuppet that I still had to make the fox to complete the set. I've been trading off projects doing some small tight ami's like the finger puppets with some that aren't so tight like the fox to give my hands a break. The pattern for this puppet comes from the same out of print leaflet as the Gingerbread Baby,Crochet Storybook Puppets by Sheila Leslie. It was printed by House of White Birches in 1991.

I used Hobby Lobby's Yarn Bee Breath Deep Clay for the Fox main body. As I mentioned previously I've been struggling to find browns and rust colors in worsted weight yarn. This yarn is incredibly soft but I'd honestly trade just a little softeness for a little more body you get from more traditional acrylic yarns to hold the body of the puppet.

It is without a doubt one of the softest puppets I've ever made, but I'd love for it to hold its shape jsut a little more which you get with a Caron Pounder or Red Heart Super Saver. That being said I'm just grateful I was able to find the colors.

I recently found some Vanna's Choice in brown's during a shipping offer from Herrschners. I haven't worked with Vanna's in a while. I remember it being a softer yarn but I thought it had more body than the last yarns I've tried for puppets so far. We shall see. I'm hoping a range of brown shades come back to traditional acrylic brands as I can't be the only one that uses them.

The Ugly Duckling Swan

I guess it is a bit of a spoiler if you haven't read the book but The Ugly Ducklingdoes become a swan. So I needed to make one to finish my set for the book.

The pattern comes from one of my favorite amigurumi series Zoomigurumi 6and I wrote previously about making the cygnet for the book set.

One of the biggest challenges for me with this ami was getting the swans wings to set right as the wings can create balance or set the swan to tilting. They are significantly heavier and harder to balance than any of the duck wings I'd makde previously. Not hard to make but more challenging to attach.

The Ugly Duckling Cygnet

The Ugly Ducklingis the last project I will be working on for this October birthday box. The book I chose is a Caldecott Honor book and the pictures are just beautiful. When I started the Make Way for Ducklings project I wondered if there was another book/story that I could send with it that would make use of the duck/bird theme. When I started looking at books I came across a classic fairy tale and then just had to choose which edition I wanted. There were several options but the illustrations in this edition sold me.

I had originally considered adapting the duckling pattern for the cygnet but then I came across a child/adult swan pattern in Zoomigurumi 6so I went with that set. There are slight differences in construction that actually fit in neatly with the story of what the differences are between a cygnet and a duckling.

At this point I need to make the swan and finish the barn and I'll be done with birthdays for October. I still am working on Halloween and then I'll need to move on to Thanksgiving and Christmas.

For my own notes I used Mary Maxim's Baby's Best Yarn and a D hook for the body and cotton dishcloth yarn for the beak. I don't buy Mary Maxim's yarn that often do to shipping costs but I'll be looking for my next free shipping coupon to buy more of this yarn as I really liked the texture and the way it worked up.

Make Way for Ducklings Mrs. Mallard

We come to the last entry in my Make Way for Ducklings project, Mrs. Mallard. There was no actual Mrs. Mallard pattern I adapted the Mallard pattern found in Zoomigurumi 7using RED HEART Super Saver yarn, Latte Stripeand a D hook for the main part of the body. The beak was made from Joann's Big Twist Varsity Yellow. I mention this because I originally made the beak with the same yarn I made the duckling beaks with and it didn't look right when she was sitting next to Mr. Mallard. I had to go back and replace her beak

I am pleased with how the family came out and honestly thrilled that the project is finished as I still have a few more items to finish for the October birthday and Halloween boxes that need to go out.

I am glad to be sending a playset for one of my favorite classic children's stories. I'm hoping it makes the story even more fun for the little ones who will be playing with it as they enjoy the story.

Make Way For Ducklings Pack and Quack

There was a time when I began to doubt if I would in fact ever find an end to the ducklings for my Make Way for Ducklings project. Then the last wing was sewn on Quack and they were done,all eight of them. I nearly had heart failue when two disappeared, but thankfully I found them and they are now stored together so they won't be lost before mailing.

This means I just need to make Mrs. Mallard and the set will be complete. This will be the most challenging part of the set as there is no specific Mrs. Mallard pattern. I'm going to try to use vareigated yarn and adapt Mr. Mallard's pattern to get even close to her colors.

For those of you who are interested in the patterns for the ducklings and the mallard, they come from the book Zoomigurumi 7a series I've come to really enjoy.

I've one more classic fairy tale to crochet and the Farm Busy Box to finish and then I think my October birthday requirements will be done. I will need to finish Halloween and then it is off to the Thanksgiving box.

Make Way for Ducklings Mr. Mallard

You may have been expecting another duckling if you've been following my progress with my Make Way for Ducklings project. After all there are still four more to make. However, I made a promise to myself that when I reached the half way point of making the ducklings I'd make the father duck who in the story is called Mr. Mallard.

This pattern also comes from Zoomigurumi 7 and in fact is the cover pattern.

I started out using the suggested e hook but the duck was a bit larger than I wanted. I went down to a D hook and was happier with my outcome. The pattern uses worsted weight 4 yarn for this pattern and while I'd considered going down to sport weight yarn the colors made that a bit of a challenge as I didn't have the yarns on hand in sport yarn.

I actually couldn't quite find the warm brown yarn the pattern suggests for the bird's body. I went with the closest I had on hand. I changed the wings by making a complete blue stripe on row 9. I didn't like the partial look so I went with a full blue stripe.

I have some brown variegated yarn I'm going to experiment with using this pattern to create Mother Duck or Mrs. Mallard as she is known in the story. However, in order to get to that I have to finish the last 4 ducklings. I want to be able to mail this package by the end of the month for an October birthday so I do need to keep pushing on because September seems to have crept up so quickly. I really thought I was ahead on these fall deadlines but it appears I will be racing to finish as always.