Happy Easter

I started off with a Father Rabbit Finger Puppet.

Next was Mother Rabbit

Took a break from the puppets to make Peter Rabbit

and his mother Mrs. Cottontail

Back to finger puppets:

Sister Rabbit

Baby Rabbit

Brother Rabbit

Rabbit Family

Something for the house:

Easter Hot Pad

Another Lots to Love Holiday Doll

Brother Rabbit Finger Puppet

With Brother Rabbit we come to the end of the Rabbit Finger Puppet project. You can purchase the pattern for this project here.

This project took me longer than I anticipated when I started it. In fact until I picked up the pattern to start it I hadn't realized it was a thread pattern. I had wrongly thought it was sport weight cotton when I had requested it as a gift. That being said I'm glad I took up the challenge because it has renewed an interest in working in thread and I really like the detail that came out in these rabbits.

In my quest to keep using thread I had on hand brother had green overalls instead of the suggested blue. I rather liked the color change. I didn't mention this in the sister post but I changed the bib portion of the pattern to make it easier for me. Instead of making the bib and sewing it on, I crocheted the bib directly on to the outfit. I tried the suggested method first but I found I ended up with better shaped bibs when I crocheted directly to the outfit.

No holiday boxes until Halloween. However, I have summer and fall birthday boxes to prepare. This is also a great time to get the doll donation projects underway.

Baby Rabbit Finger Puppet

When I finished the Mother Rabbit finger puppet I made a decision that I needed to pick up the pace if I wanted to be able to mail the package the Saturday before Easter. My choice was to make the last 3 heads all at once and then finish off the puppets individually.

One of the lessons I learned with Baby Rabbit is I make mistakes more easily the later it gets at night. I had no trouble finishing the heads without mistakes. However, you will notice Baby bunny's ears have a bigger block of pink than all the other bunnies. That was a result of making them late at night and sewing them on and finishing them off. It wasn't untl the next morning when I looked at all the bunnies lined up that I realized the baby had different ears but I wasn't going to cut them off and replace them. Baby Rabbit is just different from the other bunnies.

For those of you interested you can purchase the pattern here. The pattern suggests size 20 thread I used Red Heart Crochet, Thread Size 10 white, Aunt Lydia's Crochet Thread Size 10, Orchid Pink, and Aunt Lydia's Crochet Size 10 Thread, French Rose. I changed the bib color to Aunt Lydia's Crochet Thread, Size 10, Maize because I had left over yarn from an Our Generation doll project that I've been trying to finish off and I didn't have the color suggested by the pattern. The suggested 1.25mm hook worked with the size 10 thread.

Sister Rabbit Finger Puppet

I had hoped to finish more Easter themed projects this year but the holiday crept on me while I was working on doll donation projects. I also discovered these "quick" finger puppets I thought I'd add to the Easter box were some of the most time consuming projects I'd made in a while. They weren't hard but making all those tiny stitches is time consuming and there were a number of rabbits to be made.

The bunny base is made with Red Heart Crochet Thread Size 10 and the dress with Aunt Lydia's Crochet Thread Size 10, French Rose with Tulip Etimo Rose Steel Crochet Hook-1.25mm.

The eyes are standard 6mm but the pink nose comes from CR Crafts where I've discovered they have a remarkable selection not only of colored noses but of smaller sizes as well. I've found larger pink noses in the past but these are nice for the smaller amis.

Notes:

I added rows to the skirt as I wanted it to lay a bit better. I preffered this look to suggested pattern directions. I love the heart buttons. Slightly larger than needed but I need to find a source for smaller doll buttons as I plan to get back into making Barbie clothes.

Yes, I said it. After writing the blog about Barbie patterns and saying I wasn't planning on making them, I had a feeling something would change my mind. It was actually this project. One of the most challenging problems I've found with working with thread is working in the round with ami style projects. With my new hooks, I seem to have met the challenge and decided I'll be adding Barbies to the donation, if not this year than the following year. It all depends on how much I get done between now and Thanksgiving which is my deadline for finishng. I've dug out the binder and dusted it off so I will be experimenting.

Lots to Love 8 Inch Egg-cellent Romper

It's hard to believe it but I started this holiday doll project with Lots to Love Bunny Suit last year. For my second Easter doll, I turned to another Amy Carrico 5-inch doll pattern Egg-cellent Romper. I first came across this pattern as an April 2010 Crochet World bonus pattern. However, it is currently available for free here.

Notes:

In order to get the top of the outfit to fit I used light worsted weight 4 yarn. However once the arm holes were completed I switched to sport weight yarn as the worsted weight proved to be too heavy. I used an e hook with the worsted weight yarn and a D hook for all other items including the hat and booties.

Easter Hot Pad

Coming just in under the wire on this one. Finished it up Friday night when I realized that Easter was only a weekend away.

I started with the mug rug pattern from Annie's Spooktacular Crochet and by making an additional back side turned it into a hot pad.

I should have reversed the stripes and made the dark portion the backing for the basket. I could still have made the back side the lighter color, as I had concerns I might not have enough dark color for both sides of the hot pad. something to keep in mind for another day. I would have preferred not to have the basket and the hot pad the same color.

The basket comes from a Maggie's Holiday Crochet Fridgie pattern you can purchase here. I've moved to fridgie patterns for my holiday hot pads because there are plenty to choose from and they work up quickly. I used to pieces of Omega Sinfonia yarn together for the basket but found 2 was too heavy for the eggs and went back to single pieces for the eggs. For my notes I ordered the purple yarns when I got the green for St. Patrick's Day from Creative Yarn Source. The yellow, pink, and orange were left overs from previous projects.

Mrs. Cottontail

I finished a second character from The Tale of Peter Rabbit for my Easter box. I found a free pattern for Peter's mother here.

For this project I used Knit Picks Brava Worsted and I found it was a lighter weight worsted than some. For those of you familiar with Planet June's designs and writing she's actually collecting yarn samples on her Ravelry group here to do a write up comparing the various products to document and demonstrate the variances in worsted weight brand yarns so we have an understanding of what we are working with when we start a project. I know I often have to combine brands to get the colors I want for a project and sometimes the size variances don't make a huge difference depending on where I'm using the color, but in locations a size change can throw off a project and that can be frustrating. I look forward to her results when she publishes them.

The challenge I had with using a lighter weight yarn for the body was I needed to change the yarn I intended to use for the clothes. One of the reasons this didn't post Monday was I had the dress almost finished using Joann's Big Twist yarn and it was just too heavy for the bunny. I pulled out an old skein of Red Heart Comfort Sport Blue and Bernat Baby Big Ball Sport Yarn, Baby Yellow and the fit was better.

Notes:

I used an e hook for the bunny. The white is baby yarn to match the lighter worsted yarn, the other white worsted I had was too heavy with the Brava worsted. If I make this pattern again, I'd go with the feet I used for Peter rather than the small feet used in this pattern. I think you get better overall balance.

With the exception of the bonnet I used a C hook with the baby yarn. The bonnet was made with Caron One Pound , White and an e hook.

While this bunny is made to be played with so the clothes can be removed, if I make this bunny again I wouldn't add the white tummy again, it makes it harder to fit the dress. I added the tail after the dress was done to make sure the hole lined up in the back.

My mailing deadline is coming quickly. I'd hopes for more projects, but first I really need to finish the finger puppet family. After that we will see if there is any time left. If not it is on to the summer birthday and more doll donations.

Mother Rabbit Finger Puppet

I mentioned in my post about the Father Rabbit Finger puppet that I wanted to try the next finger puppet using Red Heart Crochet, Thread Size 10 and I'm quite pleased with the change in size. The pattern calls for size 20 crochet thread but I can't see myself working with that size thread in the round. These finger puppets are part of a larger Rabbit Family pattern set you can purchase here.

I had a skein of Aunt Lydia's size 10 Bamboo crochet thread which I understand has been discontinued that I used for Mom's dress. This is much softer thread than I'm used to working with and it made for a unique project. The dress almost felt like cloth which is rare in a crochet project.

I had hoped when I looked up the thread for this post to find it was still available as I think it would be great for projects like this one. I also would think it would be soft for other light weight projects. I suspect the softness might be the reason it was discontinued though as it wouldn't have worked if I'd used it for the head as it couldn't have held the shape of the body. So perhaps for the majority of people using thread it just wasn't practical for their tasks.

Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day which means I really do need to get a move on with this Easter box. The upside is after Easter I have a summer birthday and then nothing until the fall. This gives me some space to work on the doll donation and spread out the fall projects once I finish the summer birthday. I already have ideas for themes for both birthdays so it is a matter of pulling out the patterns and getting the projects finished.

Father Rabbit Finger Puppet

Having sent off the St. Patrick's Day box it is time to begin my Easter projects. I decided to begin with the Bunny Finger Family pattern that you can purchase here.

This was was my first chance to try out my Tulip Etimo Rose Steel Crochet Hook-Size 4/1.25mm and I was pleased both with the the hook fits in my hand and with how it holds the thread. I've used both the Rose and Red Etimo thread hooks now and I'm working to fill in my missing hooks with the Etimo and Armor brands. So far the Etimo are my favorite of the two. I still love my Bates Bamboo best but as they've discontinued their thread hooks; I'm working with what I can find online, buying when I find deals, coupons, sales, etc.

The designer used size 20 cotton thread for her puppets. I find 10 to be challenging when working in the round. That being said when I looked at my stash I had Coats Crochet Thread Size 3, White on hand and no size 10. So Father Rabbit is made with Size 3. This worked out for me as the pants and shirt are made with scraps left over from 2 doll thread dresses I made. The blue is completely used up and I made a significant dent in the yellow. I love gettting rid of scraps.

I did pick up some Coats White Crochet Crochet, Thread Size 10 to try making the other puppets but if I end up making them all in size 3 I'm good with that too. I think Father Rabbit is adorable and it would allow me to finish off the yellow I have left on one of the other bunny outfits.