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.

Willie the Whale

I'm continuing work on my summer birthday ocean project in between work on the doll donation project. Willie is another pattern from Hooked on Amigurumi and I'm coming to love the style of amigurumi that crochets the parts of the animals on as you go and eliminates almost all sewing.

I've started working on an ocean playset that folds into a storage bag to store all the animals. You can find the free pattern here. I find it easier to work on these types of projects in between smaller projects. Along with the ocean bag the pattern also includes animal patterns. I've chosen to use a range of patterns so I can pick the ones I like the best. However, if you are looking for a free set this one comes with everything.

Claudia the Crab

With my Easter box gone it was time to research projects for my next box the summer birthday box. I had decided on an ocean/sea theme during the Christmas book sales and I already have the books purchased. Now I just need to decide on the creatures to crochet. I have a couple of "sets" but while I like play set, I'm not completely sold on all the animals that come with the sets. I also have some animals in mind for specific books.

I had seen a few crab patterns and it seemed like a reasonable starting point for the project. I started by looking at a free pattern that gave me the idea for using larger eyes for my crab. You can find that pattern here.

While looking through my ami patterns and books I came across an interesting pattern in Hooked on Amigurumi that intrigued me for a couple of reasons. First, this designer emphasizes joining pieces as you crochet which eliminates a good deal of sewing pieces once when you've finished crocheting them. I've mentioned a few times this is not my favorite part of making amis. This pattern also had more detailed instructions about putting the ami together. That being said I loved the idea of using the larger colored eyes so I borrowed that from the free pattern and added it to the Hooked on Amigurumi pattern.

The pattern from Hooked on Amigurumi is made with an E hook and worsted weight 4 yarn and says it should create about a 6" clam. I wanted slightly smaller animals for my play sets so I hoped I might have red in stock from my Schachenmayr Catania sport cotton stash but sadly I did not. I was able to use up some Knit Picks Shine Sport yarn that has been in my stash for some time. I even was able to use one of those tiny annoying little balls to make the legs and claws. I used a D hook to get the size ami I wanted.