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.

Beehive Pincushion

Before I found Laura Sutcliffe's Beehive Play set I had been looking for bee themed patterns specifically trying to find a hive. When I showed the honey maker the pin cushion pattern she liked that one better than some of the other hive patterns I'd found. It just goes to show you don't need to make an item for its intended purpose for it to be useful. This is a free pattern from Maggie's crochet found here.

You do need to watch the holes on this pattern while stuffing as if you don't crochet this tight you will create gaps and the stuffing will show. I used the suggested g hook for this project. I think I'd try a smaller hook the next time around and perhaps add rows if I found it was too small too keep the stitches tight. It's crochet if you are going to use this as a pin cushion crochet naturally creates holes. However, you don't want the stuffing coming out. You could also consider lining it with something to avoid that as well.

You may recognize the bee on the top of the hive it is the same bee from the Beehive play set I posted about yesterday. I liked the bee better than the one from this pattern so I just made an extra while making the bees for that set and added one to the flower from this set.

Beehive Playset

When I went looking for ideas to make bee and honey themed items for this project I was thrilled to discover one of my favorite play set designers Laura Sutcliffe had a Beehive set. You can purchase it here. I've collected quite a few of her play set patterns and if you follow this blog you will have noticed she figures quite prominetly into holiday and birthday boxes. Her patterns are fun to make and always add a little extra fun play to a gift.

While this play set comes with a bee, for this project I already had my bee design. I finished the first one back in March using a free pattern from another favorite designer Aradiya Toys you can findt the free pattern here. The bee was a huge hit and there was a request for a second.

This set also comes with a flower blanket for the bee. I'm working on that now and will post it when I finish the last bee.

If I make this set again I might use Sugar and Creme cotton or use two strands together to give the hive a little more sturdieness since you can't stuff it and it isn't well suited to adding plastic canvas or another type of interior support to make it stand out on its own. Other than that I think it is adorable and honestly if a child was playing with it I don't think they'd care. Since this is designed to be displayed I'd consider stuffing it if I didn't think they'd want the bottom to open.

Notes:

I used the suggested g hook for this project with the exception of the bees. The bees were made with sport cotton and a c hook.