Yellow Dog

Yellow Dog is my latest crocheting adventure. I have truly enjoyed crocheting around blankets, but one day while surfing the web, I ran across Amigurumi.

My first thought was “How cute these stuffed animals are!”, but the skill to crochet them is probably way beyond my skill level. So I did some more surfing and ran across a book called Amigurumi World. After seeing the cute animals in this book, I decided to purchase it and after reading the introduction and a few of the patterns, I picked the daddy dog to try first. I was amazed with myself how easily I picked up reading and following the pattern. I have never crocheted something from a pattern. I have to give the author some credit for my ease in following the pattern. She wrote the patterns well enough that even I could figure it out. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I learned a lot about crocheting from the construction of yellow dog. I learned the abbreviations for a crochet pattern, and about increasing and decreasing stitches. I also learned the importance of row markers, and keeping your count, as well as an even tension. For my first try at this, I was pleased with the way yellow dog turned out, although I have not figured out yet how he got his pointy head. Crocheting his small arms and legs did not bother my ct, but sewing his parts together sure did, so it took some time to put him altogether. All together I enjoyed crocheting yellow dog. Next I am going to try the monkey pattern from the book.

Snoopy Designs

A couple of months ago, Dakota Collectibles released a new pack of Snoopy embroidery designs. Of course, I had to have it. The pack has designs of Snoopy and Woodstock in both 4X4 and 5X7. If you are a reader of my blog, you have seen a couple of the designs stitched out, one on my blue shirt and one on the nephew’s jacket. Shortly after the release of the first pack, a second pack was released with designs of the whole Peanuts gang and, of course, I had to have it too. Now, Dakota has done it to me again and released a third pack of Peanuts holiday designs. Yep, you guessed it, I now own it too. I just loved every one of the designs. My husband hopes Dakota’s licensing from UFS will end soon.

 

 

I have a million ideas for the designs, but I have been so anxious to stitch them all out that I couldn’t possibly wait to get something made. So, I pulled some purchased sweatshirts from my stash and tried out a couple of the designs from the second pack. The designs stitch smoothly and have such great detail. Both designs I tried are 5X7 inches in size. I think they turned out great. I can’t wait to stitch more Peanuts and Snoopy designs.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

A coworker was admiring my blue shirt from the side, telling me how pretty the fabric and blouse looked. When I turned and she saw that Snoopy on the front, her voiced dropped and she said, “Oh, and you put a Snoopy on the front”. She said it with such a disappointed voice. But, I don’t really care about her disappointment. I will continue to be a devoted Snoopy fan and continue to stitch Snoopy, especially for me, until I can’t stitch any more.

P.S. I think for Christmas I will make my coworker something with a Snoopy embroidered on it just to get her riled up.

Monkey Business

My little nephew is learning animal sounds. The latest sound is “what the monkey says”. His response is so cute that I decided to make him a monkey shirt. I could not decided between a realistic monkey or a cartoon monkey, so I did both. I know that the design on the gray shirt is a gorilla, not a monkey, but that is the design I liked the best and I don’t think the nephew will care. I used a couple of blanks from the stash instead of making two shirts. I had a great time stitching out the designs and I am pleased with the results. The gorilla shirt is larger that the monkey shirts, so the nephew will have to do some growing before it will fit, but I am sure all too soon, it will fit. I hope he likes them both.