Today, I’m sharing a tip that Mariana (from Chile!) came up with while taking my Amigurumi Woodland Animals Class on Craftsy. Is it a pattern for a crocheted sweater?
Nope… it’s way more clever than that! It’s a way of making your animal look like he’s wearing a sweater, by following the pattern and just adding in some color changes!
To get this look, you just need to make a few simple modifications to the Teddy the Bear pattern.
Pick a contrasting color of yarn (in the same thickness as your main ‘bear’ color) to be the crocheted sweater. The yardage will be about 40% of the total main color yardage specified in the pattern.
Crochet the body using your sweater color.
For the arms, crochet the first 6 rounds in the main color (as in the pattern), but then switch to your sweater color for the remaining rounds.
Sew a few buttons down the front of the body before stuffing it.
You can add a crocheted sweater to a whole variety of animal patterns! Instead of using the body color for the first six rounds of the arms, just use your best judgement to decide where the hands end and the crocheted sweater begins.
Now you’ve got a cute teddy bear wearing a cozy crocheted sweater!
Isn’t this a fabulous idea? And isn’t it great how you can modify a pattern, and come up with something that looks totally different?
If you want a pattern with the color-changes already included, try Byron the Bear.
Instead of a crocheted sweater, how about a hoodie? Try the Finley the Frog pattern.
Thank you so much, Mariana, for sharing your adorable bear and technique with us all!
This dragon sports a differently colored tummy, which may seem hard, but is actually quite easy once I show you some helpful tips. There are two important pieces to getting a nice looking tummy:
Changing colors cleanly so that you have a nice edge along the sides of the tummy.
Managing the not-in-use color of yarn so that you don’t end up with a mess.
I’ll show you how to do both today, so that you can finish crocheting your dragon’s body! On Thursday, I’ll show you a third part, how to snip and knot the ends so that you can stuff your dragon nicely.
Do you want to know how to change colors?
Of course you do!
So, I made this little video of me doing the first color change: (click on the square icon in the lower right corner of the video to view it in full screen)
Not so hard, is it?
How to carry your yarn
There are lots of ways to manage your yarn when you’re doing color changes, but the technique I’m going to recommend is stranding your yarn, and then cutting and knotting it. The advantage to this technique is that it’s comfortable for crocheting (i.e., you aren’t interrupted by cutting the yarn twice every round) and it achieves the desired look.
If you’ve crocheted Nelson the owl, then you’re probably familiar with the technique. But, I’m going to review it, here… because the dragon adds in some complicating factors!
When you get to a color change, you want to carry the unused color of yarn along the back. But, since we’re going to cut this yarn later on… you need to make sure you have at least 3″ carried along the back. See how loose my pink strand is?
If you pull the yarn tightly, you won’t have enough yarn to cut and tie the ends, later!
So, keep doing this (carrying the unused color of yarn across the back of the work) every color change. You’ll start to get lots of strands:
By the end… you’ll have a lot!
In this post I show you how to snip & tie off these ends – including why you don’t want to just leave them as is!
Frequently asked questions
My stitches on the edges look very loose and icky. What did I do wrong?
Nothing went wrong! That’s normal. It’s just because we’re doing the strands so loosely… we’ll clean them all up tomorrow!
The dragon’s tummy looks crooked, what gives?
When you work in the round, the crochet stitches always bias a little bit to the right (if you’re right-handed). This actually happens all the time, but you don’t really notice until there’s a color change to show it off. There are some ways to fix it, but honestly, they’re a bit of a pain. I like to think of the curving tummy as a feature… it gives the dragon some sassy character!
This color change thing is really annoying.
That’s not a question! Anyway, yeah, I know. There’s no shame in crocheting the dragon’s body all in one color, and skipping the color changes. In fact, I’ve already spotted some finished dragons in our Ravelry group that did just that… and they look fantastic! Your crochet shouldn’t annoy you – do what works for you!
I also really like ears that fold from the side into the center. You can see both sides folded to the center here on Boone Bunny. . .
. . . and also just one side folded in to the center on this Maxwell Monster.
However you decide to do it, folded ear is a great technique. It looks complicated, but it’s all about the attaching.
Okay, let’s assume that you’ve crocheted the ear as instructed.
Whipstitch the opening of the ear closed
Press the opening of the ear flat, and using the long tail and a tapestry needle, whipstitch the opening closed. I stitch through one stitch on the top of the opening, then one stitch on the bottom of the opening, until I’m the whole way across.
It’ll look like this when you’re finished.
Don’t cut the tail… you’re still going to use it!
Fold the ear
Just like it sounds! Fold the ear however the pattern, along the edge you just whipstitched. This is an ear from the Mix & Match Dragon pattern and I’m folding it in half.
Remember that tail you have? It should be on one corner of the ear. I like to run the tail (with tapestry needle) through the other corner, so that the fold stays closed.
Attach the ear to the head
Now, just attach the folded ear to the head using whipstitches all around. Take one stitch in the ear, then one in the head. Repeat, working your way all the way around the base of the ear.
One of the trickiest parts of crocheting this dragon is positioning his snout so that it lines up with the color changes on his tummy… since there’s a temptation to attach the snout before you’ve crocheted the color changes on the body. How do you know where to put it?
I have three possible solutions… and I’ll tell them all to you, since different ones might work for different people.
Option 1: Attach the snout after crocheting the color changes on the body
This is my favorite option. If you look closely at the progress photos in the pattern, you might be able to spot that this is what I did when crocheting the original sample:
The downside to this technique is that you’ll need to squeeze your hand into the tiny neck. However, you only need to get inside the head for tying the knot to secure the snout… since the rest of the attaching is done from the outside.
The advantage of this method is that you’ll know exactly where to position the snout, since you’ll be able to see the color changes. Also, I find the crocheting of the body easier without lots of heavy head features attached… but that might just be me!
Option 2: Visualize the color changes
I’ll be honest: this blog post was going to be about how to use your locking stitch marker to mark the end of round and visualize where the color changes would be so that you can attach your snout properly.
I took all of the nice step-by-step photos…
And then I realized that I visualized the color changes as being on the wrong side! Gah!
So, here’s the theory: the color changes for the tummy happen on the first 1/3 of the stitches after the end of round marker. If you’re good at spatial orientation, then it’ll be a snap for you to look at the stitch marker and picture where the snout should go.
But if you’re not… well, this option is going to be frustrating. Move onto option 3 (which is what I ended up doing to fix the photo-shoot!)
Option 3: Move the end of round
For the spatially-challenged (like me), this option is by far the easiest!
Attach all of the features to the head. Your end of round marker (the point where your round begins/ends) could be anywhere… it doesn’t matter. You’re going to move it!
Once you have the head attached, continue crocheting until you get to the round with the color changes. Instead of changing colors where you are (which may be at the back of his body), keep crocheting with the main color until you’re up to the snout.
Move your marker, and that’s you’re new start of the round! Continue following the pattern like nothing happened. In the grand scheme of things, the extra 10 or so stitches you’ve added won’t matter… and your tummy will be in the right place!
Do what works for you!
One of these options will work for you (sorry, I can’t tell you which one will be your favorite)! Hopefully, attaching the snout in the right place (after reading this post) will be no problem!
One of the most exciting parts of starting a project is picking out your yarn colors, right? Even though the pattern shows the item made up in a sample color (or maybe even a range of sample colors), you don’t have to follow the pattern!
Today, we’ll pick out some amazing colors for our dragons as we crochet-a-long!
Raid your stash
Selecting yarns for a project is a balancing act… you want to come up with a great color combination, but also use up yarns that you have in your stash, if you can!
If using up yarn that you already have is one of your goals for this project… then you’re going to have to drag your yarn out and look at it! If you’ve cataloged your yarn using Ravelry’s Stash Feature, then you can look at all of your yarn virtually, and not make a big mess on your living room floor.
Now that you know what you’re working with, you can plan your colors! The Choose Your Own Adventure pattern that we’re using only calls for 2 colors… but you don’t need to follow those rules! Do you want different colored wings? (or, do you want to use up a tiny ball of yarn?) Then go for it!
Here are some color palettes that I’ve put together that I think would make fabulous dragons:
Sometimes (when you’re trying to use up stash yarn), you might find that you have a fabulous color palette in mind, but need to buy a skein of yarn to make it all work… and that’s okay! If you’re buying the yarn for your project all at once, you might find it helpful to stick to one line of yarn: colors for a line are often developed so that they coordinate well together!
So, what’s your palette?
I’ve decided to go with using 3 colors: blue, pink and purple. Here’s my sketch:
What’s your combo?
If you’re not crocheting along with us yet, it’s not too late to start! Click here for details on the crochet-a-long. All month long, I’ll be posting helpful tips on how to crochet your dragon, so if you’re feeling a little nervous about crocheting an animal, this is a great time to get lots of help & support!
They say that eyes are the window to the soul. Maybe your crocheted stuffed animals don’t have souls, but the eyes add quite a bit of character! Today I’m going to share a great tip for giving your crocheted eyes some extra pizazz.
Eye Options
You have lots of options for eyes on your amigurumi! You can. . .
crochet baby-safe eyes and add specks of light… the focus of today’s blog post!
Plastic eyes reflect a bit of light already. It gives them a nice, lifelike sparkle. But what about baby-safe felt or crochet eyes?
Well – you can add a little speck of light to those, too.
Adding specks of light to crocheted eyes
I first talked about adding a little yarn speck to your eyes in Cuddly Crochet, but I was reminded of the technique when I saw some fabulous projects by Stacey (a different Stacey!) on Ravelry:
Aren’t these fabulous? Stacey’s used the crochet baby-safe eyes, and embroidered the cutest little reflections on them!
Stacey’s done an adorable V-shape, but you can use a little knot or a simple line. To do this, you’ll want to embroider your detail on when you’re assembling the features on the head.
You can use this trick to add a unique flair to the eyes on any pattern! Give it a try!
Adding a small piece of felt decoration can be a quick and easy way to add character to your amigurumi faces! In today’s blog post, I’ll show you how to do it!
The glue will hold up pretty well, but if you’re making the toy for a small baby, I would recommend sewing the felt on with a sewing needle and thread. Better safe than sorry!
The Process
The thing I love most about felt is how versatile it is! Simply cut the shape you desire, and glue it onto your piece. I sometimes add my felt piece at the very end… so I can see what personality the amigurumi wants!
To glue a piece on, just add a dab of glue to the back of the felt:
And press into place. Voila! Allow the glue to dry completely, and you’re ready to go!
Some tips
Here are a few helpful tips to keep in mind:
The shape of your felt piece adds expression, so feel free to experiment! For example, a rounded tooth gives a totally different expression than a pointed one!
Amigurumi are made from round balls… and in general, flat pieces don’t glue well to balls! To make sure your felt stays, attach to a relatively flat portion and keep your felt pieces small.
If you don’t like the look of your felt, just pull it off before the glue dries! You can gently wash the remaining glue off with a wet washcloth.
I hope you enjoy experimenting with adding some felt to your amigurumi!
And remember, you are the one crocheting! Even if a pattern doesn’t call for a felt facial feature… feel free to modify it and add one! It’s your piece!
Here are handy links to all the posts about faces and details. . .
I’ve crocheted all of my cow pieces, and attached his features… the only thing left to do is stuff his head & body and attach them!
Stuffing the head and body can be a little tricky, since they’re large pieces. You want to be sure to add plenty of stuffing (to compensate for compression over time), but be careful to not overstuff (which will force the stuffing to show through your stitches).
To stuff your cow’s head/body, take a big fluff of stuffing, and put it in.
Putting in a big fluff of stuffing is better than poking in lots of little pieces of fluff… because little pieces will make your cow look lumpy. You don’t want that! If you add too much, you can just pull the extra out:
Attaching facial features can be one of the trickiest parts of making stuffed animals… but it’s also what brings your cutie to life! With just a few tricks, you’ll be positioning and attaching features with ease… and love your finished result!
At this point, I’m about to attach the snout. The pattern says to attach it to rounds 13-18 of the head, so I’ve marked these rounds with my locking stitch markers:
This makes it super-easy to see where my snout should go!
Once the snout is in place, it’s time to attach the mouth. Want to hear another great use for locking stitch markers? I use them to hold a piece in place… so I can see exactly what it will look like when attached! This saves me from attaching them, not liking how it looks, then re-doing it!
Keep using markers to position/attach the ears… and your cutie is on its way!
Other helpful tips
Use the running stitch for attaching the nostrils onto the snout… it’ll make them lie nice and flat!
Attaching a folded ear can be tricky… read this post to see it in action.
Looking for an even easier way to handle the folded ear? Whipstitch the flattened ear closed first… then you’re only dealing with 2 edges, not 4!
Stick your eyes in first… and check out how they look before you put the washers on. This lets you check out how the eyes will look before you affix them permanently!
When positioning spots, use those stitch markers! I like to put on a couple to hold my spot in place while attaching
How’s your cutie coming along?
We’re in the final week of the crochet-a-long! Here’s how mine looks:
So colorful!
Here are handy links to all the posts about attaching parts. . .
Most people tell me that they’ve got a handle on the crocheting part… but when it comes to assembling amigurumi pieces, they dread it! That makes me sniffle… making amigurumi should be 100% fun!
So, in this post, I’ll show you how to attach limbs easily and evenly… taking all the stress out of sewing. The trick to easy attaching is planning out your placement ahead of time. It’s a piece of cake after that!
Plan where to attach your limbs
I’m making Jackie the Cow and I’m about to attach the legs and arms.
The instructions say, “Attach legs to rounds 9-14.”
Of course, this is just a suggestion! You can attach limbs wherever you’d like… but I’ve told you where I attach mine so there’s no guesswork on your part!
What you want to do is find out where round 9 is, and place a locking stitch marker there. Start counting (see the ridges?) from the center:
Count until you’re at round 9, and place a marker. Place another at round 14. Now you know where your leg should be located on the body!
If you find that your pieces tend to move around a lot when attaching, you might want to go one step further and use locking stitch markers to hold your piece in place. The more you prepare your pieces, the easier sewing will be!
Stuff your limbs
Grab some Polyfill and stuff your limbs:
I like to stuff both legs at once, so I can be sure they are the same size:
Sewing!
It’s not as hard as you think… I promise! We’re going to use a simple whipstitch to attach the limbs… the important thing is to let your guides (the rows and stitch markers) do all the fancy work!
Thread the needle
To begin: thread a tapestry needle with the long tail of a leg. As the first step, I like to hide the knot… so I run my needle through the first stitch on the leg:
This hides the knot beautifully! See?
Whipstitch!
The leg that we’re attaching has 24 stitches. So, if we attach along 6 stitches to round 9, 6 stitches going up to round 14, 6 stitches on round 14, and then 6 stitches going back down to round 9… the leg will be attached evenly! So, begin by threading the needle through one stitch on the body and one stitch on the leg:
That’s it! You did a whipstitch! Check out this little video if you want to see it in action:
Continue to do 6 stitches on round 9… and then continue stitching (sorta turning 90 degrees) to get to round 14. See? You’re using the stitches on the body to guide you! Easy!
As long as you keep attaching one stitch of the body to one stitch of the leg, you’ll stay on track!
Continue all the way around, and tie a knot on the inside of your work.
Ta da!
Repeat for second leg
Now, at this point, you may want to get picky. See how there’s a jog in the leg where the colors changed?
If that jog bothers you… no problem! Just decide where to place your second leg so that the jog ends up at the back of the cow! See… I’m going to put my second leg over here (on the other side of the jog), leaving the color change nearly invisible:
Now attach the second leg… same as the first! Don’t forget to place your helpful markers if you need them!
Repeat for arms!
You’ve got it down, now! Attach the arms using the same method!
You did it!
That wasn’t so bad, was it?
Other Ways to Attach Limbs
There are a few other ways to attach limbs to crocheted softies – each gives a different look.
Does your pattern tell you to attach the piece with single crochet as you stitch? That’s my favorite way to attach limbs. The pattern will say sc-attach and you can find a video tutorial for that method here. This method works great for flopp[y limbs that are attached along a single row of the design.
Here are handy links to all the posts about attaching parts. . .
