Thursday, April 25, 2013

First Crochet Amigurumi - Little Owlettes


I am starting to feel a little more comfortable with crochet, so I decided it was time to try a crochet amigurumi.  It is a little silly that I selected a pattern that requires notions I do not have in the house, but I will just have to make a trip to the craft store this weekend.  I wanted to try out these Baby Owl Ornaments (pattern available as free Ravelry download) so I pulled out my F hook and started crocheting!

The very first thing I had to look up is what is a magic circle.    Oh, I guess this is just the terminology for starting in a circle that I've done in the past.  Awesome!  I got half way through the increases when I realized I was doing SC wrong.  Time to start again! (Third time's the charm?)  WOW this is MUCH better!  


For the first Owl, I am using a size F (3.75 mm) crochet hook and some 100% Lion Brand Wool Print that I used from my first ever felted mittens.  Or 3 g of it... and then I ran out.  (I think these are hard colors to work with because I cannot see the stitches very well.)  I then Switched to a grey WOTA for the top of the owlette.  (AT ROW 7)



The second owlette used 5g of hot pink WOTA.


Don't know what safety eyes look like?  They look like little screws with washers that you attach to the back of the toy.  Super cute!   It turns out that Michaels does not have safety eyes in stock, so I found these from a seller on Etsy.  


I poked holes in the felt to get the safety eye through the felt, rather than cutting a slit.  I used small DPN and then larger ones until the hole was large enough for the size 6 mm safety eye to fit through the hole.  


I then attached the eyes to the unstuffed owl.  The biggest problem I see with safety eyes is that you cannot adjust the placement once you've finished the project.   


I was not able to sew through t he felt with the yarn needle, so the placement of one of the beaks is much better than the other.  After sewing the beaks down, I glued the eyes down.  Voila!  My first ever crochet amigurumi are complete!  I have a feeling that I will be making more of these teeny owls in the future.