Okay... So here me out, Christmas...
I know the C word in October BEFORE halloween am I crazy? But if you have made it this far into my journey, you must understand the time testing takes! Also Handmade gifts take time and If you want them FOR christmas I have to start early!
Any back to christmas. So this idea came because it seemed to tick so many boxes I wanted to play with for store items. So at this point I was thinking of doing a christmas market so I want some season items to match to my normal items, tick one.(Spoiler: I am not doing a market, don't get excited.) I also had baby on the brain so another tick, and i had been researching into teething rings and BANG reindeer teething rattles. GREAT... Not so much. So I said about the researching part. To make my item UKCA they need to be washable (also just a common thing
your need for a baby toy ) and you cant wash wooden ring. (Well you can but they will wear and can grow mold.. no thank you!) so the only alternative to that was removable toys, which was something I didn't want to do. I could find some plastic ones but there were all thin and would not support the size of my reindeer. It took a month but I found what I was looking for a rattle that was a ring and plastic annnnnd EN71-3 regulated!!! YAY!!!
Now I just needed a pattern, I took a few days deciding, because I knew I would need to alter any pattern to fit my rings as they weren't a standard thickness anyway, but a previous creator i had purchased from had the perfect design that allowed me customisable options! and Rosie and Ralph where born!
As I said it was a designer I had used before, she gives detailed pattern with minimal issues and great pictures so I wasn't worried. next was safety eyes and yarn. When the pattern needed a 2.5mm hook I knew Ricorumi was the best way forward for this pattern, its also 100% cotton which is best for baby's and small
children. Next safety eyes I used a different pattern as a guide (As id order before purchasing the pattern) and they are actually bigger than recommended but i must say I like the look, what about you?
This pattern made up of several parts most I knew. It is a simple chain circle. This is where you start with a chain rather than a magic circle, it creates this nice rectangle shape rather than circular. I will say it was new working shapes into my
work. While the V was straight forward I did play with the pattern to stop me having to cut and re add my yarn, or to have yarn dangling. Instead I crochet the yarn I wasn't working with into my current stitches, this hides your unused yarn and makes it more stable. after completing the face i didn't like how the V looked, which required me adding in some fake stitches to even the side out but I definitely preferred the new look (compare Rosie to Ralph and see if you can spot it).
The ribbon around the neck was a new technique. You simply add more stitches to the the chain, but in my experience that result in a curly tentacle not this wavy pattern but I love it! The part on the ring was straight forward it took a few attempts to get the chain the right length but its a simple SC row till the thickness was right. I wanted to make sure it was a tight fit so the head can stay upright so that was fun haha.
Finally the flower. Now the leafs I have used this techniques loads, it's a chain you
add higher stitches then lower stitchesto create the look you want. But the flower this was new. It called a puff stitch, something I had never heard off. So Youtube of course, and funny enough it a stitch I had recently seen being used on a video to create this amazing sunflower, a stitch I had assessed as a stitch I wouldn't be capable of doing. You can imagine my surprise when I know had to recreate it. Now the pattern didn't actually detail how many stitches were needed per puff (turns out this a varied stitch you add how ever many is indicated on the pattern) so it took a lot of tweaking and redoing till I found my desired amount of stitches but I think the overall look is great.
Just time to sew it all together and Rosie and Ralph where born. The fact my 3 Year Old is obsessed tells me they are a hit and also durable haha.
Pattern by RNata Crochet Reindeer Rattle/Teether, Holder, Pattern, PDF, English and German, Amigurumi, Baby shower, baby toy, Handmade purchased via Etsy.
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